~

“Hey, Ryeowook. What’s on today’s menu,” Kyuhyun asked instead of a normal greeting. Kyuhyun had already set himself up at one of the tables while Ryeowook finished with a different customer. He had also seen Heechul when he came in and exchanged a brief hello.

“Chocolate filled puff pastries, apple pie, and peanut butter cookies. Or as usual, some sandwiches if you don’t want something sweet,” Ryeowook automatically responded. When he actually looked up and realized it was Kyuhyun talking to him, he instantly changed his tone. “You going to actually buy something today?”

“I was thinking about it,” Kyuhyun said, the change in tone not going unnoticed. Kyuhyun knew that Ryeowook obviously didn’t really like him, but that didn’t mean that Kyuhyun was just going to leave it like that. He’s known Ryeowook for a short while now, even if they haven’t talked to each other much, he knows just how sarcastic and snarky he can be. And Kyuhyun has no issues with giving snark and sarcasm right back. “Though maybe I should ask who made what so I can be sure to buy Taekwoon’s snacks instead,” Kyuhyun teased.

“Well when we work together in the kitchen, it gets a little confusing and you start to forget who worked on what. Especially when we rotate some of the treats, it makes it harder to remember if I made the cookies this time or if I’m remembering last time. So, I’m afraid you will just have to take your chances,” Ryeowook said switching to sounding overly polite.

“Of course, completely understandable. In that case, I’ll go for a slice of the pie and some coffee, please,” Kyuhyun responded, keeping up with Ryeowook’s change of tone.

“Certainly.” Ryeowook prepared Kyuhyun’s order and continued to check him out at the register. “Now, I regret to inform you that due to your earlier comment there is an additional ten cent fee to your order, but because you actually chose to buy something, two somethings even, I am feeling generous enough to give you a bit of a discount on that fee and bring it down to two cents.”

“That is quite generous of you. I’m not sure I would have been able to afford such a hefty fee otherwise.” Ryeowook just rolled his eyes and looked annoyed that Kyuhyun didn’t falter at all during their exchange while he rang him up. Kyuhyun waited until he turned away to quietly laugh to himself especially when he did notice the two-cent charge on his receipt.

Kyuhyun took his snack back to the table he set up for himself and set himself to work. He had already grabbed a couple books off the shelved he knew he would need when he first came in and was very careful to keep them clean and away from his food. The last thing he would want to do his have to pay for a book he only planned to use once, just because he spilled something on it.

Sometime while he was working on his paper one of Jongwoon’s dogs, the white one, Melo, Kyuhyun remembers from Hangeng's introductions, came over looking for some attention. Kyuhyun reached down to pet her but she would constantly move around him. Melo kept bouncing on to her back legs, reaching out with her front paws to Kyuhyun's legs, looking very expectantly at Kyuhyun. Eventually Kyuhyun decide to pick her up and set her on his lap, which was exactly what she was hoping for, as she immediately made herself comfortable. Kyuhyun figured the best thing to do was to just let her stay and occasionally pet her while he worked, which seemed to also satisfy Melo. And not long after, Jongwoon's other dog, Kkoming, laid down next to his foot, Kyuhyun only just barely noticing the weight against his foot.

Completely focus in his work, Kyuhyun had mostly tuned out everything around him. He was only snapped out of his focus when Jongwoon dramatically slumped into the chair across from him looking completely dejected.

“I didn’t want to believe it until I saw it with my own eyes,” Jongwoon mumbled so quietly that Kyuhyun was surprised he still managed to hear it.

“See what,” Kyuhyun questioned, taking a quick look around for anything out of the ordinary, but only saw Ryeowook snickering behind the counter.

“You have both Melo and Kkoming.” Kyuhyun couldn’t help but compare Jongwoon to a child who had their favorite toy taken away. It was a side of him, that Kyuhyun has never seen in their short time of knowing each other and currently it was just confusing him.

“Should I not? Do you not want people to hold either? Melo just came over, so I humored her. She’s not bothering me. And Kkoming just kind of settled there,” Kyuhyun attempted to explain, which was apparently not what Jongwoon wanted to hear.

“Why do they love everyone but me? I take care of them, but they give their love to others.”

