You’re in the middle of texting Kai when you finally feel Sehun approaching. You look up to see him walking towards you, Seulgi and Wendy in tow, and you wave at them to get their attention.

Sehun has introduced them to you some time ago, along with other three girls – Yeri, Joy and Irene. They were all sweet and funny, in their own way, and some of their antics reminded you of the boys.

(The first thing Seulgi asked you upon meeting was, “You don’t happen to be a lesbian, do you?”

Then Wendy choked on her ice tea.

 “No, I’m very much straight,” you said. “Sorry.”

“But why?”

“Oh my God, Seulgi, you can’t just ask someone why they’re straight,” said Wendy.

“Was that a ‘Mean Girls’ quote?”

When you’re not hanging out with Sungyeol – a guy that goes to the Academy with you – you hang out with them, usually at Sehun’s campus. Turns out, the girls go here, too, but they all attend completely different classes.

“Hey,” Seulgi greets. Wendy waves at you, her face stuffed with something – candy, you assume, because she freaking loves candy – and the three of them sit down by the table with you, unpacking their food. They complain a little about the classes, laugh at cat videos they find on instagram, and ask you about your day. Yeri and Joy come along with some takeout.

“Irene?” Sehun asks, looking up at Joy.

“She’s writing an exam, won’t be here for lunch,” Joy explains, taking a seat. “Do we have any apples?”

You turn off your brain for a few minutes. You look around the cafeteria, letting your eyes rest on different people and different spots, your ears picking up the sounds and words from around you, but not quite processing them.

At some point your eyes stop on a girl sitting alone, and you freeze when you realize that she’s looking back. She’s holding a donut that’s halfway to ; she’s seemingly stopped in the middle of eating. She looks a bit scared, surprised, maybe, and something inside you stirs. Your magic senses. is slightly open. She’s openly gaping at you. You take in her black, braided hair, blue earrings and silver rings on her fingers; your eyes snap at her bracelets and necklaces.

She feels like a…

She pushes the donut into , grabs her bag and literally runs away from the cafeteria, almost knocking a girl out as she goes. You stare dumbly until she disappears behind the corner.

*

“I think there’s a witch at Sehun’s campus,” you say nonchalantly to Kai. He goes silent on the other side of the phone, but only for a while.

“What.”

You’re putting some new books away on the bookshelf. You had to buy it. His tone of voice makes you anxious.

“Don’t say it like that,” you say. “Stop freaking out.”

“How do I not freak out?!”

“Whoa, chill,” you say quickly. “She hasn’t done anything. Actually, she ran away from me in complete terror.”

“Don’t get close to her,” Kai says. “You hear me?”

You frown. You take your phone into your other hand. “I wasn’t going to,” you say. “I’m sorry, I didn’t want to scare you.” Kai exhales. You hear some rustling; he sighs. “Gosh, you’re really worried. She didn’t seem evil, okay? And she’s not after my blood. Nobody knows who I am here; I’m gonna be fine.”

“Just promise me that you won’t approach her. And if she does it instead, don’t talk to her. Just…”

“Not all witches are bad, Kai,” you say.

“Have you meet a good one yet? Because I haven’t. Sunny seemed okay too, in the beginning. We all believed her when she said she just wants to learn magic from you.”

You bite your lip. “Yeah, okay,” you mutter. “I promise.”

*

You see the probable-witch the next week, in the cafeteria again. You’re talking to Sehun when you feel her, and when you focus on what’s going on behind Sehun’s head, you see her standing in the middle of the cafeteria – staring at you.

Her hair is braided again. This time you focus on her gaze and on her clothes; she definitely has her own, unique style, if it could even be called that. She’s wearing layers of clothes that don’t match at all. There’s another detail that you notice then – her fingers are lightly stained with something colorful. Paint, maybe.

Before she can run away again, you also manage to see a bruise blooming on her neck. Then she moves like she’s been trapped inside an invisible room – she bumps around, unsure as to where she should go. She eventually storms out through the closest door.  

