Chapter Text
— Epilogue —
The magic reform takes well over a decade, but it’s a welcome change. When the first decree went out announcing it is no longer against the law to practice magic, many witches were skeptical. Lots of them believed it to be a trap in order to capture and kill more of them.
However, after about a year of seeing no new persecutions take place against those performing magic, some started to believe it. The first to believe it was the children. Occasionally, magic might make its way into their games. One kid might kick a ball straight into the goal, but magically it would be diverted last second to miss. The kids would argue, but no one gets in any real trouble. Some are even too young to understand what magic is.
A few years after this, magic becomes more and more prevalent. Scholars start to write and publish more books on the subject. With more research than ever put into this topic, magic itself beings to advance in new ways.
One of these new ways magic advances is with the creation of wands. It’s a huge step forward and allows more people than ever before to practice magic. It happens about six years after magic is made legal. Wands allow those with less natural talent for magic learn to control it as well as help those with this natural talent stabilize their magic.
About ten years after the legalization of magic, the kingdom looks completely different.
Of course, a lot is still the same.
Jimin, Taehyung, and Jungkook are all living together in a house of their own. Yoongi might not admit it out loud, but he misses having Taehyung live down the hall. Of course, he still comes by often.
Jungkook still works in his family’s bakery, but he has full ownership over it now. His life didn’t change much except for having an additional soulmate now. Since Jungkook was now able to use magic more openly, he didn’t really need Namjoon working in the store. Namjoon had more important things to tend to as well. Jungkook ran the bakery by himself, but he found this to be sort of lonely. He ends up hiring Dowoon to take care of the deliveries for him. Dowoon becomes Jungkook’s sort of adopted brother.
Jimin eventually comes across an internship that works out far better than the first one had. This leads to him becoming an actual physician, as he always dreamed. His parents accept this career path for him and decide to pass their weaponsmithing shop to Jimin’s younger brother instead of him.
A few years down the line, Jimin opens up a practice of his own. He mostly relies on the old remedies, but with some help from Namjoon, he incorporates a few magical remedies into his arsenal. He trusts the non-magical medications more, but he can’t deny that occasionally magic is more powerful.
Taehyung was still Taehyung. He had tried and failed to convince his boyfriends that they could quit their jobs since Taehyung could provide for all of them, but they wouldn’t listen.
“Please, we can all just stay at our house all the time and never leave!” Taehyung whined.
His boyfriends laughed at him. “That would be fun for maybe a week,” Jungkook tells him.
Jimin agrees, “I can’t just abandon all my clients either.”
Taehyung would pout, but all it would take was a kiss on both his cheeks from both of his boyfriends, and after that, it was game over - he could never keep a smile off his face then. Taehyung thinks that for all the stress he experienced at first by having two soulmates was ultimately worth it. He wouldn’t trade either of them for the world.
Taehyung became the stay-at-home boyfriend that focused on raising Soonshim, their big white puppy dog. With Jungkook’s help, Taehyung also dabbled in a tiny bit of magic. Mainly he learned spells that could clean up the house for him because he hated to do it himself. He had to use a wand because his magic wasn’t very strong at all, but he didn’t mind. Taehyung was excited when he found out he was able to do any kind of magic at all.
Like Taehyung, Seokjin was still mostly the same. He still worked in the library, but he has since moved in with Namjoon. Namjoon ended up proposing to Seokjin about a year after they had started dating. However, things didn’t go so smoothly for them straight away.
It had been awkward at first - dating. When Namjoon had been set free from the castle, he had gone straight to Seokjin to ask if he would be his boyfriend. Seokjin didn’t say no but he told him the term boyfriend made him too uncomfortable at the moment. He told him they could maybe try going on a few dates first. A month or two of this passed where they were dating but they weren’t “together.” Namjoon had been dying to ask the question, but he was patient and eventually, Seokjin had asked instead, “We’re basically boyfriends, right?”
“Can we be?” Namjoon had asked a little too enthusiastically. Seokjin laughed at him and conceded. That was the night Namjoon counted as the official start to their relationship.
A year later, Namjoon felt certain he wanted to live the rest of his life with Seokjin. Namjoon wanted to do something big and flashy at first, but the more he and Hoseok schemed his proposal, the more nervous he became. The night he proposed he wasn’t actually planning on proposing at all.
