SangHee counted the seconds of the last remaining minute of the hour, until the clock strike 12. She held her stuffed panda bear tightly in her arms & closed her eyes. 50, 51, 52, 53.... I'm almost 15... 56, 57... She smiled & took a deep breath. The ticking of her alarm  clock became louder by the second. 58, 59, 60. She opened her eyes & stared at the clock. SangHee jumped right out of her bed & sprinted towards her bedroom door. She kicked the door open & ran down the hall, to her father's room. With happiness & excitement that took over her small body, she wanted to celebrate & share it with her beloved father. 

Her father, on the other hand, lie lifeless on his bed. Well... not really. He had way too much to drink. He had the empty red wine bottle in his hand & the picture of his wife in the other. His head pounded with pain & his world spun around. 

"SooHye-ah, our baby girl is now a young lady," He croaked. "If only you were here..."

He lifted up the picture & kissed the picture, his lips touching the cold glass. 

"A-PA! A-PA!" SangHee shouted.

She opened the door, with a bright smile on her face. He turned his head to see his daughter. The light of the hallway blinded him & he couldn't even see his daughter right. Everything was such a blur. SangHee's smile vanished & her heart ached. She knew her father was drunk & it was because of her mother. Her mother died when SangHee was only 6, in a car accident where a drunk driver slammed into her car. She died on impact. The poor man drowned his sorrow in alcohol, always drunk on his daughter's birthdays. SangHee walked to her father's bed. She removed the bottle from his hand & placed on his nightstand. She took her mother's picture & placed on the floor. She pulled the covers up to her father's neck & fixed his pillow. He watched in shame as his daughter comforted him, when he should be doing that.

"SangHee-ah," He whispered.

She looked at her father. He grabbed her hand & kissed it lightly.

"Mianhae." He muttered.

He drifted off to sleep & the room fell silent. SangHee picked up the picture of her mom & walked out of his room. Her eyes were filled with tears. She covered & fell on her knees. The happiness & excitement of being 15 went away. She stared at the picture, tears fell on the glass. 

"A-Ma, what did I do to deserve this?" She cried. "Is this my punishment?"

~~~~~~

 

       "Happy birthday to you~ Happy birthday to you~" MinJu sang.

She placed the birthday cake on SangHee's lap. SangHee smiled & looked at her best friend, Jung MinJu, who had the biggest smile on her face. 

"Unnie~ Gomowa!" SangHee cheered.

"It's nothing! My little sister is turning 15 years old! She deserves this! Make a wish!" She smiled.

SangHee looked at her cake, it had only one candle in the center.

"WAAAITT!!!" MinJu screamed.

"What?" SangHee whined.

She glanced at her watch & made a sour face. Aish! Oppa isn't here yet! He said he was going to be here at 4:30... its ing 4:55. This kid. 

"MIANHAE!!" Yong Hwa screamed.

MinJu growled & smacked the back of his head. He grunted & glared at her. This girl thinks she can smack me anytime she wants. Pfft, she's lucky SangHee is here. Stupid . 

"YAH! Who the hell do you think you are to smack your oppa?" He scolded. 

"I'm Jung MinJu, the girl who kicked your . Now, shut the up & do what you're gonna do!" She hissed.

SangHee laughed awkwardly & felt awkward at the sight of watching siblings fight. She waved at YongHwa & gave him a shy smile. Aigoo~ He's here, Aigoo~ I didn't even dressed pretty!! NOOOOO~~! 

"Happy birthday, SangHee-ah!!" He shouted.

YongHwa removed the cake from SangHee's lap & wrapped his arms around her. Her eyes opened wide & didn't move a muscle. Yeah, he's given her a thousands hugs before, but it still made her speechless & frozen. Her cheeks turned pink & her heart beated faster than ever. 

"G-Gomowa, oppa!" She stuttered.

He let go of her & pinched her chubby cheeks. He sat beside her & placed the cake on his lap. SangHee gawked at him & raised an eyebrow. 

"Okaay, one more time! Hana, dul, set!" He began.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU~" He sang.

SangHee gazed at him as he sang beautifully to her. Her cheeks were now burning with fire & her stomach was wrapped in knots. How can this man be soooo perfect? I just don't get it. His voice, his smile, his eyes, his body, his personality, his lips, ect! ohhh, look how kissable those lips look! SangHee snapped out of her trance & looked back at him. He was looking right at her, with an ear to ear smile. She looked away immedialtely & placed her eyes on the cake. YongHwa chuckled on how adorable & awkward she was. MinJu shot a glare at him, which wiped that smile right off that face.

"Make a wish!" YongHwa whispered.

She nodded & closed her eyes. There was so many wishes that she wanted to be granted. Her mother being alive, her father sober, & YongHwa seeing her as a young lady now, not a child. YongHwa waited for SangHee to open her eyes, but it seemed enternity to him. She finally got the wish. I wish... YongHwa will not see me as a child from now on. She opened her eyes & blew the candle. Everyone cheered & MinJu took the cake away. 

"I'm gonna get some plates! Be right back!" MinJu said.

SangHee wanted to stop her from leaving her, especially with YongHwa. She took a deep breath & tried to remain calm, when really inside, she wanted to jump off a bridge. The room was silent & no one dared to open their mouths. 

"You're finally 15, dongsaeng." YongHwa broke the silence.

"Yeah..." She mumbled.

"You're growing up sooo fast! I feel so old!" He joked.

He pinched her cheeks once again & started to make baby sounds. She growled & glared at him. YongHwa found that soo adorable, he pinched her cheeks harder than ever.

"YAH! OPPA! DO I LOOK LIKE I'M 5 TO YOU?" She growled.

He let go of her cheeks & pouted. SangHee massaged her cheeks, which had red finger marks. 

"You may be 15, but you're still that little girl that I first met. You always will be to me!" He smiled.

SangHee's heart broke into small pieces. The boy that she liked still saw her as a child. What.The.Hell? oppa, are you blind or something? How can you not see that I'm a grown girl? HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE?? YongHwa noticed her change of mood. He observed her well, she was playing with her fingers & staring into space. He knew something was wrong. He knew his dongsaeng. Was it something I said or did? 

"SangHee-ah, What's wro-"

"I GOT THE PLATES~" MinJu yelled.

SangHee looked up & managed to fake a smile. She got up from MinJu's bed & grabbed a plate from her hand. MinJu noticed the smile on SangHee's face. It was strange... & something wasn't right. She looked at YongHwa. He stared out the window, with a blank expression on his face. What went down when I was gone? What did this douche say to her? She shook her head & tried to block all her wonders. She cut a piece for herself & devoured the cake. 

"MMMMHH! This is some good cake!" MinJu said with full of food.

SangHee played with her food & didn't take a bite out of it. What YongHwa said to her, repeated in her head over & over again. "You may be 15, but you're still that little girl that I first met. You always will be to me!" Her hopes on him & her went down the drain... She didn't want to admit it, but it was the truth. The cold, hard truth that she hated to face. 

"Happy 15th birthday to me" She muttered.

 

