Meticulous, precise and persistent. These are all words that could be used to describe Kyungsoo. Having worked for the Governmental Experimental Abjuration Department almost five years now, he’s well known as one of the most dedicated staff available to the magical research department. Maybe that’s why the higher ups have given him such a difficult task to complete, by himself no less. He’s been scratching away at this spell, rewriting the symbols in slightly different positions on the huge circle for weeks now. Nothing is working yet.

“God damn it!” Kyungsoo hisses, after yet another failed attempt. He clutches at his hair, resisting the strong impulse to slam his fists down on the table and ruin more of his hard work. He stalks over to the window and presses his forehead against the cool glass, hoping that it might help calm him down a little. It doesn’t. He bangs his head against it several times. The city below seems so small from up here, so oblivious of the struggles he goes through to keep them safe.

Nope. That isn’t helping either. He needs to get out of here. What time is it? He checks his phone; basically lunch time. If he leaves now, he can probably get away with skipping the last ten minutes beforehand. He’ll just have to make up for it later.

Pointedly not looking at his workbook, each page overflowing with dense scribbles, or the two hundred year old tome he’s meant to be reworking the spell from, he grabs his wallet from his coat pocket and stalks down the corridor to the lift. He passes a colleague's office on the way, but doesn’t look inside; he’s really not in the mood to see Jongdae being successful at whatever he’s doing right now.

By the time he reaches the cafeteria, an open room with white tiles, he’s feeling a little better. There’s no one here, so he doesn’t have to wait in a queue; but not everything is out of the kitchen yet, so he settles for a box of salad and a doughnut. The salad isn’t great, but the doughnut is and his mood is considerably improves as he bites into it. Sitting by himself in the slightly noisy hall is refreshing to his senses. His office is basically silent and while that works wonders for his concentration, he needs something different right now.

A shadow passes his peripheral vision and the sound of a chair screeching next to him, has him preparing to send a death glare towards whoever thinks it’s a good idea to sit next to him. It’s only Jongdae, a colleague belonging to the most populated Experimental Spells Department, where manpower is most in demand.

“You’re here early.” Jongdae comments, setting down his plate of curry in front of him. “Struggling with that spell still?” He asks, food already in his mouth.

Kyungsoo shrugs, the remnants of his bad mood already curdling in his brain at the mere thought of that stupid thing.

He sighs. It’s important, he knows that. For the war efforts, it’s vital that they find a way to protect themselves against the enemy’s improved firepower; and fast. He just doesn’t understand why he’s the only person working on such an important task, when there are other abjuration specialists available. They might not all be government employees, sure, but can’t they see that he needs help? He doesn’t understand how this system works.

“I don’t know, Jongdae. Maybe I should try writing a new spell entirely, instead of trying to rework one that’s over two hundred years old. It would probably be quicker, at this rate.”

“Don’t be silly.” Jongdae nudges him with his elbow. “You just need a familiar.” Kyungsoo makes a sound of distress. This isn’t the first time that Jongdae, or any of his co-workers, have suggested that he get an assistant. A familiar , as they are called in magic-using circles.

“I do not.”

“I’m serious!” Jongdae insists, “a familiar would be able to help you with both pattern analysis and energy consumption issues- you’d be able to burn through so many more possibilities in a day than you do right now.” Kyungsoo is listening, but not taking anything in. He doesn’t want a familiar. He really doesn’t need one; he’ll be able to make this stupid spell work by himself. Plus, he doesn’t know if he can afford to pay one on his current salary.

“Thanks for your concern, but I think I’ll manage on my own. How’s your work going?” He smiles stiffly. Jongdae eyes him suspiciously, but gives in.

“Fine. But just so you know, you can get subsidies if you apply for them.” He says, through a mouthful of curry, as if reading his mind. “Work’s not going too badly at the moment. Chanyeol is making a lot of headway with his incendiary invocation spells.” Kyungsoo nods, that makes sense. Chanyeol is a new intern, but he’s one of the most promising staff they’ve had in a long time. He’s a literal ray of sunshine, that boy; full of boundless energy. It’s depressing that his happy energy is being put to use in a militaristic environment, where it’s going to be used to kill people, though.

“That’s good. What about your project? Something about paralysis, right?”

“Yeah, temporary electro-paralysis. It’s getting there.” Jongdae shrugs dismissively. “It could be better… but it’s getting there.”

“What’s the hold up?” Kyungsoo asks, trying to distract himself from his own failures.

“Well, all the current spells involving paralysis, none of which are electricity based, are permanent. We just want something that will stop people from moving for a short period of time, like a widespread taser. Lightning-based spells are destruction magic, so we’re trying to find a way to merge the two together, without leaving lasting damage.”

“Sounds like you’re in a bit of a bind then.” Kyungsoo frowns. The problem with magic is that it’s so specific . It’s like learning an entirely new language. Every single aspect of the spell must be accounted for, each tiny symbol in the circle representing a different part of the spell; energy source, flow, speed, range. All those and even more complicated things go into the drawing. Some of the more complicated spells require so much space, that they have to be worked on under marquees outside, where they can expand if necessary.

“It’s stressful, I’m not going to lie, but at least I have other people I can lean on. You’re just locked up in your own office all day by yourself. I don’t know how you cope.” Jongdae raises an eyebrow, waving his spoon in the air. Kyungsoo wants to joke that he isn’t coping at all. But if he says that, the other man will just lecture him about finding a familiar again, so he just shrugs.

“Hey guys!” Baekhyun and Seungwan, both from the Enchantment Department, seat themselves at their table, not seeming to pick up on Jongdae and Kyungsoo’s terrible moods. Or maybe they do, and have decided to try and cheer them up. Kyungsoo has never understood either of them much, to be honest.

He greets them anyway, not wanting to come across as rude. Just because he doesn’t understand them, doesn’t mean he dislikes them. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Both of them are naturally very funny people. Perhaps that’s a prerequisite of working in that part of the building, he muses.

“Heey,” Jongdae greets, nodding his head politely instead of waving his cutlery at them, which Kyungsoo has told him off about before. Good to see that he’s learning.

“What’s with the faces, guys? Something wrong?” Seungwan wonders, eyebrows drawn together in concern. Kyungsoo shakes his head to dispel her worries,

“No, no, nothing major. Just… having trouble with this spell I’m reworking.”

“Ohhh.” Seungwan nods, completely understanding. “You’re working by yourself, right? Maybe you should get a familiar or something?” She suggests, oblivious to his chagrin. Kyungsoo winces, feeling the metaphorical exclamation marks radiating from Jongdae already.

“ SEE?!” He cries, “I’ve said it, Seungwan has said it. You should just cave in and get one. They have forms at the front reception for the subsidisation request.”

“Guys, thanks. I appreciate the sentiment, I really do, but I think I’ll be fine.” He assures them, gathering up his trash and taking it over to the bin. He isn’t leaving yet; mess is a pet peeve of his and he wants the table to be tidier. His work space is only cluttered when he’s too focused on everything else to clean it up. Lately, the mess is becoming a problem, stressing him out more than he needs to be.

Maybe a familiar would be able to help with that, he wonders, sitting back down at the table. No, he wouldn’t employ an assistant to be a glorified cleaner. That would be cruel. He tunes back in to what Seungwan and Baekhyun are saying, curious as to how their work is going.

“-so we don’t know how well firearms are going to take to this kind of enchantment. Usually, the types of materials we cast waterproofing enchantments on, are porous and flexible- clothing. We’ve never done anything harder than leather before, so guns are proving to be a challenge.”

“That . I’m guessing you already tried switching out the adhesion symbols for something stronger?” Jongdae shrugs. Baekhyun nods,

“That was one of the first things we tried, but it isn’t working. We might have to do a more detailed breakdown of the exact components of the gun, then figure out if the lack of plasticity is what’s holding it back. We have a book full of adhesive symbols, so we’re just going to keep going through those as we do that, just in case.”

“A slow process.” Kyungsoo nods, feeling very much in the same boat. He’s not at that stage yet though, his spell isn’t even activating at the moment. Even when he does manage to get that far, the spell probably won’t even work right.

“Yeah, this is one of the most boring parts of working this job. Casting spells is so much fun, but figuring out how to actually get a spell to cast? Grunt work, basically.” Jongdae complains. “But that’s why we get the interns to do it, eh?” He jokes. His department gets a steady stream of applicants. Kyungsoo’s department had just one intern last year in as many years, but they quit because it wasn’t interesting enough. Abjuration is plenty interesting, in Kyungsoo’s opinion. It’s not flashy, but more of a steady, constant flow of power. Protection is just as important as offensive magic, especially at the moment, Now that the president of Hanu, to the north, has declared war.

The group devolves into light chatter after that, leaving the topic of work issues behind and talking instead, about an upcoming football game which Seungwan has tickets for, but no one to go with. Jongdae immediately volunteers to go with her, claiming a double advantage of seeming like he might be on a date, but Seungwan shuts him down quickly. She already has her eyes on someone else, she says.

