"MC." Yoosung gently nudged MC's shoulder. "You're falling asleep on top of cheap cafeteria food, again. "
MC groaned, straitening herself up slowly. Taking advantage of MC's distraction, Yoosung's pet squirrel, Tteok, swooped in and stole some of MC's fruits.
The soaring rafters of the lunch hall echoed with the voices of Yoosung's classmates. Above them, light rammed through glass panels, another painful reminder that it wasn't nighttime, Yoosung's favorite time to rage freely. MC slept through all those obstacles, heavy eyelids weighted with exhaustion.
Haneul university prided itself on the variety of topics it taught to its students; as competitive as it was to get in, its name held prestige. a student with large fox ears walked besides them, and two tables ahead, Yoosung thought he spotted a guy with elongated horns peeking above the colorful crowd. It reminded him he wanted to get that one lv250 helm in LOLOL in tonight's raid. One of the students was vividly chatting with a kye-ryong as they pointed to their book.
"Bad week, huh?" Yoosung said with sympathy. In another language, Yoosung squeaked at Tteok for him to let MC's food alone, but got mostly ignored.
"You have no idea. Remember my tablet? The one tablet I use to draw commissions? My only source of income for now?"
"Ya?"
"Well. It burned me."
"It what!?"
"Exactly!" She twirled her right hand to show Yoosung; it was wrapped up in bandages, even the top of the fingers. "Burned! I used to get some scratches at my palm, and I thought that might've been a weird coincidence. But now, I'm sure it's a curse. I can't even touch it without this happening." She pushed the food around her tray with disinterest. By now, all the fruits had been successfully stolen by Tteok. "I need to pay the rent at the end of the month, but without a job or commissions... I just don't know what to do."
"Awe, MC, that's terrible." Yoosung patted her shoulder, unsure of what to say. "Have you gone to a curse breaker?"
MC gave a halfhearted shrug. "I tried a couple around the area. They said the curse is too complicated...None of them had seen anything like it. "
Yoosung bit his lip. "y'know, I might... No, never mind."
"What?"
"Oh, forget it. It probably wasn't going to work anyway."
"No, tell me! I'm desperate enough to try anything."
"Weell... I know someone who miiight know how to help. He knows plenty about technology."
"Really!? That's perfect! Do you think you could contact them for me?" MC suddenly looked energetic; that was the MC Yoosung was more used to.
"I'm not sure he'll take the job! He's really stubborn."
"Could you at least try for me, please? I'd owe you a big one."
"I-" Yoosung's phone rang with his favorite battle theme, loud and electric. He shot an apologetic look towards MC before picking up. "Hello?"
"Good evening, Yoosung." Jumin answered.
"Please don't tell me this has to do with Elizabeth the 3rd."
"It has to do with Elizabeth the 3rd."
"Jumin, I can't go to your house to talk to your cat! My class starts in fifteen minutes!"
"No problem. I got Elizabeth the 3rd in a limousine outside your school, the teacher is already notified that you'll arrive late."
Yoosung groaned audibly. "Why are you like this."
"Just lucky, I guess. See you in 5 minutes."
"Jumin, wait-" Jumin hung up.
MC couldn't hold it back anymore, she burst out laughing.
"It wouldn't be so funny if you talked to Elizabeth. I've never met a more arrogant cat..."
MC's giggles eventually died down. Despite his protests, Yoosung was already packing up and getting ready to go. "If Jumin bothers you that much, wouldn't it be easier to ignore his calls?"
"That'd do nothing, believe me. He's relentless! And… he pays well when I do a good job."
"So, basically, he's your sugar daddy? Except instead of sex... you… translate his cat's speech?"
"MC!"
"Sorry, sorry." And, before Yoosung dashed away, she hurried to say, "Will you try to talk to your friend? Please?"
"Oh, all right. I'll talk to him when I get home."
"You're the best, Yoosung!"
"Awe, thanks MC! Talk to you later?"
"Yup."
With one last hand wave, Tteok jumped inside Yoosung's pocket and he ran off towards the exit, aware that every lost minute would be noted by Jumin.
Today was going to be a long day, he could tell.
Commuting was certainly a drawback to living in a mountain, but Yoosung wouldn't trade it for the world.
There were several labelled paths at the entrance of Bukhansan that were directed towards tourists, yet, Yoosung followed his own; mom had taught it to him, many years ago. The rich, uneven ground was more familiar to him than the labelled streets of Seoul. Each tree with its unique twists and turns, its residents, were the greatest reference.
