#would anybody else want Minho as their tickle therapist?~

[daybreak-tkler]

❝The Mind Is Plagued With Lies❞

Lee(s): insecure! witchlet! Seungmin

Ler(s): Therapist-In-Training! witch! Minho

Small Synopsis: ever since Seungmin got his braces, people have been making fun of him. Well,, not really people,, but his brain has. He became a lot more self conscious of his smile. He asked his good friend Jeongin how he dealt with the insecurities and the younger male showed him to Minho, who uses practices he isn't quite familiar with.

It's a calm morning in the heart of Seoul at one of the most prestigious magic colleges the world has ever known. Here, sat back against an off-white chair of plastic in the campus cafe, sits Kim Seungmin. He's squinting down at a piece of ripped paper, grimacing at what's to come. His fingers grasp the paper as if it were his enemy, eyes grazing over the words etched onto it like it was something he despised. It wasn't the words that made him nervous, though, it was.... the prospect of it all. Personally, he didn't care for the words on the paper,, the words "Lee Minho, Room 35, knock twice before entering" didn't mean anything to Seungmin. No, it was the conversation he had with Jeongin which lead to him receiving this tiny cursed piece of paper.

"If you're feeling insecure, Minho hyung can help! He's an expert with insecurities!" Jeongin exclaims with beaming smile. Seungmin can't help but smile in return and that was the problem. His hand covers his mouth quickly to hide what was being shown, his glasses sitting askew on his nose due to his sudden movement. Jeongin frowns immediately "Yeah, you need help fast," he hums and Seungmin sighs. Tell him about it. "You don't need to be insecure about your braces, Minnie, they're cute!" Jeongin reassures him with a smile of his own. "I know how you feel, when I had braces I also felt insecure... but Minho hyung helped! Here, I'll give you this paper so you can find him whenever you're free!"

And that lead Seungmin here, to this moment. His conversation with Jeongin had been yesterday. No matter how much he wanted to, he couldn't put off going to visit this guy any longer. He didn't have more free time this week besides today and he knew his best friend would ask about it. Because Jeongin was just so caring like that. So, begrudgingly, Seungmin lifts his bag from under the table and dusts it off, slings it over his shoulder and goes to find Room 35. He's scared, honestly, because he's never met this guy before. All he knew is that he was training in mind magic and he was a third year whereas Seungmin was a second year. Seungmin didn't know anything about mind magic, he was a ballad witch himself. But he was nervous to find out what this guy would do to him.

Would he make fun of his braces? Surely not, right? if he helped Jeongin he wouldn't be mean enough just to make fun of somebody. But what if he removes his memories or something? The guy's still only training! His worries don't stop as he reaches the door with a shoddy "Room 35" etched into a rectangular plate attached to the door. He looks at the piece of paper again and sighs, knocking once,, then twice just as the words on the parchment had instructed him to do. A soft "Come in," calls out from within the room and Seungmin slowly opens the door. He's startled at first, so many things to take in so quickly. First of all, the room smelt amazing, the scent of a lovely perfume of flowers wafting through the air which immediately relaxes tension in Seungmin's muscles. Next, there's a cat rubbing itself against his ankle as soon as he steps through the door. And there's two more from what he can tell. The one rubbing itself against his ankle was ginger with some white on it, the second one lazing on top of a desk in the room was also ginger but it's white parts were more prominent. The final one was laying on a cat tower and was grey with stripes.

"Ah.. forgive me.. Soonie, honey, you can't rub yourself against every new person you see," the male sat at the desk says fondly as he lifts himself up, carefully picking the fluffy friend Seungmin had by his ankles up and delicately popping it down on a small pet bed. "Sorry about that, he gets excited with new people," the male says sheepishly. Seungmin shakes his head and smiles, his hand following the movement and covering his mouth now out of habit. Minho gives him a glance and chuckles. "I can already see why you're here, can I have your name?" he asks kindly. "I'm Minho, Lee Minho, but I assume if you're here you already know that," he states.

"Oh, right,, I'm Kim Seungmin, second year.... My friend Yang Jeongin said you could help uh.. with my..." Seungmin trails off timidly. "With your insecurities? Of course I can, Seungmin! Jeongin did tell me he had a friend with similar problems, is it the braces by any chance?" he queries as he leans back against his desk. "You can shut the door and take a seat, if you want," he adds. Seungmin nods, placing his bag down on the floor and shutting the wooden door behind him. He steps further into the room and takes a seat on the chair Minho had motioned to. It was covered in cat hair but was exceptionally comfortable.

"Yeah, I got braces a little while ago but I've always been... somewhat self conscious of my smile.. I was wondering since you helped Jeongin, you'd help me too," Seungmin says with a certain timidity in his tone. "How much would I need to pay,, is this a paid thing?" he suddenly asks. The question appears to take Minho of guard because he releases a surprised giggle that startles the cat beside him awake. "Awh, sorry Doongie," he coos in a genuine tone as he softly pets the cat's head. "But to answer your question, no I don't need payment. So long as I can help you I'm not bothered about anything else. Besides, I'm still a student so it's not like my solutions are professional-grade," he explains, tone quiet and smooth.

