The sound of someone knocking in Ahyeong’s car’s window pane broke her dream or whatever it was. She blinked her eyes open and shook her head before looking sideways to find Hyoson and Chunghee looking at her. She has definitely gone crazy with her fantasies that now it is haunting her even when she was awake but the sweetness it left behind was worth it but not today after how it ended. She was cheating, never in her wildest dream will Ahyeong ever think about cheating and if that someone happens to be him who was so nice to her then it was close to impossible. She took a deep breath as everything around her felt heavy “It’s just a dream, it’s not like I am doing it in reality and it’s not like they exist in the first place. It’s just a fantasy bubble I am in and one day it will burst so get yourself together Ahyeong ah”, She tried to absorb the bitter fact. She once again looked at them who were now looking back at her weirdly before opening the car door for them to enter.

“Are you alright?” Hyoson asked in worry as she sat beside her in the passenger seat.

“I don’t think she is, didn’t you see how much how pale her face was when we came. Even now she is looking like a ghost.” Chunghee jumped in the conversation before Ahyeong could even give any response. Hyoson extended her hands in order to wipe her forehead which was covered in sweat. It was only then when she realized that she was indeed in a messy state as her whole body was drenched in sweat while her skin has lost its color.

‘Let’s just cancel today’s plan. You are in a dire need of rest.” Hyoson paused for Ahyeong to absorb whatever she just said. When she was about to say she was fine Hyoson cut her off, “I know you are very healthy in your opinion but I don’t think your body feels the same.”

“Okay then I will drive. You come here.” Chunghee gestured to Ahyeong to sit in the backseat while the two females looked at him in horror. No way are they letting him drive as the memory of him almost killing them with his rash driving surfaced in their brain, the first and last time Ahyeong let him drive her car. Thankfully they survived the crash with Chunghee only getting a small forehead injury while Hyoson and Ahyeong had few scratches here and there. If there was any award for the worst driver ever, Chunghee would definitely win it without any strong competition; he was that bad.

“Hyoson, you can drive my baby. I am not letting him touch my precious car.” Ahyeong said while getting out of her car to which Hyoson immediately agreed.

“Why are you speaking as if I am a really bad driver?” A very offended Chunghee spoke in his defense before proudly adding, “Girls swoon over my driving skills and can’t get enough of it.”

For the next few days despite her giving up on reading romantic comics, her chain of dreams never ceased instead whenever she closed her eyes even for a small nap she would see them. The sweet gestures of his alleged husband never ceased and despite him being someone who doesn’t exist in real life she was foolishly falling for him. The way he will always cuddle her to sleep, wake her up with butterfly kisses then they will shower together, eat together and leave together for their respective work. He would sing songs while driving, glancing at her every now and then, and smiling in content as if he has won some kind of lottery. He would touch her at every chance, his hands will always find her hand; intertwining he will kiss them and sometimes or bite it. He was expressive when it came to showing his love either it’s his words or his actions; both of it were loud and clear unlike her but she still tried to reciprocate it whenever he initiated it with full fervor. She liked him a lot. He was the dream man of every girl but too bad he only existed in her dreams. She was grateful that the cheating incident was never touched in her later dreams which she thought might have some continuation.

On the other hand her alleged lover or maybe not didn’t leave any chances of showcasing his tenderness towards her, she knew she was selfish but she was greedy because never in this lifetime will she ever get two great men who were so good to her. He would cook for her, listen to her babbling and always motivate her whenever she was down and pamper her a lot. He was so nice and so good to her.

She concluded through her dreams that maybe she got in an arranged marriage with her husband while she had a thing for this man, but the man was clueless. If they were lover he would have initiated any kind of skinship with her but he never did, hence whatever relationship they had was all platonic. He was someone she really adored and admired. And with that her conscience pushed her into another dilemma, what was she trying to pull out it? She can’t have both of them.

With the number of her dreams spiking up day by day was tiring as hell, because of that she couldn’t properly sleep. As much as she loved the idea of meeting them, it was hard on both her physical and mental health; it actually became worse but maybe something worse was yet to come, she could feel it in her every cells that were screaming for help. She was sure that she is in the initial stages of losing her mind and it won’t be long that she might be even admitted in the psychiatric hospital. Even though the dreams made her feel good whenever she was in it but when she came out of it, it only worsened her dilemma. What was happening to her exactly? She still has 2 days in hand before her next appointment with Dr. Lee, hoping she would get some answers but also internally dreaded meeting him only to learn the exact reason behind her condition and if her assumptions go right then her family will leave no chance to disown her when she herself was serving them the reasons in a plate. She has to stop it before it gets out of her hand and anyone in her family smells the situation because her enemies in her family were countless and her allies null.

