1. POISONOUS

 

“Will you hand me that bottle, sweets?”

Jonghyun reaches for the jar that Minho’s pointing at, holding it up to inspect its contents before handing it over. The bright red berries inside look appetizing, but he knows by now not to try it. Minho opens it, smells it, closes it again. He reaches behind him, where his vial of morning dew is sitting, and adds it to the cauldron in front of him. It’s an odd day when Minho lets Jonghyun sit with him during potion brewing. Normally it’s reserved for Minho and Ki to do together. With Ki out on a trip, however, Jonghyun is eager to fill in for company.

“So what are you making?”

“A potion to help with internal bleeding and discoloring. Or as Ki calls it, Bruise Juice.”

Jonghyun giggles a little while Minho starts to hum. His magic eye turns around and around and Jonghyun can’t help but to zone out watching. Eventually Minho taps on his leg and he’s brought back to the moment.

“You okay?”

“Yeah. I just don’t hear you sing often is all.”

Minho smiles, seemingly pleased with the compliment.

“Why don’t we call it bruise juice in the shop?”

“When we -- Ki and I -- first started selling it, we did. But a lot of kids would buy it thinking it will make fake bruises so we changed the name.”

Jonghyun nods in understanding, then silently continues to watch Minho work on the potion. After a while, he finally picks up the jar of berries and opens it.

“What is that?”

“Black bindweed. It was originally used as a poultice on its own for bruises and joints. When I was making this potion I thought it might make it better so I did some research and experimenting. It compliments nicely to my original formula.”

“Wait, I was just reading that herb manual Ki loves so much, isn’t black bindweed poisonous?”

“Only when raw.” Minho replies, pouring a few berries into his mouth.

“So those are cooked?”

Minho shakes his head.

“So they’re...dried?”

He shakes his head again.

“So you’re eating a raw poison berry??”

Minho spits the chewed up berry mash into the pot then turns to Jonghyun. There’s a pleased smirk on his face that’s unfamiliar and it makes him uneasy. Minho opens his mouth; Jonghyun squeaks in surprise to see that the inside of his mouth is covered in something akin to black tar.

“What is that? Are you dying? Is that what the bindweed does?”

Minho spits the black stuff into his hand; he opens his mouth once more for Jonghyun to inspect: it’s returned to its normal healthy pink hue. The black stuff in his hand shrivels down and Minho tosses it into the fire.

“It’s a barrier. The berries work best when chewed up, oddly enough. That’s what my spell was for.”

“Oh. So it’s like a mouth spell?”

Minho snorts, expression somewhere between amused and pained.

“Yeah, I guess you could describe it that way.”

“Neat. You’ll have to teach me sometime.”

Minho laughs again, extinguishing the cooking flame.

“I think you and Jinki are doing fine as you are.”

“No!! Not for that! What if we meet a rival coven and they try to poison me?” Jonghyun fusses, ears turning red.

“Then I’ll brew you an antidote, sweets.”

2. TRANQUIL

 

“So what’s so special about morning dew that it’s so popular in your potions?” Tae asks.

They’ve tagged along on Minho and Jinki’s trip to the field at the edge of the city to watch how they collect it.

“Dew comes up from the ground, a type of condensation. It forms only on cool cloudless nights that follow a clear warm day. So not only is it pure from the earth, it’s also clean from the moon.” Jinki answers.

“So it’s like...double distilled water?”

Minho and Jinki laugh.

“Yeah, I guess you could describe it that way.”

Minho walks a few paces ahead of them, mostly silent as he stares ahead. Tae holds onto Jinki’s hand; it’s before dawn and the lack of light makes them nervous.

“Why do we have to go out so far?”

“There’s a huge field at the end of this road. If we go there, we can collect enough at once to keep Minho going for a month or more.”

“Does it take both of you to do it?”
“To collect it? No. Minho did it himself for a number of years before Jonghyun and I came along. Even before Ki.”

“So why do you come along?”

“Just in case.”

