Chapter Text
Orange.
In the beginning, were two boys, one that lived his normal life with utmost happiness and the other who couldn’t help but loathe his lavish upbringing. They talk about people who are meant to be, who fit in the best of ways, click as soon as they meet but not these two. Their imperfections clashed together, their differences growing too great to ignore but they couldn’t seem to let the other go, something along the lines of trying to understand each other. Weird, was one way to describe them as they jittered around colors, running all over the space, you couldn’t take your eyes off them once you started observing them. They laughed, fought, cried, laughed a little more, together, always together, to balance each other so that one can’t fly too far away to never be able to come back and one can leave the ground once in a while to take flight.
Their story was one among many things, of changing, of understanding, of losing homes, of finding new ones, of friendship, of a little something more than that and of colors.
In the beginning, they were tinged with carelessness, pessimism, rudeness, the crude raw aggression, believe it or not, they were all but boys, the tender heart of youth prevalent, mixed with hope, happiness, and warmth.
In the beginning, the sky stood orange and so did Han Jisung and Yang Jeongin.
A little before the beginning Yang Jeongin ended up making the single biggest mistake of his life.
It was a casual day, he was moving around the little art shop at the end of the street, arranging the brushes properly on display, making sure the easels stayed upright when the bell at the front rung, it’s sweet chime filling the shop and he hurried back to the counter to greet his customer.
He saw a woman, carrying herself with utmost grace, head held high as her heels clicked on the cheap wooden floor. The black dress wasn’t weather-appropriate considering how the concrete roads were probably cooked raw by the blistering sun but he’d have to admit it was pretty, her robe fluttering behind her. Jeongin did feel the slightest bit intimidated as she stood near the counter. She gave him a small smile and Jeongin returned it, “Hello, how can I help you today?” He asked, following what he usually does.
“I need some paints,” She slid a small paper on the table, “If you could please get them for me?” Her voice never wavering, confident and modulated. He nodded and took the paper, reading over the kinds of paints she wanted, a little check-in the record and he had an idea of where he’ll find them.
“Please give me a moment, I’ll bring them here in a minute.” He said as he stepped away from the counter and went at the back of the shop to bring the paints out from the shelves. Out of the five paints she was looking for, it seemed like the store was out of one of them so he just brought the four others upfront, keeping it on the counter.
“Ah,” She frowned a bit looking down at the paints, “One’s missing here.”
Jeongin nodded, “Yeah, we are out of the peach shade you asked for. I apologize for the inconvenience.”
“You’re out of it?” Jeongin could sense the slightest hint of lividness in her tone. He just prayed to God she isn’t that kind of customer.
Jeongin nodded yet again, “That seems to be it, miss. The new stock was supposed to arrive today but I guess it’s running late.” He saw her frown deepen and he hurriedly added, “I’m sorry about it.” As the owner says, the best shot at handling people who get upset for unreasonable things is to pretend like they’re in the right and you’re the one who wronged them which at first sounded utterly stupid because why should he apologize when the other person’s being petty but after one too many run-ins with people who almost reduced him to tears, he decided that it’s for the best.
“Sorry won’t cut it now, would it?” Her tone grew louder, eyebrows scrunched together as she stared at Jeongin, “It took me so long to travel here since your dainty shop is at the edge of the town, I needed all of them.” It still hasn’t escalated that bad, Jeongin has hopes that he can save this.
“I do understand and I deeply apologize for causing this trouble,” Jeongin’s tried to evaluate whether he should say it or not, it’s usually a wild card with situations like these, it can either turn it in his favor or go completely against him though when he saw the woman just give him a look of absolute anger he decides to go for it, “You don’t need to pay for these things and if you drop by tomorrow to pick up the missing color you wouldn’t need to pay for it either, if that works for you?”
“That’s an oddly small compensation for this big of a trouble, boy.” She said, picking up the small can of paint and twirling it around. Jeongin bit back a frustrated sigh.
“How can I make up for it then?” He asked her, trying hard to not let his tone become borderline offensive. Customers like this always do hate when he starts to level his voice to match theirs.
“Get me the missing paint.” She said it as though it was obvious, as though Jeongin should already know this.
“But miss, we are out of stock here.” He can the slightest hint of exasperation in his voice, hopes she doesn’t catch on it.