On his way through the imposing mountain, Yoosung greeted several friends; a mother hare who had recently given birth, a stray hedgehog that scavenged for his favorite berries, and a timid deer who was on the lookout for wolves.
He skidded down a small slope right before arriving at his tree house; it towered over him, the wooden walls of his home mixing in with the lush emerald green leaves poking out of the structure. A gentle breeze caressed them, the sight alone making Yoosung's shoulders relax. Behind the tree house, there was a gentle waterfall that rolled its way into a small pond.
The sight was so comforting and welcoming.
Tteok giddily climbed his way up the tree, not waiting for Yoosung as he tapped his wand against the bark thrice. The bark slowly sunk into itself at parts, creating neat holes for Yoosung to use as a ladder. He whispered a thank you to the tree before climbing his way up.
Once he got inside, he's quick to drop his bag at the entrance, next to his bronze cauldron. Lying on the floor, beside his bed, piled on top of his chair, stacks of clothes from varying sizes ruled the place. He's sure that somewhere underneath there lay his research papers, school books, and maybe the DS he hadn't seen in a couple of months.
Ah yes, home sweet home.
Yoosung stepped over various scattered objects before he reached his bed, flopping into it and making himself comfortable amidst his army of plush dolls.
He fished his cellphone out of his pocket, and, steeling himself, he clicked on the WA app and hoped 7 was there.
Yoosung : hey, 7!
707: whut!
707:Who dares to summon me!
Yoosung : me, your old friend Yoosung!
707: what a bold move! What troubles your soft, innocent mind?
Yoosung : the worries of every student...!
Yoosung : How will I be able to survive if so much homework is stacked against me? T_T
707: lololol don't you usually ignore it tho
Yoosung : ...that's true...
Yoosung : But it's still a worry in my mind!
Yoosung : AH! Before I forget!
Yoosung : I wanted to ask you a favor! A friend of mine has been having technical issues, it's super important
707: sure~ wazzup?
Yoosung : her drawing tablet burns her when she picks it up
707: ...that's not a technical issue
Yoosung : it kind of is? She can't draw now and she really needs to do it soon
707: nope, sorry
Yoosung : do you think you could
Yoosung : hey! You're not even giving her an opportunity!
707: I can't do anything about magic issues, and you know it
Yoosung : but you used to! Jumin says your magic is super strong, and you build things all the time. I know you could help them in a blink.
707: no.
707: I'm sorry, I really am. But I haven't done a spell in years and I'm not planning to do it again.
Yoosung : I know that... I wouldn't want to pressure you if it wasn't important.
Yoosung : MC, my friend, she's kind of in big trouble. She owes some art commissions, and she could rly use the money right now
707: can't her parents help her out?
Yoosung : uhm… I don't think so
Yoosung : as far as I know, MC is paying for her own school and rent… I don't think she gets along with her parents too well?
707: well? why doesn't she get a job?
Yoosung : she had one! But she got fired recently…
7 didn't seem to answer. Yoosung fiddled with his phone, wondering if this really was the right thing to do.
Yoosung : is there really nothing you could do?
707: I don't think I can do much tbh
707: the most I could do is give it a look over, point your friend to somebody who could help
Yoosung : my friend would really appreciate that.
Yoosung : TTATT sorry for pressuring you
707: lolol it's ok
707: you can just swing by my house whenever~
Yoosung : thank you so much! I knew I could count on you!
707: SEVEN! ZERO! SEVEN! Always there to support his friends!
7 proceeded to send a picture of a small, yellow chick with a trailing superhero cape. Yoosung couldn't help but snort at the image. In response, Yoosung sent back an image of a crowd wildly cheering for him. They soon took a turn to memes, and the chat went on for a while.
707: oh no
Yoosung : ?
707: it seems
707: that I gotta go!
Yoosung : WHAT!? Why?
707: my jail guard of a bro caught me procrastinating T_T
Yoosung : oh no! T_T
707: Seven's precious freedom, compromised!
707: ttyl~ don't go skipping your meals now, university boy!
Yoosung : You can do it 7 T_T T_T
*707 has logged off the chatroom*
"Are you sure your friend lives around here? What was his name again?"
"707! Well that's his username, I got used to it, hehe... And yep, I'm sure! I've been here a couple times already."
"Huh." Frankly, MC felt lost at this point. She couldn't remember how many alleys they had to slip through, supposed shortcuts of Yoosung's that had made her utterly confused. She knew for sure she couldn't have found the place by herself.
