straykisz

[straykisz]

There's Magic Between Us

❥ pairing: hwang hyunjin x female reader ❥ genre: one-shot, fluff, angst, attempted humour, low fantasy, frenemies to lovers, swimmer!hyunjin, merman!hyunjin, witch!reader, high school!au, modern-day setting ❥ rating: pg-13 ❥ warnings: mentions of food, kissing, mentions and depictions of drowning (nothing bad happens), bullying (in reference to reader's past, portrayed once), one reference to drugs (as a joke), trespassing (it happens twice), let me know if i am missing something ❥word count: 19.1k ❥ summary: Hyunjin's life was perfect until it wasn't. After turning into a merman, everything he worked for is at risk: his place in the swimming team, his popularity amongst his colleagues and worse, his chance at entering a prestigious university. After coming to terms that turning into a merman was not a momentary occurrence, Hyunjin knows he needs a witch's help to get to the bottom of this. Luckily, he knows one. The not-so-good part? Her name is Y/N and she's known for hating guys like him. Will he be able to trust her with his secret and get his life back?

❥ lia’s note: Hello, how are you? I'm publishing this fic again with some grammar and typo fixes and minor improvements. This is still one of my favourite fics I've ever written and it's also one of my longest oneshots (for now). This story is very special to me for many reasons, and I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have writing and revising it. Please, like/reblog this post if you enjoyed reading it, and let me know your thoughts through an ask if you feel like it! As always, happy reading!

[stray kids m.list] ● [general m.list] ● [join my taglist]

“I need your help.”

Hyunjin couldn’t believe the words that left his mouth. Two weeks ago, if someone were to tell him he would be asking you for help, he would have laughed. In which situation would he need a witch’s help? None. His life was perfectly fine without any magic, and he didn’t want anything to do with it. He was popular, captain of the swimming team, and he was sure he would go to a good university by the end of the school year. At least, that was him two weeks ago. Today, he wasn’t so sure about that.

“Let me guess,” you closed your locker door and turned to face him, slightly amused, “you need my help to improve your grades. What subjects?”

He laughed. You were funny. Yes, he sucked at most subjects, but he would never study more than necessary. He didn’t need to improve his grades; he just had to be sure he wouldn’t fail any class. That, and his outstanding performance in the swimming team would get him far.

“That’s not the case.” He cleared his throat and glanced around the corridor, moving closer to you. Suddenly, he didn’t know how to bring it up. “I need your help with other things.”

“Such as…?”

“Such as… magical things.”

You rolled your eyes, disappointed.

“I don’t sell drugs. If you want that, find someone who’s always high. Not me.”

After fixing the strap over your shoulder, you turned your back on Hyunjin, leaving him behind as you walked down the corridor. He blinked slowly, trying to understand what had just happened. Yes, he expected you to reject his offer at first, but after mentioning magic, he expected your eyes to shine or something. Instead, he got the cold shoulder, and you now thought he was into drugs.

Great, he thought. What now?

He pondered for a while, glancing between both ends of the corridor, wondering if he should go to his car or after you. His urgency to solve this matter spoke louder. Hyunjin sighed and went after you, half-walking, half-running until he was next to you.

“What do you know about mermen?”

You glanced at him sideways for a while and shrugged.

“The same as everyone else. They have a tail instead of legs and like to swim. They probably live in the ocean, I don’t know. Merfolk is not of my interest.”

“Why not?”

“Why do you care, Hyunjin? Did you bet with anyone that you could annoy me for a certain amount of time before I lost my patience?”

He knew you were deflecting answering his question, probably to keep your identity hidden. Hyunjin knew you were a witch. He had known you were one ever since you were in first grade when you started to have witchcraft lessons. His mother worked in the bakery next to your aunt’s flower shop and she told him the stories about you. As a kid, Hyunjin thought they were a cautionary tale, but now, he saw them as a blessing in disguise.

Hyunjin gulped and glanced at the corridor once again. He took a few quick steps forward and stopped in front of you, causing you to almost trip on him. He caught the brief surprise in your eyes and held your gaze for as long as possible. He had never noticed you had such pretty eyes. In all honesty, Hyunjin never lost much time staring at you. You moved like a shadow, and he rarely noticed you. Until recently, that was.

“Now we’re doing a staring contest?” You crossed your arms. “I have somewhere to be. Don’t make me waste my time, please.”

“I know you’re a witch, and in this case, you’re the only person that can help me,” he whispered. “I… need your help to deal… a situation.”

You held his gaze as your expression grew sombre. Whether you were upset, disappointed, surprised, or all at once, Hyunjin didn’t know. However, he wanted to hide. Perhaps asking for your help while exposing your origin had been a bad idea.

You leaned closer to him and took a deep breath, closing your eyes. When you opened them again, you smiled at him. Your smile was pretty, too.

“You’re a merman. How fun.”

His eyes widened and he took a step back, shocked. “How do you know?”

“You smell of sea and sand. Sunlight. Warmth. Your heart pulses differently, too. Besides, you asked for my help while mentioning merfolk. It could be a coincidence, but we both know you’d never ask for my help unless you didn’t have any other option.”

“Do witches read minds?”

“Are mermen always annoying?”

“I don’t know.” Hyunjin ruffled his hair in frustration and started to pace around. How had you been able to read him so quickly? Was that some sort of spell? How powerful were you? “Are you inside my mind right now?”

You rolled your eyes and shook your head.

“I don’t read minds. Witches can’t read minds, only energy.” You cleared your throat and fixed your posture, focusing on Hyunjin again. “What do you need my help with?”

“I need you to help me not turn into a merman every time I come into contact with water.” When you raised an eyebrow, he shook his head, ready to reassure you. “I can pay you. I can do what you want. I can make you popular, introduce you to anyone, pay you with money, anything. Just please, help me.”

“No.” Your answer was so blunt that Hyunjin took a bit to process it. “Don’t you ever attempt to ask me for such blasphemy ever again.”

“But… but you can help me.”

“I can’t.”

“You’re a witch.”

“And you’re refusing to accept your true origins.”

“It could ruin my life,” Hyujin argued. “Look, I'm the captain of the swimming team, and I haven’t shown up for practice in two weeks. If I skip one more week, I'm out. I can’t afford that. I have worked too hard for this, and I'm not willing to give up now.”

“Were you expecting me to feel sorry for you?” You took a deep breath and walked closer to Hyunjin. “You’re not asking me to help you. What you are asking me is for me to betray my values for you, which is something I won’t do. I barely know you. Try to do a little study on merfolk, and perhaps we can talk about it. I won’t help you any further, though.”

You patted Hyunjin’s shoulder and disappeared up the stairs, leaving him alone in the corridor. This entire conversation had been unexpected. He didn’t expect you to say yes right away, but he expected you to agree to help him eventually. However, you had bluntly refused his requests several times and even demanded he do some research about his origins.

This was why you didn’t have any friends. You were too demanding and lacked basic understanding and compassion for other people. You may have a pretty smile and beautiful eyes, but your personality was the worst.

Still, Hyunjin needed your help, and he wasn’t going to give up this easily. You hadn’t said no to him, and even though you hadn’t agreed to help him, you were willing to chat with him once he had done some research on merfolk.

He glanced at his watch and bit his lip. By now, he should be at swimming practice, surrounded by his friends, and training for all the championships he had left. However, he wouldn’t be able to do it. This afternoon, he wouldn’t waste his time, though.

For the first time in his life, Hyunjin would do something he had never done seriously before: he was going to research and study. Apparently, a simple search on a web browser wasn’t enough for the situation.

Your evenings were your favourite time of the day. After getting home and doing your homework, you had dinner with your parents and spent the rest of your time in your bedroom listening to music, reading books, and trying your best at crocheting. All of this happened while your cat gave you the most judgemental look possible, but you wouldn’t complain. He kept to his toys and whenever he demanded your attention, you took that as a cue to take a small break.

As you lied in your bed, mindlessly reading one of the last books you had gotten from your school library, you couldn’t help but focus on your conversation with Hyunjin. You tried not to read too much into what had happened, but the truth was that he knew you were a witch. How he had gotten this knowledge, you didn’t know, but it was worrisome. You knew other magical beings lived in this realm, but everyone was supposed to keep that a secret, and never talk about it with each other. He was the first person you met who, allegedly, had magical abilities too. You couldn’t trust his words too much—you had never spoken with him at school.

Everyone knew who Hyunjin was. Captain of the swimming team, he was known for being a good friend, easy to party with, and a very terrible student too. According to most teachers, he had to worry more about his grades and pay more attention in class, but he didn’t care. Hyunjin had put all of his eggs into the same basket—his captain position on the swimming team—and that decision was now biting him in the ass.

It’s what he deserves, you thought, flipping through the next page of your book. From across the room, your cat stared at you intently. You closed the book and sat on your bed, focusing your attention on him.

“What? It’s true, Whiskers. If he wasn’t so reckless, he wouldn’t be this stressed right now, and he wouldn’t need my help either.”

Your cat blinked slowly, and after a while started to lick its body. So much for a companion to vent with. You took a deep breath and stood from your bed, making your way downstairs to make yourself some tea and talk to your parents about what had happened. If anyone needed to know about this conversation, it was them. You didn’t want to be the reason why your entire family line would be at risk.

“Does anyone want tea?” you asked as you got to the end of the stairs and peeked into the living room. Your mother turned to face you, offering you a polite smile that didn't reach her eyes. You raised an eyebrow. “Is everything alright?”

“We have a guest,” she whispered, walking closer to you. She grabbed your hand and pulled you into the corridor, away from the kitchen and living room, and into the study room. “There's a boy in the living room asking for you.”

“A boy? Who?”

“That’s what your father and I have been trying to figure out. He refuses to tell us why he wants to talk to you.” Your mother narrowed her eyes. “You didn’t get a boyfriend without telling us, did you?”

You rolled your eyes and crossed your arms.

“Of course not. If I did—which, by the way, is very unlikely—you'd be the first people to know. Did he give you a name, at least?”

Your mother nodded. “Hyunjin. Do you know him?”

Your soul left your body briefly before you returned to your senses. You had to close your eyes for a while and massage your temples. What the hell was Hyunjin doing here, this late at night? You thought asking him to do some research about merfolk would dissuade him from trying to talk to you again, but that had clearly backfired. What were you going to do now?

“He's in the same class as me. I don’t know him that well.” You leaned closer to your mother and whispered, “I think he might be merfolk. He knows I’m a witch.”

Your mother nodded, taking in your words. She pondered on them for a while, and you waited for her reaction. However, instead of panic or worry, your mother seemed pretty relaxed and okay with the information you had just shared with her.

“Oh.” She smiled. “It’s all good, then.”

“What? Why?” You gestured towards the living room. “We don’t know him. Aren’t you worried he knows about me being a witch?”

“Not in the slightest.” She shook her head. “If he's merfolk, then he's one of us.”

Your mother grabbed your arm and pulled you with her to the living room. You tried your best not to trip on the rug when you entered the living room alongside her. Your mother helped you regain your balance and offered Hyunjin and your father a polite smile. You, however, couldn’t hide your disdain for seeing Hyunjin here.

“Here she is.” Your mother patted your shoulder, sending your father a look he clearly understood.

“Yes, Y/N is here. She was…”

“Busy.” You glared at Hyunjin. “I'm still busy.”

“It’s eleven o’clock, Y/N. Besides, you were about to make yourself some tea, weren’t you?”

“Yes,” you turned to face your mother, “because I want to go to sleep.”

“I don’t plan on taking much of your time,” Hyunjin said, offering you a polite smile. Your father kept his eyes on him which was making him visibly uncomfortable. “I just need to ask you a couple of questions.”

“Couldn’t that wait until tomorrow? Or never?”

“Y/N!” Your mother slapped your shoulder lightly. “Is that a way to treat a guest?”

If he is Hwang Hyunjin, then yes, you thought. He had so much audacity that you were concerned his brain had been replaced by a fish.

“Why don’t you and Hyunjin chat in the living room while your mother and I go prepare you some tea? Would you like some tea, Hyunjin?”

“I’m not into tea.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

Your parents exchanged a confused look after Hyunjin’s confession, but you were unbothered by it.

“He’s probably more into coffee or energy drinks,” you whispered to your mother.

“We don’t have any of those at home. Should I buy some?”

You shrugged. “Give him a glass of water, then. Or juice, I don’t care.”

“See if you’re nice to Hyunjin. If not nice, be respectful to him. Even when we don’t see eye to eye with someone, we should still be polite.”

You rolled your eyes. Apparently, that was all you did today.

“Fine. I’ll be sure not to curse him.”

Your mother gave you a warning look, but you smiled at her. She knew you wouldn’t curse anyone. You didn’t know how to do it, and it was against the witch’s oath.

After your parents left the room, you and Hyunjin stood in silence for a while. You looked at him, expectantly, waiting for him to open his mouth and speak his business. He must be desperate to come to your house in the middle of the night.

“Your parents seem cool.”

“They’re polite. Why are you here?”

He nodded and removed the backpack from his back, opening the zipper and pulling a couple of books out.

“After our conversation today, I decided to do better research about merfolk, and I brought a couple of books. Could you let me know if they’re worth a read? I don’t know if they're legit or fairytale-like.”

Hyunjin extended two books to you, and you accepted them. You glanced at their hardcovers and read their titles, trying to remember if you had read any of them. Part of your training in witchcraft required you to know about different magical beings with active lineages, but you didn’t focus much of your attention on merfolk. This town was near a dense forest and far away from the sea and ocean. It was strange that Hyunjin, a merman, had found himself here.

“This one is not good.” You returned him the first book with a green cover. “It’s outdated, and some of the information it presents was confirmed to be a myth and not factual. As for this one…”

You opened the second book and glanced at its index, reading the different topics it included. It had a brief history of merfolk, the myths associated with these magical creatures, and where one could find them. Nothing about merfolk’s abilities or how to control their powers, which was what Hyunjin needed right now.

“That one is a good read, but it’s too broad. Let me see if we have anything in our library that can be more practical to you,” you said, returning him the second book. “Wait here.”

“Sure. And thank you.”

You nodded at him and disappeared into the corridor, meeting your parents in the kitchen. By now, you were sure your mother had informed your father of what you had told her, so when they spotted you, they both stopped their tasks and waited for you to speak.

“Can I take Hyunjin to the library?”

“You mean the one in the study or the one behind the study?” your father asked, pouring the boiling water inside two mugs.

“The one behind the study,” you said. “Hyunjin’s books don’t have what he needs. I want to see if we have any books on merfolk abilities and powers, and a guide on how to keep them hidden from others. Can I take him with me or not?”

Your parents exchanged a knowing look, and you waited for their answer. Eventually, your father nodded, and your mother turned to you, smiling softly.

“You can. Just make sure he doesn’t steal anything. Merfolk are like dragons: if they like something, they will want to have it.”

“He’s not into books, Mom.”

“Then, just keep him near the bookshelves,” your father said. “Don’t let him peek into the other rooms in the library.”

“Follow me.”

When Hyunjin lifted his eyes from the books in his hands, you were gesturing to him to join you. At first, he didn’t move, but after your insistence and intense glaring, he shoved the books in his backpack and followed you to the corridor.

