Archive of Our Own

“Soonyoung. I’ve got a problem.”

Jihoon heard rustling and a groan from the other end of the phone, and his friend’s groggy voice. “Jihoon? What’s wrong?”

“It’s kind of hard to explain,” Jihoon began. “It’s—wait. Did you just wake up? At 3PM?”

“No, I was napping ,” Soonyoung emphasized, accusation waking him up fully. “And it’s not like you have room to talk.”

“I have never slept until three in the afternoon!” Jihoon hissed. Then, after some thought, “Okay, maybe a few times after pulling an all nighter. But that’s not the same!” He sighed. “Anyway. Like I said, problem.”

“What’s up?” Soonyoung asked. “You already landed, right? Aren’t you supposed to be with Seokmin?”

“Yeah,” Jihoon breathed, “That’s the problem.”

To an outsider, it didn’t look like anything was wrong—with Jihoon, at least. In fact, everything should be right with him. He just met his online friend, Seokmin—who also happened to be the guy he’d had a raging crush on for the past few years—for the first time in person, and they were about to spend all of five days together at Seokmin’s older sister Jiae’s house; who was, to say the least, very laid-back, very distracted, and very much not home.

“She’s working at an intensive summer school program right now,” Seokmin had explained when they were planning the trip, “so she’ll barely be home. It will be like our own private retreat! Isn’t that exciting?”

It was exciting to Jihoon, up until about an hour ago. Because something he never expected to break loose from his grasp, something he always kept tightly wound within himself, had burst free and began wreaking havoc around him.

His magic.

The only people that knew about it were his family; Seungcheol, his best friend since birth; Soonyoung, who they both met in middle school; and their respective families. There weren’t many people like them, so they always stayed close to each other, watching each other’s backs and teaching each other how to blend into society. Jihoon’s powers in particular were connected to all things life—plants, trees, animals, any type of creature or living thing. Humans were out of his grasp because of how complex they are, but anything else that was alive was fair game. He hated going outside because of it, and he always found solace in big cities, concrete jungles. Their static and manufactured buzz calmed him. He thought in his young adult life that he had finally reached a full understanding of his powers and how to control them. He could finally live in peace, like a normal person, albeit a few things helping him out along the way. Until about an hour ago.

He had been waiting at the pickup area for arrivals at the airport with a nervous buzz coursing through him, tapping his foot anxiously in wait for Seokmin’s infamous janky old car to pull up by the curb. His mind was reeling with his promise to himself—at some point on this trip, Jihoon would tell Seokmin how he felt about him. Jihoon didn’t think he was imagining Seokmin flirting with him more recently, and their phone calls and video chats ending with one of them falling asleep on the other felt strangely intimate. Jihoon told Soonyoung, who encouraged him to confess, and threatened to place a curse on him if he came back without telling Seokmin about his feelings. Jihoon had his doubts—how could he find something so good, so natural with someone he met on an online fantasy RPG? But he knew he’d never know for sure unless he told Seokmin how he felt, no matter how scary it was.

In the middle of looping through these thoughts for the tenth time, an obnoxious honk pulled him out of his head, and he looked up to find a rusty, loud car approaching him with a familiar, goofy looking man in the driver’s seat. Jihoon’s heart skipped a beat as a smile broke out on Seokmin’s face, screeching to a halt on the curb right in front of Jihoon. He practically leapt out of the car, staring at Jihoon with the same wide smile until he couldn’t help but mirror it back.

They just stood there, staring, smiling, until Seokmin ducked his head to stifle a giggle. “Um,” he began, and though Jihoon had heard his voice through speakers and mics many times, it sounded so much more rich and melodic in person. “Please don’t kill me, but you’re...you…”

Jihoon’s face fell into a playful glower as Seokmin continued to chuckle under his breath. “Don’t say it. Don’t you dare.”

“I’m so sorry, Jihoon,” Seokmin continued, “But you’re so short! I know you told me you were, and that people always said something about it, but I didn’t understand it, really. You’re so tiny, oh my god. I could scoop you up.”

Jihoon smirked. “Why don’t you try?”

At that moment, Seokmin moved from behind the car towards Jihoon and Jihoon dropped the bags he was holding in his hands. Seokmin wrapped his arms around him and squeezed a bit, hugging him tightly. Jihoon had to get on his tiptoes to hug him back properly. It was funny, he thought, their banter feeling natural like always, but the warmth of Seokmin’s embrace and the smell on his clothes of detergent and air-dried laundry being so new and so overwhelming.

“I would actually try to scoop you up,” Seokmin said quietly, “but I might break a rib.”

“Yeah, I don’t want all your twiggy bones to snap,” Jihoon retorted.

Seokmin’s laugh was bright in Jihoon’s ear and he squeezed a little harder, ducking his head and letting it rest on his shoulder. Jihoon’s heart leapt at the movement and at that same moment, the stereo in Seokmin’s car blared at max volume, causing them both to jump. It quieted down not too long after, and they both shared a confused glance.

“Okay, my car is old but I swear it’s reliable,” Seokmin said, hand on the trunk. He raised an eyebrow after he failed to open it, jostling the handle with little luck. “No, really, it runs well!”

“Let me try,” Jihoon offered, hooking his hand under the handle and easily opening it. He smiled a bit at Seokmin who was staring in confusion at him.

“Well, you just loosened it for me,” Seokmin mumbled.

“Uh huh,” Jihoon said, hoisting his bags into the trunk. “Let’s just get going. Your sister’s place is a bit of a ways out, right?”

“It’s not too far, but the road there is smooth and I have signal the whole way, so I won’t have trouble contacting someone if my car decides to keep acting up,” Seokmin responded. “But let’s hope for the best, shall we?”

The ride from the airport to Seokmin’s sister’s house was lovely. The road was on a mostly flat expanse of land, sandwiched between mountains, plains and rock formations. Jihoon stared out in wonder; he did love drinking in natural landscapes like this, despite his aversion to the outdoors. But he was inside a moving hunk of metal right now, so he felt pretty safe.

“So pretty,” he couldn’t help but mumble.

“Right!” Seokmin said with joy. “There’s a place not too far from my sister’s that I really want to go to. It’s a pretty well known scenic hiking route. We should try it out while you’re here!”

Jihoon couldn’t say no to the excited glint in Seokmin’s eye. “It sounds nice,” he said with a smile.

“I’ll have to check the weather for the day that’s best,” Seokmin continued, “But if we leave early, we wouldn’t have to rush through the trails. It would give us plenty of time to enjoy everything. We could even have a nice little picnic during lunch! Ooh, but I do hear the view of the stars is really nice there at the top of the trail, so maybe we should go later in the day, if you don’t mind? Even though I really want to see everything in the daylight, and it sounds kind of scary to hike at night, but—”

Seokmin kept rattling off his ideas, expression lit up with wonder, as Jihoon’s heart lurched in his chest. Stargazing and picnics don’t sound like things you do with friends , he thought. Jihoon stared at him, soaking in the endearing way he kept chattering on about the trip, thinking about reaching out to hold his hand as they hiked up the trail, or even reaching over to do it now. But he was pulled out of his thoughts when the car stereo suddenly blared the song through the speakers and then went quiet.