They continue walking in silence until they reach the field. Tae’s never been on this side of town before: the great expanse of green catches them off-guard. The dew is just starting to form as the sun just begins to peek up above the horizon.

“Tranquil, isn’t it?” Minho says.

Tae can only nod. He pulls the water sac off of his back, opening the cap up. There’s a hum -- the start of a spell -- and Tae’s surprised to realize that it’s from Minho. They glance up at Jinki, who in turn is watching Minho fondly. As the song grows stronger, the little droplets of dew rise up off of the grass into neat little lines. They continue gathering until the drop into the sac like beads into a bag. It makes a pleasant sound as it goes and it makes Tae feel peaceful. A few stray droplets whiz around, refusing to go in. They feel Jinki’s hand tighten on their hand and realize they’ve been harmonizing with Minho, interfering with his spell. The stray droplets neatly go into the sac. Jinki lets go of Tae’s hand to take off his sac as well and exchanges his empty one with Minho’s full one. The song continues until all three have a full sac to carry home. Minho finishes his spell and closes the last sac, putting it onto his back. The sun’s fully risen by the time they turn around to walk home. When they get inside the shop, Minho gives them each a kiss on the cheek as he takes their water sacs.  

“I didn’t know you could sing spells, Minho.” Tae finally manages.

“I can do a lot of things, dear.” Minho says with a wink as he heads down to the basement.

3. ROASTED

 

It’s an exciting day for Tae when Gwi invites them along to go to see Taeyeon -- the florist who lives six shops down. Though her magic isn’t terrible strong, her way with plants is amazing. Her family and Minho’s had been friends for several generations; now that it was just the two of them, they continued the rapport. She supplies most -- if not all -- of the herbs and plants that Minho and Gwi need for potion making.

“What is Taeyeon like?” Tae asks as Gwi searches around for their basket.

“She’s kind. A bit shy. Sort of like you, I guess.”

Tae hums and works on lacing up their own boots. Shoes on, they head out to the street. It’s empty -- on account of it being 5am -- but the freshly risen sun basks them in a pleasant warmth. They hold hands as they walk; it’s new, between the two of them, but they’ve both committed to becoming friendlier so Gwi doesn’t resist when Tae slips their hands together.

“Oh no, she’s closed?”

Gwi laughs softly and taps on the door a few times. It opens seemingly on its own. As Gwi leads Tae inside, they notice a long string of something similar to ivy attached to the door handle; it closes the door as they go inside.

“Taeyeon, it’s Gwi! I brought Tae to meet you!” Gwi calls out into the expanse of the shop.

It’s larger on the inside than it appeared to be from the street. Tae wonders if it’s been charmed to be this way or if the appearance is simply misleading. There’s a low murmur -- coming from various plants -- and many a specimen moves of its own free will.

“I’m out in the greenhouse!” comes a call from further within.

Not letting go of their hand, Gwi pulls Tae through the winding maze of the shop. Eventually they pass out a back door and into a small glass greenhouse. It’s also seemingly larger on the inside, no doubt charmed with the same spell.

“Good morning, my fine fluid friends.” Taeyeon says.

She clips a few flowers off of a bush and puts them on the table next to her before turning around. She’s fairly pretty to Tae’s eye and her smile is as warm as the greenhouse. Gwi picks up one of the blossoms from the table.

“I see your chamomile is recovering nicely.”

“Oh yes. Tell Minho thank you for the serum he made for them. It worked wonderfully and twice as fast as he said it would. Give me one second and I’ll get your jars.”

Gwi hums and Taeyeon continues cutting blossoms. Tae begins to look around timidly, afraid of what might happen if they touch any of the plants. Though both Gwi and Taeyeon assure them that nothing bad will happen, they still exercise the utmost caution. Eventually Taeyeon leaves with the basket, returning with it almost overfull of jars and leaf bundles.

“Everything on Minho’s list is in there, most of it is fresh from last night. Also, I put a jar of sun roasted tomatoes in there for Jonghyun, since I know he likes them so much.”

She hands Gwi the basket and Gwi hands her three vials from her pocket.