He wasn’t sure why he had come to your house this late at night. You were right—this was something you could have solved and looked at in school, but his urgency to solve this matter spoke louder. Besides, his house wasn’t that far away and he didn’t have a curfew anymore. He was in his last year of high school and his mother allowed him to stay out until later as long as he didn’t fail any classes and kept them informed of his whereabouts.

Tonight, he merely stated he was going to visit a friend, but didn’t elaborate any further. However, he texted his mother as soon as he arrived at your house and he planned on texting her again once he was out of here. He was already taking longer than he initially expected.

“Come on in.”

After opening the door, you turned on the lights of the room, revealing a small study with walls covered in bookshelves. Hyunjin feared for his life—he didn’t want to be drowned by the weight of knowledge, and this room looked like it could do that to him. Good thing he knew how to swim, though.

“These are a lot of books,” he said, nodding to himself. “Family heirlooms?”

You closed the door behind him and shrugged, walking towards the desk on the right of the room. Behind it was a portrait of three people on the wall, and it didn’t take long for him to recognise you and your parents. He wasn’t sure who the artist behind the painting was, but they had been able to capture the beauty of your eyes and the kindness of your smile. It was pretty.

“Ah, that.” You rolled your eyes after noticing what Hyunjin was looking at. “It’s a family tradition. A weird one, but it wasn’t as awkward as I expected.”

“Your parents seem nice…?”

Hyunjin wasn’t sure if that was the right word to describe your parents. They had received him with open arms but were quick to ask him questions. Who was he and what kind of matter had brought him to talk to you, was he a friend or more than that? Not even his past girlfriends’ parents were this inquisitive about him.

However, he understood why. He didn’t just research merfolk. Hyunjin looked up some information about witches too. He had to if he was going to ask for your help. Although most of what he found was vague and at points contradictory, he was sure that witches weren’t evil. Besides, their homes were their refuges. Anyone who entered unannounced or uninvited would be questioned about their motives. The number of guides for witches on how to keep their homes safe he found was worrisome.

“I wouldn’t describe my parents as nice,” you said, opening the drawers at the desk one at a time with your brows furrowed. “They are overprotective and good people. Not nice or kind, though.”

“Why not?”

You lifted your eyes to him, annoyed.

“Witches can’t be nice. They are cordial and respectful, but don’t confuse that for being nice or kind.”

“To me, that is being nice.” He crossed his arms and leaned on one of the bookshelves, in front of the desk where you were. “What is kindness to you?”

“Kindness is pain wrapped in a denial bow. People are nice because they know what it’s like to suffer, and they don’t want others to go through that. Witches acknowledge pain, they don’t ignore it. They aren’t nice or kind to others because they don’t deserve to feel pain. They recognise their equals and treat people according to their energies. If you sow fear, you will collect sorrow. If you sow light, you will collect the stars. That’s what we believe in.”

He nodded, confused and blown away by your answer. Hyunjin had never thought of kindness like that, but in all fairness, he wasn’t one to think deeply about worldly matters or how people reacted or behaved. It didn’t matter to him. After all, Hyunjin treated everyone with the same amount of respect and kindness.

“I think you’re wrong about that, you know.”

“I didn’t ask for your opinion, and I don’t care about it.” You lifted your eyes to stare at him. Hyunjin heard a click behind him. “If I were you, I'd lean away from that shelf.”

“Why—”

The bookshelf behind him slid sideways, and he didn’t move away in time. He lost his balance and tripped backwards, the weight of his bag not helping his situation in the slightest. Thankfully, someone grabbed his hand before he fell to the ground. He couldn’t prevent a small scream from escaping his lips, though.

You pulled Hyunjin closer to you to help him regain his balance. He was unable to look away from your eyes. Although he had never been this close to you before, he knew he would long for this in the future. You were awfully comforting, and he was sure this was some sort of spell you had going on. No one could be this mesmerising, interesting and intelligent at the same time.

“Is everything alright in there?” Your father spoke from outside the room, knocking lightly on the door.

You let go of Hyunjin and focused on the door. He wished you had held him for a bit longer.

“Everything's fine. Hyunjin leaned on the wrong bookshelf. He survived. We’ll go downstairs now.”

“Downstairs?”

His eyes widened as he turned around. The bookshelf was gone. Instead, Hyunjin spotted a flight of stairs going downwards. A shiver ran through his spine. This was not part of his plan when he decided to follow you.

“What’s down there?”

“Family heirlooms.” You shrugged, offering him a satisfied smile. “And more books. The ones that matter.”

“Is it scary?” He bit his lower lip. Was this how his life ended? “I could wait for you here.”

You shrugged, moving past him and starting to climb down the stairs.

“Fine by me. You can sit by the chair, read the book spines…” You turned to face him. “This will close if you don’t follow me, but rest assured I'll be back. Whether as a nightmare or something to haunt you, I don’t know yet.”

He let out a nervous laugh, nodding to himself.

“You’re joking, right?” You didn’t answer him. “Right? Y/N?”

The bookshelf returned to its place before you answered him. Hyunjin started to pace around the room, messing with his hair. This is how I die, he said to himself, trying to come up with an escape plan. I can’t believe I allowed a witch to lure me into a room alone. Of course, this would happen. Why did I do this?

He looked through the room, checking the windows first. They were on the ground floor, so he could easily escape through them if they weren’t locked. He tried to open them, to no avail. They weren’t budging under his strength. Hyunjin tried the study door next. He turned the handle, but the door didn’t move. It was locked.

“How is it locked?” he whispered, furiously turning the handle, expecting a different result each time. “How is it locked?”

“Everything alright in there?” your mother asked on the other side of the door.

“The door is locked,” Hyunjin said. “I can’t get out.”

“Ah, you’ll have to wait until Y/N returns,” she said in a calming voice. “You didn’t go with her?”

“I chose not to.” He wasn’t going to admit out loud he had been afraid to follow you because he feared for his life. Hyunjin would admit to stupidity, but not to cowardness.

“Well, now you have to wait until she's back. The door locks automatically whenever someone goes downstairs and it can only be unlocked once that person is back.”

“Is this some sort of spell?”

“Yes,” she answered. “I’m sure you’ll learn to use your magic soon, too. Y/N won’t take long. Sit by the chair near the desk or the small sofa near the window.”

Although Hyunjin was mad that you had told your parents about his condition, he was surprised by what your mother had told him: would he be able to use magic too? That’s kind of cool, he thought. It was the price to pay now that he had a fishtail instead of legs every time he was in contact with water.

As per your mother’s advice, Hyunjin sat by the chair at the desk, staring intently at the bookshelf across from it. He knew doing so wouldn’t make time pass faster, but he had nothing better to do than to wait for you. Thankfully, your mother was right. After what felt like an eternity—but had only been five minutes—the bookshelf moved again, and you emerged from downstairs with several books in your arms.

“Is that all for me to read?” Hyunjin started to count the books but stopped after spotting five. “That’s a lot for me to read.”

You placed all the books on the desk in front of him, not saying a word. He didn’t miss the sparkle in your eyes, though. You truly enjoyed reading and everything he considered boring, he was starting to realise.

After separating the books into two piles, you extended the smallest one to him, satisfied with your selection.

“The first one tells you about merfolk abilities and the different active lineages. I would start there so you can figure out what kind of merfolk you are. I would suggest talking to your parents too. They, better than anyone, can help you through this process.”

“I don’t want to tell my parents,” Hyunjin said right away, certain of his choice. “They never mentioned this to me, so I doubt they would know anything about it. I’ll do it on my own, they don’t need to know. I don’t want anyone to know.”

Your eyes met his briefly with concern, but you didn’t say anything about his claims. He knew you probably had a spiteful comment brewing regarding his statement, but he appreciated your silence. You gulped and tapped the top of the pile, shifting Hyunjin’s focus to it again.

“The second book tells you about your power and abilities. It’s not a practical book, it’s mostly theory. I’d suggest looking at the chapters that refer to your lineage to save you some time. The third one is about general magical theory. Each magical order has a code of conduct, but these are the general guidelines every magical being should abide by. The fourth is a general one, too, but it's about the magical orders and how they interact, their abilities, and a bunch of other stuff. I would suggest you read these first, and then I'll give you the rest.”

“The rest?” he asked, glancing between the two piles. He gestured to the second one. “Will I also have to read that one?”

“I’ll read it first since I don’t know how practical they'll be for you. We don’t have a lot of books about merfolk, so I’ll see if these have anything of use for your situation. Still, you should tell your parents about it. I’m sure they have their reasons for not telling you about it, but they want the best for you. They might have useful books at home.”

“We don’t have those kinds of books at home.” Hyunjin grabbed the books from the smallest pile and shoved them inside his bag. These were heavier than the ones he had brought you.

“Where did you find the books you showed me earlier, then?”

Hyunjin stopped in his tracks and glanced at you. This time, your comeback hadn’t been a snarky remark. You grinned at him, and he looked away, upset he hadn’t seen this coming.

“I'll see if I have any more books at home like the ones I brought to you today.”

“Sure.” You walked to the study door and opened it, gesturing to him to leave. “If you need anything else from me, meet me at the library or school. Unless I invite you to visit me at home, don’t appear here again.”

“I understand.” He nodded and smiled at you. “I appreciate your help. Thank you for everything you’re doing.”

“Just make sure you return the books. If you don’t, I'll seriously haunt your dreams.”

He laughed. Hyunjin was learning to love your sense of humour, and he hadn’t known you for that long yet.

“You wouldn’t haunt them. You’re too pretty for that. If I ever saw you in my dreams, that would be a blessing.”

“If you ever say anything like that, I'll curse you for eternity.”

As much as you tried to hide it behind your glare, he could tell you were flustered. He was too; he was just better at hiding it.

“Have a good night of sleep, Y/N.”

As he left the study room, he waved at your parents in the living room, thanking them for allowing him into your home this late at night and for the warmth they showed him.

“Of course!” Your mother said, giving Hyunjin the biggest smile. “Any of Y/N’s friends are more than welcome into our home. You can visit anytime, even if she said otherwise.”

“Mom!” you whined, crossing your arms. However, your mother ignored you.

“Y/N is tough to deal with sometimes, but she has a very big heart. Don’t give up on her just yet.”

“Now you’re scaring the boy,” your father said, extending a hand to Hyunjin. “Do as you wish. Know that you’re always welcome here even if Y/N says otherwise.”

“I can’t believe this.” You threw your hands in the air, disappearing up the stairs with heavy steps. “We’re not even friends.”

Your parents offered Hyunjin polite smiles and he reciprocated them, guiding him to the entrance and waving him goodbye before closing the door. He took his phone from his pocket and messaged his mother, letting her know he was going home.

As Hyunjin walked home, he couldn’t shake off the last words you had told him. Yes, the two of you weren’t friends, but why did he want to change that? Being near you wasn’t easy, and your mother was right, you were tough to deal with. However, he wanted to get to know you better. Behind your snarky comments was always a valid feeling, even if he wasn’t sure where it came from.

Hyunjin wasn’t going to give up on you just yet. He didn’t have any other option, but even if he did, he would choose you over everything else. Whether it was a spell you had put on him, the truth was, it would take you a lot more than a curse and haunting his dreams to make you get rid of him now.

It had been a week since Hyunjin had last visited you at home. Despite you seeing him at school, he never said a word to you. Sometimes, he offered you a small smile or a shy greeting hand wave. However, whenever his lips parted for him to speak to you, he didn’t make any sound.

You had mixed feelings about it. As much as you were relieved you didn’t have to interact with Hyunjin anymore, you were upset he hadn’t even bothered to return the books he borrowed from you. Those were family heirlooms, passed through several generations of witches and other magical beings. Couldn’t he, at least, acknowledge how important those books were to you? He might not like to read, study, or do any research, but he could have some sort of consciousness. Still, this was exclusively your fault. You had chosen to trust the wrong people again, so you would have to deal with the consequences of your actions.

Not having to worry about Hyunjin and his worries meant you didn’t have to read more of the magic theory books you had planned on reading. Although your research had been brief, you had found something that didn’t please you: there was a way for witches to help other magical beings conceal their magic. It required a potion and a spell—both of which you were unqualified to perform—but that was a possibility. If you gave any of those books to Hyunjin, he would figure it out in no time, and having him pester you about spells and potions was worse than asking for your help.

As you sat by one of the library windows, you spent your afternoon organising your notes from classes and trying to come up with a study schedule for your upcoming month. You would be busier than usual in the upcoming weeks since it was a New Moon, and that would require you to perform some rituals, especially if you wanted to be granted access to the portal to the Otherworld.

You knew your parents weren’t pleased about your choice to want to leave this realm, but it was hindering your magic. You didn’t want to keep your magic hidden, you wanted to feel proud using it. You didn’t want to be outcasted for it, you wanted to be celebrated for it, instead. While you kept living here, you would have to hide your identity, and you weren’t happy about that. You knew you had more to offer elsewhere than here, and you would try it, even if your chances of succeeding were very low.

The other students around you started to whisper and giggle amongst themselves, shifting their focus from their notebooks and coloured pens to the person entering the library. At first, you tried to ignore them, but eventually, your curiosity got the best of you.

Hyunjin walked through the different corridors and bookshelves, clearly lost. He glanced at every table and every face around him, looking for someone. He was looking for you, you quickly figured out, when his eyes found yours and relief washed over his face. His steps became quick and his posture changed completely to one of confidence and certainty. Around you, people shifted their attention from Hyunjin to you. Their whispers didn’t subside, but their glares and stares toward you burned your skull. You hated the attention. You preferred the shadows.

“Mind if I joined you?” Hyunjin asked, grabbing the chair across from yours. You slowly looked up from your books, not hiding your displeasure.

“Here to return the books you borrowed?” You turned back to your notes. “If you didn’t intend on reading them, you could have said so.”

“I read them all. I’m sorry for being such a slow reader. I’m not used to reading books.”

“It’s not hard to believe that.” You lifted your eyes to him, gesturing to the chair across from you. “Have a seat. People are staring.”

Hyunjin nodded and followed your suggestion, sitting across from you. He opened his backpack and pulled out the stack of books you had burrowed him, and you sighed in relief. They were all in good condition and you noticed some colourful sticky notes coming from some of the pages. For someone who didn’t know how to study or research, he did have a pretty good method for gathering information. Whether that information stayed in his brain was a different story.

“So, I read the chapters you suggested, and I have some questions. For instance,” he pulled one of the books and opened it one of the pages, “in this page, it says that I can identify my lineage through the colour of the scales on the tail but—”

People all around them urged them to hush and Hyunjin moved in his chair, slightly startled. After looking at his surroundings, he leaned closer to you, worried.

“Did I do something wrong?”

You nodded and leaned closer to him, whispering, “We’re at a library, Hyunjin. We’re supposed to keep quiet and not talk. If we must talk, then we must whisper, okay?”

Whether Hyunjin had heard anything you just said, you couldn’t tell. He kept staring at your lips, parting his as if inviting you to kiss him. It didn’t help that he continued to lean closer to you, closing the distance between the two of you. What had gotten into him? Yes, he was handsome and he had very nice lips, but you weren’t one to fall head over heels for anyone, let alone for someone you barely knew. You placed your hand on his shoulder and pushed him back gently, and Hyunjin blinked slowly.

