DΛY ƬЩӨ

"You ready kid?" 

Dads voice follows me as I hurry down the stairs which lead up to the house, piece of toast hanging from my mouth as I shove my laptop into my shoulder bag. It was a miracle we even got the toaster running. 

Dad flips his keys in his hands the second I nod my head and hum through the bread in my mouth. It was my first day at Eden University. 

"You know something tells me this is going to be a good year, Y/N."

I quirk an eyebrow at him as I get in the car and settle into my seat. The man shuts his door firmly before shooting me a light grin,  placing his keys in the ignition.

"Yeah? Well something's telling me something horrible's gonna' happen. Like a war. Or worse-- dare I say it-- you balding."

"Aye aye aye, leave my hair out of this!" He cuts me off as he raises his hands to his head and covers it defensively. "If you think about it, though, if I go bald then that must mean it's in our genes. Have fun being the present day Britney 'Breakdown' Spears..."

I shoot him the dirtiest glare I could muster as he grins along with his words. 

Y/N: 0
Dad: 1
We'll get him next time.

Before I can say anything else the car lets out a loud 'clank!' as the man turns his keys in the ignition. 

"Great." Dad grumbles, furrowing his eyebrows and giving the steering wheel a firm slap. He turns towards me and offers an apologetic smile.

"One of these days I'll get back to working on your car. Sorry, kid."

Since I got my drivers license I've held off on buying my own car. Not just for the reason that I don't like spending money, nor the reason that I'm scared I'll make a mistake on the road-- but because he promised me we'd work on one together. Dad had his own shop back home where he use to sell car parts and rebuild models from scratch. When I was younger he use to bring me in and he'd let me watch him as he worked, childlike curiosity and all. I missed it.

I sigh. But just like clockwork, within a second I find myself rolling my eyes as his words finally register.

"You do realise I'm not a kid anymore, right? Plus it's no big deal. I'll just walk."

An almost guilty look sprouts on his face, rubbing the back of his neck. His door squeaks as he opens it and steps back out, and just as I'm about to follow after him-- a sudden pain runs through my arm starting from my fingertips. It felt like a jolt of electricity the second my hand places on the handle.

"OUCH!" I hiss as I pull my hand away instantly. 

Dad instantly rushes to my side of the car and opens the door for me. I step out as soon as possible and point at his car with my injured hand, eyes wide.

", you okay?" 

"Your god damn car is Christine!"

He rolls his eyes. "It was just a static shock. Also, don't diss my baby like that ever again. You realise how much time I spent trying to get her running?"  He pats the top of the car to accentuate his words. This time I roll my own eyes.

"Whatever. I'll leave you and your baby alone. By the way, how far away is the campus?"

He seems to pale and gulp nervously as he suddenly can't meet my eyes anymore.

"Uh... an hour?" His voice trails up near the end of his sentence, clearly nervous. And for good reason.

I narrow my eyes at him as a weird sound emits from the back of my throat. 

"You're lucky I love you or else I'd beat your ."

"That's no way to speak to your father, I'll--" He stops when he notices my glare. "Right, right, got it. Lips closed." He makes a show of zipping his lips. I turn around and grip my bag closer to my body. I only get several more feet down the driveway before he calls out to me once more.

"Have a good day, sweetie! No hitch hiking!"

I throw him the middle finger over my shoulder not once looking back, but I find myself cradling the same hand close to my chest only seconds later. Something told me that wasn't just some regular static shock. It's like I could feel it rattling my bones. I shake my head and tsk, tuning back to reality.

One hour commute, here I come.

___

I stare up at the big white building with my arms crossed over my chest.

"This better be worth it." I grumble under my breath as I will myself to ignore the aching in my ankles.

It wasn't until maybe twenty minutes in had I remembered I didn't know where the university even was. It was all by luck that I ran into some other students and followed them to the campus. And now that I was here, all I felt was annoyed.

The university was already bustling with students by the time I got here. Students mingled on the grand stairs leading up to the doors, laughter and chatter consuming the air so much so  I couldn't even begin to piece coherent sentences together. The university, from what I could see, looked large but nothing quite as big as what I was use to back in the city. After all, this town wasn't a big place: the uni was destined to have an even smaller population, too. It didn't look too different from the usual university but there was no denying the uniqueness it held. From the outside it looked like one big building which eventually split off into three more.

