Archive of Our Own

❝ in chinese love stories the one who loves always starts by borrowing a book from the beloved ❞
DAI SIJIE

There were many unique aspects to the small islands in the far west of the Japanese archipelago. They were often the size of quidditch fields, its ground made of cool magma due to the volcanic activity in the region. The sea around them could be described by the sweetest poet as ruthless, breaking waves while the wind blew hard enough to produce the sound of whistle. A specific aspect that marked Taeil’s mind, however, was the smell, hard to be recreated anywhere else. It consisted of a mix of the volcanic rock ground poured by constant rain and the salt from the sea that was just the right amount to make Taeil nostalgic of his school days.

As he stepped on the island, his dark cape was ruffing on the rocky ground. Nothing grew on this particular piece of land, all he could see were the blackish grey of the volcanic rock contrasting with the bluish grey of the cloudy skies above them. There was no other land so far as the eye could see and not many muggle ships navigated on those dangerous waters. 

The wizard stood alone, tense and stiff in his post. He couldn’t have apparated on the small piece of land for it had charms against it, so he took a small boat. Only with magic it would be possible to arrive at the place for the waves were too violent, the water dim and sharp rocks could rise up from anywhere depending on the tide. After he adjusted his long cape so it wouldn’t hit the humid ground, Taeil put a small charm on his brown hair to prevent the wind from blowing it to his vision. 

Being a known perfectionist, even if adaptable at times of needs, he stopped any movement and only stared at the distance, waiting for his arrival patiently. He would come some time. He was the one who settled time and place. Taeil was a mere figure of fate. His rival was the one who orchestrated it all.

Waves crashed, the sky became greyer, some birds flew by. 

Like a vision, Taeil spotted a little dot coming from the other side of the ocean on the verge of Sino-Japanese waters. It became bigger and bigger very fast, crossing magically through the waves and taking the form of a boat. There was someone in it, even if the wizard couldn’t exactly take in the person’s form and details, he knew who he expected on that god forsaken place.

The boat came too close, so the island’s scrape made it impossible for Taeil to watch it further. He gulped, not changing his standing position by an inch even. He was near his boat and had strategies of using the island’s loose rocks for his defense if anything went wrong, therefore he wouldn’t leave where he was unless it was utmostly needed. 

Before there was the sound of steps, there was the spellbinding enticing smell that his rival exulted. For a long time, he had taken into a mix of eucalyptus and new books, making it his registered mark. Taeil sniffed the air, trying to keep his head clean as to not fall in a sea of nostalgia. The island’s smell combined with the man’s wasn’t making it easy for him.

Noise of foot sole meeting rock was finally heard and so his eyes landed on the man he was set to meet. Lee Donghyuck walked slowly in his direction, making it easy for Taeil to take in all of his imagery. His sparkling hair of shining silver matched very well with his dark blue cape with silver details on the hem. He walked confidently, not hesitating even once, and had his wand in his hand already, as well as a playful smile on his lips. Taeil didn’t quite understand how that curl on his lips made sense with the situation they were in or even the place they had chosen to meet, but if there was anything he was learning by the last couple of events was that he knew nothing of Donghyuck. Even if his honey skin looked to be the same and the teeth that peeked out from opening his mouth were bunny-like, as they had been when he was a cute chubby child and even if he dressed the blue cape as elegantly as he had dressed his golden graduation cape a few years ago, Taeil couldn’t quite say he recognized the man before him. Maybe that was the biggest difference. Rare were the times he had referenced Donghyuck in his head as man or rival. He had always been known as friend, partner in crime, soft Hyuckie. 

The smell became stronger as he got closer. Taeil closed his eyes, trying to stop any memory of lodging inside his head. When he finally dared to open them again, Donghyuck stood before him, his playful smile unfazed. He seemed rather curious with Taeil, obviously glancing over him while his smile enlarged. The wizard felt his cheeks warming at the sudden attention and he started overthinking his own appearance. His hair was in place due to the charms, but due to last month's problems he had been eating less and was very pale. 

If he had picked any of those details, his rival didn’t say a word, instead, chuckled  to himself. Realizing Taeil wouldn’t dare greeting him, he spoke up first. 

“Finally scored Moon Taeil on a date,” he boasted in his high pitched nasal voice. Taeil couldn’t find it in him to match his jokes. 

“This is not a date,” he said with not a crumble of softness in his voice. Even so, his words fueled Donghyuck on. 

“Says you. We are alone, after scheduling a time and place, I even dolled myself up for you. Aren’t you going to say how pretty I am?” Before he finished the question, his rival was already batting his eyelashes in obvious mockery. Although Taeil knew it was all a sick game inside his head, he couldn’t stop himself from thinking if there was any truth to Donghyuck’s words. 

The silver-haired wizard bit his bottom lip, eyeing Taeil from head to toe, and again the other had no choice but to give him a stern answer so that game would be put to an end. “You gave me clues to be found here. There was no schedule.”

“Yet you found them so easily and arrived on time, like I knew you would,” his confidence was unshaken. In the past, the knowledge Hyuck had over Taeil would often come in simple banter or jokes or even when sharing secrets. He would give Taeil his favorite flavor of magic beans in the middle of the night, claiming he recalled it from the one time he had mentioned it while they were eating the flavored candy together, he would correct information from people who didn’t know Taeil as well as him, marking his territory of best friend and he would also remember dirty little secrets the older would much rather be forgotten. In the end, Donghyuck’s knowledge of Moon related things was based on love, affection and admiration, leading to good natured things. 

At that small island, alone with his old best friend, Taeil was suddenly afraid of what sort of knowledge Donghyuck possessed over him. It could be used for evil, for him to gain power over him and to hurt the ones closest to his heart. 

With a bitter feeling in his month, Taeil calmly asserted, “We’ve been alone in better circumstances.”

Donghyuck shook his head, his eyes suddenly darkening. “Perhaps for you. I was a friend in your eyes back then.”

He was a friend. The best of friends. Taeil’s metaphorical twin wand core. What was so wrong about that? Nothing about this new Donghyuck made any sense. 

“Better be a friend than someone I don’t know,” the brown haired sniffed the air again and the smell of eucalyptus intoxicated his lungs. 

“You know me better than anyone. That’s how you found the coordinates to this place,” Donghyuck replied, his eyes suddenly acquiring a new bright. He was known for having mood swings often, even if barely perceptible. Taeil wished he could kill Hyuck’s everlasting confidence. 

“I was sent here on an official mission. My job is to kill you,” Taeil stated, thinking that perhaps it wasn’t obvious enough from both standing still in the middle of nowhere while holding their wands tight to their hands. 

Donghyuck giggled melodically, his body swaying slightly due to the lack of air. “Kill me? Please, this is a date.”

“Donghyuck-“ before he could continue, he was interrupted by his rival, who seemed grave. 

“Haechan.”

Oh. His new bad boy revolutionary name. Haechan. 

Taeil had heard it, of course. It was all over the news, along with his best friend’s picture attached under it. Donghyuck laughed, even if the news story denounced his organization’s violent ways and accused them of bringing chaos to their wizarding nation. The brown haired would pass by those newspapers at the ministry, take a look at them, hear the auror division mention the dangers of wizard Haechan in meetings and plans on taking down his organization, and yet it didn’t quite mesh. In his mind, Haechan and Donghyuck remained completely different people. However, at that moment, he was being asked to reconcile those notions into one, the man standing before him. 

“Haechan,” he pronounced it easily in one go. “Can you please stop playing games?”

His easy smile was also easily taken from him. Donghyuck pressed his lips, till they became a thin line and his teeth wouldn’t show. “Why did you never take me seriously?”

Taeil couldn’t help but lose his cool posture. “What?” 

The silver-haired didn’t pay any mind to it, left hand's fingers nervously fidgeting as he spoke, “I mean, when we were younger I could understand. We do have an age gap and we grew very close together. You’d never listen to me when I was underage. That’s why I waited till I was 17 and still… wasn’t enough.” With a big sigh, Donghyuck finished his melancholic complaint. At that moment, Taeil almost took pity on him. If he wasn’t wearing blue and silver coat, he could almost remember how the sakura pink enhanced his skin’s glow and brightened his smile with his front teeth peeking out of his open mouth. He would run to Taeil’s arms, whining about missing him and how they should see each other more, light brown hair with rainbow highlights that made him more angelic. 

Even if Taeil wished the man standing there in front of him was Donghyuck, he wasn’t. That was rebellious murdering wizard Haechan. He deserved no pity. 

“Are we honestly going to discuss our friendship here?” he asked in annoyance. 

Hyuck raised one eyebrow, “What else is there to discuss?”

“You becoming an international fugitive,” Taeil replied seriously, expression not matching the fury inside of him for many years had passed and Donghyuck remained the same stubborn egocentric boy he had always been. 

“Well, chronologically, my romantic problems with you started before that happened, so I guess I have priority,” Haechan answered with an ironic half smile displayed on his lips. 

Taeil could merely shoot and kill at that moment, had been given permission to do so. His exact orders were that at the sight of Haechan, he should be contained in any way he saw fit. 

Before he packed his cape to leave, having found Donghyuck’s location, Yuta had advised him there were only two options for Taeil to follow and their consequences were to be followed through. Either he would see Haechan and speak to him, understand his ways, try to convince him on turning himself in, or he would use the killing curse at the sight of him. Taeil had disagreed. He argued he could still talk to Hyuck and be able to murder him to which Yuta laughed in his hoarse voice, showing a smile Taeil had many times considered was pure work of magic. “You’re the only one who can kill him and I know it won’t happen, hyung…” 

Taeil left in the dark of night while Yuta was still asleep. He would kill Donghyuck and he would listen to him before he died. It was the least he could do. 

He had expected Haechan to speak of his evil ways, of what made him commit murder or set him on that path. For Merlin’s beard, the wizard could even defend whatever atrocious acts he had done, it would make some sense in Taeil’s head. 

Yet, it seemed like what Donghyuck wanted was something more personal than Taeil had expected. 

The brown-haired shrugged, “fine. Whatever. You are not going to try to run away, are you?”

“I was the one who scheduled this meeting. I only asked you not to give my location. Have you, Moon Taeil?” he arched one eyebrow, giving his opponent an ounce over. 

“No.”

“Good.” Easily taking his word for it, Donghyuck relaxed, “Then let’s talk. Why didn’t you at least turn me down when I came to you?” 

The silver-haired kept his posture neutral, making it even harder for Taeil to understand where he would want to go with that. But then again, had he ever understood Donghyuck at all? 

“I did.”

His rival shook his head, avidly denying his claims, “You laughed at me. You never took me seriously.”

The first time Taeil laughed off Donghyuck’s advances was on his graduation day. His friend looked gorgeous wearing his golden uniform, skin glowing and sparkly curly rainbow hair somehow enhancing his cheeks. He had never been a show off, the golden uniform came to him as he naturally achieved top grades, but it fit him well and Taeil couldn’t picture anyone else in that room wearing it as gracefully as Donghyuck did. 