You returned to your studies as Hyunjin dealt with whatever thoughts were running through his mind. Even though you couldn’t read his mind, you knew he was embarrassed. His aura was a shade of red with hues of yellow and violet. Underneath all of that was a beautiful shade of blue with golden tones he repulsed. That was the true aura of merfolk. So far, his aura resembled any other human, and if it wasn’t for his scent and certainty of getting help, you would have guessed he was pranking you.

Something else gave Hyunjin away. Since he was neglecting his magical side, he was looking more tired than usual. You remembered watching him in the corridors jumping and chatting with people, a certain glow associated with his person. Now, however, he looked exhausted. The dark circles under his eyes were something everyone else would notice, but underneath them, the shine in his eyes was missing, too. He needed to burst out his magic, at least every once in a while. If not, he would rot by denying himself his truth.

“Are you free this evening?” you asked him. Hyunjin looked at you, confused, but merely nodded.

“I was supposed to have practice, but our teacher is sick and I still have a tail, so I'm free.”

“Good,” you closed your book, and stood from your chair, saving your belongings inside your bag, “meet me tonight by the public pool building entrance.”

“Why? Didn’t you hear I can’t swim?”

“Do you want to know your lineage and how to control your powers?”

You pulled the books you had given Hyunjin closer to you and carefully saved them in your bag.

“Of course, I want to. But do I need to swim for that?”

“How else am I supposed to see your scales?”

“You’ll see my scales?” He stood up from his chair, panicking. “You… I… How…”

You rolled your eyes, putting your bag over your shoulder. You wouldn’t be able to study for the rest of your afternoon and all this attention on you from strangers was making you uncomfortable.

“Bring your swimming suit. Leave the rest up to me.”

“You tend to ask me to do weird things, you know. First, you asked me to follow you into that secret chamber, now you’re asking me this?”

The fact Hyunjin considered a downstairs library with a hidden entrance as a secret chamber was hilarious to you. He truly needed to learn more about his identity because fairytales were clogging up his judgement.

“And just like that time at the secret chamber, you can refuse to accept my offer or request. It’s your life, I’m not telling you how to live it. However, you should know keeping your magic hidden for too long is dangerous. You need to set it free once in a while.”

“Or else?” He raised an eyebrow at you. “Is this another one of your lies to try to scare me? I read that witches can’t curse.”

You smiled. The information did stay in his brain. That was wonderful progress and something you’d be glad for soon, you were sure.

“Magic is like a second bloodstream. Do you know what happens when human veins get clogged because the blood isn't circulating?” You leaned closer to Hyunjin one last time, whispering into his ear. “In the worst case scenario, it can lead to death.”

You sighed and leaned away from him, fixing the bag strap on your shoulder. Scaring Hyunjin was fun because he was too gullible and believed everything you told him. This time, however, you wanted him to be scared. Blocking his magic was dangerous, and you feared for Hyunjin’s safety now more than ever.

For someone you didn’t know that well, you sure did care a lot about him, and you didn’t love that about yourself. Hopefully, this wouldn’t last much longer. The two of you didn’t have much in common besides being magical beings. But even then, you belonged to two completely different orders.

When Hyunjin got to the public pool building, everything was closed. The lights inside the building were turned off and only the safety one was visible. He glanced at his watch, fixing his swimming gear back on his shoulder. Although the night wasn’t particularly cold, whenever a soft breeze crossed his skin, he shivered slightly.

He had decided to arrive a couple of minutes earlier just to make sure he wouldn’t miss you. Whenever he got to class, you were already inside the classroom, either listening to music or reading a book. No matter your distraction, Hyunjin didn’t dare to bother you, mostly to avoid questions. You were an outcast—people didn’t generally speak to you. If he was seen with you, even for as little as five minutes, he knew it was only a matter of time before people inquired about your relationship.

Hyunjin would be fine if people assumed that you were friends or that you had been paired in a school work together that required you to meet every once in a while. He wouldn’t, however, tolerate people assuming he had made a bet with anyone to befriend you or that he was doing it because he felt pity towards you. You were one of the coolest people Hyunjin had met, and despite your attempts at keeping him away, he was learning to play your game.

For starters, he now knew a lot more about witches and their lineages. He also knew about witches’ abilities and he was certain that you could help him with his issue. Still, he first needed to figure out what kind of witch you were. Hopefully, tonight would answer some of Hyunjin’s questions regarding your abilities and his powers, too.

You arrived right on time. Hyunjin spotted you walking from the main street at a slow pace, keeping your eyes on the trees and street lights nearby. Although this part of the town was near the centre, it was too late for people to be out. Besides, the public pool wasn’t open during the week which meant very few people came this way. When you were close enough to Hyunjin, you glanced at him from head to toe, saving your headphones inside your backpack. It was the same one you took to class, Hyunjin noticed.

“You're here early,” you said, walking towards the main door.

“Well,” Hyunjin said, following you, “I didn’t want to be late. I know you’re punctual, so I wanted to be here when you arrived.”

“That’s smart.” You nodded and stopped in front of the entrance door, glancing at the inside. Everything was empty. “I think sneaking in will be easy.”

Hyunjin panicked.

“Sneaking in?” He gulped. “I thought this was merely a meeting point! You can’t be serious.”

“Oh, I am.” You smiled at him, delighted. “Step back for a bit. I need space to work. Make yourself useful and be on the lookout.”

Hyunjin crossed his arms, disappointed. You were always giving him orders, and he was growing sick of it. However, what else was he supposed to do? As much as he wanted to admire your pretty face, it was better if he focused on your surroundings to make sure you were safe to do whatever you were planning on doing.

“Try focusing on the sounds.” You kneeled and opened your bag, picking up two small thin pieces of metal. Was this your first time breaking into a place? Hyunjin was afraid to know.

“Why the sounds? How about the streets I can see?”

“Merfolk have a heightened sense of hearing. Only underwater can you see in the dark. You’ll locate people faster if you focus on the sounds around us.”

“Fine.”

He didn’t focus on the sounds. Hyunjin stood still behind you, staring at the road across from the two of you, occasionally looking over his shoulder to look at what you were doing. Eventually, the door unlocked and you pushed it open, gesturing for him to follow you inside.

“I’ll erase our presence from here before we leave, but try not to touch many things. Now, go get changed. I’ll meet you at the pool.”

You started to walk towards the pool, but Hyunjin didn’t move. Eventually, you stopped in your tracks and turned to face him with your eyebrow furrowed.

“Is there any problem?”

“Actually,” he walked towards you, “there is.”

“What is it?” You crossed your arms, keeping your eyes on him.

“I don’t like when you boss me around.”

“I’m not bossing you around.”

Hyunjin stopped when he was close enough to see your features clearly. Even in this low light, you were beautiful. He wished he could find the words to express how breathtaking you were. He knew that even expressing his entire heart to you was useless. You would never believe he could have any interest in you. Hyunjin truly wanted to know you, though.

“Perhaps,” you bit your lip, staring at his mouth briefly. You cleared your throat and focused on his eyes. “Perhaps, I'm not thinking enough about my choice of words. How about you get changed while I make my way to the pool? Does that sound better, Hyunjin?”

“Much better.” He smiled at you, starting to walk towards the changing rooms. “I’ll see you at the pool.”

It didn’t take long for Hyunjin to get changed. Whether it was the excitement to get back into the water or his fear of being alone while trespassing, he couldn’t tell, but in a matter of minutes, he was walking to the pool access and crossing the door to find you sitting at one of the benches near the front.

You didn’t lift your eyes when Hyunjin approached. He placed his bag next to you with his towel on top and glanced at what you were reading. It was about merfolk, specifically, the different lineages. Eventually, you lifted your eyes to look at him, glancing at his torso before finding his smile.

“Whenever you feel ready,” you said, offering him a reassuring smile. “We have all night, and the moon is quite pretty from here. In a few days, it’ll be a New Moon.”

You were prettier than the moon. However, he couldn’t help but compare you to it.

“Sometimes, you remind me of the moon,” he said, stretching his arms and legs.

“Why is that?” you said, unbothered. You lied on the bench, bending your legs so you could rest the book on them and read. “Is it because I'm a witch?”

“It’s because I can’t get to know you. Part of you is always hidden. That doesn’t stop you from being fascinating, though. It doesn’t reduce my curiosity, either.”

“It should, though.”

You adjusted your position on the bench, pretending to be unbothered by his comment, but Hyunjin knew when you were flustered. It was adorable to see you fight a smile, and he couldn’t resist it. All of this made him highly pleased. He was a master at flirting, but with you, he had to get creative with his comments. Maybe reading a lot of books would come in handy, after all.

Hyunjin finished stretching and paced around the pool for a while, his hands behind his back. All of his life, he had loved swimming. When he lived with his parents in a small coastal town, nothing delighted him more than going to the beach and following the waves, allowing them to carry his small body to the shore. He always trusted the sea and he always believed their lives were somehow connected.

After his parents’ divorce, he moved away with his mother to this town, and he was disappointed by the lack of sea. However, he could still swim, and he kept doing it ever since he was young. He loved it. Nothing filled him with more excitement than being inside of water, swimming freely or against the clock.

Tonight, the pool wasn’t as inviting as usual. Whenever he glanced at his reflection on the water’s surface, he remembered the day it all changed. He was glad everything happened when he was alone in his bathtub and no one saw the strange shape he turned into. Hyunjin didn’t want this. His life was going well a couple of weeks ago, why couldn’t it stay that way?

He glanced across the pool to where you were lying on the bench, focused on the book. Although you had told him you could stay all night, he wasn’t willing to stay here forever.

He softly touched the water’s surface with his fingers as a wave of warmth took over his body. Where the water had touched his skin, small blue scales started to appear, reflecting the low light in the pool area. As soon as he took his hand from the pool, the scales disappeared. Hyunjin pursed his lips, glancing at his legs. Once they were underwater, they would be replaced with a tail. The more he delayed this, the harder it would be. Hyunjin couldn’t avoid this forever—it would only delay his return to his ordinary life.

He jumped into the pool, allowing the water to tame his body. Suddenly, he was home. The urgency in his heart subsided as he took his first deep breath underwater, opening his eyes. The world was different here. It was secluded, hidden, safer. It was quiet, too.

Instead of returning to the surface, Hyunjin reached the bottom of the pool and swam for a while, never slowing down. Oh, how he had missed this. He wasn’t sure if you could hear him laughing underwater, but he missed the happiness that burst through his chest, that prevented his legs from keeping still. Tail, he corrected himself. Now, he had a tail, and swimming had never been easier. The water ran smoothly against his body, and his movements were no longer slowed down by friction. It was easy.

Eventually, he decided he had gotten enough swimming for a couple of weeks and returned to the surface. He sat by the edge of the pool near you, focusing on the scales of his tail that matched the ones on his elbows and fingers. Hyunjin wasn’t sure how long he had until they disappeared, so he called your name softly.

“What is it?” you asked, lifting your eyes from your book to look at him. Hyunjin lifted his tail to the surface of the water and your eyes widened.

“I have a tail now…”

You closed the book and placed it on the bench, walking towards Hyunjin. He wished he could photograph the amazement and delight in your expression as you glanced at him. Although he felt like someone who was anything but normal, you weren’t scared or repelled by him. If having a tail meant you would look at Hyunjin with such wonder and amazement, then he wasn’t so upset by his circumstances anymore.

“It’s pretty,” you said, smiling at him. “How do you feel?”

“Surprisingly okay with everything.” He nodded, and you sat next to him, leaning closer to his tail. When you smiled this genuinely, he was at a loss for words. He cleared his throat, focusing on the scales. “What colour do you think they are?”

“I’m not entirely sure.” You lifted your eyes to look at him. “Did you not ask your parents about it?”

“I’m too embarrassed to mention this to anyone, so no, I didn’t ask.”

You took a deep breath and leaned closer to Hyunjin, placing your open hand on top of his tail, and biting your lower lip. Although your hand wasn’t touching his tail, Hyunjin’s tail started to warm up. He flinched slightly and you gulped, lowering your hand in defeat.

“I thought I could summon some light.” You stood, slightly embarrassed. “I’ll go grab a flashlight, hold on.”

“You can summon light?”

“In theory.” You opened your bag and rummaged through its contents. “I'm lacking in many departments and light summoning happens to be one of them.”

“What else can you do? Besides summoning light.”

You pulled the flashlight from your bag and walked closer to him, shining the light on his tail. This wasn’t as pretty as having you light up his scales with your bare hands, but the effect was just as nice. His scales shifted in hues of green and blue, their edges shining a small golden tone.

“They’re so pretty,” you whispered to yourself. “I'm a bit jealous.”

He laughed and you glanced at him, biting your lip to hide your smile. You were allowed to smile and compliment his scales. Knowing they were pretty and lovely to you made it easier for Hyunjin to accept them, to accept himself.

“What lineage am I from?”

“The green and blue means you’re from the deep sea.” You sat next to him, scooting closer to have a better look at the scales. “The gold is the coolest part, though.”

“How is it cool?”

“Gold in magic means one is not bound by their lineage’s magic. In other words,” you looked at him, smiling, “you can do whatever you want with your magic.”

You turned off the flashlight and allowed it to roll back to the bench. Through the massive windows in front of you, Hyunjin spotted a thin slice of the moon that captured all of your attention.

He didn’t dare to distract you. Admiring you from this up close was an honour he wasn’t sure he would have again, and he was going to make it last for as long as possible.

“I come from a lineage of witches that work closely with the eternal phoenix,” you said, your voice echoing in the space around the two of you. “It’s one of the most sacred lineages. One of the rarest, too. There are many things we can do, in theory. Summon light. Summon fire. We can heal, but we can kill, too. Some even say we can fly. The most powerful witches of my lineage can grant someone or something the chance of rebirth. That isn’t without consequences, though.”

“That sounds very cool. In theory.”

You nodded, taking a deep breath as you glanced at the moon outside again. You wiped the tears from your eyes discreetly.

“I can’t do any of that. I've been training to be a proficient witch since I was six. I know everything there is to know about magic, but I can’t practise magic.”

If the two of you were closer to one another, he would suggest you rest your head on his shoulder so he could wrap an arm around your shoulders and let you know you weren’t alone. Still, the two of you were merely acquaintances brought together by some strange faith.

“Why are you telling me this?”

You shrugged. “I don’t know. I just felt like doing it.” You pursed your lips together. “I don’t think I’ll ever get the chance to meet anyone my age who also happens to have magic pulsing through them, you know.”

Hyunjin had never seen you like this. Yes, he didn’t know you that well, but the moments the two of you spent together told him you were outspoken, always annoyed with him, but underneath was someone with a kind heart and a desire to be helpful to others. You didn’t have to do everything you were doing for Hyunjin, and yet, you did. Perhaps what brought you together was far greater than what kept you apart.

“Thank you for trusting me,” he said, reaching for your hand. He stopped midway, not following through with his decision. “Thank you for helping me, too.”

You nodded and took a deep breath, wiping the tears from your eyes. You turned to face Hyunjin furrowing your brows.

“If you tell anyone what just happened, I will—”

“Your secret is safe with me. No need to threaten me with empty curses.”

“Good.” You stood and fixed your clothes. “Get ready to leave. We’ve done what we wanted to do.”

“I’ll swim for a bit longer.”

“Ten minutes and then I'm leaving.”