After the allocated lunch hour is up, they start to disperse back to their own offices. Jongdae leaves first, since he was the first to arrive, besides Kyungsoo, followed not long after by the other two. Kyungsoo tries to postpone his departure, procrastinating until he’s almost the very last person in the room. Grumbling to himself, he supposes that this is probably about as far as he can push it and gets up at last. He takes his time on the walk back to the lift and prays to whatever deity controls elevators, that it has a long journey. He loves his job, usually, but this particular project is honestly killing him.

Sighing loudly, he swipes his keycard over the scanner and the door to his office opens.

He sits down at his desk and surveys this morning’s work. His head is hurting just looking at all the work he has to do. It’s like a never ending game of mastermind, but with over two hundred parts, instead of just four. If his computer could just do it all for him, that would be great. But a computer can’t actually cast a spell, so it’s only good for producing a list of untried combinations. His laptop screen shows that he’s nearly a quarter of the way through his possibilities, after a month and a half; not counting overtime. Kyungsoo’s job is to draw out each one, changing one symbol at a time, until something works.

Groaning, he flips open another page in his workbook and gets back to work.

The subway is packed as usual, but it’s only two stops to get home, so Kyungsoo isn’t too bothered. No one nudged into him hard enough to spill the cup of jasmine tea he bought, so all is well. He unlocks his apartment door, hangs up his coat, which he didn’t even need as it was far too warm, and heads to the sofa.

Immediately, the TV comes on and Kyungsoo flicks through the available channels until he finds something interesting. There’s not much on, except trashy reality shows, but Kyungsoo isn’t that picky. He just wants some background noise as he dozes off and attempts to relax. Sipping tea soothes his soul, as much of an old man it makes him sound.

The tea he usually buys is from a small, hole in the wall shop manned by an old guy and his granddaughter, hidden just around the corner from his workplace. They know him by name now and always ask if he wants his usual, or if he wants to shake it up a little. Today was a day for normalcy, so he went with his regular cup of jasmine. Through the clear plastic, he can see a few little petals floating in the bottom, which dance when he swills what’s left of the tea. He gulps back the last little bit and sets the cup down on the coffee table. He puts his feet up and lets his head fall back, neck clicking from the movement as he does so. He’s spent so much time hunched over these past few weeks, he has constant backeache.

Whatever it is he’s watching plays on in the background, but his stomach is growling at him, so he can’t drift off just yet. He cooked a big meal the other day, so he has plenty of leftovers ready for nights like this.

The rice cooker dings and Kyungsoo opens it, getting a face-full of steam. He serves rice onto his plate and pours the curry over it; it’s not pretty, but it’ll do.

Satisfied, he heads back to the sofa, his plate resting on his lap. It’s burning his legs, so Kyungsoo looks around for a cushion to put it on instead. When he looks up, the credits of whatever show it was are rolling, some energetic music playing as the names fly up the screen. His curry is pretty decent, for being leftovers.

He reaches for the remote, but just as he’s about to change the channel, the credits are pushed to the side, into a small window at the top of the screen, upbeat music drowned out by the intro music of the news channel. The words ‘BREAKING NEWS: ATTACK ON NORTH GYEONG MUN SQUARE’ fly along the bottom of the screen, beneath a serious looking woman.

“Reports are coming in of a serious attack on the North Gyeong Mun Square Business District , today. Seventeen injured and two in critical condition. Police cannot confirm any deaths at this moment in time. Reports tell of a small group of Hanju magic users infiltrating the northern city of Gyeong Mun and casting two widespread destruction spells.” Kyungsoo watches the shaky phone camera footage as the woman’s voice continues to tell him the details of the attack.

It starts off with several bursts of fire, spreading across a whole street, followed by an explosion. The sounds of screaming in the street and the muffled ‘oh god’, from whoever is holding the phone, make Kyungsoo’s stomach turn. This probably could have been prevented, at least partially, if they had the right abjuration spells. Which is his job.

Suddenly guilty, even though he had nothing to do with this attack, Kyungsoo sets his food down, no longer hungry.

There’s no way he could have been there, he reasons. Gyeong Mun is hours away. There’s nothing he could have done to help.

The old book Kyungsoo is working from has hundred of out-dated spells, but some of them are still able to be updated, like the one he’s working with at the moment. He just has to push himself, and get it done as soon as possible. The sooner the better.

None of the spells in it have been cast in over a century, due to just how much effort it takes to draw the spells out and cast them. Having to rework an old spell so that it will stand against new and improved destruction magic of this age is something else entirely. Guns and cannons didn’t exist back then, even the classic fire type spells are much stronger now.

Feeling an awful swirling mix of defeat and guilt, Kyungsoo decides that tomorrow, he will pick up a form to apply for that government funding. He will get a familiar.

There are a lot more options for familiars than Kyungsoo had predicted. He’d got into work a little earlier than usual to hand in the completed form to the head of the magical department, who had been rather surprised, before going to his office.

Now, he’s scrolling through the agency website he was recommended; there’s six categories of familiars, relating to qualification, specialisation and ability. Were-people have a category of their own, which is interesting. He wouldn’t have guessed that those with transformative abilities would need to be put in a separate section.

Each profile that he skims past has a picture of the person’s face, beside a list of their top qualities. Much of it sounds the same, ‘flexible , good communication skills, punctual, high work ethic’ etc. Kyungsoo knows not all of it will be true, that’s just the nature of these kinds of sites. He glances at the time in the top corner of his phone screen and rolls his eyes. He’s already wasted about fifteen minutes looking at these, so he should really get to work. If he’s efficient, he could probably get through maybe eight or so different tests today.

Still riding the high that comes with the possibility of help in the near future, Kyungsoo rolls up his sleeves and opens up his laptop; waiting for it to boot up. His workbook open to a clean page, it doesn’t take him long to draw the base for the spell; a simple circle with a decagon inside, each corner touching the outer edge. From here on out, it gets far more complicated. Each symbol must be put in its appropriate place on the diagram with the right size in relation to its counterparts. Every line joining the symbols must be drawn in the right way for the magic to flow through it correctly, or the results could be devastating . There’s so many type of symbols, in all the categories- adhesion, strength, function, sensitivity- and all their subcategories that take care of the nuances of the world which the spell has to interact with. It can be a real headache getting them to work right. Or at all .

That’s why Kyungsoo didn’t have any interest in experimental spellwork as a career; he went with the safety of abjuration, or shield spell research. There’s a life in the barriers and it’s fulfilling, knowing that he can protect people. He’s not in the military, so he’s never actually had to use one for a real emergency before, but Kyungsoo knows that he could, and that’s what counts.

The sooner he gets this spell finished, the better. That way, more people can be kept safe.

His practiced hands are quick to fill out the correct symbols, but it still takes him close to twenty minutes to make sure it’s all perfect. He lets the ink dry for a moment, waving his hand over the page to make it dry faster. Smudging the spell now would just be the worst.

Laying his hands on the now-dry page, he closes his eyes in concentration. Just as he was taught in university, he imagines his energy as a flowing loop around his body and pictures it opening a little, to share a small amount with this spell. He pictures his energy flowing down his arms, through his fingers and into the spell itself.

He holds his breath, waiting for something to happen but- nothing .

Sighing loudly, he sags, letting himself slump back into his seat. So this, as usual, will mark the progress of today. He runs his fingers through his hair. Just got to get through a few more of these before lunch time , he tells himself.

He isn’t going to give up, that’s for sure. He will get this spell working.

A knock on his office door startles Kyungsoo from what he was doing. Guiltily, he stashes his phone in his pocket before whoever is at his door can come in. He had been scrolling through that website again adding maybe six or so potential familiars to his ‘basket’. All of them seemed overqualified to help him, but it was something.

“Hey, Kyungsoo, we’re gonna grab lunch now. Wanna come with?” Jongdae’s head peers around the door, opening it just enough that Kyungsoo can see Chanyeol’s face. The man is over a head taller than both of them, despite being five years their junior. Chanyeol waves animatedly.

“Uhm… yeah? I mean- yeah, sure.” Kyungsoo says, distracted. Trying to look like he was actually doing work rather than dossing around. He shuffles some of his papers like he’s tidying them away.

“Kyungsoo, leave it. We know you were slacking, let’s just get food before the good stuff is gone.” Jongdae scolds, impatient.

“Right.” Kyungsoo nods, coughing to cover his embarrassment. He joins the two of them, listening to Chanyeol tell him about whatever is going on with his university coursework. He interns here part time and goes to classes every other day of the week. Kyungsoo nods along, laughing at the uselessness of some of Chanyeol’s fellow students, who all got stuck on the same question on one of their exam papers.

As they join the queue for hot food, Jongdae turns to Kyungsoo, a curious sparkle in his eye.

“What were you doing when we came to get you? I’ve never caught you doing anything other than work before. Was it anything…. ty ?” He grins impishly, the younger intern catching on and covering his mouth in exaggerated shock. Kyungsoo closes his eyes in irritation.

“I was not watching .” He sighs.

“What was it then?” Jongdae pushes, patting down his to find his wallet.

“It… it was an agency website. For assistants-”

“You’re getting a familiar?” Jongdae interrupts, grabbing Kyungsoo’s shoulder and shaking him.

