[CONTENTID1]Chapter 01[/CONTENTID1]

[CONTENTID2] "where the skies are blue~"[/CONTENTID2]

[CONTENTID3]

Donghae didn’t mean to touch it. He really didn’t. 

In his defence, the only reason he’d even been sneaking into the restricted artefacts section was so that he could curl into a ball in some corner and hide away from his so-called friends. Honestly, they weren’t even his friends. More like forced acquaintances. And they were simply awful. 

It was bad enough being the clumsiest wizard in the most prestigious magical academy in the entire country without having it rubbed in his face every few minutes. So, what if he still can’t transfigure a mouse into a tea cup? Or make his tea leaves ever predict anything true? He didn’t even like tea and frankly, why can’t wizards use it for its intended purpose and just drink it? What did the poor tea even do to them?

And to make it all a thousand and one times worse, his brother had been the best student the school has ever seen. Only that was ten years ago. Merlin, Donghwa was ancient- wonder if he got any wrinkles at the ripe old age of twenty-nine? Surely choosing to be a Curse Breaker as a form of employment was bound to give him a few grey hairs at least.  But that was beside the point. Somehow his older brother’s academic excellence had led to everyone expecting him to be just that brilliant, which was kind of rude to be honest- what happened to them being their own people? 

Anyway, much to everyone’s surprise (and disappointment) Donghae had been so very Donghae and mucked up every single spell he had ever had to learn. Which was honestly an achievement in its own right! Afterall, who manages to mess up an incantation so bad that a spell that was supposed to turn his shoes blue makes a bush of roses sprout on his head instead. He wasn’t even pointing his wand at his head! Granted the flowers were an absolutely lovely shade of lavender and he had somehow thankfully managed to conjure roses that were thornless which had saved him yet another trip to the infirmary (he was such a frequent visitor that he practically had his own bed there!)

Maybe it wasn’t even Donghae’s fault. Maybe his magic was just wonky. But the last time he had mentioned it- to a professor because he was a responsible person like that and totally not because he had been caught at the library after curfew trying to read up on it- there had been a truly traumatising discussion about there being damage to his magical core and that was scary and he always needed comforting hugs from his family when he was scared, except they weren’t there because he was a couple hundred miles away from home. And thinking about that made him lonely. And he was miserable and clingy when he was lonely. But there wasn’t anyone for him to cling to. And that made him sad all over again.

Honestly, the only reason he hadn’t tried to run away was because he was positive that he wouldn't make it a couple of feet past the school grounds. He’d probably get his eardrums blasted by a shrieking banshee. Worse, he’d die trying to befriend it. Though in his defence, they were rather cute. If you looked at them from a certain angle. Maybe if you closed your eyes and didn’t look at them at all? Their deadly shrieks weren’t so bad. Those high-pitched decibels held a certain… charm although they do kill you but that’s just a minor inconvenience. 

Or maybe, he was just that lonely he’d befriend a banshee.

It wasn’t like anyone else was willing to talk to him. Worse, they were laughing at him. And it wasn’t even behind his back! Any decent bully would be hiding behind alcoves snickering as he walked past but no, they laughed right in front of his face in broad daylight and mocked him so horribly, calling him the black sheep of the family. He shouldn’t even be as offended as he was by that, because sheep were adorable and so was he; but he had spent most of his life getting coddled by his loved ones and getting all the affection in the world that the fact that his ‘friends’ didn’t like hurt. Badly.  

Donghae had half the mind to tell them that his older brother would beat them up for treating him that way (which mind you, he probably would- Donghwa had always been very protective of him) except he wasn’t in contact with his brother anymore, not since he enrolled in school six years ago. He still felt so heart-wrenching guilty when he received Donghwa’s birthday and Christmas cards, every year, without missing a single one. He never sent anything back. Couldn’t get himself to.

What was he supposed to say anyway? The fact that you exist is making my life miserable quite literally but I love you too much to hate you? I wish you’d stop being such a brilliant, over-achieving, wonderful excuse of a wizard because hearing your name in comparison every time I screw up is starting to get uncomfortable?

