“Magic is real, Soo.” Jongin sat up in his sleeping bag. “I know it is.”
Kyungsoo was laying in his sleeping bag beside his boyfriend in their two-person tent. They weren’t in a forest, nor a fancy vacation spot, or any camping spot for that matter; it was just that Jongin insisted on camping out in his backyard in a tent once a week. He was always saying how fresh air was important, and that nature was healing.
“How do you know it’s real?” Kyungsoo asked, he loved to listen to Jongin go on and on about the things he loved, and magic was definitely one of those things.
Any time Jongin talked about the things he loved, his face would light up and his eyes would sparkle, he always had such a beautiful way of explaining the things he loved, and it showed in every way. Those were the moments Kyungsoo loved him the most.
“Have you ever witnessed something so, so coincidental, something so… too-good-to-be-true that it made you feel as if you must’ve been the luckiest person in the world at that moment?” Jongin turned back and laid down right in front of Kyungsoo, half a foot from him, his voice lowering to a whisper. “What if I told you those ‘coincidences’ weren’t coincidences at all?”
“What do you mean?” Kyungsoo was staring doe-like into his boyfriend’s eyes.
“Luck doesn’t exist, Soo.” He continued, “We can create our own luck, it’s just a shift of energy, a change in the perception of luck.”
“I don’t follow…” Kyungsoo giggled, but seemed interested nonetheless.
Jongin brushed his boyfriend’s cheek lightly, running his fingers over the boy’s soft cheek.
“Have you ever been in a dark alley and felt someone or something staring at you, but there was nobody there?”
Kyungsoo nodded gently.
“That’s energy.” Jongin was still cupping the boy’s cheek. “Have you ever met someone and shook their hand and immediately felt in the pit of your stomach that there was something odd or ‘off’ about them?”
“Yes, now that you mention it.” Kyungsoo whispered. “But… isn’t that just intuition?”
“Gut-reaction, intuition, feeling, hunch… these are all words we use to explain the same thing: energy. Magic, Soo.” He smiled sharply.
Whoa, Kyungsoo thought to himself. He hadn’t considered that before - he was somewhat of a more logic focused person, he tended to rely a lot more on science and reasoning to explain the world around him - but when he decided to make Jongin his boyfriend, he also accepted the fact that the boy would bring with him a lot of new ways of thinking, and Kyungsoo cherished those new perspectives.
“Energy is all around us. Just because we can’t see it all the time, doesn’t mean it’s not there.” Jongin swirled a finger into the air, motioning at the empty space around them in the tent. “Actually, you can see a lot energy, we just don’t know it. Take the moon for example; did you know that it can control the tides of the sea?” He was always asking Kyungsoo questions that he knew the poor boy didn’t know, only to proudly tell him the answer immediately after without giving him a chance to respond with “no.”
“Some call it some fancy shmancy word called “cohesion” but I call it magic. It’s in’ magic, I know it.” Jongin nodded fiercely.
Kyungsoo interrupted Jongin’s stout lesson with a kiss on the lips, one that was inviting and loving. The other other thing that Jongin loved as much as magic was his boyfriend.
“Mmmm” he breathed into Kyungsoo, “See… that right there. That’s magic too.” He smiled between the kisses.
Kyungsoo giggled and placed one final peck onto his cheek.
“So… why haven’t you showed me any fancy spells or anything like that, Kai Potter?” Kyungsoo teased, using his finger to imitate a wand.
Jongin grumbled, “I told you already, Soo. Magic isn’t something we should tamper with. It’s there, yes, but it’s not something we can just play around with. It’s disrespectful.”
Kyungsoo’s mouth scrunched up into a pout. It was the pout saved only for the most dire of moments, his secret weapon, if you will.
“Staaahp Soo.” Jongin immediately recognized the pout. “Really? This isn’t fair, at all. Not one bit.”
Kyungsoo turned it up a dial, nuzzling his head into Jongin’s firm chest, nestling softly into the small crook.
“Fine fine fine.” The other boy conceded. “Just one spell though.”