~~~~~~

 

    SangHee dropped her things on the ground & fell face first to her bed. 

"Home. Sweet, sweet home!" She moaned.

She got up from her bed & removed her school uniform, which was drenched of sweat due to a karakoe party with YongHwa & MinJu. She put on her white tanktop & grey sweats. 

"Ohhhh! How good it feels to wear these clothes!" She smiled,

She grabbed her iPod from her nightstand & played "No Mercy" By BAP. SangHee moved her body to the beat & mouthed YongGuk's part, who she knew by heart. She walked out of her bedroom & headed to the attic. 

"No No, No mercy." She sang as she climbed up to the attic. 

The attic was pitch black & pure silent. SangHee searched for the light switch. Aish! This is ing creepy, man. Where the hell is the switch!? She continued touching the walls, which were full of spiderwebs & who knows what. 

"Oh my freaking gosh! Whe- OWWW!" SangHee exclaimed.

Her toe hit something hard, it pulsated & stung like a . SangHee held her cries of pain in. She finally found the light switch & light aluminated the room. She looked at the floor to see what she stumbled on. A black box with a white rose design on it. She raised an eyebrow & bended down to see it closer. 

"What the hell?" She whispered.

She picked up the box & touchd the top of it. It had dust on it & small spiders crawling over it. She blew the dust & spiders away. There was a small inscrption on it. 

"Kang SooHye." She read. "Mom?"

SangHee opened the box & there was a small brown book. On the lid of the box, there was a photo... of her. Young SangHee with a flower in her hands & a bright smile on her small, chubby face. Under the photo, it read: My precious daughter, Kang SangHee. 

"Oh, mom." She said softly. 

SangHee grabbed the book & closed the box. Curiousity hit her badly. Her hand trembled & she had an uneasy feeling about this. There was something strange about this... This book. 

"Book of Black & White Magic." She said.

She looked at the bottom of the book. Kang SooHye. SangHee gasped & looked back at the title. 

"What the is this?" She asked.

She flipped through the pages, just a bunch of words & pictures. Nothing intresting. SangHee yawned as she looked through the book. What the hell am I doing? Mom was one hell of a strange girl. Maybe it explains me. Makes absolute sense. She stopped at the last page. Something caught her attention. She analyzed the page, which read at the top: Aging Spell.

"Aging spell?? Hmmmmm..." She mumbled.

- Tired of being young? Wanna grow up in minutes? 

"Yes, YES!" She shouted.