If you write "under the wagabi" on any of your furnitures, boys will be attracted to you like flies, someone told her.

 

Well, that's cute, and just writing some words on your furniture won't hurt you, right? Maybe Chanyeol will finally take notice of you after this.

 

On your stomach with a sharpie cap between your teeth, you make a little slurping noise to prevent any unnecessary drooling as you neatly write out the four words on your wooden chair with a thick black sharpie. On the front left leg of your chair, it reads "under the wasabi."

 

Ah, oops. You correct the last word and stare at it for a moment before closing the cap of the sharpie.

 

"Anjelle, will you wake up already and go to school?" your frustrated mother shouts from the kitchen.

 

Getting up from the floor, you grab your backpack and rush out. "I've been awake, mom! You don't have to tell me." You were in a good mood, but hearing your mother's nagging ruined it. "Seriously, I'm not a kid anymore."

 

"Sure you're not." You can practically hear your mother roll her eyes as you close the front door and leave for school without breakfast. Another morning argument with mom.

 

You make your way to the bus stop. This is a path you've been taking for the past two years. Five minute walk to the bus stop, fourteen minutes on the bus and another eight minute walk is all it takes for you to get to your high school.

 

Today, the bus is running a little late, and behind you, a group of middle school boys whispers amongst themselves, chuckling and nudging each other. They're pretty cute, is what you think despite being in high school and being older than them. You're actually quite curious as to what they're talking about so secretively.

 

Suddenly, one of the cuties shoves another cutie into you. "Ah," he looks startled, "I'm sorry... M-my friends... they're stupid." Then, he scratches his head from the awkwardness of his excuse.

 

Your mind flashes to the "under the wagabi" spell you wrote on your chair earlier. Smiling at him, you shake your head and tell him it's okay. 'Boys will be attracted to me like flies, huh?' You glance over at his friends who are almost turning purple from soundless laughter and lack of oxygen.

 

The bus is here. Bummer, what bad timing.

 

Tossing the middle school boy another shy smile, you head for the bus that has stopped in front of you. 'I guess the wagabi-thing actually works.' Today will be a good day. Feeling anxious about school and wandering if any other boys would come up and talk to you, you step on the bus and reach into your back pocket to pull out your--hm? You dig through your pockets, front and back.

 

Your bus card is gone. So is your wallet.

 

Did you drop it?

 

After apologizing to the bus driver and jumping off the bus to search for your lost belongings, you spot the cute middle school students running away from you. 'Oh no they didn't.' Realization hits you hard as you spot your familiar pink wallet in the hands of the boy that bumped into you.

 

Oh yes they did.

 

---

 

"You alright?" A tall male student with light brown hair puff out his cheeks at you with his head on his desk next to yours.

 

You answer with silence, ignoring the boy staring up at you. It's the middle of class, but the boy has no interest in the poor new teacher who doesn't have the heart to ask him to pay attention.

 

"Why were you late today?" He persists. When you still refuse to answer, he takes hold of you cheeks and start stretching them in all directions.

 

Immediately, you smack his head and release a string of profane words at him. "I told you. I walked to school, Chanyeol." You slap the Chanyeol boy on the back this time, and he groans loudly while scrunching his face in pain. This is the childhood best friend that you have a crush on--Park Chanyeol, but no way in hell will he like you back. You already know this because he has a girlfriend. You've never seen his girlfriend even though they've been dating for two years, but according to him, she's pretty.

 

"That hurt..." He's doing that face again, plumping out his lower lips over his upper ones into a pout while furrowing his eyebrows ever so slightly into a cringe. Why is he so cute?

 

You release a meaningful sigh as you rub his back where you hit him.

 

"Anjelle, Anjelle, Anjelle." He chants quickly, suddenly feeling motivated to cheer you up. "Let's go to the cafeteria. I'll buy you some bread."

 

"There's still 10 minutes left before the end of class." You say, but you're already packing your notebooks and stuffing them in the desk. Being a bread fanatic, you can't help but not care about class anymore.

 

Chanyeol chuckles at your action, and the two of you leave class as the new teacher says something about how you two shouldn't be so disrespectful, but whatever. You're in a bad mood, and Chanyeol offered to make you feel better. Sayonara, teacher~

 

Nobody's at the cafeteria. Of course, you two left class earlier, disregarding the teacher. The man behind the cash register seems slightly confused as to how we're so early.

 

Piling about seven packages of bread onto the counter, Chanyeol whips out his wallet. "Yo, how much is it?" He greets the cashier as if they've been friends since birth. You roll your eyes and laugh slightly at his dorkiness.

 

You feel the cashier take a peek in your direction. "Is this for her?" He asks, scanning the packages.

 

Chayeol gives him a strange look and nods his head. "Yep, yep." He continues nodding even after answering.

