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staytinyweeniebeanie · 3 days ago

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Han's Moving Castle

Pairing(s): Howl!Han Jisung x Sophie!reader

Content: Howl’s Moving Castle AU, fluff, one-shot (that has already turned into at least 2 parts)

Warning(s): Unwanted advances by some drunk guys, small mentions of violence

Word Count: 6.5k

Summary: You live a simple life working in your late father’s hat shop, until you befriend an eccentric wizard that lives in a magical flying castle!

A/N: I’ve had this idea cooking in my noggin since birthing this account and I am so SO EXCITED to finally share it with you all! This will deviate from the movie plot somewhat, but I mostly stuck to the original (and incredible) story! Part two to follow soon

Part one | My masterlist 💕

All credit for the amazing cover image to the amazing artist! (link in the pic caption)

The sound of a train’s whistle comforts you as you wander along the unfamiliar streets towards the bakery where your sister works. At least, you think you’re heading towards the bakery. Despite having lived in this town all your life, you’ve never been in this area and the streets and alleyways are so confusing…

You bring the crumpled paper with your sister’s hastily scribbled directions closer to your face and grumble, “Is this the alley where I turn right?” A quick look around offers no clues, so you shrug and turn right.

You’re still squinting at the directions when you nearly collide with the bright blue uniformed chest of a soldier. You gasp and take a step back quickly, timidly looking up at the man. He’s got one arm propped up on the wall to your left, and when he leans down into your space you smell alcohol on his breath. He must have just come out of the bar you spot over his shoulder, tucked into an alcove.

“Hey there,” he looks you up and down and warning bells start to ring in your head, “Looks like a little mouse lost its way.”

“Oh, no, I’m not lost,” you reply quickly and force a polite smile on your face. You move to walk around him, but another soldier steps out from the alcove and stands directly in front of you, blocking your path. “The little mouse looks thirsty, maybe we should take her for a cup of tea?” the first soldier says to his buddy.

You pull your straw hat down nervously, “No thanks, my sister is expecting me.” Your shaky voice betrays your growing nerves and you dig your fingers into the skirt of your dress to disguise their trembling.

It’s no matter, the second soldier is crowding into your space, “She’s pretty cute for a mouse!” he ogles you while the first continues to probe, “How old are you anyways? You live around here?”

“Leave me alone!”

You nearly shout it, but you’re starting to get scared and the polite approach doesn’t seem to be working.

But the men aren’t deterred, in fact, they seem amused by your outburst. “You scare all the girls off with that mustache,” one says, “So? I think she’s even cuter when she’s scared.”

Your heart races while you try to think of a way to escape these creepy men, when suddenly an arm wraps around your shoulders and you’re tucked gently into a warm chest.

“There you are baby, sorry I’m late. I was looking everywhere for you!” a velvety voice purrs.

You whip your head around to see a boyishly handsome man smirking over your shoulder and all of your previous thoughts come to a screeching halt. You’ve heard stories of the great wizard “Han” with his golden silky hair, tan skin, and sparkling eyes. And the man currently wrapped around you (like a lover! your mind supplies) bears a striking resemblance.

The soldiers protest and you tune back in just in time to hear the man say, “It looked to me like the two of you were just leaving.” And with a flick of his wrist, the soldiers stand at attention and march away like puppets on a string, their shouts of confusion echoing along the empty alley.

No doubt in your mind, Han Jisung just rescued you…

He turns to you then with a soft smile and asks, “Where to? I’ll be your escort this evening.”

It would seem the rumors of Han’s beauty are 100% true, he’s mesmerizing this close up with big round eyes partially obscured by shiny blonde locks, and pouty lips pulled up into a heart-shaped smile. Your face heats as you stutter through your original destination of your sister’s bakery.

“Don’t freak out, but I think I’m being followed” Han whispers and he slides the arm that was resting on your shoulder down to gently grab your hand and tuck it into his elbow like a proper gentleman. “Just act normal!” he winks and starts tugging you along. A quick glance over your shoulder at the strange blob creatures seeping out of the walls and ground make you squeak and press even closer into Han’s side.

