Archive of Our Own ^beta

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Taehyung

Taehyung has waited all day for this moment: to sit down on the comfy couch in his shared apartment.

He almost had it all: the peace, the silence, the nearby snacks to save his stomach from concaving in.

The typical music his roommate Yoongi plays starts up, unable to be contained by his walls. At least, that’s what Taehyung assumes because he can’t hear a thing, but his other roommate Jimin is bounding out of his room to knock a fist against Yoongi’s door.

“For the love of all that is decent in the world, turn down your elfin music!” Jimin shouts, not actually saying effin.

“Way to ask nicely Jiminie,” Yoongi snarks on the other side of his bedroom door.

“You have no right to call me that!” Jimin seethes. 

Taehyung is trying to enjoy one of the shows he watches on a weekly basis, but instead he is witnessing his roommates’ upteenth argument.

Jimin—his sweet mochi of a best friend—has lost everything that is sweet about him when it comes to arguing with Yoongi-hyung. 

His hyung—a laid back guy for the most part with a sensitive soul—really knows how to mask what he truly feels with his monotone voice and blank demeanor. When he doesn’t react it gets Jimin going, always prodding for something, trying to press a button. Nothing has yet to work with hyung. 

Taehyung has noticed way more than necessary, but it happens way too much and over the simplest, most unnecessary things.

For all it’s worth, they really didn’t get off on the right foot.

Taehyung is happy he found this nice apartment in a location not too far from where they all go to school, or where his roommates go to learn and then he splits off to the old university auditorium for his specialized education.

He’s studying to be a warlock; he comes from a long line of magic users who have managed to stay hidden in the mortal world. To mortals, he’s majoring in biology with a focus in plant science, but as a warlock, it’s for herbal purposes, and his magic-less human professors don’t need to know. 

For the past couple of days, he’s been practicing incantations in his room. He’s on the shape-shifting chapter in his curriculum and it’s tough. Three days ago, he tried turning a paperclip into a stapler but ended up with a python. Luckily, Yoongi and Jimin weren’t home at the time and he at least turned it into a guppy for his miniature aquarium (he named the fish Python anyways). 

Truly, he misses the easy days of silencing spells so he could tune out the world.

Speaking of tuning out, that’s what he should try to do right now so he can just enjoy one of his favorite shows on his one day this week without an excruciating amount of work to do.

Most times when they argue it’s a good distance away from each other. They never get within five feet like it’s some unspoken rule. So here they are with Jimin yelling through Yoongi’s door

Taehyung will admit, those two having rooms side by side while he took the one on the other end of the apartment might not have been the best call, but he needs a safe distance in-case things go awry in his practice.

Jimin bangs against the door and yells, “MIN YOONGI! YOU ARE AN INCONSIDERATE HEATHEN! I HAVE A TEST TOMORROW!”

Yoongi never shouts, but he increases the volume of his voice so Jimin can hear him through the door. “And I have to turn in this project tomorrow. Sorry you can’t get special treatment sweetheart.”

And this is where Jimin could and, probably will, lose it.

“Who are you calling sweetheart, you overgrown kitten!”

“GUYS!” Taehyung has had it from the sidelines. He gets off the couch. “IT’S TIME FOR A ROOMMATE INTERVENTION!”

Taehyung goes to grab Jimin by the arm and sits him on one end of the living room couch and doesn’t even knock when he drags Yoongi from his cave, seating him on the other end so he and Jimin maintain space.

“Listen guys. Whatever issues you have with each other needs to be sorted out. I can’t even hear myself think about how f*cked it is that Hawkmoth has his wife’s body just chilling in the basement.”

Jimin shrugs, “Well I think it’s more f*cked that he would hurt his son in the Chat Blanc episode.”

“Jimin, don’t spoil it for me, I’m begging you.” Taehyung hasn’t gotten that far into the show and he blames both human and magical societies for overworking him.

“Look at that,” Yoongi smirks. “Can’t be the first time he’s spoiled something.”

Jimin rolls his eyes in a way that only he can make look intimidating. “Look who’s talking. You don’t even go grocery shopping enough to not have your side of the fridge filled with non-spoiled crap.”

Yoongi rolls his eyes, “All you get is frozen shit and it hogs all the space in the freezer just like your cold ass personality.”

“THAT'S IT!” Jimin jumps from his side of the couch, about to pounce on Yoongi and Yoongi’s eyes go wider than a deer in headlights.

Taehyung has to stop this and fast. Just before Jimin can get his hands on Yoongi, Taehyung tries to use a standstill spell he learned after the silencing chapter.

He tries to focus, moving his hands in a quick circular motion and uses both pointer fingers to concentrate his magic.

He breathes a sigh of relief before opening his eyes, not hearing any sounds.

Then a cat, or maybe two, yowls.

A heavy sigh overtakes Taehyung’s chest at the sight of two cats. One on top of the other, until the one on top straight-line jumps two feet high and tumbles off the side of the couch. The other one is unmoving, eyes wide like Yoongi’s were a few seconds before.

Things could be worse.

𓃠

It’s worse than Taehyung thought.

He’s scrambling to figure out what he did wrong while Yoongi and Jimin are losing it in their expected ways―just as cats. Yoongi is sitting in a corner with his kitten head leaning against the wall; whereas, Jimin’s cat form won’t stop pacing throughout the living room and has resorted to scratching the couch.

It’s pleather. There’s no hope. 

Taehyung is totally not panicking. He knows he can figure out how to fix this.

It’s not like it’s the worst day ever. 

𓃠

Jimin

This is probably one of the worst days Jimin has had in awhile, and that’s saying something considering his whole semester has been no good to put it lightly.

He really thought he would get to chill in a nice apartment with a couple of guys and it would all be smooth sailing. Clearly, he has misjudged every aspect of living here.

For one, he’s now a cat.

To be quite honest, he really has no idea if anything he’s experiencing is real. It’s beyond surreal.

One moment, he’s going through the motions, arguing with Yoongi-ssi because he was being his usual inconsiderate ass self and then the next he lunged for the guy and now he is gone with a cat in his place.

And when Jimin peers down to find paws in place of his hands he freaks out and jumps higher and further than he anticipated.

This day is taking the most unexpected turn of any day ever, giving him more whiplash than the day he met Min Yoongi, but that’s a story he’s not willing to give time to at the moment.

He’s an effin cat! No, he won’t fucking curse about it. Nothing is normal. 

Luckily, he lands with ease on the carpet. Good to know that cats really do land on their feet. 

Another thud sounds out and Jimin peers up. It’s the other cat. Jimin doesn’t want to admit this cat might be the cutest one he’s ever seen. White and fluffy and Jimin is so tempted to just sneakily slide up next to the cat.

He settles the urge by pacing around for a bit. He has no idea why this has happened and all these unpleasant thoughts about being stuck like this enter his mind. A different urge takes over; he starts treating the arm of the couch as his enemy, sinking his new claws into something that just has to deal with it.

“Stop Jimin!” Some hands secure around him and pull him off.

Jimin tries to squirm away; he has no idea how or why this is happening, but he figures it has something to do with Taehyung.

“Yoongi, get over here!”

Jimin continues to struggle in Taehyung’s arms and glances over at “Yoongi.”

The cat continues to stay in his corner.

If Jimin could smirk, he would because Yoongi as a cat continues to be lazy and not listen.

“You do realize I can hear you insult me,” a raspy, familiar voice says.

Jimin stops thrashing in Taehyung’s arms. Taehyung may not be human if he can turn people into cats, but that couldn’t have been him saying that. Can his human-ish cat roommate hear him?

“Good. I’m glad you calmed down Jimin.” This time Jimin can tell that’s Taehyung’s voice. He sets Jimin down and Jimin doesn’t have it in him to move much anymore, deciding to sit on the living room carpet at Taehyung’s feet.

The other cat moves from the corner and plops down near Jimin. It’s annoying how fluffy he looks, but Jimin pays no mind.

“Alright,” Taehyung begins. “I’m truly sorry. Um, I know you must all be confused and scared right now.”

Yoongi—this white, super cuddly-looking cat—rubs against Taehyung’s legs, curling his tail around and purring.

Jimin does the cat equivalent of eye-rolling; he stretches on the floor, lays down, and crosses his paws over the other. Kiss-ass—is what he would say under his breath if he could talk.

The other cat’s head quickly turns to face Jimin. 

“Listen, stop being a prick. We are fucking cats and obviously if he did this to us then we need to be on his good side.”

The cat’s lips have not moved, but Jimin can hear him. 

What the hell.

“Jimin, whatever you’re thinking about saying aloud I can hear it.”

“Please stop.” Jimin thinks he voices. “You’re freaking me out.”

Their roommate picks both up in each hand. 

“Guys,” Taehyung goes over to sit on the couch, trying to see if this can help them all relax, “this is a simple mistake really. Now’s a good time to come clean.”

