Chapter Text
When Jungkook was just a young lad, he’d dreamt of becoming the greatest witch the kingdom had ever known. Leaving his small hometown behind and travelling north to the capital, he’d track down the mysterious Royal Witch and make him take him on as his only apprentice. After several years of rigorous and definitely dangerous training in every area of magic wielding, Jungkook would be able to strike out on his own as a full-fledged witch and eventually make a name for himself across the land.
Things had been more or less going according to his plan: left home, found Royal Witch, became his apprentice.
Easy peasy lemon squeezy.
It’s the rest of it that’s got him a little, well, confused. He’s been here for almost six months now but he doesn’t know if he’s learned anything that’s going to guarantee his chances of becoming the greatest witch ever. Sure, Seokjin has taught him some basic survival skills, like which mushrooms are edible and what kind of berries won’t give you explosive diarrhea, or tracing spells that guide you back to a familiar location. But that’s because Seokjin basically lives in the woods like a bougie hermit so it’s to ensure he doesn’t lose his only apprentice to something stupid like food poisoning or freezing to death in the middle of the woods because he got lost.
Jungkook thinks it’s maybe kind of a problem that Seokjin doesn’t seem to have a concrete plan for his apprenticeship since he’d just been delegating menial tasks for Jungkook to do for the first five months. Seokjin insists that these are essential skills in successfully cultivating his powers but Jungkook thinks Seokjin just wants someone else to do the manual labor. The first month was strictly outdoor work, anything from watering the garden to weeding, and the occasional chasing critters away from eating the veggie and flower patches. Second month was household chores, where Jungkook washed the mountain of dishes piled up in the sink, took baskets of laundry out to dry, and dusted, swept, and wiped every flat surface in the cottage. The third month saw Jungkook mostly in the mountains, picking herbs and digging for roots that Seokjin needed in his various potions and spells, with the occasional “bring back a fat trout for us when you’re out, Jungkook-ah!” Four months in and Seokjin had started letting Jungkook near his library of spell and potion books, solely because the elder didn’t want to clean up the mess in the room and rearrange the books in a coherent and intuitive manner. Naturally, the task went to Jungkook. Come the fifth month, Jungkook earned another notch on his witch apprentice belt by becoming the delivery person between Seokjin and Namjoon, Seokjin’s friend and plant supplier.
So being an apprentice is more like a glorified assistant and occasional errand boy, and only recently have they started a weekly series of what Seokjin calls, “BTS” aka “Battle Thy Student” which like the name suggests, is where they duel—compete—in completing a magical task. As a competition of course, there are prizes and punishments and the streak has not been great for Jungkook, as expected of his only six-month tenure. Which basically means, more chores for Jungkook and more reasons for Seokjin to justify giving them.
Oh! Has he mentioned that Seokjin is the Royal Witch? Kim Seokjin, the powerful, elusive witch admired by all in the kingdom and feared by those beyond. A figure so shrouded in mystery that he’s almost a legend in his own right. Rumor has it that he tamed the fierce dragon of First Mountain at only sixteen years of age and the pair has protected the kingdom since. Or how he ended the two-month drought by summoning a steady downpour that replenished their bone dry rivers and wilting crop fields. Or how any trespassers through his side of the mountain will be immediately turned into trees where they stand and that’s how the Forest of Epiphany came to be.
(The last one, Jungkook would learn very soon after starting his apprenticeship, is actually complete bullshit that Seokjin spread himself to get people to leave him alone.)
The same Seokjin who’s lounging on the couch right now reading the newspaper while making Jungkook rub his feet because he’s been out weeding in the garden this morning and his feet had fallen asleep from his prolonged squatting.
“Why didn’t you just magick the weeds out?” Jungkook asks, pushing his thumb into the sole of Seokjin’s left foot, his other hand holding Seokjin’s slender ankles in place in case the older witch accidentally kicks him in the face. Which has happened more than once because Seokjin is ticklish and Jungkook has learned from his past mistakes. Though for someone so ticklish, Seokjin sure makes Jungkook massage his feet and back a lot for some inexplicable reason. Jungkook just chalks it up to laziness; why spend energy stretching and kneading the knots in your own shoulders when you have someone who can do it for you?
“Jungkook-ah, I told you,” Seokjin replies absentmindedly as he flips through the pages, “you can’t magick your way out of everything. Sometimes it’s good to use your hands and get some dirt under your fingernails.”
“So, like what I’m doing right now?”