Up ahead, more blob creatures materialize out of the ground and you gasp as Han yanks you down a side street. “Sorry, looks like you’re involved,” He says cheerfully and you scowl at him as you both nearly run down the street. “Don’t look at me like that baby- Oh!” Han cuts himself off with a gasp when further down the street even more creatures appear. You’re surrounded and they are closing in fast, your scowl deepens.

“Hold on!” Han wraps his arm around your waist and the two of you immediately shoot up into the air, the creatures colliding where you were just standing a second ago.

The quick ascent steals the breath from your lungs before you can let loose a screech, so you curl up protectively, anticipating a just as abrupt descent.

But it doesn’t come.

When you gather the courage to open your eyes, you see that you’re floating up above the tall buildings and bustling streets below and now you’re breathless for an entirely different reason. The view from this height is absolutely beautiful. You can see the smoke plume from a train, the flurry of activity on the streets below, all the people running around like colorful ants.

Han leans in to speak directly into your ear and his deep voice makes you shiver, “Now straighten your legs and just keep walking.” He leads you into step with him with a firm hold of both of your hands as you find your balance on absolutely nothing but air. It should be impossible, but you are strolling through the sky as if you’re on solid ground.

In no time, you’re hopping gracefully from rooftop to rooftop and a delighted giggle escapes you. Han chuckles with you and says, “You are a natural!” which makes you smile wide and squeeze his hands excitedly.

You both hop off the decorative spire of a building and descend onto the balcony of what you assume is the bakery your sister works at. You almost don’t want the moment to end, traipsing through the sky with a wizard as if it were an everyday occurrence, this was the most extraordinary moment of your life.

But all magical things must come to an end.

Your dress flutters around you as Han carefully sets you down on the wooden floor of the balcony while he perches a little unsteady on the railing. You hold his hand tighter to keep him from tipping backwards and he sends a sheepish smile your way.

Once balanced, his glittering eyes hold you captive and he slowly slips his hand from yours. “I’ll make sure to draw them off, but wait a bit before you head back outside,” he warns. You nod and bring your tingling hand to your chest with a shy smile, “Okay!”

“That’s my girl~” Han’s coat swirls around in the wind as he swings an arm out to his side and launches himself off the balcony and into the crowded street below. Your heart lurches as you rush to look over the railing to see if he’s alright, but he’s gone.

After a short visit with your bewildered sister, you trek back home, taking the bus this time around as you aren’t eager to repeat the earlier incident, especially with the sun having set long ago. But as you walk the last bit of your journey home, you can’t help but reflect on your time with Han knowing that it was not a dream after all. He was handsome and kind and he rescued you! Butterflies are still flying around in your stomach but they settle a bit when you recall your sister’s warnings…

“You were lucky nothing happened to you, he could have stolen your heart!” Lettie exclaimed, grasping your arm as if to protect you from such a fate. You shook your head with a self-deprecating laugh, “He only takes the hearts of beautiful girls, Lettie.”

Lettie looks like she’s gearing up to argue with you putting down your looks again, but she’s interrupted by one of the other bakers letting her know the chocolate eclairs are fresh out of the oven. She sighs and turns back to you, “Still, Y/N, even the Wizard of the Waste is rumored to be back on the prowl… you need to be more careful”.

With a weary sigh, you step through the entrance of your family’s hat shop, closing and locking the door behind you. You remove your hat and head towards the counter at the back of the room. It’s dark, so you pull out a match and light an oil lamp, bathing the room in a warm glow.

The bells over the entrance chime again and you turn, puzzled to find a tall man in a black fur coat and matching wide-brim hat closing the door behind himself. He doesn’t say anything and you can’t see his face from across the room. Nonetheless, you speak up, “I’m sorry. But the shop’s closed now, sir. I could have sworn I locked that door, must have forgotten” you mutter the last part to yourself.