“Why don’t you just get an intern?” Chanyeol asks, amused at how enthusiastic Jongdae is. Jongdae smirks.

“No one wants to work in abjuration, that’s why. There’s only Kyungsoo and Hyojung, who has a separate office. She always meets up with her other friends to eat at a cafe, which is why we never see her. She thinks we’re nerds.”

“We are nerds.” Kyungsoo mumbles.

“Hah, speak for yourself.” Jongdae complains, “I’m plenty cool, thank you.” Kyungsoo snorts, thinking back to the last work outing. He has plenty of evidence against him and Jongdae eyes him suspiciously. “If you bring up that stupid ing dance, I swear-!”

“Ooh, what dance?” Chanyeol butts in, having started working here after the incident. Jongdae glares as he is served his pasta, but Kyungsoo doesn’t care.

“Last month at this company social thing, which they do every so often, Jongdae got completely wasted and tried dancing with the boss’ daughter. Only it was the dorkiest dancing I’ve ever seen. Hang on-” he whips out his phone, “-I have a video.”

“Oh my god.” Chanyeol holds out his hands to watch, and has to cover his face to hold back from laughing too loudly. The tinny music plays from the tiny speakers and Kyungsoo does a jerky hand motion that sort of resembles what Jongdae was doing. The man in question turns red and walks away as quickly as he can, with food in hand.

“Thanks, Kyungsoo. Ruining my image!” He whines. The video finishes and a wheezing Chanyeol hands back his phone.

“What image.” Kyungsoo counters, following him to their usual table.

“Alright, alright.” Jongdae says as he sets his plate down, “I get it. We’re not cool, we’re nerds. Anyway, back to you getting a familiar. Any luck finding one that you like the look of yet?”

“I’ve found a few that seem qualified, yeah.” Kyungsoo says, opening up the website again. He’s made an account and everything, so that he can save the profiles of anyone he likes the look of.

“Let’s have a look then.” Jongdae says, holding out his hand. Reluctantly, Kyungsoo hands it over, peering over as he flicks through his list. He removes one of them, tapping the red cross in the corner.

“Hey!” Kyungsoo squawks, reaching for the gadget back. Jongdae holds it away from him.

“Trust me!” He says, holding it way out of his reach, “you don’t wanna waste your time with the regular people. You need a familiar who actually has a little experience with spellcasting-”

“All of the ones I picked do have experience-”

“ AND you should go for a were-person. They have two forms, which means two reserves of energy for spellcasting.” Jongdae emphasises his point by waving two fingers in Kyungsoo’s face. “Trust me, it’s a real thing.”

“Sounds like bull.” Kyungsoo argues, shovelling pasta into his mouth.

“Nope, it’s real.” Chanyeol chimes in, “I have a were-wolf friend and she’s really good at casting big spells. Not drawing them, but it means she can put twice the amount of energy into a spell compared to a normal person.”

“But so can you, right?” Kyungsoo points out, having witnessed Chanyeol’s above average energy levels first-hand. “Are you sure it’s not just a personal thing?”

“I guess? Look it up.” Chanyeol says, nodding at Jongdae who is still scrolling through profiles.

“As if any results are actually gonna be accurate.” Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. “Has anyone ever done a study on this?”

“Probably!” Chanyeol nods enthusiastically, “there’s studies on everything these days.”

“I guess… Well-”

“Ooh, this one is cute!” Jongdae crows, turning the screen of Kyungsoo's phone around to show them the photo.

“This isn’t a ing dating app, Jongdae. I need an assistant , not a date.” Kyungsoo complains, internally agreeing that the guy in the photo isattractive. He has a nice face, with black hair and similarly coloured black ears poking through. A were-cat, perhaps?

“You mean you don’t want to be distracted on the job?” Jongdae teases. Afraid that his cheeks are turning pink, Kyungsoo swipes for his phone and closes the website down. He’ll decide on something this evening, or maybe later this afternoon if he gets frustrated with work.

“I didn’t even know you were gay.” Chanyeol comments a moment later, setting off a fresh round of embarrassment.

“Is that a problem?” Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow, prepared to go on the defensive, but Chanyeol shakes his head, smiling broadly.

“Not at all. I am too! My boyfriend is coming to pick me up after work. Do you want to meet him? I’ve kinda told him all about you guys...” He trails off, sheepish.

“Cute. Maybe some other day, though?” Jongdae suggests, “unless you want to invite him out with us? Me and Kyungsoo are going to the pub. Wait, are you guys both of age?” Jongdae suddenly frowns.

“Yeah, I’m twenty two- I did a foundation year.” Chanyeol promises, grinning that same toothy grin.

“Uh, when did we decide this?” Kyungsoo asks, thinking back to the last few days. Surely he would have remembered making plans like that.

“This morning, don’t you remember?” Jongdae laughs. Kyungsoo hadn’t seen him at all until he knocked on his door for lunch, so he knows he’s lying out of his . Finally catching on, Kyungsoo nods slowly, stomach sinking. This is just a ploy to get Kyungsoo to go out.

“Oh, yeah.” He grits out. “Now I remember.”

“We’re just going to go hang out for a while, you think he’d be game?”

“I’ll ask!” Chanyeol pulls out his own phone and rapidly types away. He’s so innocent, it’s sweet. Just by looking at him, nobody would guess that this kid works on the development of offensive fire magic.

“He says yes!” Chanyeol confirms, waving the message in front of them, too fast for them to actually see.

“Awesome!” Jongdae smirks, “Tell him we look forward to meeting him.”

The sky is darkening when they leave work. Kyungsoo probably could have got in at least one more test, but Jongdae all but dragged him out.

Sehun, Chanyeol’s boyfriend, is waiting for them just outside the lobby. It’s a bit windy, but he apparently didn’t want to go inside as he wasn’t dressed smart enough for a government building. Jongdae and Kyungsoo exchange glances, both of them dressed in reasonably smart shirts and jeans, and shrug. Sehun looks like he shops in high-end fashion shops, so neither of them understand his logic.

As a group, they head towards the centre of the food district on foot, glad that it’s only a ten minutes walk. Chanyeol and Sehun hold hands, generally looking like the cutest couple Kyungsoo has ever seen. He doesn’t appreciate how the couple’s height makes him and Jongdae look like lost children, however.

The younger boy, who isn’t actually of age to drink yet but neither of them heard that part, is very shy. His hands are almost always covering his face, when he’s talking, and he seems to be a nervous smiler. One would think shy Sehun and Chanyeol, the walking embodiment of an exclamation mark, would make an odd couple; but they match up well.

“Where did you guys plan on going?” Chanyeol asks, turning around and pointing to a place. “How about there? Unless you had somewhere in mind.”

“I don’t want to go anywhere that has a dance floor.” Jongdae says, dragging them past the bar with flashy neon signage. Kyungsoo snorts.

Instead, Jongdae takes them to a homely looking place; old fashioned and probably as old as Kyungsoo’s grandparents, if not older. It looks pleasant and quiet though, which is nice. They head inside and pick a smaller table by the window, mainly so Kyungsoo can people-watch if he get’s bored. Some vintage rock music is playing in the background, just enough to create a sociable atmosphere.

Jongdae, Chanyeol and Sehun leave Kyungsoo behind to watch over their table while they get their drinks. Luckily they don’t take too long, since it’s not busy in here at all. Jongdae brings Kyungsoo back a pint of dark fruits beer and Kyungsoo takes it from him gratefully. Jongdae has an ordinary beer and the other two both have, what looks like the cheapest on the menu. It probably tastes like crap, but they’re both students so he won’t make fun. Maybe he’ll even buy them a drink later on.

“So, uhm, what do you guys do?” Sehun asks, taking a sip of his drink.

“I’m in abjuration and Jongdae is an invocation specialist, like Chanyeol.”

“Oh. What do you both think of the war, then?” He murmurs, eyes suddenly bright as he watches the two of them. Kyungsoo blinks owlishly. What a loaded question.

“Sehun!” Chanyeol chastises, slapping his thigh under the table. Sehun sticks his tongue out at him, waiting on their answers.

“Well, no war is a good thing.” Jongdae prevaricates. “Um. I don’t exactly like the idea of the spells I’m working on being used to hurt people but… it’s my job. And magic has always been used for war, so... I don’t know.” He shrugs. Sehun nods, switching his gaze onto Kyungsoo, who flinches.

“I work in abjuration- barrier spells. I’m not pro war. Definitely not.”

“Good.” Sehun nods.

“In my defence, even though I work on incendiary magic, I’m also not pro war.” Chanyeol interjects, worried. “I went into this sector planning on using these spells for performing arts purposes. Sehun is a dancer, you see. And fire spells have plenty of other uses besides offensive! For like, demolitions, wildfire control in the south, helping-”

“Ok, ok, we know all this.” Jongdae holds up a hand. “We didn’t think you wanted to decimate entire populations, you’re too nice for that.”

“Thank god.” Chanyeol sighs, relaxing back into the seat. “I mean, I think Zhao Ying is an , but I don’t want to kill everyone from Hanju.”