Seokmin furrowed his brows and pressed his lips in a tight line. “What is going on with this thing? I swear, there’s never been any problem like this before, why now?”

As Seokmin fiddled with the radio, the car sputtered and slowed, a light coming on the dashboard. Seokmin’s shoulders went rigid, pulling over on the side of the road and shutting off the ignition before glancing over at Jihoon.

“I’m so sorry,” he said. “My car has really never acted up like this before. This probably isn’t the start to your trip you imagined, huh?”

“Yeah,” Jihoon said, voice small. A horrible feeling was settling in his stomach, and he didn’t want to worry Seokmin, but he couldn’t help the panic that loomed over him.

“Hey, don’t worry. I still have cell service, so once I get roadside assistance out here we should be headed back to my sister’s place in no time, okay?”

Jihoon looked up at Seokmin, smiling encouragingly down at him, possibly in an attempt to make him feel better. It racked him with guilt, wishing he could tell Seokmin there was a chance all his car troubles might be his fault, but instead he managed a small smile and a nod.

“Is there a manual in here?” Jihoon asked, opening the glove compartment. “Maybe we can figure out what that light was and get a head start on road service.” 

+++++

After searching the manual and propping open the hood, Jihoon and Seokmin discovered the problem to be an overheated engine. Seokmin called the number on the back of his card and began moving about the car. As Seokmin talked to the person on the other end of the line, Jihoon leaned against the car and stared at the gigantic rock formation on the side of the road. It was daunting, and seemed slightly precarious, edge of the rock jutting out over part of the road ahead, but it calmed Jihoon. If he had to be stuck in the middle of nowhere, he was thankful to be beside an enormous rock, which as far as he knew was not alive. He examined it, noting the parts where it had clearly been worn over time and where it broke off from another piece of rock, and where it had potentially been carved into to make way for the road they were on. Despite his aversion to nature, those kinds of things always upset Jihoon a bit. Like the sadness that the natural world couldn’t convey as it was stripped to make way for humans was channeled to him instead.

Behind him Seokmin made a noise of realization, and then moments later the car jolted to life again. Jihoon jumped a bit at the noise, looking behind him to see Seokmin smiling brightly and giving him a thumbs up, gesturing for him to get in the car.

As they drove Seokmin proudly announced that the engine went back to normal, and nothing was wrong with his car. He divulged half of the conversation with the service line worker to Jihoon until a thought struck him.

“Seokmin, doesn’t it seem weird to you that the engine cooled off so fast? It usually takes longer for a car to be up and running again.”

Seokmin frowned. “Maybe, but I’m just glad it’s fine. I knew there was nothing wrong with this car! She’s Ol’ Reliable!”

Jihoon chewed his lip in response. For the moment, he chose to ignore it, not wanting to work himself up too much in case his frenzy caused something else around him to implode. He tuned out his anxious thoughts with the music now quietly playing from the car’s stereo.

+++++

Upon arriving at the house, Jihoon was taken aback. It was in no way isolated, but it was on a road with few other houses, nestled into the shadows of a large tree. And it was certainly scenic, with one side of the house facing another impressive and boldly colored rock formation.

“Your sister…” Jihoon began. “She’s not much older than you, right? Is she rich? How was she able to afford this?” He realized he was gaping and he tried to steel his expression. “I mean, I’m sure it’s not crazy expensive, but I can’t imagine this was a cheap place to land.”

“She saved a lot!” Seokmin announced, grabbing the last of Jihoon’s bags out of the trunk. “She’s a very good planner, and she always knew exactly what she wanted to do and the type of place she wanted to live, so now she’s living her dream life. Pretty awesome, huh?”

“Yeah,” Jihoon breathed out. “Wish I had that much discipline.”

“That’s what my parents tell me all the time,” Seokmin said. They both broke out into a laugh as they entered the house. Seokmin led them to the guest room, where a futon and an inflatable bed had already been set up neatly. Seokmin left Jihoon to settle in, scurrying into the kitchen. After unpacking a bit and plugging in his phone to charge, Jihoon emerged from the room, hearing light chopping noises. He rounded the corner to the kitchen and caught sight of something light pink hanging off of Seokmin’s shoulders and tied around his waist.

He couldn’t suppress the giggle that left his throat. “Seokmin, are you wearing an apron?”

“Uh, yeah!” Seokmin said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world, waving around the butter knife in his hand. “This is my first wear of these jeans, and if i get tomato juice or mayo or something on them, I will not be happy. I can get at least ten more wears out of these.”

“Ten!? You wear jeans ten times before you wash them?” Jihoon repeated with a laugh. He sat at the table, glancing over Seokmin to the toast and various cold cuts laid out on the counter. “What’s all that?”

Seokmin stilled for a moment, and then resumed his cutting motions meekly. “I’m making us lunch,” he said softly. “I mean, I should have asked if you were okay with sandwiches, or what kind you like. You like tomatoes, and mayo and lettuce and turkey, right?”

“Yeah, of course, that’s all fine.” A warmth spread over Jihoon. “That’s really sweet of you, Seokmin. Thank you.”

“Well, you know,” Seokmin mumbled, “I want you to feel at home. I know meeting people from the internet can be really nerve wracking. I just wanted to make sure you felt welcome. And that you know I’m happy you’re here.”

Silence fell over them as Seokmin continued preparing their sandwiches, Jihoon left speechless by his sincerity. He was trying to find the right thing to say, when he suddenly wondered if now would be a good time to bring up his feelings, heartbeat staggering at the thought. As words returned to him, he opened his mouth to speak but instead heard Seokmin yelp and jump backwards, face dripping with water.

“Wha—why did the sink just attack me? What is happening today!?” Seokmin wiped the excess water off of his face as Jihoon approached him with a towel he snatched from the handle of the oven. He offered the towel to Seokmin, but when he remained frozen in shock and frustration, he opted to pat down the wet strands of his hair.

“How did that happen?” Jihoon asked, even though he was a bit scared of the answer.

“I don’t know,” Seokmin answered, taking the towel from Jihoon finally. “I wasn’t even touching the sink but suddenly the spray nozzle shot water out at me. It wasn’t even on! Does a higher power have it out for me?”

Jihoon watched him continue to dab at his face for a few moments before panic set in. “I think I might have forgotten to pack something important, I’m gonna check,” he said lamely, before rushing back to the room. He grabbed his phone off the nightstand and locked himself in the bathroom, dialing the number of the first person he could think of that could help him.

“So here I am,” Jihoon finished, sighing out a harsh breath.

“Huh,” Soonyoung responded. “It does sound like it has to do with your powers. But you can’t control electricity or water or anything, right?”

“I mean, my dad is a pyro, but I always thought I inherited mom’s powers,” Jihoon explained.

