A/N: Hello everyone! I know I haven't been too active lately T__T But this is a project that I've been working on recently! It was written for the krisho fic fest on livejournal, the 100xoverfest! Enjoy the story :)

Just A Spoonful of Sugar

Junmyeon wasn’t you average student. He might look average, with his soft clingy sweaters, his beaten-down backpack, his glasses perched on the bridge of his nose and the pile of papers settled on his table—but in reality, Junmyeon was one of the members of the government program called MAMA: Magical Abilities Mastery and Adaptation. He’d been one of the youngest members to join when he was sixteen, and now at the young age of twenty-three, he was one of their best members.

Junmyeon had gone far in ways of mastery. When he’d discovered his magical affinity for water when he was fourteen, he had tried to keep it a secret. However, his magic had a way of leaping out of him when he least expected it, and a government official had paid his house a visit after Junmyeon had nearly drowned three of his teachers and twenty-two of his classmates at school outing to the ocean. They’d initially simply given Junmyeon over to a government trainer, who had then recommended him for MAMA two years later. Junmyeon had learned to control his powers from his trainer, but with MAMA, he’d learned to refine them. Seven years ago, Junmyeon never would have imagined that he would be able to detect every substance within any liquid he drank. He never imagined that he would be able to perfectly visualize all of the objects resting in water in a twelve-foot radius around him.

Of course, not all of his mastery was so innocent. Junmyeon knew exactly how to raise the liquid levels of a person’s blood to boil and cook them from the inside out. He knew how to use water to torture the deepest secrets from any of his enemies. He could drown a man using their own saliva, he could slowly kill a man by keeping him dehydrated, no matter how much water they drank.

Junmyeon was dark and secretive, and he wouldn’t have it any other way.

“Iced Americano?”

Junmyeon was broken out of his reverie by the deep voice of the cashier. Junmyeon smiled up at him as the cashier carefully set the mug down on his table. “Yes, thank you.”

The tips of the chasier’s ears turned red, and Junmyeon tried not to blush in response. He was a regular customer at the café, and it was no secret that the cashier, Yifan, blushed really easily. The only problem was that if Junmyeon was talking to someone who was blushing, he started blushing as well out of sympathetic embarrassment for the other person.

Yifan left his table, and Junmyeon turned back to his papers. The head of MAMA had recently passed him five pounds of paperwork regarding the entry and training of a new member to the program, and Junmyeon sighed as he started going through the documents.

He reached out and lifted his cup of coffee to his lips, only to pause. Something was different about the coffee.

He frowned and set the mug back down on the table. Maybe something felt different because a different barista was working today? Junmyeon looked up from his table to the counter and saw Minseok chatting to Yifan behind the register and shook his head. Minseok always made his Americanos the same way.

Junmyeon extended his powers more finely into his mug. What was different? He always had a habit of checking his drinks, and now he was glad he’d checked.

There were the usually ingredients, like espresso, cream, and sugar…but ah. Yes, there was something new—rose stem sap. Junmyeon’s brow furrowed. What was rose stem sap doing in his coffee? He probed further, and found valerian, thyme, a hint of ground oyster shell, and essence of moonstone.

Magic abilities were one of the government’s best kept secrets. Junmyeon knew this especially well as a member of government programs and of the regular outside world. Of course, people played pretend, and frauds sold fake potions and amulets, but…

Junmyeon glanced over at the register again, and saw Yifan eyes flit away from him. He looked down at his coffee mug—there was no denying it. He’d sat through one year of a magic potion class led by Jonghyun, one of the up and coming potioneers of their time.

Someone had tried to spike his coffee with love potion.

Someone brushed by his table, and Junmyeon took the opportunity to nudge his glass over the side of the table. It fell with a resounding crack, and Junmyeon mimed an expression of dismay.

Sehun, one of the regular waiters for the café, rushed over with a mop and Junmyeon and the girl who’d brushed past him apologized profusely as Sehun mopped up the mess and cleared away the shards of ceramic.

“We’ll get you another one on the house,” Sehun quietly assured Junmyeon after the girl had left.

“Don’t worry about it,” Junmyeon said easily. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” Sehun flashed him a quick smile and went up to the counter while Junmyeon turned back to his papers.

