magic shop | p a r t f o u r

"WELCOME TO
THE MAGIC SHOP"

SEOKJIN BLINKED AWAY the blinding light, the light soon turning into a beige set of curtains. Last time he checked, he didn't have any curtains, nor was he facing a window.

He stayed sitting in place on the bed, staring at the window in front of him blowing the curtains softly in the wind. For some reason, Seokjin felt his eyes drawn to the somewhat vague scenery outside. The way the wind blew the curtains softly, as a ray of light from the sun peeked through; it was mesmerizing.

Seokjin watched the curtains as they blew in the wind softly, not looking away once. He sat still, almost as if in a trance. It was calm, and frightening all at the same time.

Suddenly, a loud noise came from behind him, something like the sound of a glass breaking. The sound broke Seokjin out of his trance as he was brought back to reality.

Where am I?

Confused, he got up from the bed he was sitting on, taking in his surroundings. Instead of the usual white walls, they were now a light blue colour. Even the bed he was sitting on was different.

I know I was in my room a minute ago...

Panic started building in his throat as the worst case scenarios came to him mind. Was I drugged, or kidnapped? That couldn't be possible since I was awake, in my room, reading through the journal a minute ago. His eyes frantically searched the room for a means to escape, but calmed when his more reasonable side surfaced. Am I dreaming? The thought gave him peace of mind.

"Yeah, I'm probably dreaming." Though I don't remember falling asleep. "This is probably just a dream," he reasoned.

With a calmer mind, he looked around, noticing the many antique statues and paintings around, as well as the decorational sofa and dresser in the far corner. Seokjin was not one to be really into many antique things, nor did he own any, but something about this room and all these things seemed familiar. They seemed right.

As he looked around in awe, he also noticed the wooden piano against the wall beside him, as well as the statues on pillars beside either sides of his bed. At first they seemed oddly placed, but somehow the decor reminded Seokjin of a live painting. Almost like he was inside a still picture or piece of art work, as if if he went to touch anything it would feel like the texture of dried strokes of pain on a canvas.

Another sound of glass breaking came from outside the door behind him that he could've sworn wasn't there before, this time loud enough to make him jump. As Seokjin walked, though he felt disoriented as a wave of panic builded up in his throat as if he subconsciously knew walking through those doors would lead to something he should be afraid of, but at the same time a strange, overwhelming sense of serenity washed over him. He felt his heart beat calmly in his chest, and though a suspicious drowsiness was slowly taking over, he still didn't panic. No, tranquility and peace of mind was all there was.

Standing before the grand wooden door, he reached for the knob, slowly turning it. The door creaked loudly as it opened wide, showing a long corridor with the same light blue walls and dark blue carpets as inside the room. But what caught his eye wasn't the decor — it was the painting hanging on the wall at the end of the corridor.

As he walked down the hallway, he felt drawn to the painting, almost as if it were calling him. A sensation he couldn't ignore.

Finally, when he reached it, he could see the painting for what it was; a crow about to take flight. So weird, he thought in awe as he continued to stare into the depths of the painting.

Every stroke, every paint brush swipe on the canvas was somehow both lucid and dull, making the painting seemingly almost realistic. To him, it was almost as if he were simply looking through a window, watching a crow about to take flight. This was the most vivid dream Seokjin had ever had, and he didn't know why it bothered him so much

Staring at the painting, Seokjin couldn't do anything but feel a sadness dwell in his chest.

He couldn't help but let the words escape his lips. "Why do I feel so sad?"

And as soon as he spoke aloud, a voice echoed in the cold, quiet hallways, leaving him with more than just questions. An almost instinctive fear struck him, as the chills ran down his spine.

"Do you promise?"

magic shop | my omelas

Seokjin whipped his head to his side, noticing the broad wooden set of doors with exquisite design etched into the frame at the end of another hall, much like the doors he had left the room through.

"Do you promise to stay together?" The voice of a child echoed once more.

Seokjin tilted his head in confusion as he slowly inched to the door. "Is anyone... here?" He hesitated. He didn't even know where "here" was. He figured it was time to get some answers. "Where am I?"

He expected the child's hollow voice to echo in the corridor once again, but to his dismay, there was no response. Nothing but an oddly ominous silence lingering thick in the air.

