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A gentle rain danced rhythmically down the windows of a small cottage nestled in the forest outside of Arcadia. Arcadia was a vividly colorful city bustling with life, artificial noise, and movement at every turn. However, it was far too much for the little witch who inhabited the forest beside it. He preferred the greenery and stars that painted the sky each night as opposed to the concrete and neon lights that blinded him.
That doesn’t mean he didn’t love Arcadia. In fact, he considered it a home of sorts.
He made frequent trips into the city, bringing with him a wide variety of things: containers stuffed with creams and ointments, bagged remedies, tea leaves, and jarred potions of all colors filled to the brim with the illusion that they could ooze over at any moment.
He brought these things to help heal and protect the city that he loved and those who resided within it.
Because he traveled into Arcadia time and again, he inevitably met people from many backgrounds and he made quite a few acquaintances, but socializing wasn’t our little witches strong suit. Any conversations outside of his trade weren’t a common occurrence.
He was lonely.
He wasn’t alone per se, because he had thrushes that sang sweetly to him in the morning and crickets who lulled him to sleep at night with ease. He had an assortment of plants, herbs, and flowers he looked after – and out of something resembling gratitude, they returned the favor. Not only to him, but to countless others as well.
All things in Han Jisung’s life served a purpose. Arguably though, the most important of these things was his familiar; Echo.
Echo was a slender cat, black as the midnight sky, with yellow eyes the size of saucers that pierced through your soul and an attitude to match. He often provided the witch with valuable information about their surroundings. Alerting him when something was amiss or needed tending to, as well as providing him with warmth on frigid nights — However, if you asked Echo about this, he would vehemently deny it. He wasn’t a cuddler and you would have to threaten death to get him to admit otherwise — and acted as a communicative link with the creatures the two of them shared their forest with. He was a guide and guardian for Jisung and he wouldn’t trade him for the world.
Still, that didn’t mean he wasn’t lonely, because he was very much so. Something nestled deep in Jisung’s heart was missing, and no amount of magick could fix the yearning he felt. Animals, nature, and acquaintances from Arcadia could only provide so much comfort and companionship.
So he did his best to avoid thinking about the feeling.
“Jisung,” came a small, albeit scratchy voice from somewhere by the witches feet. “I’m back with information, something I think you’ll find interesting.” Echo purred and wove himself in and out of Jisung’s legs. Familiar or not, he was still a cat.
Jisung’s shaggy black hair was carefully pinned back so that it wouldn’t get in the way and distract him while he worked. He was stationed behind a dark oak counter, mortar and pestle grinding away at the mixture of herbs he had trimmed earlier in the day.
“Echo!” Jisung smiled fondly at the small cat rubbing against his legs, a lilt to his voice as he spoke. “What’d you find?”
He crouched down instinctively to scratch underneath the cats chin, taking notice of a note placed neatly into the plum colored pouch Jisung had recently attached to his collar. The pouch itself was the perfect size for whatever Echo deemed necessary to bring home, including inventory requests and notes from Arcadia’s citizens.
“There have been some new changes in your garden, I think you’ll find them very interesting.” Echo said, hopping onto the workspace with ease, causing a stern look from Jisung who had to drop his pestle and grab a glass bottle to prevent it from falling to the floor and shattering.
Jisung had been picking up on minor changes in the forest for the past few weeks.
Every day he went out with his field journal and recorded the differences in his personal collection of herbs, plants, and flowers. Some days, there were only minor changes (if any at all). Other days, more recently, there had been quite . . . well, drastic changes. His purple passionflower seemed more lively, its vines grew stronger, taller, and the fruit it bore looked healthier – so ripe it seemed that they would fall off the vine if he dared to look away.
It was odd.
Not only because it was December — October wasn’t unheard of, but December? — and Maypop wasn’t supposed to ripen during the colder months, but because it wasn’t just his passionfruit.
The Botrytis blight his rosemary had been experiencing seemed to disappear overnight. The leaf spots on his foxglove, lavender, and violets had vanished too. Root rot, rust, all sorts of things seemed as though they’d never even existed.