Who would try and spike his coffee with love potion? Junmyeon frowned down at his papers. He would primarily suspect Minseok, the barista, but Minseok had a loving girlfriend, and he didn’t see what Minseok had to gain by doing so. Next, he would guess Yifan, but—

Yifan. Junmyeon looked up at the cash register again, and studied Yifan’s face as he took orders from two businesswomen.

But there was no way that Yifan new real magic! Junmyeon shook his head and went back to his papers. Sehun brought him another coffee, and Junmyeon felt relieved when he didn’t detect anything suspicious in it. He took a sip as he scanned through the papers in front of him. He would have to report this incident, and he could only hope that no one here was going to get hurt.

Yifan was wiping down tables in the café when Junmyeon returned three days later, flanked by two of his associates.

“Yifan!” Junmyeon called out as he poked his head into the cafe, a small smile curling at the corner of his mouth. “Closing up?”

Yifan looked surprised to see him. “Er…yeah,” he admitted. “We close at nine on Thursdays.”

“Ah.” Junmyeon stepped into the store, the two others, Seulgi and Chanyeol, standing close behind him. “Are Sehun and Minseok here as well?”

“Yeah, they’re cleaning up the kitchen.” Yifan straightened up, his eyes wary. “What can we do for you?”

Junmyeon pulled out a folded piece of paper from his pocket. “Government search warrant,” he said, smile still in place. “I’ll go show this to Minseok while these two look the place over.” He nodded Chanyeol and Seulgi, who drifted apart from each other to start inspecting the café.

“Search warrant?” Yifan repeated, following Junmyeon to the back. “Have we done something wrong?”

Junmyeon ignored him in favor of Minseok. “Hey Minseok.”

“Hi Junmyeon.” Minseok smiled at him from the pantry, where he seemed to be reorganizing a spice rack. “What’re you doing here so late?”

“Government search warrant.” Junmyeon passed it over to Minseok. “Someone spiked a drink here a few days ago, and we were called out to investigate.”

Minseok took the warrant with raised eyebrows. “I didn’t know you were a detective.”

Junmyeon tried not to snort. “I’m not,” he said shortly. “They just send me out. Seulgi and Chanyeol are the real detectives here.”

Sehun drifted over to look at the warrant from over Minseok’s shoulder. “What was the drink spiked with?”

Junmyeon shook his head. “I’m afraid that I’m not at liberty to say.” He glanced between the three of them. Of the three employees, Junmyeon was surprised to see that Yifan looked the most nervous. “However, it was a highly illegal substance.”

Minseok looked horrified, and Junmyeon rushed to placate him. “It wasn’t toxic,” he said quickly. “It seemed to be an accident; but nonetheless, it was reported, and we were sent to see if any more of the substance was on the premises. Rest assured that as long as none of the three of you were the ones in possession of the substance, then there won’t be any trouble to any of you or your business.”

None of them looked very mollified by this, but Junmyeon didn’t have much else to comfort them with. He went back out to the café as Chanyeol and Seulgi came behind the register and into the back room to search. Minseok, Sehun and Yifan followed him out, standing awkwardly as they waited for Chanyeol and Seulgi to come out.

“I thought you were a regular student,” Minseok said quietly.

Junmyeon smiled. “I am a student,” he said quietly. “Just not what you might expect.”

“You work for the government? Or the police force?” Minseok asked.

“More government than police,” Junmyeon said shortly. “Ah.”

Seulgi had emerged from the kitchen holding a small satchel. “Does this belong to anyone?” she asked, holding up the satchel. It was small and pink, the mouth tied tightly shut by the drawstrings. Junmyeon instinctively extended his powers toward it, but the substance within was dry, and he was unable to detect anything.

“It’s mine.”

Junmyeon turned to Yifan in surprise. The man was flushed from his neck to his ears, but his gaze was steady as he responded to Seulgi.

“Are you aware of its contents?” Seulgi asked, and eyebrow raised.

“I gave it to him,” Minseok blurted out, stepping in front of Yifan. Sehun opened his mouth to speak, but Minseok gave him a quelling look. “Technically, it belongs to both of us.”

