“I-It is finished.” Bom breathed, struggling to stand up from the vast amount of power that she and Dara had utilized for the mass mind-wiping spell.

                “Y-Yeah.” Dara struggled, taking deep breaths in order to regain her breath.

                “Are you alright?” Bom asked softly, brushing the hair out of Dara’s eyes.

                “Yeah, I am. Just seriously drained.” Dara laughed weakly, sighing deeply.

                “Well, that’s what happens when you just mentally wiped out hundreds of police officers.”

                “Damn, we’re gonna get in so much trouble.”

                “Oh, don’t you know it.” Bom chuckled darkly, getting up on her feet. “When do you think the administration will get word of this?”

                “They’ll probably come in the next 2 minutes to fetch us for a trial.” Dara shrugged, clutching onto Bom to get back up on her feet.

                “Man, I’m gonna miss my lions back at home…” Bom said to herself, smiling sadly at her happy lion couple and 3 cubs.

                “Don’t worry, Bom. You’ll be able to visit them often.” Dara said softly, placing her hand on her best friend’s shoulder. “You probably won’t be exiled. You’re just an innocent lion trainer who has little to no knowledge of spells.”

                “Y-Yah! That’s so not true!” Bom cried, slightly pouting.

                “Yeah, yeah, think whatever you want!” Dara sang, beginning to make her way through the confused crowd of police officers who were beginning to gain consciousness again.

                Bom continued to grumble as they pushed through the crowd, making way towards downtown. Dara figured that’s where the group went; she could pick up their presence quite easily.

                After a while, Bom decided to ask Dara a question. “Hey, Dara?”

                “Yeah?”

                “So… what if I DO get exiled?”

                “You’re not gonna get exiled here!”

                “This is a rhetorical question!” Bom protested, crossing her arms.

                “Okay, okay, shoot.”

                “Where would I work? Like, I’m pretty sure that I’ll have to think of a way to make a living, not just living off of Seunghyun and Daesung.”

                “That IS a valid question, actually.” Dara nodded, pouting in thought. “I mean, what do you love doing the most?”

                “Training lions.”

                Dara stared blankly at Bom. “… Yeah, ‘cause y’know, they have a surplus of lion-training jobs here in Seoul.”

                “W-Well, you asked me and I answered!”

                “Fine, fine, fine. But seriously. Think of something practical that you CAN do, Bom.” Dara said, massaging her temples.

                “I mean, that’s the only thing I’m good at, Dara…” Bom whined, burying her head in her hands. “I at everything else… I’m pretty clumsy, so I can’t be a dentist or a surgeon…”

                “I think you’d leave this world far worse than you found it.”

                “See!? A-And I can’t really cook, so I can’t really cook alongside Chef Ramsey.” Bom said sadly, remembering all the TV shows she watched while at Seunghyun’s house.

                “…So you feel like training lions is the best thing you can do?”

                “It’s in my blood, Dara! I can feel it! I’ve been doing this since I was 5!” Bom said strongly, balling her hands into fists.

                Dara stared at Bom once again, studying her best friend’s determined expression. She’s not backing down, at all… Dara thought to herself, shaking her head. She flicked Bom’s forehead and laughed, continuing to walk towards the hospital. The air filled with Bom’s protests and Dara’s mirthful laughter as the two celebrated their own little victory.

                “A-Are you sure about this?” Jiyong softly asked Minzy, gently caressing the rose vial in his hand.

                “You’re gonna have to trust Lee Ha Yi.” Seunghyun whispered, squeezing Jiyong’s shoulders.

                Minzy nodded, holding onto Hi’s hand. “Lee Ha Yi is really good at making potions, Jiyong-oppa. You should trust her.”

                “I think this will help your father a lot.” Hi said, urging him to go on. “I mean, this rose meant a lot to your father, right?”

                Jiyong nodded, remembering how much his father loved his mother, how this rose was the pure source of life for his mother’s rose garden, how devastated his parents were when the flower was stolen.

                “Appa.” Jiyong said to his father, kneeling beside his bed.

                “Yes, my son?”

                “I found the rose that you were looking for. It was in Seunghyun’s house. I-It was stolen from us because of its power and Chae Lin managed to get it back. But, she had no idea what to do with it, so she used it for the greater good and helped Seunghyun with it.” Jiyong began, watching his father’s reactions. Thankfully, they were calm and understanding. “So, Lee Ha Yi, my friend, salvaged the roses and made them into a potion and all. I mean, yeah… it sounds really crazy to us… but that’s what this whole time was—crazy, right?”

                “Indeed they were.” His father chuckled, lightly taking his son’s hand.

                “And so now… everyone wants to return the rose to you, in this form of a potion. This rose is said to hold a lot of power… so I believe it’s best if you took it.”

                “I-I thank you all.” His father said, breathlessly. “I honestly do not have enough words of thanks for all of you. You took care of my son and I… what more could I ask for?”

                “I mean, I have to thank you for giving me one hell of an adorable son.” Seunghyun said, without putting a single thought into what he said. His eyes widened as he clasped his hand over his mouth in shock, immediately turning red out of embarrassment.