Jisung knew they had.
Echo knew they had.
It was more than odd, it was unheard of. It was peculiar. No, it was crazy.
Absolutely, completely, utterly insane.
No matter how many times Jisung mulled over his research or investigated outside sources, he couldn’t explain it. Despite the countless migraine attacks he’d caused or bags of tea he’d gone through, he couldn’t figure it out. Part of the witch wished that he could thank his own hard work for it, but unfortunately Jisung knew that couldn’t have been the case.
It wasn’t only his garden that had exhibited changes either. Stout red toadstools in various shades and sizes had begun to grow alongside the riverbed, the biggest of which were taller than Jisung himself and the smallest of which hit right below his knee.
That certainly wasn’t normal.
The trees that should have been barren stood tall with their leaves as green as midsummer. Everything in his forest was as alive as the bustling city of Arcadia when it should have been quiet. It didn’t make sense.
The only possible explanation came to Jisung as he was trying albeit failing to fall asleep one night.
“It could be … no, that doesn’t make sense … maybe it’s just luck …” Jisung forced air from his mouth, speaking quietly to himself. Jisung was a lot of things, yet lucky wasn’t one of them.
After what seemed like hours of tossing and turning, he sat up. Quickly sliding his slippers onto his feet, he made his way to a small bookshelf hidden behind a hamper.
“Yes!” he whispered triumphantly, pulling out a thick olive green book with silver lettering.
The Witches Guide to Green Spirits, Volume V.
Myths, Legends, Reality and everything in between.
By Christopher Bang.
Chapter XIX
NATURE DEITIES
Everyone has heard of the term “Mother Nature”. All forces of nature have a specific use and reason for existing. As a general rule in nature worship, a nature deity is in charge of those forces. Water deity, vegetation deity, sky deity, solar deity, fire deity or any other naturally occurring phenomena all have a god or goddess in ruling over them. Many witches believe such deities to be divine beings that control particular natural phenomena.
Nature deities are featured commonly in polytheistic religions, and may include the well-known characteristics of the mother goddess, Mother Nature or Master of Animals…
Jisung’s eyes flew across the pages, absorbing any and all information he possibly could until he found what he was looking for.
“Echo,” Jisung called out, excitement clear in his tone. Throwing the large duvet off his body, he slid his right foot into one of the sandals he’d kicked off earlier and hopped on one foot to the other so that his feet wouldn’t touch the cold wood floor. “I think I figured it out. I think I know what’s happening. But I have to make sure.”
————
Jisung found himself sitting silently at the edge of a calm river, hands clasped together in his lap to conceal the trembling. The evening fog was thick throughout the foliage, blanketing the ground and water in a milky glow. He knew what he was doing in theory. However, putting it into practice was another thing entirely.
Jisung was tired of being alone but summoning something scared him. Couldn’t he just make friends like a normal person? Why’d he come to this conclusion?
“I don’t know about this.” He said more to himself than to anyone else, nerves apparent in the wobble of his voice.
The uneasiness Jisung was experiencing had been laced with curiosity and his hands trembled but he couldn’t tell if it was from something mimicking fear or an overwhelming excitement. He was baffled that something like this could happen to someone like him, yet there was no voice in the back of his head warning him of impending danger.
Jisung inhaled slowly through his nose, counting to ten. If he overthought what he was doing, he would never accomplish anything. His brain often operated like a crappy radio system. The AM stations were nothing but mumbled garbage and honestly? If you turned the FM on at the wrong time and location it would sing nothing but static and white noise, occasionally a coherent sentence would chime through. Much like a spirit box, he mused.
To combat the noise, he focused on his breathing.
In, one two three four five.
Out, one two three four five.
Jisung carefully sat his stone gray mortar and pestle in front of him, wiping his hands on his knees and taking another rib stretching breath to clear the static infiltrating his mind.
Focus.
