Yuri brought me across the town, pulling me along gently, yet purposefully. I looked around as we walked and noticed that I was in a small dusty town that looked the slightest bit old-fashioned, as if the temptation of new advanced technology hadn’t quite consumed it yet.

We walked down the street and passed several quaint little shops that looked like they had been there since the early 1900s. An amused grin spread across my face when I noticed a vintage looking barber shop that seemed to have come right out of an old movie. We finally stopped in front of a store with a variety of old furniture, jewelry, and dolls in the window with a faded sign above it that said Black Pearl Antiques.

Yuri turned to look at me and smiled shyly, “I have to work here for a while, do you mind?”

I shook my head, “No, it’s all right.”

She opened the door for me and I heard the sound of tinkling bells from above the door. I walked in and looked around in wonder at the wide range of items in the store that all looked to be from anywhere between the 20’s to the 90’s.

I smiled as I picked up an old red studded belt from a table, it reminded me of the last time I had visited earth in 1973. I remembered going to that Rolling Stones concert with Jonghyun for their European tour. It was during our little break from our heavenly duties. We had such a good time that year… I shook my head. No, I wouldn’t think about this.

I put the belt down and looked around for Yuri. I panicked a little when I didn’t see her anywhere in the store, but calmed down a little when I heard some rustling coming from a room in the back and figured that she must have gone in there while I was reminiscing. I looked around a bit more and gave a slight start when I noticed a boy at the cashier’s counter. He was sprawled across it and drooling as he snored quietly.

I giggled and tried to decide if I should wake him up, or let him continue to ruin the wooden counter with his saliva. I was about to poke his head when Yuri came back out holding a box. She noticed the boy and rolled her eyes, setting the box down gently. She quietly came up beside him, and then suddenly pushed him off of the stool that he was sitting on, causing him to fall to the ground with a loud thump.

From my stand point I couldn’t see him, but I heard him groan, “Dammit Yuri, can’t you just let me sleep for once?”

She smiled brightly, “I love you too, oppa! Anyway, get up; I want you to meet someone.”

He groaned again and stood up slowly, ruffling his light brown hair. He looked at me and smiled sleepily, “Hello…” he bowed a little and rubbed his eyes.

Yuri rolled her eyes again, “I’m sorry, you’ll have to excuse my brother. He has a condition.”

He hit her arm lightly, “I do not!”

“Do too~ Onew condition!” She replied, giggling and holding onto his arm cutely. Then she looked at me and smiled, “Yes well, this is my brother, Jinki, but everybody calls him Onew.”

I smiled and reached out my hand to shake it with him, “Hi Onew, my name is Jessica.”

He nodded, “It’s nice to meet you. So are you Yuri’s friend? I wasn’t aware she had any…” He said grinning, earning him a smack.

“Umm… Well, we kind of just-“

“Yes. We are,” she interrupted, probably not wanting to explain the situation that she found me in.

There was an awkward moment of silence so I cleared my throat, “So, do you own this shop?”

Onew nodded proudly, “Yup, we inherited it from our great-grandfather who bought it after the war.”

Yuri chuckled and patted his chest, “Please don’t get him started on that. He has this great appreciation for history and is simply ecstatic that our family has a tiny bit of it.”

He looked at her with wide eyes, “It’s not just ‘a bit’!” He turned to me brightly, “Did you know that-“

He was interrupted by the sound of the bell again, signaling the arrival of a customer. It was a very tall and handsome man with fluffy dark brown hair, large eyes, and angular features. He looked toward us and I noticed Yuri stiffen out of the corner of my eye.

I looked at her curiously as she gave a cold look to the approaching man. He stopped beside me and gave her a desperate look, “Yuri…”

“What are you doing here, Minho?” She asked, visibly tightening her grip on Onew’s arm.

Minho smirked slightly, “I told you I wasn’t going to give up. I’m here to get you back.”

Yuri scoffed, “And how long have you been trying that now? Why don’t you just go back to that girl Seohyun who I caught you cheating on me with?”

His confident expression faltered and was replaced with a pleading one, “Look Yuri, you have to let me explain! It wasn’t what it looked like!”

I saw Yuri’s jaw tighten and she looked like she was trying very hard not to start yelling. Instead of waiting for her to finally lose control and kick him out, I decided to step in for her.

I turned to him and jabbed him in the chest with my finger, “Look, I don’t know you, but I think you should back off. You’re obviously the one in the wrong here, so just leave the poor girl alone.”

He laughed at me and grabbed my small fist in his larger one, “I’m sorry, but who are you? I don’t know who you are either, but I think you should mind your own damn business.”

Being a full head shorter than him, I’m sure I didn’t look all that intimidating. However, I was still the centuries old angel of winter and ice, and I thought that I should let this kid know that I could seriously mess him up if he pushed me to it. My glacier blue eyes flashed and I smirked darkly at him, “Look, Minho, is it? Well, Minho, I’d like you to know, that I am a lot tougher than I look, so I’d leave right now if I were you,” I said, jabbing him with my finger again and using a bit of my power to send a small shock of ice into his chest.

He flinched and took an involuntary step back. Onew took that opportunity to step in, “Look man, she’s right. Leave now. I’ve told you before and I’m going to tell you again, stay away from my sister.”

Minho sent glares to the both of us and with one final glance at Yuri; he left the store rubbing his chest. Yuri let out a large breath and leaned against the counter tiredly. She looked at me gratefully, “Thank you for that, Jessica. I really owe you one.”

I shook my head and smiled warmly at her, “It’s alright, the guy’s a , anyway.”  

We both laughed and Onew put his arm around my shoulder, “Well, that was fun! I think that’s enough excitement for one morning, let’s go have lunch now!”

Yuri grinned, “I’m guessing you want chicken?”

Onew nodded ecstatically, “Yeah, let’s go!”

He grabbed Yuri and pulled us both out of the little antique shop happily.