He smiled. Hyunjin returned to the water and took a deep dive, swimming near the bottom of the pool for a while. When he looked up, you were struggling to keep your body and your head above water.

You had been seven when it happened for the first time.

It was supposed to be a hide-and-seek game in the woods among classmates. You hadn’t even expected to be invited for such an occasion—you had always been the outsider, but that afternoon, they had invited you.

“We’re going to see some frogs by the lake, too,” one of your classmates had said. “Why don’t you come with us?”

Even if they didn’t know you were a witch, they knew you loved animals. Ever since a very young age, you had been taught how they protected witches from evil and how they should be spared from death if that was an option. When bees rested on your head, you didn’t flinch. When birds chirped away, you smiled at the melody. When ladybugs entered the classroom to greet your classmates’ desks, you carefully grabbed them and placed them at the nearest plant.

That afternoon sounded too good to be true, and in hindsight, it had been. It was the perfect trap for a gullible girl like you, one who believed in people’s kindness and goodness. Your parents raised you to see the better in everyone, to be good for everyone. And you wanted to make them proud. Blending in with your classmates would make them proud, you were sure.

Besides playing hide and seek and seeing frogs, the afternoon included a picnic by the lake. Everyone was supposed to take their meals, but you were set on making homemade cookies for everyone. You spent the evening preparing them, and when it was morning, you wrapped them in small packages to give to your classmates. They weren’t friends yet, but after they received the cookies, you were sure they would be, at least, more cordial to you.

You put on your best outfit. When entering a forest, a witch should always look her best, or wear ceremonial clothing. Forests were sacred to witches, places where offerings were made and where sacrifices were performed. You never glimpsed at them through a lens of marvelousness and wild nature. To you, a forest was a pillar to your life, an invitation to what you could become. As a child, you knew you were destined for great things even if at the time, the greatest thing you could conceive was having a friend.

That day, you had never seen your parents so happy. They walked you to the edge of the forest where most of your colleagues were. After kissing your forehead and hugging you tightly, they left. That was the first mistake you made. You should have asked them to stay a bit longer.

Only three of your classmates had come. The one who had invited you and his two best friends. After waiting for a while, the four of you walked into the forest. That was your second mistake. You should have gone home instead. Those boys were known as trouble. Following them meant you would become trouble or trouble would be following you.

You didn’t play hide and seek. They didn’t even accept your cookies. However, they were very adamant about finding frogs. You quickly let them know you were up for the task. You knew how to find frogs. You knew where they lived. You mistook the glint in their eyes for amazement when it had been malevolent. That was your third mistake. You shouldn’t have gone looking for frogs. This lake didn’t have frogs, and you knew it. However, you thought you could find one. You were a witch in a forest. You were supposed to prove yourself to them, so you trusted the forest would provide. All you needed was a lost frog. It never came.

The despicable comments started after a while. They asked if that was your home, the forest. They laughed when they implied you were just dirt living in this place. They tore flowers to make you cry and crushed beads to prove their evil. When you asked them to stop, they pushed further.

“You're a witch,” one of them said, his voice filled with rage. You’ll never forget the coldness in his eyes. “You shouldn’t be allowed to live.”

You tried to deny their claims. That was your fourth and final mistake. If you had run away instead of arguing with them, it would have been different. If you hadn’t cried, your tears wouldn’t have blurred your vision. Instead, your fear led you to your downfall and your weaknesses were used against you.

They pushed you into the lake. You fell on your back and the impact pulsed through your body as a wave of electricity. Your spine hurt, your mind went blank and the water pulled you down. You asked for help, fighting to keep afloat.

“I can’t swim,” you screamed in between tears. “Help me.”

They laughed. Your screams were in vain, and they left. You were all alone, struggling to keep afloat, reaching for the nearest roots to find something to hold onto. Some were too weak, others too slippery. You always got back to the same place you were. Under the surface.

Eventually, you stopped fighting. You allowed the water to greet you softly, to drown you in its embrace. You closed your eyes and pictured what you loved the most. Your parents, your cat, your book of shadows.

You're destined for great things, Y/N. You smiled at the comfort of your mother’s voice. Maybe this was the great thing you were destined for. You knew the myths of witches who became nymphs. Maybe you were meant to become a nymph in the forest and ward off the evil that lured in it. If that was it, then so be it.

I will make you proud.

You closed your eyes and took one final breath. This was supposed to be it. You waited for the darkness to take hold of you, for the coldness to empty your soul. Instead, warmth shadowed you, and you were drowning in light.

Far away, a bird chirped loudly, its sound growing louder as time passed. Slowly, you opened your eyes, coming to face with a creature you had only encountered in drawings from your family books.

Its wings were bright red flames, its eyes an intense yellow. Even at a distance, its light was blinding, its presence warm and soothing. It didn’t say anything to you. It merely flew close enough for a feather to fall on your face and after glimpsing into your eyes, it flew away.

When you took a deep breath, you regained consciousness. This time, however, you weren’t swimming back to shore, unsure of what had happened. This time, someone held you in their arms, soothing you with a low chant.

“You’re okay, it’s okay. I’ve got you. You’re safe,” Hyunjin whispered, his breathing brushing against your cheek. “Take a deep breath. Look at me. Look at me.”

He tightened his grip around you, and you coughed, looking at him afterwards. Hyunjin’s eyes glanced gently at your features with concern and worry.

“I’ve got you,” he whispered again, meeting your eyes. “Are you okay?”

Were you okay? You couldn’t tell. Your past memory was so vivid as if just a few moments ago, you were back in that lake, so excited to make new friends, only to drown in a lake afterwards.

“I’m fine,” you said, resting your hands on his shoulders. “I fell and I can’t swim…”

“Y/N.” Hyunjin called your name softly, moving the hair away from your eyes and forcing you to look at him. “I saw you. As a child. When I grabbed you, I briefly saw you in a lake. But then, you started to glow in my arms, and I returned to here and now. But that’s not the weirdest part.” At the surprise in his expression and confusion of yours, Hyunjin added, “My tail is gone.”

Hyunjin was exhausted, but he refused to give up. After what had happened at the local swimming pool, he had made it his mission to figure out what could have possibly caused all of that and whether or not it had been due to magic or any other circumstance.

He refused to bring up what he saw when he held you. The images were still vivid in his mind, and whenever he closed his eyes, he was there again, at the lake, swimming towards your lifeless body until light blinded him. Sometimes, you were a child. Sometimes, he saw you as he had met you. It always ended abruptly, and he never knew whether you had survived or not. However, when he saw you at school or when you replied to one of his texts, relief washed over him.

You likely knew this would happen. Lately, whenever you were together, the atmosphere was heavier, and Hyunjin tiptoed around it. He told jokes and asked questions he knew you would be happy to answer, but whenever you were too close to that evening, you closed yourself off to him. He wanted to understand; perhaps he could help you. Hyunjin was sure talking about it would make it less burdensome to you. Whatever you had to endure in the past, he wanted you to know you didn’t have to do it alone.

That evening and that moment had clues that would help Hyunjin get his life back. His tail disappeared after he grabbed you. It stayed like that while he held you in his arms. Although he would not be able to carry you around—not that the option sounded unpleasant to him—perhaps there was a way to channel that magic somewhere. Hyunjin had a theory, and he was ready to share it with you. He had never studied or done so much research in his life, but this was worth it.

The two of you met at a cafe near your high school almost every day, mostly at Hyunjin’s request. He wanted to share his discoveries with you which bored you occasionally. You knew all of that already, but he didn’t. Any small progress was worth celebrating to him. It hadn’t been a month since his life turned upside down, but he was more at peace with it.

“I have a question for you,” he said, moving his iced americano aside and placing a thick book on the table. This one had engraved images on the cover of different sea motifs including merfolk.

“What is it?” You leaned back and crossed your arms, glancing at the book. “Haven’t we looked at this one already? You’ve dissected your lineage to me already.”

“Yes, I know.” He opened the book on one of the marked pages, turning it so you could read it. He pointed at an illustration. “Do you recognise it?”

You furrowed your brows as you glanced at the image for a while.

“Its tail is similar to yours. What about it?”

Hyunjin pointed to the merfolk in the illustration, more specifically his neck.

“What is this he is wearing?”

“A necklace.” You were confused. “Get to the point, please.”

“It’s an amulet.”

“An amulet?”

“Yes.” He opened his bag and pulled another book out. This one had a thinner spine and its cover was less detailed. Its contents, however, were far more valuable to Hyunjin. “After I saw that image, I decided to do some research on merfolk history. It turns out that during the 15th century, to blend in and not be discovered, they wore a special amulet. Which got me to search more about it.”

“Amulets are special ways to store magic,” you said, pursing your lips. “They are supposed to increase your magical abilities, not the other way around.”

He smiled. For the first time, Hyunjin knew more than you did. How much he had dreamed of this moment. He had always been fascinated by you. Hyunjin hoped that, for a brief instant, you would be fascinated by him as well.

“Turns out,” he opened the book and turned it to you, placing it on top of the previous one, “amulets can be used to curse, harm, or block magic. See where I am going with this?”

You raised your eyes from the book to Hyunjin, smiling softly at him.

“I must say I’m impressed.” You grabbed the book. “Never took you as the studious type.”

“This is more my kind of studying.”

Your smile increased slightly. “So is mine.”

While he waited for you to read the book, Hyunjin enjoyed his beverage and glanced at the street outside the cafe. Since it was late in the afternoon, most people were done with work and were ready to enjoy the few hours of sun left with their friends or family at the local park. If Hyunjin had swimming practice, he would be at school still, probably getting ready to practise for two hours before heading home.

The more time he spent with you, the less appealing returning to swimming competitions was. However, his future was relying on that. He had to get back on the team, be the very best and head to a good university. As much as his afternoons with you were the new highlight of his day, he could not ignore the years of hard work behind him. Despite everything, this was still his goal.

“According to this, amulets can be created, but they need a spell to work properly. It helps if their material is connected to the desired effect. This means it would have to be made of something that blocks out merfolk magic. Did you research that far?”

“Not really.” He took a sip from his beverage and shook his head. “Do you have any idea what can block merfolk magic?”

“No…” You sounded disappointed. After placing the book back on the table, you sighed and looked out the window. “I’ll have to ask my parents about it. Maybe they know some books that might be useful. I don’t know any spells related to amulets, either.”

Hyunjin nodded, pleased. After closing the books, he carefully saved them in his bag, knowing you were keeping an eye on him. As much as he wanted to return these books to you, he couldn’t part ways with them while he still had so many unanswered questions.

“Hyunjin,” you said his name softly. He lifted his eyes to look at you, smiling. You gulped and looked out the window again. “If what is needed is a spell to make the amulet work, I’m afraid I won’t be able to help you with that. You know,” you lowered your eyes, “I can’t summon or use magic well, so I’m afraid I won’t be able to enchant it for you…”

There was another theory Hyunjin had been researching, and it related to your struggles with magic. He read about it in books he had at home, and one particular theory stuck with him: what if what you had experienced was preventing you from using your magic? Hyunjin wanted to suggest this to you, and even present to you what he had found about the topic. However, he wasn’t sure if you wanted him to bring it up. It was a painful memory, and even though Hyunjin hadn’t experienced it himself, the overwhelming pain he experienced through you still lingered on him.

“I’d like you to try, at least.” Hyunjin wasn’t sure where he was going with it. “You’re a witch. Besides, look how much you’ve been able to help me. I’m sure that you can help me with this too. You're destined for great things, Y/N.”

Your eyes quickly met his and worry flashed through them. You shivered as your body tensed up at his words, and he worried you couldn’t breathe. He held your gaze, still. Hyunjin wasn’t going anywhere. At least, not regarding this. He, too, believed you were destined for great things.

The cafe bell rang as the door opened. A group of students entered the establishment talking loudly with each other. Hyunjin recognised a few of them: they were his teammates from swimming practice. If they were here at this hour, then it meant their coach was still sick.

“Would you like me to leave?” you asked, wary. “I’m sure you don’t want them to see you with me.”

When Hyunjin first approached you, that would have been his request. Now, he was more than happy to be seen with you. Appearances or popularity weren’t as important to him as they used to be.

“Stay,” he said as he reached for your hand. “If they’re nasty towards you, I’ll put them in their place.”

You glanced at Hyunjin’s hand on top of yours, your expression unreadable. Was it worry that crossed your eyes? Perhaps it was fear, hope. He didn’t know. Part of you was still unreadable to him, but you were a book he couldn’t wait to explore and discover.

“I can handle myself, Hyunjin.” You cleared your throat and pulled your hand from under his, glancing at the street outside.

“I’m glad.” He knew you were no damsel in distress. “If you ever need help, I’ll gladly be there for you.”

He winked but you merely rolled your eyes and grabbed your beverage taking another sip. Hyunjin smiled. You were adorable when you pretended his comments did not affect you in the slightest. He had grown to like you very much.

“Hyunjin!”

Someone waved at him from the counter and he returned the gesture, smiling brightly. His friends quickly turned to spot him, and it didn’t take long for them to walk closer to Hyunjin’s table and start a conversation. You remained close to the window, biting your straw as you tried to melt with the wall.

“We haven’t seen you at practice!” Felix said, taking a sip of his drink. “What’s up with you?”

“I’ve been sick,” he said, glancing at you. What kind of excuse was he supposed to come up with? “I’m not sure if I'm totally recovered, and I don’t want to risk it, you know.”

He let out a nervous laugh, but his friends didn’t seem to catch that. However, they quickly caught on to who you were, and it didn’t take long for them to start whispering amongst each other with shy giggles.

“When Hana told me she saw you at the library, I thought she was joking but now…” Felix chuckled. “I guess you are sick, yes. I didn’t know you were afraid of not entering college through competitive swimming.”

“I’m not afraid,” Hyunjin reassured him, glancing at you. He smiled. “Y/N and I are friends. And what if I am studying more now? It would do you well once in a while.”

“Aish.” Felix frowned. “Me? Studying? As long as I don’t fail, I’ll never do it. It’s not for me. Is she any fun, at least?”

Hyunjin couldn’t ignore the look in Felix’s eyes. He glanced at you with curiosity and wonder, but under all of that was a despicable fear and bitterness he couldn’t ignore. You also saw through all of his charades.

“I'm very fun, Felix,” you said, forcing out a poisonous smile. “I’m sure I'm not fun for your standards, though.”

“Yeah,” he said, crossing his arms. “You’re what I consider boring.”

“Likewise. I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

Felix chuckled, pointing at you as he looked at Hyunjin.

“She is who you hang out with now? Why?”

That was a question he couldn’t fully answer without exposing everything. However, he could cover a lie with a half-truth. It would hurt Felix’s pride, but Hyunjin could live with that.

“She’s fun. I’ve found some really cool books thanks to her. She doesn’t accept book requests anymore, though. I keep her busy.”

“With book requests,” you emphasised, glaring at Hyunjin. “Literally.”

Hyunjin was the one flustered after your words. He hadn’t thought too much about his statement to understand how his words could be taken out of context to mean something entirely different. He was thankful you had set the record straight because Felix was ready to pick Hyunjin’s statement apart.

“I didn’t know you had a thing for bookworms. Good for you.” Felix took a deep breath and fixed the bag over his shoulder. He grinned at Hyunjin. “I’m throwing a party this weekend at my house. Why don’t you come with your friend? Perhaps she can have our kind of fun, too.”