“These are from Minho. He didn’t say which was which, that you would know the potions on their own by now.”

Taeyeon smiles and nods.

“Give everyone at home my love,” she says, leaning forward to kiss Gwi’s cheek.

“I will, thank you for your help,”

Gwi returns the kiss and starts walking towards the door. Taeyeon turns to Tae and takes their hands in hers.

“It was nice to meet you finally, Tae. Stop by another time and I’ll show you around properly!”

Tae nods excitedly and  -- after a kiss on the cheek -- scampers off to follow Gwi back home.

4. SPELL

 

“Would you help me with a spell, honey?”

Jinki freezes for a moment, putting a hold on the kisses he’s been pressing into Jonghyun’s neck. Jonghyun continues cooking breakfast, scrambling the eggs in the pan.

“It’s just a little one, honey. I asked Minho and he said it would be alright.”

Jinki relaxes and continues his kisses, wrapping his arms around Jonghyun’s waist.

“What kind of spell did you have in mind, sweets?”

“A fire protection spell. For Taeyeon’s greenhouse.”

“Why not get Tae or Minho to help you, sweets?”

Jonghyun huffs, taking the cooked eggs off of the heat.

“I miss singing spells with you, honey. It’s been so long...”

Jinki sighs. Even after 15 years together, it’s still hard for him to say no.

“Alright, sweets. But don’t think this means I’m going to get back into chanting because we both know that I can’t.”

Jonghyun squeaks in excitement, rushing to portion out breakfast. Three of the bowls in hand, he gives Jinki a peck before rushing down the stairs. Jinki can’t help but laugh to himself as he hears the quick succession of thuds from Jonghyun running down the stairs. He grabs his bowl and starts eating, waiting for the second string of thuds to announce Jonghyun’s return.

“Minho sent his amulet, he said it would help!”

Jinki lowers his head so that the amulet can be slipped onto his neck. It’s not the first time he’s wore Minho’s amulet -- and it won’t be the last either -- but there’s still something special about it. The fact that he’s special enough to Minho that he readily gives up his most sacred possession -- albeit temporarily. Jonghyun ruffles Jinki’s hair as he walks past him to their supply cabinet. He pulls out their book of protective spells, plopping it down onto their worktable. Jinki sits across from him, watching with affection at the way Jonghyun huffs when the pages stick together. There’s a triumphant “aha!” when the page for fire retardant is found, followed by Jonghyun moving between the cabinet, the table, and the few shelves in the room to collect needed paraphernalia: a blue candle, a black candle, a brown candle, rosemary, sage, and a large bauble. Jinki waits patiently as he sets it up, glancing over the spell chant.

“Ready?”

Jinki nods. Jonghyun holds the bauble in his hand and Jinki places his over top. The song isn’t terribly long, taking no more five minutes for the spell to complete. Jinki’s voice is nowhere near as strong as it used to be, but it’s enough for this and soon the bauble is filled with blue smoke. When Jonghyun puts the candles out, Jinki moves his hand away. There’s a knock from behind them and they turn to see Minho coming up the stairs. He’s got an amused smile and a black jar.

“You’re not coming to steal my man, are you? I know he has a beautiful voice, but he’s mine first!” Jonghyun teases, putting up his fists in a half-assed attempt to look menacing.

Minho smiles, laughter playing at his lips; he ruffles Jonghyun’s hair as he walks by, earning a pout from the latter.

“Actually I came to get my amulet back. Tae spilled midnight sea foam all over the floor and now the basement is flooding,” he explains, putting the jar down on the table before turning to Jinki. “This is for you; your throat’s going to hurt when the amulet effect wears off. Drink it slow.”

With a kiss to Jinki’s forehead and a kiss to Jonghyun’s cheek, Minho heads back towards the stairs.

“It was nice to hear you singing again, Jinki."

5. CHICKEN

 

“So where are we going again?” Tae asks, clinging to Jinki.

“We’re flying to see my old master. I need to ask him something about your abilities but I can’t describe it in words.”

