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venusjeon · 3 years ago

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l’aquelarre

chased by a drunk man one night, you find shelter in a strange shop, where its cute owner casts a spell on you so that you keep coming back... or does he?

♔ PAIRING: witch!jungkook x human!reader

♔ GENRE: magic au, angst, humour, fluff, s2f2l

♔ WORD COUNT: 13.5k

♔ WARNINGS: street harassment briefly in the intro, mentions of sex and death, drinking, swearing, addiction (to magic)

♔ AUTHOR'S NOTE: started making it. had a breakdown. bon appétit!

The moon shone brighter than usual tonight.

Even if your whole city were to suffer a blackout, you were certain it was bright enough to light the empty streets you were walking through. But beautiful as though the sight may be, it put you in a bad mood, as it was a sign of how late you had got out of work.

If you’d known two months earlier how tiring waitering was, you wouldn’t have applied for the summer job, no matter how much they paid you. Well, depending on the digits, an exception could be made.

Only one more week, you told yourself as you sighed, and then summer would be over and you’d start your second year of university. Yay.

It wasn’t that you didn’t like what you were studying, you did, but there was something lacking in your life that made you feel incomplete, and you didn’t know what.

Magic, your mum would always say.

The growling of your stomach put an end to your brooding, and you hoped your parents were still waiting for you to start dinner so you wouldn’t have to eat alone. Turning to another street, you were about to get your phone to text them when you noticed a man sat down on the step of a bar, nodding his head to the beat of the music coming from inside, a few empty beer bottles lying around.

“Here we go,” you said bitterly under your breath, wrapping your fingers around your bag’s shoulder strap. As soon as he saw you, the man mumbled something that you couldn’t—nor wanted to—understand, but when you ignored him, he stood up.

“Hey, I gave you a compliment,” he slurred not too far behind you, “least you could do is thank me.”

Why men were still a thing was something you’d been wondering for some time now. You wanted to tell him to fuck off but seeing as he was clearly drunk and the only other person in that street, speeding up your pace was the wiser choice. But even then, he kept following you.

“I’m being nice to you,” he went on, the sound of his bottle slipping from his fingers and clashing against the concrete startling you, “there’s no reason to be rude.”

“Thank you,” you turned around as you walked to say with a forced smile, hoping that’d be enough for him. Catcalling was something you’d unfortunately grown used to, but never before had you been followed. You were starting to panic. “Now, leave me alone, please.”

“Whyn’t you come with me? I’ll buy you a drink.”

“I don’t want to,” you said, steps almost matching the sound of your racing heartbeat, until they stopped abruptly as the man grabbed your arm and pulled from it, forcing you to stop in your tracks with a shriek. “Get off me!”

“Come on, don’t–”

Before he could continue, you kicked him in the balls and ran for your life, assuming he would pursue you the second he recovered from the pain.

Your gaze fixed on the entrance of an alley ahead. It was the kind your mum would tell you to stay away from at night, but also your best option since it led to one of the main streets of your city, where there’d surely be some bar or restaurant still open you could find shelter in. Clock ticking, you hadn’t the luxury of stopping to hesitate before you turned in that direction, where it was as deserted as the street you’d left behind—save for the man you were running from, the steps of whom you could no longer hear.

Only your panting filled the air when you came to a halt near the end of the alley. You knew stopping wasn’t smart, but you wanted to check whether you were being chased or not, at least for a second. If only to calm your pounding heart.

Much to your luck, there was no sign of the drunk man, but you couldn’t let your guard down, the safest option being to get inside an establishment and call your parents or the police. But before you could leave, a wall bracket light started flickering, and had it not been because of that, you wouldn’t have noticed the door right under it, the sign of which read L’AQUELARRE, Magic Shop.

You could have sworn the last time you’d taken this shortcut home there was no door on that wall, but a voice in the distance broke your daze.

“You bitch, come here!”

Instead of running away, you rushed inside the shop, something in the back of your head telling you you’d be safe there.

A little bell attached to the door made the guy on the counter look up, a perplexed expression on his face. Despite not having closed yet, you figured he wasn’t expecting any clients—and much less, one making an entrance as abrupt as yours. Standing on your tiptoes, you held the bell with both your hands to keep it still so it wouldn’t be heard outside and took a deep breath once there was silence again.

“Can I help you?” the guy behind you asked, and you approached him while glancing back a few times, to make sure the door remained closed.

“I’m sorry, there’s a–a drunk man following me, I– Can I stay here?” you stuttered, voice shaking.

“Of course!” the guy said immediately. He was young, probably your age, and in other circumstances the first thing you’d have thought was that he was cute, but right now you were only glad that there was concern in his wide eyes. “Do you want to sit down? I’m Jungkook.”

He pointed at a small round table to your left, a chair beside it empty and another occupied by a black cat. That made you smile. This Jungkook wouldn’t hurt you, right? Not in front of his kitten.

“I’m fine, but thank you,” you lied. Fine was the last thing you were, but you didn’t want to sit down and exhale in relief until you were in the safety of your home. “I’m Y/N... I’m really sorry, I didn’t know where else to go.”

Jungkook walked to the front of the counter and stayed there, unsure of whether to get closer. He shook his head with a smile, “It’s okay.”

It was then that you processed your surroundings, gaze wandering about and falling on the strangest items sitting on shelves. Cauldrons, withered flowers, raw gemstones, old books, glass jars filled with coloured liquids, feathers, dead insects kept in boxes—was that a skull? All plastic, you assumed, it being a magic shop. Kudos for realism, though.

“Could we maybe turn the light off for a while?” you asked, coming back to your senses and reaching into your bag to get your phone, but Jungkook tilted his head in confusion. “In case the man sees the shop is still open and thinks of coming in. He’s really drunk, I wouldn’t want him to break something and get you fired.”

Rather shocked you cared more about getting him fired than your own safety, Jungkook’s eyebrows rose. “I’m the owner. Don’t worry about the light, though, he won’t find this place.”

You frowned but instead of questioning his meaning, your attention returned to the phone in your hands, the screen of which was finally turned on. Texting your parents had seemed best, but your fingers were shaking so much that you found yourself unable to type, the realisation of how scary what you’d just gone through had been finally dawning on you.

Opting to call your dad instead, you did your best to summarise the past five minutes you’d had the misfortune of living when he picked up, and begged him to come get you as soon as possible. He assured you he would, although the sound of him rushing out to the streets already told you so. Once the call was over, you turned to Jungkook, who was staring at the kitten all serious.

“My dad’s picking me up,” you said, the boy’s head whipping round towards you again. “He’s no Hulk, but I think I’ll make it home okay.”

Jungkook laughed, eyeing you up and down as he nervously nibbled at his lip. “Good. Do you, uhm, want me to get you some water or call the police? I don’t really know what to do.”

You were about to open your mouth to tell him there was no need when the cat meowed. It was adorable, those copper irises pretty much luring you in. Kneeling beside the chair it was sat on, you smiled, “Can I pet him?”

“Of course,” Jungkook nodded. He wasn’t used to comforting people, so he was glad that you’d found a distraction, and that his friend had given him a hand. Or a paw.

The kitten purred as soon as your fingers met his soft fur, showing you how much he was enjoying your affections by closing his eyes and angling his head so you would stroke him where he wanted to. At least someone was getting something good out of this horrible night, right?

“How did you find it?” Jungkook suddenly asked and you stood up, ignoring your new friend’s whines.

“Find what?”

“This shop.” He looked at you with slightly narrowed eyes, as though he was trying to decipher something. “You’re human, you’re not supposed to see it.”

“Excuse me?” you asked before hugging yourself.

"You’re right, it must be the moon. Halloween is not that far after all,” Jungkook agreed, but with whom? Was he talking to himself…?

The bewilderment you felt started to morph into a fear that urged you to get the hell out of there. Gosh, of all places you had to wander into Nutjobville.

Without Jungkook noticing, you pressed the lock button of your phone—which you were still holding—and feigned surprise with a barely audible oh.

“That’s my dad, he’s in t–the next street,” you forced yourself to walk to the door in a moderate pace so Jungkook couldn’t tell you were lying, but stopped to face him one last time. “Thank you so much for helping me, good night!”