As he walked closer to the door set, this time determined to find whoever brought him there, he spoke louder and clearer, "Where am I? How did I get here? If this is some ploy to get money from the company or my father, let me tell you, you won't be getting anything out of it!" Anger and authority laced in his tone.

Again, nothing.

Standing in front of the large doors, he grasped the golden handle. Seokjin turned it and pulled the door open. Upon opening the door, Seokjin paused in awe. The door led to a room like no other he had seen before; the walls and floor seemed to let off colour. Beside him stood two grand terraces, coated in glimmering splashes of colour. Even the glass seemed to emit it. Even when it seemed random, almost like graffiti, the colours somehow seemed to glimmer in a way not possible in reality and, at the same time, somehow not good. It was as if he stumbled upon somewhere sacred.

"You promised. You were supposed to protect us." The distorted voice of a child came, snatching his attention away from the room and to where the voice came, to the booth at the end of the room across from him.

"I--"

"Do you want a trade?" interrupted an abrupt deep voice, echoing from across the room where a booth was tucked away in the corner.

Having no choice but to do otherwise, he walked to the booth. On first glance, he hadn't noticed anything, but as he got closer he saw there was someone inside — a cloaked figure.

Gulping back hesitation and the fear of the cloaked person, Seokjin stood tall in front of the booth, looking directly at the cloaked figure. "I demand to know why I've been brought here. If this is a ploy in order to gain a ransome from my father or the company, you have another thing coming."

Being the son of the chairman and owner of one of the biggest distributors in the world, Seokjin had his fair share of intense situations such as this. Thus, having had experience with kidnappers in a young age, Seokjin knew the only way to escape such situations was to always remain calm and stern, to never show any weakness.

The person never looked up to meet Seokjin's eyes, the cloak blocking most of the man's face beside his mouth. Instead, they spoke up, "Do you want a trade?" A voice so devoid of emotion and low, in only a few words this man had sent cold chills down Seokjin's spine like never before.

Seokjin could feel all of his courage and determination seep out of him. "A-a trade?" he stuttered, "I, uh, don't want a trade. I--"

The man chuckled lowly. "Of course you want a trade. That is, of course, why you're here." he mocked.

Besides fear, Seokjin couldn't help but feel that everything around him felt too... off. Though this felt way more than any dream he ever had before, it all seemed too surreal to be otherwise.

Unknowingly, he voiced his own thoughts out loud, "Is this a dream? I mean, it has to be, right?" Seokjin blinked, not believed what he had just said, but he honestly didn't think this could be real. It was too absurd to be.

So instead, he waited for the man to respond. Nothing came. It was as if the man ignored his existence all together.

Seokjin could feel frustration build up in him, the mysterious fear subsiding. It was needless to say he was sick of feeling like he was being played with. "It's a dream, isn't it? And let me guess — you're here as some figment of my imagination, trying to give me some 'spiritual enlightening', aren't you? Well, guess what; I'm way too tired for this bullshit, and on top of that, I got a meeting tomorrow with the pain-in-the-ass chairman, so I'll be going back to wherever I was before." he ranted, the anger and stress pouring out of him. He turned heel and began stomping away.

"Do you want to make a trade?" The man bellowed, carrying the same cold tone as it did before, making Seokjin stop in place. Everything seemed to stand still in place, until the man's voice echoed in the room once more, this time as if it was whispered close to his ear. "In exchange to go back."

Seokjin turned to the man, his interest piqued but never letting it show on his otherwise poker face. "Go back?" he questioned.

Immediately he thought of his friends he had left in the past, all those years ago. The day at the beach, their smiles and laughter, the goofing off.

It was weird, but somehow he could feel something physically reaching out inside of him, almost as if it knew this was it. Something in his stomach churned at the possibility to go back to that, to salvage it.

"Impossible." he muttered, only half-believing it. "I'm not buying it."

The cloaked man laughed. "Anything's possible, Kim Seojin-ssi."

The man looked up to meet his eyes, with a sneer plastered on his shadowed visage.

"For a simple trade."

[ Do you want to go back? ]
[ 다시가 고 싶 니? ]