Their roommate seems nervous. Jimin isn’t sure what to expect, but he’s a cat, so he would like to know why.

Taehyung sighs and says, “I’m a warlock, or, well I’m actually a warlock-in-training you see. I just hate it when you guys bicker all the time and I really didn’t mean for this to happen. Honestly.”

Both cats are unmoving in his arms. Jimin does not quite understand how to process all of this. He’s a cat. Yoongi’s a cat. Taehyung’s a warlock who turned them into cats.

He has no idea what will happen next.

𓃠

Yoongi

Yoongi’s pretty content if the next thing that happens is taking a nap. He’s had it and has decided a nap is the best course of action. What else should he be doing as a cat if he doesn’t take a cat nap?

Sure, he’s worried because he has assignments due and still has plenty he must complete before tomorrow and throughout the next week, even the next month. Yet, he doesn’t mind just being a cat for a bit. He has always considered the creatures to be like his spirit animal. Even his hyung, Seokjin-hyung, compares him to cats based on his looks and actions. 

Being in this situation is not ideal by any means, but he’s fine if it’s for a little while. He’ll remain calm and hope Taehyung will figure how to reverse this soon.

Their warlock roommate is on the phone. Doing what? He’s not sure, but he can only hope it’s to get the necessary help. 

Jimin—this calico cat—is on the couch, finally laying down and not insulting him. Yoongi’s never met anyone who’s more annoyed by him than Park Jimin and he doesn’t get why. 

Maybe he turned his speaker up on purpose just to see if Jimin would notice and maybe it went too far today.

They’re cats!

Just stay calm , he tells himself.

“This is the second time you probably accidentally said that out loud. It sounds like you’re losing it and I love to see THE cold soul that is you, Min Yoongi-ssi, finally lose it.”

Jimin is lounging on the couch with his front paws slightly dangling over the edge. Yoongi decides to come closer, standing on his hind legs so he can address Jimin to his horrendously adorable cat face.

“Listen, you are to blame for this.” He looks back towards Taehyung’s room, his muffled voice is still on the phone.

Yoongi continues, “If you didn’t lunge for me he wouldn’t have tried whatever the hell he did to us.”

Their mouths are unmoving, but their glares at each other are crystal clear.

“So it’s my fault that you have no respect or human decency.”

“Well, if that’s what you think then I’ve got no cat decency either! You know, I would respect you if you stopped being such a brat all the time.”

“THAT'S IT!”

This time, Jimin’s cat reflexes are quick; he’s on Yoongi before Yoongi can even blink. They roll around, pawing and kicking at each other.

It happens so fast. Their bodies contort in ways that seem unnatural as they flail around.

By far, this is the weirdest experience of Yoongi’s life.

The unintentional screeching meows strike a chorus as they fight. Every few seconds they pause, sizing each other up and then going at it again.

As a human, Yoongi feels constantly drained. As a cat, it feels like they could continue like this for another couple of minutes before they get distracted and lose interest in this battle.

A pair of feet stomp into the room, stopping in front of them.

“Break it up! Oh my Merlin! Stop!”

He picks Jimin up while they pause, holding him close to his chest. 

“You guys are making this harder than it needs to be.” 

He pets down the raised fur on Jimin’s back. 

“I know you guys can’t stand each other, but can you just try to get along so I can find the peace of mind to fix this!?”

Yoongi does feel guilty. He’s more frustrated with Jimin than Taehyung and he truly can’t blame Taehyung for their predicament. In a way, Yoongi has a feeling he and Jimin deserve this. 

Like earlier, he has an impulse to slide up against Taehyung’s legs and he goes with it, wrapping his tail around his leg and rubbing his head up and down in a comforting motion that also soothes an itch he was feeling after the fight settled down.

Yoongi doesn’t see it, but Jimin crawls up on Taehyung’s chest to rub his head into Taehyung’s neck.

“At least you guys are cute,” Taehyung’s eyes are soft. “Maybe you guys should stay like this for a while.”

Both cats shoot their heads up, wide-eyed and hope he’s joking.

𓃠

Taehyung

Taehyung can’t help but laugh at how expressive Yoongi and Jimin are as cats. He also can’t help but laugh because he’s more worried than he would like to say aloud.

Admittedly, Taehyung has no idea what to do. Yes, he knows he has to reverse this soon, but it’s a bit more complex than just finding a reversal spell. 

You see, when spellcasting one must have the right intentions. Beginners have to be careful and that’s why it’s so crucial to go through the chapters carefully.

And Taehyung is careful, for the most part. It’s not his fault that he can’t think properly when all his roommates do is bicker like they’re an old married couple.

Huh.

Anyways, he needs to read up a bit more on his textbooks. At least he thought to ask Namjoon-hyung to get kitty supplies. 

Contrary to popular mundane sayings, money cannot grow on trees. He knows this because when he was 8 years old he tried to turn the leaves on his backyard tree into bills. The tree caught on fire instead and it turned out it was forbidden to use magic for greed. That’s slightly unfortunate because that money could have gone to good use.

Taehyung pets Jimin’s head and decides now’s a good time to lighten the mood. 

“Hey guys, I know you’re cats and all but do you think you can hold tight or just use a human toilet while I figure this mess out?”

The cats continue to look bewildered, at least as obvious as bewilderment can appear on cats. 

“Well, earlier I called my hyung who I’ve known since I could make garden weeds grow even more garden weeds. I feel like I had to clarify what kind of weed, you know, but not like cannabis…” He trails on, “Oh how I miss multiplying spells. Huh, maybe I can make more dollar bills. It sort of goes against the code, but I could make something work.”

The cat that’s presumably Jimin yowls and thunks his head against Taehyung’s thigh. “Great, I’m glad to have your vote of confidence in me Jimin. Wait, should I make up cat names for you all? In case people see you and yes, the more I think about it the more we gotta do that.”

Yoongi’s cat form turns around and slaps his tail against Taehyung, even though it’s not much of a slap and more of a painless swiping motion.

“Alright. Cool. Jimin I think your name should be Baby Mochi and Yoongi,” he ponders. “Your aura is giving me some kind of vibe.”

Taehyung puts his fingers to his temples and digs down deep, drawing upon Yoongi’s energy to get a good read.

“Woah, hyung. You won’t believe this. Something is telling me you are destined to be called Lil Meow Meow.”

Yoongi stares up from his spot on the floor, not giving Taehyung much of an expression to understand and interpret.

“I think you like it.”

Yoongi sashays out of the room and manages to slip through the crack of his slightly open bedroom door. Somehow, he’s able to slam it behind him.

Taehyung turns to where Jimin sits beside him. “Just so you know, it’s all good. I called my friend and he is going to help and bring supplies. I haven’t quite mastered conjuring, you see, I can’t just create a litter box or cat food out of thin air. Rules of matter, like in physics, apply in magic.”

The cat stares wide-eyed at him. Taehyung has been assuming his roommates can still understand him. He will just have to rely on guesswork with their adorable, squeezable faces.

A knock on their main entrance door makes Jimin jump from his spot and Taehyung guesses that the cat is slipping into Yoongi’s room by accident. If they fight again he might have to keep them separated in their rooms.

There are so many factors that are making this situation harder than necessary.

Taehyung goes to answer and lo and behold, it’s the Kim Namjoon. His fellow magic-using hyung who should be able to save his ass. It wouldn’t be the first time he required Namjoon’s help. Namjoon will know what to do; he always does.

“So why did I have to buy cat litter, a litter box, cat food, and this laser light? Did you skip ahead to the chapter on familiars? You know that could end badly. Sure, a cat familiar isn’t the worst, but the demon side can really come out if you don’t give it the proper feeding source. Cat food won’t—”

“Hyung, calm down. What I did isn’t that bad. I’m not that irresponsible to skip ahead on the chapters. What do you take me for?”

Namjoon walks in and places everything on the kitchen counter, taking a moment to answer the question.

“I mean, you did mention you really wanted a cat familiar and hoped it would scare your roommates into submission. Speaking of, where are they? You said they bicker all the time and I haven’t met them. In fact, why haven’t I had to come over yet? I’m surprised it’s only been 3 months since I last helped you.”

Taehyung almost wants to kick Namjoon out for observing too much. 

“Ha, hyung. Um, that’s the problem.”

Namjoon crosses his arms and leans against the counter. “What do you mean?”

“My roommates, they uh, well I’ll explain in my room. We need to look over whatever books I have.”

“The books I gave you so you could read up on extra material to avoid your problems. Those books?”

Taehyung pushes his hyung aside so he can organize some of the stuff in case his roommates will need a proper set-up soon. “I understand the criticism, but I don’t need that right now. Okay?”

It’s truly been a long day and all he wanted to do was watch a fucking interesting animated show about superheroes in Paris. Does he ask for too much?