“Good night,” Jungkook said from the front of the counter, somewhat disappointed as he watched you leave his small shop.

After such an experience, your dad made sure to accompany you to and from work until the end of the summer, a week that went by slower than you’d thought it would. Not that you cared.

You were indifferent to most things recently, although going back to class did awaken the stress that had been dormant the past few months, a stress that had you spending most of your afternoons in the library until late. By no means were you someone who enjoyed studying, but you couldn’t afford not to put your every effort into it, as your grades last time hardly got you to pass into second year.

It was in the middle of a break in one of those long study sessions when, while going through some pictures taken weeks before, you realised you’d lost something. A necklace you were wearing in them.

Doesn’t matter, it’s just some necklace, you thought, until you remembered that it wasn’t. Ugly as though it may be, it was a gift from your mum, who wouldn’t be too happy you’d been as careless as to lose it and not notice until who knows how much later.

You tried as hard as you could to pinpoint the moment you’d last put it about your neck, but to no avail. If it had fallen off, as you suspected, retracing your steps was the only thing you could do, since you hadn’t moved around that much lately, only to go to work—yes, your life was remarkably interesting.

So before nightfall that very same day, you went to the restaurant you’d been waitering at in the summer… but were told no necklace had been found. Super. The start of the school year was off to a great start.

With a sigh you headed home, taking your usual route now that daylight still made it safe. Despite the presence of the bright sun that would soon set, however, the moon wasn’t absent in the sky, but half faded behind some clouds. You glared and cursed at it, anything but blaming yourself for losing the necklace... After all, it wasn’t your fault, you hadn’t done anything for it to f–

Except, maybe, shake a drunk guy off and sprint away.

The memory of it sent shivers down your spine. That night could’ve ended with your death or worse, and you’d be lying if you said you hadn’t had nightmares about it. Brushing those thoughts out of your mind, you inspected the ground with every step, hoping to spot that black string with a tiny silver heart attached to it before you reached a certain alley.

“Come on…” you muttered to yourself as you walked, but it was nowhere to be found. Not from the steps of the bar that man had been sat on until the door of l’Aquelarre, in front of which you now stood. Since when had that damn shop been there, in such a secluded alley? You couldn’t make sense of it…

Although it didn’t really matter, did it? The important thing was that it had been there when you’d needed it the most. That Jungkook had been there.

He was cuckoo, yes, but another person might’ve not allowed you in or expressed concern as he, a complete stranger, had. Besides, he had a kitten, he couldn’t be that out of it. Entering the magic shop again, you quelled the small part of you that felt wary of its owner.

The place was empty except for the black cat, who greeted you with a meow from the top of the counter, but the sound of steps going down a staircase followed the ringing of the bell above you, and in just seconds Jungkook appeared to attend you. You assumed he lived upstairs, and that he’d just had a shower, judging by his damp hair. He looked… really good.

“Hi, welc– oh,” the boy faltered when his eyes met yours, a mix of wonder and curiosity painting his features.

“Hello,” you smiled shyly as you approached him. “I was, uhm, here around two weeks ago?”

“I remember,” Jungkook smiled back. Truth be told, you already knew he’d recognise you. Not that you’d tell him, but magic shops didn’t exactly strike you as places abundant in clientele, especially ones as hard to find as his. You were probably the first person to step in l’Aquelarre in a while.

“So, I lost a necklace I was wearing that night and I can’t find it anywhere… I was wondering if you’d happened to find it here,” you explained, getting more ashamed with each word. The guy had literally saved your life and you’d only come back because you’d lost a damn necklace, barely having said thanks to him. You sucked, and he surely thought so too.

“Oh, I’m sorry… I swept the floor the next morning and didn’t find anything,” he said, scratching the back of his head.

“Couldn’t your cat have taken it? Like, pushed it under a shelf?”

“He would’ve said something,” Jungkook vouched nonchalantly and you nodded, not quite knowing how else to react to that.

“Right… Well, thank you anyway,” you said, lips firmly pressed together as you tried to find the right words. “And thank you so much for the other time too, I don’t know what could’ve happened to me if you hadn’t helped me out.”

Jungkook didn’t know you, but after seeing how your hands had quivered then and how your smile disappeared now, he hated himself for not having been able to properly help you. If things that night had been as they once were, perhaps he could’ve done something about that man. But he was useless now.

“Don’t mention it,” he smiled to hide his sorrow. Watching as you left again after saying goodbye, he realised there was something he could do for you, stupid as it may be. “Wait!” You turned around before you had reached the door to see him open a drawer under the counter. “Please take this, to make up for the lost one.”

Jungkook raised his hand to show another necklace. This one was beautiful, a raw white gemstone with a blue sheen suspended by a shimmering golden chain. Your jaw dropped.

“I can’t, it’s not even your fault that I– Well, let me pay for it, at least.” You reached inside your bag to get your purse but Jungkook, who’d just shooed his cat away for trying to touch the necklace with his little paws, shook his head.

“It’s a gift,” he insisted, pretending to struggle opening the cash register’s drawer. “And this old thing doesn’t work, see? Can’t give you change.”

“Fine,” you laughed, and he gave you the necklace, which you stared at in awe. It wasn’t often that you wore jewellery, but you’d no doubt make an exception for this.

“It’s a moonstone,” Jungkook made you look up, “trust me, you won’t lose this one.”

He had figured out by now that his words only confused you, that you had no idea where you were. But you soon would, thanks to his gift.

And he was right because two days later, you were storming into his shop, pendant in hand.

Now, you were known to be somewhat oblivious. Details were easy to be ignored by someone whose thoughts tended to take elsewhere—yet ironically, the smallest matters could root in your mind and concern you for weeks.

It always amazed you how your friends noticed that you were wearing new shoes right away, or that you’d had your ends trimmed. You cared about them, of course, but just paid little attention to that sort of stuff. So, when they complimented you on your new necklace the next day, you were once again surprised.

More so than usual because you hadn’t put it on that morning, as you were running late for class and forgot. Observant as your friends were, they missed your slight frown at that.

A shitload of hours later, once the sun had set, you stepped out of the library seriously considering dropping out of school. So much effort you were pouring into a career you weren’t even that passionate about… Although, would working instead make you happier? Last summer had proved not.

The party one of your friends was throwing in a few days would hopefully cheer you up a bit. Getting drunk was a good way of setting your problems aside. Getting laid, too.

You placed Jungkook’s gift on your bedside table before you went to sleep that night. It was unlike her, but your mum had not got mad at you for losing hers. She’d been extra nice today, in fact, as was everyone at school. But waking up with the moonstone around your neck shadowed their kindness.

Were you going crazy? You had definitely taken it off. It freaked you out, whatever was going on, so you put it inside a drawer and rushed outside, even though you weren’t running late this time.

It must be the stress, you told yourself on your way to class. That bar you had just passed wasn’t real, the building had been derelict ever since you were a child. STYX, its sign read. Yesterday it had been on ruins, so an establishment couldn’t have possibly appeared overnight. That one, or the other four magic shops scattered across the route you normally took to school. Your mind was playing tricks on you.

Or so you were convinced of, at least, until you felt the collar brush against your skin some time later. And then, your brain made a connection.

Jungkook had given it to you, and he owned a magic shop… No, it couldn’t be. Magic wasn’t real. But something was off, and you weren’t foolish enough as to pretend otherwise for any longer.

When you burst in l’Aquelarre after school, Jungkook wasn’t surprised to see you. If anything, he seemed to be holding back a smile. You placed his gift before him without so much as saying a word, and stepped back.

“You don’t like it?” he asked, the way his eyes pierced yours giving you goosebumps. The scary kind.

It was obvious he knew why you had come back. Hell, he was likely the reason why the necklace had been doing weird, cursed-like shit. You’d watched enough scary movies to make you want nothing to do with it.

“Look, I don’t know what your deal is, but it’s creeping me out.” Saying it out loud felt like admitting you were mad, but you did it anyway, “Weird stuff keeps happening because of that thing.”

Jungkook smirked. “You don’t say so?”

That was it. Having better things to do than being played for a fool, you strode off—or would’ve, rather, had Jungkook’s now pleading voice not stopped you.

