Minseok was proven correct - the next day, Luhan did not corner him, pressing for answers.

It wasn't like he'd forgotten about the entire affair, despite Minseok's fantastic attempt to literally the questions out of him; there had simply not been a good opportunity.

That morning, Minseok had nonchalantly asked him whether he was feeling alright, and Luhan had nodded, waiting to see where Minseok was going to take this conversation. It turned out that he took it nowhere and simply went back to eating his breakfast. If he was feeling awkward about the previous night, he was impeccable at hiding it.

Luhan had silently packed his things and left for work, where he spent most of his time feeling like an idiot for being hurt. What was he even hurt by? The casual treatment?

To be fair, he had expected casual treatment, but with the way their relationship had been so far, he'd assumed it to take a different form. Before, Minseok had been nothing but open, forward and playful - nothing like the neutral, calm behaviour he'd shown that morning, and Luhan couldn't help feeling a little insecure. Had Minseok simply lost interest in him now, ually-speaking? Had the past night been a mistake? Was he simply trying to avoid having to answer his questions?

Luhan placed a brown glass bottle back to its designated place and sighed, staring at nothing in particular.

Even after spending a good chunk of the past few months with Minseok, he remained a mystery. Everything could be predictable and pleasant in one moment, and within the blink of an eye, Minseok was as untouchable and unpredictable as a stranger.

The bell announced a new customer and Luhan whipped around, a polite smile dying on his lips as his eyes fell on a familiar face - Baekhyun.

"Good day," he all but chirped, somehow managing to look smug when all he did was walk up to the counter. Instead of leather, he wore a simple, dark outfit made up of pockets and belts that had seen better days. Only his ears were reminiscent of the past day's glitz and glamour, decked out in silver accessories.

He also looked like the cat that got the cream, which caused Luhan to grimace.

"Hello," he said, sounding every bit as enthusiastic as he felt.

Baekhyun's expression lit up.

"Oh, so you can talk. Cute."

Luhan had no idea what about him or his voice was supposed to be cute, but he was not in the mood to be toyed with, so he just sighed.

"What can I get you?" he asked, and it came out somewhat resigned and bored. The nosy witch across him shifted his weight on his feet, pretending to think about it.

"Hm, let's see... What's your best-selling tea?" he asked, voice and demeanour all but demanding Luhan to indulge him. Which was the exact reason why Luhan stayed stubborn.

"Medicinal or non-medicinal?" he simply asked, and Baekhyun placed both arms on the counter, looking like a child having a hard time staying still. He hummed some more, only to settle on a small shrug.

"Doesn't matter."

Luhan raised a brow, but wordlessly reached into one of the lower shelves to place a pre-made bag of one of their most popular fruity teas on the counter. He was spiteful enough to pick the most expensive one.

"Hibiscus-based with apple, peach, apricot, and watermelon, infuse for five minutes, enjoy hot or cold," he rattled down in one breath. "Two green coins."

Baekhyun nodded, never even looking at the tea in front of him.

"And how much for you to tell me what your relationship to Minseok is?"

If I knew, my life would be a lot less confusing, Luhan thought, but he'd rather cut his tongue out than admit that out loud.

"More than you could pay," he quipped. "Do you need a bag with this?"

"You underestimate me," Baekhyun sighed dramatically. "I'm the eyes and ears of this town! I could buy the castle if I wanted to."

That explained how he'd even found him in the first place.

"Sure," Luhan said. "Have fun with that."

"Don't you wanna know the deal about Jongdae and Minseok?"

Luhan paused, if only for a second, before busying himself looking for a small bag.

"Actually, I don't," he said evenly, and Baekhyun hummed suspiciously.

"Liar."

Slightly exasperated, Luhan resurfaced with the bag.

"If I wanna know something, I'll just ask Minseok myself," he said sharply. "Maybe you should consider doing that, too, instead of pressing others for answers."

Unimpressed, Baekhyun rolled his eyes.

"As if he'd actually tell you anything, much less the truth. Witches don't work in teams, and Minseok is the prime example of that. He doesn't confide in anyone at all."

Despite knowing better, the words stung. Luhan refused to show it.