Namjoon sighs and stands up properly. “Alright. Let’s figure out how to fix whatever mess you made this time.”

𓃠

Jimin

Jimin is slightly worried. It’s not that he doesn’t trust Taehyung to help them, but it’s not like the warlock is acting like he’s in any hurry.

How long is he supposed to live like this? Also, Yoongi is the only person—well, cat—who can understand him, but only on a literal level and not on an agreeable level. 

After listening to Taehyung briefly clarify some sort of help is on the way, Jimin decides he has to do the right thing.

He has to come to a truce with Yoongi. 

When he thinks about it, it’s all sort of ridiculous. Whenever they argue it’s over something small and insignificant and it always gets blown out of proportion.

Yoongi’s room is dark save for the desk lamp he must’ve left on before their current predicament happened. His laptop is slightly closed and Yoongi is trying to get his agile cat body underneath to lift it open.

“What are you doing?” Jimin thinks he’s asking. It’s hard to tell what remains in his thoughts and what is said “aloud” to Yoongi. Perhaps it has to do with intention.

Yoongi’s tail is swiping the hair and it sounds like his claws sink into the desk—startled.

“You would think having cat senses would mean I would've heard your clumsy self push the door open. Maybe you’re meant to stay a cat, Jimin-ssi, seems to be working well for you.”

Jimin successfully hops up onto the desk. He walks around the backside of the laptop so he can sit and face Yoongi while the fluffy white cat is in this awkward position.

“Really hyung? Jimin-ssi? You were calling me Jiminie earlier, I mean, friends and family get that privilege but uh—”

Actually, no one has ever called him that, but Min Yoongi doesn’t need to know.

“Well, you’ve never called me hyung before. Okay, look, if you haven’t noticed, I’m kind of busy and as weird as this situation is I have to get work done.”

“But you’re a cat.”

“Great observational skills Jiminie,” Yoongi purrs as he “says” this and it makes the words seem like they weren’t intended to be snarky. Weird.

“I think being a cat suits you better.”

Yoongi begins to move his body, arching his back like a camel to push the laptop screen open. “Well, I won’t complain about it unless these paws can’t make music.”

That’s interesting to think about: Cat Yoongi trying to use the laptop to make obnoxiously loud music. It would be the one instance where Jimin would like to see it.

“So you’re fine with being a cat?”

Yoongi gets the screen up, carefully gets his back paws off the keyboard, and maneuvers his way to the edge of the desk. Now his problem is figuring out how to slide his desk chair over or push his laptop further up the desk to sit in front of it.

“Honestly, I want to be a rock in the next life, but a cat is the next best thing.”

If Jimin could laugh he would, but he ends up making some odd on-and-off hissing sound instead.

“Why a rock?”

“I don’t want to move or do anything. You may think I’m lazy but I do a lot more than you think within these four walls. Heck, even outside these walls I have places to be and everyone just expects a lot from me.”

“Like what?”

Yoongi plops down on the other side of the keyboard from where Jimin is sitting, maybe contemplating an answer or how to fully fix his laptop situation.

“Studying music may not lead to a highly regarded career outlook per se, but it’s all I want to do, so I do everything I can to be sure I’ll be fine after finishing school.”

Yoongi is a senior—just one more semester and he’ll be doing….well, Jimin doesn’t actually know. They never talked like this before.

“Do you already have a job or something lined up?”

Everything about Yoongi is still except his tail, which keeps randomly swiping around.

“No, probably not until the senior showcase if I get scouted by a record label. I’ve done the whole interning thing, with temporary placement though.” 

Jimin bobs his head, it’s like his body doesn’t want to properly nod and just instinctively wiggles. “You’ll get a job easy,” Jimin states.

Yoongi’s head shoots up from his fixation on the keyboard. “Why does it sound like you’re being nice to me?”

Jimin is trying to resist the urge to walk over the keyboard to snuggle into Yoongi. The control he has over himself is depleting.

“Because I am nice, you just make it hard sometimes.”

Yoongi hacks like he has a hairball. “Seriously? I could say the same thing.”

“Look, how about we agree to disagree and just call it truce, at least until we are back to normal?”

Just then, a man who is not Taehyung walks into Yoongi’s room. 

“Aww, Taehyung, I thought you said they hated each other but if you ask me they are looking lovingly into each other’s eyes.”

Then Taehyung widens the door opening and steps in. “Hyung, I think they’re just vibing.” Taehyung goes to sit on Yoongi’s desk chair. “Wow, I’m surprised they haven’t pounced or lunged at each other again.”

“It could be a sign,” Taehyung’s friend comes closer, about to pet Yoongi before Yoongi yowls and jumps off.

“What kind of sign?” Taehyung asks.

“That the longer they are cats the more likely they will adopt cat instincts.”

“Are you saying we’re on a time crunch?”

“Pretty much. Magic isn’t a free-for-all. You know it has consequences.”

Jimin has become exceptionally more worried. Is that why he has wanted to get close to Yoongi? Do cats like to cuddle one another?

Ok, maybe those should be the least of his worries.

Taehyung’s friend sits on Yoongi’s bed and Yoongi goes to face a corner again. Tough stuff. “Listen, we will fix this. Sure, time isn’t on our side, but we just have to look back through the chapter on shapeshifting, get to the root of your intent when you had cast the spell, and then read through different reversal spells.”

“There are different types of reversal spells?” 

“Like I said, magic isn’t meant to be an easy fix.” 

“Why aren’t reversal spells in the first chapter in case people mess up?” Taehyung sighs and throws his head back to stare up at the ceiling.

The two go back and forth and Jimin zones out. Being a cat for the rest of his life would be less than ideal.

“Jiminie, let’s get out of here,” Yoongi rolls out of the corner and onto his feet. “I’ve had it with these guys and weirdly enough I would rather hear your odd high-pitched voice.”

“Insulting my voice really helps us come to a truce,” Jimin remarks as he hops off the desk onto Taehyung’s lap and then onto the shaggy gray carpet.

“Whatever, let’s leave them to solve this.”

Jimin wonders if he’s inclined to leave the room with Yoongi because of the latest tidbit on his cat instincts or just ‘cause he’s got nothing better to do. It’s not like having one semi-enjoyable conversation with Yoongi will change things.

But it’s a start.

𓃠

Yoongi

~with a big serving of flashbacks~

The first time Yoongi met Jimin it was uneventful. They had met up for coffee with Taehyung because Taehyung’s roommate advertisement requested two roommates and he explained to them he wanted to do the interview process in twos to see who would possibly get along.

Jimin and Yoongi were fine. All they had talked about at the time was their study plans, class schedules, and talking about their roommate preferences.

Taehyung asked a bunch of odd questions like “what would be the one thing each of you would save if the apartment was on fire” and even “do you all like having random strangers come by to frequent your bed.”

It was all weird and awkward and kind of laughable.

But mostly weird and awkward.

Yoongi doesn’t remember his own answers all too well as he recalls all of this, save for the resounding no to bringing strangers. He’s never been one to hook up because his focus on music matters more than anything.

He does remember Jimin’s answer.

“Maybe.”

Taehyung had quirked an eyebrow. “Mayhaps you say?”

Yoongi is not a grammar expert but mayhaps isn’t a word. At the time, he was curious why Taehyung had cared so much about the answer.

“Well,” Jimin straightened up in his chair—an air of confidence seemed to support him, “not a stranger per se, but maybe potential boyfriend material.”

“That’s not necessarily what he’s asking,” Yoongi said.

Taehyung nodded, “Yeah, like the root of my question is about stranger danger. Hypothetically, if you get a boyfriend would you introduce him to us before you bang?”

Yoongi snorted as he took a sip of his americano and almost choked.

Jimin’s confidence didn’t seem to waver too much. “This is difficult to say because what if we don’t all end up being close friends, but rather just roommate acquaintances?”

He turned to Yoongi, “If you got a partner would you introduce them to me or Taehyung before you bang?”

“What is this conversation…” Yoongi muttered to himself.

“Why are we saying bang?” He asked instead of answering, wondering if he should get back out there and find another roommate advertisement online.

Truthfully he didn’t want to. The rent and space Taehyung was offering were fairly doable with his late-night radio station paycheck.

Jimin laughed and Yoongi couldn’t help but notice how Jimin looked like a manggae tteok—not that he looked delicious, that was never the point of food comparisons. Yoongi wasn’t sure where any of that had come from.

“Taehyung used it first,” Jimin smiled after collecting himself.

“We cannot let a fantastic Ricky Martin song reference be underplayed in pop culture,” Taehyung claimed, tapping the beat with a pen against his notebook where he was taking notes of his interviews Yoongi guessed.

“But isn’t it a gendered song?” Yoongi raises an eyebrow. 