Seungmin nods hesitantly "So like, it's not permanent?" he asks with a skeptical gaze. Minho fondly huffs "Well, I'm not taking your insecurities away or hypnotizing you or anything, it's as permanent as you believe it is; I'm just trying to help you feel better about yourself and your,, smile," he further adds onto his previous explanation. "The mind is a confusing thing, but know that when you look in the mirror and you see ugliness when you smile, that's your brain telling you lies. There's nothing about you that isn't beautiful, everybody is beautiful in their own way," Seungmin's cheeks heat up very quickly after hearing Minho's words. He nods in understanding and the older male hums "Do you mind if I use magic on you..? For this exercise I need to be able to... don't worry I won't do anything you're not comfortable with, this is the same trick that worked with Jeongin so I thought we'd start there,"

The younger witchlet found himself nodding his head delicately, murmuring a small "Yes you may," under his breath. Minho sends him a small, comforting grin. "I do warn you that the method I'm going to use may,, make you a little squirmy," he states, causing the witchlet to become confused. He tilts his head to one side, thinking for a long time with a frown. What did that mean? What was he going to do to him? It seems that Minho knows what he's worrying about and he shakes his head. "It's easier if I just show you, Seungmin,"

He feels it instantly, a gentle flutter against his lower tummy. It causes his body to jolt on the chair and Minho smiles. "Do you get it now?" he asks, and as Seungmin tries to nod, the gentle fluttery feeling travels up to his tummy which makes him giggle. "Hmmhmhmehe.. Hmmhm.." he quietly titters. "Can you answer my question, Seungmin? Do you understand what I'm doing?" he asks once more, a teasing grin about his face. "You're,, mhmhhehee.. you're teasing meheheeehe,, stohop," the younger witch giggles out, lips parting to show off his pretty smile. He immediately goes to bring his hand up to his lips to cover it but he finds very quickly that he can't. His arms are glued to the armrests of the chair. Oh, now it was settling in. Minho did mean to tease him. He can't cover his smile.

Now Seungmin begins to understand why Jeongin got a little bit flustered when he had asked what practices Minho had used to help him out. "Thihihihis ihihis a weheheeird tahahaactic," he says through his giggling. Minho hums in response, the fingers of his left hand wiggling to replicate the feeling onto Seungmin's tummy. "Yeah, I guess you could say it's, an,,, unusual method, but it helps people who are insecure about their smiles and their laughs out tremendously," he nods. He subtly twitches the fingers on his other hand as well with a little grin as he watches Seungmin squeak and twitch, feeling the sensation of two hands skittering their fingers about his sides. "See? There you are, you have such a pretty smile regardless of your braces, Seungmin," Minho compliments him, and it causes the second year witch to flush.

His little attempts to conceale his laughter appear futile as Minho's magic causes him to feel more sensitive than ever. "Hehehahhaa! Ahahahare you suhuhure you're nohohohot just,, mhmhmmhheee,, sahahaying that?" the laughing witch inquires and Minho hums for a minute. "Of course I'm not just saying that, you do have quite the pretty smile. I personally think that braces enhance your smile, makes you look cuter," he replies with a hum. Seungmin doesn't have anything to say back to him so he lets the light, scribbly sensation continue across his tummy and up to where his tummy meets his ribs.

"Ohohohohoh! eeheheeeEheek! Thahahaahahat's a bahahahahad spohohot wahahait!" Seungmin weakly protests as he feels the magical sensation caress the bottom of his ribcage, a sweet spot. "Awh, is that a really ticklish spot? I'm sorry.. I'll move upwards then," Minho grins as he hears the satisfying squeal that leaves Seungmin's lips following the proding of his individual ribs. "The teasing's just for me, by the way, I just think you look cute,,, I just can't help myself~" he coos to Seungmin. It's a different manner than how he had cooed at the cat earlier,, what was he called? Soonie? It didn't matter really, but what did matter is how his cheeks turned a darker scarlet at the cooing.

The sensation stops for a moment, and Seungmin catches his breath for a second. "Hhh,, that was,," he mumbles shyly. "Do you want a drink of water? I heard it helps during breaks," Minho offers. "Is water all you have?" Seungmin tilts his head to the side rather cutely. "Mhm, although I can put a slice of lemon in it if you'd like? Or orange?" Seungmin nods at the offer with a smile. "Orange is fine," he confirms. Now that he thinks about it, this method may be a little odd. But it worked well on Jeongin. It also apparently worked well on Jeongin's friend Felix, who went through the same treatment for a different reason. So there must be some weight behind it. Seungmin suddenly ponders how Minho came across such a method to help with insecurities.

His pondering is cut short when he feels something fluffy swipe against his right foot, he squirms immediately and squeaks. But wait,, he was wearing shoes and socks,, so how...? "It's part of the magic, I'm making you think you're being tickled, giving you the same sensations,, like I said before: the mind is a confusing thing," Minho interrupts his thoughts as he places a glass of water in Seungmin's waiting hand. The younger witch takes a few swift gulps of the cool liquid and sighs contently, placing the glass on a small coaster atop a little side table. "So Seungmin,, how do you feel about your smile?" Minho asks suddenly, breaking the silence with his deep question and even deeper eyes, staring right at Seungmin through his glasses.

Seungmin shakes his head and shrugs his shoulders. "I mean,, I feel a little better to know it's mostly in my head... I just... I don't know,, I'm still feeling a little bad about it," the younger explains. Minho nods with a hum, grinning ear to ear when Seungmin falls back into delicate giggling at the soft, feathery sensation caressing the soles of his feet. "Well then, we're just going to have to continue, aren't we? And perhaps book a few weekly sessions while we're at it, how does that sound?" The third year asks, giggling softly when he's met with a squeal for a response.

"Excellent, let's look through my planner,"