“Should we go grab a burger before going home?” Johnny asks as he exits the school with Mary Rose.

Mary Rose lets out a sigh. “What's the point in dating you? We'll just end up doing what we've always been doing. We hang out all the time.” She says, somewhat not content.

Johnny smiles and grabs her hand. “Of course its different. Before I couldn't do this,” he says before leaning in and pressing his lips against hers. Seeing no resistance, he presses again and again.

“Boo! Get a room!” Someone yells among the crowd.

Mary Rose pushes Johnny away, seeing that they were getting attention. “Why are you so embarrassing?” She asks, unable to hide the blush and smile on her face.

Johnny smiles and leads her forward with her hand. “Come, Mary Rose. The world waits for no one, and our burgers have yet to be seized!” He says heroically as he leads the way forward.

Mary Rose covers her red face. “Oh my god. When did you suddenly get so cheesy?” She asks, continuing to be embarrassed.

…

…

When it was their turn to order, Johnny’s eyes widen as he looks at the man behind the counter. Unhindered by much in the world, his mouth opens freely. “Young man, what’s wrong? There’s a heavy air lingering above you. You must release the pressure or bad luck is sure to follow!” Johnny exclaims, worried for this person.

The person behind the counter raises an eyebrow, confusion on his face. “What are you talking about? What do you mean release the pressure?” He asks.

A worried look appears on Johnny’s face and he leans in. “Are you sexually active?” He whispers, looking at the man with a face of a good Samaritan.

The man’s eyes widen. “Sir! This is a Wendie’s!” He exclaims.

Mary Rose’s eyes widen. “What are you doing! Stop being a little freak and order already!” She says, feeling weirded out by this conversation.

Johnny lets out a sigh. “I’ll have a number six and a number three meals, and the 10-piece chicken nuggets.” He says in defeat.

The man lets out a sigh. “Will that be cash or card?” He asks.

“Card.” Johnny says, feeling a little frustrated. He very much wanted to help this young man, but he was no longer an illustrious ancient powerhouse; he was only a young high school kid. No matter what, what kind of adult wants to take advice from a high school kid?

Johnny paid and after receiving their meal, Johnny went to sit with Mary Rose.

“What was that about?” She asks, a little worried.

Johnny lets out a sigh. “That man is about to enter a phase of bad luck. I wanted to help him out.” He says.

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Mary Rose raises an eyebrow. “What luck? Is that something that can be seen? How would you know?” She asks. She felt like she was seeing a new side of Johnny, and she wasn’t sure if it was a good thing.

“It’s not something that can be seen exactly, but nature has a similar way of working for most people, and considering his situation, its expected that a phase of bad luck is coming his way.” Johnny says.

Mary Rose’s eyes widen. “Since when did you become a psychic?” She asks, in doubt. It wasn’t that she didn’t believe in those things, it was just that there was no way to be confident in those sorts of things.

Johnny lets out a bitter smile. “What can I say? I see what I see.” He says, unsure of how else to explain it.

“I clearly said no pickles! I said it three times! But for some reason my burger still has pickles! Did those words enter one ear and leave through the other? Are you so inept that you can’t understand basic instructions?” A man says at the counter, very displeased.

The man at the counter shrunk a little at the provocation. “We’ll get you another burger. For sure there’ll be no pickles.” He says.

“I don’t want another burger. In fact I never want to eat at a restaurant that’s so poorly managed. I’ll take a refund and take my business elsewhere.” The man says, his words sharp, practically stabbing at the young employee.

“Yes, sir.” The young man says as he processes the refund and hands the man back his money.

The man turns around and leaves, leaving the young man feeling the heat of the moment with slumped shoulders.

Mary Rose looks at Johnny and raises an eyebrow. “Are you really a psychic?” She asks, a little convinced.

Johnny lets out a bitter smile as he looks at the young man. “So it has begun.” He says, wondering whether he should step forward.

…

…

As they were leaving the restaurant, Johnny saw the young man exit also with his bag on his back. His shift had clearly ended and he was probably heading home.

Johnny raises an arm. “Hey, brother.” He calls out as he approaches with Mary Rose. “Sorry about that, that guy was a prick.” He says.

The young man lets out a sigh. “Yeah. But that’s fast food, I guess.” He says bitterly, not sure what else to say.

Johnny smiles. “Maybe I can help. Like I said, there’s a heavy pressure around you. Bad luck will only continue to follow if nothing is done about it.” He says.

The man raises an eyebrow. Not this again. He thinks, not wanting to hear it. He had enough problems without psychics trying to take his money.

“No thank you. I don’t have enough money to pay for psychics.” He says clearly.

Johnny lets out a bitter smile. “Let me at least examine the pressure to see if anything can be done about it. No charge.” He says with a shake of his head. Why would I want your money? He thinks, somewhat amused.

The young man looks at the kid and lets out a sigh. “Okay, fine. What do you need me to do? Should we light a few candles? Do we need a Ouija board?” He asks, clearly having no faith in this.

Johnny could only continue to smile bitterly. “Just stand there and let me examine the flow for a bit.” He says before focusing.

Mary Rose said nothing, only watching silently as Johnny became weirder and weirder. He doesn’t even have any tarot cards. She thinks, feeling that Johnny was a little unprofessional for a psychic.

Johnny examines the cloud of pressure above the young man’s head, probing it with his thoughts and watching as the cloud reacted and flowed.

The young man frowns as he continues to stand in silence, watching as nothing clearly happened.

Johnny looks back to the young man and lets out a sigh. There really wasn’t much he could do about the young man’s situation.

The young man raises an eyebrow. “What is it?” He asks.

“You need a girlfriend.” Was all Johnny said.

The young man’s eyes widen. “Is that it? That’s your advice?” He says, not sure if this was advice or he was being insulted.

Johnny spreads his arms out, helpless in the matter. “That’s all I can say. You need someone to help you bear the burden.” He says before continuing to explain. “You grew up in a very good home, but you were spoiled and prideful. You broke off your relationship with your family in anger and began to live on your own. But the world is a cruel place and it isn’t so easy to be on your own. This job is clearly breaking down your pride but you have an unyielding nature; you’ll explode soon if the pressure becomes too great, and if you choose to bear it, it will come in the form of bad luck. I can temporarily relieve the pressure but for long term solutions, you’ll either have to rise in position in the world or get a girlfriend to help bear the burden.” Johnny says, clearly stating where the matter stood.

Mary Rose covers her eyes. “Johnny, why are you being so rude?” She asks, feeling that this wasn’t a very nice thing to say.

The young man frowns, feeling that this hit a little too close to home. “How would you relieve the pressure?” He asks.

“Acupuncture.” Johnny states simply.

“Nope.” The young man says with clear rejection. “Although I’m not doing too great, I’m not at the point where I’ll let random kids stab me with needles. Good day, sir.” He says before walking away.

Johnny lets out a sigh. It was unfortunate. He was in no real position to help the young man. Instead, all he did was bare his wounds for them to see.

Mary Rose looks at Johnny and a strange expression was on her face. “In the end you couldn’t even help him. What’s the point of bringing all that up?” She asks, feeling that the whole matter was very weird.

Johnny lets out a sigh. “I don’t know. I thought that there might have been an easy fix. But I guess not.” He says with a shake of his head. “It’s not so easy to go against heaven’s rule.” He says in defeat.

In truth, there were meditation techniques that could resolve the young man’s problems. A change in spirit could resolve many problems. But this wasn’t such an easy matter, and it was doubtful whether the man would want to abandon his life to learn about cultivation.

Johnny could only shake his head and let the matter go.