“Ricky Martin is a gay man who can tell the stories of diverse groups of people,” Taehyung admonished, scribbling more in his notes.

“What does any of this have to do with becoming roommates?” Jimin asked.

“I am testing you guys and your conversational level.”

He scribbled some more and smiled. “I see great things in our future together.” He slapped down his notebook on the table and there were no notes. Just a drawing of two cats.

“Does that mean you pick us?” Yoongi asked, only caring if he could find a place before his senior year is in full swing. He couldn’t sleep on Seokjin-hyung’s couch for a year. 

“Yes,” Taehyung opened his arms wide. “Let's have a roommate hug.”

Yoongi looked down at his nonexistent watch, then at his existing phone. “I actually have somewhere I need to be. You’ve got my email to send the details?”

Taehyung nodded. “Of course Yoongles-hyung.”

Yoongi didn’t have time, but they would work on fixing that.

When Yoongi walks away from memory lane, he wonders if Taehyung’s drawing was some kind of prediction for their current situation. He’d have to ask if he ever became human again.

For now, he is laying on the couch and only regrets the events that happened after they had all agreed to officially be roommates—the reason he and Jimin began to hate each other.

It had started with music. For Yoongi, he feels great when music takes over and influences the way his life plays out. A sad song can help him get in touch with his feelings. A happy song can get him out of his seat and smile. A song he wrote with gunshot effects can get his running pace up during his early morning running routine.

All in all, music is a very positive element in Yoongi’s life. His only issue is the lack of financial security. He blames capitalism and righteously so. 

But music was kind of the reason he and Jimin started arguing.

One night, he had worked later than usual on a project and Jimin was upset about something, but Yoongi had never bothered to ask, and with how Jimin could hear a pin drop through their shared wall, what transpired was inevitable.

He had knocked on the door—an era before he began punching Yoongi’s door. 

“Turn that overly electronic beat off! I can’t hear myself think,” Jimin shouted.

Yoongi was admittedly frustrated. He couldn’t quite get this track right at all and it irked him to no end; hence, why he was ready to use fighting words.

“Then how about you turn off your thinking!” He raised his voice to be heard through the door. This was more of a sibling-like comeback but he didn’t give a ugh.

“What the fuck! At least I can think. You’re just making garbage audible.”

If Yoongi was in a calm state of mind he might’ve been able to see through Jimin’s anger since they had never had problems before. 

“How about your garbage vessel leaves me the fuck alone.”

Unbeknownst to them, Taehyung could hear what they were saying and wrote it down for a potential heated conversation between his two idiotic characters in his cartoon fanfiction he planned to write on the side of his warlock studies. 

“Excuse me! This is coming from the guy who has only had ramen for the past week.”

Yoongi was running low on funds. He had to get some of his hours cut at the station to focus on his studies and this THIS response from Jimin was beyond inconsiderate. 

So he shot right back.

“Some of us have responsibilities to uphold instead of whatever the heck you do. What was it? Prance around on a stage?”

Yoongi didn’t hear anything outside of his door and asked himself if he somehow went too far.

“Just turn it down please,” Jimin had huffed, clearly annoyed. 

From then on, the tension between them was palpable.

As Yoongi lounges on the couch beside Jimin’s napping cat form, he knows that if they stay as cats they should come to more than a truce.

With his momentary lapse to the past, he realizes they should try to unpack it all—Ricky Martin’s song included. 

(Not really, but songs about the cosmos and destiny in the guise of sexual tension are interesting to unpack, musically speaking).

𓃠

Taehyung

As the cats stride out of the room, Taehyung straightens up to watch them go. 

He turns to Namjoon. “Do you think they’re going to move out after I turn them back?”

“Depends,” Namjoon shrugs, still seated on Yoongi’s bed. “You have to turn them back first to know.”

“Thanks genius,” Tahyung rolls his eyes and slumps further into Yoongi’s desk chair.

“Hey, it’ll be fine,” Namjoon reassures his fellow warlock. “They seem to be doing okay anyway.”

Taehyung peers through the open door and sees the cats are laying next to each other on the couch.

“How do you know? You can’t see them from where you're sitting.”

“True, but I have ears Taehyung and there’s no yowling to indicate a catfight is happening.”

Taehyung lets out a single chuckle at the word “catfight” and imagines two cats squaring up in a WWE ring. “Yeah, well I can see them and they’re doing fine for now at least. Do you think the longer they stay as cats the more they forget who they are—meaning they could get along?”

“Instinctually speaking, perhaps, but that doesn’t really matter because we have to turn them back.” Namjoon gets up from Yoongi’s bed. “Let’s go look through your books. I hope you didn’t color in these ones.”

Taehyung sighs and gets up from his seat too. “Hyung, I was a true artist growing up and what is a kid at 8 years old supposed to do with a magic book?”

“Learn,” Namjoon deadpans.

“I learned a lot through my art,” Taehyung smiles, feeling like that’s a great comeback.

They walk down the small hallway to Taehyung’s more isolated room and Namjoon stops in the doorway while looking at the hurricane-like state of Taehyung’s room. 

“What happened here?”

“What do you mean, hyung?”

“You do realize keeping a pristine room helps focus your energy.”

Taehyung shakes his head, “I can’t stand to practice magic when a room is clean. It totally doesn’t reflect how my magic works.”

Namjoon is in disbelief. “Whatever, let’s just read through reversal spells.”

Before they can open their books, a ringtone begins to play. It’s surprisingly not Taehyung’s phone.

“Is that Britney Spears?”

“Namjoon, the Britney Army only addresses her as Britney bitc—”

“Ok, literally not the point,” the fellow warlock sighs. “So that’s not your phone buried underneath your clothes or something?”

“No, I’m more of P!nk underdog slash friend slash human.”

By the look on Namjoon’s face, he clearly doesn’t know the various P!nk fandom names.

The ringtone keeps playing. “Wait, what if it’s one of theirs?” Namjoon’s eyes widen; he trips on the way out of Taehyung’s room. Taehyung follows behind, expertly not tripping over the carefully placed mess on his floor.

“You mean Jimin or Yoongi’s phone?”

“No, one of the cats,” Namjoon states with a blank look.

“But they are the—”

“I know they are the cats,” Namjoon takes in a deep breath and presses one of his hands to his temple. Taehyung can tell his friend is exasperated—trying to save his energy. 

Taehyung’s truly thankful Namjoon’s trying his best.

♪…. Baby hit me one more time ♪

Oh, right.

He thinks the sound is coming from Yoongi’s room. They walk in and find that the person calling is quite a handsome looking man—or the profile picture is at least.

“Hello,” Namjoon answers.

“YOONGI-CHI WHERE ARE YOU! I have been waiting down at the cafe to complain about this guy in my chem class and—”

“Hi Seokjin-ssi,” Namjoon grimaces.

“Wait, who is this?”

“Uh, well, I—”

Taehyung takes the phone, sensing this is bound to be an awkward situation. “Hello handsome man. My name is Taehyung and I am one of Yoongi’s roommates. He can’t come to the phone right now. He’s, uh, showering.”

“Why did you hesitate?”

“Excuse—”

“You hesitated. And I know Yoongi would have answered his phone on the first dial cause he hates the ringtone, but doesn’t know how to change it.”

“Well that’s quite smart of you Seokjin-ssi.” 

“You know what, I’ll let this slide because you called me handsome and smart. But seriously, where’s Yoongi?”

Think Taehyung think .

“He’s on a date.”

Seokjin starts to laugh like a windshield wiper on the other end. “You can’t be serious, unless—”

“Unless?”

“Has he finally admitted his hatred towards Jimin is sexual tension?”

Well, that’s new information.

He foregoes hesitation. “Yes, yes he did.”

“I tell you Taehyung-ssi, it was about time. I don’t get why he didn’t tell me.”

“You and I both know he’s a quiet guy who doesn’t like to admit he’s wrong,” Taehyung hopes that’s accurate.

“Fine, but I’m calling again tomorrow night to ask him how it went. He BETTER answer even though you’re not half bad Taehyung-ah. And tell Namjoon-ssi I’m onto him in Chem Lab. For a clumsy guy he sure knows how to finish those labs in record time,” then the presumably older friend of Yoongi’s hangs up.

“What did he say? Did he happen to mention—”

“That you guys are in the same Chem Lab—yes, he said he’s onto you. I’m guessing someone’s not using magic in the most responsible manner.” Taehyung can’t help his sly, ironic smile at the moment.

“Listen, I need an A and can’t afford a repeat of my Bunsen burner incident from high school.”

Taehyung shakes his head at the memory of that story and holds back a laugh for the sake of Namjoon’s necessary help.

“Sure. Alright, it looks like we gotta fix this cat-tastrophe.”

“Please never use a cat pun again,” Namjoon says as he takes the phone from Taehyung’s hand and puts it back into Yoongi’s bedside drawer.

