Now, it's very important to note that Kim Yerim was not the type of person to be paranoid. This neighborhood wasn't the most dangerous in the city, and hardly anything eventful occurred here. In her eighteen years of life, she hadn't seen a mugging, or any other crime for that matter, and knew almost everyone on block. If there were ever a suspicious sort, she wouldn't be the first person to jump to conclusions or freak out.

But as she was making the rounds around the apartment building, checking up on some of the tenants that were home, she did find it very suspicious to witness a woman she had never seen before so happily exit Seungwan's unit with a large basket. Full of what, Yerim couldn't tell from this distance. A robbery in broad daylight? 

The teenager had half a mind to confront the woman right then and there, but in the case that this was an actual robbery, she didn't feel like going toe to toe with a polished criminal. Polished, Yerim assumes, because of how much finesse and confidence the individual exuded even after she had just made off with Seungwan's valuables... almost as if she didn't commit a crime at all. Her suspicion heightens.

Yerim wasn't nearly close enough to Seungwan to risk her life for the singer's things, but felt that she owed something to her for always paying her rent on time and overall being a very nondisruptive tenant. The least she could do was try to memorize the thief's appearance in case she needed to provide a testimony for the authorities. Thus, Yerim decides that the only reasonable course of action is to tail her. It was not like she had five more tenants to check on. Pretending to loiter on one of the railings, Yerim waits for the perpetrator to descend the staircase before following at a safe distance. 

She didn't know the first thing about stalking someone, acting perhaps even more unusual than the potential criminal. Though she tried to be less overt, she couldn't help but sneak glances (more like openly glare) at the woman she was tailing. To anyone passing her on the street, she looked like she had forgotten her glasses at home with how often she was trying to squint to determine the contents of the basket. In fact, she had to use that excuse when a kind man asked her if she needed help. 

Luckily, the stranger was far too jovial to notice Yerim's failed attempts to remain inconspicuous. The teen had just worked up the courage to close their distance by a meter when the criminal suddenly turned into a building. Yerim dawdled outside, lightly stepping around the concrete sidewalk as she gazed up at the sign. Of course, she was already familiar with the location. "Kim's Laundromat". It was her uncle's business. She didn't pin him to be the type to run a place where criminals gathered, but then again, today has been full of surprises.

Behaving as casually as humanly possible, she thinks, Yerim swings through the glass doors pretending to be on a short visit. She sees her younger cousin manning the counter, the girl sitting on a stool paging through one of the random magazines they left out for the patrons. "Hey, Eunji! How's it going?" Yerim asked as she approached the girl, donning a comically large smile.

The fifteen year old peered at Yerim through the gaps in her bangs. "What are you doing here? Are you taking over my shift, cause Dad should've let you come over earlier. I have so much homework to do." She stretches her arms over the counter in a dramatic fashion. She sure looked busy to Yerim. "No, I'm just checking in." 

Yerim tried to scan the laundromat for the woman, eyes unable to find her. She must've disappeared behind the wall of laundry machines. Noticing her odd behavior, Eunji questions, "So, what are you really doing--" Yerim cuts her off with a shushing noise, stalking over to the basket that the stranger had left on a nearby table. "Rude, but ok..." Eunji turned back to her magazine.

With anticipation, and a little apprehension, Yerim pulled back the cover of the basket, hands getting clammy, sweat lining her brow. An inner drumroll resounded in her chest, growing with her swelling heartbeat. And... there were only clothes. Only clothes? Yerim sighs, taking a seat at the table across from the basket.

"What did you think you would find, Yerim?" Eunji comments without looking up from the pages covering last year's winter collection. "Surprised that this lady came to a laundromat to do laundry?" Yerim shot a glare at the younger girl. The youth these days really had no respect for their elders. Burying her head into her arms, Yerim drowns in embarrassment over the whole situation. She felt misled. She felt betrayed. Most of all, she felt very, very stupid. 

"You sure you don't know this lady?" 

She groans. "What do you want, Eunji?" She asks, shooting annoyed frowns at her cousin.