Since the older was part of the magisterium, Hyuck had specifically requested for him to be the one to give him his diploma as a graduated student of Mahoutokoro in front of everyone to see- and many would, for Donghyuck was of famous heritage and was already making a name for himself outside of school’s little island. At first, Taeil denied his request, claiming the best student didn’t deserve a mere Potions assistant to give him the most important document of his career. Unfortunately, he knew that, in the end, Hyuck got what he wanted, especially if he whined about it enough. At the end, Taeil was there, giving him the paper and congratulating him on his achievement.

Before the diploma out of his hands, Donghyuck pulled the assistant Sensei by the arm and gave him a big kiss on the cheek that was caught by several cameras. Taeil stared at him wide eyed and flustered while Hyuck smiled proudly. He swiftly managed to get the document out from the older’s hand and whispered, before leaving the stage, “That was the best graduation gift ever.”

The ceremony continued with not much said about the scene, even if the moving picture of it did end up on the front page of the school newspaper by the next day thanks to Yerim, and soon it was wrapped up for the party to begin. 

Differently from the graduation parties he had been attending couple years before, he was more than an employee of the school, but also friends with one of the celebrated people of that evening. For that reason alone, Taeil allowed himself to enjoy it more freely, after all he had watched Donghyuck grow up and finally become an adult wizard. 

Drinking happily and dancing along with Donghyuck and Yerim, Taeil barely noticed when Yerim disappeared to go talk to her girlfriend Joohyun and the two were left alone to their drinks and dance. 

It could have seemed odd to many people that Lee Donghyuck, from famous wizard heritage, didn’t have many friends at school. Some would whisper that he never quite managed to be fluent in Japanese to make friends or that people were afraid of irritating his overpowerful parents, but the truth was Hyuck never wanted anyone who didn’t treat Taeil well. Since those were few, only amounting to Yerim and Yuta, their group was very exclusive and at the end of the day it would be only the two counting on each other. 

Out of the blue, while in the middle of executing a very bad dance move, Taeil was dragged out of the party by Donghyuck and there was nothing that he could do, for in the end the younger would always get what he wanted. 

They ran together through the empty hallways of the palace, looking for the closest refuge they could find. Donghyuck opened a door that gave in to a small Japanese garden. It was barely lit, counting on the moonlight for most of what they could see, that was a lake and a small sakura tree. He was still holding Taeil’s arm, even if it was not needed anymore, when they sat on a bench by the small lake of carps. 

Although he was a Sensei and students liked to think they knew ways through the palace their old teachers didn’t, Taeil recognized that passageway Hyuck led him through and the garden they were in at that moment. It was often used by couples when they were alone to get intimate and some students who liked to indulge themselves in drinks stronger than butterbeer. The ones inside had total and complete control of who would come in the chambers to enjoy the garden with them. All it took was to lock or unlock the door. Taeil couldn’t say what was so important Donghyuck had to tell him that needed so much secrecy, but made no comment on the matter. 

“What did you think of the kiss?” the younger asked in breathless excitement. His golden robes stood out even more under the silver moonlight and his hair seemed one of the few things that wasn’t black and white under the dark night. 

“You have no fear…” Taeil replied in a chuckle. 

“Indeed I do not. Did you like it?” Donghyuck didn’t seem fearless at that moment. Never had he looked as insecure to Taeil as he had then, fidgeting and playing with the hem of Taeil’s black Sensei robes. His eyes raised up from his hands to meet Taeil’s with a glimpse of hope. “Because if you did, there is more from where that came from…”

Tilting his head slightly, the assistant was having a hard time trying to understand what Donghyuck meant. “What are you suggesting?”

“Kisses. Didn’t I make myself clear?”

Although the young wizard had answered without a hint of amusement in his eyes, Taeil opened his mouth widely to properly react to the best joke ever told by his friend. 

“I think you’re either way too drunk, enjoying being legal or just pulling another joke on me. Perhaps you’re doing all of them at the same time!”

“Or perhaps I just want to give you kisses. Lots of them. In various different ways.” The rainbow-haired kept a serious tone, his face dangerously close to Taeil’s. The assistant Sensei turned his hand, chuckling lightly. Donghyuck was confused, “Why are you laughing?” 

His laughter died at that minute. Taeil could feel his cheeks heating up, Donghyuck was closer to him by each heartbeat while they were alone in the garden of lovebird students. His eyes fell on the younger’s lips, always with a small crack open between them, showing his childlike front teeth, that now bit his bottom lip, as if to show it wasn’t so innocent anymore. With a deep breath he felt the smell of new books and eucalyptus intoxicating him little by little. 

Somehow, another smell managed to get through Donghyuck’s barrier. It was of lemons and with a last look at Hyuck’s closed angel eyes, sweet moles and prohibited lips, Taeil whispered, “Alohomora” for the door of the garden to open. 

Donghyuck retreated in a surprise and in a second the door was opened by a long red haired man with a wild smile. Yuta’s eyes landed on the two with suspicion, but at the look of despair in the Sensei’s eyes he decided not to mention anything and simply informed both’s lack of presence was noted by many at the celebration. 

Before he followed Yuta’s steps out of the secret garden, Donghyuck shot Taeil one last look, that he thought at the time was of disappointment. When he left, taking his smell of books and eucalyptus with him, Taeil breathed deeply, finally relaxing and calming down his heartbeat. 

Although Donghyuck’s practical joke was certainly on another level compared to his other pranks, it didn’t quite surprise Taeil as much as his own reaction did. For a second, all he could see were the younger’s dark moles on his honey skin and never had he thought of them as pretty. The young wizard couldn’t have known he was playing a dangerous game with Taeil, always so reckless.

Before Taeil decided to return to the party, for an angry and spiteful Hyuck was worse than a disappointed one, he took one last breath inside the secret garden walls. It smelled like sakura leaves and lotus flowers.

The smell of salted water and wet volcanic rocks suddenly filled his nostrils again. His opponent right in front of him, with the same dark moles over his honey skin on his left cheek, waiting for his answer to the accusation. 

“Oh c’mon, Hyuck-“ Taeil began to oppose, but was quickly interrupted. 

“Haechan.”

“Haechan. What was I supposed to do? You forget the age gap usually means more responsibility to the older,” he explained calmly with a patronizing tone to match his words. 

“So you only did it out of responsibility?” Hyuck licked the right corner of his mouth defiantly. His eyes didn’t leave Taeil’s face for one second, trying to capture every move the auror did. 

“Responsibility was a big factor,” the other tried to remain neutral. The objective Donghyuck was aiming for that conversation was still unknown to Taeil. Perhaps all he wanted was a last power play, for him to kneel and say he was sorry for not doing his wishes eight years ago. He wouldn’t get that so easily. 

“But you didn’t like me,” Hyuck asserted in his big a-ha moment. The bittersweetness of the words traveled around them and it was for Taeil to welcome them in or deny them completely. 

“Doesn’t matter,” the auror shrugged, shaking his head and holding his wand with more strength in his hand. 

“To me, it does,” Haechan shot back stubbornly. 

“Nothing is going to change.” 

“Between us two or the fact you have to kill me?” the silver-haired shouted with poison in his tongue. Taeil took a second more to answer, frozen in shock and his rival took upon him to take notice of that loudly, “What? You know that’s how one of us will end up at the end of the day…”

The auror shook his head, pressing his lips together. He avoided Donghyuck’s gaze and focused on the crashing waves against the island and the horizon after them. “Not that.”

“So?” Donghyuck insisted impatiently. Taeil sighed and turned his head to his enemy. He should know better than to lose himself to thoughts when near a duel, but unconsciously he allowed himself to trust Donghyuck. Taeil shouldn’t trust even in his own natural instincts at this point. 

“Tell me, when did you start falling for me?” the wizard asked with newfound interest on the matter. 

It was time for Donghyuck to avoid his gaze and Taeil would almost dare say the younger was blushing. Differently from himself however, his rival was quick to gain control over his body and expressions and soon, he was speaking, “I think I never noticed when it happened. There was only a sudden realization of what I was feeling. Remember when you left with Sensei Minatozaki for that field trip?” He didn’t wait for Taeil to nod to go on. There were not many field trips during their school years, so the ones that happened were held close to their heart. “Well, you were gone for a week and the pain in my chest was… quite frankly, unbearable. I couldn’t understand it, but when you returned, everything was shining again. My own personal ball of sunlight…” a fond smile curled Donghyuck’s lips and for a second Taeil considered if his old friend would pinch his cheeks, like he did in their school days, not caring if he was older and supposedly not cute. For Hyuck, Taeil had been the cutest and the one to be taken care of ever since he learned how to properly speak Japanese. 

“You never missed me when you were with your parents…” Taeil commented. He was rather skeptical of Haechan’s love story, but his friend didn’t seem to mind. His smile turned ironic in the flash of an eye. 

“There wasn’t much I could do if you were trapped in the muggle world during our summer vacations. We still exchanged letters and saw each other when my parents allowed. That trip just hit differently. There was no Mahoutokoro without Moon Taeil for me.” He pronounced the last sentence in profound seriousness. 

It was like they were young again. Chubby little Donghyuck still learning the nuance of words and finding the oddest of patterns that didn’t make any sense to anyone but his child self. Young teenage Taeil with his awful bowl cut and easy resting smile on his lips listened to it all, congratulating the small child on his discoveries and encouraging him to do more. Teenagers who were friends of small children were a rather unusual thing to see, but Taeil knew that even with all the influence Donghyuck’s last name carried, few true friends could be found in the Japanese palace, and the elder decided to take him under his wing, adopting the child as if he were his little brother. 

Donghyuck was small, a little feminine and with teeth peeking out of his mouth whenever his mouth fell ajar. He had an intense case of moles on his face and sometimes Taeil joked he would steal them all from him and never give them back, to which Donghyuck whined and nearly cried. The muggle born then assured him that he would never do such a thing, poking his nose playfully. 

One day, with a brand new discovery, Donghyuck walked in all his glory to House Yosamu’s meadow to find Taeil reading or doing homework on the grass like the model student he was.

“Hyung!” he exclaimed at the sight of him, running for a hug. Taeil had told Hyuck it would be better if he spoke in Japanese to him, so he would become fluent faster, but the young boy wouldn’t listen. Something told Taeil he missed speaking in his mother tongue and since they were the only Koreans in the school, it was only logical he would end his longing by talking with Taeil. 

“What is it, Hyuckie?” he asked, hugging the clingy boy back and smelling his fresh out of the shower lavender scent. 

“Did you know that the school has your initials in its name?” Taeil looked puzzled for a second, but Hyuck started explaining right away. “Like, Mahou. Tokoro. Moon. Taeil. Did you see that?”