“Excuse you! My feet are very clean.” Seokjin flips the newspaper down to level Jungkook an indignant look. “You saw me come out of the shower earlier,” he huffs, going back to skimming the headlines.
Jungkook sighs. Yes, he had indeed seen Seokjin come out of the shower earlier in nothing but a flimsy towel around his waist and water dripping from his hair and down his toned chest and lean muscles and disappearing into the divot of his hips and—Jungkook really needs to stop this runaway train of thought because it’s giving him heart palpitations again and he’s getting weirdly hot under the collar of his thin tunic shirt.
He doesn’t know when it started happening, how just seeing Seokjin around the house lately has gotten him all hot and bothered, or how his stomach swoops down to his feet whenever the light catches Seokjin’s side profile just so that he ends up glowing like the literal moon. Or how he finds himself staring at the gentle curl of Seokjin’s lips whenever the witch smiles to himself or at Jungkook. The latter is his favorite of course, not that he’ll ever tell Seokjin that, the man has enough to lord over Jungkook for the next twenty years at least.
He’s pretty sure he’s not under any of Seokjin’s spells—which would be vastly unethical because as much as Seokjin is flippant in everything he does, he’s still the Royal Witch and has a moral obligation to this land and its creatures—and is perfectly healthy as far as he can tell, which leaves the only plausible explanation to be: he’s got feelings for Seokjin.
Which, okay, Jungkook’s no stranger to feeling things towards Seokjin. He’s got lots of feelings; amazement to be sure, for his skills in witchcraft and overall magical expertise; genuine respect for what he has done for the kingdom and its inhabitants as the Royal Witch; general bewilderment for the overall chaotic nature of Seokjin’s actions; annoyance when said chaotic actions impact Jungkook’s daily routine—seriously can Seokjin please stop using actual firecrackers to wake him up; and last but not least, something occupying the space between “like” and the other L word.
All this is to say that it’s a little inconvenient because Jungkook is used to categorizing his feelings for Seokjin into two boxes, admiration for his mentor and exasperation for his friend. So when you have another feeling that requires you to dump the contents of both boxes out, jumble them around, and put them in an entirely different box labeled “TBD but it’s an L word for sure,” it’s rather troublesome and confusing.
Like now, he’s feeling that ambiguous feeling as he fondly watches Seokjin stuff an entire slice of cake into his mouth in one bite and lick his frosting-covered fingers clean before wiping them on Jungkook’s sleeve.
Okay, maybe it’s a little gross, but he digresses. “Hyung, c’mon,” Jungkook pinches Seokjin’s calf, eliciting a yelp from the elder and a kick that barely missed his nose. “Stop using my shirt as a napkin. I just washed this.”
“Then what would I use to clean my hand with?” Seokjin has the audacity to pout at him three seconds after almost punting him in the face.
“I don’t know, maybe an actual napkin like everyone else?”
“But that’s all the way across the room. You’re right here.”
“You just moved that slice of cake from the dining table to your hand here,” Jungkook rolls his eyes.
“If you wanted a bite you should’ve just told me. I can get another slice for you.” Seokjin sits up and leans in, and Jungkook has a distinct feeling he’s about to hear something corny. “It’ll be a piece of cake.”
He winks.
“Every day you terrorize me with your puns and jokes,” Jungkook groans loudly. “Now I can see why people find you so fearsome.”
“But you don’t!” Seokjin exclaims, looking delighted for some incomprehensible reason and entirely too close for Jungkook’s poor heart. He cups his face and leans his elbows on his knees, peering at Jungkook with a gaze that’s almost tender. “You’re always by my side, my dearest Jungkookie.”
So here’s the other part about this liking Seokjin thing, the thing where Jungkook is definitely, absolutely, 100% certain that Seokjin doesn’t feel the same way. He doesn’t know why Seokjin does half of the things he does but he knows that Seokjin doesn’t see him as anything but a younger brother. But then a moment like this happens, and Jungkook is left speechless and blinking back like a confused gerbil and what is he supposed to feel, when Seokjin’s voice goes soft like this, when it settles over him like a warm blanket on a cold night and he feels his doubt melt like honey in his gut.
He drops Seokjin’s legs unceremoniously and rises to his feet before he does something stupid like kisses Seokjin.
“Of course I’m still here,” Jungkook clears his throat. “Who else is gonna do the dishes and harvest the vegetables and scour the mountains for that one root you need for your potions?”