“I didn’t ask who gave what to whom,” Seulgi said coldly. “I asked if you were aware of its contents.”

“I was told it was an herbal remedy,” Minseok said quickly. “I gave it to Yifan when he told me that he had a cough that just wouldn’t go away.”

“Interesting.” Seulgi turned to Yifan. “And did you take some of it?”

“I used a little,” Yifan said evenly.

Seulgi raised an eyebrow, but turned away to Minseok. “We’ll take this back for further inspection.” She dipped her head politely. “Thank you for your cooperation with us. We will contact you within three days about the results of our investigation.”

Minseok nodded back at her, and Seulgi and Chanyeol left the café. Junmyeon trailed after them, shooting them an apologetic look. “Good night.”

“’Night,” Yifan said, the tips of his ears turning red. Junmyeon felt his own face turning pink as he exited the café into the cool shadows of the night.

Two days later, Seulgi swung by Junmyeon’s office three floors beneath the ground, concealed beneath a public clinic.

“Your office is a mess,” Seulgi said flatly, eyeing the piles of papers stacked haphazardly on Junmyeon’s desk and the ground. Different colored post-it notes covered the walls, and pens and pencils lay in dusty corners, carelessly tossed aside by Junmyeon in a moment of deep thought. The only neat space in his office was the wall behind his desk, where a row of pictures of wanted magic users was neatly lined up—and beneath it, Junmyeon’s certificate for magic use that he’d received when he’d graduated from his government program.

“You say that every time,” Junmyeon said patiently as he continued scanning through the document on his laptop. “What’s up?”

“Remember that favor you called in a few days ago?”

“Oh.” Junmyeon straightened up and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Did you get results?”

“Yes.” Seulgi dropped a slim green file folder on Junmyeon’s laptop. “Your friend had the real stuff.”

Junmyeon sighed and rubbed at his forehead. “.”

“I did a little background research though,” Seulgi continued, and reached up to pat Junmyeon’s head. “It looks like he didn’t make it himself. Whatever his friend was saying might have been true—his friend might’ve bought it for him and some malicious potion seller may have sold it to him.”

Junmyeon sighed and leaned back in his seat. “But he said that he used some,” Junmyeon remembered. “What if used it on himself? That would be horrific.”

Seulgi shook her head. “Oh Junmyeon,” she sighed. “It was obvious that was a white lie. Yes, he used some—but not on himself. He used it in your drink, or on someone else. I took that potions class from Jonghyun as the same time as you, and it looks like the bag still had about two portions left. It could’ve served up to four; but it was clear he hadn’t actually used it on himself.”

Junmyeon jerked his head up so that Seulgi’s hand fell back to her side. “Thanks for the information,” he said tiredly. “I’ll take things from here.”

Seulgi nodded and turned to walk out of his office.

“Wait!” Junmyeon straightened up. “Who else have you spoken to about this?”

Seulgi turned to look at him and scoffed. “I’ve spoken to Irene, the head of my department, and Chanyeol.” Seulgi gave him a piercing look. “Don’t try and do anything stupid Junmyeon.”

“Of course not,” Junmyeon said evenly. “I can’t ask a simple question?”

Seulgi rolled her eyes and left the office.

Junmyeon let out a heavy sigh. He had hoped to be able to keep this quiet; but Seulgi had already reached out to so many people. The head of her investigative department, Irene, would probably notice if Junmyeon tried to do anything to cover it up. Junmyeon didn’t want Yifan or anyone at the café to get in any trouble, but he wasn’t sure he could prevent it at this point.

Junmyeon knew that he was at the start of his career, and any mistakes at this point could screw everything up for him. Should he risk not filing a formal report? Could he try investigating further? Not filing an official report when he’d enlisted the help of both Seulgi and Chanyeol, who in turn had reached out to Irene and who knows who else, would not go unnoticed. Attempting to give any potion to an unsuspecting government magic-user was a crime with severe punishment. Unless…

Junmyeon paused, his mind racing. In the case of magic misuse cases, intent mattered. Magic performed accidentally, or intended for a different effect was often given a much gentler sentence. If he could counsel Yifan and Minseok before an investigative committee got to them, he might have a chance at saving them.