“Well that was panicked,” Sehun says. You snap your eyes at him to see him looking back; he must’ve followed your gaze and seen the whole thing, too. “The witch?”

“Yeah,” you mutter. “Did you—“

“See the bruise? Yeah. She smelled like herbs and misery, not gonna lie.”

Your first thought it that someone has beaten her.

“Dal,” Sehun says, his voice serious enough to get Seulgi’s attention, who’s been talking with Yeri up until now. “This is your concerned face. Stop it.”

You look at him, eyes wide, and you your lip. You’re about to reply when you notice Seulgi watching the two of you. She catches your eyes.

“Are you okay?” she asks, frowning slightly. Sehun looks at her, sends her a tight smile and nods.

“We were talking about a friend,” he explains. Seulgi just nods. Once Sehun makes sure she’s busy talking again, he leans towards you and whispers, “Don’t get involved. You know how that ends. And don’t even try to talk to her. If she approaches you, you cast your best binding spell.”

You want to roll your eyes, but you just sigh instead. You don’t have any good memories involving witches, but it doesn’t mean you should paint them all with the same brush.

*

The witch starts following you.

You exit the Police Academy one day, still wearing your uniform – grey t-shirt and baggy trousers – and you immediately feel her presence. It takes everything for you not to snap your head in her direction.

You head to the closest café instead of catching a bus home. If she followed you this far, she probably will like to know where you live, too. Your heart is beating hard in your chest as you enter the café.

You order the first thing you see and when you’re halfway done, you can feel that she’s gone.

You don’t tell anybody.

*

When you’re this far away from Kai, your senses are duller. You can still feel magic, the boys’ presence – no matter how many miles away – and vibes people and places give off. But it all feels muffled, or like it’s hiding behind the corner; you can’t feel it physically, like you used to, only on the brim on your consciousness.

It worries you.

The witch follows you again the next day. You wonder if you should approach her, but you decide against it. You go to the café again; this time you catch a glimpse of her. She’s not very good at spying, that much you know. The bruises on her neck are still visible, purple and yellow, healing. You wonder if she really means you harm. Judging by her reactions, she definitely knows that you’re a mage, and can surely see the tattoos on your arms – Siwon’s bracelet doesn’t hide them from magical people. If she wanted to attack you, she would’ve by now.

The next time she spies on you, you make sure she knows that you can see her. She seems conflicted at first; then she runs. Running away seems to be her thing.

*

“What are you worried about?” Kai asks you after a few long minutes of silence. You look up from your book, face blank. It takes a second to understand his words.

“Nothing,” you lie, looking back down.

“I can see that you’re lying.”

“I’m not,” you mutter. “I’m just tired. Had a lot of physical activity today.” Kai makes a weird sound. You look up at the screen to see him scratching his neck awkwardly. “You just thought about something erted, didn’t you?” you ask, squinting at him.

*

“So I know the witch’s name,” Sehun announces right after entering the apartment. You’re in the kitchen, cutting vegetables for dinner. Sehun enters, plops down on the chair by the tiny table you own, and you exchange glances. “Lee Jieun,” he says, drawling it out and moving his mouth ridiculously while doing so. “Wendy goes to art classes with her. She said that Jieun is super odd, but also incredibly talented. Shy as frick; doesn’t talk to anybody except for the teacher. And her pencils, occasionally.” You hum, wondering what you’re gonna do with that information. Sehun speaks up again, this time, though, his voice is lower and a bit creeped-out. “You think she casts spells on her brushes to paint nicely?”

You snort.

“Possible,” you nod. “Or maybe she’s just weird.”

“I mean, I guess it’s better than having conversations with yourself,” Sehun mutters, stretching his arm out towards a bowl on the table where you keep some fruit. He picks up an orange and starts peeling it right there, on the surface. “Which, as you well know, is something Taemin does all the time.”

“I like talking to myself because I have common interests,” you parrot him. Sehun laughs. Silence fills the air between you too, and the only thing audible is your knife on the cutting board.

“Say,” Sehun speaks up, “are you going to do something about her?”

