When Plants and Planets Align

Pairing : Rowoon (SF9) x Hyesun
Genre : Low Fantasy
Words : 6198
Written By : annabloem
 

Hye sighed as she looked at the plant in front of her. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t seem to remember. Was coriander a Mercury plant? Or was it Mars? The Moon? She wished more than anything she had brought her grimoire, but the thing was huge, and heavy. Yet now here she was, in the forest, unable to remember if the plant in front of her was indeed a Mercury plant, as she had been looking for. After all, her friend Hana wanted to ask Jisoo on a date, and a spell to help her communication go better was something she could definitely use.

“Coriander better be Mercury,” she muttered as she carefully started harvesting parts of the wild plant. 

“I’m not sure what you mean by ‘Mercury’, but that is not coriander.”

The sudden voice startled her. She hadn’t seen anyone since she entered the forest, nor had she heard anyone. Besides, why would anyone be in the forest at this time? 

“Excuse me?” she turned around, now looking at the boy who had spoken. Seeing his face startled her again, because she knew him. Or at least knew of him. Rowoon, member of the soccer team of her school. Her mundane school. 

“That’s not coriander. It’s parsley.” 

“And you know that, why?” 

Rowoon shrugged and smiled. “I know my plants. Mostly because I had to memorize them in elementary school, but I guess they stuck. That’s parsley, for sure, though I can see how you would mistake it for coriander. They look very similar.”

He can see how I would... ? Excuse me? He knows his plants because he learned them in elementary school? How long does he think I’ve been studying herbs? 

“And do you happen to know its planet as well? Parsley’s?” Hye regretted her question the second she had spoken it. If he had no idea what she was talking about, she was coming dangerously close to revealing her one secret. If he did know what she was talking about, however, that meant he was also a witch. And really, what other reason could there be for him to know his herbs, and be in the forest late at night? 

“Its what? How are plants related to stars?”

“Nevermind. You’re sure it’s parsley, then?”

“Definitely.” Rowoon looked full of confidence, but Hye wasn’t completely convinced. There was no way he knew more about plants than she did. She harvested it anyway.

“I didn’t know you liked cooking,” he continued with a smile.

“Cooking? Oh... Yes, I love it. That’s why I’m looking for parsley at night.”

“Weren’t you looking for coriander?” He laughed. “Parsley doesn’t have as strong a flavour as coriander, but for most recipes, it will work if you add a bit more, in my experience.”

“You cook?” Hye looked over the soccer player again. It seemed out of character, but then again, how would she even know his character? They had never talked, up until now.

“Occasionally.”

No way. But he's not in my magic school. Are there other schools? Probably. 

This all seemed very suspicious to Hye. 

Knowledge of herbs. In the forest at night. What other reason could there be? He must be a witch.

---

Even after she had gotten home and double checked her plant, he kept being on her mind. 

He was right. It was parsley, not coriander. At least pasley is a mercury herb. How would he even know this? It makes no sense.

She cut up the parsley and added it into her cauldron, already filled with moon water. She added in some fennel seeds, for confidence, and dandelions and a four-leaf clover for luck. She stirred it 20 times, clockwise, as she brought the potion to a boil. 

Now it needs to boil for an hour, cool for two. Then I can add the string, and make it into a bracelet. 

“What in the world are you doing?” Mira peeked into the cauldron, then turned to Hye. “We didn’t have any potions homework, did we?”

“We didn’t. I’m just making it for a friend. She wants to ask someone out.”

“A mundane friend? You know love potions are highly unethical, right?”

“Of course I do. That’s why this is to help her feel confident and communicate with him. I’m only helping her present herself in the best way possible, not actually making him fall for her with magic.”

“And you used dandelions?”

“For luck.”

“It’s associated with jupiter, right? You’re not afraid it will get too strong?”

“How can you ever be too lucky?” Hye commented, and Mira laughed.

“I guess so.”

---

Hye was the only one of her witch friends that went to a mundane school, on top of her magic classes. She had been against it too, at first. Why should she have to go to even more school, with even more homework? Her parents had insisted she learned about the non-magical world as well. And after trying it, she had to admit, it was interesting. For one, people without magic were so creative. They found solutions for things in ways Hye had never even thought about. On the other hand, she had never had to think about it, since she could use magic. 