“Glad to hear it.” Jongdae jokes, holding up his glass, “to not killing whole countries.” He toasts. Laughing a little awkwardly, Kyungsoo raises his glass too, throwing it back and taking a few gulps.

“But honestly, what was Zhao Ying thinking? The prosecution of magic users? This isn’t the fifteenth century anymore. We don’t need to burn people at the stake, it’s barbaric.” Sehun scoffs. Kyungsoo bites his lip, so the kid is one of those politically inclined people, huh? He prepares to grit his teeth and not call him out on stuff he probably doesn’t understand, for an entire evening. He takes another sip of his drink and wonders, how long will he have to sit here before making some excuse to leave.

“I don’t know, honestly.” Jongdae agrees, “what gets me the most though, is that his military has a faction for magic users.”

“I know, right! And what is our government doing about all this? ing nothing.” Sehun shakes his head, in anger. It’s a lot more complicated than that, but Kyungsoo understands his frustration. People are in danger and there doesn’t seem to be visible effort to help.

There is . People are working hard to find a way to end this. The international negotiation teams are working day and night, soldiers are preparing for invasion, border control is tighter now. Kyungsoo is trying his best too. He takes another sip of his fruity beer and resists stirring up an argument.

"That's not true." Jongdae frowns, offended just as Kyungsoo is. "I know people in communications and foreign affairs that are very concerned that this is all going to escalate."

"Concerned? Escalate? They've already declared war, how much more can things escalate?" Sehun scorns.

"Sehun." Chanyeol tries to placate him. "There's a reason Kyungsoo is working so hard to revive one of the old protection spells. We think they might have developed something worse than fire."

"Speaking of which, Kyungsoo, how about we have another look at your familiar list again? Maybe we could find one that suits you." Jongdae cuts in, derailing the political tension. Kyungsoo doesn't really fancy any of these three having a large amount of say in his choice, but if it will stop this topic continuing, then-

"Sure, why not." He pulls out his phone, noting that it's low on battery now. It will last long enough to distract them from the sensitive topic, so it's fine. The very first face on the list of saved profiles, is the one Jongdae had suggested during lunch. Out of a misplaced sense of embarrassment, he deliberately scrolls down a bit so that it’s hidden.

He'd spent a decent portion of his afternoon staring at the details listed on his profile. His name is Kim Jongin, a werecat, a bombay cat to be specific, and just a year younger than him. A lot of the description is the usual spiel about being capable of working well with others and good communication skills, but he has a lot of experience working spells which makes him valuable.

Luckily, Jongdae doesn't seem to notice his sleight of hand, as he sets the phone down in the middle of the table for everyone to see.

"I see you took our advice about only looking for were-people." Jongdae hums approvingly, seeing that almost every single one has transformation abilities. "Ooh, she's pretty." He smirks, tapping on the profile of a capable looking woman with thin-framed spectacles. She doesn’t have protruding ears but her profile says she’s a were-lizard.

"As I said before; this isn't a dating site. I'm not going to hire someone because you think you can get a date with them." Kyungsoo rolls his eyes fondly.

"I know, I know. I'm just saying. Sheesh." He flips the screen around to Chanyeol and Sehun, who lean closer to see.

"She is pretty." Sehun nods, pursing his lips. "She could do with a different haircut, though. Something shorter would show off her face better."

"What about me, does my hair suit me?" Jongdae jokes, posing with his hand under his chin. He pretends to flick some imaginary hair over his shoulder as well, as Sehun looks him up and down in exaggerated consideration

"It'll do." He decides.

"I don't think you should pick her, though." Chanyeol says. "Jongdae will be too distracted."

"Hey!" Jongdae pouts, "I'm practically your boss, you should be more respectful. I'm not some -chaser ."

"It's true, he's only had one serious girlfriend." Kyungsoo nods sagely. "His game is weak."

"Hey!!" Jongdae jokingly slams his hands down on the table. "Why are you ganging up on me?"

"You make it too easy." Kyungsoo laughs, noticing that half of his drink is already gone. He's going through it very fast.

"I'm no worse than you." Jongdae complains. "It's this job. It leaves no time for a love life." He turns ominously to the couple sitting opposite them, pointing between them. "You two better watch out; the magic sector is a total block."

"There's nothing for us to worry about." Chanyeol asserts, looking at Sehun with sickening googly eyes. Sehun hides his face and whispers something in Chanyeol's ear, giggling afterwards. They really are young, Kyungsoo notes, a little nostalgic. Smiling ruefully, he turns back to his list of potential candidates and has another flick through.

"How about this one?" He asks Jongdae, the other two caught up in their own world now.

"I don't know, they seem alright. Honestly, all of them do. You could probably go with anyone on this list and it would be fine. You'd probably be better off sending a few requests."

"You really make it sound like a dating site." Kyungsoo chuckles.

"Well, yeah. It's basically the same kind of thing, right? The end goal is just a bit different. Would you rather be assigned an assistant?"

"No, not really." Kyungsoo shudders at the thought. He'd much rather pick his own assistant and preferably the were-cat from before, Kim Jongin. Gut instinct, he might call it. Jongdae would probably call it a crush. He'd be wrong, though, of course. He's never even met the guy. And if it were a crush, that’s more reason not to pick him.

"You were given a standard thing to send out, that describes the job, right? By the boss? Just send that to a bunch of people and see who responds."

"Yeah, you're right." Kyungsoo shrugs. While this agency was recommended by the government, it’s not actually controlled by them, so they have the liberty to choose which jobs they take on. Most of them will probably not be interested in working in abjuration, honestly. Maybe he'll add a little flair into the job description and make it sound more exciting than it actually is. He snorts, wondering how he'd actually manage to do that.

"On a side note, these two are so gross. I hope I was never that bad." Jongdae comments, side eyeing the young lovers, who are currently holding hands above the table.

"Oh, leave them be. Your dancing is worse." Kyungsoo scolds. Chanyeol has just kissed Sehun's forehead, and the younger of the two is clamming up, having noticed that both of them are staring now.

"Isn't he cute?" Chanyeol says, leaning against his boyfriend who stutters and flushes, telling him to stop it. Kyungsoo's chest clenches in jealousy what the two of them have. He hasn't had a boyfriend since he was in university; they broke up a few months after graduation, when their lives started going separate ways. It was sad, but Kyungsoo is fine now.

"How did you guys meet?" He wonders, thinking back to his time at university.

"At a football game. Chanyeol got so excited that our team scored, he dropped his drink all over me. " Sehun deadpans. Chanyeol looks out into the distance, like he's on ‘The Office’, probably having heard this retelling many, many times. He sighs longsufferingly.

"How many times did I apologise for that?"

"A lot." Sehun laughs. "But I was so mad, because you had basically ruined these new jeans that I was wearing for the first time. In fairness, he offered me money to buy new ones."

"Don't say that like you didn't accept it and ask for a coffee on top of that." Chanyeol gripes, a hint of a smirk playing at the corner of his lips, suggesting that he's not mad about it at all.

"That was my way of asking you out." Sehun insists. Kyungsoo watches their exchange indulgently, wondering if they realise that they're leaning closer and closer as they tell their story. He shares a look with Jongdae, who is looking like he wants to either leave them to it, or make them stop.

"I'm still not sure I believe that, I think you just wanted free coffee from me."

Jongdae clears his throat, making them jump. Sehun ducks his head and Chanyeol folds his hands in front of him, blushing pretty heavily though not nearly as shy as his counterpart.

"Well, how about you guys?" Chanyeol turns the original question back on them. "Do you have significant others?"

"Nope." Jongdae says, glumly. Kyungsoo makes a face that shows he's in the same boat, then knocks back the rest of his drink.

"Scuse me," he mumbles scooting past Jongdae,, "actually, what do you guys want? I'll buy the next round."

"Oh, you’re the best. " Jongdae pats his back. "I'd like another of the same."

"Sure, what about you two?"

"Uh. The same, please? I'm not sure what's cheapest." Chanyeol looks at the floor.

"I'm not buying any cheap crap." Kyungsoo informs him, "How about something nicer? I could get pear cider instead of the stuff from the tap."

"Oh, are you sure?" Chanyeol seems hesitant. Kyungsoo waves his hand dismissively,

"Don't worry about it!" He says, heading off to the bar and leaving Jongdae to third-wheel for a bit.

Two hours, a shared bowl of chips and a few more drinks later, Kyungsoo is definitely drunk but still sober enough to know that they should really start heading home soon. Jongdae has started cracking his usual dirty jokes and telling the other two details about hook-ups that none of them really want to know.

"Are you two gonna be alright getting home? I can call a taxi, if you want." He says, patting Chanyeol’s shoulder.

"Aww, aren't you a mother hen all of a sudden?" Jongdae snorts, leaning his head on Kyungsoo's shoulder. "My heart is all a-flutter."

"Wasn't talking to you." Kyungsoo shakes him off, much to Chanyeol and Sehun's amusement. They have handled their drink way better than Kyungsoo and Jongdae.

"No thank you, we live pretty near here. We don't even have to take the subway."

"Good." Kyungsoo nods, pushing all the glasses into the centre of the table and stacking them to make it easier to tidy away. On second thought, he might just take them straight to the bar. He gathers them all up and stands, the floor suddenly swaying underneath him.