The older didn’t even have to pretend to be astonished since he considered most of Donghyuck’s logic to be of extreme creativity and unpredictability. Because he was young, he hadn’t been sorted yet, but Taeil felt strong Seirain vibrations from him. 

The younger wasn’t done with his reasoning yet, for which child shuts up when others think it is fitting? “Do you know why is that? There is no Mahoutokoro without Moon Taeil.” He gave a big kiss on the older’s left cheek, who blushed but hugged him tighter. The childlike innocent smell of lavender was starting to get attached to his clothes, but he didn’t mind. 

Hyuck was the one he helped learn Japanese, the young boy he taught wordplay to and who he showed the wonders of the palace, even secret passageways. It didn’t take long for Hyuck to easily surpass him on the matter and soon, at the age of 12, he was the one leading Taeil through the corridors and showing hidden rooms for their eyes only. He would protect Taeil from any hate he would face, was it for his nationality, poor family or lack of magic in his blood. And so, when Hyuck pinched his cheeks and called him cute, it would mean something different for he was being taken care of by him. Still, Donghyuck was just like a younger brother to him and he couldn’t let himself forget that, no matter how much the other wanted it to be wiped out of his brain. 

“I was twenty back then… You were fourteen,” Taeil stated, his mouth drying as he spoke. 

Donghyuck huffed loudly, playing offended, “I didn’t expect you to like me back then. I was young but never dumb. I waited until my graduation.”

The fucking graduation party. Taeil could still hear Donghyuck’s words whispered to him in that dark garden. 

“You were drunk,” he simply said, holding himself from losing his reason. 

His rival didn’t look convinced, “So?” he raised one eyebrow as he made the rhetorical question. “Anyways, I flirted with you other times after that… Guess instead of just telling me you didn’t like me, you just went away.”

Another accusation was thrown into the table and Taeil lost any posture he had left on him, quickly shooting back at Haechan, “Bullshit. You went away with your new club of followers.”

“What? Hate me having the spotlight much?” 

Taeil held himself from yelling at him to think before speaking. Donghyuck himself was the one who always shimmied away from fame. At least, the Hyuck Taeil knew from school days, not the infamous wizard Haechan who had his laughing expression printed on every newspaper of East Asia. 

Taeil would tell Hyuck to make friends, that the school could be mean to him for he was the first Korean student and muggle-born to top that to be accepted, but those didn’t apply to Donghyuck at all and many had expressed wanting to grow closer bonds with him. The rainbow haired would only shrug, saying that Taeil was all he needed and that he would only be friends of wizards who liked Taeil as well. 

The older sighed, wondering what would have happened if he hadn’t turned that little child into an overprotective and rebellious teenager. His theory was only further proven when, after Taeil had already graduated and was working as the Potions assistant, he caught Donghyuck in a fight in the middle of Mahoutokoro’s halls. 

Skillfully Hyuck held the student in the air with the power of his wand. His free hand was forming a fist and he shouted angrily while he shook his wand up high, “Apologize for saying that!”  

Every student stared at the scene in pure shock, not moving an inch. Taeil screamed at him to stop and gently put the student down, but Donghyuck wouldn’t listen to him, completely blocked out from this world, with eyes only for the boy held by the power of his magic. “Apologize!” he demanded again.

In confused blabbers, the student began saying his apologies, but it wasn’t enough for Hyuck. “Louder!”

Done with that scene, Taeil put himself in front of Hyuck, causing the younger to lose concentration and let the student fall. Luckily, Yuta had arrived in time and put a spell for a safe landing. 

Taeil couldn’t see that. His eyes were on once-angry turned starry-eyed Hyuck, whose lips stopped shouting angry orders to turn giggly and smiley. “You came back from the trip,” he stated while switching to Korean, eyes in pure amazement. “How was it?”

The sudden change in his friend’s expression took any words of reprimand that were on the top of Taeil’s tongue. Shaking his head and blinking his eyes he stuttered out a response, “G-good-“

“I missed you,” Hyuck interrupted him, going in for a hug and placing his head on Taeil’s chest. Embarrassed, the assistant looked around to be sure Yuta had kicked out any other student at the perimeter, making sure that level of unprofessionalism wasn’t seen. Only then, Taeil allowed himself to gently caress Hyuck’s rainbow curls. Still holding onto his waist, the younger detached his head from Taeil’s chest, looking up with hopeful eyes, “Did you miss me?”

With every strength left inside of him after a tiring trip and having just parted a fight, Taeil held himself from assuring Donghyuck that he was missed in the field trip. Instead, he took a step back and his expression became glimmer. 

“Now is not the time. What were you doing?” His tone was stern when he switched to Japanese and his words were direct to the point. Donghyuck was the one confused at that moment with the sudden change of pace. 

“He said some nasty things that needed apologies for…” he murmured, keeping his mother tongue and sounding apologetic. It wasn’t enough and Taeil knew it. 

“That’s not how you request apologies, Donghyuck,” he scolded, making Donghyuck instantly become defensive. 

“Don’t treat me like a child!” he whined loudly in response. 

“Don’t pick fights like one then,” Taeil shot back. He took a deep breath, mentally preparing himself for what was to come. “I have to give you detention.”

Donghyuck’s jaw dropped in outrage. “What?!”

“And take points from House Shunrai,” the assistant quickly added, like ripping off a bandaid. 

Donghyuck stomped his feet, obviously shocked by that decision. Never had he been given any punishment by his best friend. “Taeil!” 

“It’s Moon-san, Donghyuck,” Taeil corrected him. Donghyuck quickly understood there was nothing to be done and became cold. 

For the rest of the week that dynamic continued. Donghyuck didn’t visit Yosamu’s meadow anymore nor tried raising his hand fast at Potions class so he could impress Taeil. The older didn’t watch Shunrai’s quidditch practices anymore to cheer for the Seeker nor gave him clues for them to meet again. Both were trying to show, in their own way, that they didn’t care nor need the other to live and that they wouldn’t apologize for their doings.

It all amounted down to the detention, which Donghyuck inevitably had to spend with the Sensei who gave it to him, even if he was still an assistant. 

Dreading it but not daring to complain to any of the other Senseis, Taeil moved on with his duty. It was common for the magisterium body to suggest Donghyuck was a weak link for Taeil, sometimes through snarky remarks in dinners or rumors that reached him through Sensei Minatozaki’s mouth. Passing that task to any other person would only comply with their theories and Taeil was obligated to apply punishment to his friend.

In the silence of the Potions room, Donghyuck chopped ingredients while Taeil tried not to lay his eyes on him. As in most castles, the Potions classroom was underground, for the lower temperatures better stored the components of the magical liquid. Since Mahoutokoro was on a small island and the japanese palace was the smallest of the great wizarding schools, the class took place underwater.

It was as if a magical invisible dome covered the perimeter of the classroom, that was perfectly normal in every aspect, with chairs, boards and Potions supplies. However, the sea that evolved the class would shine a greenish blue translucent light over them and beyond the border marine life continued as usual. It was common for sharks and octopus to make their rounds around the class and even magical marine creatures, such as playful hippocampus and dangerous mermaids. They wouldn’t dare crossing the borders, but sometimes they would interact with students. 

Because of his long time down below preparing Potions, Taeil had gotten closer to some mermaids and would often converse with them so he didn’t die of boredom while waiting for the mixture to be ready. He was hopeful some of his friends would come for him to chat while Donghyuck did his time, yet no one came to distract him and his eyes always landed on the rainbow haired, chopping a dragon’s nail as if it was the most important task in the world.

“You said you missed me and yet you’ve been ignoring me for a week,” Taeil finally blurted out, breaking the silence. Donghyuck didn’t even raise his eyes. The assistant sighed, “You’d think you’d be more mature by now…”

Loudly, Donghyuck dropped the knife he was holding and raised his head, “Why give me detention?!” 

At first, Taeil had been scared of the sudden outburst, but was pleased he had gotten a response, even if he wouldn’t let it show on his expression. “Fights are strictly prohibited, Hyuck. I’m not a fellow student anymore, you know that.”

“You didn’t even try listening to my side of the story…” Hyuck complained by mumbling.

“It wouldn’t change detention.”

“It would make me feel heard,” Hyuck argued. Taeil motioned his friend to go on with a nod followed by a wave of hand. The younger lowered his eyes once again, playing with the knife. “He was saying bad stuff because of his low grade in Potions. H-he said the fault was of the mudblood, whore’s son Sensei’s assistant.” His grip on the knife became tighter and angry tears started rolling down his cheeks. “What was I supposed to do, Taeil?”

With quiet steps, Taeil left his seat to be next to Donghyuck. Gentle hands wiped the younger’s tears and when his cheeks were as dry as they could be, Taeil placed his arm around his friend’s shoulder. 

“I don’t mind, Hyuck. Don’t pick fights for my honor or you will end up fighting the whole world.”

Donghyuck raised his head daringly, a promise playing at the tip of his tongue, “I will fight the whole world for you.”

Nine years later, they were ready to fight each other and forget the rest of the world. 

“Hyuck-“ Taeil tried to say, but was corrected once again. 

“Haechan.”

This time, he didn’t bother repeating that ridiculous made up name, Donghyuck had gotten on his nerves with those baseless accusations. “You’re saying this just to spite me. You know I don’t have any problems with you getting your word across. I always told you to make more friends.”

With a shrug and sly smile, Haechan replied, “Well, guess what, I made new friends.”

“Not trying to think I’m smarter than you, but wouldn't call a cult a group of friends.”

They all shared the same newspaper headlines as Haechan, yet didn’t have famous faces. When Taeil was asked by the auror unit what kind of inside information he could give about the other wizards of the organization, he had to politely say he couldn’t do so. Not because he didn’t want to. The only person besides Donghyuck he had any knowledge of between those criminal faces was Kim Yerim and the aurors already had much research done on Haechan’s right hand woman. “Was that just to make me jealous?”

Donghyuck let out a dry chuckle. “Not everything is about you,” he retorted teasingly. His expressions became serious. “I honestly believe what we are fighting for.”

“You killed people.”

As he spoke that sentence, Taeil finally understood what he had wanted with this face to face meeting with Donghyuck. What he needed was to hear his friend deny that statement, to offer an explanation for all that mess. There was still a little of Hyuck trapped inside that stranger Haechan, he would never engage in violent ways. Laughing at Taeil, he would explain how it was all a government coup trying to criminalize his organization. Maybe he would even claim there was no murder involved and things were blown out of proportion. It could have even been an accident, a spell gone wrong. Taeil would take anything at that moment, would agree to any theory Donghyuck had to offer, if that meant the person he had loved all his life hadn’t committed the highest of Unforgivable Curses.