Like muscle memory, he began to put the ingredients into his mortar with grace. He needed three pinecone scales, lavender, a tablespoon of salt, a tablespoon of dirt, one oak leaf, and five blades of grass. Jisung carefully placed three white candles into their holders, trembling hands now steady as he worked. This came as naturally to him as breathing. Jisung and magick were one in the same, like how soulmates are described in storybooks. Magick is what completed him, made him whole, made him feel like he was truly worth something.
If it felt right, it was right.
And so, he continued.
Jisung picked up a silver chalice filled with water. The water itself looked like a molton mirror due to the black lining of the chalice and the rising moonlight reflecting off of its eddying surface. If he gazed into it too long he would be able to start scrying.
As he moved to pour the liquid into the mortar, not a single drop spilled out. It’s once transparent appearance became opaque as it sloshed around absorbing the array of ingredients.
It was like clockwork.
Echo had already positioned himself into the circle without being asked, so Jisung lit the candles one by one. The flames danced to life, coloring the once snow-white wicks dark.
He pulled back, closed his eyes, and spoke.
“If you’re out there, please show yourself.” Jisung’s voice didn’t tremble but something in his heart did. He wasn’t being formal, in fact, he was practically begging whatever it was to show itself to him. To come forward. To accompany him on this journey he’d been so lonely in.
“I know what you’ve been doing.” He spoke into the breeze, “I can see it in everything. You're not exactly subtle,” Jisung trailed off, thinking for a moment. “The forest is alive in a way it hasn’t been before. It’s not a coincidence.”
“I won’t hurt you, I promise I won’t hurt you. I just want to know if I’m right about this. I want to talk.” Jisung willed himself not to sound desperate.
In, one two three four five.
Jisung felt the aura change. It went from being a chilly late autumn night to something much more warmer.
“Was it that obvious?” A voice spoke somewhere up high, causing the small hairs on the back of Jisung’s neck to prick up.
He was right. Jisung slowly opened his eyes, doing his best to suppress the smile threatening at his lips. He stared down at the summoning circle he’d created before convincing himself to look up at what he had called.
What he wasn’t expecting to see was a boy just like him, dangling his legs mischievously off of the branch he was perched on.
What he was expecting to see however, were the tiny antlers nestled in the tufts of his shaggy, almost curling, brunet hair. He was expecting the doe eyes that seemed to reflect the moonlight just as his water-filled chalice had, and he was expecting the glow that seemed to encompass him.
“Was it?” The creature – deity, spoke again, practically prodding Jisung for an answer while swinging himself from the branch and landing gracefully near the still kneeling witch.
Jisung found his voice and stood, leaning his back against a tree. “It wasn’t at first.”
“I see,” The deity smiled, a catlike grin made its way onto his lips and Jisung got a better look at the boy’s appearance from up close.
Pink, yellow, and lilac flower petals seemed to be painted onto the deity’s skin, his doe-like eyes were protected by thick long eyelashes that sat prettily against his cheekbones when he blinked, and the glow that he was exuding was something completely natural.
Jisung was in awe; how did something as beautiful as this exist?
“What’s your name?” Jisung blurted out the question without thinking much of it, because that’s just how Jisung was. Talk first, regret later.
“You can call me Minho, if you’d like.” The deity – Minho – smiled, stepping closer to Jisung as if he were sizing him up. He got distracted halfway to the witch and crouched down, rapidly losing interest in Jisung once he’d made notice of the small black cat.
Echo took a sidelong glance at Jisung before nuzzling his head against Minho’s outstretched hand.
Jisung watched as Minho scratched under his familiar’s chin, watched as he petted him and cooed when Echo rubbed against his thigh.
“Do you like cats?” Jisung asked, almost desperate for conversation.
“They’re my favorite animal.” Minho said and looked up briefly, continuing to coo as the creature flopped over onto its back.
“So,” Jisung began, shifting slightly to get a better angle for conversation. “Why’d you want my attention so bad – why are you helping me so much?”
Minho stopped petting the cat and opted to look at Jisung closely for the first time tonight.