“You said the new stock was coming in today, right?”
Jeongin nodded, “Yes but—”
The woman was quick to cut him off, “Well can’t you go and bring it yourself then?”
“I have no whereabouts of where the package is miss, maybe it’s in the town somewhere but it can easily be held out in some other town, I won’t be able to track it down and it would waste both your time and mine.” Even if Jeongin by some miracle knew where they were there was no way he’d go to fetch just a can of paint when he knew that it’s definitely going to reach the shop in a day or two.
“Well, I have wasted plenty of time coming here, haven’t I?” Her frown deepens even more if that was somehow even possible.
“I’m positive miss that the paint would be delivered tomorrow. If you could just come by then?”
The woman scoffed, “Do you take me as a fool, boy? I don’t have all my life to waste on doing dumb errands like you, I need that paint and you have to bring it.” Ouch. No need to get all personal like that now, Jeongin thought.
“I never said such a thing miss and I’m sorry that I have no purpose in life like you do but I don’t think I can bring what you need.” He’d like to say that the heat was messing with his head and that’s why he couldn’t stop the words from tumbling out of his mouth, “So, would you like to take this in a bag or would you carry it yourself?” He points towards the paints of the counter.
“Watch your tongue, boy,” She said, scowling at him, “You have no idea of what things I’m capable of.” You are plenty capable of being a self-entitled human I suppose, Jeongin thought but it seemed way too mean of an answer.
He sighed, “You are correct I indeed do not know what you’re capable of. So, do you want these paints or not?”
She slammed the can of paint she was holding down on the counter, “Since you seem to have no manners, I guess I’ll have to give you a little something.”
“Oh, I refuse miss, I’m in no need of,” He vaguely moved his hand in the air, “whatever it is you want to give me.”
“Oh, well,” She scoffed and put on a tight smile, “You shall have it anyway.” She grabbed Jeongin’s wrists, painfully squeezing it and muttering words under her breath, pushing him back when she was done and before Jeongin could react or say something, she snatched the paints from the counter and went straight out the door, slamming it all while Jeongin just stared wide-eyed at the pure display of a temper tantrum from a grown woman.
He hissed as he cradled his wrist close to his chest, lifting his other hand to see red visible marks though that’s not what he noticed first. There were black incomprehensible marks curling all around his wrist like a bracelet except it looked like it was inked on. Other than the death hold of the woman, it didn’t hurt at all. He tried to rub it out, eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he furiously scratched it hoping it would come off except it only made his skin redder. He tried to wash it off next, with water, soap, it didn’t disappear.
After a while he just slumped, accepting she did something weird to him but since he didn’t feel like anything was out of place so he continued his work. Greeted more customers, got them what they needed, covered his partner’s shift because he called in sick today, thanked God that he didn’t meet another customer like the woman from before. She eerily remained at the back of his mind, throughout the day there were multiple instances where Jeongin couldn’t help but unconsciously rub at his wrist, the skin blotched red, almost as if would start bleeding if Jeongin were to continue with his paranoid actions.
After closing the art shop, he went back to his small room in a rundown apartment. The old lady was kind enough to clear up the storeroom on the first floor when Jeongin came in looking for a cheap stay and even if it was located in a not so good area and there were more than few weird occupants and the doors were often breaking at the hinges and locks that could be easily opened, Jeongin considered it a steal. It worked for him, a small space to sleep, a desk fitted near the window and a very small counter to cook plus the old lady doesn’t mind if the rent comes in late, worked as he said.
He shrugged off the uneasiness and forgot about his wrist as soon as he hit the bed. Jeongin slept well.
A little before the beginning Han Jisung decided to do something to change his life for the better.
He had been woken up unceremoniously to an argument between his father and one of his men as he slept on the couch. Something or the other about trade meetings, not his cup of tea, he tried hard to just turn his back and go back to sleep yet the heavy footsteps only grew louder and louder and it wasn’t long before his father was in the living room.
“Jisung?” His father questioned, motioning his men to stop talking for a while as Jisung turned around to look at him still flopped on the couch, “That’s no place to sleep, boy, and have you seen the time? Aren’t you supposed to be attending your lessons?”
“Sorry father, just wanted to take a nap.” He mumbled, getting up from the couch, “I’ll be going.”