“What a tacky shop, filled with such tacky hats” the man comments and strolls leisurely up to the counter. “You might be the tackiest thing here though, doll.” You spy plush lips pulled up into a smirk under the brim of the hat and your temper flares. It’s been a strange day and your patience for rude customers that come in after hours and insult you is nowhere to be found.

You clench your fists and try to hang on to your customer service persona, “I’m afraid you will have to leave now, sir,” you walk over and hold the door open for him just to really make your point clear. “The door is over here, sir. We’re closed.” you say firmly.

The stranger lifts his head enough that you can now see his strikingly handsome face and long, wispy black hair curling at the ends. “Standing up to the Wizard of the Waste? That’s bold.” His face lights up with a mischievous grin and you gasp as the gravity of this situation dawns on you.

Before you can even attempt to make a run for it, what you assume are his henchmen fill the door of your shop. Panic builds in your chest and you whip around to face the wizard, but he’s already flying towards you. You curl into yourself and brace for impact when suddenly, you’re engulfed in inky blackness, a strange energy filling your body that makes you shudder.

“You wanna know the best part of that spell?” the wizard quips as he sweeps through you and out onto the porch in front of the shop, “You can’t tell anyone about it~”

“Give Han my regards,” he throws over his shoulder as he cackles and disappears into the night.

Still hunched over, you slowly unfold and cautiously look around the shop, but the wizard is long gone. You reach down to pick up your fallen hat but stop short at the sight of your hands, wrinkled and gnarled-looking.

You rush over to the three-sided mirror propped up on a nearby table and gasp in horror at the elderly face looking back at you. Poking and prodding at your drooping skin, multitude of wrinkles, and much shorter and thinner hair doesn’t change the fact that the old woman in the mirror is you. That blasted wizard cursed you and now you look as if you’ve aged 50 years!

“I-I’ve got to stay calm!” you sputter and try to steady your racing heart and mind. Maybe this whole day has been some wild and crazy dream? Perhaps, if you hurry to your room and go to sleep, you’ll wake up and life will be back to normal?

With a tentative plan in place, you set off to your room, but this old body is slow and your joints and back ache something fierce when you slowly make your way up the stairs. Finally settled in your cozy room you fall into a fitful sleep…

The next morning brings no change; it’s official, you’re an old woman now. At least, until you can figure out a way to lift your curse.

“This isn’t so bad,” you smile weakly at yourself in the mirror in your bedroom, “you're still in pretty good shape and your clothes finally suit you now!”

The little pep talk does wonders for your mood and after getting your mom and the other girls that work in the shop off your back (a white lie about being sick won’t hurt them, right?), you pack a bundle of food, your favorite hat and shawl, and set off.

Your destination? The Wastes. Afterall, that’s where witches and wizards are rumored to reside.

You eventually find a father/son duo with a truck full of hay and just enough room for one more passenger. They are willing to take you to their farm situated on the very edge of town and it’s as close as you can get to the Wastes via the road. The ride is bumpy on your old bones, but in no time you’re waving goodbye to the nice family and hobbling off on the footpath.

It’s so different navigating the world as an elderly woman! People want to help you cross the street, and offer their spots on the bus, it’s quite pleasant. The only downside so far has been your frail joints and aching back that protest any strenuous activity.

You trek further into the Wastes, breathing heavily and having to stop every 10 minutes or so to rest, “I’ll never make it with these legs,” you grumble. You make it to the top of the hill and plop down on a soft patch of grass to pick at the bread and cheese you packed, idly admiring the view of the (still too close) city and the neighboring mountains. Your wandering eyes land on a sturdy looking branch sticking out a bush several meters away and you have the bright idea to use it as a cane.

“Up we go,” you groan and struggle back into a standing position, pops and cracks accompanying you as you walk over to the bush.

“Hmm, might be too small…” you murmur and start pulling on the branch trying to free it. It’s stuck pretty good in the bush though, and you’re not as strong as you used to be. Taking a second to catch your breath, you shake your finger at the branch, “You won’t get the best of this old lady!” and get back to work.

