Chapter 2

❝I wish to meet someone interesting.❞

Krystal

52 Party invites over text.

75 Text messages about random gossip.

1 Text message from my Brother.

I read the message from my brother.

Yah Krystal.

Mickey pooped on my bed again.

You owe me new bed sheets.

-Jay

I shook my head at the text message, smiling; that was his subtle way of telling me he missed me.

I sighed while scrolling through the rest of my text messages. Not one message from Jackson. I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms over my chest. What kind of a boyfriend doesn't text you at least once during the month you’re gone, huh? I could already hear his pitiful excuses; he would try to get my forgiveness and reconcile on the spot. Sometimes, I wish I could just break up with him. But then again, he had everything every girl wanted in a guy: captain of the basketball team, popular, rich... I mean, it’s not like those types of guys aren't crawling around my side of California. It's just that, out of all the boyfriends I’ve had in the past... well...

He was the best in bed.

I felt a vibration buzzing in the palm of my hand. Speaking of the devil... "Krystal speaking," I tried playing it cool as I looked out the window of the car. The scenery was starting to look familiar, an implication that I was close to home now.

"Baby, I heard from Dani you were home now,” Jackson said in his cutesy voice. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to contact you while you were away because..."

The rest of his blabbering processed in my brain as mere air. No importance whatsoever. He was going to bring up the usual excuses: parents, busy work, and basketball practice. As much as I wanted to rip his head off of his lies, I had to keep my cool.

I had to keep him for the sake of my image.

"It's fine Jackson, I understand," I lied through my teeth as the car passed the gates and pulled around the circular driveway, parking itself at the steps leading towards the front doors. "I'll call you back about this later, alright?" Before he could utter another word, I hung up on him. I threw my phone into my purse letting out a sigh. Finally, home sweet home...

Back to my sham of a life.

The car door was opened for me and I gave a nod of thanks, making my way up the steps. I breathed in the familiar rosewood scent of the home, and my senses were now being revitalized.

"Miss Krystal, welcome back," the staff lined up by the hallway, giving me a respectful bow; I stopped and lowered my head in return. I heard familiar steps that pitter-pattered followed by a bark. Looking down, I squealed.

"Mickey, baby!!" I lifted my dog into my arms, showering him with kisses as he did, likewise. "How was my wittle baby boy without mommy??"

"Horrible. Absolutely horrible." I glanced up at my little brother who was walking down the stairs, shaking his head in disapproval. "Have you not been getting my text messages about what he’s been doing??"

"Oh hush you,” I pinched the bridge of Jay's nose, moving it left and right. "And you mean text message. As in just that 1 message, right?" From the corner of my eye, I could see one of the butlers approaching us, wheeling a porter containing my luggage to my room. When he passed by, I grabbed the familiar gift box placed on top of my LouiVuitton before the butler left my reach. I handed it to Jay, "Here's for all your troubles."

Jay smiled, "Thanks Noonaaaa." He pointed at the dog, "And you, you little mutt..."

"Yah! Yah! Yah!" I pushed his face away from my dog. "Don't threaten my baby!" Mickey barked in agreement.

"Jesus Noona, it’s just a dog." Jay stalked off towards the kitchen. "Besides, I'm the REAL baby of the family!" He used his hands to frame his face, giving as much aegyo as possible. I stuck a finger in my mouth, pretending to throw up as Mickey faked a cough.

"Please Jay, like that will help you get any of the girls." I pointed at him, wagging my finger as he grabbed a bottle of Coke from the fridge. "You know, now that you are entering high school, girls there won't fall for your baby crap. If anything, they want a REAL man." I first considered my boyfriend, Jackson.

But on second thought, a real man would actually care about his girlfriend every once in a while; even just a simple text that said "hey" would have done the trick!

"Noona, relax." Jay took a sip of his drink. He latched himself onto the kitchen isle, shrugging. "When I enter that school, you won't see me as the little brother you know me to be." He flashed his "guns of steel" kissing his biceps. "I will be known... as the visual of Beverly Hills High."

