TAEYEOL: MAGIC

                Chanyeol moved another box in the attic. He had been up there for half the day already, and he wasn’t anywhere near finished. Alas, he did promise his aunt he’d get it cleaned by the end of the day, and he was determined to keep his promise. Going through the box he just picked up, he found various antiques in it. Chanyeol pulled out a dusty jewelry box, glittering with gems, though there were some missing. Not thinking anything of it, he set it aside to continue looking. He sneezed from the dust in the air.

                “Aish, I should have brought a mask.” Chanyeol sneezed again, and wiped his nose on his sleeve. A strange feeling took over him as the jewelry box caught his sight again. He picked it up again, examining it closer. It was small and had a rounded dome shape, like a ball with a flat bottom. The gems adorning the outside looked real to Chanyeol, who was shocked that something seemingly expensive could be so unkempt. He tried to open it, but the lid would not budge. He figured it was broken, not worth much anymore, but somehow, he couldn’t bring himself to throw it out.

                “Ah, what am I even thinking? There is nothing special about this, and it’s not like I have any use for it. Still…” Chanyeol trailed off, staring at the small jeweled box in his hand. He rubbed his thumb over one of the gems, a sapphire as he found out, clearing the dust from its surface. Suddenly a bright light flashed, causing Chanyeol to cover his eyes.

                “UWAAAAH!! Finally! Someone has called on me!” Chanyeol quickly looked up to see a girl standing in the middle of the attic. She turned to look at him, her honey colored hair bouncing on her head. “Ah, you must be the new master. At least you’re cute. The last one…not so much.” Chanyeol was speechless. Where did this girl come from? He was truly bewildered.

                “Who…What…How?” He stammered, still not quite making sense of his own thoughts. The girl giggled and walked over to him. Sitting down beside him, she took the jewelry box from him and held it up.

                “It seems you need some explanation. I,” She turned her body to face him. “am a genie, and I live in this jewelry box. You can call me Taeyeon.” He gaped at her.

                “A what? Genie? Like in that Disney film?” Chanyeol stared at her in disbelief. She grinned; he was taking this better than most did when first summoning her.

                “In a way yes. You have three wishes. You can wish for anything, except love, life, and death. You can’t make anyone fall in love with you, come back from the dead, or die before their time is up. Other than that, the world is yours.” Taeyeon took his hand, gently placing the jewelry box in it. “So, Master, what is your first wish?” Chanyeol just sat and stared at the sapphire he had rubbed clean earlier.

                “Do I…do I have to ask for my wishes right away?” He looked up at her, finally seeing what she looks like up close. Not realizing their closeness, he blushed a little, leaning away slightly to give her more room. Taeyeon noticed, and gave him a warm smile.

                “Aniyo, you can make a wish whenever you want. As long as you don’t lose my jewelry box.” She smiled again, and stood up, looking around. “Oh my, this room is absolutely filthy!” Chanyeol let out a yelp.

                “Uh, you don’t have to worry about it, I don’t want to use my first wish for cleaning an attic.” Chanyeol rubbed the back of his neck as Taeyeon spun to look at him, her hands planted on her hips.

                “Nonsense, I’ll just clean this up, and then we can be on our way! Consider this a meeting gift.” With a snap of her fingers, Taeyeon made the room clean itself, books and boxes floating through the air as they stacked themselves in place. The dust flew out the open window, and upturned furniture righted and set themselves in place. When the room settled back down, it was clean, and Chanyeol swore he could see actual sparkles.

               “That was…wow. Thanks, that probably would’ve taken me the rest of the day.” Chanyeol looked around the room, then at Taeyeon. She really seemed to be something, that was for sure. She turned to look back (up) at him, a smile still on her face. Bouncing over to him, she took his hand and began to drag him to the door. Stumbling, he slipped her jewelry box into his pocket, and followed out of the attic. “W-where are we going?”