A couple more tugs and out pops a clothed figure that makes you yelp and stumble back. “Oh! You’re just a scarecrow, I thought you were one of those blob men” you laugh at your overreaction and look over the rather cute looking thing, “but how are you standing on your own?”

Indeed, this scarecrow is standing maybe only one to two heads taller than you, which seems small for a scarecrow? And it’s wearing a tattered suit jacket and skirt that might have been fancy before succumbing to the elements (you swear you can even make out a faint designer label on the jacket, something with LV?) along with silk gloves, and a tophat that’s seen better days. As you take a closer look at its head, you realize it’s made of a turnip! And someone’s given this scarecrow hair and a face! Yellow strands of what looks like straw stick out from the hat and you swear the turnip has freckles that stretch across where its nose would be.

“Your head’s a turnip!” you giggle and rest your hands on your hips, “I’ve always hated turnips, ever since I was a little kid.”

Scarecrows shouldn’t be able to change facial expressions but this one’s big cheesy grin seems to fall a bit at your comment. Scrambling to find something nicer to say as it would seem you’ve offended the poor thing you blurt out, “At least you’re not upside down anymore, so long!”

Maybe a hasty retreat would be better, you’ve got witches and wizards to find afterall and no cane to aid you now that you know it’s attached to this turnip head.

Back on the uneven trail, you continue your journey. The sun is starting to set and the wind is picking up, it feels as though it’s blowing right through you. You look back to see how much progress you’ve made and to your dismay, the town still seems so close it’s like you’ve barely moved. On top of that, you can see that scarecrow you freed hopping along several paces back.

“Go away, quit following me! There’s no need to thank me, you don’t owe me a thing!” you call out and wave your arms, hoping the scarecrow would just leave you be. You’d guess it also has some kind of curse on it and you’ve had enough of that these past couple days. You turn back around, bundle your shawl closer to your body, and continue walking.

But the scarecrow persists and hops along behind you until it catches up. It stops suddenly and drops a cane directly in front of you, “Hmm? For me?”

Somehow it’s the perfect height for you and the handle is carved and painted like a bright yellow baby chick, you take it and give a grateful smile to the scarecrow, “Thank you, this cane is so cute and perfect! It’s just what I needed!” The scarecrow hops and twirls at your words and you think it’s happy to have helped you.

Another bright idea takes root in your mind, “If you’d like to do me one more favor, you could hop off and find me a place to stay?” Almost immediately, the scarecrow goes hopping back the way it came and you snicker to yourself. Well that’s one problem taken care of!

The last bits of sunlight reflect off the metal of a battleship overhead and you take a moment to admire it, you’ve never seen one this close before! But a strong gust of wind swiftly reminds you that very soon the sun will disappear beyond the horizon and you’ll be even colder than you are now. You’ve got to find shelter soon.

You walk maybe another half hour, it’s well and truly dark now, before you’re forced to rest again. Curling up as small as you can to preserve body heat, you are beginning to regret your half thought-out plan to wander the Wastes in search of someone to lift your curse.

Amidst your heavy breathing you catch the scent of a smoke, “Someone��s got a fire going… Maybe there’s a cabin nearby!”

You use your cane to help you stand and with a little more pep in your step, you approach the crest of a hill.

A giant, hissing, and creaking castle comes into view, and it’s walking directly towards you with that infernal scarecrow leading the way, your jaw drops.

“You turnip head, that’s Han’s castle!” You shake your cane at the cursed vegetable as it hops over to you, “That is not what I meant when I asked you to find me a place to stay!”

The hulking castle comes to a stop directly over your head and lets out what sounds like a big metallic groan, before continuing on. As you watch it pass, your scarecrow friend hops over to what looks like a doorway hanging off the back of the castle.

“Is that the way in?!” you exclaim and start running as fast as your old body can manage.

You’re so close to catching the railing in your hand but it remains just out of reach. “Slow down, please!” you beg the castle, “Are you going to let me in or not?”