Still too inexperienced to ride by themself, Tae rides on the back of Jinki’s broom. Jonghyun flies beside them, basket of supplies and gifts hanging from his broom. They’d left just after dusk and by now the moon was nearing its highest point.The moon was as clear as Minho had predicted it’d be and Tae enjoys the feeling of moonbeams on their hair as they hold onto Jinki.

“Honey, are you sure we haven’t passed it?” Jonghyun asks. “It doesn’t usually take this long to get there...”

“No, we’re just a ways out yet, sweets. I’m flying slower than normal so I don’t drop the baby.”

“Hey! I’m not a baby!”

Jonghyun and Jinki laugh at Tae’s whine; they huff and lean into Jinki’s shoulder. There’s a few beats of silence -- all three taking in the moon and the night -- and then Jinki points at some distant spot.

“There it is! That little green light.”

Tae rubs their eyes but still can’t see where he’s pointing. If Jinki can see it, then it must not be far, so Tae simply waits for it to come better into view. They hear it before they see it: there’s a hum -- ever so faint -- like bells resonating in a chamber.

“What is that sound?” Tae asks when it gets louder.

“I got my knack for tinkering from my master. He’s played a lot with spells and things and found that if he started a spell and did a certain process, that he could get other objects to pick up the sound and continue the spell. The one you hear is a protection spell.”

“Oh.”

The house finally comes into view. It’s style is very different from that of the shop or any of the buildings in town; even from first glance it’s not hard to tell that the building is old. Very old. Jinki picks up the pace a little. He nods at Jonghyun, who zooms ahead.

“What’s he doing?”

“He’s announcing our arrival. I know he’s tired of flying so I figured I’d kill two birds with one stone by sending him forward.”

Tae watches Jonghyun land and walk up to the house. They can’t see who opens the door, but the smile on Jonghyun’s face helps soothe their nerves. Jinki quickly lands as softly as he can though Tae can feel his growing excitement. He takes their hand and leads them up to the door where an old man is waiting for them next to Jonghyun.

“Jinki, my boy, welcome! Jonghyun here tells me you have found your own protege?”

“Yes, sir. I need some guidance on how to train them; their skills are a little...odd.”

The man peers around Jinki to try and get a look at Tae. They feel embarrassed somehow when Jinki steps away, finding it hard to meet the eyes of their master’s master.

“Come inside, before the air turns. I have tea steeping as we speak.”

The old man walks inside first, beckoning for them to follow. Jonghyun goes first, followed by Jinki followed by Tae. As they walk down the hallway, lots of odd trinkets and treasures catch Tae’s eye. One in particular -- an extremely lifelike porcelain chicken -- makes them stop in their tracks.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

Tae looks towards the master, who’s come to stand by their side.

“It was a gift from my protege before Jinki. Completely magically made. Sometimes I think it even blinks.”

Tae hums in acknowledgement. They tap it on the head a few times, making small ‘ggo ggo’ sounds as they do. When the master moves away, Tae follows, trying harder to keep up this time. All four are taken by surprise when the sound of fluffing feathers comes from behind them, followed by a few surprised clucks. They all turn back to see the porcelain chicken moving around of its own accord as if it were real. The master and Jinki turn to look at each other in disbelief while Jonghyun and Tae attempt to catch the bird.

“I guess you weren’t exaggerating.”

6. DROOLING

 

After the third time that Tae wakes up they decide to head downstairs. They roll out of the empty bed normally shared with Jonghyun and Jinki -- who are out of town for some romantic alone time -- and feel their way towards the stairs. Carefully they creep down the stairs onto the shop level. Since it’s the middle of the night, it’s pitch black. They feel around, trying first to find the front desk (which they bump into twice) and then the hatch (which they trip over). It takes some time for them to unlatch the hatch door, half from sleepiness and half from not being able to see. When they finally get it open, they tentatively feel around for the ladder. Once they feel like they have a good grasp of it and aren’t going to fall down the hole, they make their way down into the basement. The moment they take their hands off of the sides of the ladder they realize two things: they have no light source and they forgot to close the hatch. So, back up the ladder they go. Once at the shop level again, they grab a candle from the front desk (Jinki always keeps some there for emergencies) and head back down -- being sure to close the hatch. Safely on the ground once more, they light it using the smallest flame they can produce; most of the ingredients in the workshop that they’re familiar with are pretty flammable; they don’t want to even guess how flammable the rest are.