                “Well, I’ve been in that box for who knows how long, and I want ice cream.” She continued pulling him, past his aunt, who didn’t seem to notice anything odd, and out the front door towards his car. Strapping in, he pulled out of the driveway.

                “What kind of ice cream do you like?” Chanyeol casually asked, as if the girl sitting next to him wasn’t a genie that just magically cleaned his aunt’s attic mere moments ago. He glanced at her from the corner of his eye.

                “I like all of them! The sweetness, the way it melts as it slides down your throat.” She had a dreamy look in her eye, folding her hands underneath her chin as she thought of all the delicious flavors she would try. She looked back at him. “Say, what year is it anyways?”

                “The year is 2012.” He swerved on the road as a loud squawk was heard from Taeyeon. Straightening the car out, he pulled into a random parking lot and stopped. “What the hell was that?”

                “2012!? It’s been 57 years since I was last summoned! My ice cream, what if it’s changed!?” Taeyeon looked despaired, clutching Chanyeol’s arm. He sighed, trying not to think about how old the genie actually was, and focused on her appearance of being in her early twenties.

                “Trust me, ice cream hasn’t changed a bit in 57 years.” Putting the car into gear, he pulled back onto the street.

                Finally, after seemed like forever, they arrived at the ice cream parlor. Taeyeon had asked questions about everything she saw, and Chanyeol had patiently answered each one. They got out of the car, and Chanyeol locked it as they approached the door. After ordering their ice cream, Taeyeon getting a triple scoop of chocolate, mint chocolate chip, and strawberry and Chanyeol getting a single scoop of vanilla, they sat at a table for two by the window.

                “Tell me more about yourself, Master.” Taeyeon suddenly spoke, half way through her second scoop. Chanyeol looked up from his ice cream, a little startled by the sudden demand of his genie. She smiled, some melting ice cream from the side of her waffle cone.

                “Well, first off, stop calling me master. People are looking at us weird. Just call me Chanyeol.” He his cone, thinking about what to say next. “What do you want to know?” She leaned forward across the table.

                “I want to know little things. How old you are, where you live, what you do for a living. Do you have any brothers or sisters? What’s your favorite color, food, drink? Do you like cats, or dogs? What’s your favorite animal—” Chanyeol held up a hand to cut her off. She stopped talking, but she eagerly sat at the edge of her seat. For some reason, she wanted to know everything about this deep-voiced man sitting before her.

                “Well, I’m twenty-two years old, I live by myself in an apartment near campus, where I’m currently getting a degree in music. I’m an only child, but I was raised by my aunt who has two children of her own, so it was like I had siblings growing up. I like the color black, my favorite food is galbi, and I really enjoy drinking milk tea. I’m definitely a dog person. My favorite animal is the panda.” Chanyeol finished, and he quickly his melting ice cream. He glanced up at Taeyeon, who had somehow already finished her own ice cream. She had a wide smile on her face, not taking her eyes off his face. Chanyeol coughed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, what do you think?”

                “I think you’re an interesting person, really. There’s something about you…” Taeyeon tilted her head, a contemplative look on her face. Chanyeol raised an eyebrow.

                “I hope it’s a good something.” He finished eating his ice and wiped his hands off with a napkin. “Well, since we’re both finished, let’s get going. I have a project I need to finish for class tomorrow.” Standing, he startled Taeyeon out of her reverie. Nodding, she followed him out.

                Chanyeol pulled into the parking lot at his apartment complex, smiling slightly at the sight of Taeyeon leaning forward eagerly in her seat. Parking, he turned the car off and turned to the genie sitting next to him.

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                “I’ll have to warn you,” he started, smiling sheepishly, “my apartment is a bit messy. I don’t really have enough time to clean it.” He watched as Taeyeon explored the main room, stepping over shoes and clothes. He wasn’t lying when he said he didn’t have enough time to clean up the place.  He watched as she looked around. There was a blue couch against the wall with a blanket folded haphazardly over the back. A mid-sized TV sat across the room from the couch, an XBOX 360 plugged into it.