You shake your head. “I’m mostly trying to keep my distance.”

“Trying?” Sehun emphasizes. You can feel his eyes on the back of your head, almost drilling into your skull. You go tense. Oops. “Trying? Why not just keep your distance?”

You look back at him, mouth open. “Dude, first of all, that sounded creepy as ,” you say, pointing a knife at him. Sehun looks personally offended at the blade. “Second, I can take care of myself. Really.”

“Oh, I know,” Sehun snorts. “Doesn’t change the fact that I worry.”

“And I appreciate it,” you say, turning back towards the cutting board. “If I die, you know where to start looking for answers.”

“Don’t even joke about that,” Sehun grouses. You glance at him over your shoulder; he’s biting at his nail. You put away your knife, wipe your hands on some paper towel, and take the three steps that separate him from you. You put your hand on his cheek, successfully getting his attention. He’s in the middle of chewing his orange, so when he looks up, he reminds you of a cow munching on grass.

“Sorry,” you say. “Also, you look like a cow.”

He sends you a deadpan look, slaps your head away, and moves as in to tickle you. You jump away yelping, almost knocking the frying pan off the stove. Tiny kitchens are not good for playing games, that’s for sure.

*

You’re on Sehun’s campus again. You’re earlier today, and there’s not much people around, because most of the students are still in class. You open a book to kill some time when you feel a literal explosion of magic somewhere in the building.

You snap your head up, eyes scanning the ceiling, because that’s where the wave came from. You shut your book, grab your backpack and shove it inside as you run out the cafeteria and up the stairs once you’re in the huge, long hallway.

It was the witch’s power. But it was mixed with something you haven’t felt before, or can’t quite remember.

You might be in college now, but one thing didn’t change: you still wear running shoes everywhere you go, and you still keep certain weapons in your backpack, and that includes your good old baseball bat. Somehow, no one ever questions you when you say that you play. Nobody could care less, you figure – it’s not exactly a Korean sport.

You run down the hallways, heads turning at you, until you finally reach the right place. You practically barge into an empty lecture hall, stopping short in front of the teacher’s desk, and you look up to see the witch standing in the last row, staring at you wide-eyed and scared.

There’s three seconds of mutual staring, and then she takes off.

You swear when you realize that she’s heading for the emergency door on the side of the room. She has the advantage. She pushes at the door and jumps out of the hall.

You almost hit your head with the darn door – they’re heavy, metal, and red – and then you find yourself in a white staircase. You can see the girl running down, so you follow, but instead of actually running, like she does, you decide to jump from side to side of the staircase.

The girl shrieks. You’re not sure if it’s because she saw you catching up to her, or because of something else. You leap over the railings from right to left, and you slip as you land, tilting forward. You grab at the wall to regain balance and then you hear a swish.

You yelp, forcing your head back; the bones in your neck let out a snapping sound. A silver blade misses your face by a mere millimeter.

You’re still on the stairs, the witch is right in front of you, with a weapon, and you’re unsure on your feet. The first blow misses, but the second manages to catch you in the shoulder. You move up backwards, grabbing at your baseball bat, and you take a huge swing of it.

You hit the witch straight in the face.

Her blood splatters on the white wall next to you. You must’ve hit her jaw hard enough for her to bite her cheek, or maybe knock out a tooth – there’s not that much of it. The witch staggers back, confused, and you take that moment to jump off the stairs. You clench your fingers around the bat tighter, aim, and swing.

Only then you notice that the witch’s eyes are completely white. She has no irises whatsoever.

The second you hit her with your bat again, you feel someone creeping up on you from behind. You turn on your heel, but the enemy is quicker – they grab at your neck, and you feel yourself being pushed back at the wall. You hit it hard with your back and your head, and you lose your grip around the bat. It hits the floor and rolls away.

You look at the person that has their hands around your neck, and you need to double-take. The first thing you see is the white eyes, just like the witch’s; and then you realize that it is the witch.

You look to your left, to where the witch is standing. There’s blood dripping from , so it’s definitely the one you hit with your bat. But she looks just like the one that’s holding your neck.