All he got for uncovering clues, tracing Haechan back to this forgotten piece of land in the middle of that violent sea was a small nod. There was no identifiable emotion in Donghyuck’s face, it could be pride or shame or even the face of duty done. None of it would matter, Taeil didn’t dare look at him any longer and had his eyes on the waves. He wanted a place to sit, but even if he felt weak,he couldn’t look so in front of his duel opponent. For the time being he would merely ignore the growing sensation of puking, hoping that mix of feelings such as disgust and disappointment would power him through when it came the time he would kill Haechan. 

His despair must have been apparent, for Donghyuck dared to take a step closer, voice frantic, “Do you know why? Actually, enlighten me what your little Ministry has told you.”

For some miracle, Taeil had the strength to reply. “It’s not just the Ministry. Hope you know that. Your face is all over the news too.”

“Good, at least that way you can see my pretty face everyday,” Donghyuck winked with his mouth parted, showing his charming teeth peeking out. It was almost a living image of what younger Hyuck would occasionally do, flirting with Taeil on the most unexpected occasions. Taeil would chuckle, tease him back when he could or just ignore with a flush on his cheeks when no proper answer came to his mind, but that was before. 

“You and your group have been murdering people across Korea. It was only your followers, but last week you entered those statistics as well.”

“How many people have I personally executed?” Haechan asked abruptly. 

“They don’t give me numbers-“

“One, one person.” His rival asserted, raising two fingers as to make sure Taeil knew. “Not that it’ll make any difference, a human life is a human life. But yeah, I killed one of them. The other was killed by Yerim. You must understand, she was nervous when we were making our grand escape.” Haechan paused to take a sigh. When he began talking again, he sounded calmer. “I cannot speak for the organization’s number, but I do not regret them.”

“You have killed,” was Taeil’s final conclusion. He stared wide eyed, mouth parted at the man he saw growing up. Was there anything he had missed when Donghyuck was a child? Was there any sign he would become a murderer all along? If he wasn’t born this way, what made him consider murder in the first place? Maybe it had been Taeil’s influence all along. 

Haechan took one step closer, their chest almost touching. His question was pronounced as loud as a whisper, but no word failed to reach Taeil’s ears. “Yes, I have. Will you kill me for it, Taeil?”

It wasn’t good for someone to retreat early in a battle field, especially when not all weapons had been displayed. Yet, Taeil could not stand so close to Hyuck, only observing while his enemy’s eyes dropped to his lips. He took a step back, shaking his head, “Don’t do this.” 

Feigning surprise, Haechan gasped. “This what? I want to know. Will you kill me? ‘S okay if you do. Only want you to be honest so I’ll know if there’s a little of my old Taeil inside.”

“You were the one who changed.”

Playing thoughtful, Donghyuck tapped on his chin with his fingers. “And yet I didn’t. I’ve always told you of my political and revolutionary beliefs. You used to agree with them.” His approach didn’t receive any response and he tried being more friendly. “C’mon, Taeil, stop being their muggle-born tolken boy. You know you’re better than that.”

By now Donghyuck should have known how much he hated when the younger brought his upbringing as a way to win him over to his side. Taeil would like to believe the memories had been erased, but his friend was too smart in politics to make such a lazy mistake. Haechan wanted Taeil to deny his muggle heritage, say that didn’t interfere with his position or past, and then he would retort with facts and more political propaganda for his radical ideals. Therefore, Taeil brushed that comment aside and stuck to one simple message. 

“Even if I agreed with you, I’d never agree with murder.”

“We agree to disagree, but that’s good. My old Taeil is still there.”

“I’m the same.”

Again, Donghyuck played doubtful by almost shutting his eyes and humming. “You work for the ministry though. You cut relations with me the minute you considered I’d hurt your image. You were so critical of the system, it can’t be you don’t see their prejudice now.”

Taeil clenched his fist, trying hard not to shut down every single lie that spilled out from Haechan’s poisoned tongue. They couldn’t fight, not that kind of fight. The two were to duel and that conversation was only happening so Taeil would be sure of his wrongdoings before putting an end to them. 

“You’re too radical.”

Donghyuck raised an eyebrow, amusedly inviting Taeil to speak more. “Am I?”

“Wizards and Muggles can never live together in the open.”

The first time Donghyuck had spoken that crazy theory of his, he was twelve and newly-graduated Taeil was naive enough to give mind to what he was talking about. The rest of the afternoon was spent with too difficult and complicated answers on History of Magic for Taeil to possibly answer any of them. Hyuck had a sparkle of curiosity in his eyes that reminded Taeil of when he was a child. 

After that, the idea blossomed again when he was at the rebellious age of sixteen. Donghyuck remained friendless, having only Taeil and Yerim, yet he had started gaining attention for his questions and people who would nod along with his ideals that were beyond the school waters. 

“Sensei Adachi called me to talk about your latest confrontations in his class…” Taeil commented, as his fingers caressed Hyuck’s hair. The rainbow locks were as soft as the meadow’s grass. His friend had recently changed his lavender scent for eucalyptus and new books and it mixed well with nature.

“What did he say?” he asked, eyes closed, enjoying Taeil’s touch. 

“That you will become a hazard soon.”

“They are scared of smart wizards who think outside the box,” the younger opened his eyes, staring longingly at Taeil. “You don’t agree with him, do you?”

He had noticed how hard the younger had tried to impress him lately. It was as if a throwback to his child years. From age seven to eleven he constantly tried gaining Taeil’s praise, giggling loudly at the sound of the older’s approval and making sure to ask for his opinion about everything. When he was definitely boarded to school and Yerim started studying there- the third Korean to do so-, Hyuck strived to make himself more adult than any eleven year old would and therefore didn’t need Taeil’s approval anymore. That went on for some time and it seemed like it had faded again in favor of some throwback to his children years. 

Taeil tried not to dismay Donghyuck completely while remaining true to his thoughts. “You’re young...” 

“Please, don’t use my age to make things less meaningful. When you were my age you liked two things, me and Potions. Things haven’t changed,” he argued straightforwardly. 

Taeil stopped caressing his hair, shaking his head with disbelief. “You are too full of yourself…”

“Only because I have your trust. Do you still trust me?”

A thousand Senseis of History of Magic could tell Taeil how untrustworthy and dangerous were Hyuck’s ideals, he would still put his faith in his friend. He would listen to how the whole system was rigged, and that also meant History itself, that lied about muggles hunting down wizards when that was not the case. After all, Taeil was the one who taught Hyuck muggle science and so he would endure all the knowledge that Donghyuck gained with it.

His first argument on how wizards were never prosecuted by muggles was by quoting marxist historian Keith Thomas and his book “Religion and the Decline of Magic” on beliefs during sixteenth century in England. 

“Are you paying attention, Taeil? Don’t laugh!” The older wizard tried holding his smile, but failed miserably. They were almost completely alone in a dark corner of the peach-pink library that smelled like old books and roses. The book shelves were made of rosebush and it only took a whisper to a flower for the book the person wanted to be brought to them. Taeil was facing a gigantic stack of muggle written History books while Donghyuck spoke rapidly. “Do you understand when I say that witches never really existed? Not even muggle women had an actual witch cult. All their belief came from the myth that curses from poor, excluded people were the strongest curses and therefore, these poor women, who were excluded by the rising capitalist society, but still fervently Christian, cursed mostly against the rich and they were a hazard. They were the ones on fires, killed and persecuted, do you see?”

“I see, I see. And you crossed by this Thomas book how?”

“He is friends with Hobsbawm and you told me to read Hobsbawm. I read him and his friends,” he informed, trying to hide how proud he was of himself. 

“Impressive,” Taeil complimented, but his friend merely shrugged and went back to his argument. 

“Do you understand what I’m saying, Taeil? Muggles never came across real witchcraft because wizards always hid it. When they did kill witches it was their own, coming from their own beliefs of curses,” he concluded excitedly. “That means we have never really tried living among muggles. Do you see, Taeil?”

Taeil did see. He saw an enthusiastic boy, determined to prove he was right and with a newfound passion. In his words there was truth and no other interest than to convince Taeil. That was why he trusted Donghyuck over anyone in the whole world. 

At that time he had never thought his friend would start a cult and kill innocent people for his beliefs whatsoever. Water from the waves poured in small droplets, wetting Taeil’s cheek and bringing him back to the present. 

Donghyuck started delivering a speech passionately. There was fire in his eyes and a bit of desperation for Taeil to believe in what he believed. “Why not? We only do it to save ourselves the trouble and you know it. How many muggles die of magical diseases every year? How many are hurt by magical beasts? And yet we hide this knowledge from them only because it would give us a headache if we tried changing things.”

“I don’t know, Hyuck…”

At the sight of uncertainty, Donghyuck grew more confident and met Taeil’s eyes. “You don’t because we haven’t even tried. And because you don’t conceive muggles are smart enough to understand magic.”

“It doesn’t explain why you killed that man…”

His rival nodded. In the end, all paths would lead to the murder he commited. Taeil wouldn’t let him dazzle in his revolutionary speech, or in his I-confessed-to-you-and-was-ignored tragic backstory or even in his I-was-abandoned fairy tale. The younger tapped his feet on the ground and sniffed loudly before he began talking. “You know how we used to discuss muggle born prejudice had become more refined over the years? No one is going to call you mudblood straight to your face, even if they think about it. They will just assign you worse jobs, will trust you less and have a bias against you that is supported by media and corporations. It’s all part of the superstructure of oppression getting their claws on everything.”

At the mention of the word ‘superstructure’, Taeil became angry. “Do not quote Marx on me right now!”

The younger didn’t look one bit afraid of him, if anything his little explosion drove him further into argumentation. “You know how the business of muggle oppression is profitable and how it is one of the reasons the Wizarding world will never stop oppressing other races. We need to end this system.” Taeil rolled his eyes dramatically causing Donghyuck to snort. “Don’t have to believe me if you don’t want to. You can see.”

He pointed his finger to the opposite side of the island where a small silvery pensieve was placed among the volcanic rocks. Taeil mentally cursed himself for not having noticed that object when running his eyes through the island for possible traps, but the silver didn’t reflect in such a grey day and the object blended in with the volcanic rocks. 

“It’s possible to change memories.”

“Only if the person fools themselves of so. Believe me, I remember everything clearly.”

Haechan offered his hand graciously. Taeil didn’t take it and instead walked to the pensieve with large steps while the rival muttered something under his breath before catching up. 

When they finally were standing in front of the object, Donghyuck withdrew his wand and carefully took a shining memory from his temple to let it drop over the misty waters of the pensieve. Again, he offered his hand. “You can’t deny it now, Taeil-ah...”

Showing his annoyance with another eye roll, Taeil took Haechan’s hand. They dove their heads in those waters right after.

The humidity and nature intoxicating smell of the island was replaced by the scent of cigarettes and printed newspapers, while the color pallete turned from the grey of rocks, the sky and the sea to several tones of brown that colored the gigantic office they were in.