Turning around to the corner where Minho’s bed is, something flashes and catches Tae’s eye. They shuffle closer -- trying not to trip on any of the random bits of ingredients and supplies on the floor. Soon the light is strong enough that they can make out where Minho and Ki lay curled up together. The smell of sweat and the sight of Minho’s bare shoulder catches Tae off-guard. Out of the corner of their eye, they see the light catching on something once more. Up in a jar on one of the shelves is Minho’s magic eye; it swirls around in the jar but keeps its gaze locked on Tae. They start to back away slowly, trying to retreat to the ladder, but it’s already too late.

“Is everything okay, Tae?” Minho asks, propping himself up ever so slightly.

“I...I just...”

Minho reaches up into the jar, pushing his eye back in. “Not used to sleeping alone anymore?”

“Well...you see...”

Minho reaches out a hand towards Tae. They take a step forward, stretching their hand just far enough that their fingers brush up against Minho’s. When Minho flinches they pull away.

“Those are some rough dreams. Do you want to sleep down here, my dear? There’s enough room for three.”

“I do but...”

“But?”

“It’s always just you two down here and I don’t...”

Minho lays back down, pulling away the blankets that cover Ki’s head. He nuzzles his nose against theirs, gently kissing at their cheek.

“Kiwi, my love, do you mind if Tae sleeps down here? They’re having bad dreams.”

There’s a hum -- barely audible -- from Ki.

“They’re alright with it, if you want to. Just come on this other side, okay?”

Tae nods and slowly makes their way across the room. Minho puts his eye back in the jar, shifting around so that he’s laying on his back. Ki curls up into his side once more and Tae does the same. It’s not long before all three are asleep.

When Tae wakes, there’s a notable lack of light: instead of the normal sunlight blaring in through the window, there’s only the soft glow from the fire underneath Ki’s cauldron.

“Good morning, sunshine. Did you get some sleep?” they say softly.

Tae hums, trying to figure out how they’re laying. They’re snuggled up to Minho’s back, fingers laced with his; when they try to sit up, Minho keeps them down. Ki softly laughs at Tae’s struggle.

“Sorry for interrupting your time together,” Tae whispers, giving up on getting up.

“Don’t worry about it, kiddo. I needed to get stuff done this morning anyway.”

“Has Minho always been this cuddly?”

Ki laughs again, pouring something into their cauldron.

“Oh yes. There’s nothing he likes to wake up to more than some snuggling and morning wood, though the drooling may...dampen the mood.”

Tae feels their cheeks going red as Minho shifts around.

7. EXHAUSTED

 

The energy in the shop slowly but surely changes from the time Minho and Jinki entered the backroom to the time they stumble out. With Valentine’s Day coming soon, Minho’s been working around the clock on love potions; he can’t refuse when a government official comes asking for a fortune. It’s long and complicated and the official has many questions. Jinki goes in with Minho to help him; it’s not the first time this official has come in and he knows that even at full strength a visit is difficult on Minho. They’re in the room for a little over four hours. Jonghyun watches the front desk while Gwi works below, trying to make sure that the love and beauty potion supply stays steady. Tae sits at the workdesk on the main level, working on decorating boxes and labels: they should be upstairs working on spells, but worry that their spells would hurt Minho’s powers stalled that. At long last, the official leaves the room. He places a sack of coins -- newly mint gold -- on the counter and waits for Jonghyun to count it out before silently leaving.

“Should we go check on them?” Tae asks when Jinki and Minho don’t follow the official out.

“Sometimes Jinki has to bring Minho back to the present, it’s best to give them a moment.”