“I don’t know Jihoonie, remember when you had a crush on Junnie in 9th grade and you accidentally made him get attacked by bees after he asked you to the winter dance?”

Jihoon huffed. “I thought I told you to never discuss that again.”

“Well, it’s relevant!” Soonyoung exclaimed. “I mean, you were still learning about your powers then, and how to control them. Maybe you’re developing new powers now?”

“Just my fucking luck,” Jihoon groaned. “Remember how I told you I...felt this way about Seok because it was safe? It’s because of things like what happened with Junhui, and because of this. I pose risk to them with my weird powers. If I never felt this way about anyone, I wouldn’t hurt anyone.”

“Hey, don’t say things like that,” Soonyoung said gently. “Just because you’re figuring these things out doesn’t mean you don’t deserve to go after someone special to you. 

Special. Jihoon weighed the word on his tongue a bit, considered what it meant for him. Seokmin was special, really, as a long time friend and as...whatever they established in the last few months. Jihoon was careful to only let his feelings play out when they had a screen to separate them. But he got whisked away by the fantasy of a nice vacation with Seokmin, and now he had to face the consequences. 

Jihoon heaved out a breath. “You’re right. I just need to get my shit together. Thanks Soonyoung.” And he ended the call.

+++++

The rest of the day was not the easiest, Jihoon forcing himself to calm down and not overthink all of Seokmin’s actions. He met Jiae in the evening, chatting lightly about school and work as Seokmin listened, quietest Jihoon had seen him yet. Once she retired for the evening, they played Overwatch with some of Seokmin’s friends until Jihoon started falling asleep on the floor, and Seokmin suggested they turn in for the night.

Jihoon sat on the air mattress, scrolling through his phone idly and appreciating the quiet. He was about to set his phone down when Seokmin returned to the room from his shower. Much to Jihoon’s dismay, he was only wearing a pair of boxer briefs with a towel slung over his shoulder, hair still damp from his shower. Jihoon stiffened at the sight as he sorted through the dresser in front of him, muscles on his bare back and shoulders flexing. Seokmin turned around and his shoulders shrunk shyly.

“Sorry, I forgot to grab a change of clothes,” he explained. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“It’s fine,” Jihoon said, trying to act casual about it and control his voice so it didn’t squeak. Within seconds there was a loud bursting sound and the air mattress collapsed under him, shrinking slowly as Jihoon sat on it in shock.

Seokmin lunged forward. “Holy shit! Are you okay? How the hell did that happen!?”

“I’m fine,” Jihoon said unconvincingly, taking Seokmin’s hand as he helped him off of the deflating bed.

“Okay,” Seokmin responded, eyeing Jihoon with worry. “Let me figure this dumb air mattress out and we can get you set up on the couch for now. I would offer my bed, but it’s...a bit small for both of us.”

“Yeah, don’t worry,” Jihoon answered in a small voice. He stared at the floor, trying his best not to stare at Seokmin’s bare chest. “Um, but maybe you should get dressed first.”

Seokmin released his hand. “Right! Yeah. Sorry. Good idea.”

When Seokmin returned very dressed, lucky for Jihoon, they removed the sheets from the now unusable air mattress and did their best to turn the couch into a bed. As Jihoon moved a few of his belongings Seokmin discovered the problem to be a hole near the plug. He grumbled something about defective items and returning it to the store, and Jihoon announced that he was going to bed, getting a concerned glance from Seokmin at the coldness in his tone.

Jihoon sat awake on his makeshift bed, staring mindlessly at the television with the volume barely audible. He glanced at the text he sent Soonyoung.

I made the air mattress explode

Because he walked into the room with nothing but his underwear on…

He set his phone down in a huff and stared at the old sitcom on the screen, bitterness overtaking his body at the cast’s nonchalant and smug expressions. His phone screen lit up with Soonyoung’s reply, which was a blushing emoji, a crying laughing emoji and a monkey covering its eyes emoji. He typed out a curt Thanks before throwing his phone somewhere off to the side of the couch, not caring for any of his future responses.

Just when he felt like the dull script was making his mind go numb, he saw a figure pop out from the hallway. He jumped as Seokmin laughed nervously, sitting next to him on the couch.

“Sweet Jesus, you scared the crap out of me,” Jihoon breathed, hand over his heart.

“Sorry,” Seokmin said, pulling the covers over his legs. “Trouble sleeping?”

“A little.” Jihoon frowned as he flipped through the channels. A silence passed over them before Seokmin shifted towards Jihoon.

“I’m sorry,” he began. “Your first day has been such a mess.”

Jihoon put the remote down, looking at Seokmin in concern. “It’s okay, it’s not your fault,” he said, in as comforting of a tone as he could manage. It’s mine, he thought.

“I feel like it is, though,” Seokmin continued, playing with the fringes of the blanket. “My car and the mattress were both messed up, I should have been more careful or checked them before picking you up.”

“No way, you had no way of knowing that was gonna happen.” Maybe it was because he was tired and he couldn’t bear to see Seokmin blame himself, but Jihoon put a hand over his where it lay on the blanket. “You’re doing great, okay? And I’m happy just to be here with you.”

Seokmin smiled, not his usual blindingly bright smile, but enough to make Jihoon feel content. “Okay, if you say so,” he said, turning his hand around and giving Jihoon’s a squeeze. They both stared at their hands held together for a moment. 

“I’m gonna stay here with you for a bit if that’s alright,” Seokmin said. “Calm my mind a bit with some quality late night television.”

“Go ahead,” Jihoon responded, getting comfortable again.

The last thing Jihoon remembers as his eyes lulled shut was feeling the weight of Seokmin’s head rest on his lap. 

+++++

The early morning sun pulled Jihoon out of his sleep, realizing he slept the entire night leaning against the couch’s armrest. He shifted in an attempt to stretch his sore muscles and when he couldn’t move his legs he looked down to find Seokmin’s sleeping form laying against him. His heartbeat accelerated for a moment, but in a sleepy haze he couldn’t help but grin at how they both managed to sleep through the whole night uncomfortably on the couch. The sunlight flooded into the small house from the large glass doors leading to the porch, casting a soft glow on everything, including Seokmin. Jihoon thought he might be imagining it, or maybe it could be his own doing, but he felt like all the plants outside and inside the house were a bit greener, standing up a bit taller this morning. He laid a hand on Seokmin’s hair, curling his fingers softly into its strands. He was flooded with warmth. The sun around him felt like it was glittering.

After a few minutes of Jihoon running his hand through his hair, Seokmin grumbled and shifted a bit. Jihoon retracted his hand instantly, like the sun was suddenly burning him. Seokmin turned around in Jihoon’s lap and gave him a small sleepy smile before jerking up, eyes wide.

“How did I sleep here for the whole night?” Seokmin asked, blinking the sleep out of his eyes.

“Beats me, but I fell asleep sitting up,” Jihoon said, giggling a bit at Seokmin’s bleary confusion.