I snorted, placing Mickey down on the marbled floor who headed towards his food bowl. "Let's just hope you don't mean to be too much of a man like you-know-who." I hinted, air-quoting my last three words. "Speaking of which... anyone new while I was gone?"

Jay shrugged, "Dad found a new lady."

"Age?"

"Probably, 5 years older than you."

"Status?"

"Up and coming model."

"Leech?"

Jay snapped his fingers, pointing at me. "Bingo."

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. As much as I loved my father, his dating antics were so out of hand that sometimes, I felt like he was trying too hard. He was a good-looking fellow for his age yes, but Jay and I could tell that the girls were with him only for the money. He was a high class, well known lawyer after all. What woman wouldn't want to date a man with money?

And I was guilty for being one of those kinds of women; why else was I with Jackson, other than his skills in bed?

"Well then, I give them 2 weeks." I walked over to the fridge, taking out a bottle of water. "You?"

"Well, dad says he’s really into her, so..." He tapped his chin then swung off the kitchen isle, planting his feet on the ground. "A week."

I nodded, walking away towards the stairs while opening the water bottle. Dad being really into someone? Please, how many times have I heard that one from dad? The only time I will believe that is never because the only one he was ever "really into" was my mother, only her.

No one would ever come close to taking her place.

I shivered at the thought of my mother while walking up the stairs. God, I was back in California now, I needed to start cleansing myself of all the memories of her. I needed to keep my head in the game, or else I would be out of the game.

At times, staying in the game was the hardest.

Walking to my bedroom, I heard the familiar pitter-patter and barking from behind me. I turned around, watching Mickey follow one of our butlers go up the stairs, carrying my luggage. Afraid that the man might fall back and lose balance due to shock, I ran down a few steps and took Mickey in my arms, but he kept barking at the man.

"Yah! Mickey, baby, what's wrong??" I asked my dog as he continued to bark at the man. I looked at the butler, then back at my dog. Surely, it wasn't the butler who was disturbing Mickey's patience, was it? I followed the butler and my suitcase into my room where there was already a flurry of movement going on; unpacking and organizing all the clothes that needed to be washed or hanged, placing valuables, such as gifts, by my table. The butler put my luggage down, bowing before he left. I half expected Mickey to give him another bark, but to my surprise, he didn't.

He was barking at the suitcase.

"What is it boy?" I walked towards the suitcase that was grabbing my dog’s interest. As I leaned in towards it, the barking grew louder and louder. The maids even stole glances at Mickey’s direction, suspicious of his enthusiasm.

"Look Mickey, I don't have any dog treats in there for you" I tried explaining to him as I ped the suitcase to prove my point. With no luck, it made it even worse, his eyes trailed towards the contents of my suitcase as he leapt out of my arms, running circles around it. What could it be...?

"What the heck, Krystal" Jay entered my room, scratching his head in exasperation. "Keep that dog under control!"

I threatened my brother with a show of my fist and turned my attention back to my furry companion. "Mickey! Stop this now!" I yelled at my dog. He only reacted like this when something or someone was bothering or capturing his attention.

"I think he’s barking at that thing you have in there," Jay walked over to my suitcase, bending down to take the box he indicated. Mickey's attention diverted to what my brother was holding. "Another present from your halmeoni?"

I nodded, snatching the jewelry box from him. I opened it and revealed the gold necklace with the genie charm on it. "She started telling me this story about some land called EX--"

"Krystal, look! Mickey looks...scared." Jay whispered, pointing at my dog.

I followed the direction of his finger. As he indicated, my dog was shaking in fear; slowly cowering away from the scene. I frowned, looking from the box to my dog. Mickey’s afraid of this little thing?

But he scared off dogs twice his size...

"Mickey boy, come here" I cooed, opening my arms for him, the jewelry box still in my hand. He howled, shooting me an angry look. I frowned looking at my brother, "Yah! Jay! What did you do to my dog?!"

Jay raised his hands in defense, "Nothing! I didn't do anything!" He pointed at the box, "It’s the necklace that's making him act like that."