“Go straight to your lessons, boy. I’ve heard you’ve been skipping out a lot.”
Not his fault he isn’t the least bit interested in learning things to benefit him after inheriting his father’s line of work but he resorted to just nodding as he lazily gets out the room. Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw his father shaking his head in disappointment. He still doesn’t understand why he’s forced to learn about things that he doesn’t want to know about, all these trade work and finance is not something he’s good at and his elder sister is very much capable to handle it herself. The way his father undermines his sister’s hard work doesn’t sit right with him.
“Hey, Sung.” His sister, Sana, called out to him, emerging from the library, “Mr.Kim was looking for you, we haven’t yet started the lesson.”
Jisung can’t help but whine, “I don’t wanna!”
Sana giggled, “Can’t help it, Sungie, you need to learn all this if you want to continue father’s work.”
“But what if I don’t want to continue his work?” He rolled his eyes, “Anyone can see you’re better than me at this, he does not need me.”
“You know how father is,” Sana said, voice more pitying than anything, “I’ve been trying to convince him for the longest time to let go of you and let me handle all of this but he just doesn’t agree.”
“Ugh.”
“Come in.” She dragged him inside anyway and Jisung didn’t have any plausible reason to resist her.
And that’s how he spent his afternoon, barely paying attention to whatever it is the teacher said, slumped in his chair, doodling in his notebook while his sister diligently scribbled down notes beside him, so fun. He lets out the biggest sigh of relief when they are finally dismissed, his sister hitting him, insisting that it wasn’t as bad as Jisung made it seem but he counter-attacked with the fact that she liked studying about all the trade stuff while he, on the other hand, couldn’t care any less.
They were continuing their petty fight when their father cut in, “Children, for the love of God, just stop.”
Sana quickly shut her mouth while whatever retaliation Jisung had died on his tongue. “Is something wrong, father?” Sana had asked, her eyes shining with interest. She probably knew about the recent arguments on the trade matters and just wanted to know what the problem is, Jisung barely held back the snort as he glared at his sister.
“Some complications in the recent trade with the northern town apparently, I’d have to leave the tomorrow to go there.” He said, rubbing his forehead in distress, “You, my boy,” He pointed at Jisung, “will have to accompany me, it’s due time you took all this seriously.”
Jisung stumbled over his words for a while, too surprised at the sudden reveal, he didn't just want to get dragged into long meetings and petty conversations about a negotiation he had no interest in. More so than that it’s the fact that Sana would like it better than him, she practically gives it her all to study and understand all the trade stuff and she quite likes it and all this while, she had been trying to get their father to notice how competent she is and somehow everyone noticed it except this man and he’s so mad at himself because he hadn’t put in any effort for all this and yet here he stood, “What? Why? Take Sana instead, I’m happy here!”
“It’s you who’s taking over all this not Sana, it’s final, Jisung.” His father glared at him and Jisung felt like he’s had enough of all this.
“Can you just for a minute notice how much I hate this?!” He lets out an unbelievable laugh, “Father, I don’t care about trade. Just for once can you acknowledge the very obvious fact that Sana’s better than me?” And he felt this immense anger when his father just shook his head in disappointment as though this was Jisung simply throwing a tantrum over not getting a candy not genuinely upset at the fact that Sana wants to be where he is desperately and yet his father’s pushing him when he didn't even want this. In fact, want comes way ahead, Jisung didn't even deserve to take over whatever this is. “I sound like a whiny child to you again, don’t I?” he asked, nails digging into his palms.
“How nice of you to be self-aware.” His father sneered.
“Father.” Sana exasperated from beside Jisung. “Please do keep your—”
Jisung snorted, “Very well, father, I am not coming with you, I hate this and it’s due time for you to know that.” And just like that Jisung made his way out the door, ignoring both the worried and livid calls of his name, making sure to slam it behind him, the pure expression of a temper tantrum.