The two warlocks walk out and find the two cats are napping next to one another on the couch. It’s actually really adorable and the calico—Jimin—is nuzzling his head against Yoongi’s neck. 

“C’mon Namjoon-hyung, I was just kitten around.”

Namjoon simply excuses the pun this time because they’ve got to get to work. They hit the books like how Britney wants to get hit up via cellular communication so her loneliness doesn’t kill her—it’s productive and valid.

𓃠

Jimin

Jimin is at a loss—a loss for motivation to get up and a loss for words, even though Yoongi is the only one who can understand him right now.

He’s craving fish more than he ever has before. Growing up by the seaside sort of makes seafood just the norm and nothing too exciting. However, another part of him wants to continue being lost in his current, unexplainable warmth. He wiggles a bit, knowing he should get up and get something since it must be dinnertime by this point. 

There’s a small weight wrapped around his small form and he feels like his head is being helmeted by a blanket. It’s the comfiest he’s ever felt and doesn’t hesitate to snuggle further.

“Stop moving,” a deep rumble whispers, tickling Jimin behind his now twitching ear.

He doesn’t mean to, but his body quickly and sloppily rolls out of Yoongi’s warmth.

“Jiminie, we were comfortable,” Yoongi huffs, though it comes out as a hiss.

“Um, sorry Yoongi-hyung. I think my cat-self wants to eat.”

“Hyung? About time Jiminie.”

If a smile could reach Jimin’s lips he would probably be trying to hide it. “Whatever. Aren’t you hungry? I feel like I could be out in the wild and catch a deer.”

“I think even the human version of you could hurt a fly, let alone a deer.”

“Fair point.” Jimin hops off the couch and notices big shopping bags on the kitchen counter. Something about the combination of smells increases his hunger. 

As a human, he’s of a reasonable height; it’s not like he’s that tiny or anything. But now as a cat, peering up the kitchen counter is like standing at the bottom of a cliff; it’s an almost impossible endeavor to reach such heights.

His legs are twitching a bit―tempted to try and make the jump up. 

Here goes nothing, Jimin internalizes.

“What do you think you are going to accomplish?” Yoongi asks. It appears he got off the couch and is now plopping beside Jimin. 

“I’m hungry and I’m one-hundred percent sure Taehyung’s friend left all of the supplies up there, including the food.”

“Alright, easy, we just go bother them and they get it down and take care of us.”

“But they need to concentrate and figure out how to get us back to our human selves. We can just launch ourselves up there. Cats are fierce like that, so I’m pretty sure that’s how it could work.”

“I’m not convinced, so you can go ahead and try,” Yoongi stretches his paws forward and lays down. “I’ll support you from right here.”

“You know I still think you’re lazy, right?”

“I certainly am not laying down to prove otherwise, unless you don’t see that my support is far from lazy.”

“I don’t understand you.”

“It beats me since we aren’t moving our mouths yet we do understand one another.”

Jimin tries to see if there’s a way he can maneuver his way safely up onto the counter. “That’s not what I’m talking about. Whatever. Just do your “support” thing and hope I don’t die.”

“If you do, it would have been for a good cause.”

Jimin’s legs are shaky, his human side feeds his nerves. “Can you not, I’m trying to think this through.”

“Alright,” Yoongi actually purrs. “I will sit here and not say a word.”

“Literally, that’s the best thing you’ve ever said.”

Yoongi swipes his tail against Jimin’s side. It isn’t a painful action, in fact, it oddly feels like a soothing gesture even though it’s probably meant to be a jab.

“Get up there already Jiminie.”

To outsiders, Yoongi’s tone may seem annoyed, but Jimin feels like there’s something warm underneath Yoongi’s grumbling, as though he cares a bit even though his words aren’t revealing anything close to that interpretation. Maybe being a cat means the Big Bang Theory song is accurate about feeling soft and warm all the time. 

It must be that.

𓃠

Yoongi

Yoongi won’t admit it, but he’s also hungry. On an internal level, he can admit that he is not as motivated as Park Jimin to try and solve the problem by getting the food on the counter. However, externally he will not say a word. He’s just going to lay here and hope Jimin is reasonable enough to knock some food off the counter so they don’t have to worry about this predicament later. 

“Okay,” Jimin says, more to himself than to Yoongi. “I’m gonna do it. I’m gonna jump so high and I’m gonna―”

“Jiminie, just do it. Survival is on the line.”

“Then how come you’re so relaxed?”

“It’s my outward appearance; it’s just how I happen to exist. Listen, you’ll be fine. Just get up there.”

“Why don’t you try? You now seem eager for me to risk my life.”

“I’m pretty sure you now have nine lives, so you have room for error.”

“You have gone above and beyond with your support,” Jimin says with a sarcastic bite.

Yoongi stretches out and curls into himself. “Thank you, I told you it takes effort.”

Jimin huffs as best as a cat can huff. It’s like a half-furball-cough type of situation. “Okay okay, I can do this.”

Before Yoongi can make his brain think aloud words, Jimin *makes the upwards jump.

*read: makes the attempt

He does not get enough height and the claws of his front paws click against the counter with no way to get a grip on the landing. 

His fall happens way too quickly for Yoongi to process that he’s about to fall on him in his curled up position. 

Jimin lands on Yoongi. Luckily it’s not an asteroid-hitting-earth type of landing, but it’s enough for Yoongi to define it as “oof.”

As cats, it’s not the worst fall, and certainly not hard enough to cause any damage. Yoongi’s just a bit out of breath.

He can feel Jimin is sprawled out on top of him but the calico hasn’t made a move to get off, so Yoongi thinks he might be hurt―something must not be right if Park Jimin isn’t making a move to avoid being near Yoongi. 

Despite feeling a bit sore, Yoongi tries to turn his body to face Jimin and see if his fellow cat roommate is okay. 

By attempting to turn his head around, Jimin begins to wiggle around. Both of their awkward movements cause one thing to lead to something that’s not ‘another thing’ but ‘quite a remarkable thing.’

They lay side-by-side on the floor, cat arms clinging around one another. Yoongi feels the cold press of Jimin’s nose against his own.

It sort of makes food the last thing on his cat mind.

𓃠

Taehyung

“So, Chemistry,” Taheyung drawls. He knows he shouldn’t deter Namjoon from his concentration, or in this case, Taehyung is the one losing his concentration and is taking Namjoon down in the process.

Besides, this Seokjin-hyung is an interesting character.

“No,” Namjoon responds flatly, flipping through some pages.

“I didn’t even get to say anything,” Taehyung huffs. Is it wrong to want to get to know his hyung’s “mortal” life better? 

“I know what you might say, and whatever it is isn’t relevant to what we need to do. And If I must, I will remind you that what we need to do is get your roommates back to normal and hope to Merlin that they won’t reveal anything about the magic realm.”

Taehyung shrugs nonchalantly, crumpling up a piece of notebook paper from the notebook he has in front of him into a ball, thinking about weird things he could do with magic.

“I mean, I think we can use a spell like how you can make someone’s phone autocorrect a word they want to say into a different word, so like if they try to say “Taehyung turned us into cats” then we can use a spell that makes them say “Taehyung is the best roommate.” See, I’m a great problem solver,” Taehyung smiled, twirling his pen along in a mini celebration. Pen and a crumpled up ball of paper—that gives him an idea.

Namjoon rolls his eyes and responds, “I don’t know, considering you haven’t solved the current problem.”

“Literally Namjoon, Jordan Sparks once said it takes one step at a time.” Taehyung gets up where he’s laying on his bed, throws the paper ball in the air, and then sticks his pen in it just in time, shifting the creation into a bouquet of flowers.

Namjoon is quite invested in the book he’s reading, trying to ignore Taehyung’s antics.

“Hey,” Taehyung smiles, “these are a thank you for helping me and well, you should give them to Seokjin-hyung.”

Namjoon gives him wide-eyes and grumbles, “I haven’t even solved this yet.” Then he looks up, “wait, I have absolutely no reason to give Jin-hyung anything, let alone flowers. We’re just occasional lab partners and it’s the only time I use magic so I don’t screw up.”

“Wow, you must really want to impress him then.”

“No!” A pink coloring landscapes Namjoon’s face. “I just don’t want my clumsy side causing danger, unlike what you did today.”

Taehyung frowns at this. He knows he has mess-ups from time-to-time but he was on a good streak for a while there.

“That’s not nice. You know I’ve been trying, I just think differently and figure out magic differently than what these books say. I’m not a by-the-book guy and I’m trying to fix that about myself.” 

Taehyung almost feels tears threaten him behind his eyes. His magic doesn't work the way it works for other warlocks and witches he’s met. They follow the stages in their books that have been carried through the generations and Taehyung feels like his magic pulls him in all sorts of directions except the right one. 