Which meant that at first, going to a mundane school had been hard for her. The people there weren’t supposed to know she was a witch. In fact, they didn’t even believe in magic. There was so much they didn’t know about the world, but what had surprised Hye the most was that they seemed to know so many things she didn’t as well. It was as if she needed to learn a completely new language just to talk with them.

On top of that, going to two different schools, one during the day, and one at night, took up a lot of her time. Sure, she had potions so she wouldn’t get tired, and so she would be able to focus for a long time, but she still wished she had more time to do the things she wanted to do. 

---

Hye spend the best part of her spellcasting lesson braiding a bracelet. A pink thread, for love, and a green one, for luck. She had considered adding some light blue or yellow, for air and communication, but had decided it would get too messy. Hana needed to actually want to wear the bracelet without knowing it was a charm. Having her hands busy seemed to actually help her focus more on what her teacher was saying, which was a nice bonus. 

Once she finished the bracelet, she focussed her full attention on their teacher, Nam Hyunmi, an old, powerful, and well-connected witch.

If anyone would know about other magic schools, and about whether or not Rowoon is a witch, it would be her…

Unable to stop herself, she walked towards her teacher once class was finished. 

“Mrs. Nam, I was wondering...” she trailed off. What exactly was she planning on asking?

“Did you have a question about the lesson, dear? You seemed quite distracted.”

“It’s not that, it actually helped me focus. It’s just… Do you know of any witch named...” 

Rowoon? What even is his last name? This makes no sense.

“How do you know if someone’s a witch?” she decided on.

“And you’re not looking for something obvious, like them using magic, I assume.”

“Exactly… Like when someone is pretending to be mundane, like I am at my mundane school. How would you know?”

“Everyone has tells, if you know where to look. What magic do you use while at school?”

“Focus potion, energy potion, speed potion, and some simple glamours.”

“So wouldn’t other witches be doing the same? They would be just slightly better than average mundanes. Slightly faster, don’t get as tired, look better, get higher marks, even when they are only using little magic.”

That made sense. And it was conclusive as well. She could work with that.

“Thank you so much, Mrs. Nam!”

---

“With air for clarity and communication,

For confidence, charm and wit,

For the start of this relation,

May her gentle spark emit,

As I say, so be it.”

Hye finished her charm with a last spell and it was ready to be put to work. 

Now all that’s left is hope she’ll like it enough to wear it. It should still have some effect even if she doesn’t, though, so we’re good either way… 

She drank an energy potion, grabbed her bag and headed to school. 

It didn’t take her long to spot Hana, and she half-ran toward her friend.

“Good morning Hye!”

“Good morning. I got you something. Tada~” She handed her friend the charm she so carefully crafted.

“A friendship bracelet? That’s so cute! Do you have a matching one? Are we a pair now?”

“I still have to make one for me.” She hadn’t even considered making one for herself. She could always just make a simple bracelet.

“Make it matching, alright?” Hana said with a smile as she put on her new bracelet.

Did it work? Did it change anything? Is she walking a bit straighter? 

She couldn’t tell. And she didn’t really have time to truly think about it, as she spotted Rowoon from the corner of her eye.

Is he looking energetic? Better? Different from the others?

She looked at the boy surrounded by his soccer team mates. They were all talking and laughing and similar. But her eyes found Rowoon immediately. 

His smile was definitely stunning. A glamour?

He was without doubt the best looking. Definitely a glamour.

He seemed energetic and cheerful. Potions? Or is he just a morning person?

“Who are you staring at?” Hana interrupted her musings. 

“No one in particular.”

“Don’t do that, you were definitely staring at the soccer team.”

Pushy. I guess the charm works.

“Alright, alright, I sorta talked with Rowoon yesterday and without thinking...”

Hana nodded knowingly. “And now he’s on your mind. What did you talk about?”

“Cooking.”

“He told you he cooks? I didn’t think that was something he’d talk about so openly. Maybe he likes you too.”

“How did this turn into me liking him? I totally don’t.”

“But you were staring at him.”

“Let’s go see if we can find Jisoo. I think it’s been what, a week since you said you were going to ask him out?”

“No fair, changing the topic,” Hana interjected, but she did follow Hye into their classroom, because she couldn’t say no to finding Jisoo. 