He chances a glance back at Seokjin on the couch and the witch is looking up at him with a tilt of his head, and Jungkook’s face is ten seconds away from setting itself on fire so he straightens his shirt and walks towards the coat rack to grab his messenger bag. “Speaking of roots, Namjoon-hyung said he’s got the latest order for your potion so I’m gonna go get it,” he says while lacing up his boots.
Seokjin seems to shake out of whatever trance he was in just now. “Oh yeah, it’s for our BTS potion-off tomorrow.”
Jungkook whips around, eyes wide. “Really? You’re finally letting me make my own potion?”
“Sure, why not,” Seokjin says around a yawn, stretching languidly. Jungkook snaps his head away so he can stop staring at the sliver of skin peeking out from where Seokjin’s shirt is riding up. His life has proven to be exponentially more difficult lately.
Seokjin, oblivious to all of Jungkook’s woes, continues, “I know you snoop around in the library reading all the advanced potion books anyway. It doesn’t take five hours to arrange one shelf.”
Jungkook opens his mouth to defend himself because it definitely took at least three hours since that room is a mess but Seokjin cuts him off, “It’s about time we see the result of your labor! Now go and get the goods from Namjoonie before he goes on one of his four-hour hikes again.”
Jungkook checks the clock on the wall—11:30 am—which means he’s got an hour before Namjoon leaves. He feels in his pocket for the note Seokjin gave him earlier detailing the ingredients of the potion before heading out the door with an, “Alright, see you later hyung.”
“Say hi to Namjoonie for me!”
“I will!”
“Oh and—!”
Jungkook turns around, one foot on the other side of the threshold. “Yeah, hyung?”
Seokjin has gotten up from the couch and is walking towards the door. He opens and closes his mouth, trying to decide what to say. Finally he goes with, “Be safe, Jungkookie. I’ll see you soon.”
Jungkook blinks, feeling like he’s missed something from this exchange.
When Seokjin doesn’t elaborate any further, Jungkook says, “Okay, I’ll be back soon.”
He looks back at the house when he walks past the front gate of the garden. Seokjin’s leaning on the doorframe, watching him go.
Jungkook doesn’t know why a sudden warmth spreads through his chest just then, and he doesn’t have time to dwell on it because Seokjin is waving and yelling at him to “Get going before Joon disappears into the woods for the rest of the day and don’t complain to me later when you can’t make the potion because we have no ingredients!”
He waves back before taking out a teleportation talisman and disappearing into the air.
~~~
Let’s start from the beginning, shall we?
When Jungkook was just a young lad, he’d discovered that he had an affinity for magic. Now, magic is something that exists within nature; it’s all around you, like the air you breathe, the water you drink. It’s beneath your fingertips and in your bones, it’s hidden in the clouds and buried deep underground. And it flows through everything, like time, and very few people can harvest it and use it for themselves.
Jungkook, being one of these people apparently.
Growing up by the sea meant spending most of your time in it, and Jungkook loved the sea. His father would take him and his brother to the beach almost every day, where the boys would play in the water and breathe in the salty air. When the weather was good, they’d grab their fishing poles and push their little boat out into the water and spend the day fishing and napping. When Jungkook was six years old, he discovered that he was very good at fishing. Or rather, fishes liked being caught by him. It was almost as if his existence was a giant bait; he’d cast his rod and the fish would gather around their boat in minutes. As much as young Jungkook disliked the image of himself as a humongous mealworm or a piece of sardine, he was delighted to discover something he was good at—something that he could use not only for himself but for his family too. His father had clapped him on the shoulder with that hearty laugh of his and said, “Looks like the sea likes you, son!”
“I like the sea too, appa!” He grinned up at his father and brother with his missing front teeth.
“But you must remember, Kook-ah,” his father ruffled his hair, but his eyes were serious as he said the words that Jungkook would always keep in the back of his mind, “Never take more than you need. The sea will protect you, but you must never take it for granted.”
Jungkook had learned the fundamental truth in magic wielding that day all those years ago, and it’s something that Seokjin always reminded him whenever it did slip his mind—maintain the balance.
And that’s when Jungkook’s dream to become the greatest witch began. A dream to become powerful enough to maintain that balance, so he could use his own power to help as many people as he could. A dream that would lead him to Seokjin’s door.
Years later, when Jungkook first told his family about his plan to seek out the Royal Witch, he thought they’d throw a big fuss. He was right to a certain extent—his parents immediately told him how dangerous it’d be, and his brother refused to talk to him for three days straight. In the end, they agreed only on the promise that Jungkook would write to them every week to let them know he was safe.
