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Tears streaming down her face, hands shaking, lips trembling - there she stood in front of the Magic Shop. The magic shop they said, appeared for people when they were at their lowest points. It was Evelyn’s first time visiting the Magic Shop and she couldn’t help but let out a pitiful laugh.
Today was one of the worse days for her, she lost her job 2 days before her birthday, her childhood pet cat was recently diagnosed with cancer, her grades in university were going downhill. In simple words, Evelyn hated herself for the position she was in right now and she had no one to blame but herself.
Tears wouldn’t stop streaming down her face as she lifted up her sweater sleeve - a failed attempt to wipe those tears away. She looked up to read what was engraved on top of the wooden door that leaded into the Magic Shop,
Enter the Magic Shop and let go of your fears. Come inside and we’ll change your fears into something positive. Enter and let go.
Evelyn pondered if she should enter the Magic Shop or not, she was in dire need of some company who could distract her from everything negative that surrounded her and she hoped that they seven men inside could provide her a bit of that said-peace.
With that thought in mind, she pushed open the door to the Magic Shop and stepped inside.
---
Upon entering, there were a few things that Evelyn noticed - inside there was a beautiful sliver coloured wind chime with a butterfly hanging from its top, attached on top of the door. Second, the somehow place smelled like a bakery and third, there was a clutter of shoes where Evelyn currently stood at. She stifled a laugh because the mess of shoes could be recognized as the member’s shoes. She took off her shoes and placed them on the shoe rack that was placed on her left. She then took a step forward, following the faint sounds of murmurs, supposedly of the members coming from the room beside her.
Stepping foot in the main room, Evelyn was greeted by the site of seven men sprawled here and there in a beautifully set up spacious room. Two figures were standing in the kitchen with their back to her, probably baking something as the wonderful aroma that reminded her of a bakery intensified the moment she stepped in the room. She guessed the two tall figures to be Seokjin and Jungkook, as both of them stood in front of the oven staring at it intently.
‘They are probably baking something, something delicious’, Evelyn concluded.
On her left, the remaining of the five members were sitting. Namjoon sitting in the far corner with a book in his hand, totally absorbed in it with his eyebrows furrowed and faint crease was prominent on his forehead. Jimin and Taehyung were sitting together on the love couch reading a comic book together. Hoseok on the other hand was slouching on the sofa with his phone in his hand, probably going through his social media’s. Yoongi was curled up next to him on the sofa with his eyes closed and chest heaving up and down in even breaths.
If it wasn’t for the oldest rapper suddenly opening his eyes and looking at Evelyn, she would’ve mistaken him to be in a deep sleep judging by how peaceful he looked.
Just as Yoongi’s eyes fell upon Evelyn’s figure a soft smile graced his features. He adjusted himself in a sitting position and cleared his throat to grab the attention of the other members to notify them that a guest had come into their small Magic Shop.
Jimin was the first to react as he immediately stood up from his shared sofa with Taehyung and walked over to Evelyn. A warm smile made its way on his face when he saw Evelyn’s red puffy eyes, probably from the hours of crying she had done before coming here.
”Welcome to the Magic Shop. I hope we can provide you the peace you came here looking.”Jimin said to her, his voice gentle and smooth. Evelyn let out a quiet thank you but her voice cracked as her throat had been hoarse from the continuous crying.
The youngest in the room, Jungkook, didn’t let this act go unnoticed as he immediately offered to make a warm cup of tea for her. Evelyn gladly accepted the offer as a warm cup of tea was just the thing she needed to calm her nerves.
Jimin then guided her to come and sit with everyone else in the main sitting area. The members, Evelyn noticed, had changed their sitting positions as Hoseok was now sitting on the love couch alone where Jimin and Taehyung were sitting before. Taehyung was sitting on the floor, with his back touching the sofa and knees pulled up so they were touching his chest. Namjoon was sitting with Yoongi now, the latter still in the same position when he first locked eyes with Evelyn.
As the single seat sofa Namjoon was sitting on before was free now, Evelyn walked and sat over there.