“How long have you been awake? Oh god, were you just sitting here this whole time because I fell asleep on you?”

Jihoon laughed earnestly now. “No, I woke up just a few minutes ago.”

“Huh.” Seokmin’s eyes wandered around the house for a moment before his eyes caught something on the back porch and he leaned forward.

“Wait,” he said, getting up and scurrying over to the sliding doors. “Oh my god, it bloomed! Is Jiae still here? Jiae!” Jihoon’s eyes followed Seokmin as he ran into his sister’s room, pulling her out by the hand excitedly like a child on Christmas. Her face was contorted into a sleepy pout until Seokmin pointed at something outside, and she pressed her entire body against the glass, alert. 

“Oh my god,” Jiae repeated, opening the glass door to step outside. Jihoon finally got up to follow the commotion and saw her crouching over a pot with a small sunflower beginning to bloom. Seokmin was smiling widely.

“We’ve been waiting for it to bloom all summer,” Seokmin explained. “Even up until yesterday it was just a little sprout. We thought it would never bloom. How crazy is that?”

Jihoon stared down at the flower, yellow vibrant and petals spread out wide, and he felt a blush crawl up his cheeks. It was too much of a coincidence to not be his doing. He wasn’t sure how he managed to do this instead of creating chaos for once, but if this happened every once in awhile, that was alright with him.

He smiled. “It’s pretty crazy.”

+++++

After throwing on some clothes and realizing his body severely lacked caffeine, Seokmin proposed to Jihoon they go into town for a bit, with the promise of a nice café. The drive into town was refreshing, Seokmin singing along to the radio carelessly with the windows down, crisp air blowing through their hair. Jihoon’s mind wasn’t alert enough yet to let his thoughts go into overdrive, so he let himself soak in the peace he felt at the moment, small grin settling on his lips as he watched Seokmin’s expression change with the emotions of each song. He wondered what it would take for him to get used to this, to feel this happiness regularly.

Jihoon’s foggy silence continued while they were at the café, sipping on his iced americano wordlessly. He barely noticed Seokmin looking at him, hand resting in his chin.

“What?” Jihoon asked.

“Nothing, you’re just being so quiet,” Seokmin said.

Jihoon shrugged. “I need my coffee.”

Seokmin sniffed out a laugh. Jihoon pouted in frustration.

“What!” He repeated, more forcefully.

“Are you always this grumpy before you have coffee?”

“Maybe,” Jihoon answered, scowling a bit. “Got a problem?”

“Not at all,” Seokmin answered, corners of his lips quirking up. “It’s kind of cute.”

Jihoon puffed out his cheeks, coffee bubbling up in response to him huffing into his straw to hide his embarrassment.

“There’s more stuff to see down this street,” Seokmin explained at the same moment that an awful hiss from the espresso machine and shout from the barista came from behind the counter. Jihoon was just happy it wasn’t him this time. “I’ve only driven around here, but we can explore? I’m sure we’ll find somewhere fun.”

Jihoon eyed the barista, frantically patting down the counter, floor and himself with rags. “Yeah, I’m down.”

Seokmin dragged them into any place that looked mildly interesting, including a furniture pawn shop, a dusty thrift store and a creepy shop full of masks. Jihoon felt some strong cursed energy coming off of some of the masks, but Seokmin was laughing so uproariously in the mirror at them that he didn’t have the heart to tell him to take them off.

Right when Seokmin suggested they turn around, a used bookstore across the street caught Jihoon’s eye. He stared at it, unable to fight off the pull he felt. Seokmin gave him a confused glance.

“Jihoon? Hello?”

“Can we go in there?” he asked, pointing to the store.

Seokmin looked at the store and looked at Jihoon. “Yeah, sure,” he answered, still eyeing him curiously.

Without much thought Jihoon crossed the road and Seokmin ran after him, noises of concern leaving his mouth. Jihoon entered and shot a polite smile at the attendant, who was engrossed with her own book at the counter. Seokmin followed closely behind him.

“Jihoon, you seem really focused,” he whispered harshly. “Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, I just remembered I should look for a book for one of my classes next semester,” Jihoon lied easily. When it came to magic, he knew how to lie.

“Um, alright,” Seokmin answered reluctantly. “And you’re sure you’ll find it here?”

“I don’t know,” Jihoon answered, following the urge he had to go to the back of the store. “But I might as well look and try to save a few bucks.”

“I guess,” Seokmin answered, unconvinced. After a few moments, he continued, “The organization seems kind of messy. Are you sure you know what you’re looking for?”

“I’m just browsing,” Jihoon continued. He stopped a few shelves before the back, standing still for a moment before glancing to his left. He walked over to one of the shelves, scanning quickly before his eyes landed on a thick, worn spine.

A book of spells.

Jihoon picked it up immediately, flipping through the pages. Seokmin stood beside him, eyeing it as much as he could. 

“Um,” Seokmin hesitated. “Is that the book you were looking for?”

Jihoon stilled for a moment. “Yeah, it’s for a mysticism class,” he said finally. “I know it seems kind of weird, but I’m surprised I actually found it. It’s only supplementary, but the professor said it would help a lot with some things in the class.” 

“Whoa,” Seokmin said in awe. Jihoon felt a slight rush of relief that his lie worked. “That’s really cool, Jihoon. You’re so invested in your education. I really admire that, I could never be the same.”

Jihoon continued thumbing through the book. He wasn’t lying when he told Seokmin he was surprised he found it—it was actually a book his and Seungcheol’s families had been trying to track down for decades. It not only had spells, but information about the different kinds of magic and how to make the spells work for each kind. He wondered if he could find out anything about why his powers were so out of whack.

Jihoon began to move from behind the shelf when Seokmin asked, “Do you want me to pay for it?”

“What?” Jihoon said, with more bite than intended. “I mean—no, it’s fine, Seokmin. This is probably really expensive.”

“Well, it seems like something you really want regardless,” Seokmin continued. “I just thought it would be a nice way to commemorate your trip here. Like a gift.”

“No way,” Jihoon said, hugging the book to his chest. “I could never let you pay for something this pricey.”

“But I want to!” Seokmin insisted. They both stared each other down for a moment, waiting for the other to back down. Seokmin stepped forward and tried to place a hand on the book, but Jihoon just jerked away. He worried about upsetting Seokmin for a moment, but he just cracked a knowing smile instead.

“Half?” Seokmin offered, hand still held out. Jihoon looked at his hand, then up at him, and did this several times before sighing in defeat.

“Fine,” Jihoon said, and Seokmin’s expression perked up significantly. “But only because you asked so many times!”

Seokmin wrapped his arms around Jihoon, who was still hugging the book, and it pressed against his chest uncomfortably as Seokmin hugged him tightly.

“Thank you,” Seokmin said, still hugging him.

“You goof,” Jihoon answered. “I should be the one saying thank you.”