                “I think it’s charming.” She turned to look back at him. The place wasn’t too grand, just a single bed room apartment.  She ventured into the kitchen, and was surprised there were no dishes or grime. The kitchen was spotless. “And here I was expecting the kitchen to be messy.” She turned to see he had followed her in.

                “Well, I eat take out most of the time, so it’s not hard to keep it clean. Besides, if my aunt knew I had a messy kitchen, she’d eat me alive.” He laughed, thinking back on old times. Taeyeon smiled before resuming her survey of the apartment. Approaching a door, she opened it and peered inside.  The bathroom was a good size, with a bathtub shower. The sink had a single toothbrush and a razor sitting on it, and was relatively clean, compared to how the living area appeared.

                “You have a nice bathroom too.” She looked around the small room some more before turning to the door across from it. She walked up to it and slowly opened it. Looking inside, she saw a large, king-sized mattress laying on the floor up against the wall. The blanket was strewn across, not made at all. There were a few shirts on the floor, and what may have been a pair of boxers; Taeyeon wasn’t going to ask as she saw Chanyeol’s blushed cheeks.

                “You can sleep in here, if you don’t mind me cleaning up a bit first.” He rubbed his neck, awkwardly kicking the pair of boxers behind him. Taeyeon stifled a giggle behind her hand.

                “I couldn’t take your bed!” Taeyeon exclaimed, surprising Chanyeol. She had her arms crossed, stubborn written across her forehead. Chanyeol sighed, running his hand through his hair. He was beginning to see the genie had a stubborn streak. “Seriously, you’re over six feet tall, and if you hadn’t noticed, your couch isn’t all that big.”

                “No. It’s fine really. I can’t possibly make you sleep on the couch. My house, my rules.” He mimicked her stance, crossing his arms across his chest. Taeyeon pouted, knowing she’s lost this round. She shuffled back into the living room, giving him the needed privacy to make his bedroom more presentable.

                After hearing the door click shut, Chanyeol sat on the edge of his bed, taking the small jewelry box out of his pocket. Turning it over in his hands, he thought about what happened. He had no doubt that she was a genie; she had proven that with the magic in the attic. The only question was what he would wish for. He could wish to get his master’s degree without doing all the work. He could wish for his friend to pass that audition; he really was a great singer, even if he had a slight tendency to sing through his nose.

                “Nah, I couldn’t wish for that. Baek would kill me if he found out I had anything to do with it.” So what could he wish for? Sighing, more aggravated than anything, he tousled his short, dark hair, messing it up. What did he really need? She already told him he couldn’t bring anyone back from the dead, so he couldn’t ask for the parents he never had.  There wasn’t anyone he was really interested in, romantically, so he didn’t need to worry about the love clause. Then he stopped. Love. She said he couldn’t wish for someone to fall in love with him, but she never said anything about somebody else.

                “Hey, Taeyeon! I think I know what I want my first wish to be.”

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                “So that’s her?” Taeyeon asked from behind her menu. They were seated at a café in the middle of campus. Taeyeon had insisted that they wear sunglasses to “disguise their identities”. Chanyeol was under the impression she watched a lot of ‘60s cop shows the last time she was out.

                “Yeah, I’m pretty sure. Wu Fan said her name was Jessica or something. Came from the States.” Taeyeon nodded, not really understanding what “from the States” meant. She assumed, correctly, that she was from out of town. “To her right is her friend Tiffany, they apparently went to the same high school, and moved over here after they graduated. To her left is Yuri. Yuri met the other two their first year of college, when they had the same entry level music course.” Taeyeon nodded again, still watching the three girls. Suddenly, she turned to look at Chanyeol.

                “How do you know all of this?”

                “Wu Fan.” He leaned back in his chair, taking a sip of his still-too-hot coffee. He watched the girl that had captured his best friend’s heart sip her iced coffee, laughing about something that had happened in their last class.

                “This Wu Pan guy must really like her.”

