"um... who's at our table?"

as the five of them approached the cafeteria for their lunch hour, they noticed the table they'd been sitting at every single day for the past four years had been taken up by a group of people they have never spoken to before.

there was an unspoken rule around the school that this table was theirs. even though their names were not on it, that's just how it was. the boys never complained because they never had to worry about where to sit everyday.

"okay, what is wrong with today?" jaemin asked as he crossed his arms.

nari thought back to the 100 dollar bill, and then to last night. her thoughts were interrupted at the sight of her principal, who seemed to be looking for something. most likely her and jaemin in particular.

"i don't know, but we should go because mr. yoo's eyes are gonna land on us any second now." the girl hurried. they all turned away and left the school, deciding they were gonna spend their hour somewhere else.

"we're screwed when he finds us." jaemin complained, nari humming in agreement.

"so... this is like, really stupid, but, you know how we made those dumb wishes last night?" nari asked as they walked.

"yeah, what about them?" renjun asked.

"i think that may have something to do with today. hear me out, i went home last night and my mom wasn't home... like how i wished my home life wasn't so shit? spoiler alert, its because i have a shitty mom. she wasn't there last night or this morning, which is very out of character of her. and then today, it seems like no one cares about you guys, i even found a 100 dollar bill in my fucking backpack." the girl rambled.

the four of them exchanged looks between each other, nari not being able to tell whether they were considering what she said to be possible or if they just thought she was crazy.

"you seriously think it has to do with last night? i'm not one to judge but, that may be just a tad bit ridiculous." donghyuck remarked.

"honestly, not saying that i think it could be that, but how else could you explain how everyone's acting today?" jeno joined.

"exactly! there's no other explanation for it." nari insisted.

they thought for a second, trying to gather their thoughts on it until jaemin came up with something that could possibly confirm nari's theory. "then let's just go back and try it out again?"

"do you even hear yourselves? that's not even humanly possible, c'mon." donghyuck scoffed.

"alright, lets go then. this will either prove me right or wrong," nari said confidently, crossing her arms. they all decided to go back to the abandoned building, hoping it wouldn't take longer than an hour. nari didn't want to get in even more trouble, not that it was even possible considering skipping detention the previous day. she couldn't even imagine her punishment.

the five of them walked faster than usual to the spot, and once they arrived, they found themselves in the exact spot they made their wishes in last night.

"okay, go on," donghyuck said to nari, urging her to make her wish.

"...i don't know what to wish for."

the four of them laughed at her as she pondered what to wish for, jaemin speaking up. "i'll go first then. i wish for our principal to allow us to skip school whenever we want, no consequences."

"oh yeah, good one," nari nodded.

"boring. i wish i was filthy rich." donghyuck beamed, smiling confidently. "if i don't wake up in a bed of money tomorrow, this shit is not real."

"i wish for a cat." renjun suddenly said, earning looks from the three boys. "what? it's too expensive to adopt, i might as well make the use out of this."

nari laughed and then looked to jeno, "yo, your turn. make a wish."

"um... i wish for... me to pass my exam with a perfect A+ tomorrow."

"...why are you guys so boring?" donghyuck asked at the sound of his friends wish.

right after doing what they had went there to do, the group left immediately to ensure they got back to school on time. some students had begun arriving back to school, the same as then, but this time specifically, their principal was waiting outside.

"shit, you better hope your wish worked, jaemin." nari said to him, scared for what was about to come.

as the man spotted the group walking up together, he crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes, getting ready to speak.

"nari and jaemin, i'm surprised you had the courage to show up today. come with me." he said. the two of them looked back at their friends worriedly before following their head principal to his office.

"so," he started as he sat down in his chair, looking up at the two teenagers in front of him, "i was really hoping you could actually do something right for once, but i clearly overestimated you. i have no choice but to suspend you."

nari eyes nearly popped out of her head, "mr. yoo, don't you think that's overstepping a bit?"

"overstepping? i could have you expelled if i wanted to!" he shouted, stopping for a second to calm himself down. "i'm sorry. i do care about you guys, but you need to work with me here. this is what needs to be done."

jaemin looked down at nari to see her looking completely defeated. he felt bad, he wasn't as affected by it as her, but she clearly had more going on than he thought. the girl just nodded and left, jaemin following close behind.

"nari, i'm really sorry. i didn't realize how this could effect you as much as it could me, and i was being selfish by influencing you to leave with me. i'm sorry." he apologized with sincerity as he followed her through the now empty hallways.

nari stopped in her tracks and turned around. "jaemin, you didn't influence me. it was completely up to me to do what i did and it's not your fault. i had a lot of fun with you guys but i made a mistake and now i have to face the consequences. don't feel bad, alright?"

jaemin nodded but the feeling of guilt didn't wash away. nari walked to her class while jaemin walked to his and the school day went on.

"so... this means the wishes don't work?" jeno asked as they walked through the halls.

"yeah, i guess it's just pure coincidence. but it still doesn't explain how everyone is acting all of a sudden. not that i'm complaining, it's just really weird."

the four of them didn't find nari after school because she went straight home. she wasn't avoiding them on purpose, she was just extremely worried about how her mother was going to react to her getting suspended. fortunately for her, she still wasn't home.

"mom? are you home?" she asked, but the same silence as yesterday hit her. at this point nari had gotten slightly worried. she pulled out her phone that she didn't use very often, especially not to call her mom, but clicked on her contact and hit call.

she waited, and waited, and after a moment of ringing, an automated voicemail message went through. nari pulled her phone away from her ear and looked at it, seeing a message from jaemin after giving him her number on their way home last night.

you okay? let me know when you get home

i'm home. everythings good

everything except for the fact that her own mother was missing. brushing away her thoughts again, nari spent the rest of the night relaxing until she finally decided to go to bed.

nari woke up the next morning to the sound of banging on her door. dazed and confused, she checked her phone quickly to see that school had started an hour ago.

"shit," she cursed, jumping up from her bed and slipping a pair of slippers on her feet. she tried to smooth out her hair before walking up to her front door and peeping through the window first to see who was there. to her surprise, it was her four friends.

"what are you—"

"nari, look!" renjun exclaimed, showing off what he was holding in his arms.

nari looked at his arms, eyes going wide. "thats... a cat..."

"i know! it was just there in my bed when i woke up!" he announced excitedly.

"i did not wake up in a pile of money. these wishes are a little too realistic." donghyuck pouted, crossing his arms.

"nari, have you checked your emails this morning? mr. yoo said something about how he wants us to show up today to talk to us." jaemin said to the girl.

"shit, i woke up totally worried about sleeping in, but we're suspended."

"for now," jaemin smirked, "or maybe our wish really did work."

nari allowed them inside while she quickly got ready for school. renjun didn't have the motivation to bring his cat back home so he asked nari if he could stay at her place. luckily she already had cat food from previously owning cats, so she allowed his cat to stay.

after she quickly put on her uniform and brushed her teeth, the five of them were out the door.

when they made it to school and ran into their principal, nari tapped him on the shoulder lightly to get his attention.

"mr. yoo, i'm very sorry for being late—"

"nari, jaemin! i've been looking for you! i just wanted to say, you're absolutely right about me overstepping. i was too hard on you. you kids have your own personal problems and its unfair to punish you so harshly."

"...so.. we're not suspended?"

"of course not. enjoy your day!" was all he said before walking off.

nari turned to her friends with a dropped jaw to see the boys grinning widely.

"it fucking works!" jaemin exclaimed excitedly.

"sort of. donghyucks wish didn't work but ours did."

"yeah, not fair but i'll take it."