The younger just points from her stool, eyebrow quirked in confusion. Yerim's gaze follows the path of Eunji's eyeline, landing on the woman fiddling with the dials on the laundry machine, seeming perplexed as to how they function. Interesting. She didn't look as old as she seemed. Perhaps Yerim's initial suspicion was not in vain. She calmly approaches the stranger, sneakers squeaking across the green and white checkered linoleum tiles. Nonchalantly, she suggests, "Let me help you, miss."

The woman turned to Yerim with a smile. "Would you? That would be very helpful."

Wow. This lady was the most stunning non-criminal that Yerim had ever seen. She almost felt like blushing. Backing away from their proximity and losing her previous confidence, she pulls a quarter out of her back pocket and pushes it into the coin slot. With the ease of an individual who has done too many loads of laundry in their life, Yerim begins her demonstration in earnest. "Here, you just insert a quarter..." she moves the dials to the correct settings for general washes, "Set these dials, put in the laundry, and..." she pushes the power button. "Ta-da!" She finishes her display with a dramatic hand gesture. "The machine will do the laundry for you! Modern magic, right?" 

"Was I supposed to put clothes in there before you pressed the button?"

Yerim whipped around, watching the empty metal cylinder spin around mockingly, as if inanimate laundry machines could be mocking. She forced a laugh. "That was... just for demonstration purposes! Let me get your basket for you." Too eager to reprimand the situation, she rushed over to the laundry bin.

"Be careful! We just--" Eunji tried to warn. But it was too late, Yerim's face had already met the tile, slipping like a cartoon character on a banana peel. "waxed the floors..." her younger cousin finished dejectedly.

Rolling over, her soul simply slipped out of her body as she stared at the fluorescent lights overhead. This was a series of unfortunate events from which she could not escape. Not even Eunji, that damn child, moved from her stool to help the poor girl splayed on the floor of this laundromat. Was this really how she was going to go? She should just resign to her fate now. 

Closing her eyes, half in wincing from the pain, and half in defeat, the stinging bright surroundings disappeared from her vision. Recede into the dark Kim Yerim. Just as she was about to accept the sweet scythe of the grim reaper, an angel pulled her from the dark.

"Are you okay?"

She opened her eyes, a heavenly face entering her vision. With the lights pouring over her, forming some sort of everyday halo, Yerim questioned whether or not she had arrived in the good place. If not for the whirring of the laundry machines and the flipping of magazine pages, she would've been convinced.

"You're really strange." The woman chuckled, offering a hand to help Yerim up. 

The girl replied as she stood, brushing herself off, "I get that a lot." Eunji laughs from behind the counter and Yerim has to restrain herself from flinging a quarter at her face.

"Strange isn't a bad thing. It's refreshing."

At least someone was able to find the positive in this situation. "Slipping on tiles isn't very refreshing to me."

"It was refreshing to watch. Do you still want to help me with this laundry, or should I let you sit out on an injury?"

Yerim turned to the stranger. This lady must be just as insane as her. How does she still want her help after that excellent display of perfect grace and balance? Apparently, Yerim's confusion was well-received by the beautiful lady, who provided a prompt explanation. "I just assumed you knew more about these machines -- excepting your blunder with not putting in any clothes."

She just nods, not wanting to wallow any longer in her failure than she already has. 

As they're sorting out the reds from the whites, the stranger strikes up a conversation. "So what's your name?"

"Me? I'm Kim Yerim, my uncle owns this place."

"That explains why you know your way around. I'm Joohyun, by the way."

After shoveling the loads into the machine, Yeri clicked the door shut, leaning against the machines. Since they were on the topic of introductions, Yerim figured that it was as good a time as ever to start getting her burning questions answered. "Have you lived here very long? I feel like I haven't seen you around."

"Oh, I just moved in recently. About two weeks ago."

Yerim adjusts her voice to a more genuinely inquisitive tone, finding it much easier to hide her wariness verbally than physically. "Is your apartment around here? I actually live in this area."

"Yes. It's just a street down."

Joohyun's story checks out thus far, but Yerim wants to move straight to the center of the issue. "Oh wow, that's the complex where I live. Meet the landlord yet?"

"No, I've been meaning to, but haven't had the chance."

Yerim extends a hand, grinning. "Well, you're meeting them now."

Joohyun looks incredibly bewildered. 