As Evelyn got herself comfortable on the single seat sofa, Seokjin spoke up, “I’d like to believe that you're already familiar with our names, would you mind telling us yours?” he asked as he walked over to the sitting area while dusting his hands on his shirt, leaving Jungkook alone in the kitchen as he was making tea for her.
Seokjin sat next the empty seat with Hoseok and looked up at Evelyn with expectant eyes, waiting for her answer.
Here’s to letting go.
“My name is Evelyn and before everything else, I want to thank you guys for accepting me in the Magic Shop.” Evelyn spoke up hesitantly with a shy smile on her face as having six pair of eyes intently stare at her wasn’t something she was ready for or used to.
"No need to thank us, we’re happy to be there for you in your time need. After all that’s why we made the Magic Shop. That we can somehow lesson someones pain by our presence and words.” Namjoon said to her with a smile, dimples on full display.
Evelyn’s acknowledged his words with a nod of her head and smiled back in his direction.
“If you don’t mind us asking, would you tell us what actually happened?” Hoseok asked Evelyn in a soft voice.
Just in time, Jungkook walked over with the steaming cup of tea in his hands. His long hair obstructing his view making him run a hand through the black locks as he directed the cup in Evelyn’s direction who gratefully accepted the warm cup. As the cup safely made its way into Evelyn’s palm, Jungkook made no effort to move from her side with his strong gaze directed towards the cup. Confusion laced upon Evelyn’s features as she tried to interpret what Jungkook wanted.
“He wants you to try the tea. Basically he just wants you to praise his attention seeking ass for making you a cup of tea.” Taehyung answered her unspoken question as he looked at Jungkook and wiggled his eyebrows with a smile on his face. Evelyn tried to control her laughter on the interaction of the youngest’s as a smile made its way on her face.
Evelyn brought the warm cup of tea near her smiling lips and took a sip. Immediately, her tongue was hit by a variety of different flavours that she couldn’t decipher. The tea was sweet yet had a tinge of spiciness to it. It almost had a earthy feeling to it. Evelyn had never drunk such a flavourful tea and to say that she was taken aback would be an understatement.
She looked up at Jungkook with wide eyes and then back at the cup in her hands. “Jungkook, this is amazing. I’ve never drunk such as flavourful as this cup of tea. Thank you so much for this.” Evelyn said to a beaming Jungkook who was smiling with his bunny teeth on display. Evelyn almost cooed at the sight but somehow managed to control herself and smiled back the young man.
After everyone was settled down in the main area, with Jungkook sitting next to Taehyung on the floor, Evelyn decided to open up and tell why she really was here.
Unbeknownst to her, she never thought it would be this easy to open up and let the seven men sitting in front of her let everything know that was happening in her life.
---
"You know, bottling up your emotions is going do you no good. Your bottled up emotions were bound to burst at some point and today was that day.” Yoongi said to her, and Evelyn couldn’t agree more. She knew bottling up her emotions was not good for her as it just added more into her stress and anxiety.
”But we’re glad that you came to us today. Everyone can use a bit a company on lonely days.” Jimin said to her with a faint smile on his face.
Just in that moment, Evelyn’s gaze wandered to the ceiling of the lounge and was taken aback to see that the stars on top of the ceiling were moving, “Are the stars on the ceiling moving or am I hallucinating?”
Hoseok and Seokjin let out a laugh on this question of hers as Namjoon replied to her with a smile, “No, you aren’t hallucinating. Those stars are actually moving, they are the stars to your galaxy. Whenever a person enters the Magic Shop the ceiling changes with according the stars of their soul. Those stars above represent you and look at how bright they shine.”
Her gaze was again averted back towards the ceiling and she was surprised on brightly they really were shinning. And seeing the stars shine so bright gave a sense of relief to Evelyn.
Silence enveloped the room yet no one was bothered by it. After taking a few sips of the tea, which she was very thankful for having because it helped in calming her nerves, Evelyn spoke up,
“The only way I can think I can describe my life these days would be, that I feel lost and my life feels stagnant. Everyone around me is achieving stuff, knowing what they want to do in their future yet I’m still stuck in this position not knowing which path to choose from. Doubts and unwanted thoughts keep on making their way in my mind that I won’t be successful in achieving my passion. That my dreams will stay dreams forever and here I am, today I lost my crappy job, my grades are downhill and those negative thoughts keep on getting louder and louder. I’m scared for myself and my future. I’m terrified actually.”