There's two of them?

The grip around your skin tightens then, just as realization dawns at you. They’re shapeshifters. They must’ve attacked the witch, maybe get a taste of her blood, and then took her appearance. Now there was two of them, and they were both unhappy with your arrival.

“Well, if it isn’t the famous moon mage,” the first shapeshifter grouses, wiping the blood away from her face. The monster that’s holding you suddenly lifts you off the ground, and you choke on nothing – there’s no air left in your lungs. “You interrupted a hunt.”

“She’s much better than the witch,” the one that holds her notes.

The only way out you see that doesn't involve magic is to kick her in the face. It’s honestly a feat, seeing as you're being pushed into a wall, with your neck pinned to it. You could use the creature's arm that's holding you up like a monkey bar, or something. It's a hazard; if you hold on for too long, or tilt your head wrong, you might end up snapping your own neck. 

You grab at the monster's arm, wrap your fingers tightly around it, and heave up your lower body. 

Good thing you're flexible.

You kick the shapeshifter's face, square in the jaw. She drops you like a sack of potatoes, but she extends her claws before her hands leave your neck fully, and you immediately feel hot venom getting into your veins. You gasp out for air, curled on the floor, and you look up at the shapeshifters in complete panic.

Their venom paralyses.

Before you’re unable to move, though, you grab at your earring, and you pull at it until it’s between your fingers and out of your earlobe. The magic inside it stirs to life, sliding down your skin, and you raise your arm towards the first shapeshifter.

The smiles disappear from their faces.

“Jayu,” you hiss.

Electricity jumps out of your fingers and pierces the shapeshifter. She staggers back, yells, and her back hits the handrail; the impact is hard enough for her to double over it. She screams and falls down, and you hear a series of loud thud and crashes as she goes; her companion runs to the rails to look down.

You hear a final thud, not followed by a scream or a whimper, and that’s how you know that the shapeshifter is dead.

The venom is spreading in your veins. You can’t move your fingers anymore, and you can’t stand, either; you grow in panic at the silence that fills the air, and you crawl back, putting more distance between yourself and the shapeshifter that’s still alive.

She turns towards you, eyes furious. Then she moves towards you, her claws extended, open to let out a morbid hiss. She’s inches away from you. You mutter a protection spell, creating an invisible barrier between you and her. The second she hits it, she gets blinded by white light.

She looks confused now. She doesn’t move to attack you again. You can’t feel your limbs anymore, and your neck is starting to grow weirdly soft. Your head lolls back because you’re not able to keep it upright.

You hear footsteps then. Your tattoo warms up. The shapeshifter lets out a surprised gasp and you can feel her run away a second before you hear Sehun’s loud, panicked breathing. He doesn’t follow the creature, but he manages to take a glance at it.

“Dal,” he says, panicked to the bone. “.”

He crouches down and scoops you up. You can’t feel his hands, but you can see everything around you spinning. You try to tell him that it’s venom, but your tongue is heavy, and you can’t. You’re also starting to lose consciousness. You use some of your magic to make the drowsiness go away, but at some point you’re too sleepy to even do that.

“I’ve got you,” Sehun reassures you.

*

You wake up in your room, with a legit IV connected to your forearm.

You look down at it, blinking.

Sehun shows up in the room (because he’s a creep and he’s been listening to your breathing, and it’s always different when you’re sleeping and awake). “Are you okay?” he asks, approaching you quickly. He sits down next to your mattress, his eyes scanning you.

“Yeah,” you nod. “What—what’s with the IV?” you ask, frowning. You feel unsettled. There’s something different, but you can’t say what, still hazy.

“I didn’t know what kind of venom she gave you, so I just used a regular formula to clear your blood,” Sehun explains, pointing at the IV. Right, because he’s a biology major. Wait, did he actually steal it from school, or something?

And are you really surprised at that?

“They went after her,” Sehun says quickly.

You blink at him. Wait, what? “Who?”