The castle must hear your pleas and it basically scoops you up onto the little porch in front of the door. You lose your shawl in the process and your scarecrow hops away after it when it sees you looking back forlornly.

You take a peek inside the door, but you can’t see much past a short stairway as it’s dark. Your scarecrow quickly returns with your shawl, hopping along with the moving castle, and you give it a big smile. “Thank you Turnip Head, it’s nice and warm in there so I’m going in. I’m sure Han won’t eat the heart of an old lady like me.”

Turnip Head gives you a twirl and hops a little slower now and the distance grows between you. Though you just met the poor thing, you are already attached and sad to see it leaving.

“It’s been a pleasure meeting you, even if you are my least favorite vegetable!” you call out, “Take care Turnip Head!”

You blow a kiss to it, and head inside, closing the door behind you.

Peeking around cautiously, you make out a typical, but messy, living space with a hearth in the center of the room, there’s a small fire still going and a lone chair positioned right in front of it. You don’t spy the wizard or anyone else for that matter lingering around, so you cautiously make your way up the stairs

You add a couple logs to the dwindling fire and plop into the seat with a great big sigh. Burrowing into your shawl, you feel your eyes growing heavy, the events of the day pulling you towards sleep.

“At least when you’re old, nothing frightens you anymore” you think out loud.

Eyes closed and seconds from slipping into dreamland, you startle back awake when a voice chimes in, “I don’t envy you, lady. That is one bad curse.”

You blink your eyes open and are even more surprised to see that the fire now has a face! Two feline-looking eyes and a grin with front teeth that remind you of a bunny. And it’s speaking to you! “Curses are tough, you’re gonna have a very hard time getting rid of that one.” The fire even has little arms that are curling up on the log you just added, all casual-like, as it chats with you.

“The fire spoke!” it’s all you can say at the moment as you try to wrap your head around this. Surely this talking fire must be the wizard, Han?

“Let me guess,” the fire continues speaking, “the curse won’t allow you to talk about it?”

You disregard the comment and instead ask, “Are you Han?”

That must be the wrong question, the fire looks annoyed and rolls its eyes. It flickers wildly and grows taller and louder as it replies, “No, pabo! I’m an extremely powerful fire demon named Minho!”

The sudden heat and loud voice make you cower in your seat but the fire quickly shrinks back to its previous size flame and smugly follows up with, “I like to do that once in a while~”

Apparently fire demons like to scare old ladies for fun… but wait, “You’re a fire demon! You should be able to break my curse!” You scoot closer to the hearth with excitement in your eyes, sleepiness gone for now.

“Maybe, maybe not,” Minho doesn’t even have shoulders but he shrugs somehow. “Listen, if you can find a way to break the spell that’s on me, then I’ll break the spell that’s on you, got it?” he drawls, but you’re not fully convinced just yet.

“If you’re a demon, how do I know I can trust you? Do you promise to help me if I help you?” you raise an eyebrow and cross your arms, settling back in your chair.

Minho grumbles something about demons “not making promises” so you roll your eyes and counter, “then find somebody else.” The whining really starts up then, you didn’t know fire demons were so sassy! Minho’s complaining, loudly, about all the things Han forces him to do like heating his bath water and moving the castle and all you can offer is a, “that’s rough” as his chattering brings you back to the edge of sleep.

“If you can figure out this whatevership I’m in with Han, then you can break my spell. After that, I can easily break your spell.” He finishes and looks up at you hopefully.

“Alright,” you hum and blink slowly, “it’s a deal.” You promptly fall asleep, snoring lightly and oblivious to Minho’s attempts to wake you back up. “Some help you��re going to be, old lady.” He lets out a puff of smoke and gives up.

Noisy and insistent knocking on the door you came in wakes you up from your exhausted slumber on the uncomfy wooden chair. Your bones creak and protest as you sit up and you’ve definitely developed a crick in your neck from the awkward sleeping position. The knocking persists and you’re debating if you should get up and answer when suddenly you hear hurried footsteps upstairs. You gasp and feign sleep as the mystery person descends the stairs, stumbling on the last couple.