---

It’s definitely working, Hye thought as she looked over Hana and Jisoo. They were talking, which wasn’t necessarily that unusual, but Hye had never seen Hana look this confident. And now she knew she didn’t have to worry about her friend, who was surely going to ask the boy out today, she found herself worrying again about the soccer player.

Spotting magic should be easy enough when you know what to look for… Does that mean he would know I’m a witch right away? I was mumbling about planetary associations in the forest at night, I couldn’t possibly have made it more obvious. I wasn’t trying to be obvious… 

She thought back to that morning, when she had seen him. He did look better than his teammates, in every way possible. Which meant he was using glamours, right? It had to be. 

“I did it!”

Hana pulled her out of her thoughts. 

“What?”

“I asked him out, and guess what he said!”

Hye didn’t need any magic to make that guess. Hana was beaming. 

“He said yes? I told you he would! Congrats, I’m so happy for you!”

“I’m so happy too, I can’t believe it!”

“I knew it would work out.”

“Your feelings do have a tendency of coming true,” Hana laughed. “Now I guess we should focus on your newly developed crush.”

“My crush?”

“Oh, come on. You want to tell me you weren’t just lost in thoughts, for the second time today, thinking about Rowoon.”

“I… I was.”

“See? Wasn’t that soccer match today? We should go watch it. Maybe you can chat about cooking again.”

“Maybe we will,” Hye agreed with a laugh. A soccer game would be the perfect time to see if he was a witch. Was he better than the others there as well?

---

Hye was strangely nervous, as well as excited about the soccer match.

“I don’t even care about soccer.”

“But you do care about Rowoon~” Hana teased.

“He’s the reason we’re here after all.”

It wasn’t hard to spot Rowoon on the soccer field. He did stand out. 

“Does he seem faster than the others?” 

“They’re all pretty fast,” Hana replied. The match had started and both girls weren’t too aware of the rules. Hye was only using the match as a way to see how Rowoon compared to the other players, while Hana was having fun seeing just how focussed Hye was on the boy.

“He seems to know where the ball is going to go before it even does.”

“He must be a smart player,” Hana agreed.

Or a witch. He has to be a witch, right?

“But the others do the same thing, right? Our soccer team is pretty good.”

“I guess.”

Hana laughed. “Alright, alright, I guess no one compares to Rowoon, at least in your eyes. You should ask him out, we could go on double dates.”

“How long did it take you to ask Jisoo out again?”

“...Three months.”

“So, that means I get at least that much time.”

“I’m sure you don’t need that long.”

---

Even after watching the soccer game, Hye wasn’t sure. If he was using magic, which she still suspected he was, he did it so subtly, it was hard to pinpoint. She had no proof.

“Let’s just go home,” she said with a sigh.

“You’re not going to talk to him?”

“I have no reason to.”

“You wanting to talk to him is a good enough reason.”

“It would be weird. I’m sure he doesn’t even remember me, with how popular he is, let’s just go.”

They were about to leave when the soccer team headed to the locker rooms. Hye’s eyes almost instinctively found Rowoon again. It must be a glamour. He spotted her as well, and waved. When she waved back, he smiled and walked towards them. Hana elbowed her and whispered excitedly: “Maybe my luck is rubbing off on you. Maybe we’re both getting dates today!”

I don’t even want to date him.

“Thanks for coming to our game. How did the food turn out?” 

There was absolutely no way his smile wasn’t a glamour. No one had a smile that bright, right?

“It turned out great, even with the parsley.” Since it was Mercury. Unlike coriander. 

“I’m glad to hear it.” He smiled again and added: “Next time you should let me try it, since I was the one who saved your recipe.”

“Saved my recipe?” Is he trying to tell me he knew parsley was Mercury all along?

“Coriander and parsley do not taste the same, remember?”

Right. Taste. Not association. Not magic. Right? Why is he so confusing?

“Maybe next time I will let you taste it.” What am I even saying? I don’t cook.

“Looking forward to it. Now, I really do need to go get a shower. I’ll talk to you guys again later.”

He smiled at them, and they waved him off before Hye got elbowed again.

“Are you sure you only talked once? Oh my gosh you guys seem totally close!”

“I swear we only talked once. Now let’s just go home, we got too much homework today. Thanks for coming with me.”

“Anytime!”

---