 

After a moment of thought, the male cashier stops scanning and just slides the bread in our direction. "It's on the house since it's for the pretty lady." Then, he cancels the items he just scanned.

 

Chanyeol and you both oogle at the man who replies with a silent yet shy smile.

 

The two of you headed to the roof of the school building to eat, and Chanyeol is laughing his eyes out. His deep scratchy voice filling the open air outside. "Shut up." You slap him again. He must love getting hit by you. That's why he's always being so stupid.

 

"It's on the house since it's for the pretty~ lady~" He imitates greasily, bursting out into laughter again.

 

Shaking your head in embarassment, you open a package of chocolate rolls and take a big bite into it. "He didn't say it like that."

 

"Then, how did he say it?" The boy teases.

 

Heat fills up to your cheeks. "I don't know." You toss a bread package into his face. "Why'd you buy so much anyways? I'm not a pig."

 

Chanyeol takes a seat on the ground next to me, opens a package and bites into the bread before annoyingly chuckling again. "Of course you're not a pig. You're a pretty~ lady~" Greasy again. Ugh.

 

You give him another slap that he loves so much, and Chanyeol chokes on the bread in his mouth.

 

There's no other encounters with guys after that until after school.

 

"Here." It's the 'cute' middle school boy who bumped into you earlier that morning. He was waiting for you outside the school building until class ended with your pink wallet in his hand. Chanyeol's awkwardly leaning against the wall of building a couple of yards away and picking at the outer rim of his nose in boredom. "You dropped your wallet, and I thought you already got on the bus. I didn't know you got off, so I was planning on giving it to you tomorrow at the bus stop again... until I saw your bus card inside the wallet."

 

'Was that how it was?' Taking the wallet from his hand, you check its contents. Everything's still inside.

 

"I'm really sorry. You probably had to walk to school." The middle schooler has his head down and you can tell he really is sorry by the way his ears are burning sausages.

 

"It's alright. Don't worry about it, but middle school students shouldn't be out yet, right? Did you skip school?" You ask, slightly concerned.

 

He looks happy(?) that you accepted his apologies and gazes up at you with a wide grin on his face. "I wanted to see you, so... yea..."

 

You hear Chanyeol choking on air from where he is.

 

Realizing what he had just said, the younger boy's face flush red and he runs off with "I-I'll see you around, nuna."

 

When the boy's gone, Chanyeol nudges you with his shoulder. "Nuna~" He cooes.

 

"Do you really want me to beat you into a human pulp?"

 

"I would like to see you try." He jokes, stepping back into a kungfu movement with a "hoy!" With a roll of your eyes, you walk to your bus stop, leaving Chanyeol behind, but he swiftly catches up. "I didn't know... you were so popular with the boys." The chuckle never leaving his voice, he nudges me a several times continuously with his shoulder.

 

In your mind, you're thinking about the "under the wagabi" writing on your chair. 'Is it really working?' Then you look up at Chanyeol in anticipation. 'Does Chanyeol feel anything about me as well?'

 

Chanyeol scoots back as you keep eye contact with him. "What's with you?" You guess not.

 

"Nothing."

 

 

---

 

"I'm home, mom." You shout into the house as you walk in.

 

The silence answering you lets you know that your mother's not home. She's probably out gossiping with the neighborhood moms.

 

You turn the doorknob of your room and open it.

 

"..."

 

Quietly, you close the door without entering and then blank out at the door.

 

There was a girl sitting on your chair in your room. Her dark hair was tangled and loosely hanging down low onto her lap, her head was bent down and staring at her hands figeting in her lap, was hanging wide open and unmoving.

 

'Did I... see that right?' You wonder before taking a deep breath, turning the doorknob and peering inside again. Nobody's inside.

 

"Of course," you laugh at your silliness, "who would be in my room?" However, you don't step in because the air in your room seems just a bit chillier than the living room. Still laughing quietly, you close the door and head towards the kitchen. You fix yourself a sandwhich and wait for your mom.

 

That night, after dinner with mom and dad, you face the doorway to your room again.

 

"Did you do your homework?" There it starts: your mom's nagging.

 

"I haven't even entered my room yet."

 

Your mom frowns. "That's not something to be proud of."

 

Ugh. 'Did I ever say I was proud of it?' Mothers, you can never fully understand them until you become a mom yourself.

 

No time to be joking around. The image of the girl from earlier is still bother you. "I'm going to study in the living room."

 

"Woo~" Your mom seems excited. "Then, I can stare at you studying."

 

Oh god. You're not sure what's more scary now. That girl from earlier or your mom inspecting you.

 

"I'm studying in my room." Cautiously, you open the door to your room and sneak a glance inside. The light isn't on and it's dark outside, so the room looks a lot creepy than it did with the girl in the afternoon.