***

Ahyeong explained her condition to both Hyoson and Chunghee leaving no details. Hyoson who already knew about it in bits and pieces found it somehow strange because one can’t dream without sleeping and even if one did what are the chances of it being a dream. Chunghee, who was strangely serious while listening, came with the theory that it might be a premonition dream, a theory she already threw out of the window after her conversation with Dr. Lee but something in her begged her to cling into that theory, so she did and her friends agreed to it without any objection. She just wanted to believe in anything even it made zero sense, than considering she was suffering from some kind of mental illness.

“So where should we start from? Do you have a plan to prove that it is actually a premonition dream?” Hyoson asked, who was still the most rational one hence also little reluctant about this theory among them.

“Think about whatever you saw in the dreams, like the places, if you have seen them in real life.” Chunghee was exceptionally good in useless things but Ahyeong bit her tongue to stop herself from saying that out loud and instead focused on the remnants of her dreams out of which she forgot lot of details.

“In the first dream, the furniture and the decor in his bedroom I think I have seen them. While in the second dream, it was in this very hospital but I don’t know which floor it was but I think I can recognize it if I happen to see it. I remember their voice and if I heard in real I think I can recognize that too.” Ahyeong mumbled unsurely. She looked at them who seemed to be considering her words.

“Is there anything like body marks or something you remember about them?” Chunghee asked after a bit of silence.

“The first one~” She dragged while trying to remember.

“Yes your husband” Chunghee teased which made Ahyeong glare at him while her face flushed in embarrassment and anger for disclosing such information to him knowing well he will use that as a weapon to .

“Can you shut about it or I will tell your current girlfriend about your es for pigs?” Ahyeong threat successfully made Chunghee zip his mouth.

“He was really gorgeous, bright like sun and has soft skin. He smelled really nice, it was musk, jasmine and something I can’t pinpoint. He felt like an adorable puppy.” She reminisced about the features while acting all giddy. If she ever meets someone like him she would definitely ruffle his hair whenever she got the chance and treat him with lot of food.

“Puppies don’t seduce people and they are definitely not hot and y.” This time Hyoson spoke breaking Ahyeong’s little bubble who only glared in response.

“How come no one told me this important information?” Chunghee glared at both women. “About the second guy, I think he is a doctor because I have mostly seen him in his scrubs. About his features I think he was really cute but always carried a serious face.” Ahyeong ignored Chunghee curiosity before continuing her telltale about the other guy, “He had a nice voice too. You know the kind of voice that sounds like sweet lullaby.” She sighed dreamily.

“There is a chance that you might have met the second guy if he happens to work in this hospital.” Hyoson filled in, “How about we check in the hospital records? Maybe we can find something there.” There was a fire in Hyoson’s demeanor which Ahyeong didn’t expect given her hesitation in the beginning but Hyoson suggestion caught her attention. “Why didn’t I think about it earlier? But how are we supposed to get our hands on it, it’s going to be a difficult task.”

“Why fear when I am here.” Chunghee spoke nonchalantly while a smug smile appeared in his lips. Well sometimes he did useful things too.

“How are you going to do that?” Ahyeong popped the question

“Leave it to me, I will bring it.” He stood up from his seat before adding. “If this person doesn’t exist, there is a fat chance that it’s a premonition dream.”

“Shouldn’t you say the reverse?” Hyoson interjected while Ahyeong narrowed her eyes at him gesturing him to explain.

“Well if he exist, it means that you might have seen him which concludes that you are using his image in your dreams, you know to shape him but if he don’t then there is no way you are imagining a person on your own. Well it’s impossible.”

“Well we can’t ignore the possibility that she might have seen him somewhere else.” Hyoson countered his theory.

“If that’s the case then why she imagined him as a doctor in this very hospital, when we both know there is zero chance that she will ever date a doctor.” He gave another theory.

All this while Ahyeong looked at both of them in distaste because both of them made sense at the same time it also made her pull her hair out. “Stop fighting.” She interrupted their heated debate before looking at Chunghee, “You bring the information and meet us in my home. We can’t take any chances here.” She shifted her gaze towards Hyoson, “We only just started right now so I don’t think we will get any concrete answer as if now but we can at least get some hints.” She sighed before adding, “I think that’s enough for today’s agenda. I still have some time left before my next appointment. What about you two?” With her out of blue question, both of her friends glanced towards the big wall clock, “I am basically free for the day, my last appointment got cancelled but I need some rest, I haven’t properly slept for two days in a row.” Hyoson got up and walked leisurely and on the other hand Chunghee was rushing towards the door while cursing at himself for forgetting his appointment.