A weight against his leg made Jihoon look down, noticing a cat looping around his feet, rubbing himself against Jihoon’s pants. Jihoon smiled, kneeling down as the cat threw itself on the floor, exposing its chin for Jihoon to rub.

“You made a friend!” Seokmin said, punctuated with a sneeze. Jihoon glanced up at him, rubbing his nose. “I’m a little allergic, but I’m fine as long as it’s just one cat.”

“Uh,” came a foreign voice, and Jihoon and Seokmin looked up to see the attendant glancing at them pointedly. “I don’t think it’s just our little Chuck over here.” She gestured her head towards the outside of the shop, where Jihoon could see that several cats were gathered by the door. As he approached, he saw dozens more crowded outside.

“Good god,” Seokmin said. “My eyes itch just looking at them all.”

Jihoon sighed deeply and dug into his pocket. “Here,” he said, handing Seokmin some cash from his wallet as well as the spell book. “That’s for my half. I’ll try to...lure them somewhere else." 

Seokmin gave him a confused stare as he exited the shop, staring down at the cats, digging their claws into his jeans and trying to climb up his legs. 

“I regret ever wishing I had a familiar,” Jihoon mumbled to himself, as he turned the corner into a residential area and shouted a “Here, kitty, kitty!” He walked for a bit with the cats meowing and trailing along behind him. He rattled his mind for a way to get rid of them when he spotted a rather large tree with a small patch of grass around it. He ran towards the tree as fast as he could and braced himself for the jump, trying to channel all of his childhood energy into climbing it. Some of the cats pranced after him, but they didn’t manage to make it very far up the tree, except for one. As he sat on the top branch, the cat jumped into his arms.

“If I still wanted a familiar after this, you’d make the cut,” he said to the cat. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply, trying to channel his energy into the ground beneath him. He muttered a spell under his breath and within seconds, several stalks of catnip sprung from the earth. The cats crowded around the plants, including the one in Jihoon’s arms. He breathed out in relief, jumping down from the tree, careful to do so away from the cats. He approached the shop again to see if Seokmin was done when he rounded the corner, book in his arms, eyes wide with concern. 

“How did you deal with them all?” Seokmin asked, bewildered.

“Magic,” Jihoon said, wiggling his fingers. In this case, he was telling the truth, but he knew Seokmin wouldn’t believe him.

“Hm. Did you just so happen to glance at a cat dispersing spell in this gigantic encyclopedia of magic?” Seokmin asked, jostling the book in his arms. 

“You caught me!” Jihoon shouted playfully, taking the book from Seokmin. “I’m actually a wizard, and I want this book for my own use.”

“So you’re trying to take my mage position on NFO away from me, huh? I knew it!” Seokmin poked an accusatory finger into Jihoon’s shoulder which caused him to laugh loudly.

“As if I would ever stop playing a tank,” Jihoon said, elbowing Seokmin’s side for revenge. He laughed joyously at Jihoon, and while Jihoon was happy the conversation moved on, a small part of him wished that Seokmin had believed him.

+++++

When they got back to the house they spent most of the rest of the day indoors. In the late afternoon, they both cut up a watermelon that Jiae had in her fridge, Seokmin claiming his sister crowned him a watermelon slicing pro, and they ate a few pieces on the porch. Jihoon felt like he was in a summer anime.

“Looks like a storm might roll in,” Seokmin said, pointing to the north. A thick set of dark clouds loomed over the horizon. Jihoon winced.

“That looks bad,” he said.

He was right. By the time they were done with dinner and were making popcorn for a movie, the first quiet boom of thunder was heard in the distance. Rain started to fall a few minutes later, Seokmin stiff on the couch as the opening credits to The Avengers played on the screen.

Jihoon took a handful of popcorn from the large bowl. “Do you not like thunderstorms?” he asked.

“Not really,” Seokmin responded, voice wavering. “Especially when it gets loud. Hopefully it—” a thunderclap echoed, sounding much closer than the first one. “—doesn’t.”

Jihoon rubbed his shoulder assuringly. “Just pretend it’s Thor.”

Seokmin smiled widely, breathing out of his nose in relief. “Good idea.”

As the movie progressed, the storm rolled in slowly, thunder not getting much louder. The lights all through the house were off, so a few jolts of lightning startled them, but mostly they were too engrossed in the movie. That is, until Seokmin put his arm on the back side of the couch, right behind Jihoon. He froze, losing all interest in the movie and only paying attention to the warmth so close to his back. Just as he was weighing the benefits of scooting closer to Seokmin or leaning into him, lightning lit up the whole house and a loud crash of thunder followed soon after. Seokmin jumped, arm immediately dropping onto Jihoon’s shoulder, squeezing him tightly against his side. Jihoon stiffened in his hold, and Seokmin soon released him, though he didn’t move his arm from around Jihoon’s shoulder. 

“Sorry,’ Seokmin mumbled. Jihoon tried to pat his hand encouragingly but another bolt of lightning struck, so close Jihoon swore it must have been in someone’s backyard. The light of the television flickered off and the entire house went silent. This time Seokmin wrapped both his arms around Jihoon with a shout, pulling him so close he had trouble breathing. His shoulders were seized up in tension, and if he wasn’t so concerned for how scared he was, Jihoon would be freaking out about their proximity.

After hearing a frustrated groan come from Jiae’s room and a few seconds of steadying his breathing, Seokmin released his tight grip on Jihoon. “Great. Now the lights are out.” He dropped his arms to fall around Jihoon’s waist, head falling onto his shoulder. “Sorry,” he repeated. “Not my most glamorous moment.”

“It’s okay,” Jihoon said. “I can grab my phone and use the flashlight, and we can light a candle until the power comes back.”

Seokmin nodded and released Jihoon, who only took a few moments to come back with the bright light of his phone lighting up the whole room. Seokmin directed him to the matches and they lit a fancy scented candle that was sitting on the coffee table. Jihoon set his phone there as well, flipped upside down to illuminate the room as much as possible.

He sat on the floor, hugging his knees to his chest. He chewed on the inside of his lip in frustration. Aside from a few hiccups, today had been fine, and he had to choose the worst possible moment to have a meltdown. He scared Seokmin and left the house without power. Who was to say how much worse it could get?

“Hey, check it out,” Seokmin’s voice broke through the quiet. Jihoon looked up to find a large shadow puppet of a duck projected onto the ceiling, Seokmin letting out a quiet quack. A laugh bubbled out of Jihoon’s throat, watching as Seokmin made other shadow puppets.

All Jihoon had to offer was wiggling his pointer finger. “Worm,” he stated flatly, and Seokmin bellowed with laughter. The sound of the pattering rain, retreating thunder and their giggles was enough to calm Jihoon down until the few lights of the house flickered back on again.

“Well, guess the movie is a bust,” Seokmin said, standing up to take the empty bowl of popcorn into the kitchen.

“Actually,” Jihoon said, feeling of dread settling in again. “Can we call it a night? I’m not feeling too great.”

