Chapter Text
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Yukhei barely touched his alfredo, and Kun was mildly concerned by that fact. Usually, he would have to scold him for eating too fast and potentially messing up his digestive system. Yet as soon as he got back from the tea shop, he hadn’t been acting the same. It was almost like he’d somehow reached nirvana while he was out, and that thought scared Kun more than he thought it would.
“Are you okay? Did something happen again?” Kun asked him. He looked quite troubled.
The younger sighed wistfully, taking a small bite of the pasta. The elder boy stared at him in even more confusion. “Yes. Jesus, ge, I met an angel today. The physical embodiment of perfection, the human incarnate of Venus.”
“Yukhei, seriously, you okay?”
Yukhei dopily smiled, shushing his friend with his index finger. His expression was dreamy and all loopy around the edges and God. Kun would’ve thrown up. “I have ascended ge. I met the light of my life.”
“Did you at least get the tea you needed before you 'ascended'?”
“Yes, but ge, how could you? You’ve known this angel for god knows how long, and you’ve never introduced me?” The younger boy pouted.
“Angel?”
“Dong Sicheng.” Yukhei thought back to golden eyes and red lips, cheeks already heated up just at the thought of him. Sicheng. It rolled off his tongue nicely. He could probably say it a million more times and it would still sound just as magical.
“Ah well, Sicheng isn’t the most sociable of people. I never would’ve thought you’d be so… enraptured by him.” Kun gestured vaguely to his form, mirth in his expression. “Really, I didn’t even think he would talk to you long enough for that to happen.”
“He didn’t! That’s the problem. I should’ve said I had some sort of explosive diarrhea or something so I could stay longer and talk with him.” He muttered the last part out, nearly causing the elder to choke. “No! I should’ve said you had trouble shitting and you needed some sort of laxative tea!”
“God no, why? Don’t drag me into this!”
“Aww Kun-ge, don’t act like you won’t get something out of it too. You could see your secret boyfriend too, whoever the hell he is.” He added a greasy wink and a wag of his eyebrows for good measure.
Kun almost choked again, Yukhei reaching over to try and pat his back good-naturedly. He didn’t think it would help with anything, other than act as attempted consolation. “Secret boyfriend? Just what exactly did Sicheng tell you?”
“Nothing much, aside from the fact that you come to his shop to flirt with his cousin and have a few dicks sucked here and there.” He shrugged, nonchalant. He knew his friend wanted to wipe the look off his face.
“I’ll kill him,” Kun groaned. The older boy was usually full of empty threats, but it didn’t stop him from telling Yukhei to sleep with one eye open. “I’ll take great joy in killing both of you, actually.”
“Don’t do that, please. I still need to marry him and start a life in the countryside as a potato farmer with him and our 2 cats and dog. And I still need to take him out on a date.”
“Whipped.”
Yukhei smirked at him. Two can play that game. “Oh yeah? Well, let me ask, how’s your secret boyfriend ge? Having fun at the store, I see?” He forked some alfredo in his mouth, a facetious expression on his face. “Here I was, wondering why you were always out for ‘business.”
The elder huffed as he ignored the other boy. He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes, sending Yukhei a severe look that was most definitely intended of Sicheng. Still, he put his palms up in surrender. People (and plants) seemed to have a penchant for getting mad at him. “I don’t go to his store just to flirt with Ten! That’s bullshit!”
“Sure. But that isn’t the point gege. I need a reason to go back to his store, without seeming too desperate, y’know?”
Kun gave him a cheeky smile. “Does that even matter anymore? I’m sure your desperation got across just fine.”
“Wow, absolutely no confidence in my skills! Then maybe I should see you and Ten in action, huh?” Yukhei laughed away as Kun attempted to throw a slipper or two in his direction. They all failed to hit him of course because impeccable aim and accuracy were more of Yukhei's job than his.
As the younger boy shifted and giggled, he felt his behind squash something. Something on the chair? No. Something in his back pocket maybe? He carefully lifted one side of his ass before fishing out the white carnation tucked into his jeans and— fuck, fuck, fuck— he's going to shoot himself in the foot. He wished the Earth would swallow him whole and maybe never let him out ever again. The smile immediately dropped from his face.
“What is that?” Kun asked, looking curiously towards the partially-crumpled flower in Yukhei’s large hands. “You bought a carnation?”