**********************************************************************************

“I should have betted on this.” Chunghee was beyond elated at the revelation while Ahyeong was distressed, reasons unknown. Well one of it could be her friend’s constant bickering.

“She doesn’t even know how he looks like forget about recognizing him.” Hyoson defended her theory.

“Hyoson ah~ he is not here.” Ahyeong spoke in her low voice as much as she wanted it to be a premonition dream she also hoped for him to exist. They already went through the profiles of the whole staff but none of them clicked to be the person she was looking for.

Hyoson embraced her in consolation. “Do you know who can actually tell something about dreams and what they mean?” Hyoson gave up on her fight after seeing her friend’s dull face. Chunghee thought for a while before screaming, “Eomma!”

“Your Eomma, what?” Ahyeong spoke up.

“My Eomma knows a shaman; she is actually good in whatever she does. I think we should meet her up.” The word shaman rang bell in Ahyeong’s head but she couldn’t pinpoint why.

“Where does she live?”

“Jeju Do.”

“And when do we plan on going?”

“How about tomorrow, it’s a weekend and we can have a mini vacation.” Chunghee wiggled his eyebrows in excitement.

“Are you serious? I think you forgot that your department is having a felicitation ceremony coming Monday, specially organized for your Do Kyungsoo and you voluntarily accepted the responsibilities for organizing it.” Chunghee’s eye widened at Hyoson’s reminder.

“I think I know a shaman who lives in Gangnam.” Ahyeong looked at her friend while adding, “You know the woman I was with when you picked me at the street bar few days ago.”

“That weird lady you called your well wisher.” Ahyeong nodded in agreement.

“How about we meet her tomorrow?” She asked after a while.

“I am in.” Both of her friends answered in unison.

*************************************************************************

“Princess, you shouldn’t stress yourself too much.” He back hugged her whispering those words in her ear. “I really hate it when you are miserable, I know it’s hard but you can still rely on me. If you are angry scream at me, if you feel like crying I will lend you my shoulder, if you feel like running away I will run away with you and if you feel it’s tiring I will become your solace. So please express whatever you are feeling, I will listen to you.” He turned her around and started caressing her cheeks which was now wet with her tears. His kind words were acting as catalyst as more tears seeped from her eyes.

Ahyeong looked at her husband; his bright eyes were filled with his own tears ready to come out any moment. She used her thumb to wipe them as guilt chewed her for making her man cry. It was not fair that he still look so gorgeous with his sad face, she traced his facial moles with her thumb before kissing each of them. The man in front of her deserved lot of love which she was very willing to give. She wanted to treasure him in every way she could.

“Dr. Shin, you can’t just create an emotional atmosphere and then start with your little actions.” He whispered in a low voice and Ahyeong eyes widened in realization at what she was doing. She locked her eyes with him. She internally prayed to remember this gorgeous man after she wakes up and never forget like she did in the past because she doesn’t want to remember him just as some fantasy but a precious part of her life.

“I Love you so much B-”

Ahyeong eyes opened while her whole body was buzzing, god knows with what; sadness because it ended too soon, happiness because she now knows how he exactly looks like. Every single detail about him was now printed in her brain. She started laughing like crazy. She finally did it. Ahyeong didn’t know for how long she screamed and jumped in her bed because the next moment she laid in her bed she drifted in her dreamland again.

“Oppa, why are you so cute. You don’t know how much I am tempted to pinch your cheeks.” Ahyeong cooed at the male who cutely glared at her before speaking in his pouty lips.

“I am not cute and can you please stop throwing chocolate in the rice. Why the hell did I even allow you in my house?” He sighed before threatening, “I will tell Dr. Kim that you called him dwarf behind his back if you don’t stop now. For heaven’s sake don’t ruin my recipe.”

“Aren’t you the one who called him that first? And for your information, white chocolate will go really well with rice.” Ahyeong some more and that’s when the man lost his patience and started dragging her out of his kitchen.

“Oppa~ I won’t tease you anymore. Please.”Ahyeong spoke in her high pitched voice acting cutely.

