Chapter Text
Jeongin was out in the fields when the letter arrived.
Everyone seemed to be heaving through the last bits of their work, tired down to their very bones and hoping to just throw down the bundles of harvest off of their shoulders and run back home. It only took so much time before everyone left on their own way leaving Jeongin alone on the eerily silent farm. He had no intention to go back home though, not before completing his quota of work that he had set. It just so happened that he was sick and bedridden for almost a month meaning he had to make up for it somehow, after all, everyone else had to work extra because of his condition, this was the least he could do for them. His legs were still unsteady, probably due to not having properly recovered yet and his hands were jerking violently as he tried to tie up the bundles.
“Hey, it’s late.” Jeongin turned around hearing that. There stood his little brother, his hair blowing wildly, clutching his jacket hard to keep him covered, only then did Jeongin realize he was shivering due to unusually cold winds going around the town. “Let’s go home, hyung.” He breathed out, his teeth clattering together.
“A little more time, Yohan.” He continued moving the bundles around, “Why don’t you go home while I finish here, yeah?”
“Hyung, you’re shaking, let’s just go.” He spared his younger brother a glance. The moonlight was reflecting on his face, making him look otherworldly, it seemed to further accentuate his soft features and his round cheeks. “Please?” He ended it as a question, his eyebrows scrunching up, mouth morphing itself into a frown.
A sigh left Jeongin’s lips, “Okay, Okay.” A tight-lipped grimace on his face as he threw another and well, his last bundle into the heap. “Stop making that face, we’re going home.” He said, wiping his hands on his t-shirt Yohan seemed absolutely elated at his defeat, jumping towards him and grabbing his hand while leading the way. Yohan turned fifteen this year but the way he acts sometimes makes him look way younger than his age. While he was built like a typical fifteen-year-old, tall and lanky and all about weird proportions, his round cheeks, big eyes, and crooked teeth gave a vulnerable and small feeling to him. Jeongin would be damned if he let anything ever happen to him.
They reached home fairly quick, not like the farm was that far away, but with Jeongin’s legs trying to give up every other minute it took a whole lot more time than it took today. Yohan was happily babbling about his day at school and Jeongin maintained a small smile on his face trying hard not to laugh at his younger brother’s antics. Yohan continued to tell him about Yuvin and how weirdly clingy he was, “Seriously hyung, he held me so close I was--” A sudden sharp yell stopped him mid-sentence, Yohan flinched, turning his head to the backdoor of his home while Jeongin looked at the silhouettes standing in the kitchen most likely the source of the yell. He silently motioned Yohan to not go inside. Their parents were never one to fight especially not like this, it sparked his curiosity. He moved closer to the kitchen window, trying to make out the heated conversation going on between their parents, Yohan quietly following.
“It’s not like we can avoid this! You know what that witch is all about!” Judging from the heavy voice, it was most likely his father, probably pacing around the kitchen like he always does whenever something goes wrong.
“Sorry to break it out to you, but I can’t just let him go!” His mother’s usually soft voice had a slight tint of anger as she spoke.
“Can’t you see, woman? That godforsaken witch will curse our whole family to hell!” His father’s voice constantly kept fluctuating between being filled with defeat and blinding anger.
“Isn’t there a better way out of this?” Another voice joined, Yohan’s eyes widened as he looked at Jeongin. Jonghyun, their elder brother. “Isn’t there a way to pull Innie out of this?”
Yohan shook Jeongin’s sleeves, speaking in a hushed voice, “Hyung, what’s going on? The witch? Why are you involved? Why is mum talking about letting go? She can’t possibly be talking about you, yeah? Yeah?” his voice cracked at the end and it did nothing to calm Jeongin’s erratic heart. He was involved. They are talking about him, about letting him go.
Jeongin grabbed Yohan’s hands into his, “Don’t worry. Let’s head inside, we must be overthinking this, it probably isn’t anything.” His trembling voice probably did nothing to convince his spooked out little brother but honestly, Jeongin himself was a little out of it after hearing all that. He wasted no more time as he stood up, dragging his almost sobbing brother through the backdoor. The wooden floor creaked loudly, making three heads snap up in their direction. Her mother turned back to hide, leaning on the kitchen counter, trying to not make it obvious that she was crying, his father continued to burn holes onto the table while his brother rubbed his forehead and gave Yohan and Jeongin a half smile that didn’t quite reach his tired eyes.
“Hey, you two are back.” Jonghyun greeted, almost as if nothing was wrong, as though these three weren’t trying to scream their lungs out in the kitchen, sounded too fake if Jeongin was being honest, he felt Yohan let out a scowl behind him, “Why don’t you two run up to your rooms? Dinner will take a while today.”
“Yeah, okay.” Jeongin hears his own heartbeat speed up as he tries to restrain Yohan from doing anything stupid, he squeezes his hand as a warning, “Yohan, come on, let’s go--”
“No.” Yohan pulls his hand away from Jeongin’s hold, “What are you gonna talk about Jonghyun hyung? Talk about it in front of us you know?” The snark in his voice makes even Jeongin curl in a bit into himself. His father lifts his head for the first time to glare in their direction, his mother freezes whatever pretend job she was doing and Jonghyun tries hard to not let his smile go down, though the unnatural stretch of his lips at the edges are making it quite obvious that it’s all a pretend game.