                “Not Wu Pan; Wu Fan. And I’m beginning to think the fool has fallen in love with her.” Taeyeon nodded, grabbing Chanyeol’s coffee to try. She didn’t like it. He laughed at the face she made, her eyes scrunched closed and the tip of her tongue sticking out.

                “Augh, that’s gross! Why do you drink that?” Chanyeol shrugged, taking a drink now that it had cooled off quite a bit. “Anyways, before we decide anything, I’d like to meet this Wu Pan. I have to know whether or not he really loves her, before I do something like this.”

               “Oh yeah, are you sure this is okay? I don’t want you to get in trouble or anything. Let me send him a text real quick; he should be getting out of class about now.” He pulled out his phone, sending his friend a text asking him to meet at the little café. He quickly got a response. “He should be here in about five minutes. His class is in that building over there.” He pointed to a building across the street and down a ways. Taeyeon grinned, absent-mindedly taking another drink of Chanyeol’s coffee.

                “Yo, Chanyeol!” Turning, Chanyeol watched his best friend and his ever-present bodyguard stride up to the table. Wu Fan always gave off an intimidating aura. When they were in high school, the girls were enamored by the thought of him being a “bad boy” and the other boys always challenging him because of it. Granted, as both Chanyeol and Wu Fan are well over six feet tall, even back then, the boys were all bark and no bite.

                “What’s up, Yifan?” Wu Fan pulled an empty chair up to their little table, sitting down.

                “Not a whole lot. Zitao almost whooped this douche bag’s for mouthing off at the professor. I’m pretty sure the guy almost himself.” Grinning, he turned to Taeyeon. “And who might you be? It’s not every day I get to see my best friend hanging out with a girl, and a pretty one at that.” Taeyeon smiled shyly, trying to discreetly scoot closer to her tall friend. Chanyeol took the cue.

                “This is Taeyeon. She’s the daughter of a friend of my aunt’s. My aunt asked if I could let her stay with me for a while. Taeyeon, this is Wu Fan.” Taeyeon waved meekly at the much taller male sitting across the table. She noticed the man standing behind Wu Fan.

                “Oh? Who’s that?” Chanyeol noticed the direction she was looking.

                “Oh, that’s Huang Zitao, Wu Fan’s bodyguard. He doesn’t really talk a whole lot.” Taeyeon nodded taking in the information. If Wu Fan was intimidating, then the sight of his bodyguard was daunting and unapproachable. Though not as tall as Wu Fan or Chanyeol, Zitao seemed more dangerous and volatile. The man hardly glanced her way as Chanyeol introduced him. It seemed at this moment, Wu Fan realized something.

                 “Wait minute – She’s staying with you? As in staying overnight, in your one bedroom apartment? Dude, when did your balls finally drop?” Taeyeon looked at from Wu Fan to Chanyeol, a little confused as to what Wu Fan meant, and why Chanyeol’s face was fifty shades of red. She leaned closer to Chanyeol.

                “What does he mean by that?” She whispered, though Wu Fan still heard. Chanyeol just about died in his seat, sinking down and hiding his face behind his now empty coffee cup, as Wu Fan busted out laughing. Even Zitao had a small smirk on his face. Remembering why he and Taeyeon had come to this particular café, Chanyeol glanced at the table that seated the object of his friend’s affections. He was slightly surprised to see the three girls looking their way. Straightening up, he grabbed Wu Fan’s collar and brought him close.

                “Dude, don’t freak out when I tell you this, but Jessica’s looking our way right now.” He watched as Wu Fan’s eyes widened.

                “, why didn’t you tell me she was here!? , I said all of those rude- things in her hearing range. Now she’s going to think I’m just some sort of good-for-nothing .”

                “You are a good-for-nothing .” Wu Fan glared and punched him on the arm. “OW! The was that for? I was just telling the truth.” Chanyeol pouted as he rubbed the sore spot on his arm, turning to Taeyeon. “Do you see what I have to put up with every day?” Taeyeon laughed – the first time Chanyeol had ever heard her actually laugh- and pinched his cheek.