 

You turn on the light and scan the room. It's feels normal. It doesn't feel shivery and all that stuff like it did before. 'Anjelle, you were probably just dreaming it.'

 

Inside the room, you finish up your homework and fall asleep. All night, you just can't shake off the feeling that something is watching you.

 

---

 

You get off the bus to see Chanyeol waiting for you.

 

You ignore him.

 

"Stop, in the name of love!" He shouts, pacing after you.

 

"Alright, Sailor Moon... Hurry up."

 

Chanyeol's arm is touching yours as he walks by your side. "How was the bus ride?" He asks with a peculiar grin.

 

You give him a weird look. "Nice... I guess."

 

He nods to himself. "That's good." Without looking at you, he continues the conversation. "Talk to anybody?"

 

Shaking your head at him, you poke at the side of your head as you feel a migraine slowly advancing.

 

"Did that kid dump you already?" He pokes the other side of your head at the same beat you are poking yours. Anybody who sees you two would think you guys are crazy.

 

"His friends said he was sick." You slap his hand away. The migraine is getting worse because you didn't sleep well last night.

 

You aren't sure if Chanyeol noticed it, but he shut up for the rest of the walk to school.

 

The rest of school passes by with you dozing off, and Chanyeol covering for you during class. Supporting my lowered head with my hands, you pretended to be reading when you're actually sleeping, and whenever the teacher called on you, Chanyeol lightly shook you awake and whispered the answers to you.

 

Also, whether by the effect of the 'wagabi' or not, it seemed like a couple of boys took your side when the teachers reprimanded you for sleeping in class. Weird.

 

Well, school's over and it's Friday. Friday~

 

You wave Chanyeol off as you get on the bus to go home.

 

Wondering if you would hallucinate about the girl again, you lazily open the door to your room only to slam it shut in an instant. You must be hallucinating. It must be the migraine and lack of sleep, you tell yourself.

 

That's right. The girl was in your room again with the chair facing the door. In the same position. In the same chair. Except the only difference you managed to catch within that split second is that the girl, even with her head facing her lap, was peeking up at you with still gasping open. Also, if you weren't wrong. The moment right before you shut the door, twisted into a crooked grin.

 

Your hands are still on the knob, feeling as if you took your hands off, the girl would open the door and burst out at you.

 

Who the heck was that girl?

 

Perfect timing. Your mom walks in through the front door. You have never been so glad to see your mom, but today, you swear you see a halo hovering over her head and shining her beautiful face. "Mom," you let go of the door, run to your mother and embrace her tightly.

 

"What the hell?" Is how she greets you back. "Are you sick?" She asks but doesn't try to push you off.

 

The rest of the day until dinner, your relationship with your mother is beyond excellent. You guys are like bffls now.

 

After dinner, your mom offers to watch a movie in the living room which you happily accept. "You're a genius, mom."

 

"Hohoho, I know dear." She turns on the telelvision.

 

Dad's giving you ladies a freaked out look. "Did... something happen?" He asks, referring to how tight you and your mom suddenly got.

 

You and your mom ignore your dad and start watching the movie, fangirling over Song Joongki and the other actors together.

 

---

 

Saturday morning--you ended up falling asleep in the living room during the movie due to lack of sleep the night before. When you wake up, you feel a little sticky note on your forehead from your mom: "Baby dear, your daddy and I will be out for the day. Call us if you need anything!"

 

You grin at the cheesiness of the naming. Baby girl...

 

Stretching out your muscle and groaning, you yawn and stare at the black screen of the turned off television. You can see the image of yourself on the sofa, reflected off the dark wide screen. Behind you in the reflection, there is a girl standing several yards away from you.

 

You freeze.

 

It's that same girl on the chair.

 

So this is what it feels like to be scared less to the point you're unable to scream. The girl is rocking back and forth on her feet, facing away from you, but even though she isn't facing you directly, you're still freaking out inside your head.

 

You have no idea what to do. If you move, you have a feeling she'll notice you and look at you. You haven't got a clue what will happen if she sees you, but you don't want to find out.

 

What are you supposed to do in this situation?

 

The girl is still leaning fowards and backwards, the back of her head turned in your direction, and you watch her through the reflection on the dark television screen, unable to even freeze properly. Your contracted muscles ache, and the sound of the clock ticking is the only thing keeping you holding onto reality. Otherwise, you'll probably think it's a dream.

 

You want to believe it's a dream though.

 

The strange girl stops moving, and you stop breathing.

 

Knock. Knock. Knock.

 

You jump at the sound of someone beating at your door and bury your head into the sofa cushions. When you look back up at the television screen, the girl is gone, but you don't dare to turn around to check if she really is gone.

 

Instead, you quickly and shakily make it over to the front door and open it.