“Oh, stop pouting. It’s probably because you like to dress them up and make them stay put so you can take ten thousand pictures of them every day,” Ryeowook interjected, looking both amused and annoyed at Jongwoon. Kyuhyun was paying more attention to Jongwoon that he hadn’t noticed when Ryeowook came to stand at the side of their table.

“But they look so cute dressed up, and it takes multiple shots to get the right one.”

“You dress them up,” Kyuhyun questioned, glancing down at Melo who was completely ignoring the conversation.

“If you’re curious, look up his social media. It may as well be the dogs’ page, but he posts everything about them on there.” Ryeowook pulled out his phone just to show Kyuhyun proof.

While the two were flipping through the pictures, the front door slammed open, making just about everyone in the store jump and turn their attention to the door. Taekwoon was standing there, completely soaked, out of breath, and holding one arm across his chest. He shied and ducked his head down when he realized all the attention focused on him and quickly rushed up to the loft. Both dogs also perked up and immediately followed.

“Didn’t you have Wonshik,” Jongwoon started to ask, but trailed off when he heard the door upstairs close.

“So, any bets to what he’s hiding in his jacket today,” Heechul called down from the loft, moving to lean against the railing so he could at least see Ryeowook and Kyuhyun from above.

“Well it’s obviously something small, so most dogs are out unless it’s a very young puppy,” Ryeowook pointed out.

“Kkoming and Melo followed, so it’s something they would be interested in,” Jongwoon added, no longer looking upset.

“Yeah, he had to make sure they didn’t enter the apartment with him,” Heechul said. “And here comes Wonshikie.” The other three all turned their attention back to the door and sure enough, a just as, if not more so, soaked Wonshik walked in.

“I take it Taekwoon got home already,” Wonshik said when he saw everyone looking at him.

“Yup. We were just discussing it. What took you so long,” Heechul asked.

“He ran, I walked.”

“When did it start raining, it was clear when I came here,” Kyuhyun asked, not sure what the others were talking about with Taekwoon exactly, and a little shocked to see it pouring outside.

“Like twenty minutes ago, or so. We were trying to get back before it hit, but Taekwoon got distracted.”

“So, what did he bring home,” Ryeowook finally asked.

“Cats.”

“Cats? Just how many cats?”

“Two, a mother and a kitten,” Wonshik answered Jongwoon and went on to explain further when he just raised an eyebrow at the statement. “They’re really small so I’m not sure just how old it is, but they were hiding in an alley and the mom looked to be in bad shape.”

“Malnourished or injured,” Heechul asked.

“Probably more malnourished, but I’m not sure. Taekwoon looked at them more than I did.”

“Alright, come up and dry off. I’m going to grab a couple things from the kitchen first and then I’ll be in there,” Heechul instructed, coming downstairs finally. Wonshik nodded and quickly headed upstairs, still making sure the dogs stayed in the store and out of the apartment for the time being.

“I moved the emergency kit to the lower cabinet so it’s with the rest of the pet stuff. I just replaced the electrolyte additive, so everything should be good to use,” Jongwoon said once Heechul reached them. He didn’t bother to stop though, just giving a thumbs up in passing. Ryeowook had also gone to grab a couple towels and the mop to soak up as much water as possible at the entrance while everyone else was still talking.

“Does Taekwoon do this often,” Kyuhyun questioned, finally caught up with their conversation.

“Not too much, but frequently enough that it doesn’t surprise us. He really like animals and can’t help but pick up the ones in need when he sees them. It’s been a while since we’ve had extra animals in the house.”

“What do you do with them?”

“Well if they are injured or sick, we do our best to rehabilitate them. Or we take them to the vet if it seems outside of our abilities. Then we check if they have been chipped or not. If they have, we contact the owners, if not, we post about them on the bulletin board outside to see if there is an owner out there. If they have been with us for a while, then we offer them out for adoption and find them a good home.”

“There’s a board outside?”

“Have you never noticed? It’s on the building just past the first sets of windows before the chairs out there. It’s kind of a community board. People can post things on it, though it’s mostly used by our neighboring businesses to promote events and what not. But now, people know to check there for missing pets in the area on the chance that we found them, though because of that the community will post on their own too.”