Namjoon had invited Seokjin over to his house for dinner. He cooked a meal - which he wasn’t very good at. He refused Seokjin’s help and endured all the mocking comments he received as he tried not to ruin all the food. His Plan B was to use magic to fix everything, but he really wanted to prove to himself (and to Seokjin) that he could do this.
After dinner, they snuggled together on his couch and Namjoon couldn’t stop thinking about how he never wanted this to end. Seokjin kept alternating between complimenting him on the meal and complimenting him in general.
“I love you,” Namjoon said, suddenly. He had held himself back from saying those three words for some time now. He knew Seokjin was sensitive and it took him a little while to trust Namjoon.
Seokjin had smiled at him when he said those words. “I love you, too,” he replied without hesitation. He had come such a long way in just a year. Seokjin lets go of his past and allowed himself to love Namjoon. This time, he was sure it was real.
“I want-”
“Seokjin-”
Namjoon and Seokjin both started talking at the same time. Little did they know, they were both thinking the same question.
“You go first,” Seokjin told him.
Namjoon took a deep breath, he felt the weight of the ring in his pocket - it had been in there for about a week. “I just… I wanted to say... With you, things feel right. I’m sorry if this is out of the blue. It’s not that exciting either… I can do the whole grand gesture thing if you really want me to but I-I’m getting off track… Seokjin, will you marry me?” Namjoon reached into his back pocket and pulled out the simple wedding band.
Seokjin had smiled at him, “Did you read my mind?”
“So is that a yes? Or do you want the grand gesture?” Namjoon asked.
Seokjin kissed him, “Of course it’s a yes.” He didn’t need a grand gesture. All he needed he already had.
They had a small wedding in the woods and with Hoseok’s help, it was truly magical.
It ended up being just them and five of their closest friends. Namjoon invited Hoseok of course, and Hoseok brought Yoongi as his plus one. Namjoon tried to tell him that Yoongi was invited as well, but Hoseok liked to think of him as his plus one. Seokjin had to invite Taehyung since he was basically his closest friend, so naturally, Jungkook and Jimin were invited as well.
It was at this wedding where they all found out how interconnected all their lives were. The seven of them have since made more efforts to get together as a group.
Yoongi especially is grateful for the new friends. He can’t decide whether it’s a blessing or a curse they don’t seem to mind he’s the prince. Sometimes he threatens to lock them up in the dungeons forever, but they always just laugh in his face when he says this.
Taehyung, Jimin, and Jungkook talk about the prospect of getting married as well. However, things turn far too complicated and they can never come to an agreement.
“Okay, but who would propose to who?” Jungkook asked. “Would one of us propose to the other two? Or do two of us propose to one person?”
“Well we all need to propose to each other, so maybe we take it in turns,” Jimin suggested.
“What if I propose to Jungkook, Jungkook proposes to Jimin and then Jimin proposes to me?” Taehyung chimed in.
“How would that work? Do we all go at once?” Jungkook asked.
“Yeah and then we flip the direction so Jungkook proposes to me, I propose to Jimin, and Jimin proposes to Jungkook,” Taehyung explained.
“Why do you even need to propose at all at this point?” Yoongi asked. “You know you’d all say yes, so what’s the point?”
Jimin pretended to be offended, “You can’t get married without proposing! People are going to ask about how we proposed and I’ll have to tell that story for the rest of my life.”
“He has a point though,” Jungkook conceded.
“Ooh! I have a question,” Hoseok joined in. Yoongi sent him a warning glance, but it was too late, “How do you decide who walks down the aisle?”
The three of them turned to each other at once. Hoseok laughed at them. “Well, Seokjin walked down the aisle for his wedding so I think I should get to,” Jimin said.
“What does Seokjin have to do with you?” Jungkook asked.
“Well, no offense to Namjoon, but Seokjin’s prettier than him. The prettiest person should get to walk down the aisle,” Jimin said.
“Hey, wait! Then I should get to walk down too,” Taehyung said.
“Okay! We both can,” Jimin agreed.
“Wait, that’s not fair,” Jungkook complained.
“Life’s not fair.”
Jungkook frowned. Then he got an idea, “Wait! I’ve got it. What if we have three aisles. That way we can all walk down an aisle and we meet on this center stage together.”
“You want to have our wedding in an arena?” Jimin questioned.