“Will there be food?” you asked.

“And drinks,” Felix added. “Music, too. Not books, though.”

“Those are boring, I already know.” You gestured vaguely to him. “I’ll see if I can go. Thank you for inviting me.”

You shouldn’t be thanking Felix so early. This was a trap and Hyunjin was regretful you had accepted. He was like those kids who had tried to drown you when you were younger. This time, he hoped the damage wouldn’t be so drastic.

“Make sure you bring your swimsuits,” Felix patted Hyunjin's shoulder, offering him a cold smile. “I’ll look forward to seeing you at the party and your… friend.”

Y/N. Her name is Y/N. Why Felix couldn’t refer to you by name was beyond Hyunjin.

He waited until his friends were gone to take a deep breath. He hadn’t realised his jaw was clenched and that his body was stiff until he met your eyes.

“I know I’m not great but your friends,” you shook your head, “they suck a bit.”

“You can say they suck a lot.” Hyunjin massaged his temples, shaking his head. “I… Was I like them?”

Your eyes softened as you glanced at him. You offered him a consoling smile, nodding slightly.

“You’re still like them, Hyunjin. That doesn’t make you terrible or an awful person, but they are your crowd. You belong with them.”

“I wish I belonged with you,” he mumbled under his breath. He focused on you, confused. “Why did you accept his invitation? You do realise this is a pool party, right?”

You shrugged and stood from your chair, looking down at him.

“I guess we need to create an amulet and I need to learn how to swim. Besides,” you leaned towards him, “we don’t belong together. If we are successful, you’ll get your life back. Isn’t that the reason why you asked for my help in the first place?”

He didn’t answer. You sighed and waved him goodbye, letting him know you’d meet him at the cafe again tomorrow with hopefully more information. He watched as you left the establishment, walking with your head down towards the bus stop, occasionally glancing at the trees and smiling at the birds.

Yes, Hyunjin’s initial goal was to get his old life back. However, he was falling in love with his new life. He was falling in love with the idea of being next to you. Was it so bad to want that now?

You weren’t sure what made you happier today: Hyunjin’s amazement as he glanced and explored the hidden library or your progress on the task at hand.

After spending a couple of days researching amulets and asking your parents the strangest of questions, you felt ready to perform the spell.

The first step was to gather the materials. Hyunjin wanted his amulet to be a necklace, so you had to find an enchanted string, a small glass vial, and the material to include inside the vial. This was the most important part since the material would be the one acting as the magic blocker. A spell would only enhance its properties, but it needed to have those characteristics to properly work.

Hyunjin and you read almost every book you had in the library about magic blockers. You found very little about the subject that could be useful to you, but that didn’t hinder your motivation to find solutions. Eventually, you came across a page that had all the answers you needed, but it also carried all the pain you wanted to avoid.

“A phoenix’s feather,” Hyunjin said, looking over your shoulder at the image in the book. He pointed at one of the sentences. “It says here that it can be used as a magic blocker. Where do we find a phoenix’s feather?”

We don’t, was the answer you wanted to give him. It would require a whole ceremony to contact the phoenix, ask for its blessing and wait for a feather of approval which would be impossible to do on such short notice. Witches in your lineage spent decades preparing for such an encounter because connecting to the source of their power was an overwhelming fit. You, as a weak witch, would never be able to do it. Thankfully, you didn’t have to.

“I already have one.”

You didn’t elaborate further. At this point, you didn’t have to. Hyunjin had seen what you went through when you were a child. That was how you met with the phoenix, and that’s how you got a feather. You had it ever since that day, hidden in your treasure box in your bedroom, always wondering if there would ever come a day when it would be useful. Even if it wouldn’t work, at least, you were willing to try for Hyunjin’s sake.

Hyunjin was a great helper. He read you the instructions out loud while questioning the best approach to what was at hand. Although he refused to set hands on your work, he admired it from afar, complementing you whenever he could. At first, you found it annoying, but after a while it became endearing.

Sometimes, he got distracted. Although he had been in the hidden library a couple of times already, this was the first time all doors were unlocked and opened. Hyunjin stood from his bench and occasionally went to check what was in each room. He always returned with questions, all of which you were eager to answer. Although he stared at you while you spoke, his smile told you he was paying very little attention to your words.

“Did you hear anything I just said?” you asked, cutting a small piece of the phoenix feather and placing it inside the vial. When you glanced at Hyunjin again, he was staring at a few pamphlets on the table.

“What are these?” He grabbed them and you tried to pull them away to no success. Hyunjin stood up from the bench and paced around the room, reading its contents. “There’s a university for magical beings?”

“Yes.…” Your voice betrayed you. A few days ago, you were hoping you’d get accepted. After your ceremony during the New Moon, you weren’t sure anymore. “Can you read me the next step? I already have the phoenix feathers inside the vial.”

“Are you applying? Did you get accepted already?” He smiled at you. “You should apply, you know. You’re the greatest witch I know.”

“Do you know many witches, Hyunjin?” You crossed your arms. Hyunjin pursed his lips, but the eagerness didn’t disappear from his eyes. You sighed and collapsed on the nearest bench. “I applied. It’s been my dream to attend that university ever since I knew it existed. I’m not hopeful I’ll get in, though.”

“Why not?”

Hyunjin sat next to you, placing the flyers on the table. You pulled them closer to you, glancing at the images and the different programs they offered. All of them were compelling, but you were hoping to major in alchemy. However, that was a hope and a mere dream. You had allowed yourself to indulge in it for too long, though.

“I have great grades in school, but that’s not all I need to be accepted. There are rituals I must perform, and since I'm what they call an outside witch, I must prove my magical abilities are on par with those raised in the magical realm.” You turned to look at him, offering him a defeated smile. “We both know how I struggle with my magic.”

He nodded, glancing at the flyers. Hyunjin grabbed them again, glancing between their words and you, a shy smile creeping up on his features.

“I think you’re great. I only know one witch—I mean, I technically know your parents too—but you’re very knowledgeable about magic too. If I have questions, you have answers, and if you don’t have them right away, you work to find them. You don’t give yourself enough credit for your awesomeness, Y/N. If you saw yourself as I see you, you’d be very pleased with yourself.”

“What do you see?” You couldn’t help but ask. “How do you see in me?”

Hyunjin glanced at your features slowly while pondering your words. You couldn’t help but do the same. The two of you had been close to one another, but this was different. You weren’t sharing a mere close space. Now, you were sharing your souls too, and it was special.

“When I first met you, I thought you were scary. Very ill-humoured too. I liked your smile, though. I remember your eyes too. Now,” he leaned closer, “I struggle with words. I could call you pretty. I could say you’re intelligent, I could say you’re great. I would even dare the word kind, but you’re more than that. You'll always be more than how I see you, and you'll always be more than what you have gone through. Let your past guide you, but don’t allow it to define you, Y/N.”

You were overwhelmed with emotion, but you didn’t know how to react. Part of you wanted to point out how he hadn’t answered your question, and how his words sounded more like a speech he’d make to someone he wanted to charm than anything else. However, you were charmed by his words and by him as well. He could’ve said this to anyone, but he said it to you. It could all be a lie, one that you were so clearly falling for, but one you were so desperate to believe. Hyunjin knew you. He could have grabbed all of this from a book and recited it to you, but this wasn’t the case. His words had been carefully picked just for you. And for that, you’d be eternally grateful even if unable to express all of that to him.

“I should,” you cleared your throat and stood up from the bench, almost tripping on your feet, “I should finish that amulet. You still want to test it tonight, right?”

“If you’re down for a swimming lesson, yes. If not, we can do it some other day.”

“We should test it as soon as possible,” you said, focusing on the materials in front of you, feeling your face warming up. “We need to make sure it’s working properly.”

“I agree.” He stood from his bench and walked across from you, glancing at the book with the instructions. “Let’s finish this amulet, then.”

You nodded and got back to work under Hyunjin’s guidance. You expected him to be disappointed with your reaction to his words, but whenever you glanced his way, he had a silly smile on his face, and his eyes were glued to you, always with fondness.

When the two of you arrived at the local pool, the lights were out and you had to sneak in together like the last time, but this time, the mood was different. After the two of you got changed, you met at the swimming pool to start your swimming lesson.

“Take your time,” Hyunjin said, offering you a reassuring smile. “Let me know when you’re ready to step inside.”

“Are you sure you can teach me how to swim?” You gulped, staring at the pool in front of you, arms crossed. “What if you can’t?”

“I won’t know without trying.”

He didn’t wait for your reply. Hyunjin jumped into the pool and the water splashed around him, hitting your face and legs slightly. He moved the hair from his face to stare at you better, unable to hide his smile. This time, he wasn’t terrified to embrace his tail. He swam around the pool, testing his limits, laughing at himself. This was nice. He loved the freedom of being himself and was not scared of what would come of him. However, all of this came from the hope he had in the amulet you had built for him.

As much as he was okay with being merfolk now, he wanted what he had before back.

When he returned to the surface, you were sitting at the edge of the pool, swaying your legs in the water. You kept staring at the body of water, taking slow but deep breaths.

Hyunjin swam towards you and stopped when he was close enough to feel the movement of the water due to your legs moving. You lifted your eyes to meet him, trying your best to smile. That wasn’t enough for him to ignore the fear in your eyes.

“It’s cold,” you said. “Aren’t you cold?”

“I’m used to it. Being underwater helps, you know.” He placed both of his hands on each side of your thighs, looking up at you. Being this close to you made his heart jump wildly in his chest. “Your body becomes one with the water.”

You rolled your eyes splashing his face with water.

“Says the merfolk to the witch.” You chuckled. “Of course, your body becomes one with the water. Mine just…” You shook your head. “Never mind.”

“Swimming is a skill, Y/N. I was a swimmer before I was a merfolk. I learned how to swim. I'm good because I trained day and night to be the best. Yes, perhaps being merfolk helped me, but that’s not all.” He offered you a hand. “I can help you, too. Take my hand. I won’t let go of you.”

You glanced between his hand and Hyunjin’s eyes, pursing your lips together. He waited, hoping that you believed his words. They carried more than just a small promise. His words to you were timeless. He would always hold your hand and he would not let go of you, literally or figuratively. He was here for you. He would always be here for you.

“Fine,” you grabbed his hand, holding his gaze, “but if you ever mention this to anyone ever, I will not think twice about using black magic on you.”

“No longer into cursing me?” He smirked. “I guess I’ll have to research black magic next.”

“Shut up.” You placed your hand on his shoulder, not shying away from applying all your strength to it. “Hold me, okay?”

In between many curses and complaints, you stepped into the pool, wrapping your arm around Hyunjin’s shoulders, keeping one hand on the edge of the pool. You kept your eyes closed, and he held you by your waist, not letting go. Although this would not lead you to learn how to swim, he would not be mad if this was all you did this evening.

“You can open your eyes, Y/N,” he whispered. “You’re safe. I'm here with you. I’m not letting go.”

You shook your head, not opening your eyes. All your muscles tensed up, and you kept your grip strong around Hyunjin. He knew telling you to relax would be useless under these circumstances. However, Hyunjin didn’t have to use words. Knowing more about his abilities meant he had learned how to use them.

“What’s your happy place?” he whispered, glancing at you. “Can you describe it to me?”

You nodded, slowly. Hyunjin reached for your hand on the edge of the pool and placed his hand on top of yours, focusing on the warmth of your skin under his.

“Tell me about it. Where is it?”

“It’s a forest. The trees are tall. It smells of pinewood. It’s… daytime. I am near a lake I—”

He closed his eyes and jumped into your mind. Hyunjin had been here before, the last time you were in this pool. Last time, he had to save you from drowning in the lake. This time, he could prevent it from happening.

Everything was different. You were no longer a kid; you were older, the girl Hyunjin was friends with now. The boys that had tormented you were nowhere to be found. The forest was the same, but not quite. The leaves didn’t shake with the wind. The smell in the air was of pinewood with earthy undertones. The water on the lake didn’t move. This wasn’t your past replaying. This was your imagination fuelled by Hyunjin’s abilities.

“There is no lake,” Hyunjin said and you turned to face him, startled. When you turned to face the body of water, your eyes widened. “What would you like me to replace it with?”

You remained still for a while, staring ahead. For the time being, Hyunjin replaced it with more trees. His work was sloppy; they looked like cardboard drawings instead of having three dimensions. Still, it wasn’t a bad attempt for someone doing this for the first time.

“A cabin.” You smiled. “There’s smoke coming out of its chimney. It smells of gingerbread cookies.”

“What is the cabin made of?”

“Wood. What else were you expecting?”

A cabin appeared in front of you. It was big enough to have two windows and one door, but not big enough for anyone to live comfortably in it. This was even worse than the trees from earlier. The wood was too cartoonish; it lacked detail. The glass was merely orange, and when staring through it, Hyunjin saw nothing.

“What else is here?”

He slowly walked closer to you, stopping when he was by your side. You gulped, staring at your surroundings before focusing on Hyunjin. You smiled, glancing at his features slowly, lingering on his lips. He was briefly in the pool again but he focused on returning to your mental image.

“Just us.”

He almost missed it. Your words, your hand grabbing his, the kindness in your smile. The slight glint of your eyes. Hyunjin was a mess. The image around you started to fade until you were back in the pool, surrounded by the few safety lights around you. His hand remained around your waist, but your eyes weren’t closed anymore. You were staring at him, taking soft breaths, relaxed. Hyunjin removed your hand from the edge of the pool slowly, intertwining his fingers on yours.

“First, let’s learn how to float,” he said. “Try to stand horizontally on the water’s surface.”

“Is that possible?”

“Yes. Try it. I’ll be holding you.”

The swimming lesson went on. After you successfully learned how to float, he taught you how to swim. It was a slow process, and he didn’t realise how tiring it would be. However, none of you gave up. When you failed, you did it again. You didn’t freak out whenever you lost control or struggled to keep afloat. The first few times, Hyunjin went to your rescue, but afterwards, you regained control by yourself. The final step was having you swim from one side to the other of the pool. Once you were able to do this on your own more than once without grabbing the edge of the pool, he considered his work was done.

“Thank you,” you said as the two of you sat at the edge of the pool, slowly trying to recover your energies, “for being patient with me. I know I can be a mouthful and complicated. You didn’t have to do all of this.”

You were speaking nonsense. Hyunjin should be the one thanking you. Ever since he asked for your help, you were the one who kept stepping out of their comfort zone to help him. Tonight, you did it again. Of course he would be patient with you. This was a choice he was happy with. Asking for your help had been the right choice. Even if he could go back in time, he would choose to be merfolk all over again if it meant he would have such a wonderful person like you by his side.

“You’re complex,” he said, nudging your shoulder. “I like that about you. It’s not that you keep me on my toes, but I get to learn something new about you often. That’s good.”

“I would prefer it if I kept you on your toes.” Your smile widened and you leaned back, focusing on the dark sky outside the large windows. “I guess having a tail makes that a bit hard.”

He laughed. It was the dumbest joke he had ever heard, but it was funny. You were funny. And pretty. And smart. And independent. And reliable. And he loved you. More than swimming, more than a promising future. Hyunjin loved you.

