Having a witch as a mom and a muggle as a dad has given Heejin a very slight taste of two worlds.

When she receives a letter of attendance to Hogwarts, her mother is ecstatic. She frames the letter and displays it in the hall, right beside Heejin’s other academic achievements. Her father, while more hesitant about letting his daughter go abroad to a school many miles away from home, kisses her on the forehead and taps at her nose. Heejin wants to remember how his eyes sparkle in pride and how his smile is gentle and loving.

When her mother buys tickets to fly to the United Kingdom, Heejin finally understands why her mother pressed the English language on her so incessantly. When her mother takes her into a dingy alley at a bar, her eyebrows furrow together when she taps at the bricks with her wand. Seeing the bricks morph and change to reveal the bustling streets of Diagon Alley, Heejin can’t seem to close . Her mother taps closed and warns her that magical bugs are not above flying into open caverns. Heejin only nods and works at clenching her jaw to prevent from hanging open.

Between buying textbooks about potions or magical creatures, an owl for communication, and having a wand choose her, Heejin is exhausted. On the way to their temporary resting place, she can’t help but to lean her head on her mother’s shoulder and allow for her eyes to close. The next day, her mother and her father take her to King’s Cross, and at platform 9, her father sends her off with his twinkling eyes and a big, warm hug. Her mother takes her hand and ushers her to a pillar between the ninth and tenth platform. Her mother tells her to run through the wall and Heejin never questioned her mother’s sanity before, but, at that moment, looking at her excited eyes, Heejin can’t help but to do exactly that. Before nudging her forward, her mother kisses her forehead and hugs her tight. Giving her a final smile and tucking her hair behind her ear, she reassures her.

Heejin starts with timid steps towards the wall. Looking back and at her mother’s loving and eager stare, she puts her trust in her and builds momentum towards the pillar. Pushing her cart towards the pillar, she expects to smack against the bricks and end up concussed, but instead, she becomes breathless when she finds herself in another train station. Looking at the wall and at all of the newspaper ads and pictures that move and make noise, Heejin feels like she might faint. All around her, some students bustle around with their carts, others walk with their friends. Looking at the red train, Hogwarts Express , is written at the front. Once boarding, Heejin can’t help but to feel incredibly lost. Walking down the aisle to find an empty compartment, Heejin finds one with a singular girl sitting in it. With jet-black hair, the girl startles when Heejin lightly taps at the door. When she speaks, her voice is quiet, almost lodged in . The language she speaks is foreign to what normally rolls off of her tongue and she feels butterflies swarming her stomach.

“May I sit with you?”

The girl shoots a small smile at her and nods. When Heejin steps in and sits across from her, the girl shuffles around for a bit before she s her hand towards her, “I’m Chaewon. It’s nice to meet you.”

It’s impossible to not feel the awkwardness wafting in the compartment, but, Heejin tries to ignore the stiffness and smiles one of those smiles her father loves and shakes Chaewon’s hand, “I’m Heejin. I’m so glad you let me sit in your compartment; I’m not very good at dealing with embarrassment.”

The smile that blooms on Chaewon’s face is crooked, but, incredibly charming. When Chaewon offers her a jelly bean, she gives her a forewarning before Heejin pops the candy in .

“Be careful! You might get something pleasant or something really repulsive!”

When Heejin freezes with her hand mid-air, ready to propel the candy in, the girl laughs at how rigid Heejin’s body becomes and the shocked eyes that land on her. Turning the front of the box around, Chaewon goes on to explain, “Bernie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans really means every flavor. Once, Jiwoo unnie and I decided to guess the flavors we were eating and it turned out to be a horrible idea. We were banking on grass but it turned out to be booger and Jiwoo unnie gagged.”

Heejin’s eyes enlarge once more. Grass flavor is already ridiculous enough, but booger? Before she can reply, a voice interrupts her.

“I heard my name! Is Chaewonnie talking about me?”

The girl is nothing short of bright and warm. Her smile is large and beaming and Heejin already feels herself gravitating towards her.

Chaewon smirks at the smiling girl and says, “I’m telling her about how you gagged on jelly beans.”

Jiwoo sharply gasps and moves to sit beside Chaewon to hit her shoulder.

“You can’t tell a complete stranger that I gagged on a jelly bean! And in my defense, it was disgusting!”

Chaewon bumps Jiwoo’s shoulders and replies, “She’s not a complete stranger! Her name’s Heejin.”

Jiwoo shoots a glare at Chaewon before smiling at Heejin and introducing herself with a handshake. Heejin notices how the girl actively restrains herself from hugging her and settles on shaking her hand.

Looking at the red jelly bean in her hand, Jiwoo tries to assuage Heejin’s worry, “At least it’s not orange! That one’s vomit. Maybe you’ll get lucky and get cinnamon.”

Chaewon quickly interjects, “Or you’ll get unlucky and get earthworm.”

Looking at two pairs of awaiting eyes flickering towards the piece of candy and Heejin, the girl takes a breath of courage before popping the jelly bean in .

Heejin’s not big on cinnamon. She’s especially not big on earthworm. When her face screws up at the unsavory flavor, Chaewon and Jiwoo can’t help the giggles that fall from their lips. Still, Chaewon rifles through the box and pulls a pink one with splashes of color on them.

“Here, this one’s Tutti-Frutti. It’s my favorite flavor.”

Heejin is quick to take it to get rid of the earthy flavor coating her tongue.

A distant voice calls for Jiwoo’s name down the aisle. Hearing it, Jiwoo is quick to pop to her feet and lean her head out of the compartment, “Jungeun! I’m here with Chaewon! And Heejin!”

When Jiwoo mentions her, Heejin can’t help the warmth that spreads through her chest. Already, her name sounds so casual coming from her--as if Jiwoo already considered her a friend.

(She did.)

A girl with brunette hair approaches the compartment and before even stepping in, Jiwoo is pulling her into a tight hug and swaying her in her arms.

“Jiwooming, you forgot to get your uniform.”

Noticing the two sets of uniforms Jungeun carries, the girl quickly thanks her friend and takes them to hang them on one of the hooks in the compartment. When Jiwoo sits back down beside Chaewon and smoothes her skirt out, Jungeun cooly leans against the door of the compartment before setting her eyes on Heejin.

Almost feeling like the brunette was expecting something, Heejin quickly waves at her and introduces herself. Jungeun does the same before sitting beside Jiwoo.

Chaewon, with her box of flavored beans, dares Jungeun to eat a candy with her eyes closed. Never one to refuse a dare, especially with Jiwoo eggin