Tae watches Jonghyun divide the coins evenly into two piles: there’s too many for them to fit into their regular income jars so he simply stacks them nicely between their jars on the shelf below. As Tae turns to go back to their label-making, they hear a faint knocking from the direction of the back room.

“Did you hear that?”

“Hear what, dear?”
Curiosity getting the better of them, Tae stands and walks over to the room. They put their ear up to the door, trying to listen to hear what’s inside. When there’s no response to their knock, they open the door just a crack. Minho’s sitting ramrod straight on his knees, hands frozen in front of him with a distant look in his eyes. Jinki sits in front of him, trying to wipe away the blood gushing from Minho’s nose. Jinki turns at the sound of the door.

“Get Gwi,” he says weakly, “he’s too far.”

Fearing the worst, Tae stumbles back out and rushes to the hatch. They don’t bother to go down, opting to stick their head down instead.

“Gwi! Jinki needs you!”

Gwi comes rushing up the ladder the moment Tae’s head is out of the way. They rush by, a whirlwind of skirts swishing towards the back room. Tae follows -- partially out of concern and partially out of curiosity. They follow Gwi in, sitting down by Jinki’s side. Gwi holds a poultice up to Minho’s nose in an attempt to stop the flow.

“What’s the matter with Minho?”

“The scope of the fortune was huge. Multiple futures in multiple frames. Sometimes when he gets out there, he forgets the way back. He’s stuck in the kaleidoscope.”

Tae doesn’t understand, but hushes when Gwi shushes them. Jonghyun comes in, tapping Gwi on the shoulder.

“Here’s his amulet. I’m going to close the shop for a while, so we can get them downstairs.”

Gwi nods and Jonghyun departs. Tae thinks to follow, but Jinki scoots so that he can lay his head in their lap. Gwi moves the poultice away, seemingly pleased that the bleeding has stopped. They put a hand over one of Minho’s, holding the other up to his cheek, and press their foreheads together.

“If you can hear me, come back to me.” they whisper.

Tae goes to ask what Gwi’s doing, but Jinki shushes him before he has a chance. Gwi holds themself as still as they can as Minho starts blinking and shifting around.

“Kiwi,” he says with a soft attempt at a smile.

All at once, he falls forward into their waiting arms.

“I’m so tired, Kiwi.”

“You look exhausted, darling.” Gwi says, kissing the crown of his head.

Jonghyun comes back in and taps Tae on the shoulder.

“Come on, let’s get our man into bed while Minho rests up a bit.”

8. STAR

 

When Minho and Gwi need to collect stardust, Tae tags along. They don’t ask if they can and they’re not invited either, but there’s a mutual feeling that it’s alright. They end up at the same field where they collected morning dew. Gwi carries a little pail and Minho has a mismatched pair of gloves, one a baseball mitt and the other an oven mitt. As the shooting stars start, Tae stays a distance away from Minho and Gwi so they can watch.

“Alright, I’m going to go for this one.” Minho says, putting his gloved hand up.

He walks then runs backwards; his eye never leaves the silver ball hurling towards them. Tae watches as the star comes closer and closer to them. Gwi follows a bit slower, ensuring that Minho has enough room.  He’s knocked off of his feet as the star hits the dead center of the baseball glove. It struggles in his grasp and he brings his other hand up to keep it in place.

“Gwi! Hurry!”

Gwi runs the short distance between them, helping Minho roll up onto his knees. He desperately shakes the star as Gwi holds the pail just beneath. Tae squats down so they can see the stardust fall: it reminds them of snow -- or rather what snow would look like if it were made of diamonds. The star eventually wriggles its way out of Minho’s grasp and flits away back into the sky.

“Did we get enough?” he pants, sitting down to rest.

Gwi holds the pail up to eye level, shaking it to even out the contents.

“If we do, it’ll be close.”

Minho lays back with a sigh.

“Could...could I give it a try? I used to play baseball at the orphanage and I was always way in the outfield.” Tae asks.