He walked on the familiar streets, not exactly knowing where he wanted to go but continuing anyway. Thoughts swirling in his head, of how utterly undeserving he was of all the things his father offered him. To think that someone who’s far better than him is just there and his father constantly chooses him, it forced him to turn away from all this, he tried to really, act like a complete degenerate for his father to, for once, shift his attention to the better one. How many nights has he heard Sana curl in on herself and cry, how many nights has he heard her flipping her books and notes learning patiently about everything to just receive the slightest speck of attention that goes into Jisung and he hated himself for that, to take away what’s rightfully supposed to be her sister’s. He truly believes that Sana’s too nice to say it to his face but somewhere, deep in her heart, she must loathe him and the thought of his sister hating him only made his heart squeeze a tad bit tighter, quite painful, almost as though it would collapse in on itself leaving only a black hole in its place to swallow Jisung whole.
He found himself standing in front of the town square soon enough, the streets filled with patrons going about their evening shopping trips or just a tiny little outing to get out of their house. He blended in smoothly, the chitter-chatter of the crowd filling the space where his voice screamed at him inside his head. The physical warmth offered comfort like none other for the time being, the neatly spread out items on the stalls catching his eyes once in a while so he could ignore the slowly growing ache in his lungs. Jisung would stand there for the longest of times if it meant he wouldn’t have to see his father look at him with utmost disappointment and his sister with a tint of jealousy and shame. He no longer wanted to acknowledge the gaping hole that had started growing where his heart was supposed to be because lying was a rush like none other, he’d deceive himself this time too.
He was just passing buy another one of the stalls when a turquoise emerald caught his eye. He moved near to observe it, twirling it between his fingers, he thought it would make a pretty gift, for whom though? He didn’t know, just a sudden urge to buy it, he dug around in his pocket, taking out whatever bills and coins were crushed there and turned to the shopkeeper who seemed to be engrossed in a conversation with a man, wildly exclaiming whatever incident he was narrating and Jisung couldn’t help the curiosity, quietly hearing in on them.
“—I swear to god!” The man screeched, “The northern witch can do anything.”
“Yeah, and how’d ya know that?” The shopkeeper grumbles, “It’s not like ya met her or anything, stop blabbering.”
“Ted, buddy,” The man continued, “She came through the town I was staying at and this woman bumped into her and the witch cursed her! She grew old in a matter of seconds, I saw it all happen.”
The guy, Ted, said, “Quite the temper she has.”
The man nodded along, “Yeah, I’d definitely not want to do anything to piss her off, mate. Though it seems compelling to think she can probably fulfill anything I ask for.”
“Nothing comes without a price,” Ted murmured, “Especially with this witch, you’d be getting the worse part of the deal, magic isn’t something to toy around.” He fixed his displays a bit, “At least not with this cranky one.” The man hesitantly nodded, topics shifting into something Jisung didn’t bother to hear. The northern witch, he felt the gears turn in his head as he moved closer to the two men, slowly sliding the emerald in his palm to Ted, asking for the price.
He absent-mindedly mumbled, “Where did you see the northern witch last?” and the man beside him quickly whipped his head to look at him.
“You heard us?”
“Yeah,” Jisung nodded, “I was just standing there, looking at the display. I hope she doesn’t come to our town, man, doesn’t sound all that fun.”
“I don’t think she will.” The man mused in, “She was well on her way to the ports for some paints or somethin’ she kept fussing about, she’d probably head straight back to the northern town of Isla after getting what she wants.” Jisung nodded along and Ted came back with the emerald giving him the exact price and Jisung counted whatever he had, barely enough to pay for it. He handed it over to the man as he dropped it into a paper bag and Jisung parted away, leaving with a polite ‘thank you’ and ‘good-bye’.
The witch can fulfill any wish; Jisung had only one. The northern town, father’s trade settlements, the witch, Jisung can’t believe how this was made to be. The universe finally pulling the right strings to show Jisung the way and he practically sprinted back, already knowing all he has to do, he knows how to fix everything. No price is too big if he got what he wants, he’ll make everything right, no matter what the trade he’d get more than what he bargained for. Jisung’s grin stretched wide as the cold evening wind hit him in the face, he was happy.
He threw the door open, forcing his shoes off without bothering to open his shoelaces, “Father!” He yelled, still out of breath but he heard clattering in the dining hall so he ran again, “Father,” He said, his father looking at him with the same disappointment dripping from earlier and Jisung forced down the ugly feeling crawling up his spine, his sister also whipped her head up, relief flooding her face, “Are we going to the town of Isla?” He asked.