The stranger walks hesitantly up to your chair and a sweet and bright voice pipes up, “Hey, who is this lady?” but Minho just answers with, “Porthaven door.” The stranger scurries towards the door, still questioning Minho, “How’d she get in here?” and you chance a peek.

The stranger is actually a young man, maybe a few years younger than you (you’re real age of course) with wild curly ginger hair and he’s digging through a pile of things on a table haphazardly until he pulls out a cloak. He pulls the cloak on, flipping the hood up quickly and it disguises his young and fox-life face with a ridiculously long beard. He mumbles a short, “Stand by” in a deeper voice than his natural tone and nearly trips down the stairs before turning a dial you didn’t notice on the door handle and yanking it open.

An official looking man with a couple guards behind him stands on the other side.

“Mr. Mayor, good day,” the disguised young man greets him.

“Is the great Wizard J.One home?” asks the Mayor.

The young man is answering him, something about speaking in his absence, and you listen on as you get up and grab Minho a couple fresh logs. You catch the gist of the message, a summons for Han to report to the King to aid in the ongoing war. You shake your head and grumble, “I can’t believe it’s come to this.”

The still-disguised young man comes back up the stairs and gives you a very unimpressed look, still faking a deep voice when he examines you, “And what do you think you’re doing here, Grandma?”

You just smile innocently and nod at the fire demon, “Minho here said I could come in!”

Minho protests immediately, “I did not! She wandered in from the Wastes!”, the young man removes his disguise and tilts his head looking like a cute little fox, “The Wastes? How do we know she’s not a witch?”

You hide a laugh at the thought of you, a hat-maker-turned-old-lady, as a witch!

The bell over the door chimes and Minho calls out, “Porthaven door again!”

The young man tucks the letter the Mayor gave him into a massive book. “Must be a customer” he says and pulls his disguise cloak on once more. He speaks in that fake deep voice again “Stand by” and nearly trips down the stairs again, and opens the door. It’s a little girl this time, asking about a spell her mom wants her to pick up.

Now that you aren’t pretending to be asleep, you get a good look at the street just past the door and it’s not the fields of the Wastes you were expecting.

The young man brings the girl inside and warns you not to mess with anything. You disregard him and head straight to a window. You’re greeted with the shimmering ocean in the distance and seagulls overhead. “This is definitely not the Wastes…” you breathe.

The little girl asks if you’re a witch and you can’t resist the chance to joke around a bit, “Yes, I’m the scariest witch of them all!” you growl playfully.

She giggles a bit nervously but then the young man is ushering her out with a baggie and instructions for how to use the spell. Once she’s gone he turns to you from the top of the stairs and rips off the cloak with an annoyed huff.

“Quit telling lies to our customers,” he says and glares at you, but his face sans disguise is so cute you can’t really take it seriously. Not to mention, “What about you? You’re wearing a disguise” you point out. He rolls his eyes and replies, “I have to, I’m practicing my magic” like it’s obvious and you should have known that fact.

The bell over the door rings again, and Minho calls out, “Jeongin, it’s the Kingsbury door this time!” So that’s the young man’s name, Jeongin, it suits him you think.

Jeongin pulls the cloak hood back up, and miraculously doesn’t trip down the stairs this time as he repeats, “Stand by” and changes the dial again and opens the door. An even more official looking man stands on the other side and he asks, “Good day. Would this be the residence of the great Wizard Han Jisung?” Jeongin gives the same spiel about his master’s absence but you don’t even listen as you shuffle down the stairs and look out onto the street.

You gasp when you realize where you are, “This is the royal city, isn’t it?”

It would seem Jeongin has no patience for your awe, all he says is, “Move it Grandma, or you’ll lose your nose!” so you reluctantly step back inside and allow him to slam the door shut.

You just have to try out this magical door yourself, so you flip through each setting, eagerly looking outside the door to see where it takes you. The blue setting is Porthaven, red is Kingsbury, and green is the Wastes, still windy and now covered with a thick fog when you peek outside. The moving castle is resting in the grass.