“Please, don't go! I didn't mean to scare you, I just wanted you to see that magic's real."

Magic, real. Any sane person would scoff at that or take it as the last straw to prompt them to leave… but somehow you didn’t. Instead, you found yourself turning around to face Jungkook again.

Try as he might, he couldn’t hide the desperation in his eyes. No human had ever entered l’Aquelarre before, so you must be special in some way, and that drew him to you. If he had to reveal himself to get you to stay, he would.

“Prove it.”

"I am a witch, but I can’t do magic anymore,” he murmured the last part, as though ashamed.

You crossed your arms. “Why?”

“I broke the law, so they took my magic away and bound me to this shop,” he said, pointing to the round table next to him when you responded with just a frown. Reluctantly, you sat down opposite to him. “Witch hunters and inquisitors persecuted us in the past, so now we live in secret. We’re not evil, I promise, our world is hidden from humans for our safety. That’s why I was confused when you first walked in here.”

“You said it was the moon’s doing,” you reminded Jungkook, and he nodded.

“It’s, uh, a bit difficult to explain, but our powers come from the moon. Around important dates like Halloween, it either releases more magic than we can handle or not enough, which makes the barriers that keep us hidden crumble for some people,” he explained, and then stood up for a second to get the necklace and lay it on the table. “As long as you wear it, a moonstone will allow you to see through the barriers.”

You ran your hand through your hair and sighed in overwhelm. Everything he was saying checked out, but a part of you feared it was a prank. “It’s convenient you can’t do magic.”

Jungkook raised an eyebrow. “You don’t believe me? I thought I heard you say the moonstone was doing weird stuff a minute ago.”

You looked away in embarrassment. “It keeps appearing around my neck…”

“I told you you wouldn’t lose it,” he said with a smile as he fiddled with the chain. “Moonstones also bring good luck… I thought it’d protect you from drunk men at night.”

The sincerity you could read in his eyes once you looked up made you forsake all doubt immediately. There was no malice in them at all, so he wasn’t lying, you were certain.

If believing witches existed made you mad… so you were.

A moment passed before you softened your tone. “So there’s, like, magic police?”

Jungkook chuckled, relieved you’d decided to trust him. “Not quite, no. We have three witches in every community who try anyone that’s accused and choose fit punishments for those declared guilty. They’re called the JUDGES.”

“What did you do, then?” you regretted to have asked, since Jungkook went pale all of the sudden. “I’m sorry, it’s none of my–”

“It’s okay.” He forced a smile. “Misuse of magic and endangerment of coven, I believe it was… My chosen punishment is to be imprisoned here until I die.”

You didn’t know what those crimes entailed, but they must be pretty serious to have got him locked up forever. Or, Jungkook must be dangerous enough to have to be kept away from society.

Out of nowhere, his cat jumped to your lap, startling you, but a smile spread across your face nevertheless.

“What about your kitten?” you asked as you petted him, earning his lovely purring in no time. “Will he turn into a handsome prince if I kiss him?”

“He says you’re welcome to try,” Jungkook scoffed, leaning back on his chair.

Your eyebrows rose. “You speak cat?”

“Oh, Yoongi’s not a cat, he’s my familiar. Y’know, like a witch’s sidekick? He can change into a human form, but it takes him a lot of effort and he prefers spitting out fur balls anyway, for reasons best known to him.” Yoongi hissed at him, and you laughed. “We talk through our thoughts.”

Lifting him up, the familiar stared at you, “Say meow if that’s true.” When he did, you gave Jungkook a did you see that?! wide-eyed look.

He didn’t seem to want you to leave and honestly, neither did you anymore. For the first time in a while, your curiosity was piqued.

“He’s a brat, but I think I’d go crazy if I didn’t have him here with me,” he said warmly, leaning in to stroke Yoongi.

“Don’t other witches come to buy stuff? Or friends, to keep you company?”

“Not many people want to buy from someone like me, but some do occasionally,” he explained, shame tinting his words. “My cov– former coven visits whenever they can, though.”

You didn’t know Jungkook but all he’d been to you so far was kind, so you were glad he wasn’t alone. Hopefully, he wasn’t lonely either.

Having just nodded, you looked around to examine the items he sold. “I thought this was a shop for kids, that all of that was plastic.”

Jungkook shook his head with a chuckle. “Most of the stuff here could kill a kid.”

“Come on, I doubt a candle could do anyone harm,” you joked.

“Those candles you’re looking at are used to time spells. If you were to put one out without finishing things properly, it would make the whole coven drop dead instantly.”

Damn.

“I see… What else do you sell? Wands, book spells?”

"No, we don’t use wands, this isn’t Harry Potter.” He rolled his eyes, which only made you want to tease him. “And book spells are called grimoires, but you don’t buy one, you write it.”

Blinking, you said, “Write as in, what, a medieval monk copying a text? Sounds a bit unnecessary when you could have one book with every spell already in it. Or a website, where you’d just have to CNTR+ F them.”

He seemed appalled by that, and you had to bite down on your lip not to smile.

“This is why humans shouldn’t know about magic,” he sighed, even though it made him feel euphoric that you did. “We write our own grimoires because every spell needs side notes. You may need to feel a certain way, so you write down what you personally need to do to get it right. Dark magic requires anger and hatred…” he trailed off, head slanting downwards.

Whatever had happened in the past clearly affected him still, so you didn’t want to remind him of it.

“Do you have a pointy hat?”

Everything was different now.

How could it not be, when you’d been let in a world of fantasy? As a human, you couldn’t partake in it, but just knowing there was more to life than the fucked up things that had been glooming over you lately made waking up in the morning exciting.

Jungkook had told you there were many witches in your city, but you didn’t need to be told. Places the moonstone allowed you to see, like the Styx, were always filled to the brim with people. You never walked in, though, your destination after a day of classes always being l’Aquelarre—your study sessions in the library were over thanks to the luck of the necklace, which made school easier and therefore, more appealing to you.

It was there where you had spent most of last week, hanging out with Jungkook. In such a short time you’d come to feel so comfortable around him. Everything he told you was fascinating, from spells that could be done to the history of his people.

And yet, what intrigued you the most was him.

What was it so bad that he’d done, when he was so sweet? Surely he couldn’t be evil, or dangerous. Unfortunately, he didn’t talk much about himself, and you didn’t dare ask since you were strangers just recently, but you hoped someday he’d tell you.

In the meantime, you had afternoon teas with him to look forward to. You’d even skipped that party your friend was throwing so you could spend more time with Jungkook. It’d be a lie to say you’d done so out of pity, but you couldn’t deny it saddened you to imagine him all alone.

Today, a Saturday, you entered his shop carrying a small cake in one hand.

“Hi,” he greeted you happily from his seat behind the counter. There were a steamy cauldron and an open grimoire in front of him, and the scene made you smile.

Just a witch brewing his potions, black cat nearby. You should’ve brought him a hat and a broomstick instead. Missed chance.

“What’s that?” he asked once you lay the cake beside the cauldron, along with two little plastic spoons.

“Happy late birthday!”

Jungkook was taken aback. “W-What?”

“Well, my mum wanted to bake something today, and since you mentioned that your birthday was on the 1st and I missed it, I thought I’d bring you a piece,” you sang. “Please, tell me you like lemon. Jungkook?”

“I– Yes, I like lemon,” he finally reacted, face lighting up. “This is… Thank you so much, Y/N.”

He stood up to give you a hug, and you closed your eyes for the three seconds it lasted, his scent engulfing you. Then, he pulled back to return to his seat, and his warmth left you.

“What are you doing?”

“Love potion,” he answered with his mouth full.

You frowned. “I thought you couldn’t do magic.”

“I don’t need magic for this, even you could do it,” he said, blowing some of the steam away as he stirred the contents of the cauldron. Glancing up, he noticed your lips were parted in awe. “Here, drop this in.”

This, was a long red string. Why that belonged in a love potion, you didn’t know, but as soon as it came to contact with the liquid, the steam turned pink. Jungkook was visibly amused when you stepped back with a gasp.

He’d always thought humans would be scared of real magic, but your face gleamed like that of an innocent child’s would.