His father just stared on, suspicious, “No. We are going to Bradford.”
Jisung inwardly let out a scream of victory, Bradford was the town adjacent to Isla, going there would mean easy access to what he planned to do. He took a deep sigh, eyebrows furrowed, putting on his best act of being deep in thought and deeply disturbed, “I’ll come.” He sighed, barely holding back his smile, not willing to give up his cover.
His father stared at him wide-eyed, so did Sana before he broke into a proud smile.
“On one condition,” He added quickly, he just hoped this worked out, he can kill two birds with one stone, his father nodded eagerly, looking quite willing to accept whatever Jisung threw his way, “Sana can tag along with us.” Sana choked on the food hearing that, his father just stared on, his smile dimming a bit.
“Okay,” He said hesitantly, “Yeah, we’ll take her along.” Yes. Sana turned to Jisung and Jisung to her, both staring at each other and Sana has the biggest grin on her face, almost not believing how easy it was. Jisung’s plan had kick-started, he had laid his first moves properly, he has to make sure he followed it. Jisung can do it; Sana thanked him in their shared room when they were packing up for tomorrow. Jisung can do it; He thought about the witch as he fell on his bed. Jisung can do it, he had to.
Jeongin woke up with a weird feeling.
A feeling as though something was inherently wrong with him. He laid in his bed trying to figure out what was out of place but couldn’t come to a conclusion so he decided to blame it on the events of yesterday just shaking him up and went ahead to do his usual morning routine, getting ready for his work at the art shop again. He pulled out a random shirt from his closet. Staring at it closely he didn’t remember having such an oddly colored shirt before. The shade of blue was weird, a little dulled out, almost spruce like if he remembered the shade correctly. Jeongin didn’t think much of it, it was probably because the shirt was cheap and the color must’ve washed off. He threw it back in the closet, looking for a better one to wear to work that had proper cuffs to cover up his wrist which still had the odd inking which irked him more than he’d like to admit.
The art shop wasn’t all that far away, he only had a small walk to reach there from his rundown apartment so he took his merry time on the way. Today the owner of the shop was going to help him out during his shift, Jeongin guessed that’s due to the arrival of the new paints. He usually drops by whenever there’s new stock coming in to help Jeongin arrange it with proper help. He’s a nice old man if Jeongin were to say so himself, he did enjoy the company.
“Hello!” Jeongin greeted him when he saw the man surrounded by multiple packed boxes as soon as he entered the shop.
“Oh, Jeongin you’re here!” The man exclaimed, “I was waiting for you to come in so we can get started with this mess.” He gestured down to the boxes.
Jeongin giggled, “Let’s do it, Mr. Lee.”
They both got on their job of tearing open the boxes and pulling out cans and cans of paint before starting to arrange them according to their shades. They worked for what seemed like an eternity, laughing when one of them joked about something before falling into a comfortable silence again. It was one of the last few boxes Jeongin had cut into and his hands stilled for a moment, a look of confusion probably visible on his face as Mr. Lee questioned him, “Is something wrong with the paints, Jeongin?”
Jeongin hesitantly nodded, “The blue shades.” He stated, “It doesn’t have all of them.”
“What?” Mr. Lee back-tracked, keeping the cans he had picked up from another box back down before coming to inspect it himself and Jeongin stepped away to let him have a proper look. Mr. Lee stared at it for a while, moving the cans above and checking it all before he turned to Jeongin, “Wow, you almost got me scared there for a second. When did you become so good at acting, kid?” He laughed out.
“What?” It’s Jeongin who was surprised now, “But there’s no navy or indigo, not even cobalt.” He points to the box.
Mr. Lee looked at him weirdly, “They are right here, Jeongin. What are you talking about? I can see them.”
“Huh?” Jeongin’s stared at the box again, crouching down to peer into in beside Mr. Lee. He moved around the cans the same way Mr. Lee did, he felt something was off, “They’re not here.” He mumbled softly; his tone tinged with a hint of panic. Mr. Lee lifted two of the cans in his hand, turning the label towards him as Jeongin read it. Indigo and Navy. Huh? What? “It looks like teal,” he whispered, “and cerulean,” he looked at the box again, “and stone.” Jeongin can’t see the vibrant color of the shades, it’s all dulled out, a tone down, he can’t see any of the rich blues. “What? I can’t see them.” He voiced out. Mr. Lee looked at him startled.