“Don’t flatter yourself.” He quipped but there was an air of curiosity about his voice. “It was your cat, that’s why I wanted your attention.”
If Jisung didn’t know any better, he would’ve thought that the deity was mocking him. The grin on Minho’s face said otherwise so Jisung let himself relax. Minho almost had a way of making you think everything was a game of sorts. Jisung had known the man for all of ten minutes and yet, he could sense the playful energy radiating off of him.
It was in the way he moved. In the warmth of his eyes, and in the calmness of his smile.
Minho was sure of himself and Jisung admired that.
Jisung scoffed, pulled himself into a standing position and began to slowly pace. He was ready to play back.
“So, you're telling me that you fixed all the issues in not only my garden but in the lake and forest too? And you grew massive, and I mean massive mushrooms, all just to get my cat’s attention?” He asked, eyebrow quirking upwards.
The deity narrowed his eyes, finally stepping away from the cat – much to his displeasure.
“Well, you certainly weren’t going to do it.” Minho teased, resting his arm on Jisung's shoulder.
“Why would I? It’s early December, you really think I need to?” Jisung asked, exasperation clear in his tone.
They bickered back and forth until the sun threatened to illuminate the sky in shades of baby blue, the evening fog migrated into early morning fog and Han Jisung didn’t feel lonely.
————
“Get up,” Echo practically hissed, jumping up onto Jisung’s chest. “You’ve got to see this.”
Echo smacked Jisung on the cheek with his tail on the way out of his bedroom, leaving Jisung groggy, confused, and running on three hours of sleep.
Jisung slipped his house slippers onto his feet and made his way into the kitchen area. “I had the weirdest dream last night.” he mumbled, grabbing a large brown ceramic mug from his cupboard.
“Do you want to talk about it?” a familiar voice sing songs, causing Jisung to nearly jump out of his skin, mug crashing to the floor as a consequence.
If Jisung wasn’t awake before, he certainly was now.
“Oh, my god.” Jisung widened his eyes, and sighed heavily as if he had forgotten how to breathe. “You scared the hell out of me.”
“I noticed.” Minho said, looking over the top of the book he was holding, and motioned for Jisung to join him on the brown leather sofa he’d made himself at home on.
Jisung's cottage is everything one could possibly want in a living space — if they had taste, of course, because he made sure every fine detail was perfect. Sure, it's a bit messy at times, but it's warm and inviting, just like Jisung himself is (at least, he likes to think so). There are rugs of various shapes and sizes placed at key points of the home, tall shelves lined with books on any topic one could possibly imagine. Large windows that let in just the right amount of sunlight for the different plants stationed around the home. Even with all the things Jisung had, though, his house wasn't cluttered. It was open and inviting, comfortable and safe.
Whilst sweeping up the unfortunate mug, Jisung was startled once again. This time by something much different than a deity in his living room – maybe not? Who knows.
Jisung had begun to think that he'd seen it all, and honestly, he was starting to believe that this was only the start. He should've expected this when inviting Minho into his life, but he wasn't.
Underneath his dining room table was what appeared to be a massive sentient marshmallow. The white, semi-transparent creature was hovering only a couple inches off of the ground, taunting Echo who was batting lazily at it.
"Hey, uh, Minho?" Jisung asked, peaking at the creature through his bangs. "What the hell is that?"
"It's a cloud." Minho had a way of saying it, like Jisung should have already known the answer. "Well, it was a cloud."
"I'm sorry, what?" Jisung opted to turn towards Minho now, the top half of his face visible over the counter top. "You have a pet cloud?" he asked, his voice dripping with disbelief.
"Yes, his name is Nimbus." Minho said, closing the book he was reading. "Isn't he cute?"
It was cute, now that Jisung thought about it; the creature looked like a real life Pokemon. Even if Echo thought the creature was tormenting him but it was actually just playing, floating around and around in circles taunting the cat. Jisung thought it was cute, really, really cute.
"I mean," Jisung started, finally picking himself up off the floor – which was something he seemed to be doing a lot recently. "He isn't as cute as me."