“Is there… anyone you’d use this potion with?” he tried to sound casual. You pouted while trying to think, but no one came to mind, as love was something foreign to you. Sleeping around was more your style.

“I don’t think so,” you finally said. “Wouldn’t it be wrong, anyway, to force someone to love you?”

“A love potion only enhances the feelings you already have, it doesn’t cloud your mind or make you do anything you don’t want to,” Jungkook explained as you brought a spoonful to your mouth.

“It still sounds a bit…” you tried to find the right word, but failed.

“We only use them to find out if we have a chance with someone, it’s not a lust potion,” he clarified, “those are illegal now, for obvious reasons.”

“Oh, in that case.”

Turning the grimoire’s page, Jungkook let out a groan once he read what to add next. “Can you pass me that there?”

You did as he asked, the small bottle he’d pointed at being too far for him to grasp, and raised an eyebrow when you read ‘glitter’ on its label.

“Yeah, I ran out of pixie dust,” Jungkook confessed with a sigh, and your reaction made him laugh. “What? It costs a fortune! Capitalism reached the magic world too, I’ll have you know.”

“Won’t your clients notice?”

“Even if they do, they pity me too much to file a complaint,” he said, giving you a mischievous look. Him joking about that took you by surprise, but you were glad there was a bright side to his punishment, however faint. “They say love potions smell like the person you’re fated to end up with. Do you smell anything?”

Even after leaning in, you didn’t. The cauldron’s steam smelled the same as l’Aquelarre: old books, incense, lemon from cake you were eating, Jungkook… Wait.

No.

Absolutely not. 'They say’ was the part of his sentence you’d better focus on. A rumour was all it must be.

“Uh, y-yeah. It smells like a friend of mine…” you lied, giggling nervously, “I guess I’ll have to ask him out.”

Jungkook nodded and hoped his disappointment wouldn’t show.

To him, the potion smelled of your perfume.

“They’re all full of stupid stereotypes, I don’t know how you can enjoy them,” he complained the next week.

You had made a hobby of going ‘just like in Harry Potter!’ or ‘they have this in Wizards of Waverly Place too’ whenever he’d tell you about a ritual or show you a magical artefact. He hated it, especially when you called him Merlin or Willow—you, because of it, loved it.

That day, you were working on a project on your laptop while he swept the floor.

“Well, it’s not like we know what your world is like, do we?” you argued. “You should praise humans for coming up with stuff so accurate.”

“Accurate according to you,” Jungkook gestured to your feet with the mop so you would raise them, and as you did that and he swept under them, you shook your head in disbelief.

“You know what? I’m sure you’re the only bore who doesn’t like those kinds of movies and tv shows,” you teased him. “All the other witches probably love them, and say stuff like ‘Merlin’s beard!’”

Jungkook stopped sweeping. “Bore?”

Your nodding made him mumble something about the nerve you had, but when he went back to cleaning, you were satisfied to see him smiling to himself.

A while later, the familiar sound of the bell made you turn your head around to see three people walk in. The only girl rushed to hug Jungkook, and your heart stung as if it had been pricked by a needle when she kissed him in the cheek and he blushed. Was she… his girlfriend?

“I swear your cheeks get puffier every day, Gukie.”

Gukie.

“It was raining this morning, so I couldn’t go jogging,” he joked. “I thought you wouldn’t be here until dinner.”

“Dude, I texted hours ago,” one of the guys said, showing him on his phone. “‘Change of plans. Styx at 6pm?’”

Jungkook scratched the back of his head once he had put the mop away. “I didn’t see, I was with Y/N.” He turned to you. Cue to stand up. “Y/N, these are Hoseok and Irene.”

Relief flooded through your body when you realised that she– that they were from his coven. Just friends.

“Oh, hi.” You approached them, sort of shy.

“Merlin’s beard, so you do exist!” Hoseok went in for a hug and as quickly as a flash, your gaze flew to Jungkook, who avoided it in embarrassment.

“Of course she does,” Irene said as she hugged you too. She seemed so nice that you felt stupid for having felt jealous of her. Jealous… “I think I’ve seen you around campus before!”

“Now that you say so, I think I’ve seen you too.” You smiled as you recalled. Witches themselves, Jungkook had told you, weren’t invisible and mingled with humans. You just hadn’t stopped to consider they might sit next to you in class.

Then, the other guy stepped forward, and you waited for him to introduce himself, but he just stared at you for a good awkward couple of seconds, until he broke the silence with a scoff. “Don’t tell me you don’t recognise me? Ah, but you love kissing me so much!”

Your eyes flinched open like an owl’s. Could you have made out or slept with him at some party and forgot? Fuck, you were a heartbreaker. But the more you looked at him, the more he reminded you of someone... Just, who?

A gasp escaped you once you realised.

“Yoongi?!”

“Ding ding ding,” he smirked. “Irene was generous enough to lend me some magic so that I could turn.”

He looked nothing like you’d imagined. It was crazy to think such an intimidating-looking hot guy was the same kitten who’d always seek your affections with loud meows.

Irene put her arm around his shoulders. “Cute as he is as a cat, we like being able to talk with him too.”

He pointed at her and addressed Jungkook. “See? Not that hard, is it?” Turning to Hoseok next, Yoongi switched to a sad voice. “He’s got me touch-starved, not a single caress in a month…”

Knowing that wasn’t true, you laughed, but Jungkook scoffed. “As soon as he turns human, he starts saying bullshit. He can’t help it.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll see you in court.”

“Y/N,” Jungkook then called softly, ignoring his familiar. “Do you want to hang out with us at the Styx?”

You’d been made aware days earlier that he could actually go out sometimes, as long as he remained near someone from his former coven. Apparently, they could loophole his way out of the spell keeping him in the shop. It was technically illegal, but even the Judges turned a blind eye to it, since they knew the spell didn’t last longer than a few hours.

It only made you want to be a witch so you could take Jungkook out too.

“Sure, why not!”

“I’ll go get my jacket, then,” he said before hurrying up the stairs.

“So, Y/N,” Irene said as she caressed Yoongi’s hair, much to his feline delight. “Has Jungkook told you about us?”

Turning off your laptop and putting it in your bag, you shook your head. “Only your names and that, well, you two are fraternal twins. I should’ve put two and two together when you walked in. But he’s… told you about me?”

“Unceasingly,” Hoseok laughed. “I feel like I know you already.”

“It’s not often that he meets someone,” Irene explained. “Not lately, at least.”

The siblings shared a look. That subject again.

“I know it’s a weird question, but… is he alright?” He was always on a good mood when you were around, but you reckoned his past haunted him.

“He’s a shadow of his older self,” Yoongi lamented. “But ever since you showed up, he smiles again.”

Hearing that warmed your heart, mostly because you started smiling again too when Jungkook showed up in your life.

Once at the bar, all seven of you—Jimin and Seulgi being the two additions—sat on the sectional couch around a low table full of drinks. It was a weekday, but one beer wouldn’t hurt.

“We really thought he’d made you up,” Jimin told you, although the girls kept denying it. “Living alone for so long and with only a cat to talk to, you know…”

“It’s been three years since my trial,” Jungkook whispered to you, as though reading your mind. Sixteen, he’d been. “If only I was actually alone.”

Yoongi took the hint. “And who’d kill the spiders that crawl into the shop if I weren’t there, huh? Not you.”

“I think I prefer spiders to the amount of hair you leave behind everywhere,” Jungkook snapped back. “It’s like you do it on purpose.”

“Yes, I as a cat let my fair fall for no other reason than to annoy you.”

“Damn right you do.”

“Come on, guys,” Seulgi interjected. “Don’t spend the one time we can all get together fighting.”

“It’s like you’ve been married for thirty years.” Hoseok shook his head as he took a sip.

“No, you can get divorced in a marriage,” Jungkook pointed out, “I’m stuck with him.”

“Don’t the rest of you have familiars too?”

“If only.” Irene pouted. “I’ve always wanted a kitten like Yoongi, but it’s not something you can choose.”

“Please, adopt me,” this one said to her anyway, and Jungkook failed to suppress a smirk.

At that moment, three guys who were heading out stopped in front of your table when they recognised the coven.