"Two coins. Unless you just came here to waste my time. Then it's three."

"Your time isn't all that valuable, is it?" Baekhyun purred, still wearing that infuriating grin, and Luhan felt himself growing more annoyed.

"Do you want to buy this or not? I'm not sure if you noticed, but I'm currently at work and I’m not being paid for personal small talk."

"You're not?" Baekhyun asked, sounding mock horrified. "How boring. I don't know how you do it."

Before Luhan could find an object hard enough to throw at him, two coins landed on the counter top and Baekhyun was leaning on them, arms crossed, the playfulness dimming down to something more dangerous.

"Then let's make it something other than small talk."

His voice had dropped to something barely above a whisper, and all pride aside, Luhan tensed up. This was a witch he was facing, and when it came down to it, he was powerless in comparison.

"I got some nice advice for you. If you're really interested in Minseok," he began, placing a dramatic pause and allowing Luhan to roll his eyes because of course this was about Minseok.
Baekhyun wasn't deterred, his grin turning wolfish.

"...you should kiss him."

A kiss.

There was a tick of insecurity flashing over Luhan's expression, just a tiny movement, gone within the blink of an eye, but it was enough for Baekhyun's grin to turn triumphant.

"Give him a good smooch, right on the lips," he continued in a conspiratorial tone. "He'll never let you go again."

"Because he's cursed?" Luhan asked, masking his messy feelings with a confrontational attitude.

Baekhyun leaned back a little, the spell broken.

"You're pushy, asking for more when this little insight was probably worth more than your life. And to think that I was generous enough to give it to you for free. Unless you have something to compensate for the favour I just did you?"

Luhan couldn't help looking as stunned as he felt at the other's sheer audacity. He'd pushed a supposedly important information on him and now Luhan was in debt, whether he wanted to be or not.

Well, two could play this game.

"So you want me to reward your generosity? Sure. You wanted to know who I am, right? What I am to Minseok?"

He kept his voice nonchalant as he leaned in just as far as his own bravery would let him, voice dropping accordingly. Then he, too, made a dramatic pause before he breathed out his response, slow and clearly enunciated.

"Nothing and nobody."
Baekhyun shot him an unimpressed glare but Luhan only shrugged.

"Seems like your big, valuable insight is useless for me."

The bag of tea was snatched from the counter, and then Baekhyun was looking him up and down once more, expression closed off.

"You're a piece of ," he said, somehow making it sound like a compliment. 

Which was probably the reason a flippant, "Thanks. You too," slipped Luhan before he could help it.

"You definitely suit Minseok. Have fun with him, but remember the smooching."

Luhan only stared after him until the door finally closed (suspiciously drawn closed by a gust of wind which was entirely too gentle to be natural).

He counted to ten until he finally relaxed with a sigh.

Before he could even begin to ponder his words, the door was opened again, and an unhappy-looking Yixing entered, carrying bags in both hands.

"Let me put this here for a moment," he muttered, placing the bags down before he walked back out without as much as a hello. Worried, Luhan followed him to the door, and then stepped outside to follow his gaze.

There, right between the door and the window, was a spell taped to the wall. It showed an eye, the two characteristic droplets symbolizing magic, and some other details Luhan couldn't interpret properly.

"The nerve," Yixing grumbled, reaching up to actually rip it off-

"Don't," Luhan cut in urgently, one hand on Yixing's shoulder.

A confused look was his response, and Luhan's mind started racing to come up with a valid explanation.

"It might be dangerous," he stammered.

Yixing didn't look convinced.

"How do we know it's not dangerous for our customers?"

Luhan was pretty certain that the spell was meant to be the exact opposite, but he could hardly tell Yixing.

"I'm just worried," he tried. "What if you get hurt? You shouldn't just touch a spell like that on your own, you know that. We gotta inform the government and sit back until someone comes to remove it."

Yixing shot him a long, imploring look.

Luhan could tell him about the symbols, about witches, about what had happened.

Maybe he should.

But maybe he was better off not knowing.

Maybe Baekhyun was right and knowledge alone could demand a price.

He could see Yixing's patience running out with every passing second.