Minho snorted, lips curling up into his familiar grin. "Don't say that too loud or he'll hear you."
Jisung couldn't help but smile back, it’s funny, he thought. He couldn’t have possibly imagined that he would be hanging out with a forest deity in his living room, and yet, there he was: a steaming hot mug of tea in each hand. Jisung really thought he was going to be lonely for the rest of his natural life, but hanging out with Minho was easy. It was like he’d known Minho for a lot longer than he had — it was almost like they’d grown up together.
"Here." Jisung held out one of the mugs to Minho who graciously took it, before melting into the couch cushions next to him. "It's green – tea, green tea."
"It smells really nice." Minho blew on the liquid carefully before taking a sip. “It reminds me of what my mom used to make when I was growing up.”
“What was it like?” he asked, folding his legs underneath him. “Growing up.”
“I grew up pretty normal. It wasn’t anything like you’re expecting, probably.” Minho took another long sip, pausing to allow his thoughts to come to a head. The contemplation clear on his knitted eyebrows. “When I was little I was told exactly where I would be, what I would do, how I should do it.” he continued, shifting in his seat. “I didn’t like that, I like where I am, but I’m not a fan of doing things to the exact, it’s boring.”
Jisung nodded and propped his elbow on the back of the sofa.
“I’m not supposed to be here, you know.” Minho said, sitting his mug on the coffee table in front of him. “I’ve been here for a while but not …” he trailed off, motioning to the living room in front of him.
Jisung knew what Minho had meant so he nodded again, opting to press his cheek against his forearm. “So, why are you? Won’t you get in, like, a lot of trouble for this?”
“Maybe, maybe not.” Minho mused, “I think that getting you to finally summon me might have been a loophole in the rulebooks.”
Jisung was almost positive that he could see all the galaxies in Minho’s eyes when they lit up. Flecks of gold danced around his pupils, and when Minho looked at Jisung time seemed to stand still.
Time was something Jisung found himself relying on more often than not. He had schedules he followed precisely because otherwise, the things and people that depended on him and his practice would suffer consequently. Without a schedule Jisung felt anxious. Right now though, he felt warm.
Maybe time didn’t matter after all.
————
Several days later, Jisung found himself walking along the well-traveled path to Arcadia. He needed to go into the city to pick up some supplies from a friend of his and Minho was more than eager to join him.
“I’ve never been out in the city.” Minho said, matching his pace with Jisung’s.
“You didn’t have cities where you’re from?” Jisung asked.
“Not really, think of where I’m from as a vast and open void.” Minho replied.
“Seriously?”
“No,” Minho tilted his head back and laughed. “I’m from a pretty small community. There are townhouses lined up along the streets and a few recreational buildings here and there but it’s all surrounded by forest. Nothing big, nothing special.”
“Is it like that everywhere where you’re from?” he asked.
“Absolutely not, there are big cities and several different smaller communities like the one I’m from for all sorts of different deities. I’m just a forest guardian, my family are forest guardians and nature deities so that’s where I stayed so there’s no need for me to go anywhere else.” Minho sounded kind of sad when he said it, like he wanted to explore and see the world.
They continued conversing for a while until Minho purposefully knocked Jisung off balance by bumping into him with his shoulder and they started shoving each other back and forth instead.
————
Arcadia's streets were just as lively as Jisung remembered — he came here often enough. He could recount every detail on the main street as if it was the back of his hand. Getting to Arcadia was a nice walk, or bike ride, depending on how he felt. The path was smooth, the entrance clear.
Arcadia wasn't your typical metropolis, because magick was painted on the buildings’ walls and dancing within the city streets. Jisung felt welcomed there, felt safe there. It wasn’t home but it was something close to it. Arcadia was alive and never slept, but as the sun started to melt down into the horizon, the people started to go indoors and it wasn’t as overwhelming for Jisung.
They walked a few blocks before reaching Jisung’s destination.