Seoul was nothing if not made of hills and mountains; steep and tiring to explore. The street they were walking up through was lined with a variety of buildings, neatly squished against each other. They had been climbing upwards all morning, the clear sky painting the place into a peaceful scenery. They'd seen a couple of families walking around, kids running amok in the freedom of the weekend.
"Ah! There it is!" Yoosung exclaimed at last. He pointed towards an apartment building with pastel yellow walls and balconies poking out at its side. The walls looked somewhat worn down, like it had been standing for a couple of decades already.
What a bland building, MC thought to herself. It's almost as if she'd forgotten what it looked like the moment she took her eyes off it.
They stepped inside the lobby, and Yoosung pressed a code into the intercom, bouncing happily as they waited for a reply. MC was amazed that he still had the energy for that, after all the walking they'd been doing.
A deep voice answered, somewhat distorted through the intercom. "ما هو اثنين زائد اثنين؟"
"Seveeen." Yoosung whined. "Come on, open up!"
"انها مسألة بسيطة. لا يمكنك الإجابة عليه؟"
"Or we can, y'know, wait here and not give you the snacks we brought with us."
"You have passed the test, barely." After that cryptic message, the door beeped open for them to enter.
Yoosung guided her through a door, up to the tenth floor. The itch of her curiosity grew with every second, wondering just what kind of guy was 7, really.
Eventually, they went down a corridor and came to stand in front of a certain door. Yoosung was quick to knock on it, and it felt like ages before he finally opened it. MC grabbed the edge of her shirt and twisted it around.
At last, the door swung open, revealing a tall red hair smiling brightly at them. "Hiya hey hey, Yoosung~ come in, the two of you." After taking their shoes off at the entrance, they followed him to the living room, and that's when any bit of normalcy died.
The theme of the place seemed to be chaos; a stoplight dangled above them, switching lights from time to time. Against the wall, a cuckoo clock was modified to have Star Wars ships and characters, there were stop signs attached to doors and carpets, and there were robots with different levels of finished scattered all over the place, MC thought she even spotted a modified Roomba that had a rectangular object attached to its head.
MC was struck by the thought that the place was more spacious than it should be possible.
Yoosung and MC sat comfortably in the couch, 7 sitting across from them. In the middle, there was a table with a considerable pile of metallic tools scattered over it.
"Do make yourselves at home! Try not to touch the stuff in the table, though. I'm not quite sure what's in there anymore, haha." His voice, a chirpy baritone that flowed with energy, helped to ease MC's exhaustion away.
"Hey 7, where's Saeran? Is he home?" Yoosung asked, glancing around the house as if he might appear any minute now.
"He's at the parlor today. Works all morning and evening, boo-hoo. He leaves me by myself for so long!"
"Who's Saeran?" MC jumped in.
"Oh, just my lovely, precious, short tempered little bro~!" 7 cooed.
"Is he quite as good looking as you are?" MC regretted her words the minute they were out of her mouth. Somehow, 7's easy going way had made her think it was ok to say.
"Hmm! He's not bad himself, but it's hard to outshine my unique features and personality!" He replied with gusto. For a second, MC thought he'd been surprised by her comment, too.
707 slipped on two leather gloves as they talked.
"Now, gimme gimme~" 707 made grabby hands directed towards MC. "Where's the cursed tablet I've heard so much about?"
"Oh, Uhm...here." MC took her bag off and withdrew a rectangular looking object, completely wrapped up in a big, old t-shirt. She could still feel it emanating biting heat through the cloth, even though it couldn't hurt her.
"Hmmm." 7 gingerly held it, but he paused before unwrapping it.
"...is something wrong?"
"What? Oh, it's nothing. I just thought this energy felt familiar." He unwrapped it and ran his gloved thumbs over its surface, slowly, as if savoring a new flavor. "Maybe not. I must've mixed it up with someone else."
7 looked it over, twisting it around. He picked his bright yellow, bug-like goggles from the mess of metallic tools littering the table. As he took his glasses off and snapped the goggles on, he leaned closer towards the tablet, and let out a long whistle.
"No wonder you're having trouble with this. It's advanced dark magic."
Yoosung and MC shot a worried look at each other.
"It's probably better for you to keep away from it. You said it started burning you recently, correct?"
MC nodded.
7 shot her a wry smile. "That means the curse is getting stronger. It's possible that it's feeding off your energy for it. Had you spent longer with it... Well, it's lucky that you didn't."
MC's stomach twisted with dread. "Oh."