His father got one of his friends in the Capital to scout out an address for Jungkook to go to, but the Royal Witch clearly valued his privacy and didn’t like to be found. All they could manage to pen back to Jungkook was a vague description of the general area east of the city where the Royal Witch was rumored to reside.
So, saying goodbye to his family and his little seaside town and promising to return in a few years as a full-fledged witch, Jungkook set out for the capital as a 23 year-young man with a heart full of adventure and endless possibilities. The world was his goddamn oyster and he was gonna find enough pearls for an entire necklace. Following the direction he was given, he made his way to the Capital and searched for a cottage not too far into the woods with smeraldo flowers blooming in the front yard.
“Searching” was a bit too generous of a term because Jungkook was utterly lost. After hours of trekking in what seemed to be giant circles—he had definitely walked past that tree three times already—Jungkook ran into a man wearing a cape fishing in the stream nearby.
His first thought was, hmm weird, followed immediately by, he’s hot, but he hadn’t seen a single soul for hours aside from some squirrels so he figured he might as well ask for directions.
“Excuse me,” Jungkook began, “could you tell me where the Royal Witch lives?”
The man, with his ridiculous cape pooled at his feet, looked up at Jungkook from where he was squatting and gave Jungkook a very deliberate once-over. Then, with no warning whatsoever, he tossed the fishing rod he was holding to Jungkook.
“Woah what—!” Jungkook jumped, scrambling to catch the stick.
“If you can catch a fish within the next fifteen minutes, I’ll show you the way to the Royal Witch’s cottage,” the man said as he stood up, straightening the creases in his linen pants.
“Um.” Jungkook had no interest getting sidetracked like this. He was so close to his destination, he could feel it. He didn’t have time to waste on helping some random dude who couldn’t even catch a fish. “Sorry, but I’m kind of in a hurry. I don’t have time to help you.”
He moved to hand the rod back but the guy started pouting. “C’mon, help a brother out,” he pleaded, lips pulled down into a pout. “I’ve been out here for hours and I haven’t caught anything. At this rate, I won’t have any food to bring back to my family.”
If there was anything that Jungkook’s family warned him about before embarking on this journey, it was to not trust strangers. But this man looked so sad and Jungkook didn’t have the heart to say no. He didn’t want the man nor his family to starve when he could’ve helped. Wasn’t this why he wanted to learn magic in the first place?
“Okay, fine,” Jungkook sighed, turning to walk near the riverbank. He casted the lure into the stream with a well-practiced flick of his wrist, like all those times he’d done with his father and brother out on the ocean. “I just have to catch a fish right? Then you’ll show me where the Royal Witch lives?”
“That’s right!” The man exclaimed, clapping his hands together and looking delighted. “Just one fish, if you’d be so kind.”
Not even 30 seconds later, Jungkook felt a tug on the line and he moved to reel his catch in. It was a huge rainbow trout, its scales glistening under the sun.
“So, is this okay?” Jungkook detached the hook from the fish in a quick motion and turned to show the man his bounty.
“Very interesting,” the man was muttering to himself, eyes darting back and forth between Jungkook and the fish. “Can you catch another one?” He asked.
“I thought you said just one fish,” Jungkook huffed.
“One fish is hardly enough for a family, don’t you think?” The man had proceeded to bring out the puppy eyes and Jungkook snapped his head back towards the water.
Sheesh, he was so weak.
Casting the line into the water once more and reeling in another trout just minutes later, Jungkook turned to the man, who was doing a poor job of pretending not to stare at him. “Here,” he put the fish on the grass, next to the first one. “This is good now right?”
“Wow!” The man exclaimed, both hands framing his face in surprise. “You’re the best fisherman I’ve ever met! Do you think you can catch a few more? Since you’re so good, it’d be easy.”
“Nope,” Jungkook stood up, dusting off his hands. “Two big fish are plenty enough to feed your family for tonight. I’m not taking more than what’s needed.” He was getting a bit impatient with this man and his requests. Not only was he nowhere closer to finding the Royal Witch, he’d spent all this time helping this greedy person. He really should’ve just walked away right from the beginning.
The man, however, seemed to be satisfied with Jungkook’s rejection. “You pass!” He announced, turning around to walk towards the path. “You may follow me.”
“I—what?” Jungkook, scrambling to pick up the fish and rod, jogged to catch up. “Do you have a bucket for these?” He gestured to the two trout in his hand.
