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                  "Is this friend of yours so important that you're willing to go through a remote forest just to find out why he's immune to your magic?" The old lady asked Jihee as she sat at the seat across the former. The dining table was filled with dishes made for vegetarians. Not that Jihee hated vegetables, she just didn't want to eat something so healthy this late in the afternoon.

She crossed her arms, leaning on her seat as she reluctantly admits the truth to the lady. "I guess in some way that's true."

"What are you going to do now then?" The old lady curiously asked, taking a bite of the steamed vegetables she had made for herself. "Are you going to search for the stranger that came before you?"

Jihee tensed as soon as she heard the last sentence. "Please don't say she's the stranger who came before me, I don't want it to be true."

The old lady's face transitioned into a confused one. "And why is that so bad that you don't want it to be true?"

"It's..." She pressed her lips together, contemplating whether she could share such intricate information to a person like her. "I'd rather not say."

The latter nods, understanding the former that there really are some words that are quite difficult to say, especially if you never wanted to say those words in the first place. "Let's go back to my first question then."

"Yes I'll go search for the old stranger. Although it may be hard without my teleportation." Jihee explained. "But I'm a stranger, nothing should be impossible for me." 

The old lady's lips curved upward, slightly amused by the determined expression the younger wore. It reminded her of the first stranger who sat at the same seat as Jihee. They shared the same vibe; often too tired to show emotions and whenever they do, it always involved something that kept them alive. Perhaps what kept the stranger in front of her alive was the man she spoke of. 

"She wanted to find love, she wanted to experience what a soulmate felt like." The old lady blurted out some information about the past stranger. "I wonder if she found her soulmate, that's why she chose to stay." 

And all Jihee could do was remain quiet. 

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"Why is he still smiling even though he missed that shot?" Sunoo whispered to Jay who was busily drinking his water beside the student council president. The president only wanted to check on his friends, what he didn't expect was to see his best friend smiling like a fool as if he didn't just fail to shoot the ball in the basket. 

"Do you think you're the only one who's weirded out?" Jay whispered back, now watching the smiling boy running around the court. "Oh my, did he and Jihee finally get together?" 

Sunoo tilts his head sideways, trying to recall if he's seen the two act weirdly when they were eating altogether earlier. "But they were acting the same. Jihee tells him about the new shoes she found online and Won talks her out of it. Believe me, that's how they always act." 

"Did he get together with Byeol then? But that seems unlikely." Jay said, raising his eyebrows and putting his hands on the side of his waist. "I don't think Jihee would act all calm if they did get together."

Jungwon suddenly felt eyes piercing him so his gaze wandered to Sunoo and Jay's direction, who were both quite quick to turn their heads away from his direction. "Take a rest, Yang and Park. You've been playing too much." Coach Min tells the two. 

Following the Coach's directions, he ran to where his water bottle was. Still wondering why Sunoo and Jay was stealing glances from him as they whisper to each other. Sunghoon stood beside him, wiping his sweat with his white towel. Truth be told, Jungwon was still in a daze after Jihee kissed him. Once she pulled away, there was a long silence that continued until they both got home. 

When he picked her up earlier in the morning, he was too embarrassed to bring up the kiss or to even talk about his feelings. He sensed she felt the same so they went on with their day without mentioning what they did the past day. She didn't treat him any indifferently, she would still share her honest opinions about the people they pass by. 

"Why are you so happy today? Did something good happen?" Sunghoon asked his friend, pushing his hair back as he took a seat on the bleacher. "Not that there's anything bad about it! You're just acting a tad different today." 

Jungwon snickered. "It's... a bit personal." He answered. 

He nods. "I bet that's what they're talking about." Sunghoon says, pointing to Sunoo and Jay who was still busy whispering as if the person they were gossiping about wasn't standing in the same room as them. 

"Yeah I bet." He crossed his arms, looking at Sunoo and Jay. 

As he was fixing something in his bag, he suddenly realized the crystal on his bracelet was starting to glow meaning to say Jihee was trying to contact him. Grabbing his phone from his bag, he saw the ten messages she left asking him how long his practice was going to be.

Out of the corner of someone's eye, Sunghoon raised his eyebrow as he saw the crystal in Jungwon's bracelet glow. It didn't seem like a device powered by technology so the only conclusion he could make was that it was magical. So he does know.

"Why is your bracelet glowing?" Sunghoon asked, surprising Jungwon that did not expect he would see it. "I've never seen one like that." 

Jungwon panicked, wondering what to answer to him especially since he was oblivious by the fact the latter knew the truth about Jihee. "O-Oh my parents sent this to me from another country. It glows sometimes, I don't really know why." He answered, making everything up. 

"Ah." He smiled, nodding in the process. 

Sunghoon wondered if Jungwon has always known the truth about her, and whether he could help her figure things out. He trusted Jihee that was no doubt, he knew she wasn't a bad person but that didn't change the fact that his curiosity was killing him. The truth was all he wanted from her but he didn't want to approach her all of a sudden and just tell her he sort of knew about whatever she was hiding. 

As soon as practice ended, he tailed behind Jungwon in a discreet manner. Watching as how he made his way to the library where Jihee was waiting for him. She got out of the  library, her hair was tied into a ponytail and she had a smile plastered on her face. 

She truly was beautiful. And Sunghoon fought every urge in him to smile.

The next turn of events was the most surprising, tailing behind her was a person Sunghoon was the most familiar with. Byeol. Her appearance resulted to a frown appearing on Jihee's face, clearly showing she wasn't very fond of the other. 

Sunghoon watched as how his past lover got in the way of both Jihee and Jungwon. Unable to hold his annoyance any longer, he walked to their direction and gave them a smile. "I need to speak with Byeol." He blurted out, surprising her because the last thing she expected was a conversation with a man she has not talked to for weeks. 

He grabbed her wrist and pulled her away from them. Byeol didn't protest that much but there was a bitter expression plastered all over her face. Once he was sure they were far from Jihee and Jungwon, he lets go of her wrist. 

"What do you want, Sunghoon? I thought we agreed never to talk to each other again." She glared at him. 

He pushed his hair back frustratingly. "Just what were you doing? You clearly saw Jihee and Jungwon wanted to be alone, why are you getting in between them?" 

"Sunghoon, we don't know her. She appeared out of nowhere without any sort of hint about her past. And lately I've been getting the feeling as if... she stole something from me." She explained everything to him. "Why are you so quick to trust her? Both you and Won. There's something strange about her, I know there is."

He was startled. Byeol was starting to suspect Jihee of being different from them, but he couldn't let more people figure out about her secret. 

"Byeol, just leave them alone and accept that Jungwon likes someone else." He tells her. 

She looked at him in disbelief as if she expected he would side with her. "That won't change the fact that there's something odd about her." She determinedly says before walking away from him.

No, there's something odd about you Byeol. You're not the same.

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AUTHOR'S NOTE :

tbh i like ur theories hehe ><