"Do you.... believe in magic?"
Imagine yourself in the magical world of Ri Eul, a magician who may or may not be a little off his rocker. He claims to be a real magician, but at times his tricks seem to be just that--tricks. You've known him since b...
You smell rain. Its refreshing fragrance washes over you as you inhale deeply.
Your eyes flutter open. You recognize your surroundings after a moment of looking around. You're standing just inside the gates of a familiar abandoned amusement park. It's very cloudy, making everything appear grey and gloomy. In fact, there's hardly a hint of color anywhere you look. Even the usually colorful merry-go-round appears to be varying shades of grey hue. The dark clouds above hint at a heavy downpour. They seem ready to burst at any moment.
You take a few steps forward, towards the abandoned theater. Where's Min-ah? you think.
At the thought of your best friend, you suddenly spot him. There he is, a few feet away. He has his back to you. He's wearing his usual dark flowing cape, and his favorite top hat. You think you hear him saying something, but you can't quite make out what it is...
With a few more steps in his direction, another figure suddenly comes into view. There's a girl there, standing in front of him, but you're sure you've never seen her before. How strange. You're usually Min-hyuk's only visitor. The girl has short, dark hair with bangs that nearly cover her eyes. She's dressed in a school uniform and a backpack is slung over her shoulder. Min-hyuk seems to be talking to her. His low voice carries across the courtyard to you, but you still can't tell what he's saying. Neither of them seem to realize you're there.
You suddenly hear Min-hyuk chuckle, and with a flourish he pulls out a deck of cards, seemingly from nowhere. You watch as he expertly shuffles the cards, letting them fly between his hands with his nimble fingers. He seems to be showing the girl a magic trick. You hear her laughter mixed with his as he proceeds to confuse and dazzle her with the simple card trick.
"Min-ah!" you call out to him. Your voice echoes in the open courtyard, cutting through the thick silence.
He pauses suddenly at the sound of your voice, his hands frozen mid-flourish. After a moment, he scoops up the cards, forming them into a neat pile again, and hands them to the girl in front of him. She takes them eagerly, immediately trying to mimic Min-hyuk's clever trick.
Your best friend turns around slowly to face you, a familiar mysterious smirk on his lips. The moment his eyes meet yours, a strange tingling sensation washes over you, giving you goosebumps.
"You're here," he says quietly, his brown eyes alight with excitement. "Good. I've been meaning to ask you this question again."
He takes a few slow steps forward, eyes locked on you. As he moves toward you, you feel a couple of raindrops against your skin, and then suddenly it's sprinkling lightly. You don't mind it, strangely. You're too entranced by him. You can't seem to drag your gaze away from his.
Min-hyuk stops when he's directly in front of you. You suddenly see a flicker of blue by his head--a startling contrast to the grey world you see around you. It's a butterfly. It dances around his head for a moment before fluttering off.
"Do you..." he says, his soft voice cutting through the gentle sound of rain, "...believe in magic?"
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
His words send shivers along your body, and the moment they leave his mouth you hear a shrill whistle in the distance. A firework arcs across the sky behind him and with a deafening bang, it explodes in a blinding flash of orange. Before it crackles and fizzles into nothing, three more whistles come. The fireworks burst blue, green, and white, and suddenly your dull grey world is alive with color.
Min-hyuk's hand comes up slowly, and he offers it to you. It's an open invitation to trust him and believe. As he outstretches his fingers, everything around you slows and stops. The fireworks behind him are frozen in time, looking like bright, beautiful flowers against the grey backdrop of sky. Even the raindrops are suspended in mid-air, as though they're merely painted there.
Min-hyuk's brown eyes hold your gaze easily, the anticipation evident in his features. His hand is still there, and you feel your own twitch gently, as though it might move to grab his. As you start to raise your hand, you see his smile widen...
****
Your eyes snap open, and you're met with the familiar view of your ceiling. You just lay there for a few moments, your thoughts and heart racing. What a strange dream, you think drowsily.
Another dream of Min-hyuk. You've been having them more and more often. Could it be because you haven't seen him for a few months? You've been so busy with work and life in general that you haven't been able to make the walk up to the amusement park for a while. Every time you have another dream about your best friend, you feel worse. You know he's lonely and that you need to go visit him. You're most likely the only consistent visitor he has.
You sigh, sitting up in bed. Luckily during the next few days, you'll be free.
Maybe it's time I go see him again, you think, smiling to yourself.
--------------------------------
A/N: Thanks so so so so so sooooo much for reading!! Keep going for more exciting stuff! :D
And Please vote to support this story! Love ya'll!