“I’ll go grab the amulet. It’s probably late, and we should leave this place soon since I don’t know how early they will open it.”

Hyunjin nodded and moved his tail out of the water, waiting a few minutes before it disappeared. He stood up once his legs were back and walked to the bench to grab a towel and use it to dry his body. When he glanced your way, he noticed you were already dry.

“How do you do that?” Hyunjin asked.

“What?”

“That.” He gestured to you, touching your shoulder. “You stepped out of the water a few minutes ago and you're fully dry. Even your swimsuit looks like it hasn’t seen water today.”

“Ah, that.” You shrugged. “It’s a spell. One of the first ones I learned. It basically cleans my skin of everything that isn’t my skin. Dirt, mud, water, blood, you name it. Pretty useful in these kinds of situations.”

Hyunjin nodded and sat down on the bench for a while, wiping the rest of his body. He could ask you to use your spell on him, but he didn’t want to do it now. Perhaps later after you tested the amulet since it would be more useful then.

You took a deep breath and pulled the amulet from the inside of your bag, staring at it for a while. After closing your bag, you joined Hyunjin on the bench. The two of you stayed in silence for a while, knowing very well what would follow next. Either you would both be laughing and celebrating or crying in disappointment.

“How do you want to do this? Do you still want me to be the one activating it?”

Despite the fear and worry in your eyes, Hyunjin trusted you.

“Yes.” He nodded. “You should be the one to do it.”

“Fine, then.” You turned to face him. “Let’s get this done.”

You placed the amulet between his heart and your palm, locking your eyes with him. He didn’t offer you any doubt. Instead, he nodded slowly, reassuring you. You closed your eyes as you recited the enchantment, bounding the amulet to Hyunjin. This meant only he could use it because only his magic would be concealed while he had it on.

He expected something to happen. Perhaps your hand would glow or the amulet would shine. Perhaps something within him would shift or the atmosphere around you would change. When you opened your eyes, you grabbed the amulet, placed the string over his head and allowed the small flask to rest on his chest.

“It could be prettier.” You frowned. “But I hope it works. Are you ready to test it?”

“It will work, Y/N.” He offered you a smile.

Hyunjin walked to the edge of the pool, staring at his reflection on the surface. You were right—this amulet was not pleasant to look at. However, he still hoped it would change. He had read that once the amulet was fully bound to its person, it would adapt to its effect.

He jumped into the pool, keeping his eyes closed. He allowed the water to surround him, an extension of him. Lately, he was capable of staying underwater for a long time, but right now, he couldn’t breathe after a few seconds.

When Hyunjin returned to the surface, he moved the hair away from his face and water away from his eyes and glanced down.

“Y/N? You have to see this.”

“What?”

You glanced at the pool with your arms crossed and a disappointed expression. Hyunjin moved his legs upwards and allowed one of his feet to be out of the water. He shook it.

“It worked?” Your eyes widened as you leaned closer to the edge of the pool. “The spell worked. I can’t believe it.”

“I can,” he said right away. Your eyes met his and he smiled. “I knew you'd succeed. Look!” He started to swim around, happy that he could swim with his two legs. “I have my legs back! I can swim normally again. And you know what else can I do now?”

“What can you do now?” Although your tone was unbothered, he noticed a hint of curiosity in it.

Hyunjin swam to the edge of the pool and sat on it right away, before standing up and running towards you with open arms. You shook your head, warning him that he was covered in water and that would get you wet again, but he didn’t care. He wrapped his arms around you, pulling you closer to him and spinning you in the air while you giggled and asked him to put you down.

“Calm down, Hyunjin. I’m getting dizzy.”

He decided to stop spinning you, but he didn’t let go of you. He kept his arms resting on your waist while he stared fondly at you. You gulped, staring at his lips briefly before meeting his eyes. Your hands found his shoulders, a touch he found comforting. Having you close always left his heart in disharmony, jumping furiously in his chest.

Hyunjin refused to move away. As his eyes jumped between your eyes and your lips, he leaned closer to you, waiting for you to flinch or move away. Instead, your hands found the back of his neck as his nose brushed against yours, and you closed your eyes, smiling.

“Thank you for believing in me,” you whispered, brushing your lips against his.

You planted a soft kiss on his lips, almost unnoticeable. He couldn’t bear the lingering sensation. He kissed you again, and this time, you pulled him closer to you, allowing yourself to indulge in the kiss. Hyunjin couldn’t have asked for a better evening. He was over the moon about everything that had happened tonight.

He briefly kept his eyes closed after departing from the kiss. Hyunjin wanted to do it again, shower you with kisses, but he would do it some other time. He caressed your cheek, letting out a soft chuckle. He wouldn’t have known how long he had longed for this moment if it hadn’t happened.

“I will always believe in you, Y/N. Always.”

Hyunjin meant it. Now, he just hoped you would start believing in yourself too. He wanted nothing more than for the world to see the extraordinary person you were when you allowed yourself to trust your abilities.

It had been about a month since Hyunjin returned to the swimming team, and you were enjoying not having to constantly research merfolk all of the time. Although he had gotten his life back, he hadn’t gotten back to his old ways. Every break at school, Hyunjin made sure he spent it with you. Every major event happening, he always invited you to join him. He made sure to hold your hand every chance he got and compliment you whenever he felt like it.

Life was different now for both of you but you thoroughly embraced this change. Your life was better with Hyunjin in it. He encouraged you to step out of your comfort zone, and that was paying off. Your magic was in full force now, and after another New Moon, you performed a new ritual, and this time, you were confident in your progress.

This time, all your efforts hadn’t been in vain.

“What does it say?”

You lifted your eyes from the red envelope in your hands to your parents across from you. They stared at you, hopeful, while your father wrapped his arm around your mother’s shoulders. Hyunjin sat next to you on the couch, his eyes glued to you. Although you had received this letter the previous evening, you refused to open it this morning. You had stared at the moon and sun’s black wax seal on its back all night, coming up with scenarios in your mind. The worst case was not getting accepted. The best one was being accepted into the alchemy major.

“Do you want me to open it for you?” Hyunjin offered, wrapping his arm around your shoulders, pulling you closer to him. “I can do that if you’d like.”

“No.” You shook your head. “I have to open it. Only I can read it, right?”

“Yes,” your father confirmed. “Only you can read its contents.”

“You can always disarm the protection spell, though,” your mother added, offering you a reassuring smile. “Whatever it says, we're here for you.”

You took a deep breath and glanced at every face in your living room, gathering the courage to open the envelope. Your heart was a nervous wreck and you had never sweated so much in your life. This didn’t decide your life, but it decided what you would be doing for the next year.

“I’ll open it now.”

Everyone leaned closer to you. Hyunjin’s breathing brushed against your neck as you opened the envelope, careful not to break the seal. You pulled the folded piece of paper from the inside, dropping the red envelope on the table. Slowly, you unfolded it as your heart thumped in your ears.

You waited for a while before the words started to unveil on the paper. From top to bottom, left to right, you read every word as it appeared. When you finished the letter, you read it again. And again. And again. And again.

“So… what does it say?”

You cleared your throat, fixing your position on the couch.

“Thank you for choosing our university to further your magical studies. After careful deliberation with The Magical Council, it is our great honour to inform Y/N Y/L/N of your acceptance into our university’s alchemy major. You have demonstrated knowledge of magical theory and its history, as well as potion brewing and spell casting. Due to your place of birth, you are required to attend preparation classes during this summer to assess whether you are capable of following the established curriculum. The portal opens on the New Moon in June to allow for your crossing to the Otherworld. Best regards, The Leryan University.”

You held the letter close to your chest, closing your eyes briefly to savour this moment. Your heart burst from your chest and you couldn’t hide your smile. You had been accepted. After everything you went through, you had been accepted.

Your mother clapped in excitement, pulling your father for a hug. She, too, couldn’t hide her happiness. Your father tried to calm her down as she went over all the things you had to do to prepare for your departure, but you weren’t focused on that. Your mind was still twirling around the words you had just read.

“I did it,” you said, at last, as your eyes started to water up. “I did it.”

“You did it!” Hyunjin kissed your cheek. “How are you feeling?”

Overwhelmed with happiness. Overjoyed with excitement. Worried about your future too. It was a new start again, one you couldn’t prepare for. Knowing magic theory wouldn’t help you make friends. However, now that you had a taste of what being surrounded by wonderful people was like, you would make meeting new people a priority. You had learned that made everything else easier and more enjoyable too.

“This calls for a celebration!” Your mother cheered, turning to Hyunjin. “Would you like to stay and have dinner with us?”

“Of course!” Hyunjin smiled. “Thank you for the invitation.”

“I'll bake a cake now, and I need to cook Y/N’s favourite meal!”

After your mother disappeared into the kitchen, you chuckled and shook your head. You had never seen her this excited, but you weren’t complaining. This was a victory for all of you, after all. Every step of the way, your parents were there to support you.

“I’ll go help your mom,” your father announced, shrugging. “If you need anything, you know where to find us.”

Your father joined your mother in the kitchen and they quickly started to talk out loud with one another. You sighed and leaned back on the couch, resting your head on Hyunjin’s shoulder. He kissed the top of your head softly, leaning his head on top of yours afterwards.

“I’m glad they recognised your amazing skills,” he said. “I guess we both get to celebrate our achievements.”

You hummed, snuggling closer to him. Although you were excited about starting your magic journey in university, you would miss Hyunjin tremendously. This past couple of months had been wonderful and you hoped the two of you would still have summer to hang out with each other. You were looking forward to travelling to the beach with him and exploring some lovely forests as well.

Some other time, you thought to yourself, planting a soft kiss on his cheek. I can always come to visit and he can always go visit me as well. Hyunjin was a merfolk, after all. All magical beings, despite their place of birth, were always welcomed in the Magic Realm.

“I guess we should celebrate both of our achievements tonight.” You leaned away from him, smirking. “After all, you also got accepted into the university of your choice and with good grades. Aren’t you proud of yourself?”

“Very.” He stole a kiss from you. “But if I got here, it was because of you.”

“Yes,” you nodded, “we help each other out every once in a while. It’s our thing.”

“We also,” he kissed you again, brushing his nose against yours, “make each other better.”

“We do.”

You wrapped your arms around his neck and pulled him closer for a kiss, not letting go. Although you still had him here with you, you were already missing him. You would miss his jokes and remarks. You would miss his curiosity and excitement about magic. You would miss his kisses and holding his hand. You would miss him dearly.

“Do phone calls work in the magic realm?” he asked. “Or should I use a crystal ball?”

You laughed, leaning your forehead against his.

“Let’s think about that later, okay?” You closed your eyes. “Right now, I want to have this moment. Whatever happens, we’ll figure it out.”

“Yes,” he caressed your cheek, “we always figure it out, don’t we?”

You hummed. What had brought you together had been worry, doubt and uncertainty. What kept you together now was your love for one another, your relentless desire to see each other succeed, and the certainty that you were better people when you were with each other.

Magic had brought you together and it would keep you together for many years to come. Whether together or apart, there was magic between the two of you, and no one could take that away. It was yours, forever. And hopefully, you would forever cherish it, even if to get there, you would have to be apart for a while.

Please, like/reblog this if you enjoy reading it and let me know your thoughts through an ask if you feel like it; I am always appreciative of your feedback!  ©mxxndreams 2024 All rights reserved. Copying, reposting, translating and/or modifications of my work are strictly prohibited. Moodboard images from Pinterest. I do not own the rights to any of them, credit goes to rightful owners. If any of the images featured is yours and you’d want for it to be credited/removed, message me.

[straykisz]

Hi yall! Enrollment season is coming soon, and as I am in my final year in college, so are the graduation fees. So I'm just gonna plug my kofi here! If there's anyone interested in sending me commissions, please feel free to tap the link or send me a dm <3 tips are also welcome but not required! Thank you sm :]

https://ko-fi.com/c/933e5ff5dc

[straykisz]

“ PRETTY , PLEASE ” ๑‧˚₊ ─── FLX

synopsis ; you think your roommate is really pretty, but you think he’s even prettier when he whines and begs for you.

genre 숌 virgin!felix x fuckgirl!reader | roommates AU

words - 4.0k+ tags/warnings 숌 fluff, pwp, smut, (slight age difference: felix is 23/reader is 25), sub!felix/dom!reader, noona kink?, perv!lix, oral (m), solo masturbation, corruption kink, edging, dacryphilia, rlly cute & soft ending tho <3

☆ 彡

Have you ever met someone so pure and innocent that you feel the need to shield them from any and all bad influences that might corrupt them?

Those were your exact thoughts when you first locked eyes with your new roommate Felix. You thought he was the most precious little bean ever ;( His shy, timid nature made you want to coddle him like a baby, and always spoke in such a polite, well-mannered tone due to you being his senior. At first Felix didn’t talk very much when he moved in and was constantly cooped up in his room doing god knows what, but eventually he’d warm up to you and the two of you soon became really good friends.

You don’t particularly like most men, you tend to get annoyed with them easily, only using them for a quick fuck because that’s all they’re good for. Personally, you didn’t care to start getting serious with anyone at the moment, prioritizing work and other future goals instead of boys who come and go. Felix was quite literally the only exception to this. You genuinely enjoyed his company and valued him as more than a friend, he was so easy to talk to and could make anyone in a room feel comfortable with his presence.

You loved how he never made a fuss about chores when you didn’t feel like doing them. He was never rude or brought strangers over, and he kept to himself most of the time— the perfect roommate ever. Felix was studying biology at school to become a veterinarian as he’s told you many times he loves animals before. You were already out of school by now, as you graduated 2 years ago but you didn’t mind living with someone a couple years younger. He’s very mature for being in his early twenties, even more than some of the 30+ year old “men” you’ve slept with in the past.

One thing you’ve noticed since he’s always keeping to himself, he takes his schooling very serious and constantly studies. He never drinks, smokes, or goes out to parties, but he doesn’t act better than anyone either, it’s just how he is. You’ve never seen someone so dedicated to their work, wondering in the back of your mind if he even knows what taking a break means. You’ve tried getting to invite him out to other social events but he would always say that studying was far more important, you seriously never seen someone be so obsessed with school. Before you graduated, you weren’t a straight A student by any means but you did care about your grades, overall you still managed to balance a social life within.

Felix was never the judgmental type, he didn’t care if you brought a lot of friends over or the occasional hook up you’d have, he would just turn a blind eye to most of those things. You didn’t think it’d ever impact the way you both interacted but unfortunately after a while things have started to get a bit awkward between you. He’s been awfully more quiet these days and whenever you two would walk by in passing he could barely even look at you. Any time he did, it was if he’d seen a ghost or something— the way his face went pale from being drained of all color and would immediately hurry back into his room.

You don’t know what’s up with him but the more he’s been treating you this way the more you feel like he doesn’t seem to like you very much anymore. This weekend you plan to have a quick chat with him about everything and to clear up some potential misunderstandings. Little do you know the real reason why he’s been keeping his distance from afar…

God he feels like such a creep for eavesdropping on you having sex with someone else right now.