There were three people trapped in that memory. Taeil knew all three of them very well. One was months younger Donghyuck with the only major difference being that he was dressed in all black and no hint of a smile played on his lips. Next to him was someone Taeil hadn’t seen in years. Her hair was long, wavy and pinkish and Taeil could have perhaps thought her to be a veela if he didn’t recognize her big round eyes and oval shaped face. Yerim was also the one speaking at the time and her sweet thin voice was like music to his ears, even if it sounded like she was threatening the third person in that room. 

“Yerim has changed,” Taeil took notice loudly. When he had last seen her, she had the body of a teenage girl. At that moment he saw a woman, with body curves and decisiveness in her eyes. 

“She’s definitely prettier. No need to get jealous,” Haechan chuckled in amusement. 

The older wizard ignored him and his eyes laid on the last person present. That face was familiar to him through the countless ‘in memoriams’ he passed by. However, the moving images in front of those papers were usually black and white and to see the man in color and alive, listening calmly to Yerim speak, didn’t sit well in Taeil’s stomach. He held Donghyuck’s hand tighter and brought him closer. His friend didn’t seem to be opposed to that, suppressing a small smile from taking over his lips.

It was difficult to pay attention word-to-word to what Yerim was saying but she delivered her speech with no stutter, confronting the man on his newspaper’s bias against muggle-born wizards and how cases of hate-crimes against muggles were never brought to print even with journalists willing to write them.

The man, Jung Yunho, nodded on to her words but kept seated behind his desk with his feet up on the table, patiently waiting for her to finish. While the pink-haired wizard brought facts and numbers on the rise of muggle and muggle-born murder and how more muggle-borns were victim of police bias, medical bias and even had higher unemployment rates, the media mogul seemed unaffected. 

“Why is he even hearing you out?” Taeil’s question startled Donghyuck.

“We made some pretty interesting offers…”

“Threats, you mean.”

Donghyuck shrugged the minute Mr. Jung began speaking and their eyes turned to the memory.

“Are you quite done, little lady?” his tone was borderline condescending. Taeil expected past-Donghyuck to shoot back some nasty answer but he remained quiet and Yerim agreed in silence. “These numbers mean nothing to me. What matters is what people read and they do not care about muggles and whatever comes out of muggles… So, thank you for coming to my newspaper representing your little criminal organization, but we will keep doing what we do.”

Yerim shook her head and her long hair beautifully wobbled around her even if she looked nervous and afraid. “Y-your newspapers. They kill people. They spread hate towards muggles.”

Mr. Jung raised one eyebrow, “Can you prove that? The people buy them, so make them not read it and I will for sure change the editorial view. Till then, you’ll have to kill me for it.”

Yerim seemed like she had something to add, but Donghyuck grabbed her by the wrist. “Let’s go Yerim…”

Before they could open the door to aparate, Mr Jung spoke again in a baffled tone. “To think you, two pure-bloods from nice families, would get inside this dirty business. Don’t dirty yourselves in this, don’t get involved with them. It’s better for you two.”

He had a convinced patronizing look on his eyes, like an overly prejudicial father trying to keep his children from eloping with muggle scum. Taeil observed as his Hyuck became what essentially was Haechan, saying in a breath the most unforgivable of curses. 

“Avada Kedavra.” 

There was a green blast from his wand and the man laid dead. No more patronizing glow remained in his eyes, but the convinced smile was frozen. 

Taeil had waited for the memory to be over and to be pulled back to the rainy island for that was vaguely what deceased’s Mr. Jung’s newspaper wrote all over the country. Present-Donghyuck still held Taeil’s hand tight and watched with anger in his eyes while his past self and Yerim painted in big red blood-like paint the words that didn’t make it to the news: “Muggle hater”.

The next minute, the memory was over and Taeil was kicked out of the pensieve, right to Donghyuck’s arms, trying to regain their breath together. The silver-haired’s lips were parted open for his breath to stabilize and Taeil watched his cute little front teeth peek out, to then notice the lips themselves and biting his own bottom lip.

Donghyuck must have noticed his attention for he licked them and approached Taeil. The second he did that, the older wizard jumped from his arms and rose from the rocky ground. He tried cleaning the dust from his clothes while Haechan got up from the ground. Holding his wand tightly, Taeil adjusted his hair and coughed before inquiring about the scene that had just unfolded before his eyes. 

“Why did you meet him if you know the system is not going to change? Superstructure is not broken by the individual, quoting your dear Marx.”

Donghyuck didn’t seem to mind the inconsistency found in his plan, shrugging. “Yerim’s idea. You know her, still too soft in the heart. Couldn’t convince her not to try.”

“Didn’t have to kill him.”

“But, if a colonized kills the colonizer, they will see two men lying on the ground dead. Alive would be the free man,” Haechan showed a cat-like, smartass smile, that at the same looked proud, daring and searched for some kind of retort. 

“Don’t quote Sartre, please,” Taeil replied and Hyuck’s smile enlarged. 

“You taught me, remember? We used to read tons of muggle works together… What? You don’t read muggle philosophy anymore?” 

Taeil had first noticed he had made a mistake on lending his friend so many muggle books when eighteen year old Donghyuck, with his reddish hair and spicy flair, came into his doorstep one day with an old book in his hand. Recently transferred to the ministry to a position that was overworked and underplayed, Taeil was confused and exhausted by the sudden visit, but let his friend come in.

“Red looks nice on you,” he complimented when they sat on his undone bed. His words were no lie, Donghyuck’s hair color contrasted with his skin and it was impossible to miss it. He was glowing, something usually connected to newly weds or those who were pregnant. Taeil guessed it was the excitement of uncovering the wizarding world outside of Mahoutokoro’s gates. 

“Bet it will look better on you if you ever give it a try,” Donghyuck replied cheekily and the older didn’t bother informing him the ministry didn’t allow colored hair on its halls for it was common knowledge. His knees were touching Taeil’s over their robes. 

“What do I owe the pleasure of your presence?” 

“I came to return this.”

Donghyuck gave him the old book in his hands, with beige pages due to the passing of time and with the cover slightly stained but the boys running on the beach were still visible and ‘Captains of the Sands’ was written above it in red letters. 

“Wow, I forgot you had it!” Taeil exclaimed in amazement. It wasn’t a book easy to find, very few translations to Korean or Japanese and that was the only copy he had the pleasure to own after weeks looking through all the muggle book shops in Korea. “Haven’t read it in a while…”

“‘S the first book I borrowed from you,” Donghyuck slurred out shyly and proceeded with big eyes turned to Taeil, who was still going through his old book. “Did you know most Chinese love stories start by the one who loves borrowing a book from the beloved?” 

Feeling his cheeks warm up with the question, Taeil tried being vague, “I must have read it somewhere…”

“From a book you borrowed from me before giving up on reading it. ‘Once on a Moonless Night’, Dai Sijie.”

Taeil’s eyes lit with understanding. “Your favorite author.”

“I like how he makes love bloom through books. I share similar experiences,” Donghyuck whispered secretly, but changed the subject by caressing Taeil’s face with one swift move. “You look gorgeous today.”

The brown-haired shivered under Donghyuck’s touch, but made no move to distance himself from it. “I look tired. You, on the other hand…”

“Don’t lie, I might believe you,” the younger pleaded, retrieving his hand. “Let me take you on a date.”

“Yes, and right after make me the Prime Minister, will you?” he asked with a loud chuckle. His friend, on the other hand, looked dreamy. 

“Our first muggle born Prime Minister being my boyfriend Moon Taeil? I would like to see that.”

Shaking his head and ponking Donghyuck’s nose, Taeil denied his claims. “Not your boyfriend. Not the next Prime Minister. You could try for the job though…” 

Donghyuck oddly didn’t seem very keen on discussing politics that night. “Don’t want that, only want a date.” 

“I can check if Kim Jungwoo is available,” Taeil offered with a smile. It was only for the purpose of the joke, he knew very well what was the business of Kim Jungwoo with Nakamoto Yuta when they were done handling with the Department of Magical Games and Sports. 

Donghyuck shook his head and approached Taeil, pushing him on the bed. At first Taeil thought the younger would lay on his chest and cuddle, but he moved his pliant friend around so Taeil would be the one laying on his chest. “Don’t want any person. Want you,” he whispered to his ear, chills running through Taeil’s head to toes. 

In the silence of that dusty room that smelled like wet fungus and old perfume, with only the two of them together on that tiny single bed, Taeil could hear Donghyuck’s heart beating loudly and vibrating on his ear. He started to trail his fingers up and down his chest, his friend’s muscles tensing to his touch and his breath hitching. Donghyuck was warm, Taeil felt like falling asleep on his chest and letting himself be protected from any cold in that dirty apartment. He was sure if he asked Hyuck to stay with him for that purpose alone, Hyuck would comply right away. That was dangerous. 

“Because I’m not a person, I’m a muggle.” Taeil said, breaking the moment they were having. 

Donghyuck was beyond outraged and Taeil could feel it for his heart beats increased. “Didn’t say that!”

“I know, I was joking along with you, no worries,” Taeil reassured him, back to trailing his fingers on Donghyuck’s chest. He opened his robes a little, so only his undershirt would stay as a barrier between Hyuck’s skin and his touch. Being friends for over a decade, Taeil had seen him shirtless countless times, but it felt daring to walk with his fingers so slowly over his body, only a thin layer of fabric between them. Both watched the fingers go, not sure what their next step would be. “What did you come here for, Hyuck?”

“Miss you, hyung,” the younger breathed out in a small mumble. His arm held Taeil tighter against him.

“Miss you too,” he echoed his friend’s words, nuzzling over the undershirt. 

“Wanna live with you.” 

“Lee Donghyuck living in this hellhole? Don’t think so…”

Donghyuck moved his neck and Taeil looked up so they’d be eye to eye. “Let me buy us a nice house, we will share it. Near your ministry and with separate bedrooms… But I won’t mind if you sleep in my bed from time to time,” he offered in a shy confidence of sorts only he could master. There was no answer for some seconds, only fingers going up and down his shirt. “Taeil?”

A small hesitant nod was all it took. The next day Hyuck was already apparating Taeil’s books for a house he “fortunately had found in less than twenty four hours.”

Books had drawn them close and apart, till they found each other again in another of Japanese archipelago’s islands. 

Without any patience to discuss when he had taught Sartre to Donghyuck, Taeil blinked his eyes back to reality. “Don’t have time for this! Why did you come here?” 

For the first time that day, Donghyuck looked hesitant, almost apprehensive in a child-like manner. His eyes darted off for the sea and his lips curled into a smile, even if he still looked sad. “How could I ever say no to a date with Moon Taeil?”

“This is not a date!”

Donghyuck turned back to face his rival and his dauntless self was back again. “Let me have this!”

Afraid that insistence would turn Donghyuck into even more daring, the wizard drifted to another question he was curious about. “How did you have time to implement the clues before fleeing?”

Haechan didn’t blink. “I didn’t.”