“I just can’t say simple things like, ‘cheer up’, ‘have strength’ but I want you to know that we all were just like you. Would you believe if I told you that we, too, were afraid. Afraid of everything that surrounded. Before we debuted as a group, there was so much unsaid hesitation that we won’t succeed and even sometimes the thought of us not debuting also seemed possible. We all were unsure of our future and what would become of us but look at us now, we have reached one of the highest mountains of success and this clearly isn’t the end. These doubts always appeared in our minds and even after all this time, they still do but never let them get to you. Have a little bit of faith in yourself, and with a deep breath decide something that you like and want, and after that decision, give it your all to achieve it. I’m sure you can.” Jungkook spoke up as he was sprawled on is back looking up at the stars which they all said were the map to her galaxy, the map to her soul.
Hoseok’s voice drags Evelyn out of her thoughts as she diverts her attention towards the young rapper. “And ionce you become a part of the success that you are yearning for, its a beautiful moment like when the roses bloom, when the cherry blossoms flutter in spring and the morning glories when they are fading. It’ll take a lot of time, pain and hardship even but I’m sure that you’ll achieve your goals and turn your dreams into reality. I hope when that moment comes, its just as beautiful for you as it is for us.”
Evelyn couldn’t think of anything to say other than thank you on repeat because no one had never consoled her like this.
“Not to be cliche but to sum up what the hyungs are saying, give everything your blood, sweat and tears and I’m damn sure you’ll achieve your dreams.” Taehyung said to her with a smile on his face and Evelyn coudn’t help but let out a hearty laugh on hearing the pun from the vocalist which caused Taehyung’s eyes to sparkle and a smile widening more.
Ting!
"The cake!" Jin immediately stood up and excitedly ran towards the oven, his limbs flopping everywhere and Jungkook also followed Jin in the kitchen, mirroring his enthusiasm.
"Evelyn, would you like some cake? You know as they say, food is the best stress reliever and after all, stressed spelled backwards is desserts so I think the universe is hinting that you should eat this cake with us." Seokjin said to her as he stood near the kitchen counter inspecting his creation with a soft smile on his features.
"I don't want to disappoint the universe and also miss an opportunity to eat a cake made by you so of course I would love to." Evelyn replied back, mirroring his smile as she felt a sudden urge of warmth spread in her body.
I feel at home.
She was surprised on quickly how the company and words of the seven men had made her feel like she was at home. Maybe it was because she was familiar with all of them before or something else, but at this moment, right now, Evelyn felt at home in the company of those men and that's all that mattered.
---
"Hyung, you should open a bakery. This cake is heavenly." Jimin said with a mouthful of cake in his face, his eyes filled with ecstasy.
The rest of the members agreed with Jimin as they all bopped there heads up and down along with Evelyn who was lost in the taste of the cake.
Jin's cooking skills were fairly popular among their fans and to finally eat something made by Seokjin himself - it was least to say that Evelyn was on cloud nine.
"Evelyn, I hate to break you out of your trance but are you feeling better now?" Taehyung spoke up.
A slight blush graced Evelyn's features as she was licking the leftover crumbs of cake from her fingers when Taehyung called her for.
"To be very honest, I feel so much better now. I'd like to thank all of you guys and consoling me. Thank you Jin and Jungkook and the cake and tea, both of them were amazing. And thank you to everyone else too for your kind words and company." she said with a small smile directed in Seokjin's and Jungkook's direction to thank them for the cake and tea they both offered her.
"Before you leave, I'd just like to say that I believe in you. We all do. The you who believed in us should believe in herself too and you saw the stars of your galaxy and how bright they were. So, believe." Yoongi said to Evelyn, his eyes holding a softness that she had never seen before. Namjoon's soft yet raspy voice made Evelyn look towards him as he said,
"Even we made it. So, you, who recognized us, will surely be able to make it and we all will be waiting for that day to come. So show me."
"One day. I'll show you all."