“You can’t see the color?” He repeated and Jeongin shook his head as an answer, his fingers jittering as the weird feeling he had in the morning intensified like something was out of place, like something was wrong.
He hung his head down, eyes landing on his hand and he remembered, he rolled up his sleeve to look at his wrist, to check if something had changed. It remained the same, the writings still clearly visible. Mr. Lee suddenly gripped his wrist, surveying it closely before his head snapped towards Jeongin, “Kid, how did you get these?”
“I-I,” He sputtered, “There was this woman, yesterday and, uhm, she asked for paints and we didn’t have one of them and she was getting mean and nothing was working out so I told her to sort it quickly and she got mad? And then gripped my wrist real hard and uh, yeah.”
“Did she say who she was?” Jeongin tried to remember.
“No.” He answered, “She wore a black dress though and she went on about what all she was capable of.” He added, not sure whether it would help but still throwing it out there just in case.
Mr. Lee cursed under his breath,“ Jeongin,” He emphasized, “You talked back to the northern witch?”
“The northern witch?” Jeongin’s head was spinning.
“Jeongin, she cursed you.” Mr. Lee said, holding up his wrist, “Maybe you lose your ability to see colors?” Mr. Lee questioned out loud.
“Witch? I can’t see colors? What?” His panic grew every second. He couldn’t grasp much of anything that was just said.
Mr. Lee just sighed, “Hey, first calm down.” He waited patiently for Jeongin to gain back his sanity before he continued, “The northern witch used to wreak havoc in the entire nation in a period before you were even born. She knows all these crazy spells and curses and used to freely use them at anyone at will. After the other witches rose to power, she had to step back a bit and thus, significantly calmed down, that’s why most of you don’t know about her. Yet again, she’s as quick to anger as she was before, cranky as usual. I don’t know much but what I definitely know is that she cursed you judging by that.” He holds his wrist.
Okay. Okay so this crazy witch just cursed Jeongin out of nowhere while throwing a temper tantrum and what is he supposed to do now? Curse, “How do I break it then?” Jeongin asked.
“No clue.” Mr. Lee answered, “Though maybe she went back to Isla, her home you can say. Won’t it be better to just beg for forgiveness and hope she takes back the curse?”
Jeongin nodded in a daze. The northern town of Isla, he’d have to travel way too far, not to mention all the work he would miss, he doesn’t even know whether this witch would be ready to listen to him or not.
“If you’re worried about the work and whatnot, rest assured, I’ll get someone else to handle things when you’re gone. Just go as fast as you can, the faster the curse is off of you, the better.” Mr. Lee ruffled his hair.
“Thank you.” Jeongin muttered.
“Go home, kid, pack up,” Mr. Lee helped him stand up, extending his hand and easily pulling him up to his feet “Best you leave for Isla tomorrow.” He patted Jeongin’s back and Jeongin walks out a door, a small ‘thank you’ and ‘goodbye’ leaving his lips, a ‘good luck’ heard in return.
Jeongin ran back home.
Jisung, for the first time in a long while, woke up on time.
He deduced that the reason for it was the excitement of getting to find the northern witch and ask for a little help. A little help to finally make his sister happy and grant him his freedom, maybe a wish to change his father’s heart perhaps. Well, he’ll figure out the technicalities of wish later. All three of them hurriedly force their luggage into the carriage parked outside their house, their father warning them about how long of a trip it was and his sister still a little out of in this early in the morning.
They settled in relatively quick, leaving as soon as they were seated. Sana slept for the majority of the ride, head uncomfortably bumping into the window but it didn’t seem to disturb her all that much. His father too just tipped his head back on the seat and slept, dead to the world but Jisung didn’t. He couldn’t stop the thrill he was feeling, the single thought of finding the witch running in his mind, the different scenarios of how things could change for the better, hopes of maybe filling his empty heart, he grinned like an idiot all the ride.
He helped Sana carry out her suitcase when they arrived at the inn they were supposed to stay at for the whole duration of their trip, Sana tried to protest but she had little energy to push Jisung away, having just woken up so she let her brother help her. The room was big enough with two bedrooms, Sana and Jisung very obviously taking the room with the twin beds as their own.