“Leave it alone Grandma, I’m getting angry.” Jeongin leans over the railing, scowling at you and tapping his foot, clearly agitated.

You don’t care though, you have to know, “So tell me, where does the black one lead?”

Jeongin groans like your very presence causes him pain and responds, “Only Master Han knows that.”

He walks off towards an even messier dresser and yanks open a drawer, “I need some breakfast, I’m starved.” He pulls out some bread and cheese and tries to clear a space on the table.

You walk over to where you now know the food is stored and discover eggs and uncooked bacon that still looks and smells good.

“Don’t you want a real breakfast? Like bacon and eggs?” you ask Jeongin. He rolls his eyes, it would seem everyone in this house has an attitude problem, and explains, “Yeah, but we can’t use the fire, Master Han’s not here.”

Testing the weight of a cast iron pan hanging on the wall, you chuckle, “Don’t worry, I can cook!” Jeongin’s claims that Minho will only obey Han don’t deter you, it’s been too long since you had a decent meal, and how difficult can Minho be? It’s only bacon and eggs!

“That’s right lady, I’m not taking orders from you!” Minho blows a raspberry which shoots embers your way, but you just roll up your sleeves and set the basket of eggs and bacon down on the chair. “Alright Minho, let’s get cooking.”

Jeongin sits back in a chair at the table, watching passively as you will surely fail to get Minho to cooperate.

Flames shoot almost to the ceiling when Minho yells, “I don’t cook! I’m a scary and powerful fire demon!” he sticks a forked and fiery tongue out at you and waves his little fiery fists around.

You just squint playfully at him and lean in to whisper, “How would you like a bucket of cold water in your face? Or maybe I should tell Han about our deal? Hmm?”

Minho’s eyes take on a murderous glint and you’re sure if he could reach you, you’d be burnt to a crisp right now…

“I should have never let you in!” he squawks and you cackle.

You shove the frying pan into his flames and there’s a bit of a struggle as Minho’s arms try to push the pan off but you eventually succeed and Minho’s flames die down to a manageable height.

“That’s a good fire ~” you coo and lay down the first slice of bacon.

Minho crosses his arms and his eyes glare at you from the side of the pan, “Here’s another curse for you, may all your bacon burn” he hisses.

You snort and glance back at Jeongin’s astonished face, “I think I want some tea too,” you muse, much to Minho’s indignation, “Do you have a kettle?” you ask. As if coming out of a daze, Jeongin nods and runs off to grab it.

At that moment, Han returns, the dial above the door changing to black as he steps through the entrance. Jeongin immediately begins rattling off the messages from the king but Han is silent as he draws nearer to you and Minho.

You nervously push the bacon around with a wooden spoon, you really didn’t think through what you’d say to Han the next time you saw him.

Han stops right beside you and seems to look over the scene with an amused look in his eyes. “Minho? You’re being so obedient,” he comments, Minho fires up immediately, “Not on purpose! She bullied me!”

“Not just anybody can do that…” Han hums and finally looks at you, “And you are, who?”

You clear your throat and put on a confident smile, “Uh, you can just call me Grandma Y/N! I’m your new cleaning lady, I just started today.”

Han laughs, loud and captivating, and gently shoulders you over. “Give that to me,” He murmurs and his hand rests on yours for a moment, rings cold but palm pleasantly warm, and takes the spoon from you.

“Give me two more slices of bacon and six of those eggs, please?” he asks politely, swinging the sizzling pan around so you can lay the bacon inside.

He wordlessly asks for the eggs next and you watch as Han cooks the rest of your breakfast, feeding the egg shells to Minho and listening when the fire demon sasses him to flip the bacon, or add another egg.

“So then, who hired you to clean?” Han raises an eyebrow at you for a moment, then focuses on the pan again.

The lie comes quickly to you, “Minho did! He’s disgusted by how dirty it is in here.”

Han just hums and yells for Jeongin to grab the plates. Jeongin groans but does as he’s asked.