“Ah, yeah, we have a couple of those around the university for the students to use. You also know, I never walk in from that direction,” Kyuhyun pointed out.

“I think that just means you are unobservant.”

“Rude and untrue.” Jongwoon just laughed as Kyuhyun stared him down as if it would change Jongwoon’s mind. Instead Jongwoon changed topics.

“So, still working on that same paper?”

“No, I finished that yesterday. I’ll just have to look over it again in a few days to make sure I’m still happy with it and then it’ll get submitted the middle of next week. I actually had it almost complete by the time I left here the other day. One of my other professor’s added a last-minute paper to our schedule this morning, so I’m working on that. It’s a short one, I’ll have it done quick enough. I also have a test coming up tomorrow that I’m planning on studying a little bit for here.”

“Do you usually have a big break like this? Cause that seems like you have a lot planned.”

“I’m missing my middle class today. The professor had some event or something, I don’t remember exactly what it was, but it was planned months ago, so we all knew we would be missing that class this week since the beginning of the semester. I have one more class a little later, so I didn’t feel like heading all the way home and you already know how I feel about the university library,” Kyuhyun explained.

“Yes, I do,” Jongwoon stood up, startling Kyuhyun slightly as he had not been expecting him to get up so suddenly. “Well, I should probably go see what Heechul had been working on and continuing it since he is now otherwise occupied.”

“What? Not going to go check on them?”

“No. Not right now. If I went in there now, I would just be in the way. I’ll leave that to Heechul. Besides, I have a feeling I should be giving the dogs some attention before we start hearing them whine at the door or something.”

“With how quick they were to follow Taekwoon, you’re probably right.”

“Well, you go back to your work. Just shout if you need something, I should mostly just be in the loft.”

“Sure, don’t let me keep you from doing your job,” Kyuhyun gently waved Jongwoon off. “Last thing you want is Ryeowook calling you out on it again.”

“I’m sure I’ll hear about it later. Let me know when you’re leaving if I’m still upstairs.” When Kyuhyun agreed, Jongwoon left him with a smile and a pat on the shoulder.

~

“So, how did the test go,” Henry asked when everyone sat down for some lunch.

“Not bad, I got some extra studying in yesterday since I didn’t have a class,” Kyuhyun responded, while Hyukjae groaned.

“I probably failed.” Hyukjae turned and stared at Kyuhyun, “if you had extra time, why didn’t you help me study?”

“Because while I have extra time this week, you don’t. You do remember that we only share three classes this semester, right?”

“Excuses. Just tell me you want me to fail next time.” Kyuhyun just rolled his eyes, watching Hyukjae slump himself across the table, looking entirely pitiful.

“Oh, stop being so dramatic. You throw a fit after every test claiming that you failed and then turn around and actually get a pretty decent grade on it.”

“If I don’t throw a fit then I will fail the test,” Hyukjae exclaimed as if that explained everything. Though the only person who seemed to agree with him was Donghae, who was trying to console Hyukjae while also texting.

“How,” Henry finally asked.

“Every time I have complained and thrown a fit about a test for this class, I have managed to pass it. So, if complaining means I pass then that automatically means that if I act confident or indifferent about it, I'll fail.”

“That's,” Henry paused still in disbelief, “not how things work.”

Donghae shrugged and hummed an ‘I don't know', “It makes sense to me.”

“Yes, but your dating him, so obviously you two work on the same wavelength,” Kyuhyun added. “Who are you texting anyways?”

“Sungmin,” Donghae replied honestly.

“What’s he doing? He should come join us,” Henry said.

“I don’t think that’ll happen right now. I think he’s working on one of the projects we got assigned the other day. And he knows Kyuhyun is here.” Donghae cringed at his own words as soon as he said them. While he knows it’s not a lie, and knows the others all know the same, he still feels horrible for voicing it aloud.

“It’s okay. I know he still doesn’t want to see me.”

“Sorry,” Donghae apologized, still feeling bad about the situation but Kyuhyun just waved him off and switched the topic.