"Oh- ok. Kyungsoo’s in cleaning mode." Jongdae announces, reaching out to stop him. "Leave it be, man, don't wanna drop anything."

Kyungsoo looks down at the bunch of glasses in his arms and wonders if maybe the drink he had was stronger than he thought. Maybe his tolerance is getting worse, now that he's older. .

"I think that means it's time for us to go home." Jongdae says, patting Kyungsoo's back. Kyungsoo rubs his forehead, nodding in agreement. He didn't mean to stay out this late, especially since it isn't even a Friday- not that it means anything, as he works most weekends too now.

After waving goodbye to Sehun and Chanyeol, who apparently live in nearby student accommodation together, Jongdae and Kyungsoo head towards the nearest subway station. The train car is eerily quiet when they get on, it seems like they're being too loud but he can't really tell. Jongdae is one stop farther than him, so Kyungsoo is the first to get off. Heading up the long escalator he starts humming softly to himself.

When he gets home, he should send out those requests, he thinks. The sooner the better, right?

Kyungsoo actually finds himself excited to meet his new assistant, whoever they might turn out to be. It would be nice if it was Jongin, the were-bombay cat, but it will be just as nice if it's one of the others he's picked.

The short walk back to his place is pleasant, if a little cold, so it's relieving when he can finally let himself in. Once changed into his pyjamas, he curls up in his bed with his laptop and diligently copies out the printout of the message he needs to send, double checking it for spelling mistakes. He sends it out to the top five on his list, greeting them all personally. It takes him longer than he expected as he forgot to copy the whole thing before sending it to the first recipient, so he has to type it out twice.

When it comes to the request for Jongin, he bravely puts a few smiley faces in there, hoping that it isn't too unprofessional.

He presses send with a sense of accomplishment. Nodding proudly to himself, he shuts his laptop down and puts it back in its bag. Maybe, he’ll have a few responses back by tomorrow.

Kyungsoo still doesn't have any replies by mid-morning. He should really stop checking his phone every ten minutes, but he can't help it. He's only got two tests done today, when he should have done three or four, even considering the cool-down period in between castings. Resolving to actually concentrate on some work now, Kyungsoo crosses the room to shove his phone in his coat pocket, hanging above the door frame.

Out of sight, out of mind.

A little calmer, now that the itch is further away from him, he settles back into his seat determined to knuckle down and get to work. He draws out the circle using a compass and begins filling it in.

Kyungsoo has looked through the messages that he sent last night and the one he sent to Jongin, has two winking faces. It definitely borders on the creepy side of flirty, which is unprofessional in the first place, so he won't be surprised at all if he doesn't even get a 'no thank you' back from him. He sighs, hunching over his work book sadly. He signed his name with three ‘x’s.

How is it possible to ruin something before even starting?

Somehow, he manages to finish another two test spells before lunch time, but he still hasn't received positive responses. He's sullen and quiet through lunch again, despite Chanyeol's jokes and Baekhyun's laughter.

About ten minutes before lunch time officially ends, his phone pings again. He scrambles for it, Jongdae leering over his shoulder like some kind of parrot.

It's from Jongin.

It's an acceptance.

He bites his lip to keep from smiling, his bad mood instantly lifting.

"Got a date?" Baekhyun asks, nosy as always. Kyungsoo almost nods.

"I'm finally getting a familiar." He says, smiling now.

"Really? Nice!" Baekhyun claps, Seungwan joining suit. "Congrats! It's about time, really."

"Yeah, everyone knows you've gotten the short end of the stick, being the loneliest one in your department." She jokes. Kyungsoo sticks his tongue out at her, and opens the acceptance message.

It says;

Hi there, Kyungsoo! :D

I recieved your job offer, and I'm interested in learning more. As you saw in my profile, I am experienced with spell casting, and I'd be an excellent choice for your assistant. Or familiar, as I believe theyre called in your employment? :3

There is one problem that might arise: I don't live in Yeong Si , so I would need time to find temporary accomodation closer to your workplace.

I look forward to working with you.

Many thanks,

Jongin ;) xx

Kyungsoo winces at the winky face and kisses he's added at the end, wondering if he's making fun of him for that. Does he know that he was tipsy when he sent that? God, he hopes not.

"Oh my god, is that a winky face?" Jongdae laughs, "is he flirting with you? You don't even have a picture up, do you?"

"I don't." Kyungsoo confirms, covering the top half of his face and tilting the screen away from him. Jongdae just keeps laughing.

"’It's not a dating app’, my ." He chortles. "If you guys don't get together after this then I'm calling the love doctor; my mum."

"You what?" Kyungsoo squints at him, flushing. “Since when was your mum a love doctor? If anything, YOU need help. Go get some dance lessons! Why on earth would you get your mother involved?” He rolls his eyes dramatically and looks back down at the message.

How on earth is he meant to reply to this. How is he going to even look at this guy, if he hires him, after this?

"I'm just saying." Jongdae smiles innocently.

"It would be pretty funny if you got together." Seungwan admits.

"I don't even know if I'm going to take him on yet." Kyungsoo deadpans.

"You know as well as we do that you're lying."

"This is not! A dating app!" Kyungsoo insists, hating that he's probably a deep shade of beetroot red by now, if the heat on his cheeks is any indication. The others just laugh at him.

“Don’t deny it, Kyungsoo, it totally is. Their motto may as well be ‘Hot familiars near you! Click to find out more!’” Baekhyun snorts. He genuinely needs this guy to do work for him, not to just be...eye candy. Not that he is going to be eye candy. Kyungsoo shakes his head.

"I'll wait until this evening to decide who I'm going to accept once and for all. I might end up liking one of the other people better." He says. Nobody looks like they believe him.

"No one else has accepted yet. Also, what's this about needing a place to stay?" Jongdae asks, highlighting the line with his finger. Kyungsoo shrugs.

"Maybe you should offer him your sofa, huh? Or your bed~? With you still in it? " Jongdae teases, jeering and jibing. Smiling glibly, and knowing that Jongdae (probably) doesn't mean any harm, Kyungsoo just lets his words slide off of him like water from an umbrella charm.

Kyungsoo does, in the end, decide on Jongin. He sends off the final acceptance once he gets home, clicking the big green tick button above Jongin's face. He feels a strange mixture of emotions once he's done. Happiness is one of them; he's finally going to get some help, which means that he's going to be able to get this spell reworked faster. Guilty, for having to reject the other applicants. Embarrassment is also there, on some level, because he's going to have to meet this guy face to face and have him meet his friends. There's also a touch of anxiety too, for some reason. He isn't totally sure why, since this is only going to be a professional relationship. Sighing softly to himself, he closes the website down and scrolls through his Pitchr page for a while. There's his usual supply of cute animal videos which make him smile.

There's also a news post that tells him enemy submarines have been spotted off the south coast.

He stares at it for a while, willing it to change before his eyes but it doesn't. His stomach curdles. If Hanju are moving in on GeunTo waters, then that means there's a good chance they're preparing for an attack. He shudders and closes that page too, perusing a different website for a while instead.

Kyungsoo wakes up to another message from Jongin. Before heading into work, Kyungsoo sits on the sofa and stares at it for a while, conflicted. Toast in one hand and his phone in the other, he reads and rereads the message a few times before it sinks in.

Hi, Kyungsoo! :D

Since this job is pretty urgent, and you want me working on monday, would you mind helping me find somewhere to stay during the weekend? I will find somewhere permanent during the first week, but two days is too short notice for me to find even a cheap apartment :’<

Thanks in advance,

Jongin ;) xx

In theory, Kyungsoo would be more than happy to help, but he isn't sure exactly how he's supposed to do that. He could give him money to pay for a hotel room for a week, perhaps? Or he could offer him his sofa, like Jongdae suggested. But wouldn't that be unprofessional? Jongin has sent him another winky face, which makes his stomach twist in a way that is a mix of dread and excitement. Kyungsoo's leg bounces, as his finger hovers over the reply button, still deliberating over his answer. He doesn't want to make it sound like he's coming onto Jongin, especially after all these stupid emojis, but if he doesn't want to make Jongin or himself pay out of their own pocket for accommodation…

Whatever. it.

Hi, Jongin :)

I have a few options I could give you. First, I could give you a bit of money to go towards a hotel room for a few days and a recommendation of decent hotels near the building. I could ask around if anyone has a spare room to lend you, or you could use my sofa to save money.

Kyungsoo.

There. It seems a little too clinical maybe, but it's professional and that's what counts. There, he's done it. He can go into work now, knowing that help is on its way. He smiles to himself, pleased that things seem to be looking up. Some things, at least.

Kyungsoo wonders if Jongin is as touched by the fear eating at the city's heart, the people here are so terrified of an impending attack. In the past, larger cities have always been the biggest targets, but they haven't been hit here yet; not even with something small. All of the attacks have been closer to the border.

It's not a matter of if but a matter of when the Hanjurians attack, so the masses are all holding their breath, waiting for the penny to drop.

But maybe, living on the outskirts of the city rather than in the centre like Kyungsoo, Jongin will not be quite as affected.