It wasn’t supposed to end up this way, he simply walked past your door without a second thought but as he came closer he heard what is presumably you moaning out another guy’s name. That’s when it piques his curiosity to listen further, he’s only heard this type of stuff from watching porn but it’s a whole different experience when in real life. He should feel more than embarrassed about doing this, ashamed for invading his roommates privacy in such a horrid way but he doesn’t move. Only continuing to press his ear up against the mahogany door, getting a clearer sound of your wanton moans, feeling something shift.. a familiar throbbing sensation causes the sudden constriction in his pants.

He’s far too gone to even think about stopping at this point, subconsciously dragging his hand further down as he comes in contact with his hardened cock. All he could hear was skin slapping, imagining you bent over the bed while taking it from behind, arching your back as you pant louder for them to go faster and faster. Felix continues to feel himself through the constraints of his clothing but it wasn’t enough for him, it wasn’t enough to alleviate the discomfort down there. So he ends up going back to his room to finish his little fap sesh, ridding himself of everything, t-shirt, sweats, boxers— ready to finish what he accidentally started.

“___, please..” he’d stir in his bed, going to town on his cock as he pumps his hand around it, thinking about you on top of him. “Noona.. m’so close…” he whimpers out desperately, feeling so overly sensitive that his body’s buzzing with pleasure.

Felix was so overwhelmed in his thoughts he barely noticed the precum leaking out and spilling around his small hand, his eyes were completely shut and zoned out in utter bliss. He wishes nothing more than to have you doing this to him instead, wondering what it’s like to have a girl as hot as you jerk his cock for him, he’s never experienced what it’s like but he’d want you to be his first if he ever does. It frustrates him that he can’t have you in the same way those other guys do, they’re more experienced and can please you better than he could.

One thing he knows now is that he’ll never be able to look at you normally again after doing all of this.

Things just couldn’t get any worse for him at this point. He’s now found a pair of your underwear which has mistakenly ended up in his laundry somehow. He didn’t do know what to do … if he tells you it accidentally got mixed in with his stuff then you’ll probably accuse him of stealing them as an excuse. Plus he didn’t want to face the embarrassment of even handing these back to you. It was a really pretty pair too, a red lace thong with black trim and a cute satin bow on the front. He wonders how your ass would look in these panties, secretly getting so jealous of all your hook ups and how they’ve all got to see you naked.

Felix decides the best course of action is to quickly return them in your room before you finish showering. He’ll simply sneak into your room, put them back in your underwear drawer, and he won’t have to think about it again, this was going to be the easiest plan of execution. Boy could he have been any more wrong. He couldn’t find which drawer they were supposed to be in, essentially wasting more and more time trying to find where to stash them. He honestly could’ve hid them anywhere but he was paranoid about that seeming suspicious too. Then he just considers possibly keeping them for himself. Playing with the fabric in his hands as he thinks of the idea to jerk his cock with your underwear wrapped around it. If only you knew the things he wanted you to do to him..

“What’re you doing in my room Lixie?” You question your roommate’s intentions as you walk in from getting out in the shower. You catch him holding something in his hands but quickly stuffs the object away in his pockets.

Fuck he’s totally screwed. There’s no going back from this now.

“Uh- nothing! I was just about to leave actually-” just as he attempts to make a run for it, he turns around and comes face to face with you in just a bath towel.

He’s legitimately gone crazy now, stopping dead in his tracks to gawk at your beauty. You exude high levels of sex appeal without even trying, it’s almost intimidating being in the same room as you. Felix thought you look absolutely gorgeous in your natural state, noticing the fresh water droplets still glistening on your skin and wet strands of hair sticking to your face. He really wants to know what’s underneath that singular layer, sensing another uncomfortable situation down there.

“Don’t be silly Lix, you looked like you were looking for something. What’re you holding?” You continue asking but he refuses to give any solid answers, telling you over and over how it’s “nothing” and he wasn’t lying but something didn’t seem right about his behavior.

You saw he put something in his pocket from earlier, so without a second thought you reach into that same pocket to grab whatever was in there. Everything happened so fast Felix didn’t even have time to process what was going on, mortified when he sees you pulling out a pair of your underwear from his sweatpants.

“Why do you have these?” Your expression was stone cold, you genuinely looked pissed off and it was starting to frighten him. He didn’t think you’d actually be upset about this but now he wishes he had just hid it somewhere randomly.

“It’s not what it looks like ___, you’ve got the wrong idea!”

“No I definitely know what’s going on here. Didn’t ever really take you as the type to be such a perv,” you chuckle at his horrible attempt in making any excuses. Coming closer to him now, placing both palms on his shoulders, you get all the way up to his ear and whisper, “I like perverts though ‘cause I’m one too.”

His face burned a crimson shade, growing flustered at your sudden dirty confession. The only thing he could do was gulp out of nervousness, even more worried if you discover the massive hard on he’s sporting in his pants. A subtle smirk forms onto your lips, debating where you should kiss and mark first but you want to take your time with someone like Felix— he’s too pretty not to. You lightly brush your lips against his neck, as if he’s so fragile and delicate, making him tremble from the sudden cool air you blow against his skin.

Felix felt his heart beating out of his chest, internally panicking at what’s soon to come. It’s not like he didn’t want any of this to happen, he’s just worried out his mind and tends to overthink everything. Those anxious thoughts were soon adjourned with a pair of soft lips against his trembling ones, eyes bulging out from the sudden shock of your actions. He stood there awkwardly for a bit as he’s never kissed someone before, he doesn’t know how he should react but he mimics your movements. You deepen the kiss even further, gently caressing the side of his face into your palm— his body was so stiff it made you feel self conscious about you making the first move. He was kissing you back but it didn’t feel like there was any emotion behind it, everything he’s doing seems so robotic and manufactured. You’re starting to think he may not actually be enjoying this.

“Something wrong?” You cautiously pull away to voice concern, regretting everything if he’s uncomfortable by your advances.

He mentally curses himself, feeling more upset at you thinking you’re the problem. “N-no… you’re perfect. This is perfect, it’s just- I’ve never done it before..” His voice trails off towards the end, embarrassed by his lack of experience.

“You’ve never had sex before?” You blink in confusion, it was seemingly impossible for someone as attractive as Felix to have never had a single sexual encounter in his life. However, you’d be more than happy to change that.

“No.” He shook his head, frowning at his sad revelation that he’s a 23 year old virgin.

“Awee, s’cute. I get to be your first!” You couldn’t help but find that to be so adorable, you haven’t took someone’s virginity since freshman year of college, it excites you all over again.

He’s seemingly surprised by the way you respond, “You’re not put off by that?” Most girls in your position wouldn’t want to deal with someone like him. He needs to be trained, taught exactly how to please a woman the way she needs to— which you’re more than capable of doing.

“No, why would I be?” It’s not everyday you hear a guy as handsome as Felix say that they’re a virgin, it intrigues you in some capacity. You want him to become your cute little plaything, someone only you can corrupt exactly the way you want.

“So you’ve never pleasured another girl before? Like not even fingering?” You delve deeper with more questions, wanting to know everything he’s done or hasn’t.

He shook his head yet again, “no, I’ve never done anything.”

This was unlike anything you’ve seen before, at least the other guys you knew who were virgins had actually done a few other things but this was new for you. The fact he was able to confide in you with something so personal made you want to be his first so badly. Maybe this was perfect— you were way more experienced than him so you can show him the ropes, how it’s really done. You express to him that it’s okay he was inexperienced, it’s nothing to be ashamed of and he’s in good hands now.

“What if I don’t do it right?” Felix looks so worried, his adam’s apple bobbed each time he nervously swallowed.

“You won’t because I’m here,” you reassure him by placing an affectionate hand on his shoulder, flashing a warm smile. “I’ll show you how to, don’t be shy it’s fine baby. Just lye back on the bed and I’ll take care of you pretty.”

He did everything he was told, all instructed by you. Lying down on the bed with his back against your pink silk pillow, the black tee he wore slightly rode up, causing you to get a glimpse of his tummy. It was too cute not to touch, your nimble fingers travel up his waist to raise his shirt higher, feeling up his lower body.

Felix felt so powerless as you hover over his frame, both your legs on either side of his, enclosing him in such a tight space. Taking slow, deep exhales, he grows more tense as you slide your hands north, it’s a whole new sensation he’s never felt before. His breath hitched at you suddenly coming in contact with his nipple, brushing over it ever so slightly to elicit a subtle reaction. You love how sensitive he’s become to any minor touch you provide, feeling your arousal leak further down to your thighs as you think of turning him into your personal slut.

“Should I take this off?” You suddenly propose an idea, referring to the bath towel that was hanging on you by a thread. It was seemingly already coming undone as you didn’t tie the front properly, he was able to get a good view of your chest peaking out at the top.

“Mhmm..” Felix hums in sexual frustration, unable to get a clear word or sentence out in any possible way.

You oblige, biting your lip seductively at him as you reach to untie the loose knot, slowly prying the towel off your body that’s now completely dry. “Let’s start off with something easy,” you carefully suggest, traveling your hands down to the band of his gray joggers, lightly tugging them down to reveal his boxer briefs.

The tiny, blond, freckled boy is staring up at you with his big bambi eyes, he can’t believe there’s a naked girl on top of him while he’s still partially fully clothed. All the blood surges to his cock, making him so painfully hard he’s never been so desperate for someone to touch him in his life. Hips bucking into nothing as he humps the air for any stimulation, you couldn’t prevent the giggle that escaped your mouth. Finding him to be so utterly pathetic.

You lean in to kiss him again, never quite getting enough of the yummy taste of him. Tracing your index finger over the outline of his bulge, you feel him pulse underneath as you keep teasing him with more light touches. He could feel you smiling into the kiss, biting down on his lower lip as your free hand gets tangled in his platinum locks. You eventually sprung his cock freely out the constraints of his briefs, watching it stick straight up from being so unbelievably hard. His cock was gorgeous, about 6 inches in length and 2.5” thick, his tip was an angry, ruby red but the rest a blush pink color. Your fingers laced around his shaft, getting closer to spit directly on it before giving him a few moderate pumps. Felix threw his head back slightly, gripping the bedsheets in utmost pleasure, whimpering loudly as he ruts his hips to match the movements of your hand. Unable to hold back from just how good you’re making him feel he calls your name out again and again. His deep voice only gets raspier, a beautifully stark contrast to his angelic face being stuck in euphoria. As your pace increases he only gets more vocal, panting heavily while begging to cum as his jaw slacks wide open. Flashes of white invade his vision, everything around him becomes to fade into a blur. That’s when it all gets abruptly ripped away from him, soon as your hand withdraws his cock he opens his eyes again. His lips quivered in devastation, feeling as though he could cry from this.

“W-why’d you stop?” He whines out of frustration, wanting so badly to cum all over your hand.

The sight of him made you so incredibly turned on. Obsessed with the mess you’ve created so far, his flushed, rosy cheeks with drool seeping down his chin, his precum has leaked out everywhere.

You don’t answer, only chuckling at his misery. It’s fun to play with him, see how far you can push him in getting to do whatever you want.

“Want me to suck your cock, hmm? Say pretty please and I’ll make you feel so good.” Never breaking eye contact as you say it, getting off on the fact you have all the control and he’s totally helpless in your hold.

Felix is reluctant to speak at first, but he chokes up the courage to stutter out a plea, “P-pretty please.. Noona please...” lifting his hips just to feel something— you aggressively force them back down with your hand.

A devilish smirk forms across your face, you didn’t know he was the type to call you that. You want to reward him even more but only if he can be good and does everything exactly your way.

“Don’t cum ‘til I say you can. Got it?” You flash a look that’s anything but merciful, getting a rush from this dominant role you happen to take on surprisingly well.

He nods obediently, understanding what the consequences may be if he doesn’t listen. He wants to try his best to please you in any way he can, it’s the least he can do when you’re the one doing most of the work.

Wrapping your lips around his tip, you feel him twitch instantly inside your mouth, opening just a bit to swirl your tongue along his member. His cock feels slightly sore from being edged once before, gasping when he feels the plushness of your lips on him. Sinking further down, you fully take his length in your mouth now, head bobbing up and down to get the entirety of his cock down your throat. Felix couldn’t move, think, let alone breathe properly— he’s so far gone that the only thing consuming his mind is you.

“Like getting your cock sucked baby?” You coo, bringing your hand to gently caress his balls, making him cry out even more.

He only frantically nods in response, too weak and too lost in the feeling to speak, “Mmm…” he mumbles, he’s so close but he can’t cum, he has to resist the urge but it’s so difficult. There’s no way he’s going to be able to keep this up for much longer.

“Use your words Lixie,” suddenly pulling away from his balls, “or else I’m going to stop again.”

He’s back to being whiny again, not wanting to be edged so cruelly like last time, he finally chokes out a reply, “Y-yes.. I love it.”

You really love the way he sounds, you could listen to him like this all day. Back to what you were doing previously, your mouth completely takes him in, lashes fluttering up at him while you’re doing the most unholy act there is. His brain goes fuzzy as he can’t get over how amazing this feels, broken moans escaping his throat from the warmth of your tongue enveloping his cock. Humming around him in response to his constant throbbing, Felix hisses from the vibrations throughout his body. He’s trembling with so many nerves hitting all once, it’s all so new to him; this might just be the most intense feeling he’s ever had.

“Nggh… gonna cum- can’t hold it anymore..” he meekly warns, tears roll down his face as it begins to be too much for him to bear.

You decide to let him this time, feeling a little sense of sympathy for a cutie pie like him. There’s always next time you can edge him and break him down until he babbles and cries even harder. Your core aches just thinking about all the fantasies you’ll bring to life soon, it’ll never be a boring day from now on.

“Go ahead baby, cum in my mouth,” you urge him to finish by going faster, sucking him off like your life depends on it.

He can feel the coil in his stomach tightening, pushing him to the edge as he’s thrashing around the bed, moaning and crying out all types of profanities. The last words he spoke before he came was pure gibberish, too busy focusing on his release shooting out— he lulls his head back into the pillow from exhaustion. He doesn’t think he’s ever came that hard in his entire life. His eyes rolled back as you greedily swallow his cum, still continuing to suck like he wasn’t mewling for you to stop. More of his load comes out as you keep going, milking every last drop of him until he’s all drained out and empty.

Finally letting go of his cock, you pull away as you make a loud ‘pop’ with your mouth, a thin string of saliva still connecting you to his crotch.

“You did so good for me Lixie,” you praise sweetly, coming up to kiss his pouty lips after you’d just sucked him dry. He kisses back immediately, getting a taste of his release on your tongue, “c’mere puppy,” you motion him to come along once you pull away.

He’s not sure what you have in mind but he follows anyway, blindly letting you boss him around at this point. Felix enjoys every second of it though, you may have unlocked something he never knew he needed.

Your hands run over his shoulders, “How ‘bout we run you a bath, yeah?” Your voice is as low and gentle as a whisper, sounding as though you didn’t just do those unspeakable things minutes ago. He’s more at ease you’ve turned into a sweeter, more compassionate version of yourself now, “I think my precious baby deserves it.”

- 完 ︎♡︎

[straykisz]

everyone please read this and share if you can.

