Attunement

With an exasperated huff, the tall wizard threw his groceries down on the kitchen table. In hindsight it had been a terrible mistake to offer doing everybody’s groceries, but he had needed to take the trip anyway. What a surprising amount of love potion ingredients one could purchase at the local supermarket!

As Mingyu plucked his belongings from the pile of food stuff the others had requested, Seokmin entered, in search of a snack.

“Ah, Seokmin, good to see you.”

The classmate smiled brightly back at him. “I know, I know. Whatever I decide on preparing for myself, I’ll be sure to make one for you too.”

“No, that’s not what… actually, thanks, that would be great. But the reason I wanted to talk to you is that I need your help with a potion.”

“Oh? I’m mundane, how could I help?” asked the puzzled boy as he eyed the contents of their dorm fridge.

“One thing I need is a bottled ray of sunshine. Thought I could put one of your smiles in a flacon. Should work, from what I can tell.”

“If you say so?”

Mingyu pulled out his phone and opened the camera. Seokmin shot him the brightest grin he could muster and *snap* the picture was taken.

After sending the photograph to the printer, Mingyu grabbed an empty bottle from under the sink and left with one less worry.

Two more things left to procure.

***************************

Seungkwan was easily located. The boy’s natural aura attracted unicorns reliably, in spite of his mundane nature.

Poised with princely grace, Seungkwan rode the horned, shining white stead along the street, returning from his regular stroll. Passerby’s view was magnetically transfixed on the glowing, most noble creature – and the unicorn.

“Boo!” called Mingyu as the rider came into earshot.

“Yes, what is it hyung?”

“Um, this is a little awkward but you’re the best guy to ask. I need unicorn tears. Could you… I dunno.”

“Tears you say?”

Seungkwan forcefully swung himself off the animal and Mingyu feared for a second the boy might kick his entrusted unicorn to get results.

Instead the boy took a deep breath and stuck on a ballad, rendered over what felt like twelve octaves with enough feeling to make Mingyu’s vision blur.

As the listening boy blinked away his tears, he saw the unicorn shed a never-ending stream from its deep, dark eyes.

What a voice.

***************************

The ritual room was very big and very empty.

Most rituals required to get physical and enough space was an absolute necessity. The master of ceremony himself was prancing from corner to corner, forcing Wonwoo to wait awkwardly leaning in the doorframe out of fear he could interrupt something important.

Eventually Soonyoung noticed him.

“Ah, have you been standing there for long?”

Forever, thought Wonwoo. “Not at all, “he said.

The dancing boy finished his last spin and came to a halt in the middle of the room. “Anything I can help you with?”

“I was just wandering, if I needed to find something – something only a ritual can find – could I do it?”

Soonyoung put his hands on his knees, catching his breath. “Not alone, I suppose, but with a wizard’s help I don’t see why a ritual couldn’t apply to you, too.”

“Great. Would you?”

“Sure. Come in. What do you need to find. Keys? A pen? Glasses? I think I’ve seen you wear glasses before.”

Wonwoo cleared his throat and quickly mumbled “An artefact that’s not attuned to anyone so I can use it.”

Soonyoung’s eyes widened as his jaw dropped. “That’s…”

“Oh, alright,” Wonwoo turned around, “forget it. It was a dumb idea.”

“Wait! We can do it. Let me just…”

The ritual specialist picked a tattered notebook from a chair at the wall and flicked through the pages.

“I have to warn you, Wonwoo. This ritual is very OTL.”

“I’m prepared,” said the mundane boy, pointing down at his attire, which consisted of sweatpants and a thin shirt. He was ready to sweat if it got him a chance with Mingyu in the long run.

“Then, let’s begin. Can you do backflips?”

“What?”

“Very, very OTL.”

***************************

Increasingly bored, Chan turned page after page. To him, the grimoire was a very thick but otherwise non-descript book. A bit dusty, maybe somewhat scratched.

Perhaps, he would never have looked inside if he hadn’t known that it was a treasure trove of magical knowledge. On the inside it held all sorts of intriguing - and alarming - drawing and descriptions.

He wondered if this meant that he didn’t judge books by their cover or didn’t want to be judged by the cover himself. The grimoire had an odd way of interpreting the user’s psychology.

Right now he was looking for something to try. Something not related to summoning. He had promised that much and he took promises seriously. At least the ones he meant when he made them.

Most of the book’s content was far above his level. The rest was either boring or way to dangerous. Not dangerous in his eyes, but he knew Seungcheol would tell him to leave his fingers off stuff like duplication and teleportation.

Chan needed something subtle that could fly under the prefect’s radar.

As soon as he realized what he was looking for, the book responded. The dorm’s maknae could sense the pages shifting beneath the one he was currently looking at. Turning to the next one revealed what could become his newest hobby.

***************************

Timidly, Mingyu knocked at the door to Jihoon’s domain.

“Come in.”

Dragging a duffle bag along, the boy entered with a smile he couldn’t contain. Soon he would have his love potions. Well, technically it was going to be a like-an-awful-lot potion. Baby steps.

The tiny boy stood up from his chair, not gaining much height. Mingyu fought down the lethal urge to pet the pink, fluffy head.