“Did you ask someone to do it for you?”

His enemy didn’t even wait for him to finish his question before shaking his head, eyes glowing with the knowledge of his secret. 

“Hyuck,“ Taeil began speaking before he was corrected again. 

 “Haechan.”

“-tell me.”

Donghyuck crossed his eyes, looking the man before him up and down with suspicion. “Admit this is a date.”

“For the sake of snakes and foxes, you’re utterly impossible to deal with!” Taeil cursed loudly, losing his composure in front of the enemy. 

“Gonna miss this when you kill me…” Donghyuck teased easily about matters of his own death, but every word made Taeil’s heart shrink. “C’mon, one date for the dead man walking.”

“Shut up,” the older wizard said before his rival could continue and make his heart pocket size. “I’m going to say this just so you can stop talking about… that,” he announced and Donghyuck awaited for his response while batting his pretty eyelashes. Taeil gulped. “This is a date.”

Never had Taeil wanted to commit physical violence as much as when he saw the victory smile slowly curl Donghyuck’s lips. Not when he had bragged about House Shunrai being better than House Yosamu for over three months after he had been sorted. Not when he would annoy the hell out of Taeil for spending too much time with Yuta. Not when he strongly opposed Taeil working for the ministry, even making a small theater demonstration of the demons of government in the middle of the streets. None of those passed close by how much Taeil wanted to take that smile out with a fist at that moment. Haechan surely was lucky he was gorgeous or else he would be dead. 

“Been knew you’d notice I dolled myself up for you…” he teased on, having the nerve to wink at Taeil who angrily turned his head to the sea. The waves were becoming more violent as the sky darkened. 

When Taeil turned to stare back at the enemy again, Donghyuck had lost his laid back vibe and appeared tenser. “Those clues have existed since we started growing apart,” he said loudly and formally. “You never looked for me, there was no way you’d find me.”

“Excuse me?” 

“I figured if you truly missed me, you’d find it. You only found me when you were assigned a job.”

“How did you know I’d be here then?”

“The clues are charmed. If you ever touched them, I’d know.”

While frowning and biting the inside of his mouth nervously, Taeil tried to recall all of the clues. There were 3, his favorite number and the exact half of Donghyuck’s own favorite number. At the mention of the famous wizard Haechan murdering innocent business owners, Taeil ran to his house. Even not having seen him for years and with the hope inside his heart being the size of a niffler, he expected to go home and meet his Donghyuck, who was waiting for him with a smile and the table set for them to eat.

In his mind, a blend of Donghyucks walked through. It could be the innocent child rainbow-haired Hyuckie that smelled of lavender, the angsty angry and overprotective teenager who vowed against any leaf that hurt Taeil on the slightest, the daring young adult Donghyuck with bright red hair and flirty personality. Any of them felt like home for Taeil who couldn’t bear seeing images of that skinny silver haired monster laughing maniacally across the news.

He opened the door with a big thud. The house was empty, not even a ghost wandering around it. Breathless, Taeil leaned on the table and his eyes landed on Donghyuck’s room, keeping the niffler alive. Without any necessity, he ran towards the door and screamed the secret for it to open, “3366” only to find the room empty. 

When Hyuck had left, angry enough not to direct any word towards his friend besides a promise, he sent his friends after to only take his clothes, leaving the rest of his belongings intact. There were moving pictures of the two throughout the years in Mahoutokoro, one being Taeil’s favorite. It consisted of younger Hyuck tapping his own cheek for Taeil to kiss it after he had won the quidditch championship- and Taeil eventually keeping to his word, causing the boy to get starry eyed. The wizard recalled how he had promised his friend a kiss if he won the final game in his last year of school and somehow Hyuck seemed more fearless in winning than ever before, especially enjoying the fact that the house he was against was Taeil’s Yosamu. 

On the wall of his bedroom there was his broom, a Firebolt that he had won from his parents and the letters Taeil had sent him over the years during their separated summers were on his bedside table. Taeil especially liked how the bedroom still smelled like Hyuck after so many years and how, when he sat on Donghyuck’s bed and looked up, the ceiling would simulate a starry sky. Many nights he had spent in Donghyuck’s arms, listening to him singing lullabies with the night falling above them.

At that moment, Taeil noticed a falling star from the ceiling hanging to their dimension. With a spell, he brought the star to his hand and was met with a puzzle of words inside the small ball of light. Another spell and the words were unscrambled to form the best sentence it could. Holding his own tears, the wizard read a small poem in a familiar handwriting.

the place i am 

doesn’t exist

for there is no moon.

there was once 

but that was

before

Taeil didn’t know how to possibly react to that poem, he was washed over with many emotions. Anger that after killing that man, Donghyuck went by their old house and left him a clue. Sadness for the friend he once had. Nostalgia for the place mentioned. In the end the feeling that made him rise up again was the irony of Hyuck penning him a poem when he himself was an openly hater of the art. He had done it for the joke of it and his humor wasn’t lost in Taeil, who quickly dressed up in his old Sensei robes to take a boat directly to his old school.

With a shining star in his hand and perfect japanese flowing through his tongue, Taeil argued he should be allowed to visit the Shunrai Planetarium on the highest of the castle’s towers. No one questioned his motives, the wizard was formerly a prestigious member of the school and his ties to the Korean ministry were well known, and so he climbed up the stairs to a place he had rarely visited. As most of the students of his years only dealt with Taeil’s presence if they were obligated to do so, the wizard spent most of his time in his Yosamu House’s meadow to avoid any clashes with those who would call him mudblood or curse him. There was one time, and one time only, that he came up those swirling stairs to meet with Donghyuck with only the sky above them. On that rare occasion, his friend had been avoiding him for over two weeks. 

When confronted, late at night with the rest of the students sleeping, the younger admitted to being jealous of Taeil’s blossoming friendship with new Charms assistant Nakamoto Yuta. After a few laughs that fueled on Hyuck’s anger, Taeil assured the rainbow-haired that it was refreshing to have a same-age friend at that school after so long only having the younger, Yerim and Sensei Minatozaki to count on, but that Yuta would never replace Donghyuck. 

“No one will ever be you,” Taeil confessed while Donghyuck gently caressed his hair. “Not now, not in the future.”

Hyuck beamed and, with his face turned to the sky, spoke words of wisdom. “This was worth something. When I’m lost now, you know where to find me… On the sixth telescope to the left of the Shunrai Planetarium, looking for my moon.” 

Donghyuck’s words stuck to him and Taeil walked slowly to the said telescope. It didn’t look anything special and smelled of old crusty metal. He played with the instrument a bit, looked around for any clues, until he finally decided to point it towards the moon. Magically, words appeared, carved on the astro’s surface through those lens. 

the pages dictate 

the saddest of nights 

if we hadn’t spent it together

Donghyuck kept on with the fucking poems and Taeil had to resist the urge to laugh loudly at his on-purpose cliche writings. He didn’t spend a minute further in the school, fetching himself a boat and sailing towards mainland China. 

As a gift for him graduating school, Taeil had taken his friend for a trip to said country, the land of his favorite muggle author, for them to explore its ancient history and love stories. Hyuck was utterly enamoured by China the minute he stepped there. Taeil had offered him magical tourism, such as going to the dragon zoo, but Donghyuck shook his head at all that. They mostly walked through muggle markets, museums and historical sites. Donghyuck bought Taeil anything the older wizard’s eyes settled on for more than two seconds. He would drag his friend through mysterious streets only to see what the true Beijing felt like and paid for every meal they ate, ignoring the other’s protests. At night, they would walk in the park holding each other’s hands and trying to ignore the busy noises of the city outside the park’s gates. 

On the last night of their trip, for Taeil had to be home the next day to accept a new mysterious job he wouldn’t tell Hyuck a word about, they were walking in the park again. The younger’s hands felt sweaty and soft, while the park smelled of lotus leaves and lake water.

“Will you love me even if I’m arrested as a traitor?” Donghyuck asked suddenly, making mention of his favorite book’s character. 

“The ones who arrested you must have made a mistake for sure…” Taeil replied and they sat on their favorite bench, watching the lake, frozen in motion but not in consistency.

“This is a moonless night, like in Buddha’s lost scroll… Yet it doesn’t feel moonless to me,” Donghyuck said casually while he placed his arm on Taeil’s shoulder. The older got comfier and laid his head on the crook of his neck. Silently, the friends enjoyed the beauty of a Chinese garden and its calmness compared to the rest of the city. “Thank you for this, Taeil-ah… These have been the happiest days of my life.”

“I knew you’d love to be transported to your dear author’s scenarios.”

“Not just for that... You explored those places together with me. Nothing will ever be more special than this.” He sighed, finding Taeil’s hand and holding it tight. “Of course, if you kissed me, it’d be a pretty memorable night…”

Chuckling, Taeil pushed him slightly and they returned to their calming silence. 

When the wizard arrived at that place many years later, the lake remained frozen in time. Taeil couldn’t find any clues around it, even after searching for many hours. Night fell and nothing changed, until a breath of fresh air managed to clear the sky from the clouds and the moon shone exactly over a small inscription on the bench, giving Taeil coordinates and time. He touched it dearly and somehow the writings seemed to shine brighter, but he ignored that thought. The hunting was done, he was to meet Donghyuck in less than a week. 

Realization finally hit him after going through a fast flashback in his head. Silver haired Donghyuck seemed to understand his logic the second it took form inside his mind. 

“Oh,” Taeil breathed out, still digesting the clue he ignored. “This is the next full moon according to when I found the note.”

“Yes.” 

“You’re smart,” the older complimented. Those clues weren’t hard for him to find, because they were planned for him only at the time Donghyuck went away. Any other wizard would die hunting for moon metaphors wherever they could grasp. 

“Learned from the best,” Donghyuck replied quickly, recalling that Taeil used to give him those clues in Mahoutokoro for them to find each other after class. 

Not wanting to fall into another flashback-loop, Taeil quickly changed the subject to another of his questions. “Why this place?”

With a nostalgic smile, Donghyuck dared to lean closer to Taeil. “I know we both hated school, but I miss the charm of a Japanese archipelago. They always remind me of you somehow,” he said softly, his words meshing with the sound of crashing waves. Taeil felt his throat clenching and Haechan’s dreamy eyes became concerned. “Why are you crying?”

In an automatic move, Taeil touched his cheeks to find them humid with tears. His breathing hitched and the water in his eyes made it hard for him to keep watch of his enemy. “I can’t kill you,” he confessed breathily. 

“Then don’t,” was Haechan’s simple response. 

“You’re evil.” 

“Don’t call evil what you don’t know.”

Taeil shook his head. He hated that he was so torn and distressed while his rival remained calm. There was some layer of sadness and melancholy wrapped around Haechan’s words, but hysteria was far more humiliating than that. “I used to know you.”

“You can still get to know me. Let’s not duel.”