As their lunch went on, Donghae continued to text Sungmin, though he tried to be a little less obvious about it. While he let the rest of his friend’s think it was just a casual conversation and a bit school related, Donghae was actually asking for ideas. They had previously decided that Donghae would take Kyuhyun’s second vial of ‘medicine’ while they were at lunch together, but it was on Donghae to figure out how. So far, all they knew was they needed to have an excuse to get into Kyuhyun’s bag.

The longer they took, the more stressed about it Donghae became, and Sungmin wasn’t much help since he wasn’t actually there. Donghae chance finally came when Henry wanted to show something to the group that required them to clear some space on the table. Kyuhyun had his now common bottle of water that he added his medicine to, but he also got himself some tea. So, while Donghae wasn’t going to mess with Kyuhyun’s water, he had no worries about doing anything to his tea

In the process of helping move some of the dishes out of Henry’s way, Donghae made sure to grab Kyuhyun’s cup of tea and focus a little magic into it. He made sure not to hold onto it for too long, so no one would be too suspicious. Donghae waited as patiently as possible for Kyuhyun to take his tea again, which while only a minute at most, it felt much long to Donghae who was hoping his plan would work. When Kyuhyun did take his drink, just before he could drink from it, the cup cracked and eventually broke spilling all the hot tea on him.

Everyone at the table jumped in their seats at the sudden breaking of the cup and earned them stares from people at neighboring tables as well. Immediately Henry offered to get stuff to clean up with, while Hyukjae began checking on Kyuhyun and leading him to the restroom. Donghae urged them to hurry and said that he would grab Kyuhyun’s spare clothes and meet them in just a moment. With everyone gone from the table for a moment and an excuse to get into Kyuhyun’s bag, Donghae went searching for the second vial he knew Kyuhyun would be carrying. Thankfully Donghae saw which part of the bag Kyuhyun had grabbed the last vial from, so he knew where to look for the other. Once he had the vial, he took a quick look around to make sure his friends were still gone, before slipping it in his pocket. Quickly he grabbed the clothes and rushed to meet Hyukjae and Kyuhyun.

Later that day, Kyuhyun was packing up after the only class he shared with Henry, when he noticed something wrong. After the incident at the restaurant, his backpack wasn’t as neatly packed as it usually was, so it took a little extra shifting to put his supplies away. In the process, he noticed that he only had one vial of his potion in its usual spot. Suddenly worried, Kyuhyun started pulling everything out of his bag to see if he could find it.

“Where the hell did it go,” Kyuhyun mumbled to himself. “I swear I grabbed two this morning.”

“What’s wrong,” Henry asked, causing Kyuhyun to startle.

“Oh, sorry Henry,” Kyuhyun said, not realizing his friend had stayed with him. “I’m just missing something. Don’t worry about it. You can go ahead and leave without me. You’re done for the anyways, right?”

“Yeah. I am. You sure. I can help you look if you want?”

“No, it’s alright,” Kyuhyun sighed, determining that it was definitely not in his bag. “I’m just going to make a call really quick before my next class starts, no reason for you to stay late.”

“Alright, well if you’re sure, then I’ll head out first. See you tomorrow then.”

Once Henry left, Kyuhyun pulled out his phone to call Jongwoon.

“Hey Kyuhyun, what’s wrong,” Jongwoon asked as soon as he answered. “It’s not like you to call.”

“Sorry. I have a question. What would happen if I missed a dose?”

“Well, you’ll weaken it’s effect mainly. It’s a potion that strengthens the longer and more consistently it’s taken. So, to miss one in the middle would drop the rate it’s working at by quite a bit and that might mean the curse can regenerate at a higher rate again until the potion can get back up to speed. What happened?”

“I was so sure that I packed two vials today, and I used my first at lunch, but I just noticed that I don’t have a second one with me.”

“I take it you don’t have time to run home or have family bring you one?”

“No. Parents always work late, and my sister is gone for the evening. And lunch was my last big break where I would have had time. I wasn’t sure what else to do, so I called you.”

“You’re in a bit of luck. That potion tends to make a couple more than the twenty-seven I give you a week, so I have a couple extra here at the shop.”

“I’m still not sure If I can make that. I barely have enough time to get something quick to eat at the convenience store across from the building my class is in before we start.”

