Magician

Please Subscribe to read further chapters

Description

This is a sequel to Mannequin. Hyukjae continues to learn more about himself and the world. He has new family by his side. And Donghae.

Foreword

 

"On the weekend?" Donghae says. He shoulders his bag. Joins Leeteuk to leave the gym. "No, I can't. I'm trying to keep my weekends free. I need to take Hyukjae out. He has a lot to learn about the world too, not just his... magic..."

Leeteuk laughs. Quiet. "Well, if there's anything I can do, let me know."

"You've done too much, Teukkie," Donghae says. "All of you."

"He's family, Hae. We're always here."

Donghae sighs. Shakes his head but smiles. "Thanks. It's really not that bad though... it's just a lot for him--both outside, in the real world, and his head."

Leetuek stops by his car. "Mom said that it'd be good for Hyukjae to take on some work..."

"Oh, I agree," Donghae says. "She's right, but Teukkie, what kind of work could someone like Hyukjae even do? He's been frozen..." Donghae looks around. Lowers his voice. "He's been frozen in time, he's twenty three years old, but he hasn't had the chance to learn and live. He has no life experience, no proper education, and to make matters worse, he's so engrossed in what's in his head now that he practices magic whenever he has any opportunity -- sometimes without thinking!"

Leeteuk thins his lips. Troubled.

Donghae quickly clarifies. "It's nothing dangerous though... just... stupid things, you know? He's making copies of... stuff he likes. When he cleans, he levitates things... and drops them from a bit too high..." Donghae laughs a little. "But he hasn't done anything outside. It's okay, Teukkie. We just need to... work on it all."

Leeteuk's expression clears. He nods. "Alright. Come over to my parents' for dinner Friday?"

"Yeah, we will. Thanks!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

The pretty art for the cover is by the wonderful autiacora. Thank you so much.

 

 

 
 
Age / Being Mannequin / Not-Mannequin Explanation:
Contains spoilers
I think this is boring, personally, so I don't want to dump it within the fic by the characters. I'll keep it here if it helps to clear up any confusion.
Hyukjae's age isn't accurate. Anytime he came alive, we can assume he "grew" even though his memories weren't quite there. He's been through this many times and he spent a major part of his earlier life with Hazel's sister and husband, who needed him to grow, to get his memories, and use him.
He's been told he's twenty-two, and that was years and years ago, the last time he'd gained sort of "full memories." He has come "alive" after that, but for short periods, and didn't have great experiences, so didn't gain much of his self back. Before Donghae, Hyukjae spent time with Leeteuk's grandparents, which was probably his longest time "alive" in centuries.
So in order:
1. Hazel (childhood / early teens / tweens?)
2. Jungseo and Helen (several years - they went through many "attempts" to get knowledge from him.)
3. Aera (A year or two?)
4. Period of short coming-alive instances. Didn't last long. Hyukjae probably didn't have the chance to get any of his memories.
5. Leeteuk's grandparents, Sangchul and Saeron.
6. Donghae
He's about twenty, but exactly? No one knows. The Parks and Donghae went with twenty-two as his official age, since that is what Hyukjae repeated. So after Mannequin, he's now twenty-three on paper in this fic.
You can have your own interpretation for this too. Whatever makes most sense to you. Feel free to share or ask questions. :)

 

 

 

--- ---

 

 

This is an ongoing fic. I'm sorry if I don't always update regularly. Here are some completed fics (shortest to longest):
Just for You
 Stupid Love
Take it Slow
Red Sunrise
My Hot Babe
Deceit
Mannequin
Livin' In
Fairy Dust

 

 

 

Author's Thoughts
sujul33
Wanted to add some Hyukjae POV.
Read More →
Back to Top ↑

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
OdetteSwan 930 streak #1
Chapter 19: He's trying to find his purpose now that he isn't restrained.
Thank you so much for the update.
yanHae15 141 streak #2
Chapter 19: Oh! Hi! It's been a while! I miss them!
But Hyukkie is sad and struggling. I hope he doesn't see what they're doing for him as something negative. They do it with pur intentions and so, if there's any problem, it will be better to communicate. He shouldn't keep everything to himself 🥹🥹
fullofwish 1540 streak #3
Chapter 19: Hyukjae is struggling with so much. Seems like he feels bad whether he keeps it to himself or shares it, so it's understandable he's not sure what the best thing to do is. He and Donghae are really so considerate of each other, to a fault. Half of the issue is that they just want to please the other person at the possible expense of what they themselves want. Not sharing the things that are unpleasant. Hyuk now has more awareness and is worried that's what Donghae is always doing, but he is doing it too by not really sharing his true concerns. Worried Donghae will feel more responsible or burdened to find a solution for him.