"Impossible." I handed him the necklace. "Walk out of the room for a second."

Jay walked out of the room with the necklace.

Mickey approached me as if nothing had happened.

"Jay, come back,” I commanded.

Jay walked in the room with the necklace.

Mickey backed away, barking as Jay neared us.

"Get out of the room again, Jay."

This process went on several times ‘till I was sincerely convinced that the ornament, in fact, did cause this. Finally, I sent one of the maids to take Mickey away to get a snack and calm him down. Jay and I were left in my room staring at the necklace.

"Krystal, do you think that the genie lamp may have some kind of actual--"

"That’s ridiculous," I threw my hands up in the air and stood up. "Give me that!" I took the box from Jay's hand, striding towards my closet.

"But seriously though... haven't you heard that animals sometimes have that sixth sense where they can--"

"Sense what?? Ghosts?" I laughed as I opened the drawer filled with the little trinkets halmeoni had given me before. I closed the box and placed it in there with the other "unique antiques", shutting the drawer with my hip.

"Well since it’s a genie lamp, maybe Mickey is sensing that there’s a--"

"Genie?!" I laughed out loud again, patting Jay on the shoulder. "OMG are you serious? Like, seriously serious?" I shook my head and ruffled his hair. "You are something..."

"I'm being serious here, Noona!" Jay looked a little bit upset as he shoved my hand away from his head. "You said that halmeoni usually has a story to tell with all the gifts she gives you, right? Well, did she ever mention anything about a genie--"

"Jay, I think you need to breathe some fresh air and get that junk out of your pretty little head." I began driving him out of my room. "Go outside. Play some basketball." I stopped at the doorway, pointing at him. "You know, just because my boyfriend is captain of the basketball team, does not mean--"

"That he will let me on the team so easily" Jay concluded robotically, running his hands through his hair. "Noona... about that..."

"Ah-ah-ah don't want to hear any excuses!" I waved my hand towards the stairs. "Go go go! The day isn't getting any younger!"

Before I could hear more from him, I shut the door in his face. I knew he was going to tell me how he didn't want to join the basketball team; in fact I knew that his passion was composing music with his group of friends. But, I had to make him go through this. He’d be a freshman in high school this year, and if he wanted to start off on the right foot, he had to join the basketball team. That way, he could make something of himself and keep his place in the Beverly Hills High School System as the top dog just as his sister (mwah) was. Especially since I am graduating this year, I needed to set him up as much as possible now for good years to come rather than otherwise...

"Look at her clothes!"

"What the heck is that cartoon character on her shirt?"

"Ha! Who still likes that baby stuff??"

"Baby! Baby! She's a big baby!!"

I shook my head at the flashbacks playing in my mind. Looking at myself in the mirror, I plastered my dauntless face and ignored it all. I wouldn't let Jay go through what I went through. I was going to make sure that everyone knew that the Park Siblings weren't a force to be reckoned with. Though the past is the past, it’s what shapes your future.

And I would make sure that our future consisted of nothing less than what we have now: fame, fortune, and most importantly, power. 

Luhan

"Guess whose backkk!!" A high-pitched voice echoed through the halls as a poof of white smoke appeared. I sat up from the couch and sighed.

The maknae never fails to make his presence unknown…

"Sehun, what have I told you about popping into my house unannounced?" I turned off the TV, pointing to the door. "Try again."

"But hyung--"

"Again, Sehun." Sehun pouted, poofed himself out of my sight and in less than a second later, the doorbell rang. I walked from the living room to the door.

"Who is it?" I eyed the peek hole watching Sehun on the other side.

"Hyung, are you serious?!" He threw his hands up in the air, impatient. "Come on!! It's me, Sehun!!"

This mak—little annoying boy.

I shook my head and opened the door, letting him inside my home. "Finally!" Sehun jumped over to the couch turning on the TV, making himself comfortable. Instead of getting up to get some food, Sehun summoned the contents of my fridge. Literally, all types of food were floating in midair, creating a trail towards Sehun's direction. Those he didn’t like would be sent back.