So, him being… well him, Donghae stopped having any contact with his brother altogether. And luckily for him (or unluckily, it really depends) Donghwa couldn’t do anything about it. Because he was in Egypt. Curse-breaking. In pharaoh’s tombs. Doing cool things. Like using ancient runes and magical theory.  Not that he wouldn’t drop everything and come back to be there for his baby brother, no, Donghae just didn’t want to be the one to hinder Donghwa’s career and have that added to the growing list of reasons why he was a complete and utter disappointment. So, he just settled to briefly mention passing on his regards to his brother whenever he wrote his parents letters- who by the way had formed this ridiculous idea that he thought he was too cool to be associating with Donghwa, which was honestly laughable. He could be seventy and Donghwa would be eighty and he still wouldn’t be the cooler brother!

And so, he became a hermit. A cute, cuddly sort of hermit.

But as always, being a social pariah has its cons because he literally had to sneak into the restricted artefacts storage to seek refuge after becoming the laughing-stock of the entire school. Because he got knocked out during duelling practice. From his own spell. Oh, he was going to get mocked terribly tomorrow. 

He was contemplating that death by banshee screams wouldn’t be so bad when his teary chocolate-brown eyes caught sight of a positively sparkling object in one of the display cabinets. It was small enough to fit in the palm of his hand (meaning it was tiny) and was in the shape of an hourglass, which honestly should’ve been his first clue. But no, he distracted by the intricately carved gold frame and all the glittering jewels, opals and rubies galore, embedded in it; in his defence, they were really really pretty- so he reached out to touch the possibly cursed but still so very pretty object like the little magpie he was. 

And then it started glowing. 

And then runes he hadn’t even noticed were engraved in the hourglass started to light up and the delicate-looking glass vials started to spin.

And then he was surrounded by the light and the world began to fade away. 

Uh-oh, that wasn’t meant to happen, he had time to think before he passed out. For the second time that day. Ugh, he was so embarrassing. 

***

“Don’t you dare move- I won’t hesitate to end your life, you monster.”

Those were the first lovely words he heard when he stirred back to consciousness, sitting up groggily, clutching his head in his hands, wishing that the pounding migraine would just go away. Donghae squinted, looking up, finally noticing the sword that was pointed at his throat. His chocolate-brown orbs followed the blade upwards, to the nimble yet strong-looking hand that held it, to the pale face with sharp, single-lidded eyes and luscious plump lips that held it. Merlin, he was beautiful. 

“You’re so handsome.” Donghae breathed out, dreamily, because well he’s never had a brain to mouth filter.  

The pretty almond eyes narrowed. 

“You can’t fool me, you fiend.” The boy, who was probably around his age but just so much suave-er (was that even a word? If not, he just christened a new word) than he would ever be, growled. “I know. I know you’re a wizard.”

“I’m a wizard.” Donghae nodded agreeably.

The pretty almond eyes went wide with shock before the boy lurched forward, his sword grazing Donghae’s throat which finally prompted him to look down at the blade that was pointed at him, which he had been ignoring in favour of staring at the beauty’s almost porcelain skin- wondering whether it was as soft as it looked?  

“Ow! What was that for?!” He winced, pouting. 

Why doesn’t anyone he meets ever like him? Are his first impressions really that bad? 

“Cut out your act- don’t you dare even attempt to trick me!” The pretty almond eyes were cold, which really was mean- he didn’t even know how he had messed up so fast.  “I know your kind. I’ve trained my entire life to hunt down and kill your kind. Freaks like you don’t deserve to live.”

“Okay, now that was rude.” Donghae frowned, offended. “Just because I’ll never be as brilliant as my brother doesn’t mean that I don’t deserve to live. I’m useful too. I can grow flowers! Although it's less of a spell and more of me nicely asking them to grow. Which still counts I’m pretty sure. And can you just quit with the name calling, I’m getting tired of it. At least have the decency to talk behind my back, will you?”