“Unpack now if you want to.” Their father grumbled from the sofa, trying to figure out how the radio worked, “We leave for dinner in ten minutes.” The sun had barely gone down, it wasn’t even six o’clock yet but they were hungry, didn’t have the insight to pack some food for the long ride so the two kids easily agreed.
Jisung didn’t bother unpacking. He made sure to bring the least things he could, forced it all to fit in one backpack so that it’s easier to carry it around since he had to travel till Isla god knows how. He simply watched his sister neatly organize her clothes in the cupboard, lounging on his bed, he thought about how he needed a map and stood up, wandering the place to come across papers thrown around on top of a shelf. He looked at the papers, easily pulling out a map from the bundle, of course, they’d have a tourist map, he thought, grinning to himself about how good his plan was working out (especially considering how half of it was a jumbled mess that was untangling by itself as time passed.)
“Kids, dinner!” He father yelled from the living room and Jisung shoved the map in his back pocket, both Sana and him came out of the room and followed their father to the diner down the street. They ate their dinner, Jisung settling for a normal chicken and rice combo. They ate in silence, giving all their attention to the food and it was just a little time later that they were finished with it. The sun still up as they again made their way back to their inn. Sana and Jisung playfully pushing each other around, mocking each other by imitating what they said in an exaggerated high-pitched voice, their father laughing at their antics. Jisung felt a bitter taste in his mouth, thinking about how good it would be if they could just stay like this; no care about business, no care about who’s going to take over, no restrictions on who gets to do what but alas, Jisung considered himself a fool to think it could happen as his father starts speaking about the meeting tomorrow and how Jisung needed to be prepared for it all while Sana would just lounge in the inn. It could happen though , Jisung thought, that’s why I’m here. Yeah, Jisung knew what was coming.
Their father went straight to bed, ushering both Jisung and Sana to sleep early too, tomorrow is a big day , he had said, Jisung nodding along to show that he was serious about it. (he wasn’t.) He thanked the gods for his father being such a deep-sleeper. He slowly took his bag from where it stood perched up on the edge of his bed, slowly making his way to Sana’s side.
“Hey,” He had whispered, “Sana, wake up.”
Sana just groggily hummed in question.
“Listen,” He said, “I’m going.”
“Where?” Sana asked, rubbing her eyes, her voice sounding tired, “Is it morning already?”
“No, idiot.” Jisung replied, “I’m going. Running away. Whatever you call it.”
“Jisung, what?” Sana was alarmed now, trying to sit up but Jisung forced her down.
“Look, I have something to do here, okay? So, listen to me, father needs someone to help him out in the meeting tomorrow, right? You take my place and show him that you’re plenty competent to handle it unlike me.”
“But Jisung where the hell are you going, alone? You can’t just leave.” She hissed out, sitting up but making sure to keep her voice down.
“As I said, I have something to do. It’ll make things better, Sana, trust me and it’s not like I won’t come back ever.” He explained before quickly adding, “Maybe.” He got off her bed, staggering towards the window, he threw a piece of paper on the drawer beside his bed.
“Jisung, wait—” Sana called out.
“Don’t tell father about this, pretend you never heard me, make sure he doesn’t look for me, blabber on about the importance of the work at hand or whatnot, make sure he reads the note I just threw, cover for me yeah,” he breathed out, grinning wildly, “Love you, sis.” He opened the window ready to head out.
“Jisung,” Sana yelled out and Jisung stilled for a moment to hear out what she had to say, they waited in heavy silence before Sana just let out a big sigh, “Why do I put up with you? Just come back, yeah idiot? Love you too.”
Jisung smiled widely, laughing as he climbed out the window, yelling out a good-bye before he jumped down. Nobody seemed to have noticed him as he went out on the streets, the sun barely sets in the distance, he couldn’t stop smiling.
He checked the map once he was out on the main street, it seemed that the inn was almost at the edge of the town, so that meant he’d have to travel even less to reach Isla, probably an hour walk, nothing Jisung couldn’t handle. He happily sat at a street stall for a moment or two, just to take in the fact that he was actually doing this. While Jisung had a knack for doing things he was never allowed to do, actually doing something on this big of a scale was never even dreamed of by him, he was thrumming with energy, quickly pulling himself up on his feet after figuring out which way to go.
