Chapter 1: The Five Warlocks

The blinding sunlight made my eyebrows joined together. I rolled to the other side of my bed and felt a hot breath hitting my face.

Slowly, I opened my eyes and softly smiled after seeing Sparkie and Fluffy sleeping soundly beside me, bundled up together.

“So cute!” I cooed without noticing.

Because of my voice, Fluffy’s eyes fluttered open and let out a small meow which sounds like a grunt to me. I giggled softly and patted its fur. “Sorry, Fluffy. Go back to sleep, okay?”

As instructed, the white-fur cat closed its eyes and went back to sleep. Pssh… they’re just so adorable.

Ever so carefully, I got out of bed and headed towards the bathroom. After washing my face and brushing my teeth, I stared at my reflection in the mirror.

“That was the worst nightmare I’ve ever dreamt of.”

“Sparkie~ Fluffy~ it’s time for lunch!” As I called out for the two cats, instantly they rushed into the kitchen.

I’m still full from this morning’s breakfast so I decided to skip lunch and just watched the cats eat. I smiled proudly when they enjoyed my cooking as always.

In the midst of eating, Sparkie lifted its head and looked up at me with its sparkling eyes.

As if understanding what it said, I patted its head assuredly. “I’m still full, Sparkie. Don’t mind me and finish your lunch, okay?”

The golden-fur cat just whimpered and obeyed my order.

Well, at least I can save some money.

“But you know what, I had a really horrible nightmare last night.” I blurted out, ‘talking’ with the cats.

Call me crazy but that’s what I always do.

“I had a dream where there are two unknown boys on my bed and they were smiling creepily at me, especially the toned skin boy.”

Sparkie and Fluffy who just finished eating, looked at me attentively.

“And in my dream, you two disappeared.” I turned my head towards the two cats. “It freaks me out really! And there’s this fair-skin boy smiling at me like a mad clown. Ugh! So scary! I’m glad it was just a dream.”

Suddenly, Fluffy growled at me.

The cat... growled?

I widened my eyes in surprise. “W-What? Is the food not delicious?”

Ignoring my question, Fluffy walked away, followed by Sparkie. Hmm… did I say something wrong?

Gistham Store

“Huh?” I furrowed my eyebrows, looking at the address in the card and the old wooden shop in front of me back and forth.

Isn’t it supposed to be library?

That evening, I went towards the ‘library’ that Mr. Kim talked about and found myself standing in front of an old, small, wooden shop.

Shrugging it off, I pushed the wooden door and it produced a small ‘creak’ sound.

“Excuse me?” I poked my head inside and called out for the owner but no answer.

“That’s weird.” The sign says ‘Open’ though.

Ever so carefully, I stepped inside and closed the door behind me. I was greeted by an awfully quiet shop that was crammed by racks, displaying all kinds of… weird items.

I went towards one of the rack and spotted an old, wooden music box. As soon as I opened it, a small vampire doll jumped out straight towards me.

“AAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!” Instinctively, I covered my neck and stepped back in surprise. My heart was beating so fast at the sudden ‘attack’.

The small vampire doll then bounced back into the music box and it played a very eerie music. The kind of music that can make your hair stands. Immediately, I closed the music box.

I exhaled the breath I didn’t noticed I was holding in and blinked twice. “What the hell is that?”

“It’s Vampire Jukebox.”

I let out a small yelp and turned around immediately to see a man in his twenties smiling- no, GRINNING at me way too wide.

I massaged my chest and sighed heavily. I might get a heart attack soon.

“Oh. I’m sorry if I scared you.” The man apologized.

Yeah. Thanks to you my lifespan decreased.

“Well then, allow me to explain. The ‘Vampire Jukebox’ that you just opened, is one of the most powerful instant-death weapons. You’re lucky it didn’t bite your neck or else, you might be in a coffin right now.” He smiled creepily. He looked just like Joker honestly.

I let out a small scoff at his nonsense blabbering yet feeling scared at the same time. I want to get out of this small, creepy shop as soon as possible but, I need a confirmation first.

Gosh! I never knew doing research for a Literature task is this difficult.

“Umm… can I ask something?” I blurted out carefully.

“YES! Anything!”

My shoulders jolted in surprise at the man’s overjoyed tone but quickly composed myself. “What place is this?”

The man tilted his head to the right before answering. “A shop, of course.” Heh. That matter-of-fact tone makes me feel like a fool.

Looking back at the card Mr. Kim gave me, I sighed. Maybe he gave me the wrong one.

“I’m sorry. I enter the wrong shop.” I bowed politely at the man and walked away.