Not only did he know how to maintain his presence, he knew how to leave one after his pig-like eating habits.

"If I would have known you were coming, I would have put a lock on my fridge." As the irresponsible maknae that he was, I cleaned up the mess he was currently making. "What are you doing here anyways?"

Sehun shrugged, "Well, I just came back from fulfilling my last job... The others are still on duty... and you are the only one available!"

"Like always," I grinned, finding my way beside Sehun on the couch.

"Hyung, how do you do your job so quickly?" Sehun sat, crossing his legs, placing his chin on his arms that rested above his knees. "How do you get the humans to wish so quickly?"

"You want to know the secret to being a great genie like myself, Sehun?" I whispered as I motioned him to come closer, he obliged. "You simply just don't care."

Sehun pulled back, confusion etched on his face. "Simply don't care? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Meaning, whatever the human wishes for, you just grant it." I took the bowl of popcorn from the table, changing the channel on the TV.

"But, aren't we supposed to help the humans make decisions that help them out in the long run?" Sehun asked naively; I stared at him, remembering when I used to think like that.

Nowadays, innocence was not a part of my image anymore.

"Sehun, let me tell you something about our kind, alright? Genies are made to grant wishes, correct?"

Sehun nodded.

"Well, they never said what kind of wishes to grant. So, considering that... whatever the words after 'I wish--' come about... you just act upon it." I made a “poof” sound effect, creating an image of an explosion with my hands. "Voila. Three wishes done. No regrets... and here I am."

"Don't you ever feel sorry for the human though? Like, if they make a stupid wish that you know would ruin them whether it was for good or ill intentions?" Sehun inquired. I put an authoritative hand on his shoulder.

"We genies, Sehun, aren't supposed to care about those kinds of things. Because you see, we were created as a delusional effect upon the lives of the humans we serve."

I created a cloud containing an animated stick figure of a human. "There are two kinds of wish makers in this world. 1) Those who wish wisely. And by that, I mean the usual: fame, fortune, power." I made the animated figure act upon all three of those wishes and placed him in front of a group of people in a huge mansion with money raining down.

"2) Those that wish the stupid wishes, thinking we were a figment of their imagination." I made the animated stick figure wish for materialistic things such as food, clothing, electronic, cars, etc... Both the images of the wishes were now side by side.

"But you see, what the wishers don't realize is that the wishes they create aren't always a permanent thing." I showed how the first man slowly started to lose fortune, shunned of all his fame, and lost control of his power. The other man was shown of how quickly the material objects failed his happiness in the long run. "What humans don't understand is that, yes, we grant them these wishes, but it is up to them to make decisions regarding on how they want this to last." I snapped my fingers making the cloud disappear. "At the end, it's all up to them to either regret their wishes or continue living the life they had fool-heartedly gained from us."

Sehun bobbed his head up and down; hopefully he understood what I was trying to convey. He was the youngest, most inexperienced genie out of all of us, so it was normal for him to be coming to me with these kinds of questions. "But it doesn't hurt to try and help them, right? I mean, to help them for the long run?"

"Oh, dear maknae" I moved my hand from his shoulder to ruffle his hair, an amused laugh escaping my lips. "You will learn in due time..."

A line of colored smoke shortly trailed past my vision; I looked at the Genie Caller where the smoke cloud was now appearing.

"Oh! Hyung, you’re getting a call!" Sehun pointed at the cloud. He stood up, running to watch the image of my supposed new master. I went after him and stood by his side as we observed the surroundings. It was the same girl from before…

She was no longer in the same room I saw her in, in fact judging by the high-class furniture and expertly designed room, she was now home. Another face came into view, a boy, this time. In the background, an annoying barking and growling could be heard from what seemed to come from an animal. A dog, perhaps?

"Whoa hyung, that master of yours is--" Sehun started to point. I put a finger to his lips as the humans began to speak.