Yukhei jutted out his lower lip. Like a child that broke his toy, he held the carnation in front of himself. “Ge, it’s been crumpled. Sicheng’s pretty flower is crumpled, I can’t ever show my face there again, I’ve brought shame to the Wong family name ge, I can’t bear to live like this anymore! ”
His older friend rolled his eyes for the umpteenth time that day. He snapped his fingers—and in an instant, the carnations seemed to resurrect from the dead. The petals bloomed prettily again in Yukhei’s grasp.
“Stop being a baby,” he said, crossing his arms. “You’re lucky Sicheng infuses magic into his plants, or that carnation would’ve already been smooshed to bits.”
The half-witch dutifully nodded, immediately taking off to find a container for the flower. He cupped it gently into his hands, to not ruin it again. His fingers have softened over time from dealing with small animals and magical creatures, but his somewhat clumsy nature was still a force to be reckoned with.
As he leaned in to place it in a tin, he caught a whiff of the beautiful fragrance it seemed to emit. It was so distinctly... Sicheng.
Yukhei found himself smiling widely at the small plant.
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Later that night, before the set time he was supposed to sleep, he heated water anxiously and waited. The silk pouch felt heavy in his palm.
He did not doubt in his heart that Sicheng was as talented as a witch as he was botanist and tea maker, but he couldn’t help the dread that built in his chest. What if something went wrong? What if it didn’t work? Amidst those dark thoughts, he wondered if potentially becoming an animal from ingesting the tea would strengthen his bond with the witch. Then he decided that becoming a plant would be a much more favourable outcome instead.
Yukhei gently pulled open the pouch, smiling at the gentle, soothing aroma that flooded his senses as soon as he looked inside. It was mostly dried leaves and herbs, with sprigs of lavender and some jasmine flowers sprinkled around. It was by far the prettiest tea he’d ever tried, and he’s tried more blends than there are fingers on his hands.
The whipped, Sicheng-loving part of his brain convinced him that the tea would be delicious and that he would drink every last drop even if it tasted like absolute dog shit. Which it wouldn’t, because it was made by Sicheng. He probably trusted him more than Chenle at that point, and he’d known Chenle since he walked around in diapers.
Aside from the tea, the small piece of paper he saw the tea maker slip in before he handed off the blend. His first thought upon reading the note was adorable, absolutely adorable, I'm love. Sicheng's clumsy handwriting was adorable and completely devastating to Yukhei's poor heart.
Make sure to only use around a teaspoon! This is pretty strong stuff and can potentially induce a tea-coma if you drink too much.
I really don’t want to march over there and shove sage up your nose until you wake up though, so please drink carefully. However, I would definitely like you to definitely visit again! After a good night’s rest. :)
See you soon,
- Dong Sicheng
He poured the boiling water into a teacup with a deep breath, smiling to himself at the little note. He followed Sicheng’s instruction to a tee since he didn’t really want sage shoved up his nose either, much less as a bonding activity between him and Sicheng. He imagined more a park date, not smelling herbs involuntarily. Though Sicheng’s presence would be welcomed anywhere. Life was rosy with his ethereal presence.
A horrid thought crossed his mind as he dunked Kun's tea ball into the water. If the plants could really talk and have a consciousness of their own, does that mean that the leaves he was currently boiling were carcasses? Did plants mourn the loss of other plants? Was he ingesting the family member of a long lineage of foliage?
Before he could entertain that path of thinking further, he quickly swallowed the first cup, desperate for some much-needed sleep. The sweet taste of the tea filled his mouth first, followed by a gentle, flowery warmth that soothed the anxiety and restlessness in his chest. Immediately, the taste reminded him of relaxed spring days spent under the bright skies, grass tickling his toes.
It was a very pleasant experience that probably would’ve been nicer if he hadn’t burned his tongue in the process. Pleasant, nonetheless. He found himself downing another cup in record time, a comfortable warmth settling in his belly.
But really, Yukhei should’ve thanked Sicheng a million times over for the tea and kowtowed to his glorious, kind self, because the result was almost instantaneous. He somehow managed to wrangle himself to his bedroom before shutting his suddenly tired eyes, letting sleep overtake him comfortably for the first time in what seemed like forever.
He hoped to dream of amber eyes and a smile that rivalled the sun.
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The next time Yukhei got to nuit d’étoiles a teenager was working beside Sicheng and an abundance of all sorts of plant pots were on the wooden floors. He nearly tripped over a few, and the stranger simply laughed at his misfortune. Rude.