Kyungsoo transformed happily back into his plain self, mission accomplished. He retreated from his boyfriend and sat up cross-legged, waiting for Jongin to show him actual magic.
Jongin looked around the tent curiously, using the light of their small lantern to find anything he could to demonstrate his spell.
“What’s the spell called?” Kyungsoo asked impatiently, “Can you make fire with your hands?”
Jongin rolled his eyes, “No silly. I’m not a fire-bender. I just study magic on my spare time. Really amateur stuff okay. The ancient books that I read say that only those who were born with the natural ability to perform magic can actually do the spells.”
Kyungsoo’s brows furrowed. “Wait… so you’re saying you’re one of the “chosen” who posses this weird birth ability to perform magic?”
Jongin’s confidence faltered for a moment, he rubbed his neck bashfully, “Well… you see… I don’t know exactly, because I’ve never actually tried. But! I have to be chosen… why else would I be this passionate about magic?”
Kyungsoo nodded quietly.
“Now.” Jongin continued, “This rock, for example. I can probably levitate it using magic.”
He placed the stone onto the floor of the tent between the two boys, shining the lantern directly onto it.
“However, for this spell, it requires two people.” Jongin smiled directly at Kyungsoo. “What do you say, will you be my assistant? You’re sure as hell pretty enough.”
It was too dark to see the blood flushing Kyungsoo’s cheeks as he nodded happily to Jongin.
“Give me your hands, like this.” Jongin was sitting cross-legged across from Kyungsoo, the stone in the middle of them, with his hands out on each side of his knees, waiting for Kyungsoo to grab them.
When Kyungsoo reached out and completed the circle, taking his boyfriend’s hands firmly, Jongin closed his eyes. Kyungsoo was confused, but closed his eyes too.
A moment went by before Jongin began reciting some words that sounded nonsensical to Kyungsoo.
He could’ve sworn Jongin was just speaking some type of Lord of the Rings language, or Klingon even. It took every ounce of willpower for Kyungsoo not to crack up during Jongin’s chanting.
The chanting continued for a total of twenty-five seconds before Kyungsoo, the natural skeptic, popped one eye open carefully, peeking down onto the floor of the tent where the stone sat, unmoved.
“Is it working?” Kyungsoo interrupted, letting a giggle escape his lips.
“Shhhhh!” Jongin hissed back, “Don’t interrupt!”
“Sorry.” Kyungsoo zipped his lips back shut and closed his eyes.
Another thirty or so seconds went by before Kyungsoo’s hopes began to fall. He hadn’t expected real magic, of course, but wanted something to happen just to make Jongin happy.
“It’s not working, something must be off.” Jongin stammered to himself, frustration bubbling in his tone. “What the heck…”
Kyungsoo stared down at the stone, dumbfounded. “Maybe it’s just a bad rock.”
“No. That’s not it.” Jongin replied, “I think you just need to recite the spell with me.”
Kyungsoo looked a little nervous, “Really? Me? But you’re the birth-chosen thing-a-ma-person here, not me.”
“Yes, I know. But you reciting the words should give it the extra mortal spirit it needs for the spell to work. I’m sure of it.” Jongin squeezed onto his boyfriend’s hands harder, then spoke very slowly. “Now… repeat after me: Nazathel, argrumay, chenfizra, ashamay.”
“I nearly failed Spanish, babe.” Kyungsoo mumbled, “You’re gonna need to slow it down even more.”
Jongin sighed, then repeated much slower for the boy, “Nazathel, argrumay, chenfizra, ashamay.” After the third repetition, Kyungsoo had the general pronunciations down.
The boys chanted slowly, with Jongin speaking confidently and proud, and Kyungsoo echoing him lowly and shakily.
When they had finished the tenth repetition, Kyungsoo’s focus was broken by an audible gasp coming from Jongin. He opened his eyes and saw Jongin, eyes wide, staring down at the stone. The rock in between the boys was shaking gently, and hovering about three inches off the tarp of the tent.
“Oh my g-“ Kyungsoo’s voice was cut short by Jongin’s loud cheer.
“YESS!!” He screamed, he began shaking the two of their hands back and forth in