The Witches (Book #1)

𝔇𝔢𝔩𝔦𝔠𝔞𝔱𝔢 𝔗𝔥𝔦𝔫𝔤𝔰

Double Update!

☽🔮🃏🌕🕸✨🍃🕯🧿🌙🍄☾

I stare at the picture of me and my dad in Paris.

My dad held a glossy pastry in his hands, with cream billowing from the top. "Suzy, you're about to eat the most delicious thing you've ever tasted. And I'm the lucky one that gets to be here to
witness it. If you pass out from delight, don't say I didn't warn you first."

I grinned foolishly at my dad as he hoisted me up onto his lap. He placed the large cream puff into my small hands.

"Now, hold on. Before you bite it, we should document this moment." My dad waved at a pretty woman about to enter the café we were sitting outside of. "Mademoiselle, pardon. Pouvez-vous prendre une photo de nous?"

She smiled at my dad as he handed her his camera. She had a loose braid, long legs, and high heels. "Of course I will."

"Now, wait a second, something can be improved here," my dad said as he pulled me closer. "And I know just what it is." He swiped in piece of cream from the pastry and put it on my nose. "'That's it. Perfection."

I laughed, and my dad wrapped his arms around me. He was right. In that moment, everything was perfect.

I put down the picture. One more day until I see you. My phone is next to the frame and I notice a missed call from Sehun from late last night. I cringe, remembering our botched kiss.

I push back the covers and slide my feet into black flip flops. The Siberian Chrysanthemum in the slender vase on my bedside table catches my eye and I touch its silky petals. There's no way this is the same flower as when I got here. Joohyuk must replace it. He must have really loved his sister. I wonder what happened to her.

I listen for heels clicking as I walk down the hallway, but everything's silent.

"Joohyuk?" I whisper in the front foyer. No response.

I should've asked him about the hanging location. He just left too fast. Whatever. I'll find the house my grandmother talked about myself. I'm curious about it anyway, and I'll need it for that history paper. I can't write "The ghost in my house told me" in my footnote and expect it to go over as hard evidence.

I push the kitchen door open. A faint smell of coffee lingers. Yoomi left some in the pot for me. I grab a white mug from the cupboard and see the #1 DAD mug behind it. I gave it to my dad on his birthday when I was in fourth grade. He used it every morning since. He said he's proud of the title and wants everyone to know. It's one of the few things I brought from the Seoul apartment.

I mix a generous amount of cream and sugar into my coffee and make my way to the back door. I step onto the patio and sit at the white cast-iron table. It smells like the beginning of autumn.

"Sooji!" booms Mrs. Oh from her enormous garden. She waves with a handful of herbs.

I look around. No Sehun in sight. "Good morning, Mrs. Oh!"

"Have you had breakfast?"

"No." Then I quickly add, "But I'm alright."

"Nonsense. Come over and have some with me. Sehun usually sleeps for a few more hours, and I'm just about to sit down."

"Don't worry. I'm okay."

"I don't see Yoomi's car in the driveway, and I would hate to think you're hungry over there when I have so much food."

"I'm in my pajamas." I glance at my black plaid pajamas.

"Best clothes in a person's wardrobe," she replies, and I give up. There's no resisting this cheerful woman.

I walk off the patio into the damp grass. I might seriously regret this decision if Sehun wakes up and finds me at his kitchen table. But she did say he sleeps late. Maybe I can find out something about my grandmother.

Mrs. Oh opens the back door. "Come on in."

She leads me toward the dining room table, which is made from weathered wood and has the same rustic edges as everything else in the house. Eggs, strawberry waffles, and hash browns are laid out in an impressive display.

I sit. "This looks amazing."

"You'll have to come over more often. I never have enough people to cook for. Should've had a dozen children."

I smile at her and pile food on my plate. "Mrs. Oh, you were close with my grandmother, right?"

"Dalmi was a second mother to me. Took care of her right up until the end."

"What was she like? I mean, was she . . ." I want to say "sane," but that sounds so rude. "Clear-minded when she got older?"

"Dalmi had a mind of her own. People didn't always understand her." She pauses. "Her eccentricities were more pronounced with age, especially her belief in the unseen, But yes, she had a perfectly sound mind until the day she passed."

"Do you believe in things you can't see?" I ask, not really sure how to address the curse or the grumpy ghost.

"Almost everything worth believing in cannot be seen. Love, for instance."

"I never really thought about that."

"Suzy?" Jaxon says behind me. Shit.

Mrs. Oh notices my reaction. "Sehun, you're awake before noon. Isn't this a lovely surprise."

"I heard voices," he says. Join the club.

"Take a seat. I'll get you a plate.

He sits at the end of the table, between me and Mrs. Oh. She heads toward the kitchen, and I stare at my food.

"I'll go," I say as soon as she's out of earshot.

"Why?"

"You know why, because of . . . well, yesterday."

"So you're mad at me?" He frowns.

"What? No. I'm just . . . I don't know what I am."

Mrs. Oh returns with a plate and a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice. She looks at us. "Need to go check on my macarons. Delicate things, you know."

When she's out of the room, I get up.

"Suzy, stop. I won't kiss you anymore. I just don't wanna fight."

"Believe me. It's not that."

He looks relieved. "So you do want me to kiss you?"

My face turns bright red. "Sometimes I seriously want to knock you out."

"I'm not afraid of some stupid curse, or whatever you think is wrong with you."

I sit back down and lower my voice. I'm not thrilled about Mrs. Oh overhearing this. "I know you don't believe me. But I'm not lying. One of my best friends fell down the stairs in my apartment building. Another got hit by a car when we were crossing the streets. I attract disaster."

He ignores my warning. "You wouldn't have come here if you were trying to avoid me. You're at my house in your pajamas."

"I came because your mom invited me."

He looks at me like I can't possibly be serious.

"Okay, fine." I pick my chopsticks back up. "So what?"

"So, you like me." He smiles, shoveling eggs onto his plate.

I can't help it. I laugh. I do like you, more than you know. What if something does happen to Sehun and it's my fault? I couldn't live with that.

"You still taking me on a date to that house today?" Sehun asks.

I smile. "Not if you put it like that."