As Han takes the pan over to the table, Minho flares up again, “What, so you guys are going to eat while I do all the work?!”

You all ignore him and go sit down at the table and you giggle at the sight of Minho flopping over dramatically on a burning log.

Jeongin’s cleared a spot for you but there are crumbs everywhere, you weren’t lying about this place being disgusting.

Han divides up the food between the three plates and Jeongin excitedly presents you with three “clean” utensils to choose from. You make sure to give your spoon an extra wipe with the fabric of your dress before you eat with it and Jeongin pours tea in a chipped bowl. You’ve really got your work cut out for you…

Han slices some bread for the three of you and states, “Friends, let’s enjoy our meal,” so you tuck in. Jeongin downs his food with such enthusiasm and huge bites that you’re afraid he’ll choke. Meanwhile Han is just sipping his tea and staring at you, which makes you shy, so you look down at your plate.

“So what do you have hidden in your pocket, Y/N?”

You’re beginning to like the way your name sounds in Han’s mouth, but you’re confused, you don’t remember putting anything in your pockets… When you check, sure enough, there’s a red folded piece of paper that you drop in Han’s outstretched hand.

As soon as it touches his fingers the paper lights up and seems to lash at him. You gasp and watch it flutter to the table and burn a symbol into the wood before dissolving into ash.

“Scorch marks! Can you read it, hyung?” Jeongin looks wide-eyed at the mark, bits of egg and bacon still stuck to his mouth.

“It’s ancient sorcery, quite powerful too,” Han’s hair seems to float around him on some imaginary breeze and his face has a peculiar and wicked air that you haven’t seen on him yet. “The Wizard of the Waste?” Jeongin speculates.

Han nods and reads the marks out loud, “You who swallowed a falling star, O heartless man, your heart shall soon belong to me.” He rests his hand on the edge of the mark and mumbles, “That can’t be good for the table.”

You and Jeongin watch, awed at the way the mark glows like an ember until there’s nothing left and the table is smooth.

“Wow,” Jeongin exclaims, “the mark is gone!”

“The mark may be gone, but the spell is still here.” Han holds his hand to his chest, it’s smoking like he was burned by whatever he did to remove the mark, your heart pangs in worry.

“Excuse me, my friends,” Han stands abruptly and grabs his plate, he nods his head at you and pointedly looks at your still full plate, “Eat, eat, it’s okay, you can eat!” He smiles closed-eyed at you and walks over to drop his untouched food into Minho’s wide open mouth, like a baby bird, you think absently.

“Minho, move the castle 60 miles to the west,” he orders and heads towards the stairs, “and while you’re at it, make hot water for my bath.” Han winks and walks off before Minho can complain too much.

Mentally waving off that weird moment, you catch Jeongin’s side eye as you turn back to your plate, “You’re not working for the Wizard of the Waste are you?” he probes.

Anger fills you so fast you whip around and furious words spill out of you, “I would never work for that pompous wizard! He’s the one who-” but it’s like an invisible hand twists your mouth up before you can spit the words out.

You try a couple more times to explain that you are not actually an old lady but your mouth won’t cooperate. You give up and slam your fists on the table, sending precarious piles of books and junk to the floor.

“If I ever get my hands on that wizard, I’m going to wring his long neck! Eat your breakfast,” you direct the last bit to Jeongin and scarf down the rest of your food.

Thank you so much for reading and thank you for your patience! Real life pulled me away from writing and this was a really fun story to jump into!

Who do you think the Wizard of the Waste is? Or Mr. Turnip Head? Any guesses? 😉

This is a reimagining of Howl’s Moving Castle, in no way am I claiming the plot as my own work, only the reimagined characters belong to me (@staytinyweeniebeanie). Additionally, I do not consent to my work being reposted on other platforms without permission!

Reblogs and Comments are always welcome and highly appreciated!

dividers by @sweetmelodygraphics

#han jisung x reader #stray kids #skz #han jisung #skz au #skz fluff #skz imagine #skz fanfic #howls moving castle #studio ghibli #beanie writes!

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