Chapter 1 

❝I wish to meet someone interesting.❞

Krystal

5 hours ‘till I’m on my flight back home. Just 5 more hours and I'll be out of this hell hole, back in California to my warm, sunny--

"Oh! Krystal my dear, you’re still awake?" I looked up from packing my suitcase and smiled at my grandmother standing by the door with her wooden cane in one hand. She peered down at me with her spectacles on the bridge of her nose. God, if you hear my plea, let me age gracefully… As in, never. I mean, I don't mind a few wrinkles here and there or maybe even a laugh line or two. Just PLEASE help me to use my young asian genes to keep my collagen pumping, so I wouldn't have to pay for it later on down the road. Not that Halmeoni was ugly or THAT OLD. It was just...I wish she would get a little bit of work done here and there just to look her age. Or *cough, cough* 10 years younger. 

20 years younger is a possibility, but for god's sake I want her to look like my Grandmother NOT my sister. 

"I'm sorry! Did I wake you up, halmeoni?" I stood up to help her walk over to my bed. Her wrinkly hand pats my mine, handing me a jewelry box. Don't look at the hands. Do NOT look at the wrinkly weathered hands....

"A present for you, my sweet child." She tapped the box. "This will bring you great happiness."

"Is that so, halmeoni?" I gave her my best smile as I opened the box. Since she owned an antique shop downstairs (what an old people hobby to do, huh?), she always gives me small trinkets when I visit Korea every summer. I didn’t want to be rude and say that they were old, ugly items. I’d prefer to use the words "unique" and "antique". 

After all, she was my deceased birth mother's mother, and I wasn’t going to about receiving such a small piece of tra—“unique antique”.

"It’s a necklace..." I played in oohhh’s and ahhh’s as I examined it on the palm of my hand: it was gold (not sure how much it’s worth, but it looked costly) and it had a small genie lamp charm on it (Am I supposed to rub this little thingy and expect some Aladdin to happen to me?)

"Not just any necklace, my dear. It’s from a land very, very far from here." Grandma's wrinkly hand waved across my face, setting up some kind of a scene for me. Oh my god now her wrinkly hands were as if she was warning me about the future. Which, mental note, start using hand cream more frequently. "It is a land called EXO where many genies roam and--"

Oh no, she was going to tell me one of her stories again. There was always a story to tell with everything she gave me... By this rate, I'll still be here by my flight’s departure time. I mean, it’s not that I didn't enjoy spending time with my grandmother. It's just that a lot of memories lie here in Korea that I wasn't fully ready to relive or picture. Especially since this very place I was staying at was my mother's childhood home.  Considering how I slept in my mother’s bedroom every night for the past month…

I needed to leave and get out of this place because her presence was too strong.

I faked a "subtle" yawn, which, thankfully, Grandma noticed. She stopped telling her story and told me to go to sleep, but I was courteous and urged her to go on ahead. As expected, she wanted me to get my beauty rest before going to the airport. Yes, I will need all the beauty rest I need to prevent becoming one of those "unique antique's" she has downstairs. 

Or herself...

"My dear Krystal," she turned by the door, giving me a smile. "You remind me so much of your mother, you know? She would be very proud of the way you have grown into such a bright, beautiful, young woman."

"Kamsahamnida halmeoni" I bowed my head to show a bit of gratitude. God, every summer I’m here, she never fails to remind me of how similar I am to my deceased mother. These trips to Korea were getting so repetitive, but I had to be here. I had to at least visit her once in a while to keep myself sane from the world I was about to go back to in California.

Besides, if I were to be honest here...I had to improve my Korean somehow if I wanted to curse my friends out under my breath for their stupid decisions. 

When grandma finally left my room, I let out a sigh of relief. I looked at the necklace in the jewelry box again, lifting it in between my eyes. Maybe I should get this appraised to see how much it’s worth... Don’t jump to conclusions; I’ve never sold anything she’s given me. I’ve always only appraised all of grandma's presents; this wouldn't be the first time she had given away something priceless from the shop. If anything, I actually felt sorry that she was always being conned of her collections’ actual price. Let's just say that I’d be doing her a favor by appraising her trinkets; if it were worth something, it goes to my "rainy day" fund. If not, then it would mysteriously vanish in a drawer that held the other items she had given me in the past.

