It’s almost 11am before their first customer of the day rolls in. The week after any Christian holiday is always slow, especially if it’s an important one like Easter. Jinki sits at the counter, almost falling asleep for the millionth time. The bell on the door chimes and Jinki opens his eyes to see a young woman walking in timidly.

“Good morning, miss.” he calls out.

She looks startled until he waves, making his position more obvious.

“Oh. Hello. Do you own this shop?”

“I am one of the owners, yes.” he says, walking around the counter so he doesn’t have to speak so loudly. “Is there something in particular you’re looking for that I could assist you with?”

“Oh. I...I don’t know yet.”

“There’s no hurry here, miss. If you decide you would like some help, my name is Jinki.”

She nods and starts wandering. As Jinki expects, she lingers on the potion side. He moves to the spell side, reorganizing a box of crystals which had been spilled during the night. From above, he can hear Jonghyun and Taemin working. Their songs are different, but when they briefly meet up, the harmony is haunting.

“Is there...is someone...where is the singing coming from?” the woman asks.

“It’s from our two spellcasters, miss. They’re working upstairs. You needn’t mind them.”

She nods and goes back to looking at a truth serum.

“Are you in love or out of it?” Jinki asks after a while, curiosity starting to burn.

The woman looks up, seemingly frightened.

“I apologize, miss. I’m a fortune teller. I can see that love is the issue on your mind, but I can’t see any further than that.”

“I don’t, I don’t really know. If I wanted, could you tell me?”

“Of course, miss. There’s a small fee, but the peace of mind is worth it, no?”

She nods and follows Jinki back towards the counter. He pulls out a deck of tarot cards and lays the Major Arcana out. He doesn’t actually need the cards, but he’s found over the years that something familiar like this helps ease customers to a point at which they can be read.

“Pick four for me, if you will, and I’ll be able to work from there.”

She examines the cards for a few minutes.

“What are they of?”

“It depends. Don’t worry about what they are, just pick the ones that speak to you.”

Unsurprisingly her first choice is the Lovers. Jinki gets a flash of a young man’s face. He’s laughing, which is a good sign. When she picks the Fool, the man is in an empty park but the sun is shining behind him. Next is the High Priestess. Trees appear, and the man starts running in and out of sight. Her last choice is Justice. The man stops running, but he also stops laughing. She hands him the four cards and looks at him expectantly.

“There’s a man you care about. He says he also cares, but his actions don’t always reflect that. His sweetness is wonderful but he’s also prone to leaving without so much as a word. You ask him for reassurance, but he does not change his behavior to match. You want him to make a decision to stay or to leave, but you know that even if you ask, he will not give you an answer. So you’ve come to us, looking for a way to elucidate his feelings. But now that you’re here, you’re afraid of a truth serum because you don’t want him to leave. You’re also afraid of a love potion, not eager to repeat the failed love of your older sister.”

When he finishes speaking, she cries and nods. He collects the deck into a neat pile and offers her his hand. When she takes it, a collection of images pop into his head of probable futures. He can see her happiest when the man leaves.

“What should I do?” she asks when she composes herself.

“I think for your happiness, the truth serum would make you happiest in the end.”

There’s a clang and the door to the basement opens. Minho’s head peaks out and when Jinki nods, he finishes climbing out. He pulls his bucket up and then closes the door. He sets a lunch plate on the back counter for Jinki before heading to the stands with his bucket.

“Minho, this lady has a question about the potions. Do you have a moment to answer them for her?”

The woman seems surprised and looks between the two of them.

“Of course. Just let me get these set and I’ll be happy to help you.”

She walks over to him and once he’s put all his new love potion bottles out, he listens to her dilemma. Jinki tunes the conversation out, focusing on his sandwich instead. He watches Minho pick up bottle after vial after bottle, explaining the benefits and warnings of each in turn. When she’s chosen, Minho gives her instructions on a piece of paper on how to use it properly and leads her back to the counter. Jinki rings her up quickly, money falling into Kibum’s jar, and she sets off happily, vial in hand.

“I know you must’ve been starving with all the business we’ve had this morning.” Minho teases once the door closes.

“Oh yes. I almost had to call you for backup it was so busy. I could barely handle it all.”

They laugh and Minho picks up the plate to take back down with him.

“Your tarot cards are wonderful, by the way. I think the fact that they aren’t labelled in a way they can read them is helpful.” Jinki says, putting the deck below the desk again. “Also the fact that the images are neither obvious nor typical.”

“Good, I’m glad. I would hate to have spent all that time drawing just for it to make things harder for you.”

“How did you come up with them? I know I could look for myself, but I’m too lazy and looking to the past is hard.”

“My mama had a deck like that when I was little. When she taught me how to do readings, it was with that deck. I just put my own flourish on them.”

Jinki hums and kisses Minho’s cheek. “Maybe we should’ve put your mama’s name on the sign when we changed it. She seems to be behind every trick we have in our book.”

Minho smiles and pulls away when the shop door opens.

“Hello, Mr. Yang. Kibum’s finishing your tincture now, come on in.”