His hand came into contact with a familiar brass knob. White lettering was painting along the entryway ‘Min’s Antiques, Oddities, the Unknown.’ below the original sign was a smaller one that swung back and forth whenever the door opened or closed, it read ‘AND MUCH MORE!’.
Upon entering the shop, the two of them were slammed with the smell of pine needles and cinnamon. Various shelves holding strange objects stood tall and looming. A bead curtain split the shop in half, the back half of the shop was dedicated to Jisung – he used it as his own little store. Seungmin sold teas and remedies Jisung had made, and made sure to keep the things Jisung needed to make those things in stock.
From behind an elevated counter covered in very organized clutter stood Seungmin, large round glasses at the tip of his nose as he flipped through something in front of him. “Oh, hey!” he said finally taking notice of the pair, glancing first at Minho and then fixed Jisung with a questioning look, cocking his head to the side like a dog. “Are you here for the bottles or something else?”
“Can’t I just say hello?” Jisung joked, feigning hurt but Seungmin raised an accusatory eyebrow in his direction and Jisung shrunk in on himself a bit. “Yeah, I’m here for the bottles.” he mumbled, wandering around the shop giving Minho no choice but to follow him like a lost puppy – or a stray cat, however you chose to look at it.
Anyone could tell just by looking at Jisung that he felt in his element here. He knew where everything was and talked excitedly about each item Minho questioned him about: from faux taxidermy rodents to small jars filled with teeth.
“Some people are into weird things.” Minho commented, motioning toward a liquid filled jar with what appeared to be eyeballs floating around. “Do people really buy this stuff?”
“You’d be surprised.” Jisung said, and quickly blanched when he saw Minho holding up a porcelain doll with cracks on her otherwise perfect face. “Put that down before you invite a spirit into my home.”
The corners of Minho’s lips quirked up, “You already have a spirit in your home, you don’t want me?”
Jisung froze once more. “You’re different though, you’re not trying to kill me.”
“Are you sure about that?” Minho teased, stepping closer to Jisung, doll in hand.
“Minho … ” Jisung warned, backing up instinctively before bolting in the opposite direction.
The two of them chased each other in and out of the aisles for two minutes before being scolded by Seungmin, but not before Jisung ran head first into a tall stranger. The man stood at least three inches taller than Jisung himself, with dark hair that fell just under his eyebrows, his eyelids were painted in a shimmery red and Jisung couldn’t help but think he was ridiculously gorgeous. “Oh, my god. I’m so sorry.” Jisung walked around the man, apologizing a few more times before finding himself standing in front of Seungmin.
“Please don’t run in my shop, you’ll break something and I really don’t know what I can and can’t replace in here.” Seungmin said, running a hand through his silver hair, and adjusting his glasses.
“Sorry,” Minho apologized this time, holding out his hand for a handshake. “I’m Minho, I’m Sung’s friend.”
Sung?
Seungmin looked back over at Jisung and Jisung opted to look up at the ceiling.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Seungmin, I’m also Jisung’s friend.” answered Seungmin with a smile, firmly shaking Minho’s hand.
“Here are the bottles you asked for.” Seungmin passed five small and differently shaped bottles to Jisung who put them in the bag he carried on his side. “Will you be in this weekend or are you preoccupied?”
“I’ll be here.” Jisung said, the tips of his ears going pink.
The two of them spent the rest of the day weaving around the city. They went to a small art museum, a diner (they ate breakfast food, Minho is a big fan of pancakes and Jisung is a big fan of fresh fruit so they got to split a meal), a theatre (they didn’t see anything, Minho just wanted to see what it looked like inside), and all sorts of small shops.
It was nice, being in someone else’s company. But, Jisung couldn’t help but feel like this was wrong. Enjoying this. There was a tiny voice in the back of his head warning him to keep his guard up, to not get attached. It was so easy to ignore whenever Minho smiled at him, though.
————
Later that night the two of them curled up on the brown leather sofa, Minho’s head rested in Jisung’s lap. Jisung couldn’t help but get lost in the details of Minho’s face. He looked like he was sculpted from marble, the hollows of his cheeks were so clearly defined, and his eyelashes laid so prettily against his cheekbones. It took all of Jisung’s willpower to not say something about it.