"I know what you're thinking. Am I way too young to be a landlord? Yes. You're right. But my parents own the place and, with how busy they are these days, I've practically become the de facto landlord."

Joohyun has nothing to say other than, "Nice to meet you."

"Introductions aside, this all brings me to my main concern." Yeri feels very pleased at these turn of events. Finally, all of her embarrassment could be chalked up as the means to an end. The end being understanding the circumstances under which Joohyun landed here, in Seungwan's apartment, and without Seungwan telling her. She guesses that this finally broke Seungwan's reputation of being an indistinguishable tenant.

She takes a breath before unleashing her torrent of questions. "When did Seungwan get a new roommate and why didn't she tell me? Seulgi hardly moved out a few weeks ago. Is she trying to avoid paying the other half of the rent? I won't postpone the deadline now that I know she has a new roommate. What's your relation to Seungwan anyway? Do you--"

The sound of the laundry cycle ending stops Yerim.

"I would answer all of those, but the laundry's done, and I should really get to folding these before Seungwan comes home," Joohyun casually remarks.

Yerim won't let her get away that easy. "Should we take this conversation back to your apartment?"

She didn't expect Joohyun to agree.

Now, it's very important to note that Kim Yerim was not the type of person to be paranoid. She's seen the interiors of almost all the units at this point, and found that out of all of them, this one was by far the most... normal looking. Even before, when Seulgi had been here, there were some interesting decor decisions. Yerim really must've gone insane to suspect anything of this woman. 

She was polite too, offering Yerim a seat at the kitchen island and a cup of tea, calmly folding laundry as she answered any and all of the teen's questions.

The long story short, Joohyun had moved in two weeks ago after Seungwan had put up an internet ad looking for a new roommate. Though she was from a rural region, she had moved to the city to get a change of pace and pursue new job opportunities. The only dubious thing about this narrative was that Seungwan was resourceful enough to find a new roommate so quickly. From Yerim's short interactions with the girl, she was sure that she would've been panicking or despairing over Seulgi's departure for several days before moving onto more practical things.

Yerim had even asked for more background to try and find any holes, but there were none. What was she doing with her education? Joohyun had attended a community college as a result of her family's stringent expenses, taking a year off to help out at her family restaurant. What kind of hobbies did she have? Doing laundry and ironing, if that counted as a hobby. According to Joohyun, it was very calming, and she loved the scent of lavender fabric softener. Favorite color? Purple. It was her best friend's favorite.

If anything, the young woman sounded too good to be true.

In fact, Yerim was actually starting to like her. She was a welcome change as opposed to Seungwan's apprehensiveness whenever they talked. Joohyun seemed receptive to her conversation, truly seeming to enjoy Yerim's company. The girl couldn't say the same of Seungwan, who always acted as though she was in trouble whenever Yerim dropped by. The lasting impact of being an honors student, the landlord assumes. 

A few hours later, Yerim was still sitting at the island, Joohyun long finished with the laundry. After Yerim suggested she leave to complete her task of checking in which the other tenants, Joohyun responded with her own request for Yerim to return to the apartment and keep her company as she waited for Seungwan to come back. The request was relayed so matter-of-factly that Yerim had no choice but to accept. They had wasted the day away with various conversations, Yerim venting to Joohyun about classroom gossip, like her horrid seat partner who never brought their own pencils and never returns any of hers. Joohyun was actively listening, relating to the girl with experiences of her own.

Yerim felt that she had garnered a lot more about the woman than she would've initially assumed had she not embarked on this bizarre diversion. Despite being older by eight years, Joohyun was much more playful and childlike than Yerim would've thought. She had no problem bantering with Yerim over how to properly fold laundry and did not hesitate to engage in a competition to see who could fold faster. Through this, Yerim found out that Joohyun was also competitive. It was like her hands were on fire, completely blowing Yerim out of the water in this spontaneous round to crown the laundry-folding queen.

They had now seemingly run out of things to talk about, Joohyun deciding instead to offer snacks to the younger girl, who readily obliged. It was a convenient excuse not to talk, since Joohyun had picked up a call from Seungwan. Not wanting to eavesdrop (surprising considering the lengths with which Yerim first took to follow Joohyun), she looked around the apartment, munching on the potato chips that Joohyun had given her. Her eyes landed on the picture of Seulgi and Seungwan on the hallway cabinet. Cute. They always did look close whenever Yerim caught them leaving on another one of their grocery runs, more like late-night snack runs now that she thought about it. 