And decided... not to tell him.

"They'll remove it before you know it," he said lightly, shakily. He could be terrible at lying when facing someone he cared about. To no one's surprise, Yixing picked up on it.

"Luhan," he began, the all-too familiar sound of worry seeping into the words.

"Let's go back in, it's cold, isn't it?" he cut him off with a strained smile, entering the store first.

Yixing didn't press for more, and Luhan felt all the worse for it.

It was for the best though. The world of witches had started to creep in on him, knocking on his door and breathing down his neck, but he was not one of them, and neither were Yixing or his family members at the library. He mustn't allow these two worlds to mesh together. For their sake.

It was bad enough that he was somehow toeing the line, teetering between the familiar scent of herbs and faint tea tree oil, between normalcy and magic dusting the air.

He wasn't even supposed to be in this position. Luhan was aware of that.

He wasn't supposed to ask questions about surreal phenomena, about spells and witch societies, and he wasn't supposed to engage with witches, allow them to mess with his head.

And the last thing he should be doing was thinking of Minseok and the secrets he held.

When said witch turned up at the store just around closing time, announcing that they'd visit a friend, Luhan could have brought up Baekhyun. He was itching to talk about it, really, to gain clarity, to ask about the kiss both Baekhyun and the seer had brought up, anything would have been fine with him.

But Minseok had been curt in his demeanour, still strangely distanced and impersonal, and it made Luhan feel uncomfortable. Their entire walk to the Northern part of the town was spent in perfect silence, allowing Luhan to simmer in his own moody thoughts.

Sure, he'd been insecure and intimidated that morning, but with a few hours passing, impatience and a sense of stubbornness had joined his pool of anxiety.

Why was Minseok acting like that, with no warning or explanation whatsoever? Why had he initiated last night, only to make a big deal out of it afterwards? It made no sense. And the most frustrating aspect about it was that Luhan knew Minseok made sense. Everything he did - no matter how absurd or aloof it initially seemed - every mystifying action had a logical explanation with Minseok. Which was why his current behavior made Luhan feel uneasy. It didn't help that the winding courtyard they were walking down was devoid of spells. The brick walls went up high enough to block the sinking sun from his view, and yet there wasn't a single spell in sight. Everything looked somewhat simple and devoid of life, but not shabby. Totally different from just about any place in the town Luhan had been to so far.

They stopped before an inconspicuous-looking door, and Minseok knocked thrice.

While they waited, Luhan subtly straightened his clothing. Unlike him, Minseok looked immaculately dressed as usual, and it made him feel a bit self-conscious.

Just when he was about to say something, to suggest that nobody's home, the door opened, revealing a young man with dark eyes, looking a bit confused to see them.

"Hello, Kyungsoo," Minseok said, calm but at the same time warmer than he'd been towards Luhan that day. He sounded almost fond, in a subtle, Minseok-kind of way. "I take it you didn't receive my note."

The man in the threshold blinked, and then opened the door further.

"I did. I think. Come in."

His voice was low, oozing certainty, confidence and nonchalance. Kyungsoo was a strangely unwavering presence, similar to Minseok and yet lacking the other's liveliness or playful attitude. He was also the closest to what Luhan used to imagine witches to look and live like. Everything aside from his pale skin was black - his eyes, his hair, his clothes, even most of the accessories and objects lining the shelves and filling every free inch of his walls. Where Minseok's home looked deceivingly normal at first glance, nothing about this place looked ordinary. Rows and rows of intricate-looking bottles were lined up in glass cabinets, making the room feel small and cramped, while the table was filled with open books, ink, rulers, brushes, charts, and technical drawings that didn't make sense to Luhan. Just like the content of most bottles, the symbols were black as well. All of them.

"I brought you something," Minseok announced, pulling a chair out of a corner while Kyungsoo unceremoniously lifted a stack of books off a third chair, placing it right on the mess on his desk. Luhan stood there until Minseok gestured him to take a seat, which he did, feeling stiff and nervous.

The place was making him feel claustrophobic. It was probably due to the things moving inside the bottles, slow and almost unnoticeable like clouds in the sky, but he felt strangely caged in.