“Well, if it isn’t Flora, Fauna, and Merryweather,” Jimin joked as he high fived them. They seemed to be friends but when Jungkook saw them, one in particular, his smile faded.

“We haven’t seen you guys in forever,” Seulgi mentioned, surprised they were at the Styx.

“Yeah, we barely have a social life anymore,” one complained, “I fucking hate this job.”

Jungkook suddenly stood up and looked at you. “Excuse me, I need to go to the toilet.”

The trio stepped aside to let him walk past, a certain bad vibe in the air. It crossed your mind that they might be the Judges who sentenced him. No wonder he wanted out of there…

One of them glanced at you before addressing Jimin, “Can we talk for a moment?”

With a nod, he stood up along with Hoseok and Yoongi and they all headed to the bar, where those of you left couldn’t hear them.

“No girls allowed, apparently,” Irene sighed.

“Are they the Judges?” you asked, following them with your gaze.

“Jungkook told you?”

“Only that they are a thing in your world.”

“Yeah, they’re the Kim’s. Seokjin, Namjoon, and Taehyung,” Irene began, looking around as though she was about to tell you a secret, Seulgi moving closer as well. “Tae used to be in our coven but when Gukie… broke the law, he was the one who told his brothers.”

“He reported him?” you asked in a whisper, eager to know more.

“We can’t blame him, it was a hard time for us all.” Seulgi looked down. “Tae was Jungkook’s best friend, what he did wasn’t easy at all, but he had to.”

“After the trial, he left our coven and replaced his father as a Judge,” Irene explained. “We’re still friends, but practising magic with us is too much for him.”

You took a deep breath, feeling like you’d skipped the first few seasons of a tv show.

“But, what happened?”

Again, a shared look.

“Gukie wouldn’t like it if we told you, Y/N.” Irene hoped you’d understand. “I’m sure he wants to do it himself.”

At the other side of the room, the guys sat at the bar, Seokjin staring at you in the distance.

“I think this is the first time in centuries that a human enters the Styx,” he said. While magic was supposed to be a secret, it wasn’t forbidden to tell one or two humans about it, but witches didn’t usually take them to such places. “Jungkook does have good taste, though.”

“That’s what you what you wanted to tell us?” Yoongi scoffed. “I don’t think he would be too happy if we set you up with her.”

Namjoon ignored that. “We heard how they met. Unusual way, don’t you think?”

“The moon’s always acting up,” Hoseok said, as it was obvious. “What are you saying?”

“Are you completely sure it was the moon, is what he’s saying,” Taehyung answered for his brother.

“You think it was Jungkook? But he can’t do magic.” Jimin frowned. “And even if he could, why would he lure a random human to the shop?”

Taehyung shrugged. “He might have found a way to set himself free of his punishment and needs her to do it. Who knows?”

“You couldn’t be more wrong,” Yoongi went serious. Always trust a familiar to defend his witch. He was fond of the brothers, but he would stand for no baseless accusations. “Jungkook’s accepted he’ll never leave l’Aquelarre. He thinks he deserves to be locked up.”

“Oh, and he doesn’t?” Taehyung narrowed his eyes, and the familiar glared at him.

“We just had to ask,” Seokjin intervened before things escalated. “Like it or not, he is a criminal, and we can’t risk someone so dangerous getting out.”

Back at your table, you and the girls were now talking about a lighter topic, like dating was.

“Oh, I thought you and Hoseok–”

“Never in his wildest dreams,” Seulgi interrupted you, “which I will turn into nightmares if he ever tries anything.”

He had given her a small flower earlier and mentioned on the way to the Styx how much he hoped she’d like it, hence your confusion.

“Don’t listen to her,” Irene told you. “She likes him back, she’s just stubborn.”

“Please, let’s change the subject…” Seulgi rolled her eyes, a smile then spreading across her face. “Or redirect it towards you and Jungkook.”

Irene got excited too. “Does he have a big dick? I’ve always wondered.”

You choked on your drink.

“Ew, you think about Gukie’s dick?” Seulgi sneered at her.

“It’s always the quiet ones who end up having monster cocks,” she tried to justify herself, and the two turned their heads at the same time to meet your shocked expression. Patiently, they waited for confirmation.

“We haven’t slept together!”

“Yet.”

“What do you mean, yet?!”

“I mean that it’s a matter of time,” Irene chuckled. “Come on, he’s always cancelling plans with us to hang out with you, and I’m sure you do the same with your friends… That’s love, baby. Like when Hoseok asks me what Seulgi’s favourite flower is.”

Said girl rolled her eyes again but you didn’t catch that, being as busy as you were avoiding their gaze.

First of all, Irene’s bar was low. And second, she must be joking. You and Jungkook spent a lot of time together, yes, but that meant nothing. He was just the magic that your mum had said lacked in your life and you were just the first friend he’d made in a while, nothing more.

Although, to be completely honest, you had started noticing things about him you’d never noticed in anyone before. How his eyes smiled before his lips did, how he tugged his hair behind his ear ever so delicately, how he always hummed when you spoke to let you know he was paying attention… The smell of that love potion was unquestionably to blame for these stupid thoughts.

But what if you and Jungkook were truly fated? No, no way. Obviously, you were just a friend to him.

“H-He’s been gone for a while, hasn’t he?” you pointed out instead of giving Irene a response. Luckily, she didn’t call you out for it.

“He’s probably avoiding Taehyung, but he can’t have gone far,” Seulgi reasoned. “There’s a back door that way, why don’t you go look for him?”

Following her directions, you did find Jungkook outside, resting his back on the alley’s wall. The door opening startled him, but he relaxed once he realised it was you.

“Here you are.” You smiled at the sight of him.

“Yeah, sorry for disappearing like that,” he apologised, nerves making his heart beat fast once you stood in front of him. “And for bringing you here so suddenly, I just wanted to be with you a little longer.”

If it were socially acceptable to punch himself in the face right there and then, Jungkook would.

“Don’t worry,” you assured him. “I like your friends, they’re fun. Bit crazy, but fun.” He laughed, the sound like music to your ears. “They told me what Taehyung did… Are you okay?”

After a moment, Jungkook nodded. “I just hadn’t seen him in a while. It brought back memories.”

“I think I saw him and his brothers leave on my way here,” you said, hoping that’d cheer him up. “Why don’t we go back?”

“Sure.” He pushed himself away from the wall with his foot, but you stepped aside.

“After you, Gukie.”

He smirked. “You can call me that too if you want.”

“No, I like your name– I mean! I like saying it– I…” You fuckwit, shut up!! “Let’s just go.”

The next time you met, it was at 6am on a Thursday.

He’d texted you the previous night asking you go to l’Aquelarre before class, leaving you on read when you had asked why. So with a yawn, you entered his shop.

Jungkook stopped walking in circles when he heard the little bell and lay eyes on you. He was wide awake—had been for hours, actually—and couldn’t wait to tell you the news. Even better, show you.

“You best have a good reason for making me wake up so early,” you groaned. “I have an 8am today.”

Approaching each other, the two of you met in the centre of the room, and sleep left your body at once when Jungkook took an extra step forward. Close as you were, though, it wasn’t until you glanced down that you realised he was nibbling at his lip not to break into a smile. For a split second you wished it was your lip that he was biting.

He held out his hands before you and regardless of your puzzlement, you didn’t hesitate to take them. His touch was soft and gentle as he made your palms join and covered your hands with his bigger ones.

“Close your eyes.”

“What?”

“Trust me.” He caressed your skin with his thumb, and you obliged.

All of this was unlike him, so you hoped he wouldn’t take long to give you an explanation, as he couldn’t have asked you there so urgently just to hold hands. Not that you wouldn’t have come given the case.

Around a hot minute later, your brows knitted in a frown, as you had started to feel a tickling. Jungkook chuckled at that.

“Now open them.”

He proceeded to separate your hands only for a small blue butterfly to come out and flap its wings to flutter around you both. Jungkook then let go of you, raising one finger for the butterfly to land, and once it did, it disappeared into thin air.

“You got your magic back!” you blurted out, sharing his excitement.