He waited roughly a week to return since he didn’t want to appear overly eager, and simply because college work would follow him to his grave if it had to. Yukhei was already at the other end of Kun’s incessant teasing.
And to top it all off, the weather had decided to be awfully temperamental for April, and Yukhei was left at the mercy of KBS’ inaccurate weather forecasts for the week. He had to walk home after attending his last lecture of the day while it was raining cats and dogs.
“You look much better than last time I saw you! A lot closer to the living world, and less like you died.” Sicheng grinned over his shoulder as soon as he saw Yukhei.
He was dressed much more modestly that time, wearing a large crème sweater tucked into faded jeans. Either way, the sight was almost enough to send him into cardiac arrest and maybe disintegrate into dust. It was almost laughable really, how much last week Wednesday’s Sicheng differed from that day’s Sicheng.
Forgetting how to speak for a moment, Yukhei just nodded dumbly.
“We’re rearranging most of the greenery in here, as you can see,” The witch sighed, adjusting the adorable metal frames on his nose bridge, “and Yangyang is supposed to be helping me as my cousin's apprentice, but his ass is glued to that stool and I don’t have the patience to tell him off.”
He turned to Yangyang, who just shrugged at him and went back to his phone. Yukhei had a feeling that some higher powers were at work then. Maybe God was repaying him for the good minimum number of deeds he’d done throughout his short life.
“I can help you move them around,” Yukhei found himself saying. “Plus, your plants like me, right? It’s no problem.” The only problem was that the heart-shaped one and its buddies threatened him last time and they would probably not like him, but as usual, he decided to omit that information. Anything for the gorgeous plant witch. Even if it meant possible death.
Sicheng looked almost pained to accept his help. Though he didn’t have much of a choice in the end, since it was either him or no one at all. “Are you sure?”
“I promise nothing will die under my care!” He saluted in place in hopes of at least getting the other to laugh a little.
But instead, the witch gave him an endeared expression that nearly sent Yukhei’s heart racing to dangerous levels. His pretty, full lips, complete with a perfectly straight set of white teeth and—God, Yukhei was done for. That was a mistake. All his faces were equally as fatal as the rest of him. "Come help me out then.”
He started by lifting some ferns off to the store's display box, which thankfully didn’t do anything particularly concerning when he touched them. They just behaved like normal plants. Yukhei let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. He was half-expecting them to wrap around his finger and cut off blood circulation, or something equally as horrid.
Then he moved onto a group of snake plants. They swayed animatedly to the beat of the tune he hummed while he held them, bringing an amused grin to his face. He danced a little bit too while placing them where Sicheng directed.
When Yukhei looked up, Yangyang had a surprised expression on his face. His eyes darted from Yukhei to the dancing snake plants, then back to whatever he was doing on his phone. Was his rendition of Alcohol-Free really that horrendous?
Before he could even question Yangyang and his mysteriously evil self, Sicheng tapped his shoulder. There was a quiet smile on his face. “How was the tea? Too strong?”
“No! It was great actually,” Yukhei gulped down harshly, trying not to self-destruct at the sheer proximity of the other boy. If he leaned in a few more precarious inches, he could kiss Sicheng. Maybe peck him on his plush-lips, holding onto him by his tiny waist—
He immediately willed himself to calm down. “I slept extremely well the whole week. Worked like a charm, really.” he breathed out, with much difficulty.
And ironically enough, they stood next to what Yukhei recognised as Jasmine plants. He noticed them wiggle their leaves in greeting. “No bad dreams?”
The half-witch decided not to tell him that Sicheng haunted most of them instead, plaguing his head with his beautiful smile and soft, low voice. He had the half-witch tightly wrapped around his finger, in no less than one encounter.
“No bad dreams.” Yukhei stuck out his pinky finger, almost like a promise. It brought a quick smile to Sicheng’s face.
“You looked quite desperate to sleep, so I got worried. But I’m very happy to see it worked.” he hummed, carefully moving a small bamboo pot to the counter. His nimble hands moved onto a small arrangement of succulents in no time.
“Doubting your own abilities, Mr. Dong?”
Sicheng turned slightly red at that statement. He was even cuter when he was embarrassed.
“Of course not.” Quickly, his expression changed into a sly grin. “I had Yangyang test the tea a while back. Let’s just say, he’s the first one to experience that whole sage-to-nose trick.”