Her bowl clattered to the ground, rattling with the raucousness of hard plastic on wood. It wasn't the photo frame that had surprised her, but rather, what was next to it. That ornate porcelain vase.

Yerim heard a string of sputters from the kitchen and a hasty end of a phone call. Irene came clamoring into the living room, eyes darting around the room and arms held up, ready for battle. “What happened? Are you okay?”

She didn't answer, only staring in confusion at the vase in front of her. "Where did you get that?"

"Seungwan said she picked it up at a garage sale." Joohyun looks at the bowl on the floor, squatting down to pick up the stray potato chips now scattered on the hardwood. Strangely, she doesn't seem mad, only minorly inconvenienced. Yerim is still caught in her stupor to notice. 

Scruntinizing the intricate porcelain and gold engravings, there was no question that it was the family heirloom that she had often marveled at as a child. Yet, the last time she had seen this was at her grandmother's house, certainly not Seungwan's apartment. In both, she recognized it as a very unconventional interior design choice. 

"Did you happen to pick it up in the suburbs?"

"Well, I'm not quite sure where exactly she got it. Why are you so interested?"

The question doesn't register in her head. "Do you mind if I look closer?"

Joohyun doesn't see the harm in it, and doesn't pin the girl for one to be needlessly reckless, contrary to all of the fumbling she had witnessed earlier that day.

"Sure." She picks up the remainder of the mess, carrying it to the kitchen and leaving Yerim to her own devices.

Yerim steps up to the ornament, traces the frolicking bunny engravings with her fingers, puts a steady palm on the cold porcelain, and rubs, pads of her fingers brushing across the smooth surface. Yerim doesn't know what she expects. Of course, nothing occurred. Her grandmother was wrong, she supposes. Shaking her head, she wonders why she had even tried. She was too old to believe in magic anyway.

She pads back into the kitchen, taking up her usual position. 

"Find anything interesting?" Joohyun probes, placing her elbows on the granite. 

"Not really," Yerim shrugs, changing the topic. "Do you want to hear about what happened in my science class last week?"

Joohyun absentmindedly glanced at the clock as Yeri continued her rant about the horrible customer that entered her cafe the other day. Fifteen after seven, give or take a couple of minutes. Seungwan should be home soon.

She heard the rattling of keys in the entrance to their apartment. Speak of the devil.

"Yerim, won't your parents be concerned if you're not back home for dinner?"

The teen checks her watch, eyes widening at the time. "Wow, I didn't realize I've been over for this long! My parents aren't around nearly enough these days, but I'll still be in for a lecture if I don't leave soon."

Joohyun just nods. 

"Let me just finish this tea before I go." As she lifted the mug to her lips, Seungwan made her fateful entrance.

"I'm home! Did you miss me Irene?"

Joohyun heard the shuffling of shoes in the hallway, footsteps approaching the kitchen. They come to a sudden halt.

"Irene, what's my landlord doing here?"

Yerim turned to Joohyun. "Who's Irene?"

"Fun nickname," The woman responded dismissively, before looking at Seungwan. "I met her at the laundromat! It was nice to have company while you were gone, so I invited her in." Seungwan appeared surprised, but not too concerned, thankfully. She continues, "I hope you don't mind. She's actually just leaving. Right, Yerim?

The teen places her mug down with a clang. "Uh, yeah. I'm just going." She got up from her chair as Seungwan brought over her take-home bags of pastries. "I've actually been wanting to speak to you, Seungwan." The singer shrinks. "When were you going to tell me that you had a new roommate?"

Seungwan brings a hand to the back of her neck, scratching, a nervous habit. She stutters as she searches for an explanation. "I- I was meaning to, but I've just been busing with writing lately and..."

Yeri's eyes give off a mischievous glint, a youthful twist to the professional manner with which she was now addressing Seungwan. "I knew that you wouldn't be able to give a straight answer." As she steps toward the door, she leaves a few final comments. "You're lucky that I like her. Don't think that this gets you out of her half of the rent this month, though! I'll see you next week to collect it. Goodbye, Joohyun!" Sliding on her coat, with a wave, she slips out of the door.