“Ah, I knew I forgot something.”
“You came to fish but you didn’t bring anything to put them in?”
“I didn’t think of it.”
“Didn’t think—” Jungkook shook his head. The man was weird alright. “What kind of fisherman are you?”
“I’m not,” the man replied, turning to glance at Jungkook briefly.
Jungkook decided it was no use asking more questions when they’d be parting ways soon enough, so he followed behind the man, still holding the fish since they’re the man’s dinner, but leaving some distance between them just in case.
Less than ten minutes later—and Jungkook must have hallucinated this entire walk because was it really this close by this entire time?—they reached a small clearing with a cottage sitting by the edge of the woods and a front garden overflowing with smeraldo flowers. Towards the back, Jungkook could see little fairies playing in the vegetable garden and several flower patches lining the path with at least a dozen different species in full bloom.
It was as if he’d stepped into a dream; everything seemed to sparkle and the air had become fresher, lighter. Jungkook could feel the fatigue from his weeklong travel lifting from his body, the heaviness in his muscles evaporating like the morning dew under the midday sun.
“C’mon,” the man called out, already at the door. He gestured to Jungkook, and Jungkook snapped out of his daze because he was finally here—this must be the Royal Witch’s cottage!
“Come on in,” the man said when Jungkook walked up to join him by the door.
“Uh, shouldn’t you knock first?” Jungkook asked, confused. “It’s the Royal Witch’s house.”
The man frowned, opening the door with a wave of his hand. “Why would I knock on the door to my own house?”
“Wait, you’re the Royal Witch?”
“Um, rude,” the man huffed, walking into the cottage. His cape flying up to drape itself neatly on the hook on the wall, joining several other capes with different designs. “I’ll have you know I’m very powerful.”
Jungkook, recovering from his initial shock from the revelation and the cape ordeal, managed to barely avoid tripping on the threshold as he followed the man inside. “You couldn’t even catch anything back there, how are you the Royal Witch?”
“What does that have to do with magic?”
“Well, the Royal Witch would’ve been able to magick a fish out of the water in like, two seconds instead of squatting next to the river like a loser.”
“Hey, I’m not a loser! I have a name you know,” the man sniffed. “It’s Seokjin. Kim Seokjin. And you can leave the fish in the sink, I’ll clean them later for dinner.” Seokjin gestured to the kitchen sink. “And wash your hands before touching anything here,” he grimaced, almost as an afterthought.
Realizing he’d been holding onto two dead fish this entire time, Jungkook did what he was told and was shooed out of the area and towards the back of the kitchen where a small dining table and two chairs occupied the space.
From there, Jungkook watched him—Seokjin—rummage around the cupboards for some tin cans as the kettle sitting on the stove opened its lid and floated over to the sink to fill itself with some water while Seokjin measured out tea leaves into two mugs hovering near his elbow. He belatedly remembered that he hadn’t introduced himself yet when Seokjin gave his name, but to be completely honest, the only thing his mind could focus on at the moment was the movement of Seokjin’s wrist twisting the lid of the cans closed while the stove ignited itself to heat the water to a gentle boil.
Jungkook had seen real magic in action before but it was nothing like this, nothing that flowed this smoothly or harmoniously, even though Seokjin was just doing something as simple as making tea. It was mesmerizing, watching Seokjin—the Royal Witch himself!—work around the kitchen while humming softly to himself, his arms waving to direct various tasks, not a single motion wasted, like he was conducting an orchestra playing the world’s gentlest melody. Jungkook, bathing in the soothing and calming energy of the house, only snapped out of his reverie when Seokjin put down two steaming mugs of tea on the table and gestured to the chair.
“Now then, why don’t you have a seat and tell me why you’re here, Jungkookie?”
“H-how did you know my name?”
“I’m the Royal Witch. I know everything.”
“Right...” Jungkook peered at Seokjin skeptically, lowering himself into the chair and cautiously sniffed the mug in front of him. It smelled of something floral and clean, like chrysanthemum and the forest. He took a sip, the warm liquid grounding him and washing away the last of his jitters.
Even with everything Jungkook just witnessed in the past half an hour, it was still a bit unreal to come to terms with the fact that he was sitting across from Seokjin, the person who was the destination of his journey, the reason for uprooting the life he knew, and if fate looked favorably down on Jungkook, the beginning of his dream.
Across from the table, Seokjin blew into his tea. “I’m impressed though, how did you find me?”