He went out the stall onto the street, starting to walk when a hand grabbed him.
Jeongin no longer knew what to do.
The ride he had taken from his town up to Bradford was long gone, leaving him with no idea of how to reach Isla. He could ask around but before that, he decided he wanted to munch on something or else he’d most likely die of starvation even before the curse could harm him in any way.
He sat at a street stall that offered cheap food that Jeongin gladly accepted. Chewing on his corn he thought carefully about what he should do next, face scrunched in concentration trying to plan out all his words beforehand to ensure he doesn’t sign off on a death wish when he meets the witch again, a frustrated sigh leaving his lips. He was startled when a boy came in, all smiling and sat beside him, not even acknowledging Jeongin’s presence. He just sat there, staring at the map with intent, a dopey smile still on his face. He reminded Jeongin of those overly-excited main characters of some nursery adventure story picture book. Staring at him a while longer, he noticed the uncanny resemblance of the boy to a squirrel with the way his cheeks were puffed out and his eyes all big, though Jeongin quickly averted his eyes, thinking to himself of how creepy he was being.
The boy looked approachable though, Jeongin thought a moment later, and Jeongin was in a desperate need of directions that he could probably get from the map he had. Jeongin sat contemplating how to reach out when the boy suddenly stood up and walked out on the streets. Jeongin couldn’t let him walk away like that, he couldn’t wait any longer and he wasn’t getting a better opportunity than this, he didn’t even think all that much before stumbling behind the boy. Jeongin called out to him but he didn’t listen so he did what was the next best choice, he grabbed his hand.
Jeongin barely stopped himself from slamming right into Jisung, regaining his balance just seconds away. He straightened up quickly, letting go of Jisung’s hand now that the attention was on him.
“Is something the matter?” Jisung questioned, staring at the boy who stood in front of him, fiddling with his fingers, eyes sharp almost fox-like.
“Uh,” Jeongin stuttered, “I need some directions. If I could please have a look at your map?”
“Oh, sure!” Jisung exclaimed, pulling out the folded map from his pocket, handing it over to Jeongin, “Here you go.”
“Thank you.” Jeongin gave him a small smile and Jisung noted how adorable the boy was, hunched almost, gently holding the map to ensure he didn’t damage it somehow.
“Where are you headed to?” Jisung asked the boy, curious as to know what he was doing all alone here, maybe he ran away, just like him.
“I have to reach Isla.” Jeongin said, not entirely sure whether he should tell the guy his reason for the visit or not, he decided against it in the end, closing his mouth and trying to figure out the map in his hand.
“I’m going there too!” Jisung said, happiness evident in his tone, “I have to look for the northern witch.” Jisung watched the boy’s eyes widen, Jisung hoped the boy would accompany him too. A cute company of the boy in front of him would very much work in his favor, his chirpy self wouldn’t be able to keep up the spirit if there was no one to talk to. “I’m Han Jisung, by the way.” He extended his hand and Jeongin struggled to partially fold the map so that he can shake it and Jisung held back a chuckle watching Jeongin absolutely flustered. When he finally did shake his hand, his cheeks were dusted red as though embarrassed by himself.
“I’m Jeongin,” He softly spoke, “Yang Jeongin. I’m searching for the northern witch too.” He looked up at Jisung for a moment, “May I ask why are you looking for her?”
Jisung cannot believe the coincidence, both of them are trying to look for the same thing and the chances that they met like this, Yeah, Jeongin’s definitely supposed to be his adventure partner, Jisung thought grinning at Jeongin, “I have a wish to make.” Jisung tilts his head curiously at Jeongin, letting him grasp the silent question of ‘what about you?’.
“A wish, huh?” Jeongin giggled and it was a pretty sound alright, staring at Jeongin grin at him Jisung felt the sudden need to protect him, though Jeongin’s smile soon turned somber, dampened a bit as he looked up into the sky, Jisung only now noticed the orange hue of the sky that painted itself so beautifully behind Jeongin. Jeongin raised his wrist to show Jisung the ugly ink wrapped around it, “I have a curse to break.”
The sky stood orange and so did Han Jisung and Yang Jeongin. It was the beginning.