Yangyang looked scandalised as Sicheng giggled at his misfortune. The witch just continued, and gently stroked the leaves of a small orange tree.
“And you’re a very special person, so I didn’t want anything to go wrong.”
At those words, Yukhei’s face heated up. The younger nearly dropped a pot of monstera, much to their chagrin. He felt like he was suddenly coming down with fever, and Sicheng—Sicheng’s eyes widened as he realised the implication of his words. The witch’s already rosy cheeks turned even brighter.
The atmosphere was similar to the time they were talking, the last time he visited the shop. He could almost swear that the spark was there for Sicheng too.
“I—” The older boy stuttered. It was the first time his speech ever faltered around Yukhei, and he really, really tried his damn hardest not to coo and collapse on the floor. Or maybe do both at the same time. “I—I mean. You’re Kun-ge's junior and...”
A loud crash sounded from the back room with almost impeccable timing, beyond a thick curtain of falling ivy. They both turned away from each other to stare at the sound, the quiet sweetness of the moment gone. Nada. Dust. The younger boy almost cursed the higher powers out there as quickly as he thanked them.
Sicheng winced at the noise. He pulled his sweater down, making adorable sweater paws for his, wow, slim hands and painted nails. “Will you be... alright?”
Yukhei nodded, albeit apprehensively. He was already beginning to sulk just thinking about Sicheng leaving his side. “Y-Yeah. Go ahead and handle that.”
“Good.” He patted all the non-existent dirt off his pants. “I'll be right back!” Then the witch was off, swiftly disappearing into the thicket of ivy at the back of the store again. Yukhei was slack-jawed while watching his retreating back in the cramped store. He leaned back to try and catch a glimpse of his immaculate figure, but the ivy intertwined and let not even a shred of light through.
“How did you make them dance like that?” The teenager suddenly asked, cutting through his train of thoughts.
Yangyang's voice was enough to make him startle and almost trip over a family of rhododendron. They whined unhappily at his carelessness, but their cries seemed to strengthen in intensity the more he apologised. “I’m sorry, what?”
“I mean the snake plants usually swear at me and that’s funny too, but I think it would be funnier to see them like, twerk to Kris Wu or something.”
Yukhei wasn’t sure whether he wanted to laugh or be concerned at that statement. “The snake plants can swear… at you?” He trailed off.
Yangyang took that opportunity to jump off his seat and grin wolfishly. He shoved his hands into his jean pockets and walked over to Yukhei. “Yeah, but you probably can’t hear it since you’re not a phytomancer. Which is a shame, but it's still hilarious to see what they do to you sometimes.”
The younger boy snapped his fingers and sure enough, the snake plants turned an obnoxious shade of orange. On another, a rather tacky fuchsia colour stained its leaves. He watched in strange curiosity as the plants formed together to make a giant middle finger directed at Yangyang, who was clutching his stomach in laughter and blatantly ignoring the distorted grunts of the foliage.
“Liu Yangyang,” he said, trying to compose himself after removing the ghastly décor from Sicheng’s greenery, “and I assume you’re Yukhei?”
The elder nodded carefully, still confused by the earlier display. Yangyang seemed to notice the contorted expression on his face.
“Oh, don’t worry about them. I do stuff like that all the time. They mostly they do that, swear at me, or just leave it alone, really.” The teen seemed to contemplate something, placing a thumb and forefinger on his chin. “Though I did make one cry one time...”
Cry? Cry? Plants can cry?
Yukhei opened his mouth to speak, but nothing could come out of his mouth. Ever since meeting Sicheng, he’s been exposed to more knowledge about plants that he might’ve been comfortable with. Crying plants? All he could really hope was that his precious carnation didn’t sob its heart out when he sat on it like a forgetful brute.
Plants were beginning to look about as complicated as magical creatures are—and he was majoring in medicine and care for magical creatures. All the complex anatomy and magical reactions that stuffed his brain were overshadowed by thoughts of wow; plants are interesting.
The taller boy stared at the thankfully placated snake plants again, wondering about how complex plants could be.
“You play any games?” Yangyang laughed to himself for a moment more before gesturing to the phone left ungraciously on his stool. His character stood in the loading screen, decked out in hard-earned clothing pieces and a tropical background.
Ah. Familiar territory, finally. The half-witch grinned at him. “’ Course. Add me on PUBG? Just got to diamond.”