Still think they can work through things best together, though. At least, Hyukjae seems more lost and afloat when he retreats into his lonely mind and the insidious draw of more powerful magic between the difficult memories and realizations. Even though Hyuk is better at self-regulating than he was when he would literally transform to protect himself whenever overwhelmed or threatened, he still needs trustworthy people to keep him grounded and remind him to tread safely, and Donghae has been that constant person he needed for a while. Maybe Hyukkie needs to express the things he needs that are different now, if that's the case. Like Donghae being more open with his own wants and needs instead of only prioritizing Hyukjae.
HelenDamnation #4
Chapter 19: Well from the sound of it, it may be the only parenting he got growing up was the time with Hazel. The rest of the time there's a whole lot of trauma he needs to recover from on top of his entire world basically having disappeared.

He's very helpful and considerate. He seems to be having trouble that realizing that is actually worth a lot. But he's at the age, isn't he, based on your notes, to be thinking that if he doesn't do something big then none of it counts. It would probably help if somebody explained to everyone in this story that constantly treating someone like they're fragile and about to break into a million pieces is going to be destructive to their mental health, even when you mean in the best way possible. :-)
ldh2013 #5
Chapter 19: Everytime Hyukjae felt threatened, he retreated into becoming a mannequin. It's no wonder that everyone, especially Donghae, has been trying really hard to make sure he feels safe. Being constantly worried over can be trying and Hyukjae appears to be feeling guilty about it. Adapting to the current world isn't that easy. Technically, Hyukjae doesn't have that much experience living (not being a manniquin). I think his only "work" experience was ever as a helper but the people around him now don't really "need" him to help them.
HelenDamnation #6
Chapter 18: So Hyukjae feels like he doesn't belong where he is, which is natural to have to process...but then in MM&YxMagician, he finds out there are DonghaexHyukjae couples everywhere he looks...so maybe that'll help? Help him feel he's where he's supposed to be?

Edit: I really, really like how you're showing some things many people experience that rarely get talked about in fiction, if ever. Like the sense of grief and loss when you get old enough to realize that you can't actually read all the books there are or learn all the things, much less do them fast enough. Or the fact that there's a lot to do with where you really can't fully imagine how it feels until you try it, which can create some shocks, both good and bad ones -- I've never seen that covered in conventional publishing (or at least only the ic surprises, never the reverse). I've been reading fanfiction for less than two years, but I'm constantly impressed at how fanfiction authors just go right ahead and cover what is missing from print media that really needs to be said and portrayed.
kiwicolada 1601 streak #7
Chapter 18: And here I'm sitting and thought that Hyukkie already coped amazingly with his past. I really thought he was fine living in the present, with Donghae and the Parks. That he's still suffering inside and feels lost in place is sad to read. Thinking about it, he lost so many time while he was surviving as mannequin during the centuries. And when we think twice there must be a century old between him and Hae. No wonder he feels out of time. But he did so well and everyone made sure to tell him this. But sometimes it's normal to feel this way, not belonging to this place and time when we think where Hyukjae's coming from.

I'm amazed that Hyukkie could feel Hae's biggest fear. That he could turn into a mannequin again. This shows how strong their bond is. Even the century old . A deep and strong love. As if they're destined to each other. Like it was his fate to sleep as mannequin until he could meet Donghae. Aside from all the horrible experiences Hyukkie did in the former century, I like the idea that Hyukkie and Hae were meant to be. But the deep sadness in Hyukkie is hard to handle for Donghae. The thing is Donghae can do what he wants, he can't heal Hyukjae from this sadness. Not alone. And deep inside there will always be a tiny piece of sadness that will reminds Hyukkie's that he's a surprise from another century.

It's been a while a chapter went so deep. Thank you for writing and sharing this ❤️
fullofwish 1540 streak #8
Chapter 18: So curious (worried) about what Teukie is worried about. Hope it is just because Hyuk sent him some possibly weird or sad texts before and not anything more.

The way Hyukkie's feeling is understandable. He's always so bright and energetic, but the more he grows and learns the more he comes to terms with reality. How could he not feel out of place? He's literally from the past, with magic no one else (that we know of) has, and has a lot of uncertainty still. It must feel so lonely and hard, no matter much Donghae and the Parks love and take care of him. It's no one's fault. It will just take time and patience for Hyukjae to figure things out and really find his place. To not be so harsh on himself for not being good at everything right away. As much as it breaks Donghae's heart to see him upset and struggling, it's a relief he's opening up about this.

♡
Kethryveris #9
Chapter 18: Hyuk, s'inquiète et se sent mal, j'espère que Hae va vite lui rendre sa joie de vivre. Merci 💙
kiwicolada 1601 streak #10
Chapter 17: Hyukkie is such a sweetheart. All concerned about the safety of Donghae's work. Even kisses have no priority in that moment. What a cute weatherman. And Donghae is all happy and forgot about that horrible night before. This is how their trip should be. I like this chapter a lot ❤️ Thank you for sharing and a belated happy new year ^^
Back to Top ↑