                “Internalize, Seunghyun.” Daesung coached, rubbing the prince’s back. “Internalizing is the key word right here.”

                Shaking the blush off of his face, the boy tried to regain focus, beginning to uncap the vial. “You ready?”

                His father nodded with such trustful eyes, shining out of curiosity of what was to happen next. He brought his lips up to the vial and gently tipped the liquid, allowing it to lightly trickle down his throat.

                Suddenly, a familiar light emitted from Jiyong’s father, blinding everyone in the room. A blast of refreshing cool air filled the room and a red smoke began to dance around his father.

                “I-IS THIS SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!?” Seunghyun cried, holding onto the bed of Jiyong’s father for dear life.

                “I HONESTLY DON’T KNOW!” Hi shouted back, shielding Minzy.

                “W-WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU DON’T KNOW!?” Se7en panicked, holding onto a confused Taeyang.

                Then, in a blink of an eye, Jiyong and his father were whisked away into another realm.

                “Where are we!?” Jiyong cried, clutching onto his father’s arm. He realized that his father was standing upright, seeming better than ever.

                “I don’t know, Jiyong…” he murmured, trying to take in his surrounds. “All I see is white space.”

                “T-This is really scary, Appa… what are we going to do!?”

                “Don’t be afraid.” A soft, female voice said, breathing cool air down upon them.

                “W-Who is it?” his father called out, feeling his voice tremble with terror.

                Slowly a woman appeared, her hair long and her lips pure red, her eyes shining and her face gentle. “How could you not recognize my voice?” she chuckled, stretching out her arms.

                Jiyong’s father’s heart skipped a beat. “I-It can’t be.”

                “I-Is that…” Jiyong breathed, slowly stretching out his hand to touch her.

                “My… l-love?”

                “Omma?”

                The woman smiled brightly and nodded, embracing the both of them in a warm hug.

                “I-I can’t believe this is happening.” His father said breathlessly, tears streaming down his eyes while his heart beat furiously in his ears. “T-This is really happening.”

                “A-Are we dead then?” Jiyong muffled, being smothered by his mother. Not that he minded.

                Jiyong’s mother chuckled. “You are far from dead, Jiyong. Your rose potion was what allowed me to see you two again. The rose that had kept me and the garden alive for so many years.”

                “W-Wait. That rose had kept you alive? It was like your life source?” the boy asked with a confused expression, furrowing his eyebrows in thought.

                “Well, this was something that I was supposed to tell you when time went by. I was forbidden to tell you… but I’m not actually of this world that we all live in.”

                “What!?” the two chorused, their expressions purely shocked.

                The woman smiled sadly and nodded. “I understand why you guys would be shocked and even upset. I’ve been waiting for this day.”

                “S-So all these years…” his father breathed, bringing a shaky hand up to his mouth, covering it.

                “I’ve been watching over you for so many years, my dear. I eventually fell in love with you, hard. Life was hard as a guardian, seeing you stumble and fall, seeing you laugh and smile… I wanted to be a part of that so much. Then, you slowly began to fall ill. I decided to give up my position as a guardian and live normally, amongst humans. I knew that you were to die really soon, so I became a part of your life, sustaining your life as long as possible with all my power.” She said, sighing, avoiding his eyes ever so slightly.

                Tears rolled down the boy’s father’s eyes as he stood there silently, taking everything in slowly.

                “Selfish, aren’t I...?” Jiyong’s mother chuckled darkly, gently tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

                “No…” he said softly, walking towards her. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me. I had you… and now I have Jiyong, dear.” He whispered, embracing her in his arms.

                “I-I really wanted to stay with all of you guys…” she said, her voice slightly shaking, tears threatening to fall down her face. “B-But I failed. T-That rose… was taken away from us. My life source was taken away from me, taking me away from you guys. I-I’m just so sorry.”

                “No, no… honey, you did the right thing.” He said, her long hair, caressing her in his arms. “I couldn’t have asked for a more amazing angel to have in my life. You gave me so many smiles, so many laughs… and you gave me Jiyong.” He smiled, pulling Jiyong in for a group embrace.

                “Thank you… omma…” the boy said softly, feeling butterflies in his stomach as ‘omma’ rolled off his tongue happily.

                The woman just simply chuckled, relishing the special moment that they shared between each other. Feeling such happiness and warmth all around her—it was something that she truly longed for a very long time. Although she was in some better place, she couldn’t help but miss her two loves down on earth.

                “Well… I think it’s time you two should get back.” She murmured.

                “B-But we just got here.” Jiyong whined, not letting go of his mother.

                “You got friends down there who are waiting for you. And that special someone.” She said, winking at the boy, laughing lightly as she saw him blush furiously.

                “I don’t even think I want to leave.” Jiyong’s father confessed, resting his chin on his beloved wife’s head.

                “You must, my dear.” She said, kissing his forehead. “You still have a life to live. Don’t worry, you two. Know that I’m always around, okay?”

                “Okay.” The two sadly said, slowly getting up. Although it was terribly difficult, they finally let go, waving goodbye.

                For now.