“I, personally, love the idea,” Taehyung said.
“You need more guests for that to work,” Jimin said.
Taehyung would argue that he knew plenty of people and could easily fill an entire arena, but then Jungkook mentioned how he would prefer a smaller wedding like Namjoon and Seokjin had.
This said, for the time being - they would hold off on getting married. They were happy as they were and the logistics of a three-person wedding became far too complicated when they tried to actually talk things out.
After moving in with Namjoon, Seokjin decided to write a book. He wasn’t interested in doing magic himself, but he wanted to write a book about it. He had always wanted to write but was never particularly inspired to do so.
He wrote about how it was evident everyone contained some sort of magic gene in their DNA just by looking at soulmates. If the names that appeared on people’s wrists when they meet their significant other can be attributed to magic, then anyone with a soulmate has magic within them. There were a few exceptions like witches who don’t have soulmates, but he attributed that to timing. He was especially interested in writing about how the genetics work. Namjoon helped him as much as he could with writing the book.
Namjoon himself got a job teaching ten-year-olds about magic. It’s perfect for him, and his kids love him. A few years after magic had become legal, the king decided maybe it’s a good idea to teach a course about magic along with all the regular coursework. At the time witches were still often cautious to come forward and identify themselves as a witch, so filling these teaching positions proved to be difficult. Namjoon had never been a teacher in his life, but he feels at home with it now. These classes mainly provided kids a safe environment to learn about magic and how to control it. Magic classes weren’t really offered for older kids, so if they really wanted to pursue magic, they would have to do it on their own. This idea came about as a way to sort of limit individuals with magic.
Though it wouldn’t be illegal to learn magic, requiring kids to do so on their own past a certain level dissuaded them from it because of their already busy lives.
This meant Namjoon would be teaching younger children, and while he sometimes wishes he could teach older kids and have more intellectual conversations, he believed children were often a lot smarter than they let on. Either way, Namjoon was proud to use Seokjin’s book in his class to teach the kids and he wouldn’t change a thing about his life.
While everyone else was busy building their relationships and getting closer Hoseok had decided to take things a bit slower. He didn’t move in with Yoongi right away - nor did he return home.
He decided to get a job and a house of his own in the capital. He figured he had lived most of his life in an incredibly sheltered space, that perhaps it was time for him to do something on his own. He opened a flower shop where everything he sold was grown right in his backyard.
Every flower, herb, bouquet, or other plant came with a booklet of special instructions on how to take care of the plant both with and without magic. He also included lists and instructions for things the plants could be useful for. For plants like flowers that didn’t have as many uses, this part of the booklet instead would say something along the lines of, “This flower can be used to brighten even the darkest of days! Gift it to a friend to let them know you care about them or keep it on your windowsill as a reminder to think positive!”
Yoongi teased him for the cheesy captions, but he shut right up when Hoseok turned around and gifted Yoongi a light purple larkspur flower. It could technically be used in some medicines to help with insomnia. However, it cured insomnia by slowing the heart and in large enough doses, larkspur could slow the heart too much and cause lung failure. Since it was also mildly toxic, Hoseok thought it best not to encourage others to attempt to use this flower in any home remedies.
“You’re going to want to plant that in the ground somewhere,” Hoseok told him as he read the cheesy caption on this particular flower, “it grows up to four feet high.”
Yoongi couldn’t keep the blush from rising in his cheek. “Thanks, Hoseok,” he inspected the plant in his hands, “Couldn’t you have gotten something smaller?”
Hoseok shook his head, “Nope. Had to be this one.”
Yoongi frowned, “Why this one?”
Hoseok smiled, he loved when people gave him the opportunity to share his knowledge about plants and flowers, “Well the purple color symbolizes first love and well…” He paused for the effect and it definitely worked. Yoongi was turning redder by the second. “Larkspurs also represent affection, lightheartedness, and my favorite: desire for laughter. So obviously it had to be this flower because I desire to make you laugh every day!”
Yoongi was rendered speechless. After a few seconds of staring at Hoseok, he couldn’t help but laugh. He was in disbelief Hoseok was real and that he was really his boyfriend as well.
“There’s the one!” Hoseok said.
“I love you,” Yoongi replied.