Brazil is going through one of the worst climatic crisis ever seen.

i live in the southernmost state, Rio Grande do Sul. we have been suffering from extreme, nonstop rainstorms for a week now. the rivers are flooding, reaching 4-6 meters above their natural level. people are being rescued by helicopters, neighborhoods are being evacuated. entire cities are slowly but surely becoming submerged in water. 60 people missing and counting. 32 deaths and counting.

and this is not new. last november also had a flood like this one. 50 dead, many material losses. it happened again this january, with thousands being left without power or water for days.

three catastrophical disasters within less than a year. three disasters only a few months apart.

this is not natural.

unsustainable agricultural practices and politics led to this. a complete disregard for nature led to this. greed led to this. always greed.

when it comes to the climate crisis, i cannot stress this enough: we need to act now if we still want to live. disasters like this are going to happen more often and they're going to be much, much worse. this flood is being considered the worst climatic catastrophe in the history of my state. i don't know how long it will take for another bigger one to happen and take its place. i just know it will be sooner than it should.

links to donate (if you can't donate, sharing already helps a lot):

link for non-brazilians (paybox)

link for brazilians

pix assufrgs

will update more links later. in the meantime, pray for us.

[straykisz]

words can't express how much i hate to do this but my employer has pushed me into a corner and i'm not sure where else to turn until this is resolved.

since taking time off work to care for my dying father who has now passed, despite agreeing to pay me compassionately for that time in conjunction with using what leave days i had left, my employer has docked my wage this month by £553.58. with the big expense of a funeral looming and new expenses of extra household bills added to my load, this is a huge blow to how i'd planned to manage things.

i am of course in dispute with my employer over this but i can't see it being resolved soon so in the short term, if anyone is able to help us during this difficult time i would be forever indebted to you, however small the support, and when i return to writing etc i promise to write you a story in return, to say thank you the only way i know how. i don't know how much more life can throw at me.

jlmicasea@yahoo.com on PayPal

or through my ko-fi

[straykisz]

shit I just deleted my old navigation😭 I don’t remember the tags that I use

School is almost over so I might revive this blog! stay tuned I will make a new navigation so yall can find the fics easier

[straykisz]

! MINORS DNI !

Navigation coming soon..

[straykisz]

School is almost over so I might revive this blog! stay tuned I will make a new navigation so yall can find the fics easier

[straykisz]

Where should my mom go😭💔?

Our house in Gaza was bombed, we escaped to #Rafah, and now Rafah is being evacuated, and my mother lives on the sand without shelter, not even a tent 😭😭

As you can see, her hand injury is getting worse due to the lack of food and medicine, causing her to have spasms in her extremities 💔💔

Please, my mother is in danger, help her get out to a safe area before it is too late🙏

Please share and donate, believe me every single dollar will make a difference and save my family life😔🙏

#tumblers #tumbler #customtumblers #glitter #glittertumblers #custom #tumblersofinstagram #handmade #smallbusiness #personalizedtumblers #customtumbler #mugs #love #cups #gifts #glittertumblersofinstagram #custommade #personalizedgifts #tumblercustom #glittertumbler #shopsmall #gift #customcups #coffee #starbucks #personalized #design #supportsmallbusiness #tumblerstarbucks #giftideas

[straykisz]

✞ 「 .✶۪ .° ✞ : 𝐇 𝐈 — 𝐋 𝐈 𝐓 𝐄 !! : a series

☆ — chapter one; Soda Pop : teaser

✞ 「 .✶۪ : see series masterlist and warnings here

✞ 「 .✶۪ : every chapter will have it's own warnings atop the general ones

✞ 「 .✶۪ : this part will appear altered in the series

You sat behind your shabby, wooden desk in the hot, sweat-scented classroom, dimming out the chattering and gossip all around you with your earphones, scribbling doodles and lyrics into your notebook. Your blue pen materialized hearts and clouds and words into your yellowish piece of paper as you waited for Mr. Hwang to enter the classroom, as you waited for the two hours of boredom to pass as quickly as it was possible – or for your teacher to talk of a subject which could interest you, for that matter.

The heavy creak of the door and the following footsteps were the reason you stopped the music which blasted in your eardrums before taking out your earphones, the silhouette of your teacher strutting through the now murmuring classroom, whispers which sounded like questions, and a general confusion spread between the students; unbeknownst to you, yet, as you packed away your phone and opened your notebook on last weeks’ notes, before you finally converted your eyes to the front, finally caught a peak of you teacher; though it wasn’t the teacher you’ve expected to walk into the classroom, not Mr. Hwang, and your jaw would have hit the rough wood of your table if you’d had been any slower at gathering yourself. The man – not a stranger, though unseen and unthought of by you for the past five years – made his way into the spacy classroom, brown briefcase in hand, white dress shirt hugging the lines of his muscles, the ones on his arms exposed as he’d rolled up his sleeves. His attire was missing the tie you remembered him in, and, different to five years ago, the two top buttons of his shirt lay open around his chest – not showing inappropriate skin, though enough to tease, almost, to make you drool in your seat. His black dress pants moved with him as he settled behind his desk, briefcase on the table, one watch-adorned wrist making its’ way into his pants’ pocket leisurely as he looked around the class. He was visibly older, now that you had a good view of him – smile lines deeper, skin more textured, a certain calmness writing his pleasant features –he was just as attractive as you remembered him to be; more so, you’d dare to argue.

“Hi, my name is Mr. Bahng. Professor Hwang suddenly fell ill, unfortunately, and I’ll be his substitute teacher for the time being. I normally don’t teach college classes, but other professors sadly didn’t have the time – I’m well acquainted with Professor Hwang, though, so I agreed to take over his class for a few weeks.”

He was friendly. A charming smile adorned his face, a slight blush played around his nose as he looked around the room, looking at each student for a second or two before locking eyes with the next. For closure, for trust. Then he locked eyes with you, and it felt just like five years ago, when you were fresh eighteen years old, and a bored high school student in your last year before graduation.

☆.☆.☆

“I’ve never been so excited for class, oh my god.”

You had sat giddily in your seat, anticipating the arrival of your new music teacher. You had only seen him once so far, last week, when he had freshly relocated to the high school you’d gone to, and had been, quite literally and much to Felix’s misery and irritation, head over heels for the man – not because your friend had borne a crush for you; simply because you’d been utterly annoying with your high school love for your teacher. You’d known your yearning had been futile even back then, had known that Mr. Bahng wasn’t possibly interested in a mere girl who had just turned eighteen, yet you’d been young and in need for fun distraction, for amusement. And if that meant drooling over a young, hot teacher who had been just your type, it seemed, then you couldn’t complain.

Next to you, Felix had huffed in amusement as you kept eyeing the entrance door of the classroom, then the clock on the wall in front of you, then the door again. He had prepped his material for class already, in much contrast to your own entirely empty desk; saved for a piece of paper and a pen borrowed from your dearest high school friend.

“Your crush is getting unhealthy… he’s not gonna fuck you, you know.”

Felix hadn’t been judging, yet his voice had been teasing. You’d shot him a glance, had tsked at him which your friend returned with a mocking impression of you – fluttering eye-lids, airy lashes, a dumb-ish smile adorning his face.

“I know he’s not gonna fuck me… that’s not the point, though. Class is boring, and you take your academics way too serious to distract me from it.”, you’d retorted sarcastically, which Felix had accepted with a light-hearted scoff, going back to his notes from last week. You hadn’t been wrong; he wanted to get into college, and with good grades preferably. He’d known you had other priorities; he’d respected, enjoyed, even, your passion for music, and you’d had always have the talent for it. The two of you had always been inherently different, though it had never bothered your friendship in the slightest.

Just as Felix had been about to retort with a snarky comment – or another far too accurate impression of your behaviour whenever Mr. Bahng was around – the door to the classroom had opened, and your music teacher had walked in – dress shirt buttoned up all the way, sleeves rolled down even in the hot weather, a careful tie adorning his fit. There’d been fewer lines of muscle back then, though they had been prominent enough to drive your teenage mind utterly insane. Your eyes had been glued onto him as he had welcomed the class, and Felix had struggled containing his laughter; you had been bashing your eyes at him, and you had been wearing a stupid smile around your lips at a mere look at him, just like your friend had mocked about earlier – and you had been either unaware of it, or you hadn’t been bothered enough to care.

You had eyed your teacher the entire lesson, and as much as Felix had wanted to stay focused, he had giggled and laughed at you, amused at your heart-eyes for someone so entirely unattainable. More often than once you had been in need to copy Felix’s notes because your thoughts – and eyes – had been elsewhere than the board, and more often than not Felix had pretended to stop helping you out in class any further, until you’d gotten over your crush; only in light hearted manner, though, because he couldn’t truly deny you of his help, would have felt far too bad to. Though, Felix had always admired your self-reflection in the matter of Mr. Bahng – there hadn’t been one incident in which you’d been unaware of the hopelessness and the unattainability your one-sided love presented – much to his dismay, because during free windows you would complain about it to no end –; and altogether, you had never spoken of love, in the first place. It had been butterflies, distraction from lessons, stupidity and immaturity – and you had always been aware of it; had always been aware of the impossibility.

Now, five years later, that same teacher was standing before you, substituting your music professor, looking as good as you remembered him to; better yet, even. He stood before you — and everything seemed suddenly less impossible, palpable, almost.

series taglist (lmk if you wanna be added/ removed!): @chrizzztopherbang @qtieskz @rylea08 @miss-fallon @sikebishes @h0n3yj4y @lashaemorow

general taglist: @es-kay-zee @jeyelleohe @angelwonie @yvniek4ng @ppiri-bahng @bintificreads @svintsandghosts @llunapastell @sensitiveandhungry @minniesvenus @junebug032 @noellllslut @wolfennracha @unexceptional-h @like-a-diamondinthesky @katsukis1wife @astraystayyh

[straykisz]

HAN :: MET GALA 2024

[straykisz]

ten things lee know says when he thinks you’re asleep — fluff, established relationship, squint of angst

chan | LEE KNOW | changbin | hyunjin | han | felix | seungmin | jeongin

one. ah, i forgot to tell you, there's a new barbecue place that opened recently. i saw it while i was walking with hannie, and i heard they have really good meat. we should go there soon, maybe have it over a few drinks. i'll buy you meat, let's go eat it together.

two. yongbok tells me i should tell you 'i love you' more. i think he's right. i'm sorry if i don't say it enough. i'm just—new to this. but i really do love you, more than you know.

three. i never feel like i'm wasting my time when i'm with you. even if we're just sitting beside each other in silence, even if we're just drinking tea, even if we do nothing for hours. every moment i spend with you feels so fulfilling. it would be hell with anyone else.

four. soonie, doongie, dori need a mom, hm? they already love you anyway. sometimes i think doongie loves you more than he loves me. i think it's because he's most like me. ahh, do you think they'll love our kids in the future too? do you think they'll get jealous they won't be our only kids? (sigh) i can't wait to marry you.

five. when i'm having a really hard day, i feel healed just by having you with me. how do you do that? how do you make my day better just by talking to me for a minute? i think... wait, i know life is less of a hassle because i'm living in it with you.

six. i've never been the type to wish for time to stop, but there is something about being with you that makes me consider it. when i look at you laughing, unaware that you look so beautiful, i understand for a moment.

seven. i’m sorry. i’m sorry. please don’t leave me. i’m sorry. i hate seeing you cry. i hate that it’s because of me. i’m sorry. please stay with me.

eight. i always find myself describing you when someone asks me what love is.

nine. you promised to eat well, didn't you? did we promise? i guess it wasn't a promise, but i asked you to do so. are you eating well lately?

ten. i love you. i love you. i love you. i love you. i love you. and for as long as i’m alive, you will always be loved.

[straykisz]

Bang Chan ✧ Met Gala

[straykisz]

officially closing.

Our works will still be up and available, but no more works will be published here. skzsauce01 will be closed for the foreseeable future. Thank you all for reading <3

MASTERLIST

TOP HITS

42nd Moon // 42nd Moon (Published Version) Bird is the Word ♡ Candy Hearts ♡ Even if Things Were Different ♡ Make A Wish Flowers for You Ruin My Life ♡ Squirrel and Wife ♡ What Was I Made For

PERSONAL FAVS

Dialing In Fair Verona Matters of the Head and Heart Written in the Stars ♡ ones as indicated in TOP HITS

[straykisz]

PROMPT DRABBLE

Prompt: ‘It’s wrong. You know it’s wrong.’

Pairing: Hyunjin x female reader

WC: 800~

Warnings: explicit sexual content, so much angst it’s unhealthy, cheating, yearning, a heavy makeout session in the dark, this one hurts 🔞

©️ copyright jl-micasea-fics September 2022, October 2023

An awful thing to desire that which you can’t ever have.

Keep reading

[straykisz]

a guide to leaving feedback / interacting with fics.

recently in the kpop fanfic community, there have been a lot of authors that depart from their blogs due to the lack of feedback & interactions they receive on their fics. this could be due to a number of reasons, but since we are a fic-recommendation blog, we figured we would do our part in helping the community be more aware of a couple ways on how they can spread love on their favorite works and prevent more authors from leaving due to this specific reason!

please understand that is just the perspective of the admins of ficscafe. other people have different preferences and opinions, but we compiled information gathered from perspectives of an abundance of authors and this seems to be the middle ground / popular belief. if you have any questions or concerns, please drop by the ficscafe ask box.

reblogs + text response. if we’re talking about the best way to promote authors and make them feel good, reblogging the fic itself and writing your feedback in the body of the post is the way to do it. there’s nothing better than an author clicking their notifications and seeing a reblog + comment on a fic they’ve written. it not only helps with promoting, but it also gives them an idea of how their audience feels about their work! comment within the reblog vs. tags. there’s nothing wrong with either of these! they both have the same purpose—promotion with feedback for the author. the only setback for tags is that if the author wanted to respond to your comment, it would require them to take a screenshot instead of reblogging with your feedback above theirs. stuck on what to write in the comments? easy! write literally anything pertaining to the fic. you can quote parts of the story where you felt a certain way, you can compliment the writing style, or you can discuss your thoughts on the fic. you can also talk about how much it impacted you, how interesting the storyline was, or even the uniqueness of the fic. literally anything. authors love hearing from their readers, and it motivates them to continue writing more !!

comments. only leaving comments is fine, however, it’s not particularly the best when it comes to promotion. authors do love seeing how their audience feels about their fic–but it’s a bit discouraging when their readers comment but it wasn’t good enough to warrant a reblog. authors sometimes depend on their tags, networks, and pages like ours to help with sharing their stories, but it only goes to a certain extent. please reblog !! your reblog will be more helpful than you think.

likes. probably the absolute worst way to express your adoration for a fic. tumblr is not like instagram—in order for the fic to be spread throughout the community, liking won’t take it far. liking a fic and leaving it as that is almost as if you’re hiding the fact that you enjoyed it. if you really did enjoy the content, please refer back to #1 as to which is the best way.

leaving asks. this is sweet !! we understand that sometimes readers can be shy, but again, it has the same result as #2 comments. leaving asks means interacting with the author, and this can create an ongoing conversation and build a relationship with your favorite author. nothing is better (other than a reblog + text response) than seeing a little bubble above your inbox with a new ask.

donations. this is probably the least popular action. there’s nothing wrong with authors asking for donations, but they shouldn’t make you feel like it’s an obligation or guilt trip you into doing it. donations should be within your means–but if you can donate and the fic was worthwhile enough to donate, feel free to do so! most authors have a kofi, but if they don’t, feel free to drop by their inbox and ask!

[straykisz]