“Hey, Yohan, It’s not related to you two yeah? That’s the reason we can’t talk about it with you or Jeongin, now scurry away.” Jeongin noticed how his hyung had his hands balled into fists, knuckles turning white by how hard he was digging his nails into his own hands. He grabbed Yohan again, a little more tightly and when Yohan turned to look at him, he gave him a look, trying to plead to him to not say whatever he was going to but alas, teenage rebellion was still a thing.
“Oh? Is that so? Are you sure hyung this isn’t about sending Jeongin hyung somewhere?” Yohan at this point, stood protectively in front of Jeongin, holding onto Jeongin’s hand and it would’ve been funny in any other situation due to the height difference and Yohan practically looking like a baby but it isn’t, because Jonghyun hyung’s smile falls off his face, his mother finally turns around to reveal her red eyes and gives a pained glance towards them and his father heaves a heavy sigh.
“Jeongin has been asked to become one of the witch’s apprentice.” His father said, as a matter of fact, twirling around the envelope in his hand.
Yohan fumed,“He has been asked, meaning he can decline. Why are we even debating this?” his eyes narrowing down as though everything being said didn’t make sense, as though the answer was right there while the others were stupidly looking for it.
Jonghyun leaned back on the wall, closing his eyes before he spoke, “It’s not as much of a choice if the witch is asking for your presence. She is known for her curses that she casts on families and sometimes the whole of villages if people try to disobey her. The asked is simple formalities,” He glances at Jeongin, “She gets what she wants.” and their mother’s quiet sobs isn’t really helping, Jeongin thinks bitterly all while Yohan stands stunned, trying to make sense of whatever Jonghyun said.
“B-but--” Yohan starts again but this time Jeongin cuts him off swiftly.
“Well, if that’s the case, Yohan’s right. There really isn’t the need for a debate right? The decision’s already made.” He moves towards his father, taking the letter from his hand. He runs his fingers on the soft brown paper, “I won’t be having dinner today, don’t bother making extra, mum.” and with that, he leaves, climbing up the stairs, ignoring Yohan’s screams of ‘hyung!’ and other noises, securely shutting the door behind him.
Jeongin slides down the door. He had heard about the witch, during the time when he visited the market or when the boys were taking a break at the field, wildly guessing what kind of things the witch can do and what on earth would her apprentices actually work on. The witch, he had heard, was a formidable person to the point, where nobody would even try challenging her. Come to think of it, he doesn’t know what happens to the apprentices, do they ever come back? Are they even alive? The rumors say that she kills all of the boys she calls for fun. Even her title is foreboding, hushed whispers and fables going around town were anything but comforting.
Jeongin heaves a sigh, carefully opening the envelope, taking out the pristine white paper from inside before unfolding it, looking at a very cleanly written letter and he would’ve appreciated the beautiful handwriting if not for the content that this letter held. He felt his eyes sting and his insides twisting themselves into knots as he read through the letter. Yes, he was sick till a few days before, he probably still is but not on the brink of death as he was near the beginning of the month, is this why the witch calls for him? Because he’d be an easy prey? She has no reason to know him, Jeongin is good in school—though due to his plight he had to miss school for well over a month and as of now is lagging behind—but other than that there isn’t much to him, he knows no magic like the nobles of the town nor does he have any extravagant skill to identify himself with.
The witch talks highly of him, speaking about things only he’d be able to do but Jeongin doesn’t feel that way, he’s not special, he’s good but average good at best. It seems to be bland flattery, nothing more than pretty words to console him, words he doesn’t need, for if it wasn’t for this letter he wouldn’t have to leave his family and go to a faraway land to do something only he could do, what jazz. He doesn’t feel comforted or special or excited at all if that’s what the witch wanted rather he feels bitter. He doesn’t want to leave behind Yohan or Jonghyun, he doesn’t want to not help her mother in the kitchen at the crack of the dawn singing softly together, he doesn’t want to not be able to hear his father’s exaggerated complaints. It’s so unfair to take away his choice in all this. He stands up anyway, not paying attention to the audible conversation downstairs, unlocking the door just in case someone needs anything, he moves to his bed and lays down, the words of the letter imprinting themselves into his mind as he falls into a dreamless sleep.
----X----
Dear Yang Jeongin,
I know it’s too much to ask for but I’d like your presence here with me, There are things around here which I find you’d be suitable for, things that no one but you can do. I’d like you to believe that you’re one of a kind, Jeongin and I’d like to help you develop further, break your limits. You might not even be aware of the gift you possess, worry not, you’ll figure it out here along with enhancing it. You’ll have other apprentices to help you adjust into your new life, that is if you choose to.
I wish you do ponder on the choice I’m presenting you with, It would be a great loss for me to not have you here. I am certain that you’ll fit right into the role I’d provide you with, more than that, I’m certain that what we lack here would be fulfilled by you and only you. Give it a chance, Jeongin, I swear on my life you won’t regret this.
If you do decide to join me, come to the town square in the morning after the summer feast, one of my men will escort you here.
I hope you choose wisely Jeongin.
Warmest regards,
The Witch
----X----