"Not exactly,” he confessed. “Jimin let me borrow some of his, like Irene did with Yoongi so he could turn human. It will only last a few days, though, and it’s not enough to do spells or anything serious, only party tricks. I thought you’d like it…”

Seeing him that ecstatic, of course you liked it. “It’s amazing, Jungkook, I’m so happy for you.”

After telling you to sit on the round table, he headed to a shelf. “Do you like myrtles?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess,” you answered unsure. Flowers weren’t really your forte; you didn’t even know what a myrtle looked like, but it sure as hell wasn’t supposed to look like that. What Jungkook was holding was a small withered one, its petals and stamens grey. They would most likely break in pieces because of how stiff they’d become were he not handling the flower carefully. “I dare say you forgot to water it.”

“Ha-ha,” Jungkook said, deadpan. He sat down and brought the flower close to your lips. “Blow on it.”

“Excuse me?”

“Blow on it,” he repeated. “Gently.”

Following his orders again, you were stunned to see your breath make the flower flourish back to life as soon as it left you, the petals turning white and healthy and regaining their pleasing aroma which now scented the air. That, and the dew that appeared on it made it seem as though Jungkook had just plucked the myrtle from the ground.

Your astonishment made you forget how to speak. You could only share a grin with him, charmed by the fact that he was including you in his magic tricks.

Today in his cat form, Yoongi landed on his witch’s lap and meowed, likely demanding to be petted. Wanting to earn your awe again, Jungkook made his fur change from black to mint blue there where he stroked him.

Words finally came to you, “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to witchcraft.”

Satisfied with your reaction, Jungkook turned his familiar’s fur back to black. “I used to accidentally do this all the time when I was a child.”

“Accidentally?” You raised an eyebrow at him.

“No, really,” he laughed. “We have magic since we’re born and it’s hard to control it when you’re growing up. I’d always change Yoongi’s hair colour, Irene would have prophetic visions in the middle of class, Jimin would make his family dream of whatever he was thinking about… Each witch has their own thing.”

You found it fascinating. “I wonder what mine would’ve been.”

“Maybe someday we’ll know.”

“For the last time, Jungkook,” the annoyance in your tone amused him, “I do not buy that there are witches infiltrated in NASA who smuggle moon dust because it can turn humans into witches.”

“I can’t believe you’re even considering it,” Irene scolded her coven.

When Jimin had texted them to, quote, gather for an assembly, she didn’t expect him to ask her and Seulgi to check on your moonstone. He and Hoseok had informed them that the Judges suspected Jungkook had somehow cursed it, but for his own friends to do so as well?

“I didn’t,” Jimin said, “until Jungkook asked me to lend him magic. Why now, after so long?”

“Because he wants to impress Y/N, he told you himself! How can you not trust him? He’s our friend!”

“He was our friend too when he almost killed us!” Jimin snapped at her, taking a deep breath to calm himself once he realised what he’d said, and how horrified his friends looked. “It’s not that I don’t trust him, Irene, I’m worried for him. I don’t want him to corrupt himself again.”

“He knows what he did was wrong,” she insisted. “He hates himself for it, you know that. If Yoongi were here, he’d tell you the same.”

“But what about Y/N?” Seulgi asked.

“You too?” Irene turned to her, surprised. “She just happened to see l’Aquelarre one night and came back. Jungkook gave her the moonstone because he wanted to see her again. What’s so weird about that?”

“The fact that she’s human and wasn’t supposed to see past the barriers in the first place?” Hoseok answered. “Oh, and that she spends more time with Jungkook than with her friends and family.”

Jimin had had enough. “Just check the damn moonstone to make sure she’s not bewitched and then we can all forget about this.”

That same night, Irene and Seulgi showed up at your house and basically bullied you until you agreed to go out with the whole gang—save Jungkook. So now, you were having a quick shower while the girls waited in your bedroom.

“Know that I am totally against this,” Irene whispered to Seulgi so you wouldn’t hear.

“I’ll tell the chronicler,” she whispered back, not even looking at her friend, the moonstone she was holding being her main focus. You were so used to wearing it by now that if they hadn’t reminded you to take it off, clumsy you would’ve got it in the shower. After checking for a second time, Seulgi concluded, “it’s clean.”

Before Irene could say I told you so, you came out of the bathroom, but since you were fixing your towel, Seulgi managed to put the necklace back where you had left it without you noticing.

“What did Gukie do next, then?” Irene asked as she helped you choose an outfit.

“Oh, right!” you exclaimed once you remembered that before you had got in the shower, you were telling them about the last time you’d met Jungkook. “Well, then he made me blow into one of those dead flowers he sells and it came back to life.”

“Which flower?”

“Myrtle, I think,” you said, losing the towel and starting to get dressed. “It was white with a lot of thin antennas? I don’t know flower terminology, sorry.” The silence that followed made you whip your head around to find Irene and Seulgi staring at each other.

“Did you know myrtles are sacred to Aphrodite?”

“The Greek goddess of love.”

Not again.

“You two are delusional.” Ignoring them, you walked to the bathroom to do your make up, but they followed you.

“Y/N, witches know everything about mythology,” Seulgi tried to convince you. “It’s no coincidence he chose a myrtle, or that he made you blow on it. The goddess Athena inspired the breath of life into the first humans, it all adds up.”

“I knew Gukie was a romantic!”

“De-lu-sio-nal.”

At nearly 5am, you let yourself fall on your bed, exhausted.

The night had been so much fun that you couldn’t believe it. Your friends had got along great with the coven and between the alcohol, dancing, and laughing, time had gone by faster than you would’ve liked.

And such as every night since you’d met him, Jungkook came to mind.

Could the girls be right? Could he have chosen a myrtle because it was related to love? It’d be cute if he had but otherwise, you were unbelievably dumb for considering so.

You hated Irene and Seulgi. And the love potion. And yourself. Fuck.

The alcohol in your system motivated you to text Jungkook, but reason kicked in when you opened his chat and warned you of how bad of an idea that was. What would he think when he woke up and saw that you’d drunk-texted him at 5am? But just as you were about to lock your phone…

kook<3 [received 5:03am] did you get home okay?

He knew the moonstone protected you and yet he was still checking on you. How could a person be so sweet? It was beyond you.

you [sent 5:03am] ueah ivdid/

kook<3 [received 5:03am] are u drunk🤔

you [sent 5:04am] noo! ok yes😔

kook<3 [received 5:04am] hahaha i take it u guys had fun

you [sent 5:04am] not entirely…

kook<3 [typing…]

you [sent 5:04am] because you weren’t there

Idiot, idiot, idiot, idiot!

How could you be so insensitive, reminding the poor guy he was bound to his place? You were never drinking again.

kook<3 [received 5:06am] maybe i can join you guys some other time :)

The next morning, you met up with him.

You were hungover but the day had started on a good note, as Hoseok had texted the group chat you were all in asking if anybody happened to know why he’d woken up wearing pink knickers. That had you laughing on your way to l’Aquelarre.

Now, you were sat with Jungkook.

“You want to get me drunk?" A smile played on his lips. Learning he’d never tried liquor before had definitely come as a surprise.

"Don’t make it sound like that!” you giggled, smacking him lightly in the arm. “I’m just saying it would be funny to see you that way for the first time.”

Interrupting your lively conversation, a girl you recognised as a regular walked in the shop. Jungkook stood up to attend her, only realising she was crying when the two met at the counter.

Then worried, he asked, “Claude, are you okay?"

“Yes,” she lied, wiping the tears off her cheeks with her hands. “I’m here for LETHE.”

Jungkook’s heart missed a beat.

“Are you su–”

“Yes, I’m sure!” she half shouted, hiding her face so he wouldn’t see her cry. “Please.”

After she’d bought what you discerned as a small glass jar containing a black-coloured potion, she left in a hurry. Jungkook returned to his seat opposite to you with a grim expression. He seemed uncomfortable all of a sudden, his gaze fixed nowhere in particular.

“What’s Lethe?” your voice stirred him from his trance.

“A forgetfulness potion… She must have broken up with her boyfriend and doesn’t want to remember him.”

“Damn,” you exhaled, “a bit extreme, isn’t it?”

“They use it for punishments. Lethe, I mean.” Jungkook looked down. “They used it with my parents so they wouldn’t remember me.”