“I can’t leave the shop tonight,” Jongwoon sighed and went silent for a minute. “Tell you what, I can have Taekwoon run it to you, I can spare him for a short while. Just text me when and where to have him meet you. I’ll pass your number to him if that’s okay as well so he can contact you if need be.”

“Yes, that’s fine. Thank you Jongwoon. I’m sorry to trouble you with this, I should have been more careful packing this morning and confirmed I had two on me.”

“I need to go now. I’ll see you later Kyuhyun.”

“Yeah, me too. See you,” Kyuhyun said quickly before Jongwoon hung up on him, feeling much more relieved now that Jongwoon can get him a new vial. Though he was worried that Jongwoon sounded a little annoyed over the phone. Jongwoon had been helping him so much already and he was starting to get close to him on a more personal level too, he really would hate to have Jongwoon mad at him. Especially since he has seen Jongwoon when he has gotten very serious and strict, Kyuhyun really doesn’t want to know how he is actually angry.

~

“Hey Donghae,” Henry shouted down the hallway as soon as he spotted Donghae and Sungmin talking.

“What’s up,” Donghae asked once he reached them, Sungmin greeting him as well.

“Did you take something from Kyuhyun’s bag earlier?”

“What? W-wh-why would you think that,” Donghae stuttered out.

“I saw you pocket something at the restaurant while getting Kyuhyun’s clothes. I didn’t see what but after class just now, Kyuhyun was panicking about something missing.”

“What did you do, Donghae,” Sungmin asked, playing innocently along to Henry’s accusations he though he already knew what Henry was talking about. Donghae had already given him the vial though to take home first, so even if Henry saw exactly what Donghae took, he wouldn’t find it with him anymore if he dared to look.

“Nothing. I don’t remember putting anything in my pocket earlier, I swear.” Donghae scratched the back of his head like he normally does whenever he is nervous. He honestly thought that none of his friends were able to see him in the restaurant, and he’s not sure what excuse he will need if Henry persists.

“Well I definitely saw you put something in there earlier. Seriously, he seemed really worried about it missing. So, if you took it please just give it back. I need to go catch my bus. I’ll see you both later.”

Donghae waited until Henry was completely before he continued his conversation with Sungmin.

“Dude, I thought you said no one noticed anything,” Sungmin said, still in a hushed tone just in case.

“I really thought no one did. I couldn’t see him, so I thought he couldn’t see me either. Either way, he doesn’t know what we took, so it’s not like he can confirm anything.”

“Yeah, but he said Kyuhyun was worried. You think whatever this potion is, it'll be bad if he misses one?” Donghae shrugged.

“We don’t even know what it is or if he even knows. That’s why we got one in the first place.”

Sungmin made the motion to start speaking a few different times but ended up just sighing.

“I’ll see what I an determine with the signature when I get home and let you know,” he eventually said instead of whatever he was debating on saying before.

~

Kyuhyun was pacing in main courtyard waiting for Taekwoon to show up. He had texted him that he was on his way a few minutes before the end of his last class and Kyuhyun was just hoping he would still have enough time to eat afterwards. His previous class was in a building just off of the courtyard however his last class of the day was on the far side of the campus and would take a few minutes to walk to still. He just figured it would be easier for Taekwoon to find him here than it would anywhere closer to his next class.

“Kyuhyun.” He heard Wonshik call his name at the same time as he saw the two a little further down the main path.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you Wonshik. Hi Taekwoon.”

“Yeah, Woonie called me to make sure he found your meeting spot alright. I’m a freshman here so I know my way around the campus more than he does,” Wonshik explained and Taekwoon nodded behind him.

“Here,” Taekwoon said as he handed over the vial. He also passed him one of the bags he was carrying. “Ryeowook and I made food. He was insulted about the idea of you getting convenience store food, but he said you would owe him eight cents and that I wasn’t allowed to leave unless you paid.”

“Why,” Wonshik questioned while Kyuhyun started laughing getting his wallet out and getting out the correct change.

“Don’t worry. I know what it’s for. Tell him thank you.”

“Well I’m still confused, but at least someone knows what’s going on.” Taekwoon shrugged as well, not knowing the reason either but accepted the money to take back.

“Are you usually here this late Wonshik?”