“Ah my eyes, don’t do that weird show of your ever again it makes me nauseous.” He gave her a disgusted look before running away from her while Ahyeong ran after him continuing her sickening cute antics.

“Yah-Yah Chunghee, do something. I think she-”

“Who the hell laughs like that while sleeping? She looks like-” Hyoson glared at him stopping whatever nonsense he was going to spew.

“I don’t care what you think just wake her up.”

Ahyeong slowly opened her eyes only to find her bickering friends but she was too happy to care.

“So you mean to say, you finally remember how the men from your dreams look like.” Hyoson said every word slowly as if talking to a kid. Ahyeong nodded her head vigorously while her big smile never leaving her face.

“Then why are we still going to that shaman when you now know the people of your dreams” Hyoson huffed.

“I don’t know them, I only know how they look like and that’s it, also we still have to figure out why am I having those dreams?”

“We are in Gangnam for a whole hour but instead of going inside that shaman’s house, you are driving in circles. I don’t think you are really convicted about meeting her.” Chunghee who was as always sitting in the backseat prompted. He was somehow right and Ahyeong can’t deny the nervousness she felt thinking about myriad possibilities.

“Can you fasten up? I have some real work to get done by today.”

“Then why did you come with us if you have other things to do?” Ahyeong stopped the car before glaring at the man behind her and getting out of the car when Chunghee kept mum because he was just as curious as everyone.

The address they were told was nothing like she imagined, she thought the house will have eerie vibes to it given the owner’s profession but it was completely different. It felt like it belonged to some old, traditional nature lover because the small Joseon era styled house was surrounded by a vast garden covered with variety of plants and trees.

Before Ahyeong can knock on the door the door opened on its own revealing the person she was looking for.

“Oh, Shin Ahyeong.” Ahyeong was baffled because one, she didn’t expected the woman standing in front of her to remember her name given how much wasted she was that night and two she looked extremely beautiful and classy compared to that particular night.

“Hello, I-” Ahyeong greeted and was about to tell about her reason for her arrival but the Shaman seems to have different plan as she dragged her inside while her friends followed them. The interior of the house felt like a palace. Every single article in this house seems like it was inherited from a King himself.

“I know why you are here and seems like you brought your friends.” She gestured towards the antic sofa made purely of timber which was covered with red velvet cover and all three of them sat with Ahyeong in the middle.

“What do you mean by ‘you know why I am here.’?” Chunghee who was sitting beside her elbowed her while mouthing she was being rude to a shaman.

“Don’t worry kid I won’t curse at her if you are worried”, the shaman sweetly smiled at the male before glaring at Ahyeong, “Yah why are you so rude to me and that too in my very own house.”

Ahyeong sighed while rolling her eyes, “I am definitely not being rude and I just asked you a simple question because I was curious, like how do you why I am here.”

“She’s a shaman, duh.” Chunghee prompted from beside.

“He’s a really smart kid. I can see he has a really bright future.” The shaman cooed.

“We are here-” Ahyeong interjected.

“Really Ajumma, I-”

“What about me?” The ever so uninterested Hyoson spoke this time. And with that Ahyeong lost her every bit of patience as she slammed the tea table in front of her silencing everyone in the room.

“Weren’t you getting late for work?” She glared at Chunghee on her left then glanced at Hyoson on her right before adding. “Let me talk about my problems with her first then you can just ask her whatever you want to know. Okay?” Her friends nodded at Ahyeong afraid if they triggered her anymore she will kill them without hesitation. She looked scary at that moment.

“I thought the dream I gave you will change you but it seems-” At shaman’s words all three heads turn towards her.

“You what-” No way, it’s not possible. What does she mean by the dreams she gave? Well nothing made sense to her but she has to confirm that what she heard was just a slip of tongue.

“You gave me the dreams?” Ahyeong slowly let out those words not really knowing what was she even asking, like seriously how can you give someone dreams. The joke has gone too far, the shaman was playing with her.

The shaman nodded her head in agreement. The seriousness her face exhibited was genuine. She doesn’t seem to be the type to lie. Ahyeong was speechless and looked at her friends to ask for assurance that whatever she was hearing wasn’t real but their face told her that it was actually possible after all shaman does have that kind of powers; she felt like hitting her head hard, how can she not when all these days she was living in fear with her worst nightmare that she was getting mentally ill but turns out the shaman in front thought it was a great idea to pull her magic tricks on her because apparently she can. “Why?”

“You asked for it.” The shaman replied showing zero remorse for what she did instead blamed it on her.