Seokmin turned around, eyes full of concern. “What’s wrong?”

“Just a little tired,” Jihoon lied.

“Sure,” Seokmin said after hesitating for a moment. When he came back into the living room to Jihoon starting to set up the couch, he put a hand over his to stop him.

“Why don’t you sleep in the guest room tonight?” he offered. “Since you slept on the couch last night." 

“Seok,” Jihoon began in protest. “We both slept on the couch.”

“Well, yes, but you’re tired and you’ve been a little out of it today, and I want you to get a good night’s rest.”

“But I would feel so bad taking the bed from you.”

“Nonsense,” Seokmin grinned. “I can fall asleep anywhere.”

Jihoon frowned. He had to admit, the promise of a bed sounded nice right now.

“Tomorrow, you’ll sleep in the room again?” Jihoon tried.

“If you insist,” Seokmin said.

Jihoon picked up his belongings in half-defeat and entered the room, falling face first into the pillow. He turned his head to the side and stared at the spell book from earlier sitting on top of the dresser. Desperate, he got up and brought it to the bed with him, sifting through the table of contents. There was a section dedicated entirely to love spells (which he was sure Soonyoung’s family would love to get a look at), and he flipped to the introduction. The writings really only discussed the process of making the spells, except for one sentence that stuck out to Jihoon: “Love is such a powerful force it can even cause those who possess magic abilities to lose control of their powers.” He read it over again and again, and he realized there was one person that he had to talk to, who hated talking on the phone, especially about magic, but he was the only one who could help him. 

“Jihoon?” Seungcheol’s voice came through the other line. “Is everything okay? Are you dying? Why in the world are you calling me?”

“I need your help,” Jihoon said.

“Why? Is someone holding you hostage? Were you stolen by the government?”

“No Seungcheol, shut the hell up for five seconds,” Jihoon snapped. “I’m not in danger. But I’ve got a bit of a situation on my hands.”

The other line was quiet for a moment. “Go on,” Seungcheol urged.

“Okay. So.” Jihoon breathed out. He stared at the book on the bed, tracing the cursive font of the word love on the heading. “You know how I’m visiting my friend Seokmin.”

“Right, the one you’re madly in love with,” Seungcheol said flatly.

“Cheol! Seriously, shut the hell up!”

“Okay, my bad, I’m just trying to come down from the fact that you’re not in danger.”

Jihoon groaned. “Anyway,” he continued, “Since I’ve gotten here, my powers have been all crazy.”

The line fell silent for a long time. “We shouldn’t be talking about this on the phone,” came Seungcheol’s voice, tone serious.

“Trust me, if I could figure this out on my own, I would,” Jihoon said. “I already tried talking to Soonyoung about it and he was barely any help. I need you. Or something seriously dangerous might actually happen.”

“Right. Okay.” Seungcheol sighed, collecting himself. “So your powers.”

“Every time I get all…” Jihoon paused, trying to think of the right way to word it. “Ugh, I don’t know, all weird like a little teenage girl with her teenage heartthrob—”

“So when you feel affection towards him.”

“Sure,” Jihoon offered, sounding mildly disgusted. “When I feel affection towards him, and when I think about why I like him and things like that, everything around me starts going haywire. But not normal things that have to do with my powers, like plants and stuff. It’s been cars and faucets and all sorts of machines. I even made the power go out during a storm today.”

“Huh.” Seungcheol hummed in thought. “Sounds pretty bad. What do you do whenever you have these thoughts?”

“What do I do?”

“Yeah, like, do you try to tell him? Do you act on it?”

“Oh. I don’t do anything.”

“You don’t do anything?”

“Of course not!” Jihoon hissed. “The second I think about it, the world literally comes crashing down around me. Why would I try to do anything and risk more of this crazy shit happening?" 

Seungcheol was quiet again. “Jihoon, I think that’s your problem.”

“What?” he practically howled.

“Yeah, I can’t see what else it might be,” Seungcheol continued. “You’re holding in all your feelings so it’s coming out in something else, and that just happens to be through magic. I don’t know why you’d be affecting machinery, or the weather, but just try to be yourself, okay? There’s nothing wrong with the fact that you like this guy, especially since I’m about a million percent positive he feels the same way.”

Jihoon’s heart rate increased the more he heard Seungcheol talk. He was right, Seokmin probably did like him back. He told himself it could just be friendly flirting at first, but he gave what Seungcheol said a shot, leaned into the fantasy of being together, laughing, cuddling, holding hands. It was nice. He wanted that.

“I’ll try it,” Jihoon said finally. “It’s scary, but it’s worth a shot. So shit doesn’t keep exploding around me.”

“I know it’s scary, but it’s good for you,” Seungcheol insisted. “Not just because you should accept your feelings, and because you need to control your powers, but because you deserve this. Seokmin seems like a nice guy. I want this to work for you, Jihoon.”

Jihoon smiled at his friend’s affection. He could always count on Seungcheol to say exactly what he needed to hear, even when he didn’t know it was needed. “Thanks Cheol. I’ll try my best.”

He hung up and set his phone down by the nightstand, eye catching the framed postcard behind the lamp. It was a picture of one of the mountains near the town, with the name of the hiking trail that Seokmin so eagerly discussed with him at the bottom. An idea came together in his head as he stared at it, heart beating excitedly.

He picked up his phone again and started planning.

+++++

Jihoon was up early, fully dressed and looming over Seokmin’s sleeping figure on the couch. He could barely contain his excitement, smiling down as he watched Seokmin’s chest move steadily.

“Hey,” he said finally, soft enough to not disturb him too deeply. Seokmin stirred and Jihoon thought it was funny, him the late sleeper constantly waking up before bright eyed and bushy tailed Seokmin. He blinked himself into consciousness and jumped a bit at the sight of Jihoon’s buzzing form.

“Hey,” Seokmin said back, voice still groggy and raspy from sleep. “What’s going on?”

“How fast can you get dressed and out the door?”

“Pretty fast, I’ve woken up five minutes before class before,” Seokmin answered, sitting up and stretching. “Why?”

“Well, you don’t need to go that fast, but I have a busy day planned for us and we should get a head start while it’s early,” Jihoon explained with a nod.

“A busy day?” Seokmin asked, small grin appearing on his face. His hair was still sticking out in unflattering places. It was really cute, Jihoon thought. He wanted to smooth them out. So he did, as per Seungcheol’s suggestion. Seokmin scrunched up his face at the contact but then gave him a sleepy smile. It was worth it. 

“Yeah, busy day,” Jihoon said, bouncing on his heels. “You’ll like it, I promise.” 

“Hmm, okay,” Seokmin agreed. “Wait, you’re so energetic already. Did you already have your coffee?”

“No, I’m just looking forward to today,” Jihoon said. His face became serious. “But I do need coffee before we go too far or I will be too grouchy for anyone’s liking."

“Yes, sir,” Seokmin said jokingly, patting Jihoon on the head as he walked past him to get ready. He puffed out his cheeks in protest, but it wasn’t long before it melted into a smile. He moved to start getting the car ready.