“My family had some… connections,” he trailed off, not wanting to say too much and get anyone in trouble.
“Hm.”
“Please don’t hurt them!” Jungkook pleaded. “They just told me what they heard from other people. I’m not here to expose your identity or tell the entire kingdom where you live.” Even though the Royal Witch was a respected figure throughout the kingdom, he was still very powerful and this could be seen as a breach of privacy. Jungkook didn’t know if he could trust him not to put his family in danger. “Please, I’m here to learn from you. I want to be the greatest witch in the kingdom. Just like you.”
Sipping his tea in silence during Jungkook’s panicked rambling, Seokjin peered at Jungkook through his lashes over the rim of his mug. Jungkook, feeling like a specimen under a microscope, squirmed under his gaze.
“Very well,” Seokjin said after the longest three seconds of Jungkook’s life. He set down his mug. “I’ll teach you.”
“Really? Thank you!” Jungkook exclaimed, almost spilling his tea in his excitement. “I won’t let you down, I promise!”
“I’ll hold you to that.” Seokjin stood up, a smile tugging at his lips mirroring the much wider one blooming across Jungkook’s face. “Now that you’re officially my apprentice, let me show you where you’ll be staying and the list of chores for today.”
~~~
Before Jungkook learned mid-range teleportation spells, it’d take him at least two hours on foot to reach Namjoon’s house as the dragon lives on the mountain adjacent to Seokjin’s forest.
Oh wait, did Jungkook mention that Namjoon is the dragon Seokjin supposedly fought and tamed at age sixteen? Well, it turns out that Seokjin had met Namjoon while wandering in the woods and the two struck a deal where they’d spread some rumors that served to get some unwanted people away from their respective sanctuaries on their sides of the mountain. Putting their heads together—over some tea and dried fruit Namjoon made himself—they came up with a story detailing Namjoon’s particular ferocity and ruthlessness as the guardian of First Mountain to deter loggers from the next kingdom over so no one would come and hurt his plant friends. Which is a perfectly reasonable thing to do because why were they coming all the way over here to chop down trees and build farms and roads through the mountain even though there was a perfectly good pass right at the foot of the same mountain? The avarice of mankind.
As for Seokjin’s part of this story, he would be the only person who has ever defeated and tamed the dragon so now the duo protect the kingdom together. A perfect opportunity to add to his growing reputation of being the powerful, young, and dashing witch of his generation.
Anyway, this isn’t to say that Seokjin doesn’t live up to his illustrious reputation, just that at the time it might've been a bit premature and greatly exaggerated.
Now, at age 28, Seokjin is the Royal Witch, personal advisor of the King Jung Hoseok himself, possibly the most powerful being of the land, and a colossal pain in Jungkook’s ass.
Jungkook thinks as much as he peers at the note Seokjin gave him earlier detailing the ingredients for their potion off. It’s smudged because Seokjin had spilled tea on it earlier and didn’t bother to tell him this very important detail.
So now Jungkook is left squinting at the various ink blobs on the paper as he tries his best to decipher what to tell Namjoon, who is watering his indoor plants with a gentle smile, as patient as the mountain itself.
“Don’t worry about it, Jungkook-ah. Take as long as you need.”
“Sorry, hyung,” Jungkook apologizes for the fifth time since his arrival. Namjoon is so nice and never makes his life difficult, unlike someone he knows.
“I think this says ‘coriander’ here?” Jungkook rubs his eyes, trying to refocus his sight.
It doesn’t help.
“Are you sure?”
No, Jungkook is not sure. But it’s not like he can go back home and ask Seokjin since the elder is on his way to meet with the King at this very moment. Something about planning the next month’s trade negotiations with the neighboring kingdom. “Uh, let’s just go with that. And burdock root, water caltrop, dried longan,” he trails off, trying to remember what he’d read in the spell books.
“Okay,” Namjoon replies, moving to take the various ingredients out of the drawers of his floor to ceiling wooden medicine cabinet. Sometimes Jungkook wonders why Namjoon doesn't just become the Court Physician, what with all of his herbs and general medicinal knowledge, but Namjoon seems content cultivating his plants and looking after the creatures on the mountain. And Jungkook is happy that he can come and visit whenever he likes.
“If you want to go home and ask Seokjin and come back, I’ll wait for you,” Namjoon says, turning around to deposit the herbs on the table.
“Ah, he just left to go see the King. They’re planning for that trade deal.”
“Wait, that’s today?!”
