The following night, Minji returned to her cottage worn out and tired. Once a year, she was called by the Board of Witches to present the reports she had collected from both the werewolves and hunters. They wanted to insure that she was following through with her assigned Problem and actually upholding her promise to make sure both groups were both safe and happy. 

But when she had to report, Minji had to travel very far to the Board of Witches and then wait her turn in a long, long line. It was a boring and nerve wrecking process that she wished she didn’t have to deal with, but it was a necessary evil.

As long as none of the hunters or wolves injured the other, Minji was let go by the Board of Witches with little discussion. However, this years meeting went on longer than normal. Since a rouge werewolf without a pack had attacked Eunkyung, the only human in the forest, and the hunters and werewolves had been at the scene, Minji had to prove that all of them were innocent. That basically mean they all went on a field trip to track down the rouge wolf and turn him into the Board of Witches so he could confess to his crime. It had been a long and tiring process and it made her report to the Board even longer and more tiring than normal. Minji had to provide all the evidence again and hear the board argue if she was doing her job or not.

But ultimately, the Board ruled in her favor and she was allowed to return back to her cottage. She had served another year of solving her Problem and was able to do her civic duty.

When she finally parked her car in the shed a few years from her cottage. A weight lifted off her shoulders as she looked at her home and she sighed. It was good to finally have that mess out of the way. Giving reports to the Board was her least favorite part about being a witch. She got out of her car and walked over to the large tree that bowed over her cottage, as if to protect it from the world.

Minji smiled at it fondly and rested her palm across it’s surface.

“Hello, old friend,” She said.

The tree hummed back at her, filled with positive energy and love. Minji giggled and leaned her head against it.

As the witch of this forest, she could communicate with all of the plants. They were connected to her on such a deep level that they were able to tell her what was going on everywhere in the forest. She had eyes everywhere and it was how she was able to keep the forest as safe as it was. It was very rare for something to escape her notice.

Not alone…

    He’s here…

The tree quietly whispered to her.

She spun around and glared out into the forest.

“Who’s there?” Minji shouted. No one responded. “Reveal yourself!”

The was a rustling and J Hope came into view. Minji furrowed her brows, but didn’t relax.

“Sorry!” He walked over to her. “I didn’t mean to startle you!”

“You’re pretty far from home. Why are you here, Hoseok?” She asked harshly.

“We use to be close,” He took a step towards her but she took one step back. “Can’t we go back to how we were? I miss you.”

Minji frowned. “We have very different views on the world. I don’t think that’s possible. You might have the hunter clan fooled, but I’ve known you for too long. I know every secret you’re hiding.”

“If this is about when I blew out your birthday candles when we were kids, I thought I made it up to you when I made you a second cake the next year.” J Hope tried to joke but it fell flat. 

Minji was unimpressed.

“Look,” J Hope dropped his confident front and looked up at Minji from below his eyelashes. “I know you disagree with me, but you have to trust me. I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t have a very good reason.”

“I have no idea what on earth could validate that.” She scrunched her nose. “Magic is suppose to help people, Hoseok. Not destroy them.”

“If you’d just let me explain-!” He started, but Minji cut him off.

“It’s been a long day and I’m tired.” She turned from him and walked back to her cottage. “I think it’s time for you to go.”

Hoseok watched her go from below the bowing tree, feeling more alone than he ever had. 

Back in the safety of her empty cottage, Minji sighed wearily. What a day it had been. First she had to deal with the Board of Witches, then J Hope tried to wiggle his way back into her life. He even had the audacity to bring up their childhood.

For a moment, Minji let her mind drift off into her memories. It had been her 150th birthday. By witch years, she had been very young. She was so excited to blow out the candles on her birthday cake. It was, after all, something you could only do once a year. But Hoseok had though it’d be funny if he blew it out before her. She had cried so hard and refused to talk to him for days afterwards. Eventually she forgave and forgot, but Hoseok hadn’t. The next year he made her an extra cake himself and let her low out two sets of candles. That more than made it up to her.

Minji mentally shook her self.

No matter how he was when they were younger, he was not the same person now.

Minji went over to one of her many book shelves and reached the shelves until she found what she was looking for. It was a withered and worn spell book, ancient and covered in dust from many years of being abandoned. Minji blew the dust off the cover and coughed when she accidentally inhaled some.

She flipped through the pages until she found what she was looking for.

Vitae

A complex spell intended to dictate the vicim’s fate. The caster can bring the victim back to life or kill them.

What disturbed her the most was the indigents. It had the usual frog’s breath and lily of the valley harvested on the full moon, but at the very bottom, written very large to emphasize the importance of it was:

A Single Werewolf Eye (Must Be Fresh)

A/N: I received such a positive response with just the first chapter! Ya'll are so sweet! I wanted to post the next chapter as soon as I could, just because of all the sweet things yawl have been saying! <3