“When did I ask you to do something like that? Do you how much I suffered because of those dreams?” Ahyeong spoke angrily.

“Don’t lie when you completely enjoyed romancing two hot guys. Did you already forget about today’s commotion when you finally learned how they look like?” Chunghee blurted out the facts.

“Two guys? And how did you remembered them, you were not suppose to remember anything.” Now it was the shaman’s turn to fall in shock. When Ahyeong thought that she just got over her initial shock after learning about the reason behind her dreams, the sudden confusion that plastered on Shaman’s face triggered fear inside her. What was happening? Did she put a wrong spell on her?

“What-? Care to explain what all this is about.” Ahyeong was beyond frustrated at the revelations, when she thought she will finally have her answers she didn’t expect she will get it in a messy way. Not like this.

“I am confused too. What the hell is going on here?” Hyoson held Ahyeong closer afraid she might do something reckless as she looked like she will rip apart anyone who annoyed her. Ahyeong took a deep breath when she felt her friend holding her tight, since when did she lose control so easily. It was unlike her; honestly everything was unlike her since the day she met that shaman and started getting those dreams.

The Shaman sighed trying to control whatever she was feeling which was unclear to the three clueless people. “Listen to what I am saying without interrupting me in the middle and whatever question you have shove it inside your mouth for the time being until I am done speaking.” She looked at the three friends for confirmation who only nodded their head in agreement before continuing. “Remember when I chased after you that night and told you about your negative aura. You asked me for a talisman to suppress your negativity and taking that into consideration I put a magic spell on you which kind of got messed up. It was a drunken mistake. I don’t know what went wrong with the dream but I just hope it wasn’t something extreme.” The guilt was now visible on her face. Ahyeong didn’t knew exactly what she was she supposed to do at the moment, the anger has already subsided and her rational mind was now looking at every angles. Come to think about it, it’s not like those dreams has done any serious damage on her plus the Shaman’s intentions were good. It’s not like she had any malice towards her so she should let this slide because mistakes can happen even in science. And her negative thoughts triggered because of her own assumptions and the dreams did bring her happiness.

When her thoughts got clear, she came with two conclusions which were almost positive, one- the dream was caused due to some spell which meant she wasn’t delusional. Two, it wasn’t like she completely hated those dream in fact she really loved them. But now what? What exactly was the purpose behind putting a dream spell on her?

“I thought those dreams might sprout a hope inside you that you were struggling to keep alive inside you.” The unspoken question was answered by the shaman.

“Do they really exist? I mean the men from my dream.” The question that always bugged her since her dreams started was out.

“Well no one was supposed to appear in your dreams in the first place so I don’t how anyone even appeared in your dream; it was meant to calm your nerves and motivate you throughout the day and curb any negativity. I have to look more into this before I can give you any answer because I myself don’t know exactly which spell I put on you but when I find out I will tell you.”

“The dreams I saw, will they ever come true?” Ahyeong asked hesitatingly internally praying for it to come true.

“I am not in a position to answer that but dreams like that are just lies because it’s something we shaman’s created inside someone’s head, also there’s one thing I want to warn you about, I know it’s already too late and your friends know about your dream but in the future don’t tell anyone about your dream. Don’t try to search for them otherwise it will get more painful for you. I think one of the reasons it became that way was because you started sharing your dreams with other people so from now onwards control yourself from talking about it.” She paused briefly to inhale a huge amount of air before continuing, “I will give you a potion that will make you forget about those dreams if you want.” Ahyeong sighed at the Shaman’s word, she understand the woman was bounded but her curiosity was tempting her to be satiated but she also realized that whenever she shared about her dreams it only left her with more bitter experience but forgetting about those dreams was the last thing she wanted to do. She still nodded her head in agreement before looking at the two people besides her who were silent throughout the whole revelation.

“If you have any more questions you can call me.” The Shaman passed her business card towards her before looking at the other two persons and asking them, “Now you want to know what destiny has in store for you two.”

The Ending Note:

The chapter was not supposed to be this long initially but I just wanted to get over with it because I want to write later chapters which is more my type. I know current chapters are boring for many readers but well I wanted to create a foundation for my story. I am still a newbie writer trying to explore her writing styles so please bear with me for the time being. Well now you definitely know why the second chapter was called a drunken mistake because our shaman here was the one who did that. I know many of you have questions about this bizzare chapter so please don't hesitate to comment below. I want to assure you that the future chapters are going to give you tears fo joy.