I look down at the schedule in my hands (dad got it for me the last time he was here when he scoped out the campus, got bless his soul. I wasn't in any mood to be talking to drama geeks and freaks today.)

First on the agenda: music lecture. Hall A, room 7.

 But then reality kicked in.

"Where the  is Hall A?" 

"I can show you if you'd like."

"GAH!"  The shout leaves my mouth before I can stop it. My eyes widen and arms spring out before me as my body launches into a karate-like pose. Turning to the voice I meet the eyes of a pretty girl. Her black hair framed her face and fell down her shoulders. It looked incredibly soft. My eyes fall to the small beauty mark on her right cheek.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you!" Her voice was deep, but not too deep where it was masculine.

"Where did you even come from?!"

"I guess you need to start paying more attention to your surroundings, Y/N.." 

For the second time my eyes widen. How the hell does she know my name?
 As if reading my thoughts, she shakes her head and offers me a comforting smile. I find my body slowly relax at the motion. I didn't know this girl but she seemed to scream comfort.

"My name's Jeon Heejin. Admissions told me to help the new student around, and you looked pretty new so... wild guess?" I find myself nodding at her words, realisation seeping into me as my mouth shapes into a small 'o'.

"Ah, yeah, I suppose that makes more sense.." I lower my arms and straighten out my posture, hand raising to rub at the back of my neck. Heejin quirks an eyebrow but doesn't wipe the smile off her face. If anything it gets bigger. 

"I'll show you around." Before I can say anything she starts walking towards the grand stairs without batting an eyelash. She side steps around the other students as she's quick in her strides. It wasn't until she throws me a look over her shoulder had I picked up my pace and practically ran after her until we were walking side by side, sheepish.

We began our journey walking up the (unnecessarily large) set of stairs which lead up to the entrance doors. Heejin opens and begins her spiel.

"Do you realise how long this town has been around for?" She asks. Taken aback by the unexpected question I shake my head no. I whine under my breath as my ankles start aching once more. Note to self; never walk long distances ever again. But I push this thought aside as the girl continues, answering her own question.

"It's said to date back a couple hundred years. There's a lot of history behind this town but what the books don't tell you about is its mystery. For example, this exact university is said to be one of the founding buildings but nobodies quite sure what it was even used for." 

Step after step after step. We were almost nearing the top of the stairs. I cling on to every word which leaves her lips, genuinely interested. I spent so many hours googling all I could about this town and nothing. Perhaps Heejin would be the one to provide answers. 

"Some books compare this town with the Salem witch trials, others to pure evolution... some link back to magic." 

This piques my interest. What a lot of baloney. Magic? She turns towards me and gives me a knowing stare as if she read my mind, a small smirk crossing her thin lips. "I know. Crazy, right?"

"Very." I nod my head with a quirk of my eyebrows. I'd only just met the girl but there was something about her that seemed so... charismatic. If there was anybody who could've given me this tour, I'm glad she's the one. Granted she's quite literally the only person I've met so far, but I couldn't think of a better first interaction.

I'm drawn out of my thoughts as she suddenly clasps one of her hands around my arm. She pulled me to a slow stop as we finally reached the top of the stairs, only mere feet away from the entrance. What I didn't expect was for what she said next.

"But if i'm being honest, I think I believe in magic."

Before I can say anything she tugs me through the entrance so I can take in its glory. I let her drag me, weaving in and out of the few students who staggered around.  The first thing my eyes are drawn to is its interior. Upon walking into the building I'm met with a very, very large and spacious room. The walls were framed with golden ts, ceiling a mosaic glass which gave clear sight into the clouds above. In the middle of the room beneath the centre of the skylight was a large statue resting on a podium, something strikingly familiar to what you'd see in an ancient Greek museum. The floor was patterned beautifully, light ricocheting off its smooth marble and creating a glittered glow. I stare in awe. I tune out the few students mingling about as they begin filing down every which direction. From the inside I notice that my observation was right; the university was accentuated by this main building before it links up with another three via long hallways sprouting from each side of the room. I find myself asking the first question which comes to mind.