Completely unaffected, Minseok placed a familiar-looking dagger over an open book.

The other witch - Kyungsoo - sank into the chair across them, picking it up with mild interest.

"This one's a little different," Minseok stated. It sounded almost like a warning.

Kyungsoo only nodded, turning the blade around in his hands.

"I can tell. Do you need this back?"

"If that's an option," Minseok shrugged. It was surreal, seeing Minseok as the relaxed, easy-going one in a conversation. Or rather, he hadn't seen him act like that towards anyone that wasn't him before, a quiet voice in Luhan's head added.

With a faint nod, Kyungsoo placed the dagger back on the desk, where his eyes kept flitting to it as if he was being drawn in.

"I'll see what I can do. What brings you here?"

Curt and to the point. It was evident that the witch across them was not one for small talk, and yet Luhan didn't get any hostile vibes from him.

"You missed the Walpurgis," Minseok stated with a small chuckle.

Kyungsoo shrugged.

"So what?"

"So Junmyeon sent me," Minseok replied easily, leaning back in his chair. "He was probably very persistent this time around, wasn't he?"

"I had to replace my desk," Kyungsoo stated blankly. "That stupid invitation ruined the wood."

Minseok seemed amused though it bled into seriousness as he talked.

"I bet. He was hoping you'd attend. We’ve got a string of unfamiliar demons roaming the city. Apparently, something big is coming our way."

Now Kyungsoo was interested, Luhan could see it in the way his gaze sharpened.

"What do you know?" he asked inquisitively, already reaching for a fountain pen.

"About what's to come? Nothing. You'll have to ask Yifan about that," Minseok admitted. "As for the recent ones I've been facing... they've been unusually large, and quite slippery. Fickle, too, if that makes sense."

Kyungsoo nodded as he jotted down notes in tiny, precise letters.

"It does. I'll look into it."

"I'll bring you whatever I can get my hands on," Minseok promised.

Seeing them like this made it painfully obvious that they were talking as equals. They really were friends, as odd as the prospect of either of them having friends seemed.

What did that make Minseok and him? He'd been like that with him, too, at least until this morning-

"I was planning on visiting you regardless of all this though," Minseok changed the topic, nodding towards Luhan. "Can you take a look at him?"

Ripped out of his thoughts and suddenly put on display, Luhan flinched. It didn't help that Kyungsoo's gaze was piercing... and strangely suggestive as it ran him up and down as if he only now noticed his presence.

"I'm looking at him alright."

Minseok actually snorted.

"Back off. There's demon stains on him and they just won't vanish."

Within the blink of an eye, the dark look had switched to one of professional interest again.

"Where?"

Wordlessly, Luhan bared his neck, rubbing at the cream on his throat. He didn't even flinch when Kyungsoo walked around the table, one hand on the back of his chair, the other cupping his throat. All the serious issues aside, Luhan faintly hoped the stains would be resolved soon if only to have strangers stop touching his throat. Especially if they emitted a faint, tantalizing scent and had eyes as dark as Kyungsoo’s. Luhan closed his eyes, breathing evenly while small, sturdy fingers massaged his skin, tracing out the stains.

"The demon already disintegrated, but the stains won't leave," he heard Minseok explain from behind him. "Maybe it wasn't an ordinary demon. I thought you might know how to get rid of them."

"How did he get them?" Kyungsoo asked before him and this time, Minseok hesitated.

"I ate a demon and touched him."

"More like tried to strangle me," Luhan muttered, and Kyungsoo huffed in amusement. He didn't say anything though, feeling around until suddenly, he stopped.

"Is he your student?" he asked, fingers still on Luhan's skin.

"No. Just a regular civilian," Minseok said, and for once, Luhan wasn't concerned about his choice of words. Kyungsoo had found something, he knew it.

"I see."

The fingers were gone and Luhan blinked against the dim light coming from the tiny window near the ceiling.

Kyungsoo looked thoughtful, and without moving a muscle, his eyes flit up to meet Minseok's.

"You wanna get rid of the stains, huh?"

"I do," Minseok said, but it came out hesitant, like he was feeling something wasn't quite right.