Trying to regain his senses, Taeil spoke more sternly. The tears weren’t streaming down his cheeks as hard anymore. “It’s my duty.”

“Your first duty is as my friend. Come with me.”

“Where?”

Donghyuck felt the fresh flavor of victory by Taeil expressing curiosity. His true happy smile was a sight that would make anyone fall head over heels for him and something started erupting inside the older’s stomach. “Everywhere. The world is our domain.”

Taeil tried to shake him off his dreamy state by calling him back to reality. “Haechan.” However he was plainly ignored. 

“I know what I did. I will not apologize. They are going to treat me like a villain. Please, Taeil,” he begged, almost reaching for Taeil’s hand but deciding against it and holding his hands together instead, “break the rules for me once.”

“That’s a big rule,” Taeil pointed out apprehensively. 

“You can’t come back without having me dead.”

“I can’t not come back.”

“We will run away. You know we can,” Donghyuck suggested dreamily. The world was his domain to adventure himself, through magical gates and muggle buildings. All he needed at that moment was his best friend to say yes. 

The rival had become a hot air balloon, lifting Taeil from reality, offering a new impossible path that was so easy to accept because it was a better option than what they originally meant to do. Still, it was safer to stick the feet to the ground or else they could fly with no destination. 

“Haechan,” Taeil spoke with a warning. 

“Hyuck,” the silver haired corrected with a soft hopeful smile. 

With a lump in his throat, Taeil pronounced the nickname of his old friend. “Hyuck. How can I know you’re telling me the truth?”

Like in his many mood swings, bitterness washed over Donghyuck’s dreamy eyes. “You still doubt me.”

“You’ve changed,” Taeil stated formally. 

“We both have,” Haechan retorted, eyes lost in the crashing waves again while he was lost in thought. “There’s a way to see if our souls are still the same, though.” 

When their eyes met again, the auror comprehended Donghyuck’s with the same efficiency they had years before. 

In a hazy-like state, Taeil murmured the answer to all his questions. “Patronus.”

Easily mistaken for a mere spell of happiness to scare away dementors, Taeil and Donghyuck both understood it carried away much weight in showing a person’s true personality and soul. In the end, even lying to himself that his only purpose was to kill Haechan, following the clues had warmed Taeil’s heart, as if old memories became fresh through poetry and puzzles. It raised questions in his head if the man he was to meet could really have changed so much in three years. Surely his Hyuck with peeking teeth, dark moles and melodic laugh was still trapped somewhere, deep inside his soul. His soul-bonded spell could not hide the truth. 

His hopes of seeing the true Donghyuck were deflated as soon as the younger excused himself. “I am not in the happiest mood right now, I’m sorry.”

“I thought you were happy to be on a date with me,” Taeil said with a small smile on his lips. 

Donghyuck shook his head. “This is not a date,” he declared grimly. “I’ve fooled myself for so many years. In my head you never denied feelings so there was still a chance you could like me back, that you could have started seeing me with new eyes perhaps? I don’t know how delusional that sounds. Probably a lot. I am just in love with you and I’ve shaped myself around you and for you, so if there isn’t you, Moon Taeil… who is there?” he questioned with big innocent eyes. Taeil had no reply to give him, only more tears rolling down his cheeks. “I have to grow, though. I can’t always expect answers. You clearly haven’t missed me to the point of even checking through my old stuff or looking for me.”

Before Donghyuck could go any further, Taeil reached for his hand, quickly intertwining their fingers. The silver haired looked at him in pure awe, but Taeil didn’t let him speak. 

“I’ve kept your room locked for over three years. I didn’t let anyone move any little bit of it. That included myself. I was waiting for you to come back one day, as silly as it sounds. I wanted things to be like how they were but I never wished to push you. I wanted you to find yourself first,” he confessed quickly in a blurb of words while tears kept falling from his eyes and his speech was severely restrained by the lump in his throat. He took a quick deep breath before continuing. “I never denied your advances first due to pure pathetic panic. I-I didn’t understand what you were doing. I thought you were playing with me, enjoying being legal, that stuff my bratty Hyuck would do. That’s why I paid no mind to it. You continued though. Always annoyingly relentless… Finally, your hopes came true and my biggest nightmare began, for when I started seeing you with new eyes I considered myself a hazard for our friendship and still didn’t think you were serious with your flirtation. I thought my feelings might affect our relationship, so I backed out. I’m sorry.”

Silence fell over them at the dawn of recent discoveries. Taeil tried to read Donghyuck’s expression, but couldn’t so therefore chose to trust the fact his sweaty soft hand was still intertwined with his as a good sign. Hyuck’s eyes traveled from Taeil’s face to his hands to the sea to Taeil’s face again. Unbeknownst to him, his jaw was slightly dropped and a shining tear escaped his left eye. 

“All these years you... you liked me?” Donghyuck’s voice was shaky and unsure. Taeil nodded right away, words not being able to express that he more than liked Donghyuck. With a frown and semi shut eyes, Hyuck analyzed the auror carefully. “You aren’t telling me this just so I can be able to do my Patronus, right?” 

The older shook his head and it was apparently all the confirmation Donghyuck needed for he soon took his wand from his sleeve and pronounced two magical words. “Expecto Patronum.” 

From the silvery line that came from his wand, a small playful baby bear appeared, taking his first few steps and laughing at his own stumbles. When Taeil first saw Donghyuck’s patronus in their school days, he had thought the bear would perhaps grow through the years, as Hyuck grew older as well. Contrary to his expectations, the baby bear remained young, playful and innocent. 

At the sight, Taeil remembered Donghyuck’s graduation night to form his own patronus from his wand. 

“Expecto Patronum,” he spelled in a faint whisper and a koala appeared, roughly the same size as the baby bear’s. He was more cautious, approaching the baby bear in a slow crawl but easily helping him up. Their patronuses still recognized each other and were soon off to play.

The spell was unmade and the magical animals disappeared. Now, with only each other left to look, Taeil and Donghyuck turned to stare at their eyes. 

Hyuck was eager and the first one to move, putting his wand inside his robes and using his free hand to touch Taeil’s chin delicately. The younger was slowly taking in all of Taeil’s appearance at that moment, eyes scanning for how the grey light hit his skin, how wet were his cheeks and how shiny were his eyes. After he was done keeping the image in his mind, Donghyuck finally closed the gap between their lips. 

Slowly, Donghyuck tasted the mouth he dreamed of for so long and Taeil was quick to respond. The younger tasted of sea water and eucalyptus, mouth as warm as his hands, and the auror intertwined his hands on the nape of Hyuck’s neck, while the younger brought his body closer to his with his hands on the older’s back. 

From slow, it became fast, as if Hyuck wanted to make up for every year lost apart in one single kiss. His hands grabbed Taeil’s curves and he sucked Taeil’s breath out of his lungs. When he finally noticed the auror was breathless, they set apart.

Donghyuck beamed and shined brightly, his hand quickly intertwining with Taeil’s, never wanting to let him go, while the auror had a strong flush up on his cheeks and a shy smile curling his lips. 

“Come with me, Taeil. I beg you,” Hyuck spoke hoarsely, his confident grin never failing his lips. 

With big amazed eyes, the auror let his jaw drop. “The famous wizard Haechan begging me to come with him?” He ended his question with a giggle and Donghyuck pouted in annoyance. 

“Stop mocking, Taeil-ah. Don’t call me Haechan.”

“I thought it was your new made up name,” Taeil teased further, letting himself adjust to the fact that the man holding his hand was the same Hyuckie of years before. 

“It is. But to you ‘s Hyuck, your Hyuck,” the younger whispered to his ears, before taking a small bite that startled butterflies all over Taeil’s stomach. 

“How about baby?”

Donghyuck laughed loudly at Taeil’s boldness. “You wish! You are my baby,” he declared and Taeil’s blush became even stronger. The silver haired paused for a second, thoughtful. “That is, if you come with me.”

“You know I can’t,” Taeil said, with a hint of apology in his tone. 

Yet the younger didn’t look quite convinced, swinging the auror’s arm and whining. “Taeil-ah. Haven’t you played enough with me already?”

“Hyuck, I can’t,” the older stated, this time more seriously and definite. 

That caused a change in Donghyuck, who held back from being playful and appeared afraid. “Is it because of the guy I killed? Please, Taeil, nothing will hurt me more than to know I’ve destroyed my image to your eyes. Please come with me.”

Taeil’s eyes were getting teary again and the auror wanted to curse at the process of osmosis, for in the middle of that salty ocean, he seemed the biggest font of fresh water. “I have to go back, Hyuck.”

Finally, Donghyuck’s composure changed entirely. He dropped Taeil’s hands and took a step back. Reality was finally settling down on him. 

“You’re leaving me again.”

The words were dry on that humid island.

Taeil nodded through tears. “It’s my duty to go back.”

“Nothing to add?” Donghyuck asked, his eyebrows raised. Left with no answer from Taeil yet again, any sign of hope left his eyes. “This was the worst date ever, Moon Taeil. Why make me catch feelings again, only to prove my heart is still in place? Honestly, I wish I had never met you. I wish I could know myself without you.” The words he spoke, sharp daggers by themselves, were covered in more poison that came from Donghyuck’s hurt expression and tone of pure disgust. Again, Taeil saw his Hyuck fading for Haechan to take place. Recollecting his cape dramatically and drawing his wand, the silver haired said his last goodbye. “Hope you don’t miss me, because I won’t leave you clues to find me again. Good day.”

With a blink of an eye, Donghyuck apparated, leaving Taeil alone on the volcanic island. It was as if he had never been there, no traces of him left, except for his smell of eucalyptus and new books.

Taeil felt his knees failing him after spending so much time tensely standing up amidst those rocks. He kneeled onto the ground, running out of breath suddenly and one last tear streamed down his face before rain started to pour and he couldn’t differentiate his tears from the droplets. Getting back on his feet, he returned to his boat and sailed back to the continent. 

☾☼☽

After a hard day at the department, making sure a wrongfully accused muggle-born was set free back to her family, Taeil came home to find Donghyuck waiting for him with a big cake on the table and the house completely decorated with blue ribbons and smelling of candy. 

The theme of the small party was starry sky and the cake was beautifully decorated with drawings of sun and moon. Hyuck looked especially dazzling, with a bright yellow sweater to simulate the sun that completely matched the palette of his golden skin and bright red hair.

“Baby, ready to celebrate our joint birthday?” he greeted Taeil with a child-like smile that was rare in the expressions of most twenty year olds. “I was thinking, as a gift I could give you a kiss?”

The red haired then licked his lips, wetting them and redirecting Taeil’s eyes towards them. The auror chuckled nervously. “You didn’t have money to buy me a proper gift?”

“I did, but my kisses are better…” Donghyuck whispered, holding Taeil by the waist and letting his eyes hazily land on the older’s lips. 