"Well that was weird and unexpected." Seungwan sets her bags on the table. "Manen wasn't enough company?"

"Apparently not," Irene answers. "And when I met her, I could see a burning desire. She really wanted someone to talk to."

Seungwan nods understandingly, finding it heartwarming how kind the genie was. "Sounds like you got a lot of talking done. Almost seems like she knows you more than I do."

"I wouldn't say that."

"It does seem like I missed out on something, though. Joohyun?" Seungwan asks.

"It's a name."

"I didn't know we had to develop a new identity for you. I wish I was in on the whole backstory planning process." Seungwan pouts, expression then shifting towards amusement. "Like a secret agent! Were you interrogated? I know Yerim can be a little intrusive sometimes, but she usually means well." A little intrusive was an understatement. She thought back to the day when Yerim caught her in the middle of songwriting, shooting a relentless barrage of questions about everything from the process to the producers.

"It's not much of a backstory, I just answered with the truth."

Seungwan became more inquisitive. "So what is the truth?"

"You've already been introduced to the Genie Incorporated side of things. I don't have much of an identity outside of that."

"You don't have to lie to me. I think that you're full of identity." The singer laughed humorously. "But I'm still curious. You had to pick up all of that snark from somewhere."

"I guess the truth, then, in the way that you're thinking of, is my first life." Seungwan's eyebrows shoot up, leading Irene to jump in and correct her assumption. "No, no, nothing like reincarnation. By first life, I just mean everything before the genie situation. It wasn't anything special, just a quaint rural life." Her expression turned nostalgic and contemplative. "I remember days at the family restaurant, watching patrons come in and out. I was always happiest seeing the smiles on their faces when we served a particularly good dish. There were so many different people to talk with, banter with. That's where the snark derived, if you're still wondering." Her lips drew upward in a gentle smile. "It was nice."

Seungwan couldn't help but marvel at the beautiful sense of calm that Irene had in her reminiscing. Her eyes traced the genie's lineaments as she was speaking, watching the ebb and flow of the curves of her lips altering to fit around the sounds of vowels and consonants. Needless to say, she was a little distracted, yet still engaged enough to imagine scenes of Irene in simple clothes, hair pulled up as she waltzed between tables of diners. "It sounds lovely."

"It was." As if suddenly snatched from her pleasant daydreams, her expression became distant. "Then the organization came and swooped me up."

"You couldn't stop them?"

Irene chuckled sardonically. "Stop a supranational magical organization? As if small rural girl had the power to do that." Tone suddenly serious, Irene's face was tinged with silent melancholy. "You'll find that geniehood is an infinite debt. We're always paying it back through granting the wishes of our masters."

The bitter truth of that comment made Seungwan resigned. "I don't want to feel like a debt to you."

"You're not." Expression softening, Irene steps toward her, wrapping her small hands around Seungwan's comfortingly. "You feel like a freedom I've never had."

Seungwan took on a redder hue, silenced from making any further comments. Irene withdrew her hands, moving instead to peruse the bags of leftovers Seungwan had left on the island. "I mean, no other master would've brought me dessert." She beams.

"What if I said they weren't for you?" Seungwan smirked as Irene's hands moved toward her hips, striking an indignant pose with an incredulous expression to match. Eyes full of delight, Seungwan teased, "Maybe I brought them for Joohyun. I feel like I never really got that question answered, by the way. Where does the name come from?"

"Technically, I did answer, but I'll humor you." The nostalgic expression returns. "It was my first name -- my real name. Back when I was a person and not a genie."

"Could I call you Joohyun?"

The genie's head tilted slightly, "Is there a particular reason for the change?"

"I'd like to refer to you as a person, not just a genie. You mean more to me than that. Unless, you don't want me to, of course."

Her smile widened beyond what Seungwan had ever seen before, presenting an evident counter to the latter option. Seungwan would do anything to keep seeing her smile like that.

"Okay then, Joohyun." Seungwan pulled out a box of red velvet cake. "I believe these desserts are for you."