He makes sure his collar looks alright and isn't too crooked, although he can never win with this particular shirt before finally heading out. He turns tail and heads back inside however, when he finds that it's raining and grabs his raincoat. He supposes he could cast a rain repellent spell, but it's honestly more trouble than it's worth. A coat can be put on in less than half the time it would take, to draw the damn thing.

The subway is especially crowded today, smelling of a whole group of soggy strangers crammed together in one place. Kyungsoo knows that the odour is going to cling to him and follow him around all day, no matter what he does to get rid of it. Better to just it up and accept it now.

Just before he arrives at work, his phone pings again to tell him that he has a new message from Jongin. He feels rather popular; work emails get sent around the same time each week and if his parents want to talk to him, they'll call him in the evenings. His university friends don't talk much on social media anymore, preferring to arrange meetings every other month or so to catch up.

Hi Kyungsoo :)

If it's ok with you, i'd like to spend as little money as possible so could i sleep on your sofa for the first few days? I could compensate by buying food, or i could just give you some money for the trouble. Would saturday be too early?

Thanks,

Jongin

Kyungsoo notices that he's stopped with the winky faces now and some part of him is disappointed. But, he wants to stay at Kyungsoo’s house for a few days; his insides flutter as he reads it. Technically, he’s already agreed to this, so there’s no going back now. He’s going to have a stranger in his apartment for the next few days; a cute stranger. He sends back a polite confirmation, already deciding that there’s no way he’s going to tell Jongdae about this; because he’ll never hear the end of it. If it gets pointed out that they arrive at the same time, he can make up some lie about meeting him before coming to work or something, it’s no big deal.

But he wants to come on Saturday . That’s only the day after tomorrow, Kyungsoo frets.

He supposes that it won't make much of a difference, all things considered. Apart from working at home, it’s not like he’ll be doing anything over the weekend. It will only be for a few days, so why not?

He gets off the subway car, dodging through the bustle of people overflowing through the station. Trying to find a calm spot so he can reread the email once again, in case he missed anything; he didn't. Shoving his phone back into his coat pocket and pulling his hood up in preparation, Kyungsoo joins the throng of people climbing up the narrow staircase into the city centre. Everyone seems to be in a rush, hardly looking where they're going as they tear through the streets. Kyungsoo doesn't blame them for wanting to get out of the rain, but being pushed and shoved doesn't put him in the best of moods.

When he gets into his office, he hangs up his coat on the back of the door and shakes some of the moisture out of his hair- even with his hood up, it hadn't stopped him from getting rained on. Now then, he thinks to himself, how should he respond to this email? Should he ask for any money? He’s already getting subsidised to pay him.

In the end, after all the time he spends prevaricating, all he answers with is:

Hi Jongin!

I can put you up for a couple of days, and you can pay me back by buying lunch for me, and working really hard as my assistant. How does that sound? :)

Thanks,

Kyungsoo

It takes shockingly little time for Jongin to respond, which makes Kyungsoo wonder if he was waiting for it. He doesn't bother with the formal greetings, this time.

Thanks! I'll work super hard, don't worry. I promise i wont be too much of a bother, either, and ofc ill buy you lunch :D

Thanks so much!

Jongin

Kyungsoo smiles at how nice this guy seems to be. He writes like a teenager though, and while that is sweet, he hopes it doesn't mean he's going to act like a teenager as well. As long as he's a help, rather than a hindrance, it should be fine. He won't know until they start working together, so all he can do is wait until then. In fact, meeting him before they're due to work together would probably help.

That's that. He shoves his phone into his coat pocket, so he isn't tempted to look at it again while he's supposed to be working, then opens his workbook to a clean page.

By the time lunch break rolls around, Kyungsoo is grumpy again. He leaves just a couple of minutes early, waiting outside Jongdae's office door until he comes out so they can head down to the cafeteria together. He's sure his hair is probably sticking up in all directions by now, because of how many times he's run his hands through it and tugged at it in frustration. He tries to flatten it down a bit before Jongdae comes out. Inside, there is a lot of people shouting and arguing but nothing sounds too critical; one voice is louder than the others, apologising repeatedly. Is that Chanyeol?

The door clicks open and a cloud of black smoke billows out into the corridor, making Kyungsoo cough and splutter.

"What the hell?" Panicking, he lifts the collar of his shirt over his face and peers inside, hoping that everyone is alright. Kyungsoo squints through the smoke and Jongdae comes into view, flapping his hands to dispel some of the smog.

"What's going on?" Kyungsoo asks, as more and more people file out of the room, he hadn't ever registered that so many people worked in Jongdae's department. Six more people join them out in the corridor, all holding their hands or their collars over their faces like Kyungsoo.

"Chanyeol ed up." Jongdae sighs, not sounding particularly annoyed. Kyungsoo nods understandingly. Almost everyone has had a spell backfire on them, or mess up in some way. At least his spell actually caused something to happen, which counts as progress. "He smoked out the office, but it's not too bad."

"And nothing got damaged?" Jongdae opens his mouth to answer, but is cut off when the fire alarm goes off. A wailing siren noise filling all available space and taking over any conversation.

"Aw !" He yells, jolting at the ‘ shah ’ of sprinklers activating. Jongdae dashes back inside to rescue his papers from sodden death. Kyungsoo winces, but doesn't try to help, not wanting to make anything worse than it already is. Chanyeol, his fringe singed, seems to be on the verge of tears. Kyungsoo sidles up to him, placing one hand on his shoulder comfortingly. It’s hard to be soothing when he has to yell over the sound of the alarm, but Kyungsoo tries anyway.

"You ok?" He asks. Chanyeol looks at him and shrugs, looking at the floor once more. "It happens to all of us at some point, don't worry about it too much, alright?"

"What, blowing up your entire department?"

"I’m sure you didn't blow anything up, it's just smoke." Kyungsoo reasons, but Chanyeol shakes his head.

"There was an explosion as well."

"Oh. Well, Jongdae said it's ok and he's your boss. Listen to him. Trust me, you aren't the only one to have made a mistake like this." Kyungsoo chuckles, recalling the time Jongdae accidentally short circuited the entire building. The power had only been out for an hour or so, but it had still caused a huge uproar. Chanyeol sighs visibly, his head hitting the wall behind him. He wipes his eyes with the cuff of his sleeve.

"Alright." He says, whether to get Kyungsoo to leave him alone or because he actually intends to take this in stride, he doesn't know. But Chanyeol seems like an optimistic guy, he won't let something like this drag him down. They stay there for a few more minutes, watching as the whole department, minus Chanyeol, works in unison to protect their reports and computers. One of them is on the phone to management, explaining the situation and asking for the alarm and sprinklers to be switched off. His hand is cupping the mouthpiece to help keep the sound of the alarm from drowning him out.

The alarm cuts out, to the cheers of the staff that were tidying up. The absence of the alarm later leaves Kyungsoo reeling. He can still hear the ghost of the awful sound ringing in his ears. While the rest of the people around start picking up as much paper as they can salvage, Kyungsoo nods towards the elevators.

"C'mon, let's go get some food." He says, tugging on Chanyeol's sleeve, "I'm getting hungry."

Together, they head to the cafeteria, Kyungsoo buying ramen that they're serving today and Chanyeol a sandwich. Kyungsoo tries to make Chanyeol feel better by telling him about some of the embarrassing spell mishaps, that Kyungsoo has witnessed, during university and while working here.

It only takes about ten minutes for the rest of the experimental spells department to filter in, hair soggy from the sprinklers and covered in ashy smudges but still smiling. They get food quickly and even though both Kyungsoo and Chanyeol have already finished, they wait for Jongdae to join them.

"So." Jongdae begins, already digging into his ramen. "there's good news and bad news. The bad news is that the sprinklers washed out some of the spells, so you're going to have to apologise about that, but they had them recorded anyway, so it isn't too big of a deal, really. The good news is that this counts as a workplace accident and that means we're allowed to leave early." He grins at Chanyeol.

"That's a relief." Chanyeol sighs, sagging into his seat."So we can really just go home now, if we wanted to?" He asks, a sparkle of hope in his eyes. Jongdae shrugs.

"Well, you have to fill out a report first; but essentially, yeah."

"Sweet!" Chanyeol grins, suddenly perking up. "I can go watch Sehun's dance practice."

"Aw, cute. Does he have a performance coming up or something?" Kyungsoo asks, relieved that the perky intern is back to his usual self.

"Yeah! If you guys are interested, I could probably get you tickets?"

"I'd love to come and see, but it will depend on the timings." He says, trying to think ahead. He's going to be super busy in the near future. While he will need something to take his mind off work at some point, he doesn't want it to mess up the completion of the spell.

"I'll definitely come, if you can get us tickets." Jongdae nods.

"Awesome! I'll ask him when I see him today, then." Chanyeol promises, already messaging his boyfriend to tell him the good news.

"And what about you, huh? Are you having any luck with your future boyfriend?" Suddenly the irritation from earlier comes flooding back.

"Jongdae, will you off? He's not going to be my boyfriend. He's my assistant and I swear to god if you make anything weird, I will murder you."