Hey, at least I kept them right? If anything, 150 years in the future that little drawer in my room may become a national treasure or something.

I sighed checking my phone’s countdown. Now it would be 4 hours and 30 minutes ‘till I would be lounging on my flight’s first class, dreaming about returning home. I closed the box that held the necklace, throwing it in my suitcase along with the rest of my unfolded clothes and other belongings. I wasn't going to deal with that anyway, my very well-paid maid back home was going to handle the unpacking.

Now don't get me wrong, I’m not totally a stuck up b*tch like my friends were to their people. But then again, I knew my place in the hierarchy of things and I’m pretty sure I’m allowed to order them to do my bidding. I knew where my limits began and where it should end.

Just like mom used to tell me...

Luhan

Sitting down on the couch, I looked around, nodding my head in approval. Clean. Spotless. Silent. Just how I liked my home.

And occasionally my women, especially when they were screaming my name in joy.

I suddenly saw smoke appear out of thin air. Following the trail, I looked over at my Genie Caller and sighed. Another master so soon? I stood up and walked over to my genie lamp, waving my hand over the smoke, creating a spherical form.

"Well, well...who do we have here?"  I placed my hands in my pants’ pockets, looking at a girl whose curious face was analyzing my genie lamp. Compared to the other humans I had to served, she actually looked... well-off. I spotted designer brands scattered around her Louis Vuitton suitcase. Huh, was that all hers? I was usually assigned to the poor, barely-hanging-in-there, pure, honest souls. Looking at this girl though, she didn’t seem to be one of those types.

If anything, she appeared as if all her wishes were already granted.

I could hear her... halmeoni, maybe... telling her the history of my kind, but it was rather amusing to see this girl "pay attention". Within a few moments, I spotted the "subtle, but obvious" yawn trick, causing her halmeoni to stop. I chuckled to myself, some of these humans were quite clever in so-called "dire" situations like these. Similar to genies, they liked to manipulate their oppositions. All humans wanted everything to always go THEIR way, making THEMSELVES happy rather than others.

And that's where I, as a Genie, would come in.

When the old lady left her to herself, my thoughts lingered towards the peculiar girl that caught my attention. With the presentation of my lamp, humans would usually rub it eagerly, in hopes the story that the giver of the lamp relayed was true. Out of the 12 mini lamp charms in the world, this girl was given mine, so I was destined to serve her. Judging by her status and how she held herself, I had a gut feeling that she was going to be a tough one. Then again, there were times that humans did surprise me.

That was rare, considering how Genies were always above the average human.

This girl... she was one of the few that did surprise me. Right when her halmeoni left, she stared at the necklace for a while, giving it a face. Was she inspecting my lamp? Maybe she was thinking of placing a value on me? I couldn't keep myself from laughing out loud, the sounds echoing through my empty home.

She’s going to be something alright.

I stared at the mirror in front of me, straightening my suit and fixing my hair. It wouldn't be long until this girl would rub the lamp, so I needed to make my best first impression. Not because I wanted to attract her or anything; that would happen naturally for us Genies since looks are one power to make a human surrender to a wish. But, because I wanted to show her that though I was to serve her, I still had more power than she could ever imagine.

Besides, what could status do for you if you didn't have the leadership & power to uphold yourself?

"Hello, my master. Do not be frightened by my appearance," I bowed at the mirror, practicing my usual greetings. "I am Luhan, a Genie from--"

Before I could finish my sentence, I heard a snap from the spherical smoke. I looked down at the image, the smoke slowly started to return to the Genie Lamp. A puzzled look came upon my face as I inspected the lamp in my hands. I was supposed to be summoned through this. Why did it turn a dud on me all of a sudden? Unless... of course... She didn't rub the genie lamp at all. Odd? Yes. Interesting? Of course. Slightly frightening? Maybe. This has never happened in my 2300 years of work....

Then again, I guess as the humans say: there's always a first time for everything.

Author's Note 

Guess whose backkkkk??? （⌒▽⌒ゞ

First chapter is up hooray! But, if you've read my previous story (eh hem shameless advertising here **Ride or Die & ROD2** eh hem) then you know that I don't just update one chapter at a time. In the words of APink "no no no"! ~(‾⌣‾~)

So, let's press that beautiful blue link below to move on shall we? ☆～（ゝ。∂）