" She started telling me this story about some land called EX----"

"Krystal, look!" the orange-haired boy pointed at the creature. "Mickey looks... scared."

The white dog came into view, its behavior may have been rather questionable to a human's point of view. But to a genie, it was customary since animals could sense our presence.

"Mickey boy, come here" The girl cooed. Her dog barked, anger seeping through its furry face.

I would be angry too if I was named after a certain, over-produced cartoon mouse.

"Yah! Jay! What did you do to my dog?!"

This "Jay" put his hands up in defense. "Nothing! I didn't do anything!" He was now pointing at us. Well, technically, in their line of vision, he was pointing at the jewelry box that held my home. "It’s the necklace that's making him act like that."

"Impossible." Sehun and I watched in amusement as the two humans started to attempt what seemed like an experiment. The girl was making him appear and disappear out of the room.

From our point of view it looked as if she was playing a childish game of hide and seek… humans.

"Hyung, so this girl is to be your new master?" Sehun asked in awe, I nodded.

"Supposedly so, why else would she be appearing in my Genie Caller again?" I started to fix myself once more in front of the mirror, preparing myself, thinking today would be the day I was to serve her.

The sooner, the better. Judging by how she acts and what she says, this airhead would be easy to crack.

"Again? She's appeared more than once?" Sehun asked in astonishment. "Are you saying that she hasn't summoned you yet?"

I smacked the back of his head, "Pabo, get some sense into you... of course she hasn't. If she did, I wouldn't be here looking at my FUTURE master."

Sehun bowed apologetically as our eyes trailed back to the image in the cloud. The dog was nowhere to be seen or heard, leaving this "Jay" and my supposed master to be now staring at us.

"Well whoa, she's really pretty...” Sehun seemed entranced by the girl's looks. I rolled my eyes, looked at my reflection in the mirror and smoothed my hair down.

"I've seen better," I retorted, thinking of some of the few master's I’ve had in the past, now models gracing the most coveted fashion magazines, thanks to the wishes I had fulfilled and granted. "Not only had I seen better, but I had done better... if you know what I mean."

"Shhhhh! Hyung! That's boy is speaking about us!!" Sehun was floating midair, legs crossed; he watched the scene unfold in excitement.

"Noona, do you think that the genie lamp may have some kind of actual--"

"That’s ridiculous! Give me that!" Our view shook abruptly as the box was now in this "Krystal's" hand. We were now being taken somewhere.

" But seriously though... haven't you heard that animals sometimes have that sixth sense where they can--"

"Sense what?? Ghosts?" The girl's laughter filled the air as she looked down at us for a moment. Before anything else could happen, the cloud of smoke turned black, suddenly being back into the Genie Caller. The atmosphere made us feel as if the call had never happened. This was now the second time my new master had not summoned me... Was she not in need of me? Was there something faulty with my Genie Caller?

Sehun lifted the lamp, examining it. With wide eyes, he gawked at me, “Whoa. Did she just...” He pointed at me. “Not need you… Again?”

I stood there, maintaining my neutral demeanor to hide my bewilderment. I walked over to him, snatching the lamp from his clutches, “I need to report this to Xiumin as soon as possible. Maybe, it’s broken or something…” I gestured Sehun to leave with my hand. “Go and see if he’s back, will you? If he is, bring him here, pronto.”

Sehun nodded and without another word, he disappeared, a small cloud outlining his previous presence. I stood there, staring at the lamp. Someone who’s not in need of a Genie? How is that possible? In all my 2300 years of work, never had I encountered this kind of a situation before. Sure, there were the stubborn masters who would take a while to realize that I was not a figment of their imagination, but they always came around to making their wishes. This master, I could tell, was going to be different.

I took a deep breath looking at myself in the mirror, “Hello, my master. Do not be frightened by my appearance." I bowed at the mirror, practicing what I would say when I would be summoned. "I am Luhan, a Genie from the land of EXO and I am here to grant you three wishes of your choice.” I smiled at my reflection, adding a little something that would fit my new master perfectly.

“So make a wish, rich .”

Author's Note