“Wait,” Namjoon slaps the book he was reading intently closed, “I think that’s how we solve this.”

“What do you mean?” Taehyung does a big sniffle, attempting to eliminate the possibility of runny snot. 

“Well first, I’m sorry I just made it seem like you messed up, really. And second, because you turned your roommates in an intense spur-of-the-moment action, then that means we have to analyze the moment and figure out how your magic can do the reversal by your rules.”

Before Taehyung can respond, he hears a ringing, or perhaps a buzzing noise, coming from outside—just a regular one without any classic pop hits.

That might be their doorbell.

“Hold that thought Rap Monster hyung,” he smiles, throws his bedroom door open, and hurries down his mini-hallway to his roommates’ rooms, hoping it’s a phone and that no one is trying to come up.

“I told you it was a phase and not to remind me!” Namjoon yells after him, giving up on all pretenses of figuring this out his way and following Taehyung.

To Taehyung’s dismay, it is the buzzer.

Maybe the neighbor misplaced her keys again.

(But no such luck).

He presses down the button to answer. “Hi, did you misplace your key again?”

A guy buzzes in, “Um no. Hi, my name is Hoseok.”

“And I’m Jungkook,” another voice shouts into the com. 

Those names are kind of familiar to Taehyung.

“Anyways,” Hoseok’s voice starts up again, “we’re Jimin’s friends. You must be one of his roommates.”

“Yeah, I’m Taehyung.”

“Well, nice to meet you Taehyung-ssi,” if a smile could go through sound waves, then he could feel Jimin’s friend’s warmth.

But that fades a bit; he inquires, “so is Jimin asleep or something? He texted him that we could come over to study around this time but he never got back to us and we figured we should just come over to see how he’s holding up.” He pauses for a moment, “tests stress him out so we’re hoping he’s alright. Last we heard he said he was going to tell Yoongi to turn down his music.”

His laugh sounds into the intercom, “Jungkook texted him in our group chat to go have fun flirting. Then he didn’t reply back.”

Well, this is not good at all, Taehyung thinks. 

“What should we do,” Namjoon whispers from behind the kitchen counter. He’s got a hold of Yoongi and Jimin in each arm. They sort of seem out of it, as though something embarrassing just happened to them. 

Something embarrassing…

“I’ve got it!” Taehyung shouts, luckily his hand is off the intercom button. He presses it to speak back. He really didn’t mean for this to be such a long conversation over an intercom.

“I’ll let you all up and explain everything!” Taehyung buzzes them in and smiles at Namjoon.

“You can’t tell them the truth,” he shakes his head, putting the cats down in the process. “Also, I think they’re hungry. They were in an odd position—like, facing away from each other but sitting next to one another. Are they like this as people?”

Taehyung laughs, “Yeah, kind of.”

There’s a knock at the door.

“What are you going to say?” Namjoon whisper asks.

“Don’t worry. I know exactly what I’m doing.”

“I—uh, yes, yes, I believe in you,” his warlock hyung gives a hesitant thumbs up but Taehyung appreciates the gesture nonetheless. 

He opens the door and is fascinated by the bright smile and brightly colored clothes of the guy who must be Hoseok and then the other one seems nonchalant, wearing dark, casual clothes—likely Jungkook. 

“Hi, thanks for letting us up,” the brightly colored dressed man smiles, a hint of concern rests in the corners.

“Yeah, no problem. Come in,” Taehyung gestures for them to step inside. He sees Namjoon has gotten food for the roommate kitties. 

“Hi,” his hyung smiles, “I’m Namjoon and I’m going to set up this litter and let Taehyung do the talking.” He takes some of the bags on the counter and walks to the bathroom. 

“Don’t worry about Namjoon, he’s a childhood friend of mine, and well, he’s an admirable awkward tree, you know?”

Jungkook shakes his head a bit, “No, but I believe it.”

“Sweet, alright, so Jimin, you all are Jimin’s friends.”

“Where is Jimin?” Hoseok asks.

Around the corner Taehyung can see Namjoon listening in, he’s kind of surprised Namjoon isn’t using some magic to listen in on the conversation and it’s kind of amusing.

“Well, you see, it might be kind of embarrassing for Jimin if I tell you.”

Out of curiosity, he looks over at the cats and both haven’t touched their food, giving Taehyung big saucer eyes.

“He and Yoongi went out to get food.”

Hoseok and Jungkook both look at each other and then at Taehyung. The warlock imagines cartoon question marks are dancing above their heads. 

“Are you serious?” Hoseok asks and hits Jungkook’s arm with a laugh. “That’s unbelievable.”

Jungkook doesn’t really react to the playful gesture and laughs too. “They’re on a date right now? I never thought that would happen in our lifetime.”

“Well, date is a strong word,” Taehyung begins and glances at the cats. He can’t quite imagine what’s going on in their fluffy heads, but he hopes they feel the right amount of mortification for all the times he couldn’t live in peace. 

“But it is the right word,” he finishes off with a big, boxy smile. 

𓃠

Jimin

Jimin can’t believe this. 

Or maybe he can, he is currently a cat alongside Yoongi. Anything is possible at this point.

He doesn’t want to admit it, but the idea of hypothetically being on a date with Yoongi to save face in front of his friends isn’t the worst lie.

And what he really does not want to admit is that it’s kind of believable to an extent.

From time to time, he had plenty of reasons to vent to his friends about Yoongi, from him not doing the dishes to the loud music and re-telling specifics of their arguments.

His friends always have the expected responses like “we can’t believe you like him this much” and “you wanna kiss him so bad.” None of that is true in the slightest.

At least, that’s what he always told himself.

He peers at Yoongi and Yoongi’s attention is glued to the conversation happening in front of them. 

“I’m tired of this,” Yoongi communicates to him. “We have no idea if Taehyung or if Taehyung’s friend has solved this and now they are distracted again.”

“Sorry,” Jimin hangs his head. Normally he would feel insulted by Yoongi basically calling his concerned friends a distraction, but he’s starting to feel himself take on all sorts of blame for their predicament.

Jimin notices a warmth snuggle up next to him. He wants to bask in it and cut the tethers of guilt he has latched on.

“Hey, you’ve got nothing to be sorry for,” Yoongi snuggles further, and it should be weird and awkward.

It’s really not.

“But they’re here because they were worried about me and they worry about me because I don’t take good care of myself,” he snuggles back into Yoongi—must be cat instincts.

“You’re wrong,” he says. “You take good care of yourself, or at least better than I care for myself. We’re just the kind of people who are unnecessarily hard on ourselves. You’re lucky you have friends that see that and care about you.”

Jimin wonders how Yoongi would look saying this if his mouth could move, or better yet if he was human again. If Jimin would see pink coloring his fumbling cheeks or if his hyung’s fringe would be getting in his eyes from hanging his head to avoid looking at Jimin.

Yet Yoongi looks at him now as he “tells” him this and the big eyes add this soft intensity.

He knows Yoongi means it. He likes that Yoongi gets him.

“Yeah, I get you Park Jimin,” Yoongi meows aloud. His meow brings the attention of the real humans back onto them. 

“So you got cats?” Hoseok inquires, eyes widening with excitement. “Jimin-ah never mentioned that you all had cats in the apartment.”

“Wait,” Jungkook laughs unprompted. “Didn’t Jimin once say that Yoongi-ssi reminded him of a cat, you know, cause he once saw him curled up and said he was cut—”

Jimin runs up to Jungkook’s feet and starts clawing his feet and legs. Nothing too painful, but just enough to get Jungkook to shut up. 

“Woah,” Taehyung swoops in to pick Jimin up. “I don’t know what got into Mochi here. Sorry about that.”

“Huh, reminds me of Jimin-hyung. He would’ve clawed me if he just heard me use his name without the hyung.” Jungkook picks Yoongi up and cradles him in his arms. “This guy is gentle, huh.”

“Well, Lil Meow Meow there just doesn’t give a fuck, and that’s what his social media bios would say if he had one,” Taehyung is petting Jimin into submission, trying to calm him down. 

“You know,” Namjoon enters the conversation, probably having finished the temporary set-up for the cats in the bathroom, “I think if they’re out, then maybe we can all step out and go hang out.”

This sounds terrible to Jimin. What happened to turning him and Yoongi-hyung back into humans.

Taehyung doesn’t seem to notice Jimin’s squirming and says, “Yeah, that sounds nice.” He turns to Jimin’s friends, well, Jimin may decide they’re not anymore, especially since they apparently have no respect for keeping his Yoongi-related rants a secret. The warlock roommate asks, “Do you all want to head out? Jimin will be fine with Yoongles.”

“You mean on their date?” Jungkook inquires. 

“You know,” Hoseok begins, “that’s weird timing on Jimin’s part. I swear days before tests are when he’s at his worst.”