When he came back inside for the last few things, Seokmin was dressed and tidying up the couch. He looked up at Jihoon and flashed one of his typical blindingly bright smiles, signifying he was fully awake now.

“I don’t know what you have planned for today, but I’m excited,” Seokmin told him. “I wouldn’t expect you to do something like this.”

“It’s not something I usually do, so consider it a special treat,” Jihoon responded. He held up the car keys. “I’ll drive? Only if you trust me with your baby. Then you can sleep more.”

Seokmin shrugged in approval, following Jihoon out the door to the car. They made their way down to the city, stopping at a grocery store and getting some packaged fruit and sandwiches as well as Jihoon’s beloved coffee, before heading out towards the mountains again. Seokmin was dozing off in the passenger seat before he lunged forward in realization, half kicking his legs in the air.

“Jihoon,” he said steadily, “Are you taking us where I think you’re taking us?”

Jihoon grinned widely in response. “You mean, the hiking trail that you’ve been dying to go to?”

“Yes! Oh my god, Jihoon!” Seokmin fell back on the seat in awe. “When did you plan this?”

“Last night. I just wanted to do something for you,” he explained. “You have already been so accommodating for me, so I figured we could do the one thing you wanted us to do together.”

“Wow.” Seokmin shook his head in disbelief, mouth still wide open in a grin. “I can’t believe this. I can’t believe you. You’re really something, you know?”

“I guess I am.” He turned up the radio a bit to sing along, and expectedly Seokmin joined in. They kept driving like that, until it fizzled out into Seokmin quietly humming along to the music, feet propped up on the dash and pointing at the landscape every so often. That feeling of contentment from the day before settled over Jihoon, sweeping him away. This could be his every day, every summer spent like this, with a lovely boy at his side singing in a voice as sweet as honey, threatening to outshine the sun. It was within his reach. He just had to grab it.

After paying entrance to the park, Jihoon parked the car at the very first lot. The scenic route he selected was fit for his...physical limits, unlike some of the more intense trails farther up the road. This trail was the most famous anyway, so he figured it was the one Seokmin wanted to do the most. He had to keep urging Seokmin not to wander ahead, that it would be dangerous if they got separated.

“But I want to see everything,” Seokmin pouted, Jihoon holding onto his backpack with an iron grip.

“We will have time to see everything,” Jihoon promised. “I told you that’s why I wanted to get a head start. I did everything to make sure this day would be perfect.”

And it was going perfect, to Seokmin’s standards. To Jihoon’s, as well, lost in his giddy feelings and not even paying too much mind to the fact that he was outside , until he started to take note of some weird things.

The first was quite innocuous. Seokmin pulled Jihoon aside and whispered like the FBI was trailing close behind, “I think a squirrel is following you.” Jihoon turned around and saw a squirrel, dead center of the walking trail, staring Jihoon down. He narrowed his eyes and waved it off.

“Jihoon, I promise, I’ve been watching it! Look, when we walk all the way up this slope, you’ll see he’s still behind you.”

They walked in silence, Seokmin glancing at Jihoon ever so often until they reached the top of the slope and, like clockwork, Jihoon turned around to find the squirrel the exact same distance from him.

“What the hell,” he grumbled. He rolled his eyes and continued walking. “I don’t have time for this.”

“You don’t think it’s creepy, Jihoon? Squirrels can be vicious,” Seokmin informed him. “What if like, another squirrel marked you and now he’s out to kill you?”

“Then I’ll be the first person ever killed by a squirrel, and I’ll make history,” he said, tone flat.

“Well, what if he’s hungry? Do you think he saw the food in your bag?”

“How would he know?” Jihoon asked, turning around one last time to find the squirrel still laser focused on him. He groaned and took a bar out of his backpack, opening it and breaking off a small piece. He approached the squirrel cautiously, the creature now looking at him with doe eyes.

“You want some?” Jihoon asked, tone mocking. He held out the tiny piece and the squirrel took it, nibbling joyfully. Jihoon then broke half of the bar off, and with a powerful swing, threw it far into the woods. The squirrel took off, and Jihoon wiped his hands, returning to Seokmin.

“Problem solved,” he said, grinning triumphantly. Seokmin grimaced, glancing over to where the squirrel ran off into the woods before continuing up the trail.

The next thing Jihoon noticed—more embarrassing for him than anything—was when Seokmin went off the trail to look at a small stream. Jihoon stood by the trail, looking kind of nervous to join him.

“Come on!” Seokmin urged, holding out his arms. “I’ll be here to catch you if you fall.”

Convinced, Jihoon began the downwards climb, making sure his steps were steady as could be. At the last rock, Jihoon lost his footing and Seokmin did indeed catch him, steadying him with hands gripping the side of his arms.

“Careful,” he scolded him. Jihoon flushed a bit at not being the best hiker, but then he noticed Seokmin blinking dumbly ahead of him.

“What is it?” Jihoon asked.

“It’s just, the path you just took down here…” He pointed, and Jihoon followed his finger to see small flowers blooming at every spot where he stepped, and once when he braced himself on a tree trunk, bud sprouting sideways.

Feeling the warmth spread up his face, Jihoon pushed Seokmin rather forcefully down the path of the creek. “Let’s just look at the water, shall we!” He shouted, voice cracking. He could only hope that there weren’t flowers blooming under his steps then, too.

What stood out the most was towards the end of the trail, they passed by a lake, known well among hikers for its lush, almost mystical backdrop of the deep woods. The two of them stopped to look for a second, crossing through the thick trees to sit by its edge. After a few moments of sitting Jihoon gasped and pointed ahead of them, spotting a deer drinking from across the lake. The deer looked up and spotted them, and Jihoon knew the sight was over. Except the deer instead crossed the lake, using a fallen trunk as a bridge, slowly approaching Jihoon.

His eyes went wide with shock as the deer approached him, sitting as still as he could. Seokmin looked repeatedly from him to the deer, trying to comprehend what was happening. When the deer was right in front of Jihoon, it ducked its head, nudging at Jihoon’s hand for him to rub it on its head. Jihoon did so, petting it everywhere it let him.

“What the fuck,” Jihoon mouthed to Seokmin, who could only manage to gawk at them. The deer suddenly rubbed his face against Jihoon’s, causing both of them to gasp and laugh quietly.

“Where’s my phone, I need to record this,” Seokmin whispered harshly, moving around trying to find the phone in his bag. At the commotion the deer jerked up and ran away, Seokmin hissing in disappointment and Jihoon letting out a tense breath.

“That was absolutely bonkers! Jihoon, what the hell! Are you like the nature whisperer or something!?”

Jihoon laughed nervously, rubbing the spot on his face where the deer had nuzzled him. It dawned on him that he definitely had the opposite problem now, his feelings of fondness and happiness overflowing out of him into the life around him, drawing all living things near and out. It felt like the world trying to speak for him. He wasn't too fond of it.