“Um, yeah I think so.”
“Oh my god, I can’t believe I forgot.”
Jungkook looks up to see Namjoon scrambling to gather his notebooks and stacks of papers on the table, pale in the face.
“I’m so sorry, Jungkookie,” Namjoon says while shoving everything into his messenger bag. “I have to go. I’m supposed to be at that meeting too. We’re gonna discuss the logging situation on First Mountain.”
“Ah hyung—”
“Just take what you need for your potions, okay? If you can’t find something just ask Baeby.” Namjoon gestures to his familiar, a tiny crow-tit perched on the windowsill. “Oh man, I’m gonna have to fly there.”
“Hyung, wait—”
“Bye, Jungkookie! Sorry about this!”
And he’s out the door and shifting into his dragon form, scales shimmering a deep cerulean against the white clouds in the sky.
Meanwhile, Jungkook looks back at his list and laments his overall lack of fortune.
~~~
Seokjin walks into the kitchen on the day of the potion-off with a runny nose and no taste in his mouth whatsoever.
“Hyung, you look terrible.”
“What a very rude way to greet your poor ailing mentor a good morning,” Seokjin sniffs, literally. He procures some tissues and proceeds to blow into them in his best imitation of an elephant calling to its herd.
Jungkook makes a face. “Is there more of that cold medicine you made last month?” He examines the shelves where they keep various medicinal potions and powders.
“Nah.” Seokjin wipes his now very red nose. “I gave them to Grandma Soonhee last week. Her son was sick.”
And here is the part about Seokjin that Jungkook admires the most, his immeasurable kindness. The part that took the longest time for Jungkook to see, for Seokjin is an expert at hiding anything personal under layers and layers of jokes and puns and general nonsense. It’s also what Jungkook fears the most, because it’s so easy to like Seokjin, despite everything he does to make Jungkook’s life difficult, his heart is the gentlest heart Jungkook has ever known, even if Jungkook only catches a glimpse like this every once in a blue moon.
“Hyung, we can push the potion-off until you get better. I’ll make you some medicine.”
“That’s very sweet of you, Jungkookie, but it’s not necessary.” Seokjin waves him off as he brews a pot of tea. “I’m perfectly capable of performing a small task like concocting a low-level potion.”
“But—”
“Consider this my gift to you,” Seokjin says with a sweep of his arm, narrowly missing knocking the cup off of the counter. “You might stand a chance of beating me this round with such a fortuitous advantage!”
“I don’t need handouts!” Jungkook crosses his arms. “I can beat you fair and square.”
“That’s what you said last time but who’s doing all the grocery runs for the next month, hm?” Seokjin extends his arm to tickle Jungkook under his chin.
Jungkook bats his hand away.
“Anyway, we’ve waited plenty long for this,” Seokjin continues, completely unperturbed. “Let’s get it over with so I can win and you can make some cold medicine for me.”
Here Seokjin goes again—dressing up being nice as something else as usual. Begrudgingly, Jungkook divides up the ingredients while Seokjin sneezes up a storm. They’re making a simple enhancement potion today that is supposed to increase physical strength for about an hour so naturally, Jungkook suggested an arm wrestling match to determine the winner.
Which is totally not an excuse to hold Seokjin’s hand or whatever.
“Suit yourself. But don’t complain when you have to make me curry for dinner for the rest of the week.” Jungkook hands Seokjin his portion of ingredients as they both set up their stations.
“Not a chance, Jungkook-ah. I don’t care if it’s a favorite food of yours, there’s no way I’m eating that for a week straight.” Seokjin gestures for a bowl to wipe itself down. “Besides, when I win—not if—you won’t be able to curry any favors with me to get out of your chores.”
Jungkook groans. “It’s already a chore having to listen to your puns every day, thanks.”
“Well done, young man!” Seokjin whistles, giving Jungkook a small round of applause. “I guess you could say it’s your punishment.”
Jungkook takes a deep breath instead of screaming.
They say making potions is all about your mindset, and Jungkook’s currently oscillating between resigned exasperation and begrudging adoration. He wishes he knew what he really felt, wishes he could be more honest about his own feelings.
Thankfully Seokjin doesn’t do anything else overly distracting when the brewing starts, and they each focus on their own mixing and incantations as time quietly passes by.
When the alarm—set to a peculiar choice of Namjoon yelling—goes off an hour later, they both gulp down their concoction.