Right before I stepped out of the shop, I felt a grip on my left wrist. When I turned around, it was the same guy. “Yes?”

“That card. It’s yours, right?” The guy asked with widened eyes.

I pulled back my hand slowly. “Umm… my Literature teacher gave this to me.”

The creepy guy then smiled in glee as he jumped up and down. “FINALLY! WE FOUND YOU!!!”

I blinked in surprise at his action and feeling weird at the same time. Found? Found what?

He finally stopped cheering and bowed at me 45 degree. “We’ve been waiting for you, young lady.”

“Wha…” My mouth opened slightly at that. What is he saying?

“Now, follow me please.” The man who was wearing a grey coat then gestured me to follow after him.

I quickly waved my hands. “No, no, no. I got the wrong place. I was searching for a-”

“Library?”

Huh? How did he know that?

“I’m right. You’re the one, Yoon Jiha.”

This time, my eyes grew as big as saucer. HOW THE HECK DID HE KNOWS MY NAME?!

“You’re at the right place, Yoon Jiha. Now, follow me please.” He said again politely, but the creepy smile is still there on his face.

Nodding slowly, I trailed behind the man and travelled further into the shop. The creepy man then stopped in front of a certain rack full of bottles and… recites something?

I don’t catch what he said but as soon as he finished, the rack suddenly rotated around, revealing a stair leading underground. My mouth was hanging open at the scene.

Is this some kind of mystery movie or what?

“Over here.”

I snapped out of my daze when the man waved his hand to ask me to follow him downstairs. I obeyed and as we walked deep down, lights flicked on by itself at each step we took. It’s just like magic.

“Alright, here it is.” Then, we arrived in front of a small wooden (again) door. Once again, he mumbled some kind of spell and the door opened by itself. I seriously can’t believe my eyes.

As soon as I stepped inside, my mouth hanged open, so big that even an elephant can fit inside.

“Whoa~”

In front of me, there’s a HUGE library laid inside. I never knew a basement can be this huge and spacious.

“Yoon Jiha! Finally, you found your way!”

Hearing that familiar voice, I scanned around and saw… “MR. KIM?!”

“Yeah, I was waiting for you. Ah! I mean, we were waiting for you.”

Confused by the Literature teacher’s statement, I blurted out. “We?”

“Yes. We.” As soon as he said that, I heard some footsteps and in an instant, a tall girl with blonde hair and a guy with piercing eyes appeared.

Those two were staring at me so sharp to the point that if possible, there’ll be a hole in my head right now.

“Now, let me introduce you. The one guiding you here is, Chanyeol.” Mr. Kim stated out.

The… Chanyeol guy smiled at me and bowed slightly. “Nice to finally meeting you ,Yoon Jiha.”

Mr. Kim then continued his introduction. “The blonde lady is Krystal and the panda-looking guy is Tao.”

Scratching my head awkwardly, I forced a small smile. “Err… nice to meet you…?”

“OMG!!!!! YOU’RE SO CUTE, JIHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“CAN YOU BE MY SISTER??!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”

“NO WAY, TAO!!!!!!! THIS CUTE GIRL BELONGS TO ME!”

“I SAW HER FIRST!!!!!!!”

“I’VE MARKED HER AS MY SISTER! YOU, NONO~”

“KRYSTAL, UNFAIR! I CAN PROTECT HER WITH ALL MY LIFE!!!”

“I CAN TREAT HER BETTER THAN YOU!!!”

“Krystal! Tao! STOP!!! You’re scaring her.”

Suddenly, another tall guy (I meant it, he’s FREAKING TALL) wearing glasses came from behind and tear those two apart. After calming them down, he then fixed his glasses coolly before flashing a small smile to me.

“I’m Kris.”

I nodded once and kept my poker face on. “I’m Jiha.”

“Yeah, we all already knew. And please, CALL ME SIS!!!” Krystal took my hands into hers and looked at me with twinkling eyes.

“Wait!” Stepping back, I took in their faces one by one before turning to Mr. Kim. “I’m sorry but, what is this all about? What do you mean by you’re waiting for me? I don’t know you guys. But, how do you know my name? And Mr. Kim, what is your purpose for asking me to go here?”

For the first time in my life, I talked so much that I think this can be included in World Book of Records. Yeah. Yoon Jihae Book of Records.

Mr. Kim flashed his signature smile and stood up from his sitting position. “Well, first of all, I’m sorry for confusing you. But, allow me to introduce myself first.”

My forehead roughened at that. I mean, hey, he’s my Literature teacher so why bother introducing himself again?

“My name is Chen. And the five of us here, are all warlocks.”

War…

“…What?”