After that Hoseok sporadically brought Yoongi flowers based on his mood. He brought him sweet peas when he was feeling down to remind Yoongi he was there and that he believed Yoongi was strong enough to handle anything. He’d bring red tulips on days he was feeling particularly affectionate for Yoongi. Or he’d bring his favorite - chrysanthemums to remind Yoongi about their beginnings together and that above all, he would always be here.
Yoongi loved being surrounded by the flowers. However, his father often questioned him about the flowers and when he would get to formally meet this boy.
Truthfully, Hoseok was scared of Yoongi’s father. For this reason, Hoseok didn’t visit the castle much at first. Yoongi had to be the one instead to go to Hoseok’s house or his flower shop. Yoongi wanted Hoseok to meet his father and tried to talk him into it, but at the same time, he didn’t want to force him to do anything he was uncomfortable with. Hoseok did live over two decades in fear that the king would find and execute him and his family after all - Yoongi didn’t blame him.
It took two years and a lot of persuasion on Yoongi’s part to convince him, but eventually, Hoseok agreed to meet his father. The tradeoff was that if Hoseok was going to meet Yoongi’s father, then Yoongi was going to have to meet Hoseok’s aunt and uncle first. They decide to take a weekend trip back to Hoseok’s old home.
It had been over two years since Hoseok first ran away from home to find Namjoon. Yoongi was nervous about meeting Hoseok’s aunt and uncle, but Hoseok was potentially more nervous. He liked to believe he would be welcomed back with open arms, but he was sort of unsure.
When the door creaked open and Hoseok’s aunt stood on the other side, Hoseok held his breath. His aunt’s eyes widened in disbelief as if she was staring at a ghost.
“Hoseokie?” she asked, unsure of herself.
Hoseok bit his lip, unsure of what to say. Should he apologize for running away? Should he introduce Yoongi? He stood there frozen instead, indecisive.
“You’re alive!?” she wrapped him in a hug quickly and Hoseok was taken aback by her actions. Yoongi stood awkwardly to the side as he watched the scene unfold before him.
“Yeah… um hi,” Hoseok said. He felt bad for never having written to them. He knew he should’ve, but he never had to heart to write down everything he would’ve wanted to say.
His aunt was crying now, “We thought they got you! We thought you were gone forever. Ah, I wish your uncle was here now! You’ll stick around until he gets here, right? Who’s this?”
She seemed to notice Yoongi finally who was standing off towards the side. Hoseok wasn’t sure which of her questions to address first. “We’re um… visiting for the weekend - if that’s okay. This is Yoongi. My boyfriend,” Hoseok said unable to keep himself from smiling. He always smiled when he said those words out loud.
“Nice to meet y-,” Yoongi held out his hand for a handshake, but instead he was brought in for a hug. He supposed it made sense - Hoseok had to have gotten this trait from somewhere.
“I trust you’re the one that’s been taking care of our Hoseokie then?” she asked him.
“I guess,” Yoongi said. “Hoseok’s been taking care of himself lately, though.”
She looked to Hoseok for an explanation to that and he began to tell her how he’d opened a flower shop in the capital, and how he had his own house that he (mostly) paid for all by himself. They were soon invited inside to sit down and talk. They talked for hours until Hoseok’s uncle returned home and then they talked for several more hours - retelling all the stories again for Hoseok’s uncle.
Hoseok kept apologizing to his family for how he left them without any notice and never wrote them, but they kept brushing him off and insisting it was okay. They were just glad to have him back.
By the end of the weekend, Yoongi’s basically family as well. Hoseok’s aunt makes an offhand comment about how he’s her “future son-in-law” and Yoongi might admit he kind of liked the sound of that.
There was still the issue of Hoseok meeting Yoongi’s father. They go right away after leaving Hoseok’s house.
When they entered the castle Yoongi suddenly felt nervous as well. Hoseok picked up on this and took hold of Yoongi’s hand. Yoongi felt he should be the one comforting Hoseok, but this was okay too.
He knocked carefully on the door to his father’s office. He hadn’t given him any warning this would be happening today.
“Come in,” a voice sounded on the other side. Lately, his father has been less busy as there was more widespread peace across their kingdom and their neighboring lands. However, he still went to his office to stay up to date on current events. If there was nothing else to do, he would go up there to read.
Yoongi carefully turned the door handle and pushed open the door. He stepped inside and Hoseok followed seconds after.