Junmyeon swiveled in his chair to look at the small calendar hanging on his wall. By his estimate, he had about two days before he would attract attention about not filing the report. He could only hope that was enough time.

The next day, Junmyeon dropped by the café. Yifan looked rather alarmed to see him and dropped the glass he was drying on the ground behind the cash register. Junmyeon stood on his toes and tried to peer over the counter, worried that Yifan had hurt himself. “Are you alright?”

Yifan flinched violently and took a step to the side. “Yeah. Let me clean this up really quickly and I’ll take your order.”

“Sure.” Junmyeon smiled at Yifan, and Yifan’s face went bright red. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“It’s okay,” Yifan mumbled, and ducked into the back room to grab a broom and a pan. Sehun and Minseok came out of the back, and looked surprised to see Junmyeon standing at the counter. Junmyeon smiled and waved, and Minseok smiled back uncertainly.

When Yifan had come back and finished sweeping up the glass, Junmyeon smiled up at Yifan. “I’ll have a cappuccino please.”

“Sure thing.” Yifan typed something into the register and gave Junmyeon his change. “How’ve…how’ve you been?”

“I’ve been well.” Junmyeon smiled at Yifan, and noticed that Yifan’s face was still pink. He felt his own cheeks start to heat up. “How’ve things been here?”

 “They’ve been alright,” Yifan mumbled. “Minseok’s friend, Jonghyun, swung by yesterday.”

“Jonghyun?” Junmyeon blinked. “Jonghyun Kim?”

“Yeah.” Yifan looked surprised. “Do you know him?”

Junmyeon blinked, his thoughts racing. “There’s a Jonghyun at my workplace, but they probably aren’t the same person,” he said calmly.

“Jonghyun isn’t a super common name around here,” Yifan said.

Junmyeon just shrugged. He was starting to form his own suspicions about just what was happening. “Thanks for taking my order.” He dropped his change in the tip jar and sat down at a table near the back of the shop. Before long, Minseok emerged from the bag, a steaming cappuccino in hand. He sat down across the table from Junmyeon, who shifted his papers so that Minseok wouldn’t be able to see the headings on any of them.

“Did anything come out of the investigation?” Minseok asked, his eyes sharp with worry.

When a non-magical civilian was discovered with a magical item, the compound was usually classified as “poison” in court, as to avoid revealing the existence of magic to the greater world. “The substance in the bag my colleague found did turn out to be illegal,” Junmyeon said quietly.

Minseok turned so pale, Junmyeon was afraid he was about to faint. “I see,” Minseok said faintly.

“Since investigators have come by, I will have to file a report of the incident,” Junmyeon said gently. “I’m sorry Minseok.”

“No, no I completely understand. I just thought…” Minseok trailed off looking upset. “I have a close friend who gave me that stuff promised it was just a cough remedy.”

“You’re very lucky it got caught this early on,” Junmyeon said gently. “Yifan said he used a little; is he doing alright? He hasn’t shown any…adverse symptoms?”

Minseok suddenly went from ghostly white to bright red. “Er…about that.”

“Yes?”

Minseok coughed embarrassedly. “He didn’t…at least, I think he didn’t actually use it on himself.”

“Oh.” Junmyeon blinked. Perhaps Seulgi had been right. “I’d gathered as much.”

“Yes, well…” Minseok’s cheeks began turning pink again. “You see…Yifan really meant well, you know? He would never…never try and give someone something to hurt them. He thought he was helping. He thought it was just a cough remedy.”

Junmyeon nodded slowly. “I get that. I’m sure it’ll help him.”

Minseok’s cheeks went back to ghastly white. “What’ll happen now?”

“The investigation will have to proceed,” Junmyeon sighed. “I’ll do my best to help you guys but I’m not entirely sure what I can do.”

“I understand,” Minseok said quickly. “I never thought…I never thought this would happen to us.”

“Yeah.” Junmyeon shook his head. “Sometimes the people you trust don’t turn out to be who you think they are.”

Minseok snorted, but covered it up when Junmyeon raised an eyebrow at him. “Will you be leading the investigation on us?”