“I think,” Namjoon speaks up, “that sometimes we need a moment to take a step back even though it feels like we aren’t allowed to give ourselves those moments.” He turns to Taehyung, “I know we’ll figure things out because it takes creative minds.” Then he peers at the cats—Jimin in Taehyung’s arms, and Yoongi half-asleep in Jungkook’s embrace. “And they need some time to themselves. Things happen for a reason and I’m starting to get why that is.”

“Woah,” Hoseok’s eyes go full-blown. “Does he always get conceptual like this? I have no idea what you mean, but I feel empowered.”

There’s a twinkle in Jungkook’s eyes. “Ha, yeah, um, absolutely yes.” Jimin doesn’t need to see things from a cat’s perspective to know Jungkook is being weird.

“Thanks, hyung,” Taehyung smiles and puts Jimin down so he can roam as he pleases. “Let’s go turn cheap ramen into a feast.”

“So like, two cups of ramen each?” Jungkook asks as he puts Yoongi to rest on the couch.

“Sort of,” Taehyung winks.

Jimin wonders if he could have turned their group meals into something substantial and appetizing.

Yet, he wonders more so what Namjoon had meant by things happening for a reason. 

The group of four leave him and Yoongi to their own devices.

𓃠

Yoongi

Yoongi wants to just sleep until the warlocks get back. He will admit, he was sort of nodding off during the humans’ conversation. This day has been one of the most exhausting ones he has experienced, and that says a lot since each day brings its own exhaustion specialty. 

Another thing he’ll admit is that he tends (or maybe tended) to associate part of his exhaustion with Jimin. It may not seem like it, but arguing takes some effort out of Yoongi to make it appear effortless. 

Perhaps it’s time to put that effort aside and make a different effort—the kind that lets everyone win even though it takes some time, and perhaps drastic changes, to get there. 

“We should talk,” he grumbles from where he’s laying on the couch.

“Yeah,” it sounds like Jimin is adding a dramatic sigh to the end of that unenthusiastic response. “But first, I don’t want to do this, but we still haven’t had anything to eat and I can’t believe I’m about to eat cat food.”

With that, Yoongi is reminded of his own hunger. “Damn. You’re right.” He rolls off the couch and lands on his feet; getting to land on his feet without trying might be the best superpower to exist. 

Without any of the earlier fuss, they reluctantly eat the dry food Namjoon set out for them in proper food bowls. 

“So,” Yoongi gulps down some kibble, “Is this kind of like the date your friends think we’re on?”

Jimin huffs at that so-called joke while chewing on more food. He eventually responds, “Yeah, they definitely imagined me as a cat, and you as a cat, eating cat food together because that’s typical.”

“Nice sarcasm. It’s quite a step up from your usual obscene yelling.”

Jimin nudges Yoongi lightly—just moving him over slightly. “Wow, funny hyung.”

“Anyways,” Yoongi repositions himself in front of his bowl, standing next to Jimin while he eats more out of his own dish, “I mean to say it’s interesting how your friends didn’t seem all that shocked by the idea of it.”

“Do you have any friends?” Jimin sits up; he’s cleaned out his bowl. 

“Are you changing the subject?”

“Kind of, but I’m more implying that you know how friends are. Like, I don’t doubt you complain about me to your friends.”

“Not really,” Yoongi answers, also sitting back from his bowl—almost tempted to lean into Jimin’s side. 

“C’mon, that can’t be true.”

“Well, I’ve mentioned you once, and then my hyung, he’s crazy. He has held on to the one time I’ve mentioned you,” Yoongi claims, walking back towards the couch.

“You don’t actually expect me to believe that, right?” Jimin follows.

“I hope you will because that’s all I’ll say,” Yoongi jumps up and curls in on himself, getting into a comfortable position because he knows the warlocks may be a while. Deadlines be damned. Things will get fixed at some point. 

Jimin jumps up and sits on his own couch cushion, facing Yoongi’s tired eyes. 

“Are you worried?” the calico asks.

“About our situation? I think at this point worrying may be useless. If we have to be cats it’s not so bad.”

“Even if it means being stuck as a cat with me?”

Yoongi peers up to get a better look at Jimin. He’s seen cat pictures of cats with big, watery eyes; they’ve got nothing on Jimin right now. 

“Jimin, I didn’t get the opportunity to say this earlier, but us getting turned into cats was something we both had coming—not necessarily the literal turning-into-cats part, but this. You know, having to uh, acknowledge this.”

“Go on,” Jimin purrs. Actually purrs. 

“You’re not bad Jimin,” Yoongi maintains eye contact. “You never were. Sometimes you get on my nerves, but not in the worst way possible. Maybe the opposite.”

“Yeah?” Jimin whispers—the wavelength of their odd telepathic channel feels light, soft even.

“Yeah,” Yoongi affirms.

Jimin gets up and Yoongi thinks he’s about to walk away and ignore him or laugh at him or use this to make fun of him for some time. Instead, he steps towards him and gets close enough so they are laying in front of one another with paws almost touching. 

“I think the way you put it is the best way to describe how my nerves feel too,” Jimin speaks honestly. “Actually, being like this with you has got me thinking that I kind of just wrote you off, sort of because I felt like you wrote me off first.”

Before Yoongi can reach out further to Jimin, he has to say more—more truth. “I probably did write you off first, and not intentionally. It’s just I don’t mean to but I put these walls up and I don’t feel like I’m good enough when it comes to my music and in a moment of weakness, if you remember that night, I know I made you feel how I felt.”

Then he scoots closer to Jimin, paws overlapping. “I need you to know I’m sorry for that and more. You work hard for someone I try to avoid seeing.” Jimin giggles at that.

“I mean it,” Yoongi continues. “You’re smart and determined. You never back down when things are tough—”

“I think I should apologize too,” Jimin starts. “I know that in turn I’ve also said things about your music. The thing is, I really like your music—always have, and any insults I’ve said were to be spiteful.”

“Wow,” Yoongi murmurs, not sure what to say next, but he has an idea of what he can do instead.

Yoongi presses his little wet nose to Jimin’s, “Whatever happens, I want you to know I—”

“It’s okay,” Jimin interrupts. “I know, so tell me when we’re human again.”

Yoongi moves his head to place it next to Jimin’s face—almost like a hug.

“Alright, as long as you know.”

“I know,” Jimin replies as he nuzzles into Yoongi in return.

𓃠

Taehyung

Being out to dinner helps Taehyung clear his mind; he feels better.

Earlier, Namjoon explained that the reversal of magic is based on the reversal of the situation that incited it. Since what Taehyung did was a spur of the moment, unexpected occurrence due to his roommates’ hatred for each other, then the opposite is obvious.

He’s glad magic can finally go his way for once.

All he needs for the reversal to work is for Jimin and Yoongi to work things out.

Yeah, that can’t be too hard.

Hopefully, they are talking it out. Taehyung always had a feeling those two and their bickering of a not-so hateful nature. 

The small corner store he’s huddled in with Namjoon, Hoseok, and Jungkook makes him feel like he can make it in either world, magic and human. Yes, he still has a long way to go with his magic, but maybe if he just goes with what works for him, he’ll be better off.

“You guys are fun,” Hoseok says. “Weird but our kind of brand.”

“Yeah,” Jungkook agrees. “So you said something about turning this into a feast.”

Taehyung turns to Namjoon. “Yeah, we have our ways.”

Then he addresses both Jungkook and Hoseok, “Let’s head back.”

Hoseok and Jungkook are walking a bit ahead of him and Namjoon. His hyung whispers, “What are you thinking? You’ve already exposed your magic to your roommates and we don’t know how they feel about it.”

“Well, what if we get Jungkook and Hoseok on our side, and then they’ll think magic is cool. Then they’ll help us convince my special roommates that it’s all good.” Up ahead, Hoseok and Jungkook are laughing and bumping shoulders playfully. 

“Since when do you make plans?” Namjoon is bewildered, almost stopping in his tracks.

“Since you helped me realize that I can do things my way without book learning.”

“That is actually not what the lesson here was.”

“I feel like that was exactly the lesson. You said just be creative.”

“Creativity comes from continuous learning, Taehyung. Oh my god.” They continue walking, staying within a couple feet of their new friends.

“So do you think my roommates will be back to who they are when we get back?”

“Yeah, plus I added in some spell enhancements to their food when no one was looking.”

Taehyung stops and hits Namjoon’s shoulder. “Ow.”

“Hyung! I thought I had it.”

“You do have it,” Namjoon rubs his shoulder as if Taehyung hit him that hard. “I didn’t do any emotional spells because then the possibilities of reversal wouldn’t work. I just did a well-being one because if their health is good, then the chances they won’t be as mad is lower.”

“Ugh, fine.” Taehyung continues on walking. They’re all almost back to his apartment. 