“Um, there’s someone I want you to meet,” Yoongi spoke quietly. His father was still looking down at the time. At Yoongi’s words, he looked up. He didn’t say anything as he looked at Hoseok. Hoseok felt awkward and unsure if he should introduce himself. Thankfully, Yoongi did it for him, “This is Hoseok. My soulmate.”
The king smiled and Hoseok felt calm inside. “We should have lunch together!” the king had exclaimed.
Lunch ended up being really nice and enjoyable. Yoongi’s father was a lot kinder than he had imagined he would be. He knew at first his father had been against Yoongi and Hoseok dating, but as he saw that’s what Yoongi wanted, he eventually came around. After lunch, Hoseok left to go tend to his plants and shop. Since they had been gone for the entire weekend, Hoseok had to get back and make sure they were doing okay.
As he left, Yoongi’s father smiled at him. “I like him,” he said simply.
This made Yoongi smile, “Really? You do?”
He nodded. “Yes. He reminds me a lot of your mother. She loved gardening also,” he said. Yoongi never knew his mother, but somehow his words have a strange effect on him. He feels proud.
A few more years after this, they have to start discussing the issue of the future heir to the throne. The law basically stated that if Yoongi did not produce an heir, the kingdom would go to Taehyung and his progeny. However, as Taehyung’s only child was a dog, they had a bit of an issue.
Hani had long since returned to her own home and was living happily with her soulmate. She and Yoongi had kept in touch, but even still asking her to give him an heir to his throne was all kinds of awkward. He told her that thanks to magic they wouldn’t have to “do it,” and she would basically be sort of a surrogate.
By some feat of actual magic, she agreed to it.
Two years after that, Yoongi assumed the throne. His father retired at an older age than most kings do, but both he and Yoongi were okay with it. Hoseok moved into the castle a bit after this. He continued to run his flower shop, but he was only there part-time. He hired others to help him out.
Over the course of several years, the anniversary of the date magic was legalized slowly turned into a holiday and then into a week-long festival.
At the end of this festival on the tenth anniversary, Yoongi and Hoseok get married. It’s a lot like the first wedding Yoongi almost had to Hani a decade ago, but this time when he sees his fiance at the end of the aisle he’s filled with nervous excitement instead of actual nervousness or dread.
Their son is the ring bearer. He’s five years old now, and it’s adorable watching him walk down the aisle with Hani guiding him down.
Taehyung, Jimin, Jungkook, Namjoon, and Seokjin all stand at the front with Yoongi and Hoseok. They had argued for a bit which of them would get to be whose groomsmen and of course which of them got to be the best man, but in the end, it didn’t really matter.
At the end of the day, it feels like any other day. Yoongi goes with Hoseok to tuck their son into bed and give him goodnight kisses. His room is littered with lots of toys as his parents tend to spoil him. That night when they go into his room Seungmin tells them he wants to show them both something. Hoseok and Yoongi share a look, unsure of what this could mean, but they follow their son anyways.
“Look!” he says pulling something off his shelf.
It’s a little-potted flower. One Hoseok had put in the child’s room the very day of his birth. Because of the nature of this plant, it went through cycles of blooming and wilting. At the moment, it was preparing to bloom.
Seungmin held the plant firmly in his hands and stared it at intently. Then the flower started to bloom. It unfurled until it’s petals to reveal the white and pink insides of the dianthus flower.
Seungmin looked up proudly at his parents. “I’ve been practicing!” he told them.
Yoongi and Hoseok shared a look. A lot of unsaid words passed between them. It should’ve come as no surprise that their son would be a natural born witch, but until this point, he has shown no signs of magic.
They told them how they were proud of him, and tucked him into bed as always. Hoseok looked at them proudly. He had never really considered himself any sort of royalty. Just that he was now the king’s husband and his son was the new prince. He felt some kind of fondness knowing that the future king and all future generations in this kingdom wouldn’t have to experience a childhood of fear as he had.
Hoseok looked at his wrist once more - an old habit. He would always admire the way Yoongi’s name looked there. Yoongi noticed him lingering and walked over to him. He grabbed Hoseok’s arm gently in his hand then placed a gentle kiss on their names. Even after all this time he still felt his heart beat faster when Yoongi showed him this sort of affection. He hoped things would stay this way forever.