Jungkook is entirely envious of Seokjin’s current state of non-taste because it’s kind of nasty. Maybe all potions were somewhat gross tasting? Not that Jungkook would know, since this is his first potion ever.
“Alright, let’s see it,” Seokjin begins, rolling up his sleeve. “The fruit of your labor. Let’s see how much stronger you got, Jungkookie!”
“Prepare yourself for a total defeat.”
They clasp hands on the dining table and Jungkook is surprised at how soft Seokjin’s hand is. His palm fits against Jungkook’s like it belongs there, long fingers wrapping around his thumb and Jungkook feels them pressing into the back of his hands and fervently hopes his palm doesn’t start sweating.
It’s not exactly normal hand holding but Jungkook will take whatever he can get. What Seokjin doesn’t know won’t hurt him.
—Is what Jungkook thinks, so imagine his absolute horror when the words slip out of his mouth.
“You know, I only suggested this so I could hold your hand.”
Shit.
“...What?”
Jungkook slowly looks up at Seokjin, dread like stones sinking in his stomach. He wants the ground to swallow him up immediately.
“Um,” he tries, “what?”
Seokjin’s looking at him with what one can only call complete shock on his face. “No, what did you say just now?”
No, don’t answer him!
“Your hand—!” Jungkook shuts his lips through sheer force of will.
Anything about how his hand is not beautiful—
“Your hand is beautiful.”
Goddamn it.
Jungkook slams his head on the table to stop himself from solidifying his place in history as the most embarrassing person who’s ever lived.
“What are you doing!” Seokjin yelps, letting go of Jungkook’s hand—much to Jungkook’s disappointment—and rushes to squat next to Jungkook’s figure slumped over on the table. “Are you okay?!” He takes Jungkook’s face in his hands and gingerly examines the bruise quickly forming on his apprentice’s forehead.
“Nope,” Jungkook breathes, squeezing his eyes shut. Seokjin’s worried eyes are scanning his face for additional signs of injury and Jungkook cannot look at him from this close up or he will end up saying something he’ll really regret.
“What?”
“I mean, let’s not talk about this anymore and pretend I didn’t just brain myself on the table,” he winces, the words coming out in a rush.
He removes Seokjin’s hands from his face—another loss—and straightens up. “Let’s just continue, please,” he almost pleads.
Still looking somewhat worried and vaguely skeptical, Seokjin drops it. “Fine, we’ll table this discussion for later, but we will talk about it.”
“Oh my god.”
“If you were going for a diversion before this, then you almost succeeded,” Seokjin smirks, and Jungkook shudders in anticipation of the punchline. “I’ve got to hand it to you.”
“Stop, please, I’m begging you,” Jungkook groans around Seokjin’s bright laughter. “Nevermind that, how long does it take for the potion to start working because I don’t feel any different.”
“It should’ve been instantaneous, especially after all the commpotion you just caused.”
“Is it me or are you punnier than usual?”
“Aw, thanks Jungkookie! I knew you thought they were punderful deep down.”
“Yeah okay, something’s wrong here.” Practically every sentence out of Seokjin’s mouth after they drank their respective potions was a bad pun of some sort, and even though Seokjin does have a nice mouth—pretty even, with those full lips and white teeth—no, concentrate!
Jungkook shakes his head. Stop thinking about Seokjin’s mouth!
“What about my mouth?”
Shit, did he say that out loud?
“Uh, you have a nice mouth?” Jungkook slaps his hand over his own traitorous mouth. “Gah!”
“You’re right,” Seokjin hums, looking thoughtful now. “Something is wrong. You’ve never complimented me so much before…” He squints at Jungkook. “What are you up to?”
“What? Nothing! I’m just telling the—”
Ah.
He’s telling the truth. He has to only tell the truth.
Well shit.
How did this happen? Why did this happen? To Jungkook, of all people! Someone who absolutely cannot tell Seokjin the truth about his feelings or—any of it!
“This is a disaster.”
“On the contrary, I’m feeling the aster.” Seokjin looks as smug as a bug now, and if Jungkook wasn’t so concerned with this whole situation they’ve inexplicably gotten themselves into, he’d complain about having heard that sentence with his own two ears.
Something in the potions must’ve made this happen, and Jungkook needs to fix this as soon as he can because he doesn’t have the strength for this, mentally or physically. His head is already spinning from the thought of having to only speak the truth while simultaneously surviving Seokjin’s puns.
For now, all he can think to do is dashing out the door to find the only person other than Seokjin who can help him: Namjoon.