“What are we going to do about Ren?”

The couple stayed in the study. Woohuyn sat on the sofa, brushing Irene’s hair. She had her head in his lap and her legs hang off the side of the sofa. Their souls connected in marriage and their love for one another allowed them to speak with each other without words.

A pleasant aura filled the house, but because of the barrier, the study still had the couple haven’t noticed their child came home. Ren hugged Mainee, and without asking about his parents, hopped straight toward the study. There was no need for questions because he could feel their presence and hear their thoughts vibrating in the air.

Ren was ecstatic. He was at the age when people planned their future and that excited him. He also had a special someone he cared for. All they have left to do were the legalities.

The closer he was to the study room, the murmurs got louder and more clear. The more he heard what he was not supposed to hear, the more confused he got.

“What is the meaning of this?!”

Woohyun and Irene jumped up, astonished.

Very early on, the couple noticed their child was a little different from the rest. Children are powerful because their innocence helps their magic shine. With years as they learn more and learn to control the power they possess, the energy in their bodies calms down, but Ren was different. A lot of the power children posses and lose with age in Ren only strengthened. Irene and Woohyun had to be very careful with thoughts and words, because Ren picked up on everything, but for the first time, they realized that even the magic barrier had no effect on him.

Before Woohyun could have removed his illusion spell, Ren walked right in and hit the invisible wall and started violently coughing. For a second they just stood there, amazed. Irene nudged Woohuyun to awake him to the situation. Woohyun quickly recalled the spell.

“What was that?” It confused ren as his mother led him to sit down on the sofa.

“You know we use the rocks in the study…” Irene wasn’t sure how to explain because she herself couldn’t believe what they just saw. Woohyun handed him a glass of water and patted his son’s back.

“The Kang family, who even is that?” Ren continued the thought he had before he hit something.

Irene felt troubled. This is not how she wanted to talk about that matter and Woohyun was still stunned.

Ren was exceptional in every way. He met no one to whom magic comes so naturally as him, but his school results were among the worst. The teachers, professors always complained over him, it made no sense.

Irene sighed and glanced at Woohyun. Where to start?

Ren waved his hand among them, breaking their eye contact.

“Don’t do that right in front of me!” Ren sniffed. His eyes were big and red.

“I want some answers. You accepted a marriage proposal from the Kang family? Who even …?!” Ren looked at them in disbelief. That was not Aron’s last name. They knew each other since they were children. They always talked about how they’ll join the two families.

“Ren, honey, you know how it is, everyone wants the best for their offspring and your scores are not exactly the most wanted…” Irene forced a smile.

Ren felt nausea overcoming him. Her words echoed. Those damned scores. Why would they matter if they promised him to Aron long ago?

“What about Kwak family, me and Aron …” He muttered back to her, but got interrupted when a vase broke, Woohyun’s colors lingered among the shards.

 “You still hang out with Aron!? “ Woohyun asked with a stern voice. He was not pleased to hear that.

“Honey…” Irene tried to calm down her husband. Woohyun didn’t want to hear it. They already had this discussion, but Ren just doesn’t want to see the reality.

Mainee interrupted their conversation, inviting everyone to the dining room.

Woohyun huffed and looked at his shivering son, who faced ground. Anger slowly overcame him. He saw enormous potential in his son, great power, but it clashed with Ren’s tender and dreamer like personality. He looked at Irene and left them alone before he might say something he didn’t mean.

“Why is he so mad? Everyone teased us we’ll get married one day?” Ren was confused and looked at his mother in despair.Irene sighed and looked at her son.

They haven’t spoken to Kwak family for a long time. It’s true the families were good friends, but when Ren started attending school, and his results were bad, they slowly deviated their ties. They weren’t the only people around Woohyun and Irene who backed out when they realized the young heir academically appeared to not be as nearly powerful as their parents.

“Ren, we talked many times about how you should find other friends besides Aron,” Irene said softly.

“Don’t tell me you haven’t noticed we don’t speak with Kwak family anymore? I mean, when was the last time you saw them visiting here?” Irene knew her son and she expected something like this could happen.

When he was young and started school, other children alienated him, except Aron, since they knew each other outside the school. Showing a lot of interest for books and fairytales didn’t help the boy make friends either.

Ren didn’t know what to think. Her question repeated itself in his head. When was the last time he saw Aron’s mother visiting?

“I don’t know how to say this, but Aron will marry JR.” Irene added the final blow and saw something change in his son's eyes.

“That’s not true.” Ren mumbled and stood up immediately. He stared back at his mother, examining her eyes.

“Why would you say that!?” First tears rolled down his cheeks. Lies, those were all lies. They just spoke before he came home. Aron would tell him something this important. He slightly pushed Irene with his shoulder as he turned and left the room.

Irene sat down. She felt exhausted.

They could have dealt with this in a better way.

“I’m exhausted!” Baekho stared at the mirror that reflected his friend, who was still at the university.

He quickly corrects himself.

“I love it here, I haven’t had such peace in a long time, but this dinner with your family, it's exhausting to pretend, especially since this trick is so basic, I’m constantly scared your mother will look right through me.”

The illusion worked because he and L were of similar height and age. It wouldn’t work if Baekho wanted to pose as an old man. He also can’t change his voice, so he mostly stays quiet in the pretense of a sore throat. It works well because L is a calm person.

“My mom is so hectic, she probably wouldn’t notice if you came as yourself.” L couldn’t help but grin. He never talked so much with Baekho as he had these last two days, as Baekho reports back to him about what’s going on at home. It surprised him how much joy this little prank brought and he’s not even there.

“She has another surprise for me tomorrow. I need to get a lot of sleep so I can recharge.” He laughed, but there was a small rock of envy in his chest. Baekho only read about such warm family dynamics in novels.

“I wouldn’t worry about it. The last time her big surprise was a table she bought for herself ..” L chuckled when the memory came to him.

“I’ll tell you about it tomorrow. I’ll have to get up early for my surprise” Baekho did a silly face. They laughed and said their goodbye’s.

Baekho laid in bed. Many thoughts ran through his head. He can’t stay here much longer, can he?