And that particular outburst was met with another threatening scowl, the blade inching further up his throat. 

“How do you- are you reading my mind?!” The boy hissed, fury pouring out of his lithe frame. “I command you to stop it at once!”

“Stop what? Are you mocking me on purpose?!” Donghae wailed, unable to stop tears from welling in his puppy-like orbs. “Yes, I know, I’m the only wizard in my year who can’t manage a simple legilimens charm, I know- you don’t need to rub it in my face. I’m an utter embarrassment, I know but frankly, today’s been a long day and I’m already way past my quota for the number of insults I can handle per day so you’ll have to come back tomorrow and be nasty all over again.”

That seems to completely stump the angry boy. Or maybe it was the fact that he was already sniffling back sobs, probably looking like a puppy that’s been left in the rain and kicked a few times for good measure. For a brief second, he wondered whether he looked as pathetic as he felt. The blade lowered.

“I meant you being a wizard. Wizards are evil.” The stranger said quietly, his tone guarded. 

“What is this; the Middle Ages?” Donghae snorted through his tears, looking up, only to freeze when his gaze locked on the boy’s clothes.

On the fine, almost mediaeval looking garments. 

He fell back onto the marbled floor with a pained ‘oof’ as his back collided with the hard surface, blushing in surprise and mortification when he realised that he was not in fact on a bed, proceeding to throw a mini tantrum on the ground, wiggling around a bit, because honestly, he couldn’t remember the last time he had been this embarrassed.

How he hadn’t noticed it before, he didn’t know. Who was he kidding? He was too busy gawping at the pretty stranger to realise it, he lamented, as he warily glanced up at the vaulted ceilings embellished with artwork, the thick velvet drapes over the large French windows, high walls with crown mouldings and indoor fluted columns with gold leaf accents and scrollwork. A tiered chandelier glittered in the soft light as Donghae let out a quiet whimper, realising for the first time since he regained consciousness, how utterly screwed he was.

“No. No, no, no- Donghwa’s going to kill me!” He cried out burying his head in his hands, reminiscing the conspiratorial wink his brother had given little-him as he explained the academy’s secret passageways in great detail. “He explicitly told me not to touch anything! But it was so shiny and pretty- it didn’t seem cursed. Okay, it was a restricted artefact so it probably was but still it was tiny and just so cute.”

He peaked at the beautiful stranger from between his fingers who was staring down at him with a bemused expression.

“Maybe you can kill me instead?” Donghae suggested meekly.

“Just when I thought I wouldn’t.” The boy let out a grieved huff, his raven-black bangs falling over his eyes.

Was it too early in their budding relationship to suggest that the beautiful stranger didn’t hide his eyes with his hair? Because Merlin, those doe-like single lidded orbs were simply stunning.

“So, I suppose I should introduce myself?” Donghae asked, because that was the polite thing to do, clumsily attempting to get back up into his feet only to have the sword pointed at him again.

Really, he thought they were past that. 

“You’re so mean.” He plopped back down on the marbled floor with a petulant huff that turned into a wince halfway as his bottom collided with the solid stone surface. 

“How do I know I can trust you?” The stranger questioned; his sharp eyes distrustful. “How do I know you won’t curse me the moment I let me guard down?”  

“Well, it’s your lucky day. Out of all the wizards you could have stumbled upon, you've met the most magically incompetent one.” Donghae informed him dismissively, searching through his school robes till he found his most prized possession, offering it to the handsome boy who startled before accepting it gingerly. “There you go! I can’t cast a single spell without it– not that I can actually cast a spell with it either. But it’s a family heirloom and it’s very important to me so please take good care of it!”

“...it’s a stick?” The stranger deadpanned. 

“Excuse you?! That’s a wand, you numpty!”

“My apologies.” He didn’t look very sorry at all. “So this wand-stick is what lets wixen perform magic?” 

“It’s just a ‘wand’. Don’t insult it by calling it a stick.” Donghae sighed from his position on the floor. “Although I named mine ‘Sprout’ so you may call it that if you like.” 

It wasn’t cus