Junmyeon shook his head. “It would become quickly apparent that I know you guys. It won’t be me—but I’m going to try and help you nevertheless. Who was the friend who gave you the substance?”

“He’s my close friend from junior high school,” Minseok said quietly. “His name is Jonghyun Kim.”

“You guys have stayed close friends from that young age?” Junmyeon asked, surprised. If Minseok’s Jonghyun was the same as the world-class potioneer he’d taken a class from last year, then Jonghyun must have had a hard time hiding his talents from Minseok. Maybe Minseok and Yifan really did know about magic.

However, Minseok shook his head. “Jonghyun moved to a government school for high school and went abroad for a couple of years before coming back here. We’ve only been back in touch for a few months.”

“I see,” Junmyeon said simply. “That’s wonderful, that you guys are back in touch.”

“Will Jonghyun get in trouble too?” Minseok asked nervously. “I can’t believe that Jonghyun would’ve given me something illegal; he’s so upstanding and tight to the rules!”

“We’ll have to wait and see.” Junmyeon flinched when he saw a tall figure looming at the edge of his vision, but it was just Yifan sliding into the empty seat on a third corner of the table. Junmyeon looked up at and saw Sehun standing at the cash register making a strange face at Yifan. Junmyeon looked at Yifan, and was surprised to see that Yifan’s face was bright red and that he was ignoring Sehun.

“Hi Yifan.” Minseok shifted in his seat. “I was just telling that Junmyeon where I bought your cough remedy from.”

Yifan cleared his throat, and Junmyeon could feel his own cheeks heating up at Yifan’s grossly apparent awkwardness. “Is Jonghyun going to get in trouble too?”

“It depends,” Junmyeon said honestly. “We’ll have to wait and see.”

Minseok suddenly stood up, and Junmyeon flinched. “It looks like Sehun needs help,” he said quickly, and Junmyeon blinked in confusion—no new customers had come in, and Sehun looked bored as he stood behind the cash register. “I’ll leave you two to finish things up.”

“O…kay…” Junmyeon stared after Minseok’s rapidly retreating back. What on earth was happening?

“I really thought it was a cough remedy!” Yifan blurted out, and Junmyeon turned his attention back to Yifan. He felt taken aback when he saw the desperation in Yifan’s eyes, as if Yifan were truly worried that Junmyeon wouldn’t believe him. “I only passed it on to you because you’ve been looking really ill these days! I’m sorry, I know I shouldn’t have just put it in your drink, but—“

“So you did put it in my coffee,” Junmyeon said quietly.

Yifan’s passionate outburst died on his lips, and Yifan looked down at the table. It was so strange, for Yifan, a tall and intimidating presence, to be staring quietly down at the table. “I know it was wrong,” Yifan said quietly. “But I was just…really worried about you.”

Junmyeon blinked. He hadn’t really seen this coming; sure, he’d been coming to this café for a while now, but the most Yifan had ever said to him before was stutters, blushes, and a handful of small talk. If anything, Junmyeon had almost thought that Yifan was scared of him, even though Junmyeon just tried to be nice. He hadn’t expected Yifan to care about him at all, much less to the point of giving him medicine. “It’s okay,” Junmyeon said finally. Yifan really hadn’t meant any harm, and if anything, it was actually kind of touching, that Yifan would go that far to try and take care of him. “Thanks for worrying about me, I guess.”

Yifan looked up, a hint of relief shining in his eyes.

“But!” Junmyeon said sternly. “Next time you’re worried about me, just ask me. Don’t just try spiking my drink with some remedy that a friend of a friend gave you, okay? Just…just ask.”

Yifan’s eyes were radiating with something warm, and for the first time, Junmyeon felt himself blushing out of his own accord in front of Yifan. “I really am sorry,” Yifan said earnestly. “I’ll be sure to ask next time.”

“Okay.” Junmyeon felt an unexpected wave of shyness crash around his heart, and he looked away from Yifan. He hadn’t felt like this in a long time—he was so used to just focusing on his work and maintaining old friendships from MAMA that he’d forgotten all about this fluttery, uncertain feeling in his chest.