"How can something like this be somewhere like here? No offence, but I'd never even heard of this town until two weeks ago."

Heejin chuckles and nods her head. "Like I said. This town is full of mysteries."

You got that right. It's been two days and I managed to figure that one out. But before I can say anything else my attention is drawn elsewhere. 

The platform in the centre of the room homes a series of letters etched across its chiselled surface, an incoherent stream of zig-zags and circles. But then the strange letters seem to reshape themselves the longer I stare at them, slowly morphing into a language I could understand. Eden.
I look up from the podium and to the statue. In its chiselled glory I couldn't make out any distinct facial features. It looked like a faceless sculpture but for some reason I can't shake the uneasiness in my body as I meet where its eyes are suppose to be. It sent a chill down my spine which has me shivering.

"She's a goddess."

Heejin's voice distracts me from my thoughts instantly. 

"Huh?"

"That statue. She's a goddess. It's been here for a while, actually. Couldn't tell for the life of me who it is though." She admits with a thoughtful hum. 

"What's the 'goddess' stuff all about? Like.. what's the big deal?"

I spare a quick glance in Heejin's direction who looks up at the sculpture, eyes twinkling under the light ricocheting off the mosaic glass.

"Our history is ancient, goes back to the golden days of gods among men. At least that's what Chuu's books say.." with a small furrow of her eyebrows she trails off and shrugs, dismissing it. 

I look away from Heejin and back towards the podium, eyes seeking out the lettering on its surface. But once again I find my shoulders deflating, an odd sick feeling rising to my chest.

 No writing, no nothing.

 I swallow the lump which forms in my throat and fidget with my hands. Not again. This was the third time in two days my mind has played this annoying trick on me. The first time being when I saw the door frame, and the second time being when I found that ring...

The ring.

As I'm fidgeting with my fingers I subconsciously trace over something cold to the touch. I look down and notice the familiar gold ring on my index finger. I completely forgot about it. As if knowing it caught my attention a faint buzzing seemed to pang at my fingertips. It felt like pins-and-needles.

Before I can entertain my thoughts much longer Heejin clears .

"Anyway, I'm suppose to be showing you where your class is. Forgive me." She once again leads me, although this time away from the grand room and towards one of the outstretched hallways. As I mindlessly follow after her I listen as she resumes her lost rambling.

"You think a couple hundred years ago they could've made this without magic? The hallways of course were apart of the renovation. But this? It wasn't us, Y/N. Not one bit."

I furrow my eyebrows.

"Magic? Yeah, this is all crazy impressive but immediately jumping to 'magic' seems a bit..."

"A bit too much, right?" Heejin hums as she finishes my sentence for me. I nod my head. 

"I was in your shoes as well. But then--"

But before she can say anything more a completely different voice beats her to it. 

"Yah! Jeon Heejin!"

"Speak of the devil.." Heejin whispers under her breath.

We turn around at the same to see a girl racing her way towards us. She weaves in and out of the gradually dispersing crowd, hands full of papers. She looked like a little scientist who just had their breakthrough. Her fringe fell delicately into her sparkling doe eyes as she flailed her arms about, laughter painting her lips. She stops to catch her breath once she's a solid foot away from us, ignoring the judgemental stares of the other students, her hands dropping to rest on her knees.

I turn to Heejin, confused. She merely flashes me an apologetic smile before turning back to face the unknown girl.

"Chuu? What do you want, I'm sorta in the middle of something here."

The girl, Chuu, stands back up straight and looks right at my face. I don't miss the way she gives me a wide, bright smile as she holds a hand out to me. 

"Hi! I'm Kim Jiwoo but if you're annoying and petty and don't forget things that happened seven years ago like a certain somebody-" She stresses her words as she shoots a very, very specific look at Heejin who simply shrugs and smirks. She continues. "You can call me Chuu."

I stammer as I take in her lengthy greeting but nonetheless shake her hand.

"Y/N. Just Y/N."

"Well, Just Y/N, would you mind if I steal this girl away for a second?"

Before I can respond Heejin beats me to it.

"Surely if it's important you can say it in front of our good friend Y/N here, right Y/N?" 

The two girls look at