“What?”

“I think you deserve to know what happened three years ago… what kind of a person I am.”

Taken aback, your lips parted. Curiosity had been killing you for more than a month, but Jungkook’s feelings came first.

“You don’t have to tell me, I already know what kind of a person you are,” you said softly, reaching to hold his hand, but he withdrew it from the table.

“No, you don’t,” he assured you, taking a deep breath to brace himself for your reaction. It would break him if you turned your back on him, but you had a right to know. “I was never as good a witch as Irene or Jimin. I could barely control my powers, so I resorted to dark magic. It was fine at first, helpful, but little by little it corrupted me and I became addicted to it. The guys warned me to stop, but I didn’t listen because I didn’t think I needed a coven anymore, the only thing I cared about was getting more powerful.” He scoffed, “I don’t even know what for, it was the dark magic driving me... Yoongi got the worst of it.” As if on cue, the familiar jumped to his lap, and Jungkook stroked him tenderly. Despite their bickering, they cared deeply for the other, especially after having been through so much. “Because I couldn’t kick him out of my mind, I’d lock him out in the rain and the cold, or refuse to feed him. It’s a miracle he survived.”

Aghast, you covered your mouth with a hand. It was almost painful to picture the Jungkook you knew doing such horrible things.

“Taehyung tried the hardest to help me, but I pushed him away, like everyone else,” he continued, blinking fast not to cry. “He found out I was planning to carry out a ritual to absorb the coven’s magic at the cost of their lives, so he tried to tell his brothers, but the others stopped him because they thought I could still be saved. At the time, I didn’t care if they had to die in order for me to get what I wanted, I was full of hatred… It almost killed them, but they subdued me and exorcised the dark magic out of my body. I don’t remember much from that night, but Irene was holding me and crying when I woke up, Jimin, Hoseok, Seulgi, and Taehyung were unconscious. I thought they were dead.”

“God, Jungkook…”

“I was saved but Taehyung couldn’t forgive what I’d done, so he reported me. I was stripped of my magic, bound here, and my parents were forced to drink Lethe. Since they couldn’t remember they had a son, they left the country,” he concluded.

“Jungkook, I’m so sorry…” you breathed, heart aching for him. “But you’re not like that anymore, you’re a good person.”

“The Judges don’t think so,” he smiled sadly. “Yoongi told me they believe I’m practising again, and that I lured you in because I need you for a spell.”

“As an ingredient?”

“Dark magic spells tend to require sacrifices, usually human,” Jungkook explained, gazing into your eyes. “I’ll understand if you never want to see me again, but please, I beg you to believe me when I say I’d never hurt you. We met by chance, not by my doing.”

You didn’t need to give it a second’s thought.

“I believe you.”

On a different, less emotionally charged occasion, Jungkook was exercising the magic he had once again asked Jimin to grant him.

Having lit a few candles on the counter, he made the smoke emerging from them turn into any shape you suggested, like a heart or a bunny. When Jimin and Hoseok showed up, the latter made it turn into an archer who strung his bow and fired an arrow.

Seeing your face gleam like that, Jungkook wished he could impress you with the same ease as his friend, but each shape he conjured up with his limited magic tired him as though he were an old man. He wished he could do better spells to make you happy; make the weather sunny to your liking, make the air around you always smell of flowers, make all your worries disappear...

“What’s that?” you pointed at Hoseok’s shopping bag.

“Seulgi’s present, her birthday’s soon,” he said all excited, but Jungkook frowned.

“It’s four months from now.”

Hoseok nodded. “Yeah, soon.”

“When will you give up? She doesn’t seem interested at all to me.” Jimin failed to hold in a snort. Now that you knew Seulgi, though, you silently disagreed.

“Someday soon she’ll fall victim to my charms,” Hoseok said to himself, ignoring him.

“Yeah, her slaps are really close to becoming caresses,” Jimin teased him.

“Hey, she hasn’t slapped me yet. That’s a good sign, right?” He looked at you and Jungkook for support, and both nodded before sipping on your teas. “See? You’re just bitter.”

“Bitter?”

“Yeah, ‘cause you haven’t got laid in months!”

Jimin didn’t seem to mind you were hearing this. In fact, he was willing to take it further, “On the contrary. Once you assume the only woman who's ever gonna touch you naked again is the forensic doctor, it's bliss.”

Your and Jungkook’s teas must have gone down the wrong pipe, because the two of you choked at the same time.

When you recovered, you stood up, “I should get going.”

“Already? But we just got here,” Hoseok complained.

“I know, I’m sorry, but this guy I’m doing an assignment with suddenly asked to meet an hour earlier, so…” They glanced at Jungkook at the mention of the word guy, but you didn’t notice. “See you tomorrow!”

But you didn’t get to see them the next day. Only hear them.

Just as you were about to go in the shop, the sound of shouting coming from inside made you stop in your tracks. A moment of hesitation later, you decided to eavesdrop.

“I’m only asking for a little more,” Jungkook’s voice said. “This isn’t enough to do anything!”

“If the Judges find out we’re sharing magic with you, they’ll kill us all!” Jimin’s yelled back.

Jungkook huffed out a laugh. “There’s no way they can find out. I don’t want to practise again, only do a few simple spells!”

“For now,” Seulgi joined them. “I’m sorry, Gukie, but we all know you have a problem. We’re turning off the tap for your own good.”

“Wow, it’s great to know you guys trust me so much!”

“You said the same thing when you got into dark magic,” Jimin reminded him. Jungkook ran up the stairs and slammed the door behind him.

You stopped going to l’Aquelarre after that.

If the coven bumped into you on campus, the excuse you gave them before running away was that you were so busy lately that you couldn’t even stop to talk for five minutes. Jungkook got the same treatment through texts, until you just stopped answering him. It hurt to neglect him after he’d just confessed his past to you, but like Seulgi had said, it was for his own good.

Anyone could tell he kept asking for magic to impress you and not out of ambition, but you refused to be the cause of his relapse. If he truly had an addiction, those party tricks you loved to see were doing him more harm than good. You were doing him harm.

Days bled into weeks as boringly as they used to before meeting Jungkook. A colourless existence was a price you were willing to pay to ensure he didn’t stray from the right path, but that didn’t mean it was easy.

You couldn’t get rid of the moonstone even if you tried, so you were forced to see the magic world, and thus be constantly reminded of Jungkook. Twiddling the raw stone, you sometimes wished you’d got hold of some Lethe so you could forget him—his absence was starting to hurt, and the nightmares you kept having in which he broke free of his imprisonment and thanked you for making him see that choosing ‘the evil side’ was the right choice all along, only made you feel guiltier for ghosting him.

But during this time, you also realised you were in love with him. It had to be love if it hurt that much, right? Jungkook had been wrong about the love potion, though. The fact that it smelled of him to you couldn’t mean that you were fated, as you would never see him again.

Or so you’d thought, because three days before Halloween, he showed up at your university.

“Jungkook,” you gasped when you crashed into him. Perhaps it was because you hadn’t seen him in a while, but… he looked stunning. “How–”

“Irene,” he cut your question short and turned around to point at said girl, who waved her hand at you from a distance. “She had a free period, so I asked if she could bring me here.”

“Oh…” you uttered, processing it.

“Can we… Can we talk?”

“Sure.”

Not too far from there, you found an empty hallway and sat against a wall. It was a quiet enough place for the conversation you were about to have, but the awkward silence between you could’ve been palpable even if you were in the middle of a concert.

“I haven’t seen you in a while,” Jungkook finally spoke, staring at the ground in front of him. It broke your heart that you couldn’t look him in the eye either given how comfortable you used to be around each other.

“Yeah… I’ve been quite busy,” you lied. “Lots of homework and shit.”

Jungkook hummed, and silence surrounded you again for what felt like hours.

“You don’t have to lie to me,” he mumbled, disheartened rather than crossed. “I know that it’s because I’m useless and can’t do magic."

Immediately, you looked at him. “That’s what you think?”

He nodded slowly. “Any human would be disappointed to be friends with a powerless witch. I’m not mad, but I just need to hear you say it.”