Yifan drew in a deep breath, and Junmyeon looked back at him expectantly, gathering up his composure as he waited for what Yifan was going to say. Yifan opened his mouth, but the moment was broken by Minseok’s return to their table.

“Looks like things are back to normal,” Minseok said. “I’m leaving work early, so I just wanted to say thanks for stopping by to fill us in on what’s happening.”

Junmyeon fought down the odd feeling of disappointment seeping through his chest. He wasn’t even sure what he was expecting Yifan to say—he was just disappointed that Yifan hadn’t had the chance to say it. “Yeah, no problem,” Junmyeon said simply. “When the real investigators from the government come to you guys, give them your total cooperation. It’s obvious you didn’t mean any harm, and that’s going to help you guys a lot.”

Minseok nodded solemnly, patted Junmyeon’s shoulder, and left to the back of the shop. Junmyeon and Yifan were left alone again, but whatever that strange atmosphere that had been between them was gone now. Yifan was looking down at his hands again, and Junmyeon took the opportunity to gaze closely at Yifan’s face.

It was strange, to see that innocent and pure kindness from Yifan. Junmyeon was so used to the complex and slippery people from MAMA and his current position, always sliding around each other and trying to trap each other in some strange complex web of alliances. But Yifan had just been trying to help him from the goodness of his heart—something that Junmyeon hadn’t seen in a very, very long time. His heart twinged, and Junmyeon couldn’t help the wave of gentleness that swept over him as he watched Yifan.

Right at that moment, Yifan looked up, and Junmyeon went bright red and looked away, sure that Yifan had seen the emotion in his face.

“Thank you for trying to help us, Junmyeon,” Yifan said quietly. “I knew I shouldn’t have done it, and we’ll face the consequences now.”

“You weren’t trying to hurt me,” Junmyeon responded. “That’ll count for a lot.”

“How did you know that I’d put it in your coffee though?” Yifan asked. “I mean, I know it’s probably inappropriate to ask,” he quickly amended. “But…I just wanted to know.”

Junmyeon smiled and shook his head. “That’s my secret,” he said simply.

“Okay.” Yifan looked a little disappointed, but didn’t push it.

Junmyeon glanced at his watch, and felt a shock when he realized it was already half past one. “I’d actually better get going. I have to run some errands.” Junmyeon began packing up his papers in a rush. Where had the time gone? “I’ll be back again soon though!”

Yifan looked a little bemused at the sudden rush, but didn’t comment on it. “Have a nice day.”

“You too!” Junmyeon waved as he rushed out the door. He was going to go back to work and hunt Jonghyun down; whatever was happening now, was most definitely Jonghyun’s doing.

Junmyeon forced himself to calm down before approaching Jonghyun’s private office. He and Jonghyun had hit off, Junmyeon being the best student in his class and taking the time to get to know his teacher beyond it. He would occasionally stop by Jonghyun’s private space for a social call, but today, he was here for business.

He had to seem calm. If this was some sort of ridiculous test, then he would rise to his superior’s expectations. He knocked on a small, brown door and waited for it to open from within.

Fifteen minutes later, the door swung open. Junmyeon was used to the wait; only Jonghyun knew the complex magic it would take to open the door from the outside, and it was a good protection, especially if Jonghyun was doing an experiment within.

“Junmyeon!” Jonghyun was standing at his desk, his sleeves rolled back and his forehead blackened with soot. “What a surprise!”

Junmyeon didn’t say anything as he walked into the office and quietly shut the door behind him.

“Junmyeon?” Jonghyun started to sound nervous, and Junmyeon reveled in the effect he was having on his former teacher. Jonghyun was barely a year older than Junmyeon, but Junmyeon had always treated him deferentially—and now the tables were about to turn.

Junmyeon folded his arms and leaned back against the door, his gaze steady as he stared at Jonghyun.

“Junmyeon,” Jonghyun sighed, and sat down on the edge of his desk. “I won’t know what you want unless you say it.”

Junmyeon rolled his eyes. “Unless I say it?” he repeated back. “You know why I’m here.”

“No, I don’t,” Jonghyun said, rolling his eyes back at him. “What is it?” Jonghyun paused, and then gasped, his hands flying up to his head. “It’s not my hair, is it?”