“You got all ingredients?”

“I think so?”

“What did you bring for radiance?”

“A bit of Jeonghan’s shampoo.”

“Ah right. What did you bring for ambivalence?”

“Unicorn tears.”

“Interesting. And for fire?”

“I got Hansol to write me a rap.”

“That should work, I suppose.”

Mingyu handed over the bag with the three aforementioned items and several more. Sunshine in a bottle had the short boy chuckle. He personally would have asked Jeonghan, who could create actual sunshine on command after all, but Mingyu’s mind worked a bit differently it seemed.

Now all was missing were herbs from the school’s collection and a lot of patience.

***************************

Two sweat drenched boys collapsed on the PCV floor.

While gasping for air with a bone dry throat Wonwoo ran his fingers through his hair, trying to get the sweat greased mess back under control.

“Please...tell me…it’s over.”

Soonyoung, in a sitting position, looked down on his starfishly positioned co-dancer and smiled, his entire face lighting up. “That was fun, wasn’t it?”

“Please…”

“Yes, we’re done.”

“Heck yes.”

Wonwoo swallowed dry, turned from his back on all fours and crawled to the chair that held water bottles. After gulping down as much as a single breath allowed, he felt much less hot and generally better. Still thirsty, still grossly sweaty and every joint was begging for the sweet relieve that only a medically induced coma can provide – but better.

“I told you,” said the blond wizard, “that it’s very-“

“OTL. I know. Wait, did it even work? How do I know if it worked?”

Soonyoung closed his eyes and slowly the spot, his arm stretched as if trying to feel out the air before him. “Yes, I can sense it.”

“Sense what? The artefact?”

“Something like that. It’s calling you to itself.”

“Great,” said Wonwoo, opening another bottle. “Does it have a number I can call it back on?”

“It wants you to find it.”

“Of course, nothing can be easy. Where is it and how vague are the directions?”

The ritual caster opened his eyes. “Exactly 6.24 kilometers to the north and 2.79 to the east from where I’m standing right now.”

“That… is surprisingly and unexpectedly helpful.”

Wonwoo opened the map on his phone and stood up on weak, shivering legs. He would travel there right away. After a long, long shower.

“Ready to take a long, long shower?” asked Soonyoung.

“That is exactly what I thought, like, half a second ago.”

“Let’s go then. I mooched some of Jeonghan’s heavenly shampoo. I think he actually gets it from heaven - haven’t seen it in stores anywhere.”

Wonwoo trailed after his yearmate, led by the arm. “I don’t want people sniffing my hair, though,” he mumbled.

“I’ll only use a little on you. Leaves more for me anyway.”

“Wait, we’re doing each other’s hair?”

“We have to. The shampoo instructions are very…”

“Oh no. No!”

“…OTL.”

***************************

“Seriously, Chan?”

The prefect was trying to be angry, he really was. But it was difficult. First of all he was too surprised by what was transpiring, secondly he was dead tired and lastly this whole thing was impressive. Even as a mundane guy with nothing beyond tangential knowledge in magic, he had to hand it to the rueful boy.

“Mind control in your first year? This is notoriously difficult stuff. How did you… How?”

Chan blushed and couldn’t hold back a grin, despite his best efforts to fake a remorseful façade, in hopes of propitiating the dorm leader.

“Well,” he hemmed and hawed. “It’s not even good psycho alteration.”

“Oh I can see it’s not good.” Seungcheol was getting his act back together, his eyes drifting to the latest victim of Chan’s juvenile overconfidence.

They all were standing on the school’s roof by the door the leader had just arrived from. The concrete was littered with the usual magical contraptions that sprouted from the ground like antennae. Someone else was with them – at least physically.

Boo Seungkwan was running in circles, flapping his “wings” while using his voice to imitate birdsong.

Seungcheol looked with increasing puzzlement upon the enchanted student. “How long will he think he’s a… what does he think he is?”

“A peacock.”

“Chan! Not in that tone. This is nothing to be proud of.”

“Sorry.”

“So, how long?”

“Um… those alterations can be…”

“Yes?”

“…Permanent”

“Chan!”

Behind them Boo Seungkwan had been climbing the railing. By now he stood right on top of the metal, his make-believe wings ready for flight.

The moment Seungcheol saw what was about to happen, he mumbled a fain “Boo, oh for fu-“

The bird boy jumped, a joyful melody on his lips.

Chan reacted with amazing speed, slicing the air with his wand as soon as the stick jumped into his hand. An exaggerated gesture and the flash of light it evoked later, the roof was filled with a thick, invisible blanket, like an oppressive avalanche of cotton that washed around the dorm leader as the sea around a rock.

With a heavy pull that was not felt physically, but clearly perceived by the boys, the gaseous blanket rushed down the building, speeding by the falling – yet gracefully flapping – Seungkwan.

The boys raced for the railing and gawked down.

Boo was safe and sound, gently deposited on the walkway’s asphalt. He hopped about, on the lookout for bread crumbs.

Oldest and youngest dorm member looked back at each other. Chan’s secure smile died down.

“…Sorry.”

“Just fix him.”

“Yeah, about that…”