                “Oh, poor baby Chanyeol is so mistreated!” It was that moment that Chanyeol decided that Taeyeon had the prettiest smile he had ever laid eyes on, no matter what Wu Fan said about Jessica. Speaking of which, Chanyeol could see Jessica start to approach their table, Tiffany and Yuri staying, giggling behind their hands.

                “Hey, Chanyeol!” He turned to look at the approaching girl, waving nonchalantly as if his best friend hyperventilated on a regular basis. He kicked Wu Fan’s shin under the table.

                “Hey, Jessica noona. What’s up?” Jessica smiled, glancing at Taeyeon, then to Wu Fan.

                “Oh, not much. Just hanging out with the girls.” They looked over at the other two girls, who waved at them. “We were just curious as to who your friends were. We didn’t think you had any friends other than that drop-out kid.” Chanyeol faked a smile. There was one thing he had forgotten to mention to Taeyeon, and that was the fact that Jessica was a total . Like, if you looked up the word in the slang dictionary, you’d find Jessica’s picture there.

                “Oh, this is my best friend, Wu Yifan. That’s his bodyguard, Zitao. And this,” he turned to Taeyeon, “is my girlfriend, Taeyeon.” He saw Wu Fan’s mouth drop open, but ignored him. He still remembered that rumor Jessica and her friends spread about him being gay, with Baekhyun of all people.

                “A girlfriend? So you do like girls then. We were all wondering if you were still dating Drop-Out.” Chanyeol’s teeth ground together, crushing his empty cup in his hand.

                “His name is Baekhyun. I’ve told you that like sixty times.” Chanyeol glared at the girl, hating that smirk on her face. She ignored him, turning to Wu Fan.

“Why do you have a bodyguard? You don’t seem like anything special to me.” Wu Fan’s face burned red, stuttering a response.

“W-Well, I- T-That is--,” Wu Fan was interrupted by his silent friend.

                “Wu Fan is an important person. Many people would like to see him hurt in some way, shape, or form. I am here to prevent that.” Jessica scoffed, hands on her hips.

                “He must not be that important then, if all he has is you.”

                “All he needs is me.” The glare Zitao sent Jessica was deadly, and Chanyeol could literally feel the hate seeping off of the usually quiet man. Jessica smirked, and boy was Chanyeol familiar with it. Zitao had walked right into her trap. By this time tomorrow, the word going around would probably go a little something like “Business major Wu Yifan is secretly ing his stoic bodyguard, Zitao.”

“I wish you weren’t such a , you know.” Chanyeol mused aloud. Suddenly the air shifted, and he watched in awe as everything around slowed. Both Jessica’s and Wu Fan’s faces displayed shock, for very different reasons. Surprised, he turned to Taeyeon.

                “I’m sorry, but you did start the sentence with “I wish”. As the bearer of my vessel, I must obey.” He watched as an unseen force surrounded Jessica, hiding her out of sight for a moment. Then, everything went back to normal, with the exception of the confusion on everyone’s faces.

                “Dude,” Wu Fan blinked a few times. “I feel weird.” There was what sounded like an agreeing noise from Zitao, but no response from Jessica. She looked the most disorganized of them all. She looked at Chanyeol.

                “Why did I come over here again?” Chanyeol then knew that his accidental wish wasn’t a waste. He tried to appear blasé, shrugging as if it was a casual encounter and she hadn’t been a raging mere moments before. 

                “We were laughing too loudly and you wanted to know why.” Jessica nodded, as if that was a perfectly plausible occurrence. He glanced over to Wu Fan, trying not to laugh at the priceless look on his face. “Now that I think about it, it was pretty lame.”

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And here is part one. I had almost given up on writing this, but I decided, since I already quite a bit, I went ahead wrote more, and then decided to publish in parts. It's pretty long, so yeah.