In any other situation, Junmyeon would have reassured his friend that no, bright pink did actually work for him. However, now was not that time. “You know what you’ve done,” Junmyeon said again. “Is this a test? Everyone wants to see how moral the young Junmyeon is, isn’t that right?”

“Junmyeon, I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jonghyun said, alarm showing his eyes as Junmyeon pushed off of the door and began to walk towards him. Junmyeon would almost buy it, but he also knew how good of an actor Jonghyun was. “Junmyeon—“

Junmyeon lunged forward and slammed Jonghyun back against the desk, their legs pressing closely together, and Junmyeon’s hands slowly tightening around Jonghyun’s throat.

Jonnghyun tried to claw at Junmyeon’s hands and break his hold, but Junmyeon overpowered him easily. Just when it seemed like Jonghyun was about to pass out, Junmyeon released his hold and took a step back. Jonghyun gasped for air, his chest heaving as his back was still flat against his desk.

Junmyeon folded his arms and waited. When Jonghyun had calmed down and slowly sat up, he was staring at Junmyeon with terror. “Junmyeon, what the .”

“Why are you playing innocent?” Junmyeon asked calmly. “We both know why I’m here.”

“I don’t know,” Jonghyun said desperately, his hands and arms going up to shield his upper body when Junmyeon leaned forward. “Junmyeon, I really don’t know!”

Junmyeon scoffed. “Minseok. Does that ring a bell?”

Jonghyun’s eyes widened for a split second, but that was all Junmyeon needed. “Why?” Junmyeon asked simply. He’d thrown Jonghyun off with his display of physical force, to the point where Jonghyun wouldn’t be able to keep up any pretense.

Jonghyun hesitated and then relaxed, his spine slumping as he hopped off of the edge of his desk. “Minseok and I have become close, after I settled back down here,” Jonghyun admitted. “It was nice to reconnect with an old friend, especially with someone on the outside. He told me that his coworker was having a problem, and I offered to help him.”

“Don’t around,” Junmyeon snarled. “What did Minseok tell you his coworker’s problem was? A cough?”

Jonghyun looked surprised. “Yeah, he did actually. How’d you know?”

“So you just accidentally handed Minseok a pouch full of love potion instead of cough remedy,” Junmyeon said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “Is that right?”

“Accidents can happen,” Jonghyun said cautiously.

Junmyeon laughed derisively. “I’m a regular customer of Minseok’s, and neither he nor his coworkers have been sick in weeks,” Junmyeon sneered. “You didn’t accidentally give Minseok love potion, you gave it to him on purpose!” Junmyeon took a breath to steady himself. Jonghyun’s cat was out of the bag, and now it was time to figure out who’d put him up to this—

Only, Jonghyun was talking. Junmyeon paused when Jonghyun opened his mouth.

“Okay, okay so Minseok didn’t tell me his coworker was sick,” Jonghyun said hurriedly. “He told me his coworker was having a love-related problem okay!”

“So you gave him love potion on purpose?” Junmyeon asked, taken aback. “What were you thinking?”

“Listen, this situation was desperate,” Jonghyun said defensively. “Also, why on earth are you asking me about this? It’s kind of…weird.”

When Junmyeon thought about it, it was pretty weird. “I thought you were trying to set me up,” Junmyeon said slowly. “No one put you up to this? Honestly?”

“Honestly,” Jonghyun said fervently. “Please don’t try and strangle me again.”

Junmyeon rolled his eyes. “If I really wanted to hurt you, I wouldn’t touch you,” he said evenly. “But Jonghyun…you must’ve realized how stupid your plan was. Of course I was able to sense the love potion in my drink. And now I’ve pulled Seulgi, Irene and Chanyeol into this, so there’s no way I can’t file a report.”

“I was expecting the coffee to overpower the elements of the potion. I warned Minseok to only use a pinch, but he must’ve used more than that.” Jonghyun shook his head ruefully.

“Or I’m just better than you think,” Junmyeon corrected him. “Jonghyun…what you’ve done is so incredibly stupid. You’ve just thrown away your entire career to help an old, non-magical friend?”