Shaking his head and detaching himself from the younger’s arms, Taeil took a step back. A sudden worried frown appeared on his face. “Hyuck, who are these people you’re hanging out with?”

“I hang out with no one, I’m only yours if you’ll have me…” the red haired trailed off while reaching for Taeil’s hand. 

Trying not to let the chills that came from Hyuck’s touch affect him, Taeil proceeded. “Please, don’t lie about this. The aurors-“

“I’m the one pleading now for you not to mention one of those fascists to me,” Donghyuck asked while shaking Taeil’s arm cutely. The older knew him better and saw his soft act as a way to cover the anger boiling inside. It had been many years since Hyuck decided that fighting with Taeil about the aurors or ministry would get them nowhere. Therefore the red haired gradually changed his tactics, attaining himself to only casual passive-aggressive commentary or cute pouts on how bad, bad, bad were the wizardry police. 

“I am one of them.”

“Yeah, but you’re different…” the younger mumbled, holding Taeil’s hand tighter. 

“Hyuck, they tell me you’re part of an organization that is… sketchy,” Taeil said with caution. 

For a second, Donghyuck let his cute self cover up fall and the flame of political anger came to his eyes. “They will say that because we are anti-auror and pro-muggle and we know how they hate that last one...” Taeil was shocked by his answer and he let it be known by a small gasp. Noticing his mistake, the younger softened his expression and tried to push the issue aside. “We shouldn’t discuss that now, it’s ruining our joint birthday, baby. Can I give you a kiss?”

He threw a smack at the air, lips full and wet waiting for Taeil’s approval. 

“O-On the cheek?” he asked with uncertainty, hoping Donghyuck would say yes and let it be over with. A smaller but loud part of his heart also hoped for his friend to request a kiss from his own lips. 

“Wherever you want, Taeil-ah,” Hyuck replied cheerfully, letting his eyes drop again to Taeil’s mouth while biting his bottom lip. 

Taeil’s breathing hitched. Holding Donghyuck’s hand in the middle of their living room, with his friend so close to him and cheekily offering him kisses wherever Taeil wished to have them weirdly felt romantic. 

It felt like a perfect date. 

Taeil wanted to believe it was a date. All he wished at that moment was to ask Donghyuck to kiss him on the lips, drive his playfulness a little further, give him a bite of the birthday cake from his finger, chuckle against his mouth before another kiss. 

Finally Hyuck’s casual flirting had driven Taeil to the edge and it saddened him to think his younger friend thought of him only as someone to tease. It was a joke for Hyuck, a good laugh, and Taeil was romanticizing events that were completely platonic. 

“I-I think it’s best if I move out,” he breathed out in one go, letting go of Donghyuck’s hand and avoiding looking at him. 

“Why?” 

The truth was too shameful. Imagine leaving your best friend of almost two decades only because he couldn’t handle some mocking flirtation. Therefore, Taeil, who maintained his eyes stuck to the ground, stuttered out his lie.

“Y-you’re getting into that organization, I want to follow the government… We are too different…” 

“We were always different. My sweet righteous Taeil who was soft spoken even when cursed at. It never stopped us from being friends,” Donghyuck spoke in a sweet whisper and it turned Taeil’s stomach upside down. He tried to speak again, even if he felt his throat closing slowly. 

“We’ve grown up and-“

Taeil was interrupted by a much more stern Donghyuck. “Don’t need it. You don’t want me by your side and for some reason you had to tell me that on our joint birthday…” he breathed in deeply and Taeil dares meeting his disappointed eyes. “You can keep the house, not sure I’d be able to be here without missing you constantly. Yerim and Sicheng will come collect my things tomorrow…”

Without a proper discussion of if the celebration for their joint birthday would continue, Donghyuck fetched his robes, covering his pretty yellow sweater. 

“Guess this is a goodbye…” Taeil murmured while playing with his fingers. He looked up, finding enough strength to allow himself to reassure Hyuck of his place. “You’ll still have your bedroom. Always.” 

The red haired nodded expressionless. 

“Goodbye, Moon Taeil,” Donghyuck spoke out formerly, not making any move to give his friend one last hug. He drew his wand out, but before he could apparate, Taeil stopped him. 

“Wait!”

In obvious relief and with a sweet smile on his face, sweet honey eyed Donghyuck asked, “Regretting your decision already, baby?”

Taeil was frozen in shock, even if his heart melted at his friend’s obvious innocence. “N-no, I-I don’t want you to forget your book…” he then picked the book from the inside of his robes. It was a worn out copy of “Once on a Moonless Night” that Taeil had given Donghyuck himself when he was fourteen and had fallen in love with Dai Sijie’s “Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress”. The younger had lent him the book years before, claiming that it was Taeil’s duty as best friend to read his favorite book. 

“Have you finished reading it?” Donghyuck questioned quietly. 

Taeil shook his head slowly. “Not yet.”

The prose was rather purple for Taeil’s liking, even if he did appreciate some poetry unlike his friend. It made him lose himself over the course of the story and he was never quite sure of what was taking place in the book. Hyuck had recommended him to perhaps read it with the muggle-grown herb marijuana for it to flow better but it was prohibited by the Ministry of Magic. Taeil still tried reading it as much as he could, even if the process was slow, but he constantly stopped midway and had to pick it up from the start. 

“Then finish it and bring it back when you do. I’ll be waiting,” Donghyuck promised and, with a silent spell, was gone completely. 

Taeil was left to the comfort of the book and a broken heart. Luckily for him, he had no faint idea that was the last he would see of Hyuck for three years or else his heart might not have healed after that night. 

☾☼☽

In the midst of China’s high mountains, which few foreigners ever set their foot upon, a man walked fast in his dark robes while holding a variety of fruits in his basket. Making his way towards his plant covered house on the stone steps, he tried to be a shadow on that sunny day. No one else was to be seen and behind him there was only the abyss that led to the valley down below in which rivers met to form a giant lake. Rotating his head frequently and paying attention to smells and noises, the shadow-figure assured himself that no one had followed him and finally lowered the hood of his robes, letting his brown golden hair shine in that bright day. 

“614 Moon,” he whispered to the door, that opened instantly. Before he could make his way inside as fast as he could, a familiar voice stopped him and the smell of meadow and lotuses flowers filled his nostrils. 

“You said you never wanted to see me again, but that’s the secret to the house?” 

Donghyuck turned around to see his old friend. He hadn’t seen him in months, but Taeil looked more confident than he had the last time they had met on that lost island in the Pacific. His dark brown robes met the ground as he walked towards Donghyuck and his newly dyed red hair would occasionally fall down on his eyes, but the bright in them wasn’t missed. 

Hyuck quickly dropped the basket of fruits he was carrying to the ground, causing apples to roll around, and drew his wand, pointing it defensively against Taeil. 

“What are you doing here?” he asked aggressively. Taeil didn’t look scared by the imminent threat. 

“Following clues,” he answered simply, a smile curling on his lips. “This time they were harder as they weren’t tailor-made for me.”

Donghyuck shook his head and pointed Taeil his way out. “I don’t want to see you.”

“Why not?” Taeil questioned honestly, but was met with no answer. “You’re dead according to the ministry files,” he informed and it brought the first reaction of surprise in Hyuck’s eyes. “You and Yerim. I wish I could have erased more from the files but there’s only so much they will believe. In a duel, someone has to live to tell the tale.”

Instead of the thanks Taeil was waiting to receive from Donghyuck, he was scolded in an unforgiving tone. “You could have told me.”

“If you were caught and they used Veritaserum on you, my plan would be in the open. In case that happened, you wouldn’t know of me being at your side and I could break you out,” Taeil explained righteously. Donghyuck’s expression didn’t soften, but the older couldn’t help but let a small anecdote leave his lips. “Because even if you’re arrested as a traitor, I’d know it to be false.”

If Donghyuck had understood Taeil’s reference, he didn’t show it. At least he stopped pointing his wand in the direction of the older’s face and crossed his arms instead. 

“Why did you do this?” he inquired skeptically. 

“I’m in love with you, Hyuck.” 

The confession slipped out of his lips whole-heartedly and with an honesty Taeil hadn’t allowed himself to have in years. Speaking those words out in the open, in the middle of a Chinese mountain with only Donghyuck there to listen felt refreshing. 

“Haechan,” Donghyuck corrected him but Taeil quickly cut it off.

“Drop it.” The younger remained with his arms crossed, not budging and with a skeptical gaze. The red haired sighed and took a step closer to him. “You know I had to go back.”

Donghyuck didn’t flinch from their proximity and Taeil saw it as a small victory. The younger asked unwillingly. “What do they think you’re doing now?”

“They gave me a sabbatical. They knew how hard it was for me to kill you, even if I was congratulated all over the wizarding world.”

“Must have done wonders to your ego.” The irony wasn’t missed by Taeil, who answered in a similar tone. 

“Who cares about ego, I’m not you,” he chuckled at his own retort but his friend was expressionless. “I’m just joking, Hyuckie…”

The nickname gained another reaction from the younger, who looked outraged and angry. “You cannot call me that.”

“Why not?” Taeil repeated his previous question but again it went unanswered. “I am known for being the holder of the worst date ever title. I was wondering if we could revisit that?”

“Why would I give myself the trouble?” Donghyuck raised one eyebrow. It might have looked a blunt refusal, but Taeil’s heart cheered for he was considering his proposal. His only job was to be convincing. 

“Because you once said I’m your baby?” Taeil replied with clumsy uncertainty. Donghyuck wasn’t pleased with the cheeky explanation and so the red-haired decided to drop the act and be honest with Hyuck, as he just had been when confessing his feelings. “And also because… I don’t know if you know this but in most Chinese love stories, the one who loves borrows a book from the beloved, so I wanted to give you this back,” he put his hand inside his robes and Donghyuck instantly pointed his wand to his face again for defense purposes. In his hands there was a worn out red book with the title ‘Once on a Moonless Night’ inscripted on the cover. Donghyuck observed the book wide-eyed and Taeil filled the silence that installed between the two. “I’ve finished it, if you’re wondering.” 

There was nothing else to say. Donghyuck took the book from Taeil’s hands and their fingers brushed, startling chills from their fingertips down to their stomachs. 

“Fuck, Moon Taeil,” Donghyuck muttered under his breath, taking the book from his hands completely and enjoying going through its old yellow pages. Taeil watched him silently, giving him time for a final veredit. In the end, Hyuck closed the book and his eyes turned to Taeil, softer even if still serious. “If you wanna ask me out just say it.”

“Will you go out with me?” Taeil asked while offering Donghyuck his hand.

It was accepted and they intertwined their fingers. Hyuck smiled at him with his bright hazel eyes and flushed cheeks. “Wow, you really go that extra mile to score a date with me, baby.”

Taeil chuckled his way to meeting Donghyuck’s lips and they kissed under the sun in the middle of that chain of mountains. After many years, it was once again Taeil and Hyuck against the world.