 

"Yo." Thank god it's Chanyeol.

 

You should have acted perfectly fine and greeted him, but rather, you're holding onto him and crying into his chest. Chanyeol, no doubt, is confused and freaked out.

 

"H-Hey, what's wrong?" He asks, lightly hugging me back and rubbing my shoulders.

 

You're still pouring your eyes out. Your legs have given away long time ago, and Chanyeol is your support, keeping you on your feet.

 

When you finally calm down, you listen to Chanyeol explain why he's hear. "I had a really bad dream. You know how I have those weird sixth sense moments? Yea. I was worried something would happen to you." On the sofa, he's holding your hand and rubbing it, keeping you at bay. "What's wrong anyways? You're really pale."

 

After a couple of deep breaths and Chanyeol's "take your time," you speed rap through everything you experienced for the past three days. As you get deeper into your story, Chanyeol's grip on your hand tightens ever so slightly and his face hardens into a serious furrow.

 

"I can't believe you..." He finally utters afterwards. "Why would you do that?"

 

At this point, you are completely out of it and completely lost in your head. "When I heard it attracts guys, I thought it would affect you too, but..." You're crying again.

 

This time, instead of comforting you, Chanyeol gets up off the sofa and heads to your room.

 

"...Chanyeol...?" You call out to him, but there's no reply.

 

Lifting the chair with his hands and biting on a sharpie in his mouth, Chanyeol gently places the chair in the ground in front of you, upside down with the legs facing up. He takes the sharpie and playfully wiggles an eyebrow at you before crossing out the words "under the wagabi" so that it cannot be seen anymore.

 

"There we go. Whew~" He sets the sharpie down, and immediately the atmosphere of the house changes. It's a lot lighter and, although still shivering, you feel completely at peace to the point you wonder if the past three days were but a play of your imagination. "Feel better?" Chanyeol chuckles, and you nod.

 

"Will this get rid of the girl?"

 

This time, Chanyeol nods. "My sister tried this too. It haunted us for a week before we figured out how to get rid of the girl." He shivers as if remembering the moment. "We don't know what wagabi or what being under it means, but we learned that this writing gives the ghost permission to enter the house. In the beginning, it can only stay around the furniture you wrote on but as time passes, it can wander around the house freely."

 

You cringe at the memory, and your friend pats you reassuringly on the shoulder. "I still can't believe you would do this for such a stupid reason." He mentions your little semi-confession of liking him.

 

"It's not... stupid." Now that the secret is out, you aren't sure how you're supposed to act. "You better not act any differently around me just because you know."

 

That pout. Chanyeol is making that pouty face that you can't look away from. "Why not?"

 

"H-Hm?" You studder, feeling your face flush with embarassment. "Can I ask you something?"

 

He gives the "ok."

 

Hesitant, you figet a little and then look up at him. "Is your girlfriend... really that pretty?"

 

At the question, the boy howls into crazed laughter. "Are you... for real...?" He asks inbetween breaths. Then, he settles down and looks at you in the eyes. "Didn't you think it was suspicious at all how I haven't shown you my 'girlfriend' even though we have been 'dating' for two years?"

 

You don't get it, so you blink a couple of times before furrowing your eyebrows in confusion.

 

"There never was a girlfriend." Chanyeol explains. "I was just playing with you."

 

"You were playing with me?" You're joking.

 

"Not like that!" He panicks and denies right away. You smirk a little at that. "I mean, I just wanted to see your reaction to see if you would get jealous but the lie got so out of proportion that I ended up pretending it was real."

 

A little hopeful, you poke his arm shyly. "So you like me too?" Promptly your face falls into a frown. "It's the wagabi-spell. You only like me because of that."

 

"Stupid, it doesn't work on people who knows about it." Chanyeol grins and pokes my forehead... hard. "I knew about it, so my feelings are nothing like some hocus pocus feels. Plus, I've liked you since I met you."

 

You rub your forehead and stare at his knees, not sure how to respond.

 

"In other words, my feelings are real." Then, with a hug, Chanyeol chuckles into your ear, and you can't help but smile back. "Honestly, I was jealous of that puny middle school kid." He suddenly confesses. "He doesn't even come up to my waist."

 

Laughing, you smack him on his arm. "That's not true. Don't be mean."

 

Chanyeol unexpectedly frowns and twists his face into disapproval. "He better not still like you after I scratched out the curse. That cafeteria guy too." He's completely pouting now. "And the boys in class. Did you see how they looked at you for the past three days?"

 

He's still stupid. You roll your eyes at him when the front door abruptly opens and your parents walk in.

 

"Baby dear, I--" Your mom pauses. "You call guys over when you're home alone?!" She shouts.

 

You and Chanyeol glance at each other with a surprised expression.

 

Ugh. Mom.