Magic Shop | BTS

Prologue

'Magic Shop'

'A place for you to rest'

I didn't know what I was doing here at 3 in the afternoon. All I knew was that, I wanted to stop studying and rest for awhile, which was why I ended up in front of this cafe. It's weird though, it says "Magic Shop" yet it's actually a cafe. I came to my senses as a guy, seemingly my age, was waving his hand in front of my face "Hey are you alright?" He asked with a somewhat worried expression. I nodded and he asked if I was about to enter their cafe. I gave another nod and he smiled "That's great then, come in!" He exclaimed as he opened the door for me. I gave him a small thank you before entering.

I went over to the counter and met another guy. "Welcome! What would you like to order?" He asked with the cutest box smile ever. I looked over their menu, which strangely had almost every food and drink you can think of. I really wasn't feeling hungry or anything, I just wanted a drink that'd help me relax. "You seemed troubled, why not buy tea? You look very stressed, tea might help you clear your mind." He suggested. I looked over to their tea menu "Oh then I'll just have green tea."  I said. "Okay! That'd be 4,000 won!" He says and I give him my payment.  "You can find a seat now, we'll come to you with your order soon." He exclaims and I nod a thank you at him.

I find a seat at the front corner of the cafe, next to the glass windows of the front of the shop. The aroma of this place was pleasing. It gave a feeling of reassurance and relaxation. Overall, the shop was really nice. I looked over to the other side of the cafe, which I actually didn't notice until now, it had shelves full of books which seemed endless. But what I noticed more was a door at next to one of the shelves. "Open your heart and I'll listen." The sign on the door said. 

My tea finally arrived, with the same guy I saw at the entrance serving it to me. He put the transparent teapot and teacup on my table and kindly poured the tea on my teacup. "Thank you..." I searched for a name tag but I couldn't see one. He seemed to notice what I was trying to do and smiled at me "Oh, my name is Jungkook." "Thank you, Jungkook." I smiled back at him. "You're welcome! Enjoy your tea!" He said before almost walking away but I called him again "A-Ah Jungkook?" I stuttered. "Yes?" He replied. "What does that door that has a strange sign lead to?" I asked curiously. "It's a room that's exactly for what the sign says it is." He said smiling like a bunny. "O-Okay, thank you again." I said. He gave me a nod in return before walking away. 

Life was hard. I haven't been really feeling well. I was a college student and you'd think that would be simple. But with my family having financial problems with a drunkard father, a hardworking mom, a high school little brother who's going through puberty, and an older brother sick and bedridden in a hospital, I couldn't really let my mom pay for my school fees anymore. I had to work part time jobs, yes jobs, its impossible to have only one part time job and be able to pay for everything at school along with my everyday needs. In the past year I started with only 1, but reality was sad, and I had to apply for 2 more that year. Now, I work 5 part time jobs with 2 on weekdays and 3 on weekends. Its almost impossible to have free times with my schedule now. I have classes on weekday mornings, jobs at the afternoon til midnight. After my last shift for the day, I try to study as much as I can for 5 hours before sleeping for 3 hours, it's really hard. On good days, mainly weekends, I get at least 5-7 hours of sleep before going to part time jobs again.

My main part time job is one in a cafe near our university so it was somewhat convenient. Speaking of convenient, I work at a convenience store like most part timers do. The last one on the weekdays is being a waiter at a restaurant, which pays a nice amount but also the farthest one from uni and home. On weekdays, I work on a different cafe that's a little far from uni but fairly close to home. I work there almost the whole day as a cashier, sometimes I also serve when one of my co-workers are willing to stay at the cashier.

I looked around the shop and noticed that their ceiling is actually transparent, you can clearly see the changing colors of the sky. I checked my watch, 18:35. I should really be going, but the room with the strange sign is somehow giving me the urge to enter it. "Whatever, nothing bad's gonna happen anyway...right?" I think to myself as I slowly approach the room. I knocked 2 times before entering. It was weird though, there was a bars in the middle of the room that's box-shaped with one person wearing a mask in it. "Is this a cult or something?" I asked myself as I approached it. "Hello there! Do you have any problems or hardships you want to talk about?" The masked person suddenly says and I jumped in shock "Woah! You scared me!" I said. 

"Oh sorry, is the costume too weird?" He asks and I immediately nodded. "Really? Damn they tricked me again..." He adds and immediately takes the mask off along with the black robe. He was a man I assume is a little bit older than me. He was beyond handsome with brown hair and broad shoulders, he was wearing jeans with a buttoned up shirt tucked in. "Anyway, hello there! Sorry about that, I asked my workers about what would attract people to enter this room. I'm actually a psychiatrist and this room is one of the features of our cafe." He explains. "What's a psychiatrist doing here?" I asked out of curiosity as he leads me to a sofa and sits on the one facing me. "You saw the name of our cafe right? The whole 'Magic Shop, a place for you to rest'  thing? The owner wanted a shop where he could help people that's having a hard time through this. Technically, I'm a guidance counselor now instead. Oh, and this is actually free, so don't worry about extra charge." He explained to me while smiling happily, giggling a little at the end.

"So, do you have any problems you're facing right now?" He adds. I sighed "Well, I'm honestly having a real hard time at the moment. You see, I work 5 part time jobs while also studying at uni. I'm at a point in life where I don't even know if I can still get to earn enough while also focusing on studying. I don't even know if I can get in a Med School with what I have right now." I tell him as he understandingly nods. "Wow... one part time job is already a time consuming thing, but you have five? That's insane! Do you even get to sleep?" He asks. "Not really... I usually study after my last part time job in a day and usually get 3-5 hours of sleep." I answer. 

He gasps "That's not even enough though!" He exclaims and I shrug. He ponders about something for a little while. "How about this, you get a job here as a part timer in our cafe, get a nice amount of salary, and quit four of your jobs" He suggests and my eyes widen. "Quitting four jobs? Just how much does the owner pay your part timers? Also, who's the owner anyway, I don't think he'll suddenly just let me work here." I explain. "We pay our part timers by paying for their school funds. Don't worry too much about the owner, you're already talking to him."

I choke on air.