Right before arriving back at their car, Seokmin looked at the map and discovered a scenic driving route they could take before leaving. This time, Seokmin drove, giving Jihoon a break for awhile. It was mostly quiet, Jihoon enjoying the scenery how he liked it best—from behind a window—until Seokmin spoke up.

“Jihoon,” he began. “What am I to you?”

“Huh?” Jihoon felt his heart skip a beat. Even though he was on a parade of honesty, he didn’t know if he was ready for this one yet. “What do you mean?”

“Well, like, to me, you’re really important,” Seokmin went on. “And really special. And I don’t want anything to get in the way of that.”

Jihoon’s heart fell. “Oh,” was his response.

After a beat of silence, Seokmin said, “You know what I mean, right?”

“Yeah, of course,” Jihoon answered. “I feel the same about you. You’re really precious to me.”

Seokmin hummed in satisfaction. “Precious,” he repeated.

“Yes, precious,” Jihoon said again.

Seokmin was quiet for a moment before he said in a sinister voice, “My precious,” and Jihoon shoved him as he laughed loudly.

“You have to ruin every moment,” Jihoon said with a snort. But as he settled down into the seat again, he couldn’t help but hear his words repeating over and over in his mind. I don’t want anything to get in the way of that. He tried not to give them too much weight, but he couldn’t help the uncomfortable pit in his stomach that was forming, the doubt that was clouding his mind again. As they pulled up to the lot near the scenic picnic view that Seokmin marked as their final destination, Jihoon noted the clouds looming over the mountains, as well. Great.

They unpacked the car with the food from the grocery store and headed over to the table, Seokmin looking vexed by the clouds.

“We might have to eat fast, if that rain is gonna roll in,” he noted.

“Not a problem, I’m basically a human vacuum cleaner,” Jihoon responded. It made Seokmin laugh and he felt part of his heart stir again.

Over the food they talked about the day, which ended up being mostly Seokmin recounting his favorite parts of the hike. Jihoon listened and responded when necessary, preoccupied by the heavy feeling in his chest like an iron cast. He didn’t want to dwell on it, but after pouring his heart into the day, he was starting to think he might have made a mistake.

They finished their food quickly and went to toss their garbage out at a platform with a roof. As soon as they made a move to leave, the rain began hammering down around them. They exchanged a glance and stepped back against the wall, trying to stay as far away from the rain as possible. They listened to the rain hit the roof hard for a long time until Seokmin broke the silence.

“Did I upset you?” he asked.

Jihoon frowned. “No. Why?”

“You seem upset.” He looked down at Jihoon, eyes wandering all over his face. “Did I say something…?”

“Not at all.” Jihoon looked away. “What could you have possibly said?”

“I don’t know.” Seokmin was quiet, and then he grabbed Jihoon’s hand.

“I meant it, earlier, you know. You’re really important to me. And I’ll do whatever I need to protect that. I like us like this, like we are now.” Jihoon looked up to find Seokmin smiling down at him gently. His heart hammered in his chest and his lips tugged up in a smile.

“I like us like this, too,” Jihoon said, wiggling his fingers in Seokmin’s grasp. Seokmin laughed and squeezed his hand. Jihoon still couldn’t make sense of it, really, but his heart already felt lighter, so he took what he could get. They stayed like that for a few minutes, until the rain was falling in a drizzle and Seokmin tugged on Jihoon’s hand for them to make a run for the car.

On the way back into town, they stopped at a gas station to fill the tank up and get some drinks. Jihoon stayed outside, sitting on the wooden railing overlooking the mountains and the sunset. He jumped a bit at the sensation of a cold can against his cheek, grabbing it out of Seokmin’s hand instantly.

“Got you your favorite,” Seokmin said.

“Thanks,” Jihoon responded, “though I’ve been trying to cut back on the Coke.”

Seokmin joined him, leaning against the wooden railing and drinking his own soda.

“Seokmin,” Jihoon said suddenly, even startling himself. He wondered if a semi-deserted gas station in the middle of nowhere was the best place to have this conversation, but his feelings were bursting out of him, and he was tired of holding them all in.

“I haven’t been honest with you,” he continued. “I...need to tell you something.”

“Okay,” Seokmin said carefully, attention fully on Jihoon.

Jihoon played with the tab of the can. “Well, you see, I’m sure you’ve noticed a lot of weird stuff happening on this trip so far.” Seokmin nodded. “Well...almost all of them were because of me. I’m...let me just show you.” Jihoon tapped the space between him and Seokmin on the railing, and a small leaf sprouted from between the wood. He did it several more times, and Seokmin let out a small gasp. Jihoon looked away again, focused on the ground.

“I didn’t just want that book at the bookstore for no reason. It really is useful to me. And...I haven’t had a grip on my powers because I’ve been trying to push down my feelings for you. I didn’t want to admit them, but it just made everything worse. The car, the cats, the power outage, the rain just now, that was all me. Because I kept getting nervous and trying to deny the fact that I like you. Even when I was rolling with it, weird things would happen, too, like the flowers at your sister’s place or on the trail or the deer. And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you earlier. I’m sure this has all been really confusing.” He looked up at Seokmin them to find his eyes blown wide. “I’m sorry, this is a lot to take in, I know. If you think I’m a total freak now, I get it.”

“Oh, I don’t care about the magic stuff,” Seokmin said, and Jihoon recognized the delighted twinkle in his eye. “I mean, I do! It’s cool. I think it’s really cool. I’m just happy the guy that I like likes me back.”

“Oh.” Jihoon looked away, smile nearly splitting his face in half. “Well. I’m glad he does, too.”

They sipped on their drinks for a bit, fidgeting and trying to find the next thing to say, how to convey their bliss.

“So,” Seokmin started, “What all do you control? Like, what’s the limit?”

“I don’t know,” Jihoon admitted. “I thought it was just limited to things that were alive, like plants and animals. Not humans though, we’re too...much. But with everything that’s happened in the past few days, I don’t know. There could be a lot more things that I can control that I wasn’t even aware of.”

“Huh.” Seokmin took the last gulp of his drink, tossing it into the nearby trash can. “So...does that mean you have nothing to do with the fact that I want to kiss you right now?”

“I don’t know,” Jihoon said with a playful smirk. “Like I said, could be. But if I’m irresistible by design, my powers have nothing to do with that.” He leaned in closer. “Do you want to kiss me?”

“Oh yeah,” Seokmin said, barely above a whisper as he closed the space between them. Jihoon realized that his powers might have no limit, love blooming between Seokmin’s lips, even if they tasted a bit like Sprite.

When they parted Seokmin giggled a bit, and Jihoon looked down and groaned. Around them, a bed of pink flowers had sprouted. Seokmin bent down to pluck one from its roots.

“I could get used to this, you know,” he stated, tucking the flower behind Jihoon’s ear. “Having a boyfriend that’s basically also a forest nymph.”

“Shut up, Seokmin!”