"Oh, wow, ok." He raises his eyebrows. “You definitely need one, either way."

"What do you mean?" Kyungsoo narrows his eyes.

"You either need to get laid, or get a familiar. One way or another, the levels of stress will be reduced." Jongdae laughs when Kyungsoo punches him, not hard enough to hurt.

"Maybe you should concentrate your efforts on getting laid yourself, ." Kyungsoo snaps. "God knows you're more bearable when you have a girlfriend to whine to."

"Ok, Kyungsoo, that was harsh." Jongdae scolds, holding his hand to his chest. Frowning, Kyungsoo realises that he's right and a twinge of regret pulls at his chest. He apologises through gritted teeth. "No worries. When is your familiar arriving?"

"I'm picking him up from the station on Saturday."

"Oh, so he's from out of town? Wait, you're picking him up? Hasn't he found somewhere to stay?" Jongdae's eyebrows are drawn together, his confusion making Kyungsoo's cheeks turn pink.

"He's going to stay at mine for the weekend while he finds somewhere else. He didn't want to spend a lot of money and I don't blame him for that."

"Or he's trying to get- ok, ok!" Jongdae rolls his eyes at Kyungsoo's warning glare. "But don't you think it's a little suspicious?"

"No. The website screens people for potentially suspicious behaviour and if they have a police record it has to be stated. He's not a criminal or anything."

"That's not what I meant, but sure. If you're fine with it."

"Why didn't he just ask you to contribute to paying for a hotel room?" Chanyeol purses his lips.

"Look, I don't know, ok? Maybe he’s just cheap. But this is the way it's turned out. It's not like he's the biggest thing to be afraid of at the moment anyway, is it?" A sombre silence grows between them. He sighs, that familiar ache of a headache pulling just behind his eyes. Knowing that he has to go back to his office and hunch over that damn spell circle for the rest of the day, is already grating on his nerves. Especially when the other two get to have a holiday. Maybe he should blow up his department too.

"Alright, I think I'm going to head back." He informs his friends, rubbing his hand over his face, trying to get a little relief. He picks up Chanyeol's rubbish from his sandwich and everyone's empty plates, disposing of them on his way out. Since lunch technically isn't over yet, he'll probably waste a bit more time watching dumb internet videos, or message Jongin about the specifics of how they plan to meet up.

Tapping his foot, Kyungsoo checks his phone for the time once again. It’s 3:25, which is no different from the clock that’s on the wall, so he doesn’t know why he bothered checking.

Jongin is due to arrive at 3:27 and the butterflies in Kyungsoo’s stomach have evolved into a strange, new kind of insect; huge and terrifying. Kyungsoo makes a mental note of where the toilets are, in case he needs to make an escape. He hopes that his sweat patches aren’t too obvious, especially since it’s not even hot in here.

He has no idea why he’s so nervous. The last time he was like this, it was before his interview for the job he’s got now.

Time seems to stretch on forever, until the timetable above him changes from ‘in transit’ to ‘arrived’ for Jongin’s train. His heart starts beating out of his chest. From the other side of the barriers, Kyungsoo can see that a train has pulled into the station and tons of people are flowing from the open doors. He’s looking for a guy with black cat ears and a tail. Shouldn’t be too hard, right? Kyungsoo squints into the crowd, hoping to catch a glimpse of triangular ears but it proves to be harder than he thought. Starting to panic, Kyungsoo gets out his phone so that he can quadruple-check the time he was supposed to meet him. His sweaty fingers are fumbling with the passcode, when a shadow cuts out some of his light. Kyungsoo looks up and his mouth falls open. He hadn’t expected Jongin to be so tall.

“Kim Jongin?” Kyungsoo verifies, feeling time stop when the man before him smiles brightly. .

“Hi.” He says, his voice softer than he was expecting too. Kyungsoo shakes himself out of his stupor, wondering why he even had these dumb expectations anyway.

“Hello.” He nods his head politely. “S-shall we go?” Kyungsoo asks, hardly waiting for Jongin to catch up. He is clearly struggling, as he drags a large suitcase behind him. Jongin’s legs are longer than his though, so it doesn’t take him long to keep pace with him, even though he’s tugging a heavy weight. Wait, he should offer to carry something, right? That would be polite.

“D-do you want me to carry anything?” Damn it, why is he stuttering? He's a grown man, what is his body playing at?

“No thank you, I’m fine.” Jongin says, sending him another pretty smile. Kyungsoo gulps and looks away. He hopes this wears off quickly, because he needs to be able to concentrate at work and he doesn’t know if he will be able to if Jongin's this charming all the time. He doesn't know how to start a conversation yet, not without bringing up work right away. So Kyungsoo doesn't say anything at first, except to point out which direction they're going.

"I'm sorry, I don't have a car, so we're going to have to take the subway." Kyungsoo explains, leading him towards the ticket machine. Kyungsoo pays for a subway card for Jongin, so that he can top it up with his own money. Once that is done, they head towards a narrow set of stairs. Jongin takes pause at the large sign above the doorway saying 'SHELTER'. Kyungsoo smiles weakly at Jongin, who seems a little shellshocked. His ears are lying low against his head and something inside Kyungsoo wants to reassure him that it's there just in case, but he isn't the type to lie.

"It's for if we get attacked; all the subways are safe zones." He says, trying to keep the delivery as tactful as possible.

"But what if the attack is down here?" Jongin frowns. Kyungsoo shrugs and makes a start on the steps.

"Then I guess everyone tries to get above ground. There's only so much you can do in any given situation."

"Are all city people so 'come what may' about this?" Jongin wonders, hauling his luggage down behind him and holding it back from slipping all the way down.

"Well, everyone is expecting some kind of attack sooner or later." Kyungsoo explains, "It's just a matter of time, really. I mean, you've heard all the reports of movement around the coast, right?"

"Yeah, it doesn't sound good." Jongin murmurs, his ears now flat. Kyungsoo cringes, what was he thinking bringing up war talk, of all things, on their first meeting? Can't he think of a nicer thing to talk about? Wow, he hasn't felt like this much of a loser since he was in high school, and that is a time he really doesn’t want to think about.

"Nope." Kyungsoo agrees quietly, helping Jongin shift his suitcase down the stairs. Once they reach the bottom, it doesn't take long for a subway train to appear and take them to the main line. There, they can switch to the track that will take them closest to Kyungsoo's apartment. The subway car isn't too crowded, but it's a challenge to get the suitcase to go over the gap between the train and the platform; together they manage. There isn't a seat for them though, so they stand in the mid-section, right by the door. It's only two stops anyway, so it's not a big deal.

"Is it always this busy?"

"It's Saturday, so it's actually pretty quiet today. It's usually much busier. Unless it’s raining, then it's even worse." Kyungsoo shudders, "Midsummer rain is the worst, we're lucky we're past that season. It's just hot, sweaty and damp in here. It always smells bad. Like, worse than it does right now."

"Oh. That's not good."

"Nope." Kyungsoo nods, focusing his attention on rereading the fire safety instructions, that he's read a million times before, instead of the tightness of Jongin's jeans. Those are really not work-appropriate; he better have something else to wear. For the sake of health and safety. There's probably a rule about that, somewhere.

"So... was the journey here ok?"

"Yeah, it wasn't too bad. It was only about an hour on the fast train! I reserved myself a seat too, so I didn't have to stand for any of the journey."

"That's good." Kyungsoo nods again, fidgeting with his keys inside his pocket. The automated voice announces their station stop, making Kyungsoo start. "This is us." He informs Jongin, assisting him in lifting his suitcase down and wheeling it to a different platform. It's a bit of a walk to their transfer, all of it in a hot, dusty underground corridor filled with small vendors. Jongin doesn't seem to like it much, neither does Kyungsoo, but at least with all of the things to look at, neither of them need to say much.

"After this subway section, it's not that much further to walk, I promise." Kyungsoo says, hoping he sounded friendly.

"We haven't walked far yet." Jongin comments, amused. Maybe he thinks city people are lazier than most? Kyungsoo frowns, embarrassed.

"Yeah, well..." He can't think of anything to say in return. They drift into a somewhat uncomfortable silence, until they reach the another set of train barriers. Kyungsoo doesn't think he's been this awkward with a stranger in over a decade.

"So, tell me about the work you've been doing." Jongin says, as they drag the suitcase through the larger barrier door. Kyungsoo’s mind goes blank.

"Uhh, I work in abjuration."

"Yeah, it said that in your email. I want to know specifically what you're working on right now, though. It must be pretty complex if you need a familiar, right?" Kyungsoo starts at the use of the term 'familiar', he had thought it was a term only magic-users knew. It’s not that strange, considering Jongin has experience with spellcasting after all but something about it sounded intimate .

"Uh, yeah. I'm reworking an old spell and it's a really large complex one. When I was given the task, I thought it would only need a few alterations but… I may as well be making a completely new spell, which is not something I'm used to. I've gone through a lot of combinations, but nothing is working so far." They both have to push to get onto this train cart, as the main lines between city stops tend to be busy all the time. Jongin looks a bit uncomfortable squished up against the wall with the suitcase pressing against his body.