“You never answered me, you know.” Jisung said instead of blurting out ‘You’re beautiful’, and threading his fingers through Minho’s soft hair, careful not to tug on an antler.
“What question?” Minho asked, eyes fluttering open.
Jisung swallowed, shifting slightly but careful not to jostle him. “Why did you want my attention so bad?”
“I like you.” Minho said it so plainly, as if it were the easiest thing in the world to say.
Jisung felt his cheeks heat up and leaned his head on the back of the couch instead of risking getting caught blushing. Minho probably didn’t mean it in the way Jisung wanted him to. Regardless of that his cheeks still felt hot.
“Why?” Jisung asked, hand slowing to a stop on the back of Minho’s head.
Minho sat up, looking at Jisung from the side. “You’re interesting,” Minho started. “And careful, you’re everything I’m not and I like that about you.”
Jisung willed himself to look at Minho, “You’re a deity, Minho. I can’t be that interesting.”
“You can’t see what I can.” Minho said, moving his left hand to rub Jisung’s forearm. “If you could, you wouldn’t be saying that.”
“You’re still a deity.” Jisung said and looked up at his antlers, tracing the expanse of Minho’s face with his eyes, taking in the flower petals and natural glow of his skin. Finally meeting his eyes and being met with the gold flakes dancing in his pupils. “And I’m just a hermit who knows how to grow plants.”
Minho smacked Jisung’s shoulder lightly before going back to rub circles on his forearm. “You’re not a hermit, and you do a lot more than just growing plants. It doesn’t matter if I’m a deity. One could argue that I’m just a guardian, I don’t do much. I’m like a messenger for the people who do stuff.”
Jisung’s head lulled to the side as he listened to Minho talk. He thought that he had a soothing voice, one that you could listen to for hours. Sometimes on the nights when crickets weren’t enough, Jisung would listen to guided meditations. Not because he wanted to meditate, but because he found the voices of the people who did them soothing and it helped him fall asleep.
“Plus,” Minho continued and laid his own head down on the back of the couch. “I was lonely.”
Jisung’s eyes fell closed but not before his hand met Minho’s. “I like you too.” he whispered, drifting off.
————
Jisung woke up the following morning to the sun blinding him. A groan escaped him and before he could register the confession he made last night, he noticed a note tucked in Echo’s purple pouch. “What’s this?” Jisung asked, eyes fighting to keep open.
“Minho left it.” Echo said, stretching out on the coffee table.
Something in Jisung’s stomach sank. “Minho left?”
It read:
Sung,
I’m sorry I didn’t tell you any of this before I left but the thought of leaving wasn’t something I wanted to entertain. Unfortunately, I have to. It’s not forever though and in the meantime I’ll keep a look out for the forest like I’m supposed to >< I’ll be back though, okay? I promise.
Don’t go anywhere.
P.S. I like you.
P.P.S. I still like your cat more.
Sincerely,
Your forest friend.
Jisung sat for a moment, reading the note over and over again hoping for some kind of explanation that wasn’t as vague as a quick text but, nothing changed. It was the same thing over and over again. He felt various emotions in very quick succession, from confusion to upset to happy. He finally settled on melancholy, and sunk back into his couch.
“Do you think I scared him away?” Jisung asked, stroking the cat who curled up in front of him.
“No,” answered Echo. “He likes you.”
Jisung wondered why he let himself get so attached to a deity in the first place. If he couldn’t befriend regular people, how did he expect himself to befriend a god? But still, he couldn’t help but feel like he’d done a lot more than just befriend him.
Over the next few weeks, Jisung went through the motions like he always did, but a piece of him felt like it was missing again. He smiled when he noticed little changes in his garden but as quickly as the smile came it left. He couldn’t help but remember the way Minho’s lips curled at the corners or the way his eyes lit up brighter than the stars in the night sky.