With a scoff, you ran your hands through your hair. Cutting yourself out of his life was supposed to help him, but it had only made him feel less of himself. You were so fucking stupid. “It’s not that at all. Jungkook, it’s you that–” What are you gonna say? ‘It’s you that’ what, you dumb bitch? “I’m only interested in your world because you’re in it.”

He met your gaze, cheeks burning. “Then why are you avoiding us?”

“Because I’m an idiot,” you sighed. “I overheard you asking Jimin for more magic and didn’t want you to end up corrupting yourself again because of me… So I thought it’d be best to tackle the root of the problem.”

“You should’ve told me,” he said.

“I know.” You looked down, embarrassed. “But you sounded so upset that I was afraid you’d hate me if I did.”

Jungkook plucked up his courage and held your hand. “I could never hate you.”

You were never nervous around guys you were attracted to, but now you seemed to have forgotten how to breathe. Then again, you’d never been head over heels for anyone.

Jungkook’s lips were so close and you longed to kiss them more than anything, but before you could close the space separating you, Irene’s voice stopped you.

“Gukie, we– Oh. Shit, sorry!” she apologised as you pulled away from each other at the speed of light. “Class starts soon, I’ll be late if we don’t leave now.”

“Y-Yeah, let’s go…” He stood up, and you copied him, damning Irene’s timing. Turning to you, he whispered, “are we good, then?”

Instead of answering, you wrapped your arms around his neck. He hugged you back, the smell of your perfume as soothing as ever, making him wish you never pulled back. But when you did, he was met with your smile, which brought him the same comfort.

He was happy.

Making up with Jungkook deserved to be celebrated, so a Halloween party happened to be just what you needed. The only thing was that he wouldn’t be there.

You’d begged him and begged him over the last few days to come, but he kept repeating he wasn’t in the mood. To be fair to him, he’d been isolated for the last three years, so you couldn’t blame him if he didn’t feel like going to a crowded place and having loud music blasted into his ears. No big deal, you told yourself. At least you were friends again.

The coven, too, had understood why you’d been avoiding them, and you all agreed to pretend nothing had happened after Jimin apologised to you. It did shock you to learn he’d been responsible for the nightmares you’d been having about Jungkook going evil, but he seemed to regret it deeply, so you’d forgiven him. After all, you’d fucked up too.

“The Judges would’ve killed him if they’d found out he had the means to escape his punishment,” he’d explained. “You were the only reason he was doing magic again, so I wanted to make sure you wouldn’t come back to him, just in case… I’m really sorry, Y/N.”

Dressed as a witch—of course—and all drama left behind, you walked to your friend’s house, the safety your moonstone granted you taking away the fear of being alone in the street at night. Looking up at the full moon, you smiled.

Once at the party in which half of your university had apparently decided to flock, you found your group of friends at the kitchen, serving themselves drinks. You complimented each other’s costumes and talked for a while until your phone buzzed.

irene<3 [received 12:16am] we’re heeeere :D where are you?

you [sent 12:16am] kitchen! wait i’ll go to you

irene<3 [received 12:17am] 👌

Spotting them from a distance was easy despite the dancing crowd, but before you could reach them, your eyes were carefully covered by a pair of hands, your vision switching to pitch black.

“Surprise,” the person whispered in your ear from behind, feeling a grin spread across your face when you recognised his voice.

“Jungkook!” you turned around to exclaim, his outfit making your jaw drop instantly. “A policeman?”

He smirked. “Aren’t you supposed to dress as monsters for Halloween?”

“My dad is an officer.”

Jungkook went pale, his eyes wide as though he was a deer caught in the headlights. Until you started laughing, that is, and he brought a hand to his chest while sighing in relief.

The night turned out to be amazing, and you didn’t even get that much drunk, only enough to forget how cold it was—that dress you were wearing didn’t seem as short when you’d ordered it online. As usual, both your friends and the coven got hammered, which resulted in a myriad of funny videos they’d likely beg you to delete the next morning, for the sake of their dignity. Jungkook, however, decided after three sips of some vodka mixed with coke that he’d had enough, as it tasted disgusting. Out of solidarity, you stopped drinking too.

At some point the two of you ended up dancing alone, the others, unbeknownst to you, having gone outside to give you some privacy.

It was no secret that you had feelings for him. Irene and Seulgi knew it before you did and your friends could tell too. You hadn’t told them much about Jungkook because magic was sprinkled all the way through your story with him, but they couldn’t miss the way you’d blush whenever you so much as pronounced his name.

Now, your forehead was glued to his shoulder and his arms were loosely wrapped around your lower back as you danced—rather, swung slowly from side to side. It was as if neither of you could hear the upbeat reggae music playing, or see the people around you. All you were thinking about was that you wouldn’t mind it if you died right then in his arms, as he held you close.

When he pulled away, you felt as though you’d been woken up from a dream.

“I think the guys are getting ready to leave,” he said, and you turned your head in the direction of his gaze. Indeed, the coven were putting on their jackets, which meant it was time to go home. It had only been a few hours, but Seulgi had told you it was harder to keep up the spell allowing Jungkook outside when drunk.

“Yeah… Let’s go.”

You didn’t share a word on the whole way to l’Aquelarre, but holding hands was enough. It was funny how such a simple gesture drove you crazy when you had unashamedly done the dirtiest things in bed with other guys.

Once you got to his door, the guys said goodbye and went home, you and Jungkook being left alone again, still holding hands.

“I’m really happy that you came to the party,” you confessed, unable to look away from his beautiful eyes, which reflected the moon.

“Me too,” he said faintly.

After nodding slightly, you tried to step away, but he didn’t let go of your hand. Smiling, he gently pulled you close until your lips met.

It was obviously colder in the street than in your friend’s house, but you wanted no other heat than that of Jungkook’s wet kiss to warm you up. It took your breath away, how he moved against you ever so innocently at first, but as soon as you placed your free hand on his cheek, his tongue was in your mouth. Knowing you, two more seconds and you’d be horny enough to say fuck it and push him against the wall. You wondered how he’d react to that.

But you didn’t get to find out, because the bracket light above you suddenly exploded, forcing you to separate from him with a shriek.

Wide-eyed, you looked at Jungkook, who seemed just as surprised. “Was that you?”

Before he could say anything, someone else did.

“Sorry!” You turned to see Irene, Seulgi, Jimin, and Hoseok half hiding behind the corner of the street, spying. “We got too excited!”

Shaking his head in disbelief, Jungkook grabbed your hand and led you inside, and upstairs. Quietly as not to wake up Yoongi, whom you spotted sleeping in the living room, you got to the bedroom. It was dark in there, the light being turned off, but you only needed to feel Jungkook.

He tripped while heading to the bed and the both of you fell on it laughing, but it didn’t ruin the moment, it made it better. Before you could kiss him again, he whispered, “Y/N, I’ve never– I mean, I’m… I’m a virgin.”

It didn’t surprise you at all, having been locked up since he was sixteen. You caressed his face. “It’s okay, I can teach you.”

What happened next, you couldn’t describe with words.

There was no way of making justice to how Jungkook had moaned against your skin, or how he’d dug his fingers in your hips to move them faster, or how he’d fucked you senseless until he’d found his release. There simply wasn’t.

Afterwards, when you were still catching your breaths, he held you close to his chest.

“I’m sorry,” he kissed the top of your head, “I kept messing up…”

You chuckled and lay a kiss on his heart, “You were perfect, silly.”

The silence that followed was comfortable, so much that it invited you to close your eyes and want to allow yourself to drift into sleep.

“I should probably tell you that I've been lying to you from the beginning,” he said, and you used your elbow to support yourself so you could face him, tilting your head in confusion. Biting his lip, he stretched his arm to open a drawer and get the necklace you’d lost the night you’d met him. “I did find it. I could’ve asked one of the guys to do a spell so it’d appear in your house, but I wanted to see you again…”

“I’m glad you didn’t.” You kissed his lips. Resting your head on his chest again, you fell asleep before you could hear him whisper,

“Life without magic isn't that bad if I have you.”

⇢ drabble: morning after

#bts fanfiction #jeon jungkook #jungkook angst #jungkook fluff #jungkook f2l #jungkook x reader #bts au #btscreatorscorner

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