He can feel his magic is at ease.

𓃠

Jimin

Jimin wakes up and his nose feels itching. It’s like he has long hair that he didn’t put up and it’s plastered on his face. He reaches his hand up to wipe it off his face.

That’s when he realizes he has a face.

A human one.

And the hair on his face is not his own.

It’s dark brown and as soft as a cat; he would know how that feels by now.

And almost like a purr, the other body cuddling against him is grumbling. Yoongi rubs his face into Jimin’s neck and Jimin feels oddly content.

They’re back. 

“Yoongi-hyung,” he whispers into Yoongi’s hair, knowing not to startle his hyung out of sleep or else the whole atmosphere would be ruined. 

“Hmmmmm, Jiminie,” Yoongi hums, eyes still closed and snuggling closer if that’s possible. Their couch isn’t fit for two people to lay on it like they are, but neither seems to mind.

“We’re back.”

Yoongi refuses to fully wake up.

“Okay,” he mumbles. “Just stop squirming. We can get up and worry about things later.”

This time Jimin does something that he believes might do the trick.

He kisses Yoongi’s dumpling cheek—a light press just to see.

His hyung’s eyes automatically open. Jimin’s never seen Yoongi look like this—awestruck.

“You can’t just do that,” Yoongi says, frozen.

“What do you mean?” Jimin giggles, finding Yoongi’s reaction funny and endearing. 

“You can’t do that without my knowledge. What am I supposed to do?”

Jimin leans in. “What do you want to do?”

“God, have you always been this coy? This reminds me of when we argue in a way.”

“Hey Yoongs,” Jimin says.

“What happened to hyung there?”

“Don’t ruin it.”

“What?”

“The moment,” Jimin lifts his hand to cup Yoongi’s cheek—the one he was kissed.

“Alright,” Yoongi smiles with a full-on smile Jimin can’t recall if he’s seen before. “You win.”

“I think this means we both win.”

“Not if you keep running your mouth.”

“Says you. Oh my god, you know what. Just shut up and—”

Yoongi closes the gap between them. His lips are a bit chapped but soft. Jimin brings his other hand to Yoongi’s face, wanting more warmth, more closeness. More.

He feels Yoongi’s hand grip his hip, the other one is sliding up his spine. Jimin opens his mouth at the touch and their kiss deepens. His hands move down to wrap around Yoongi’s torso, loving how his hyung meets him without much effort.

Somehow, less than four hours ago, Jimin wanted to wrestle Yoongi to the ground; he was furious. And while what they’re doing isn’t what he had in mind, he has no problem admitting it’s a better outcome.

Before they can continue, the door unlocks. Jimin hears it but it seems like Yoongi doesn’t; his hyung solely focuses on meddling his lips to Jimin’s own.

He hums into Yoongi’s lips, trying to warn him. He uses his free hand to slap Yoongi’s side.

The kiss breaks off. “Wha—” Yoongi’s about to ask. The door opens and Jimin’s eyes first meet Taehyung’s, and his warlock roommate wiggles his eyebrows; he’s up to something.

Before the rest of the guys walk in, Jimin shoves Yoongi off the couch. “Sorry,” he whispers.

“Jimin-ah,” Hoseok shouts. “I can’t believe you went out on a date, not only on a test night but with your man.”

Yoongi turns his head to Jimin from where he’s sprawled out on the floor. “Your man?”

“No, not now Yoongi.”

“Yoongi? You call him Yoongi without the hyung?” Jungkook asks incredulously. “How long have you all been going out?”

“Cats live nine lives,” Taehyung cuts in. “They probably have lived like, four of them and now here we are.”

“You make no sense to me,” Hoseok remarks.

“Taehyung,” Namjoon steps into the circle of people. Jimin sits up properly on the couch, smoothing out his clothes. Almost true to his cat form, Yoongi doesn’t move from his position on the floor. Namjoon continues, “It’s probably time we address the elephant in the room before—”

“Yah,” Yoongi interrupts, now swiftly getting off the floor. “You turned Jimin and me into cats,” he points his finger at Taehyung. 

Jimin checks on his friends and sees they look about as confused as randomly turning into cats themselves. 

“Not on purpose,” Taheyung stands firm. Yoongi walks over to sit beside Jimin, wrapping his arms around him, having no qualms about the other eyes watching them closely.

“See,” Taehyung says as his roommates cling to each other. “This was the plan all along.”

“No, it wasn’t you asshole,” Yoongi snaps, burying his nose on the top of Jimin’s head.

“I’d say it was 75 percent my plan all along.”

Namjoon’s arms go wide and slap down at his side. “You can’t be serious. Their reversal wasn’t even on your radar until I pointed it out to you.”

Taehyung shakes his head. “Namjoon-hyung, you don't give me enough credit.”

“I’m not giving you any credit,” he pauses. “At all.”

Jimin continues to cling to Yoongi, nestling his head under Yoongi’s chin. Despite the mixed emotions floating in the room, he’s content. 

“Are you guys not mad?” Taehyung asks. Jimin realizes Taehyung must have been afraid and perhaps feeling guilty about the whole thing. 

“Let’s just say you’re lucky I’m not in the mood to fight,” Yoongi answers.

“Me neither,” Jimin sighs into Yoongi’s neck. “You know,” he begins, “it's interesting how you sort of smell the same.”

“What?” Yoongi brings his t-shirt to his nose. “Like a cat?”

“No,” Jimin giggles. “Just a generally comforting smell.”

“Jimin, what the fuck?” Jungkook inputs.

“It’s hyung to you,” Jimin threateningly points and then brings his arm back down. “You’re lucky I don’t have claws anymore.”

“I should’ve known. It’s rare that a cat doesn’t like me.”

“But what about that time—”

“Hoseok-hyung, please—”

“Hey guys,” Taehyung smiles. “I’m happy we’re all on the same page.”

“Not even a semblance of conclusion has been reached yet,” Namjoon states.

“Sure it has,” Taehyung gestures to the whole group. “We are all being ourselves.”

Everyone collectively nods at that. Things are weird and that’s just how they’re meant to be.

“So,” Taehyung starts, “Who wants to devise a plan to get my pal Namjoon-hyung a date?”

“Oh, that sounds fun,” Hoseok exclaims. Jungkook shrugs then nods. Jimin knows it’s his way of showing he’ll join.

“I think,” Yoongi gets up and holds Jimin’s hand, “that we have stuff to do.”

“Are you all already going to have sex? I think this may breach some part of the roommate contract.”

“Taehyung,” Yoongi brings his free hand to pinch the bridge of his nose and breathes in, “we have assignment deadlines.” Then he addresses everyone else with a dull, “Night everyone.”

Jimin is dragged to Yoongi’s room without question. Once Yoongi closes the door behind them, Jimin still stands, a bit unsure what they’re doing.

“Hyung, my study materials are in my room and—”

“Yes, I know,” Yoongi steps over to Jimin, bringing his hands up to cup his face, and Jimin doesn’t mind the touch at all, relaxing into it.

“How about we just pick up where we left off and in a few minutes everyone out there will go away and then you get your stuff.”

“Is this just an excuse to make out with me more?” Jimin laughs, knowing he’s right.

“Whatever,” Yoongi mumbles and they step back and meet the edge of the bed. 

For a while, they kiss. It’s slower and lazy. For the first time, he feels relaxed and calm. They fall asleep like cats—without any hesitation and without space between them.

𓃠

Taehyung

~a couple weeks later~

“So do you all feel like watching Cats ? I feel like it could bring back pawsitive memories.”

“Taehyung, shut the fuck up,” Yoongi sits up a bit from the couch.

“I think it’s a bit a-paw-ling to curse,” Taehyung responds, lacking seriousness.

“Taehyung,” Jimin cuts in. “Just play the movie.” He slumps back on the couch, trying to coax his boyfriend into cuddling him.

Yoongi gapes at Jimin, “You actually want to watch this?”

“Why not?” Jimin shrugs, putting his arms around his boyfriend’s waist to bring him closer. “I think it’d be fun to point out the inaccuracies. It’d be hiss-terical.”

“Taehyung, you ruined by boyfriend,” Yoongi slouches back, and even though he's not happy about Jimin’s pun, he puts his arm around his small frame. It reminds Taehyung of the good ‘ole days when all the two could do was cuddle and not talk back.

“Yoongles-hyung, I think you mean boyfurend,” Taehyung loses it and falls to the floor from laughing so hard.

“It’s not that funny,” Yoongi grumbles, burying his face into Jimin’s neck.

“Just put it on already,” Jimin uses his flexibility to kick Taehyung’s behind. The warlock roommate gets up, starts the movie.

He’s glad after all this time he can finally watch television without any bickering.

But sometimes he speaks too soon.

And sometimes he needs to get a better hold on his magic.

~the supposed end~