"Ya."
"I had no idea you knew so much about curses." Yoosung pointed out.
"I'm a man of many mysteries and talents, my friend!" 7 declared, not bothered at all by the disturbing tablet in his hands. "Who knows? Maybe I'm a necromancer with bodies in the basement, and you wouldn't know."
"You aren't! ...are you?"
7 cackled. "You're a riot, Yoosung. But you're not going down my basement." 7 pressed something at the side of his goggles, and a small magnifying glass popped in front of them. "Your tablet doesn't have a warranty anymore, does it?"
"I don't think so. Why?"
"There's one thing I could possibly do for your tablet, but it'd take the warranty away."
7 stared at the tablet one last time before clearing some space at the table and putting it down. He took the gloves off and tossed them besides the tablet. Finally, he turned back to face them. It was hard to read his expressions with those huge goggles still on.
"Here's how it is; best case scenario, the curse's energy has merged to one or a couple parts of the tablet. I could disassemble it, switch those parts, and you'd have your tablet back in no time at all~ I wouldn't even have to use an ounce of magic!"
"That'd be perfect!" MC exclaimed.
"Right? We'd get our happy ending, easy peasy~"
"Hooray! Success!"
"What if that doesn't work?" Yoosung asked curiously.
"Aha! Quite observant of you, Assistant Watt. If enough time has passed, the curse might've merged with the entire tablet, and the only way to fix it would be breaking the curse. That, I can't help with." 7 gave a shrug at this point. "It's up to you, really. Whaddaya say, MC?"
MC bit her lip, processing the information over. "How much would I owe you, though?"
"Awe, I wanted to save the payment for after you'd accepted." 7 pouted. "You wouldn't owe me a single won, if that's what you're thinking. I understand that college life is expensive."
MC didn't allow herself to feel relief, not yet. "If it's not money, then how would I pay you?"
7 gave her a wide, Cheshire like grin that pushed at the base of his goggles upwards. He leaned forward in his seat, and poked at MC's nose with one long, slender finger. "Make me a wish!"
"A- a what?" She saw her confusion reflected in 7's goggles.
"That's not fair! You're asking the impossible, and MC isn't good enough to-" Yoosung cut himself short. "Sorry, MC. That was mean."
"No, you're right. I wasn't born in a magical family, and I haven't found my specialty yet… uhm, I don't even know what making a wish entails." MC hung her head low.
"Giving up before you've even tried, you must really want your tablet fixed." 7 said, causing Yoosung to glare at him. 7 ignored him with ease. "You know in the old days, how animals and humans would ask deities more powerful than them for a wish, and they'd grant them?"
"I guess? You mean like the story of how Korea was founded?"
"Ya, myths like that. That's how it used to be. At some point, humans realized they could create their own wishes, and so they did. It's not weird that you haven't heard it before, though. Making wishes is so hard that most people think it's impossible."
7 took his goggles off at last, and MC was stricken by how golden and bright his eyes were. He slipped his glasses back on, and looked at MC without a trace of humor in his face. His light, playful voice, vanished. "But I know they're real. And I also know that you have what it takes to make one."
"How do you know?" MC found herself asking, in a light voice. She couldn't take her eyes off 7's if she tried.
With raised eyebrows, 7 tapped the side of his glasses twice. "I don't do magic, but I'm good at sensing it. You're better than you think you are, MC."
She couldn't find a way to reply to this.
Yoosung placed his hand on MC's shoulder, startling her lightly. For a second, MC had forgotten Yoosung was even there.
Silence took over the room, the weight of his request settling down over her shoulders. What if her family was right? MC was not fit for magic. If she quit, and went back home, there'd be no rent to pay, no expectations set for what she should be. It'd be easy.
Doing simple spells was beyond her grasp, wishes went far beyond that.
MC inhaled deeply, and turned to stare back at 7, who patiently waited for her answer.
"I'll do it. I'll find a way to make you a wish." MC stated with conviction. She had never been one to take the easy way out.
7's blank expression melted into a mischievous, youthful one. "You got yourself a deal, then. I'll get working on your tablet right away."
"Thank you so much! You have no idea how much it means to me."
"Hush, my devoted fan! Save the praises for after this baby is healed up!" He theatrically gestured towards MC's tablet, and she couldn't help but giggle at the show.
"Why, I'm sure it'll be fine. God 7 has blessed it, after all!"
"God 7!? You shouldn't have said that! The title… is… too fitting!"
"Omg, you two!" Yoosung exclaimed.