Chapter 81 - You Are Special

"No mom, It's not needed. Really, really don't, please."

"To be honest, I have a project… It's quite viable. I'll be able to expose on…"

"Mom, don't ask anything, just please lend me the money, will you?"

"Eomma…"

Jung Eun Ha paced in her room, staring in the mirror every now and then to rehearse a speech. Each time she did this her heart ached and her face grew hot with embarrassment. It was ridiculous that, at 27, she would consider extorting her mother to have money for a new collection. Her virtually empty bank account wouldn't help, and unless she put the apartment up for sale, she would have no money for textiles and all that was needed to try to leverage her brand once again.

The day before, she was greeted by the shopkeeper where she intended to negotiate consignment of her clothes_ a desperate resource. They had been impressed on quality and design, but somewhat disappointed that there were few options. Eun Ha had few pieces left now, and no capital to create new ones.

The young fashion designer had no doubt that her mother would not deny her money. Eun Ha just didn't have the heart to ask.

As for her inheritance from her biological parents_ which her foster mother, being an intelligent woman, had ensured she received as soon as she was of age_ had been enough for her to buy the apartment in the capital and to pay for her extended studies and difficult times after college. With mom's help. The infertile land acres were not of great value, and so the profit of its sale. Now, however, things have changed. If she could, she knew she must buy that land back.

Thinking about it naturally made Eun Ha think back to her parents, the fairies she had never met. She only knew the name of his mother, Myung Hee, surname Gyu. She really needed to go back to her birthplace and try to find out more about herself and her parents… But how could she go and leave Ye Rim there in the capital alone? Right now when that damn Dr. Flamingo was still surrounding and seducing her donsaeng even from a distance?

"What's the matter with that girl? Is she feeling that she is getting old, and is desperate to marry to the first not-trashy guy sh can find? 'Cause… 'cause, honestly, he is nowhere near to Oppa," she muttered to herself.

For the past two days, Eun Ha had noticed the constant exchanges of messages and phone calls between Ye Rim and Dr. Flamingo_ and had repeatedly pulled her magic wand to do the same thing she had done in the past with Ye Rim's old cell phone... just to put her wand back in again, thinking of the threats from Hunter Shin. Her former tutor.

'Uhn… what to do? Isn't this man on a business trip? How can he have so much free time?' It was probably all a lie. Maybe he wasn't even abroad. Increasingly the pink claws of that long-legged doctor were advancing over Ye Rim and it caused Eun Ha to snort in indignancy and fear.

She really should take advantage of the doctor's physical absence to drive them away. 'Maybe I need to subtly convince MP Lee to get closer to Ye Rim… However, he's too polite and nice to force a situation, unlike the doctor who invents any nonsense to keep around like an annoying fly. Hmmmm…"

After a moment's thought, Eun Ha sighed in dismay as she wasn't inspired by any kind of trickery. In fact, the fairy had no desire to do any of this.

But as Ye Rim's Fairy Godmother, she had obligations. Wasn't that what Professor Shin had said? That from the moment she had chosen Ye Rim as her protégé, no one but herself could interfere with Ye Rim's welfare?

'Hahnnnn! Naturally when the deadline is near, hardship times would come. I just rushed forward, preventing my poor donsaeng from having her well-deserved reputation and fame. But I'll make it up to you next year, Ye Rim-ah!' Eun Ha promised, and meant it, with all her heart.

She sat on the bed. "How can he let me out of there alone, and he hasn't even called in those four days? What kind of teacher is he?" As usual, her thoughts jumped like electrons from one matter to other.

Obviously, she thought of the Hunter Shin, and how her heart raced like a runaway truck for the first time in her life.

She sighed in awe, "I'm not in love, am I? Is this love?"

'Na, that's just… Because he's the only one from my kin I know. And he has broad shoulders, a look that melts my chocolate heart…" She covered her own face with both hands, flushed, and giggled like a teenager at the absurdity of the situation. 'What kind of stupid kiddo am I? He's the only one from my own people I know, and I'm in love with him? He who always scoffs when I'm trying to be cute?!'

The laughter turned into a frown as she realized he was keen to keep his distance. "By any chance, is he married?"

"No, he doesn't wear any kind of ring," Eun Ha shook her head, realizing that she had known this for some time. "Aish, what kind of freak fairy am I? This is not my normal. I've always been so… Wait: I barely saw the gift he gave me. I can call to say thank you so I'll know how he is doing. And I will have my opportunity to magnanimously forgive him for sending me away."

She happily chuckled and jumped with joy at herself and her good idea. It was the first good thing she'd been thinking all day.

Satisfied with her plan, Eun Ha reached for the book in the drawer where she had left it.

She stroked the cover of the book fondly, a smile that never left her lips marking the dimples in her cheeks. "Awnnn… Magical Girl, isn't it?" She reread the title, very pleased. Although the children's book had not made much sense when she received it, it now simply seemed full of meaning.

'He just can't handle his feelings. That's it.'

Opening the book, determined to find the message of love in the text, she began to read the story of the magical girl who lived on the mountain… Her eyes widened when she saw the first word subtly marked with a very subtle pencil circle.

"I knew it !!!!"

She eagerly began to mark the pages and the words:

"I. Know. That. You. Are. Special."

"Ohhhhhh!"

Astonished, Eun Ha felt a strange chill as her face burned. She didn't know what to think. At the end of the book, only a tiny scribbling almost concealed in the footer of the last image, only said,

"HAVE YOU LOOKED BY THE WINDOW TODAY?"

Eun Ha, perhaps hastily and without thinking, stumbled to the window of her room, pulling back the curtains in a hurry. Her gaze swept the horizon from top to bottom as her heart pounded wildly.

Then the fairy saw it. On a billboard of a famous restaurant, some graffitist had done a clever job, using the letters of the original text and adding his own.

SARANGHAEYO, JUNG. [I love you, Jung]

Her heart has failed a beat. A slight separation meant that the intricate message could also be read as

SARANGHAE YOJEONG [Love you, fairy]

Eun Ha was gaping, and her hand reached for the phone in her pocket.

"Professor Shin?"

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* The surname Jung is spelled with the same final syllable that forms the word 'fairy', 'yojeong' (To avoid placing characters that could block this novel in WN, I wrote it in a romanized way).