“No. I have a paper due on Friday and my laptop crashed so I’m trying to finish it at the computer lab tonight.”

“Oh, sorry to have interrupted you then.”

“It’s fine. A break is nice and I’m getting dinner and time with Taekwoon out of it, so I think it’s a win-win.”

“Trouble is coming,” Taekwoon announced confusing both of the others until he showed Wonshik his phone while he looked around otherwise.

“Trouble?”

“Two of our friends. They just messaged us and there they are,” Wonshik just managed to say before one of those said friends started shout their names and running towards them. Taekwoon carefully stepped out of the way and let Wonshik take the full impact of their friend’s tackle. Wonshik stumbled but managed to stay upright.

“Jae, could you not try to murder me just cause we haven’t seen each other in a day,” Wonshik asked, trying to pry himself free of the sudden hug he found himself in. ‘Jae’ did let him go, at least a little bit, now just holding him by the shoulders, starring wide eyed and mouth open instead.

“How could you say my love is an attempt at murder?”

“Easily,” the other friend who followed at a much slower pace stated.

“Binnie! Not you too.”

“I see what you meant now,” Kyuhyun quietly said to Taekwoon as the others argued, though it still managed to get everyone else’s attention.

“Who’s that,” Jae asked Wonshik.

“Oh, this is an upperclassman who also happens to be a regular at Taekwoon’s job and one of his boss’s friends. We were dropping something off for him. Kyuhyun, these are our friend Jaehwan and Hongbin,” Wonshik explained, introducing everyone.

“Nice to meet you. I need to be leaving though. Want to make sure I can eat before class starts. Thanks for dropping everything off and thanks again for the food. Tell Ryeowook the same.”

“Sure. See you Saturday,” Taekwoon asked for confirmation.

“Yeah. I’ll be in as usual. See you then,” Kyuhyun confirmed waving to the group one last time and getting enthusiastic goodbyes from the friends he just met as well.

~

“Sungmin,” Donghae shouted as he barged into Sungmin’s bedroom.

“Dude, what the hell? Why are you here so late? I thought we were going to discuss everything tomorrow.”

“Yeah, but something else happened. Look at these,” Donghae said handing a stack of photos over. Sungmin looked through the pictures that were of Kyuhyun talking with a couple of guys he didn’t recognize and eventually two more were in the pictures.

“What’s this? You do realize these photos look pretty stalkerish.”

“Kyuhyun met with them earlier and they handed him the bag he’s carrying and something else that I couldn’t see, but I’m betting it was a potion. I couldn’t tell which, but I’m pretty sure one of those two is a mage. I was getting the feeling from them that I usually get around other mages. And I was just coming out from a guest lecture I was getting extra credit for attending when I saw them. Do you know any of them?”

“I don’t know either of the first two. But him,” Sungmin flipped to one of the later photos and pointed at Jaehwan, “I know. I’m pretty sure that’s Jaehwan. He’s a freshman in the theater group I sometimes help with.”

“I thought you stopped doing theater?”

“Yeah, that’s why I said sometimes help with and not, I’m part of.”

“Well do you think we could talk to him? Get some more info on who the other two are?”

“And how exactly do you want to do that? It would be very creepy to just take one of these pictures up to him to ask who his friends are,” Sungmin pointed out.

“I don’t know, but I’m sure if we find which of them is the mage, they could lead us to who is helping Kyuhyun.”

~

A/N: I am still alive. I know it's been nearly five months since I updated. I was a little stuck on this chapter, but the bigger issue was I was having trouble focusing especially on writing, so even when I had parts I had full thought out, I just couldn't write them. On top of that, it was a very rough summer for me. May was just one issue after another including getting into a car accident that lost me my car (no one was hurt, thankfully. It was a pretty minor accident but still caused all sorts of troubles for me). It would get a little better and maybe I could get some writing done, but it was short lived. I'm doing better again now, and finally got a couple of good nights of writing done.

Originally I had debated on going a little further with this chapter, but I think this spot makes more sense to stop it. I know the start is a little filler, but I wanted to show how they are getting used to each other now. So I hope you still enjoy that part.

Hopefully I wont take so long for the next part..though as usual I make no promises. Thank you to all who have waited for me.

^^♥