"An old spell?" Jongin queries, "aren't all spells old?"

"No? Well, not exactly; that's why we have the Experimental Spells Department. A lot of spells are old, or at least have very old components. Protection spells, for example, almost always have an outer ring that was designed several hundred years ago, even if the adhesive components change throughout the ages. New spells are designed all the time though."

"Really?"

"Yeah, one of my friends is working on a new incendiary spell." Kyungsoo smiles, proudly.

"For... for combat use?" Jongin raises an eyebrow, curious and ears twitching. Kyungsoo nods, shrugging bashfully.

"Yeah, with the war efforts going on, there's a lot of funding being put into offensive spells lately. There is more for my area as well, but there aren't many people that are interested in working with protection spells. So it doesn’t seem like that much on paper."

"I see." He nods, lips pressed together in a sharp line. Kyungsoo can't tell if that's because of the war talk again, or because he's not happy with how he's squashed against the train.

"So, what have you done? I mean, you've been an assistant before right? What sort of things have you had to do for that?" Kyungsoo asks, not wanting to bore Jongin before he absolutely has to.

"Well, I've done a few secretarial jobs and I worked in a lab for about four months. I worked as an assistant for someone who made custom heat warding spells for a while, so I know how to copy some circles and symbols. It's mostly been short things here and there, helping out some smart-type people." He directs that last part at Kyungsoo, in a way that Kyungsoo would have interpreted as flirtatious if he didn't know otherwise. He clears his throat.

"So you already have a pretty good idea of what you'll be doing for me, then?" Kyungsoo says, knowing before he finishes that it could be taken as a double entendre.

"I'm sure I can handle whatever you have for me, yeah." Jongin smirks, probably finding his nervousness amusing. Kyungsoo’s cheeks are burning. Laughing awkwardly, not quite able to meet his eyes, Kyungsoo urges the train car to hurry up so they can start walking again. It was less awkward when they didn't have to stand opposite each other, making small talk. He's normally not bad at small talk, so Kyungsoo isn't sure what's gotten into him today. Maybe it's the long lines of Jongin's body, the unexpected almost model-level attractiveness of the man, that has him tongue tied. Ugh, he is so screwed.

The automated voice announcing the station couldn't come soon enough and the moment it does, Kyungsoo is elbowing a path through the masses so that Jongin can get his luggage off. He pretends to be occupied in finding the way to go, even though he's uses this station every day and knows the layout like the back of his hand. Jongin doesn't question it, though he does appear to be a bit bemused. Kyungsoo can feel him staring at his back as he leads the way.

They take the escalator and as soon as they hit the cool air outside, Jongin's posture relaxes, shoulders falling back and tail flicking comfortably.

"Not far now." Kyungsoo says again, pointing in the direction of home. He can actually see his block of flats from here. Jongin gestures for Kyungsoo to lead the way, so he does, taking them past a few of the restaurants that only open in the evenings and the corner shop that he buys instant noodles from in times of need.

They take the lift up to Kyungsoo's floor, and Kyungsoo wonders if the management could do a little more on the upkeep of this place; some of the paint on the walls is peeling in the corners.

"Home sweet home." Kyungsoo mumbles, pulling the key out of his pocket. Unlocking the door, it swings inwards, revealing the dark smudge of his living room. Rushing to turn on all the lights, so it looks a bit more inviting, Kyungsoo heads to the kitchen to make some tea.

"I hope you don't mind the mess." Kyungsoo says, even though he spent about three hours that morning tidying everything away and making the whole place look uninhabited in.

"Do you want some tea?"

"What mess?" Jongin's eyebrows draw together surveying the room, in particular the sofa, where he's going to be sleeping for the next few nights. Kyungsoo has already put out some pillows and a pile of blankets for him to sleep on. He draws his hand along the top of it, taking in the smoothness of the fabric.

"Tea?" Kyungsoo prompts, pulling out two mugs anyway.

"Oh, yes please." Jongin finally responds, setting down his suitcase beside his ‘bed’ and making his way to the kitchen. "what kinds do you have?" He peers into the cupboard over Kyungsoo's shoulder.

"Uh, black tea, green tea and a bunch of floral ones. Jasmine, chamomile. That kind of thing." He winces, waiting for the grandpa comment, but it never comes.

"Just normal black tea will be fine, thank you." He says, voice sounding deeper this close up. It sends shivers down Kyungsoo's spine, which he quickly shakes away. Kyungsoo fills the kettle and sets it to boil, when he turns around, Jongin is leaning against the island counter, looking as though he's meant to be there. Kyungsoo wishes he could look as comfortable as that, in any given situation. He folds his arms across his chest.

"Have you tested out the sofa yet? I can give you extra blankets and cushions if you need them."

"It seems fine to me." Jongin smirks again, probably amused by his worrisome nature. Kyungsoo thinks it’s probably going to be one of his quirks and he's just going to have to get used to it. His expression turns serious. "Thank you, by the way."

"It's nothing." Kyungsoo mutters, turning around to make the tea, now that the kettle is boiled. "Milk is in the fridge if you want it." He says, handing Jongin his mug, the tea bag still inside. He is having his favourite jasmine tea and it smells delightful. He holds it under his nose and inhales, the scent calming and familiar.

"I prefer my tea black." Jongin explains, sipping at it slowly.

"I'd suggest that we move to the sofa, but it's kind of..." he waves his hand in that general direction, and Jongin snorts into his mug. Kyungsoo smiles over the rim of his own and they meet eyes. This time, Kyungsoo doesn't look away instantly, but he only lasts a few seconds.

"Right, well. I suppose I had better give you the grand tour." He puts his tea down on the side. "So that's the living room obviously, and this is the kitchen. The bathroom is down there on the left and my bedroom is on the right, in case you need me during the night or something… That’s… it… "

"That was very quick." Jongin teases playfully.

"Yeah well, not everyone can live in a four storey mansion, you know? I don't have the salary for that."

"Can you even find mansions in the city?"

"No, probably not." Kyungsoo admits ruefully, "but there are some pretty big houses in the suburbs. That would be the dream."

"Cheers to that." Jongin jokingly raises his mug, grinning. "To living in a big house. Someday." Kyungsoo laughs, raising his mug too and clinking them together.

Rather than embarrass himself by trying to cook successfully, Kyungsoo offered to order takeout instead; fried chicken and noodles. While they were waiting for it to arrive, they'd deconstructed Jongin's makeshift bed and folded it up. They put Kyungsoo's small TV on, managing to find a decent movie that both of them had seen before to play in the background as they chatted.

It's easier to talk, Kyungsoo finds, having gotten used to having Jongin around. But now that he's in his room, changing into his pyjamas, the awkwardness is coming back. Normally, he only wears a sleep shirt, since he likes the feel of the covers on his bare legs (it’s not that weird), but maybe while Jongin is here he should wear the bottoms as well. Just in case he does need him for some reason during the night. Lip caught between his teeth, he pulls them on anyway. He can take them off once he's cleaned his teeth, he reasons.

He sidles into the bathroom. Jongin is already there, a headband keeping his bangs back from his face, as he washes up. He’s wearing loose shorts and nothing else. His tail pokes through the left leg of his pyjama bottoms and his back muscles shift as he rinses his face off. Jesus. If Kyungsoo hadn’t thought he was like a model before, he definitely does now.

Jongin jumps when he looks up and sees Kyungsoo there, his ears alert and his tail fluffing up. Kyungsoo jolts in surprise, ready to scamper away,

"I-I'm sorry, I'll come back in a minute!"

"No!" Jongin raises one hand, "I mean, it's ok. I'm just washing my face, it's not a big deal."

"You're sure?" Kyungsoo raises one eyebrow, unconvinced. He knows he wouldn't exactly want an audience when he's washing up, especially when that someone is a stranger they met that day. But if Jongin is fine with it then he sees no reason to complain.

"I'm almost done anyway." Jongin says, patting himself down with a towel. Kyungsoo pointedly looks at anywhere but Jongin's torso, knowing that it will give him complicated feelings. He really does not need those feelings right now. He replays Jongdae's teasing, about him and Jongin ending up dating eventually in his head, and grits his teeth stubbornly hoping to prove him wrong. He's a professional , dammit, and this is a business relationship. That is all this will be.

He squeezes out a blob of toothpaste and starts brushing his teeth slowly, waiting for Jongin to leave like he said he would. He takes his sweet time with it, putting his things back into his travel bag and zipping it up. Kyungsoo looks at himself in the mirror and wishes his cheeks weren't pink, it's probably pretty obvious why he's flushed. Why isn't he leaving?

Kyungsoo is long done by the time Jongin finally decides to disappear. He spits into the sink and rinses. His mouth felt like it was on fire while waiting for Jongin to leave. What was that all about? Was that even a thing, or was it just his imagination? He takes a deep breath and shrugs. Whatever. Maybe he just likes to take his time with his evening routine or something.

He leans both hands on the sink and stares at his reflection.

"Time to go to bed and figure out what to do tomorrow." He sighs.

Sleeping with a stranger, however attractive or nice, in the next room is going to be weird.