“Kai, Suho and Taemin,” Sehun replies. “You’ve been asleep for a while. A bit more than half a day.”

“How the hell are they going to find a shapeshifter? She probably smells different already.”

This time it’s Sehun’s turn to blink at you. Five seconds pass by without him answering. And then, “What shapeshifter are you talking about?”

You your lips, making a very confused face. “The one that poisoned me?” you ask. Your eyes go wide, panic fills your veins. “Oh, my God. Don’t tell me they went after the witch.”

Sehun opens his mouth in shock.

“I assumed—that wasn’t her that attacked you?!” he outward screams. He doesn’t wait for an answer, he stands up and runs, probably to get his phone. You sit up, still stiff, breathing harshly.

“He’s not picking up,” Sehun says, returning with the phone at his ear.

“Try Taemin.”

Sehun does. While it’s dialing, he asks, “The witch didn’t do anything to you?”

“I felt her use magic. I followed. She ran when she saw me, and then the shapeshifters attacked her on the stairwell. She fled the moment she saw that the shapeshifters were more interested in me than it was in her.”

“ move,” Sehun sums up. “Wait, shapeshifters? Plural?”

“There were two of them. One of them fell down the stairs. Must’ve hit her head, because she definitely died.”

“Fell down the stairs, as in, you threw her down the stairs,” Sehun deadpans. You roll your eyes. “Tae’s not picking up, either. Also, the witch did a move.”

“She was just scared,” you say. “She thought I had it handled. I bashed that one shapeshifter’s head with my bat.”

“I can’t reach any of them.”

Fear envelops you. What if they kill her? She’s innocent. These shapeshifters were after her. They probably wanted to eat her to get her powers.

“What kind of shapeshifters were they?” Sehun asks, trying to call Suho now.

“Ghouls, maybe,” you mutter. “Does it matter?”

“Well, we’ll probably have to find the one that’s alive, if we don’t want it to attack you. It’d be good if we knew what we’re dealing with—, they aren’t picking up. They always pick up, unless they’re already engaged in…, what if they hurt her? She’s not evil, is she?”

“She’s not,” you shake your head. “I don’t think so. I think she’s a white witch.”

“Can you pinpoint their location?” Sehun asks. “I told them Jieun’s name. Amber got her address.”

You close your eyes, focusing on your tattoo. “Not far away from the campus,” you say. “They’re not moving.”

Sehun tries calling again. They don’t pick up, but a few seconds later, he gets a message from Suho.

Everything ok, it says.

Sehun looks at you, letting out a relieved sigh.

“They’re good,” he informs.

*

You can feel Kai and the rest approaching. You haven’t seen him in over a month, and now he’s here, and you can feel your magic buzzing under your skin again. You missed it. Albeit, that is not how you imagined your first meeting to be like.

You stand up, detaching yourself from the IV, and you wrap yourself around a blanket. You and Sehun approach the door at the same time, you – being able to sense the boys behind it, Sehun – hearing their footsteps and heartbeats. He opens the door.

You see Suho and Taemin first. Taemin, knows why, is holding his phone up at you like he’s taking a photo. He’s also grinning. Suho is completely red on the face. You look behind them, recognizing the witch – she looks sad and guilty and overall very depressed – and then you move your eyes to where you think you’re going to see Kai.

You see a girl instead.

At first, it doesn’t quite get to you. It’s a girl, definitely. She’s tall, she’s got slightly purple hair, a nose with a slight bump in the middle, her eyes are—

“What the ,” Sehun swears, taking a huge step back.

You just gape. Five seconds of silence pass by. Realization slowly seeps into your brain.

Kai is a girl.

I'm pretty sure the whole fandom knows how Kai would look as a girl, but in case you haven't seen his marvelous female doppelganger, here yo go:

When this chapter will be updated, I'll probably be away at my friend's. I'm staying the night so I might be late with replying for your comments.

Love you lemon blueberry tarts. And to anyone who's been influenced (directly or not) by the recent terrorist attacks around the world - my heart goes out to you. I'm sorry it's been so ty lately.