Gwi and Minho look at each other and Minho silently takes off his gloves before throwing them to Tae. They’re thankful that today’s a masculine day: pants are infinitely more comfortable to run around in than the fluffy skirts they usually wear for feminine days. They slip the gloves on quickly. They’re a little big, since Minho’s hands are so much larger than theirs, but they do their best to make sure they’re secure.

“Get ready, another one is coming up. You want to catch it like a baseball, and then once you’re sure it’s in your glove you want to hold it there with your other hand. You have to shake it pretty hard for the dust to come off.”

Tae tries to keep all of Minho’s instructions in mind as the falling star gets closer and closer. When it’s close enough, they stretch their arm out to meet it. Just like Minho, they’re knocked off their feet by the force of it. Gwi arrives as they roll over and reminds them to shake it. They don’t get much off of it -- maybe a quarter of what Minho was able to get -- but it’s enough.

“You alright, dear?” Minho asks when Tae lays back.

“Yeah.”

He laughs fondly and walks over.

“Are we good now?” he asks Gwi, peering into the bucket.

“Yup. Definitely.”

They start feeling around in their pockets and pulls out a lid for the pail, making sure it’s securely on before setting it down.

“What’s the lid for?” Tae asks.

“Stardust is incredibly hot when we harvest it so it’s to make sure no one gets burns from it sloshing around. It also keeps it contained so we don’t lose any and keeps it fresh.”
Tae nods, still trying to catch their breath. Minho comes closer, squatting in front of them.

“Come on, I’ll carry you back.”

9. PRECIOUS

“So could you just like...create things if you wanted?” Tae asks through a mouth full of pasta.

The other four look up from their plates.

“You’re going to have to be a little more specific than that,” Jinki says.

Tae stays quiet for a moment, trying to formulate the question that’s burning on their tongue. The others go back to eating while they wait.

“So if someone....like whoever that man with the moustache and the coat that makes him important-”

“The government official.” Ki corrects.

“If the government official comes in and is like ‘I need a thing to be created’ could you do that?”

“Depends on the thing.” Minho says before taking a bite of his meatball. “Emotions? Yes. Protection? Yes. Hallucinations? Yes. Could I make him gold coins? No.”

“So you can’t make precious things?”

“Emotions are a precious thing, Tae.” Jonghyun says softly.

“Yeah but like not like gems or things?”

“No, Tae. Now finish your supper.” Ki chides.

Tae pouts but does as they’re told. The rest of dinner passes in mostly silence. When they’ve all finished, they draw lots for clean up: it’s Jonghyun and Tae’s turn for the fourth time that week. Out of the corner of their eye, Tae sees Minho and Jinki touches hands. It always interested them how they could have a conversation in an instant like that, simply reading each other’s mind.

“Tae, you can’t let the dishes pile up like that, you have to rinse them off!” Jonghyun nags.

“Oh, sorry.”

“If you don’t the soap will dry onto it and ruin your food next time.”

Tae does their best to catch up to Jonghyun’s pace.

“Tae, when you two are done cleaning up, I want you to take a walk with me.” Minho whispers.

“Just go ahead and go. I’ll finish cleaning up. You seem a little distracted anyway.”

Minho leans in to kiss Jonghyun’s cheek. “Thank you, sweets.”

“Yeah, yeah, you always say that.”

They both put their boots on and head outside. Minho normally walks at this hour, but it’s the first time Tae is joining them for it.

“So...” Tae starts.

“So?”

“What...what did you want to talk to me about?”

“I just thought you might like to join me on my walk.”

Minho’s smile is odd as if he’s hiding something, but they continue walking. Minho holds his arm out and Tae takes it. It’s not cold yet but there is a distinct chill so they walk close together. They walk through the center of town, ending up at the small park near town hall. Minho sits on a bench near the entrance and Tae follows.

“Why do you want to know what kind of things I can create?” Minho asks.

“I was just curious.”

“There are witches out there who can. That play with alchemy. I have a book on it, a few actually. They’re my uncle’s.”

“Your uncle is an alchemist?”

“Was.”

“Oh...oh I’m sorry...”

“No need to be sorry, Tae. That was a long time ago, before I was born.”