He hadn’t known him long, but it felt like he knew him forever. Jisung didn’t know if he believed in soulmates and he thought he’d be pretty naive to think that a god would be his, but he couldn’t help but feel the connection between the two of them. It was like they were made for each other. Magick was Jisung’s other half, but what if Minho was what made Jisung feel complete? Not that Jisung didn’t feel like a complete person, he just felt … different when Minho was around. Warm, not lonely.
He went in and out of the city, met with strangers, acquaintances. He even bumped back into that handsome stranger – he found out his name was Hyunjin and the reason he looked so familiar was because he was in a band, how cool is that? Jisung was pretty sure he’d heard some of their music before. – but he still felt lonely.
It was sad.
Jisung was sad.
He walked the path back to his home from Arcadia, his mind jumping from one topic to the next before settling on what he was going to eat that night.
His train of thought quickly halted when he felt the surrounding aura change.
There, right next to a large rose bush was Minho, standing with his back against one of the tall trees in Jisung’s garden. “Hey, stranger.”
Jisung’s lips pressed together in a tight white line, teeth gnawing on the insides of his mouth. He’d used everything in his power to not let a tear escape and yet, all of his resolve abandoned him as soon as Minho enveloped Jisung into a hug and pressed his body against Jisung’s own. Once the first tear dropped, the rest followed with reckless abandon — similar to that of a broken dam.
It hadn’t been long but it felt like forever and Jisung couldn’t be happier.
“Jisung,” Minho whispered, lips pressing softly against the crown of Jisung’s head.
It hadn’t been long, but the fear of it being forever made Jisung dread saying goodbye at all. Part of Jisung still couldn’t believe Lee Minho was real; that he existed on this plane and within this timeline. That above all else Minho chose him. Jisung was so happy that he did.
It only took Jisung a total of twenty seconds to calm his breathing and as soon as he did the familiar rose blossom scent wafted over him.“I missed you,” Jisung sniffled, nuzzling his face into the crook of Minho’s neck “I missed you so much.”
“I know.” Minho said, rubbing his back in smooth circles. “I missed you, too. I’m here now.”
“Do you still like me?” Jisung questioned, pulling back to look Minho in the eyes.
“I do.” Minho smiled, the corners of his lips pulling up into the familiar catlike grin Jisung missed so much.
With a wave of confidence Jisung crashed his lips against Minhos’s. It was impulsive and messy and not nearly as beautiful as he had dreamed of it being but, it was right. It felt right.
Once Minho registered what was happening, it was too late to stop himself from falling. The force of which Jisung kissed him caused him to fall backwards. His back hitting the ground underneath him.
Instead of pulling away he held Jisung steady, hand coming up to cup Jisung’s cheek. “I guess you can say I fell for you.”
“Shut up, shut up, shut up.” Jisung groaned, all embarrassment he might have felt from knocking a god off his feet fading away. “You’re clumsy for a god.” Jisung giggled, pressing another soft kiss against Minho’s cheek. “If you ever make a joke like that again though, I think we might have to break this thing off.” He knew that he didn’t mean a thing he said, but it was fun to tease him anyway.
Minho rolled his eyes and Jisung leaned back in for another kiss, this one much more chaste than the last. Jisung didn’t even realize he was shaking until Minho steadied him. Jisung smiled into the kiss and parted his lips while doing so. Minho took this as an opportunity to swipe his tongue against Jisung’s bottom lip as a question.
The two of them went on like this for what felt like hours. In reality, though, it was probably only half of one but again, time slowed down with Minho so Jisung couldn’t properly keep track if he wanted to.
The sound of crickets began to infiltrate. Jisung knew that other bugs would start their relentless attacks sooner rather than later. He just couldn’t find it in him to move from the position he was in.
Jisung rolled off of Minho, eyes focusing on the blooming pink roses in front of him. “Wow…” he said, eyes trained carefully. “I’ve never seen that happen up close.”
“It’s pretty, isn’t it?” said Minho.
“Yeah,” Jisung agreed, curling up next to him. “It’s beautiful.”
He could stay like this in his garden forever.