"Alright," Kyungsoo hummed equanimously, walking around the table again to open one of the cabinets. Inside, there was a black box, secured with an obviously magical symbol which Kyungsoo ignored.

A small glass bottle was placed on the table in front of them with certainty - Luhan didn't have to ask to know that whatever the tiny green, opulent-looking bottle was holding was priceless. Next to him, Minseok's breath hitched.

"That should help," Kyungsoo said cryptically, shooting him a meaningful look. "Of course it would cost you something. There's limits to what I can give you for free."

Confused, Luhan looked for Minseok, but what he found in his expression only made it worse - the other looked nothing sort of shell-shocked, confusion and disbelief mixing in a way Luhan had never seen with him.

"That's-" he began, eyes flitting to Luhan and quickly changing directions.

"That's the only way," he only echoed, shooting Kyungsoo a conflicted look. "Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes," Kyungsoo replied without missing a beat, the tip of his pointer finger softly tapping the glass bottle. "I'm assuming you want to consider this carefully."

"What's in there?" Luhan asked, unable to hold back with how severe Minseok had reacted.

"I will," Minseok muttered, getting to his feet, not looking Luhan in the eye.

"Take your time," Kyungsoo replied mildly, returning the bottle to the box and gingerly closing the cabinet, perfect composure where Minseok seemed distraught.

"You really won't tell me what's in there, are you?" Luhan asked more to himself than anything, the hint of panic easily covering up any annoyance he should probably feel.

To his surprise, it wasn't Minseok who comforted him, but Kyungsoo.

"Don't worry," he said when Luhan got to his feet as well. He was seeking Luhan’s gaze and this time, there was neither assessment nor dark promise to them. "You'll live."

The statement brought up more questions than it answered, but the way he said it was incredibly calming, all but forcing Luhan to believe him.

For a brief moment, he got lost in the other's dark eyes, all his worries forgotten.

Then Kyungsoo smiled, and the atmosphere was tilted immediately.

"Come visit me anytime," he offered lowly, and by now, Luhan was suspecting himself to be born an idiot with how drawn he was to potentially dangerous people.

"Don't get your hopes up," Minseok said from the doorway, but Luhan couldn't help exchanging a last, long look with Kyungsoo before stumbling after him.

Outside, the sun had already set and the sky was paling.

For the first few meters, it was silent, gravel crunching beneath their feet.

"So... are you going to tell me what all this-"

"Don't go seeking him out in private," Minseok cut him off, and for a moment, Luhan was too stunned to be mad.

"He doesn't look like it, but he's ruthless with these things," Minseok explained, not looking him in the eye, staying half a step ahead of him. "I've seen it happen quite a few times - he may be a good lay, but he'll chew you up and spit you right out."

"And you wouldn't."

It had slipped out in a fit of annoyance, and there was no denying the challenging undertone it held.

Minseok hesitated, and when he replied, it came out quiet - faint, really - and entirely unreadable.

"No, I would not."

Luhan threw his arms up, looking around as if the answers might actually be in sight, floating in the sky above him. That was it, he'd had enough.

"You know what? I don't get you," he pressed out, trying to stay composed. "I don't get you at all."

When no verbal reaction followed, Luhan stopped.

Two steps ahead, Minseok did the same.

"I don't know if you noticed it, but this concerns my life," Luhan said sharply, refusing to back down this time. "It might not mean much to you guys but I'd appreciate if you would at least tell me what this was all about."

Minseok looked like he was fighting a headache, but Luhan had little pity for him right now.

"So?" he asked, one hand in his pocket, nails painfully digging into the seams.

Minseok looked at him, made a motion as if to shake his head, parted his lips as if to say something-

But ultimately, he stayed silent.

With a huff, Luhan looked to the side, composing himself.

"Fine," he said, and it came out amazingly calm. Then he his heel and started to walk.

"You know what? I'll sleep over at my own place today. See you."

He didn't really expect Minseok to call after him, but when he didn't, Luhan couldn't help feeling bitter.

And despite the wonderful feeling of sleeping in his own bed, he couldn't help feeling miserable and strangely lonely, either.