“So you don’t do alchemy because of what happened to your uncle?”

Minho laughs. “My uncle didn’t die from alchemy. Others have, but he didn’t. He was killed in a fire. I don’t do alchemy because it’s not interesting to me.”

“It’s not?”

“Nope. I think my potion work is interesting enough.”

“I didn’t mean to make it sound like what you do isn’t important...”

Minho takes Tae’s hand. A multitude of images and memories flit through their mind; wave after wave of emotions hit them hard. When Minho lets go Tae leans forward, trying to catch their breath.

“Gems and other objects are precious yes, but it’s emotions that make people tick. It’s the love of, the craving for, the defense of those objects that make them valuable.”

Minho stands and starts walking, not waiting for Tae to follow.

“There’s more to this life than what meets the eye, Tae. The quicker you understand that, the quicker magic will make sense to you. ”

10. FLOWING

 

Minho’s in the middle of making a new batch of beauty potion when there’s a knock on the hatch door.

“Gwi, my love, can you check what Jinki wants?”

He finishes his potion as Gwi climbs up the ladder.

“Minho, it’s Hodong.”

As soon as Gwi moves out of the way, Minho’s grabbing his medicine bag and climbing the ladder with frightening speed. Jinki’s waiting for him at the top. With a touch, he’s able to hear the whole conversation. He runs out the door in the direction of the school. There’s screaming -- so much screaming -- and he knows he has to hurry. Up two flights of stairs and down a hallway he finds Hodong.

“Minho! Minho please!” Hodong cries out.

He has his son Sihoo in his arms. There’s blood flowing from the boy’s nose and left eye, body paralyzed in Hodong’s grip. Minho opens his bag and pulls out vial after vial until he finds the one he needs. He pulls the stopper off, pouring the thick blue liquid over his hand. He does his best to cover Sihoo’s nose and eye with his hand but it’s hard with the way his head is thrashing around. The potion starts to work and soon the movement and the blood slow. He starts to hum, starting his spell song once the blood has stopped completely: he wills it to flow back to where it was before, so that Sihoo won’t have an anemic episode. The spell is long and difficult and he hopes he can finish without interference.

“Sir! Sir there’s no magic allowed on these premises!” comes a voice from behind them, accompanied by a pair of footsteps.

There’s a hand on his shoulder, but he shakes it off.

“Please! Let him finish! My son! Please spare them!” Hodong begs.

Minho does his best to hurry the spell as the men behind him start to pull at him again. While he doesn’t want to fight against them and hurt them, he also knows the danger that not finishing the spell puts Sihoo in. He shoves his free hand into his bag, feeling around for the bag of sap he knows is there. He gets some on his hands before grabbing the wrists of the two school officials. They start screaming and let go. He puts all of his focus back into the spell, trying to repair what damage may have been done when he was preoccupied. When he finishes, he pulls his hand away from Sihoo. The boy stays still for a moment before blinking and sitting up.

“Daddy?” he asks, turning to Hodong as if nothing had been wrong.

Hodong heaves a sigh of relief before holding Sihoo close to him. Minho pulls out a soaker rag out of his bag to clean up his hands.

“There may be a tiny bit of blood that comes back out, that got misdirected when we were...” Minho pauses to glance at the school officials behind him, “interrupted. If it does, just bruise some of the yarrow leaves I gave you last time and hold it to it. If it stops the bleeding he’ll be fine. If it doesn’t or it’s a lot of blood like this time, call me again.”

“What...what did you do to them?” Hodong asks, pointing at the two men who lay screaming on the floor.

“The sap of the pain bush causes a skin rash with a burning sensation. I’m immune to it luckily enough, so it comes in handy when I run into....sticky situations. They’ll be alright. Everyone will be alright.”

Hodong nods, relieved,  as Minho stands and turns to the two officials.

“I’d give you a treatment for your arms, but magic isn’t allowed on the premises. My shop is the Five Witches Emporium, on the edge of town. The burning sensation will subside in no more than a week if you’d rather deal with it on your own.”

Without waiting for a response, Minho leaves.