The other boy gave a double thumbs-up, exiting the game and tossing his phone to the half-witch. KakaoTalk was already opened. “Just add your KKT ID ge, and I’ll text you later.” Then with an eyebrow wiggle, he added: “I’m already in diamond league too. Just need a few other good players, and we can dominate.”
“You got Yangyang to stand up? That’s impressive.”
The pair whipped their heads towards Sicheng, who stood almost directly behind them. He peered over their shoulders to peek at where Yukhei had put his contact info. His eyebrows were raised to his forehead. “Hm. I should get your phone number too.”
The taller boy nearly choked on his spit. Sicheng eyed him with some concern and offered him a reassuring pat on the back, while Yangyang just snickered at them both. There was a knowing look on his face, and Yukhei had a feeling that it would be held over his head for the next little while.
“It’s good to also check up on my clients about their health, and Kun would have my head if something happened. I would hate for you to suddenly develop an allergy or something.” Sicheng sighed. “It’s happened a few times, and while I can’t really control those things, I want to at least prevent them.”
He smiled dumbly. His brain was in cloud nine, just thinking about getting the other boy’s number without having to do the hard part of awkwardly asking for it. “Y-Yeah, of course. I’ll let you know before I leave the shop today.”
The witch flashed his own relieved smile towards him. “Great.”
If he saw any snake plants giggling or jasmine flowers cooing in the middle of their exchange, he assumed he didn’t. Their suspicious movements were just a trick of the eye.
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Sheep junior
real smooth today ge 👍
Yukhei
That obvious?!?!??!
Sheep junior
v.e.r.y.
lolol
Yukhei
This is e m b a r r a s s I n g
Ah seriously
Sheep junior
it's okay tho... he likes the attention
Yukhei
WHAT DOES THAT MEAN
Sheep junior
oops
wasn't meant 2 say that
game later??? ping u on discord
Yukhei
I—
LEAVING ME LIKE THAT?!
Sheep junior
ya
Yukhei
hmph
Fine
Read
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Later at night, while Yukhei dreaded over his final for Magical Creature Physiology, he glanced at his phone. Buried among Discord notifications, Instagram chats, and everything under the sun was two texts from Sicheng:
Dong Sicheng
Hi! This is Sicheng^^
Let me know if you need anything. I’m always available :)
Wong Yukhei tried not to scream into his emotional support pillow too hard, lest he wake up his half-siren half-witch roommate Dejun. Dejun had sensitive ears, and that meant that he usually had to keep his emotions to a minimum. It didn’t help that his roommate kept a strict sleeping schedule, going to bed at exactly 10 P.M. nightly to “rest his vocal cords”.
He thought of Dejun’s sleeping form. Ah shit, I don’t know what to say back.
Yukhei tried to not look too hard into the message, or what a smiley face could possibly mean when you like someone. Was he taking too long to respond? Did he need to wait longer? Questions littered his poor brain.
And if he went to Naver Café and Reddit to look at how to ask someone out, no one needed to know. That was his business.
hehe...|
...|
yeah...|
Studying was quickly abandoned. But was it really such a priority when the love of your life just messaged you? His fingers typed at lightning speeds that they’d not known before, thumbs hesitating on words to send.
Yukhei
Of course!!! I’ll let you know right away
Read
Short and sweet. Too simple? It was too late to regret it really, especially since Sicheng’s already seen the message, but Yukhei worried anyway. He imagined the screen fogging up from how clammy his hands were.
Dong Sicheng
:)
Good ❤
Yukhei nearly threw his phone on his bed, silently screaming at the heart attached to Sicheng’s message. His own heart did backflips at the simple gesture. Even worse, his brain decided to unhelpfully conjure up images of the witch smiling sweetly at him, gently grasping his wrist and saying “Good” to him in person.
If possible, his heart skipped a hundred more beats. He picked him his Samsung again and thought about what type of text he should send next.
Something daring. Something bolder than he was used to.
Sicheng sent a heart, so couldn’t he?
Yukhei
❤❤❤
He sent his last message and tried to make peace with himself. In the end, his sense of responsibility won out—his family was paying good money to get him to school in Seoul after all—and he returned to the dreadful 500 pages of creature anatomy that stared at him. With his phone turned to vibrate, he sighed. Wong Yukhei: one. Life’s responsibilities? An immeasurable number.
And almost immediately, Yukhei was too focused on the grotesque image of the digestive system of Gryffons to see his screen light up with a notification.
Dong Sicheng
Cute
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