Magic Shop

Chapter 1

"Oh shit, shit, shit—"

You clamped your eyes shut upon hearing the unending profanities leaving Soojin's mouth from the other line.

This same thing had happened more than you could ever count that was why it didn't come as a surprise to you when Soojin, your sister, asked you this: "Fuck. Can you please pick me up? Dad is going to kill me!"

When she said 'dad,' what she really meant was the head of the architects as well the people involved in the project you two were currently working on.

"Soojin, Both of us will be late if I come and pick you up. Can't you just hail a cab or something?" You sighed, stopping the car when the traffic light turned red.

You were just two minutes away from the office.

"But I hate the smell of cabs!" She whined. You could imagine her pouting her lips since she didn't get what she wanted in the first try.

"Please?" She tried again.

You remained quiet.

"You're my sister. You should always be on my side!"

You could no longer keep your mouth shut after that.

You exhaled loudly, finally relenting. She won. You could never say no when she started pulling the 'you're my sister card.'

Admittedly, it was the key to your soft spot, the only thing that could melt your cold heart—the only thing that made you feel like you were a true Kim.

Kim Soojin. This was your half sister's complete name. Her surname was something you had wanted to use ever since you were a little girl. Your father promised you that he would let you carry his last name when you reached the age of majority.

You were twenty six now. Eight years had passed since you turned eighteen and yet, the last name of your mother was still attached to your first name.

Huh. You should have known that nothing would change. You didn't even know why you were still expecting when it was clear from the very beginning that Kim Taemin, your father, never kept his promises to you.

He always let you down, always made you feel that you didn't matter. You didn't want to be like him. This was one of the reasons why you chose to pick up Soojin from a hotel even though it would cause you to be late at work.

You didn't want to disappoint Soojin. This, however, didn't mean that the latter felt the same way.

"You reek alcohol..." You winced as soon as your sister entered your car.

She was wearing the same dress she wore at the party last night. Soojin liked bar-hopping with her friends. She actually invited you but you couldn't join them because you were busy preparing for today's presentation at work.

You and Soojin were both architects at Castle, the architectural firm owned by your father. As mentioned, you two would be presenting today—both as leaders. There were two teams in your department and Jungkook, the head of the architects, chose you and Soojin to lead each team.

In short, your sister was your rival. You knew you should be rejoicing now that it looked like she was an intoxicated mess, a clear indication that she wasn't ready to face your colleagues.

However, instead of delight, the only emotion you felt was disappointment. You were disappointed that she was acting so reckless when she was supposed to be leading people towards success.

"Yeah I know. My head is killing me." She sighed dramatically as she eyed you from head to toe. "Let me borrow your coat. I'm wearing a tube dress. I can't go to the office looking like this."