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Jeongguk doesn’t really think much of it when Namjoon recommends him a chemistry tutor. After all, there’s not much to consider when you’re literally failing a class and find yourself in absolute desperate need of help or else suffer the loss in thousands of tuition dollars and doing the walk of shame by retaking the class. So when Namjoon gives him a name and a phone number, Jeongguk doesn’t hesitate to call.
“Hi, this is Taehyung,” the deep voice over the line answers after about three rings.
“H-hi, my name is Jeongguk?” Jeongguk, not expecting such a… well, attractive voice, stumbles over his words and he winces. “My friend Namjoon says you can tutor me in chemistry?”
“Oh, yeah, for sure!” Taehyung replies immediately. In fact, he sounds fucking delighted by the thought of tutoring someone as stupid as Jeongguk. “Is there, like, a day and time you have open each week? Or will you need help more than once a week?”
“No, I think once a week is fine,” Jeongguk tells him in an attempt to preserve at least some of his dignity. “What about Fridays? I’m usually done with classes at three.”
“Hmm,” Taehyung hums into the receiver, the rush of air crackling a bit. “How’s four? I’m usually busy until three-thirty.”
“Yeah, sounds good,” Jeongguk agrees easily, nodding his head even though Taehyung can’t see him. “So, I’ll see you this Friday? Where do you want to meet?”
“Either your place or the campus library? My apartment is always a mess,” the tutor chuckles and the sound makes Jeongguk want to laugh too.
“I guess I’d be coziest in my apartment, if that’s not too uncomfortable for you?” Jeongguk offers. The library is a good place to focus, but he tends to yell at his homework when he gets frustrated, so he tries not to do anything school related in a public setting. “I’ll text you my address, I’m super close to campus.”
“Sounds good,” Jeongguk just decides to accept that Taehyung is always this cheerful. “I’ll see you on Friday!”
“Wait!” Jeongguk inserts quickly before Taehyung can hang up. “What’s your rate?”
“Rate?”
“Yeah, like how much do you charge?” Jeongguk asks nervously. He’s desperate, but he’s also broke.
“Oh,” Taehyung laughs again. “I don’t. I volunteer my time, so don’t even worry about that.”
Jeongguk decides that Namjoon is a fucking lifesaver for recommending Taehyung, and decides that Taehyung is probably some kind of guardian angel sent to him in his hour of need.
It’s been about five weeks since Taehyung started tutoring Jeongguk, and his chemistry grade has never looked better. After he’d gotten over the initial shock of Taehyung being the actual, literal, physically most beautiful person he’d ever seen, Jeongguk found that not only is Taehyung really good at chemistry, but he’s also just super nice. He brings Jeongguk snacks to eat while they study, he never laughs when Jeongguk gets an answer so wrong he feels like dying, and he brings sheets of stickers which he adheres to just about everything whenever Jeongguk gets an answer right.
It’s fucking adorable and Jeongguk really doesn’t know how to handle it.
He just… feels compelled to like Taehyung. Sometimes Jeongguk will make the mistake of looking into Taehyung’s eyes for too long and it’s almost like they change color as he’s staring. Or the constantly changing hair color that always seems to look good on the older, paired with the fact that his hair never seems damaged, despite Jeongguk never seeing the soft locks stay the same color for more than a week. And the deep voice that sometimes lulls Jeongguk half to sleep after a long week of enduring hell (also known as university). It’s unnerving, since Jeongguk is typically the kind of person who never really feels in love until he’s saying it out loud. But as of now, with Taehyung sitting on the couch next to him, Jeongguk thinks he might actually be a little bit in love with his super-beautiful, super-nice tutor who’s super-good at teaching him chemistry.
There are the weird things, too. The first time they’d met, Taehyung had opened his backpack and a live frog had jumped out. It was a very cute frog, once he got over the fact that there was a frog in his living room. Or there was the time that Taehyung forgot a pen and had pulled out, instead, a quill and ink. Maybe he had a calligraphy hobby? The most unnerving though, was the time Taehyung had just appeared in his home even though Jeongguk was sure the door was locked. The tutor had just shrugged and suggested maybe Jeongguk was starting to lose it from the pressure of midterms approaching.
It’s a Thursday night when Jeongguk texts Taehyung.