Jonghyun just shrugged his shoulders. “Yifan seemed so pathetic. I really didn’t expect you to be able to sense anything.”

Junmyeon bit down the urge to rise to Yifan’s defense. “I don’t believe you,” he said firmly. “You wouldn’t throw away your career to help an old friend. You’ll certainly be doing service for trying to give me love potion without my knowledge or consent. Who put you up to this?”

“No one!” Jonghyun shook his head. “I’m not trying to set you up for anything, Junmyeon, I promise.”

“I don’t believe you,” Junmyeon said evenly. “You think I haven’t noticed, how everyone’s been watching me?”

Jonghyun’s face shuttered and he looked away. “You’ll find out soon enough if someone’s testing you,” he said at last. “I can assure you, it won’t be as easy as this was.”

Junmyeon shrugged. “I’ve already filed the report. I’ll get my answer if you end up going to prison or not.” Junmyeon tilted his head. “I’d bank my answer on not, considering how high the stakes are for you.”

Jonghyun sighed. “You’d better watch yourself,” was all he said. “Test or no test, I don’t take kindly to being strangled.”

“You tried to give me love potion,” Junmyeon snapped back. “It was warranted.”

Jonghyun hummed, and Junmyeon took a step back. “Thanks for the chat,” Junmyeon smirked. “And I’d watch your drinks if I were you.”

There was a cracking sound, and the vase of flowers on Jonghyun’s desk shattered, the porcelain body warped and twisted by the sudden formation of ice within. Junmyeon snickered and his heel, exiting Jonghyun’s private office. Jonghyun desperately needed water if he ever wanted any of his potions to work ever again. He wouldn’t be messing around with Junmyeon again any time soon, no matter the price.

Junmyeon had already filed the report and handed it in. Assuming Minseok and Yifan followed Junmyeon’s advice, the investigation would lead straight to Jonghyun. Junmyeon didn’t think anything would come of the investigation; Jonghyun was far too valuable to the government to spend any time locked up in a prison.

But that still left the question of who had tested him—and in such a convoluted way. Jonghyun hadn’t expected him to sense anything wrong with his drink, but whoever had put Jonghyun up to things had certainly left a mess of clues. Who would be watching him? Who would want to see what path he would take as he set along his career?

Junmyeon shook his head as he made his way out of his work building and headed out into the parking lot. He was going to go home and get through the rest of his damned paperwork at home.

Junmyeon climbed into his car, and just as he was about to buckle his seatbelt when he felt his phone vibrate. He pulled it out of his pocket and raised an eyebrow when he saw an unfamiliar number parading across his screen.

Hi Junmyeon! This is Yifan. Minseok gave me your number.

Junmyeon blinked. He hesitantly unlocked his screen and paused. What if this wasn’t really Yifan? What if he was opening himself up to some kind of plot from MAMA?

I was wondering if you’d like to get dinner with me sometime.

Junmyeon paused. He wasn’t sure how he felt knowing that Yifan had tried to give him love potion. Of course, Yifan hadn’t known that it was love potion, but still—Yifan cared about him enough to try and slip him cough medicine in his coffee. That in itself was strange enough.

Junmyeon wasn’t going to lie. Yifan seemed nice, but weird. Almost a little too weird. What kind of person tried to give someone cough medicine, rather than just asking if they were feeling unwell?

But then again, this was Yifan—Yifan who blushed at nearly everything, who always seemed shy around Junmyeon, and had an unfortunate habit of dropping whatever he was holding if someone surprised him.

Junmyeon took a deep breath. Yeah that would be great. When are you free? He typed.

He pocketed his phone, buckled himself into his seat and started his engine. He wasn’t really sure what would happen next; someone at his work was trying to test him, and he wasn’t really sure where this whole thing with Yifan would lead. He could only hope that his choice to trust Yifan with a small part of his heart wasn’t going to backfire on him.

The End

A/N: Thanks so much for reading! I know the open ending might be off-putting, but I was really struggling to finish this story and it seemed like this was the best way to end it--uncertain, but hopeful. I hope you enjoyed, and comments are always highly appreciated! See you soon in another story~