Jeongguk
Hyung, my roommate is hosting a
party tomorrow night, can we study
at your house?
I’d suggest the library but you know
how loud I can get
Taehyung
I’ll pretend that last comment wasn’t
nearly as sexual as it sounded
Yeah, sure, my apartment’s fine
Just try not to faint when you walk in
Jeongguk
I’m sure your apartment isn’t that dirty
Taehyung
It’s not the mess i’m worried about
Address Sent
The next day, Jeongguk arrives at Taehyung’s apartment exactly at four. The first sign is the door swinging open on its own without him even knocking. The second sign is the frog that stands to greet him, three inches high on the floor. The third sign is the flying chemistry book that tries to decapitate him. The fourth sign is Taehyung appearing, hair a frenzied mess and is that soot on his face?
“Hey, glad you could find the place,” his tutor greets him, beckoning him in and catching the flying textbook with one hand before it can have a go at Jeongguk’s head again. “I promise normally it’s tidier in here, I just got caught up mixing shit and then it went wrong and then I had to start again and-”
“Hey, don’t worry about it,” Jeongguk soothes the older boy. “Also please tell me I’m not hallucinating. That book was actually flying, right? I didn’t imagine that? Did you throw it and get a remarkable amount of air?”
“Nope, it flew,” Taehyung confirms with a grimace. “Sorry, normally the spell doesn’t last that long.”
“‘ Spell ’?” Jeongguk chokes, furrowing his brows and pleading this to be a joke. Unfortunately, Taehyung just nods distractedly.
“Yeah, I like levitating my books while I mix so that I don’t have to keep looking away from the pot,” Taehyung explains, leading them further into the house.
“You’re telling me you have the resources to do chemical reactions in your house ?” Jeongguk stops in his tracks when he sees the kitchen, which is a huge fucking mess . There are multiple pots on the stove, all boiling over, causing a cacophony of sizzling to fill the air. The sink is loaded with dishes, especially more pots. Whatever the hell Taehyung is cooking clearly isn’t Korean food, judging from the smell. Or maybe it’s not food at all, who knows.
“Not chemical reactions,” Taehyung tells him, running to turn down all four burners. “Potions.”
“Potions.”
“Yes, potions.”
“Like, a witch?” Jeongguk’s voice comes out embarrassingly high pitched and he clears his throat. “Like, Harry Potter shit?”
“Yeah,” Taehyung nods and brandishes a stick of wood, pointing it at the stove where all the spoons start stirring the pots at different speeds and directions. One is stirring in a figure-eight, while another seems to be just making repetitive zig-zags through the contents.
“Yeah. Okay, cool,” Jeongguk nods back and sits down on the couch. “Anyway, I have a lot of questions about chapter seven. My professor just like… made absolutely zero sense and I’m so fucking lost.”
“You’re not bothered?” Taehyung asks, kaleidoscope eyes wide and his hair slowly changing from blue to red. Jeongguk just shrugs.
“Not really? I still need a tutor, and I like you,” he says without thinking. Taehyung’s eyebrows shoot up and Jeongguk coughs. “As a tutor. You’re a good tutor, and I like your... tutor-ness.”
“Tutor-ness,” Taehyung cracks a grin and Jeongguk feels the rush of blood in his face.
“Y-yeah, besides… isn’t potion making, like, magical chemistry anyway?” Jeongguk asks and Taehyung’s entire face splits into a smile.
“Yeah, I suppose it is,” he agrees before plopping down on the couch next to Jeongguk. “For the record, though. I like you too.”
“Nice, that’s good,” Jeongguk frowns at his own awkward words. “I’ve dated a lot of bitches before, but never a witch.”
“Is that your idea of a good pick up line?” Taehyung cackles and rolls his eyes. A different frog jumps up onto Jeongguk’s knee from out of nowhere and Taehyung grabs it gently, setting it down on the coffee table.
“Listen, there are two things I’m bad at in life,” Jeongguk defends himself, puppy dog pout in place. “One of them is flirting, and the other is chemistry. So, if you don’t have a problem with my god-awful flirting, can we focus on chapter seven? I’m literally so lost.”
“Yeah, okay,” Taehyung flicks the wand in his hand again and Jeongguk’s chem book flips open to chapter seven.
Dating a witch is gonna be so much better than dating a bi--