Archive of Our Own

“That’s it for tonight. Thank you so much for watching my stream. I’ll be back in the evening at my usual time. I haven’t decided yet on what game I’ll play so feel free to leave me suggestions on Twitter.” Jeongguk gave his camera a big smile and waved. “Have a good night everyone!” He kept waving for a few seconds, watching the comments rush in, before he ended the stream and turned off his mic, camera and computer. A sigh left his mouth as he leaned back in his gaming chair and stretched his arms. One glance to his alarm clock let him know that he could easily take a short nap, before he had to leave for work.

Some people would probably look at the time – 4 am – and hope for more than just a short nap, but Jeongguk was pretty much used to his sleep schedule now. Normally he got up around 7 pm and made all of his errands until he started streaming at 10 pm, which usually lasted until 4 am like today. If he was a little tired, he had the time to take a nap until he had to leave for his shift at a coffee shop that started at 5:30 am and ended at 10 am. Either way it was the normal schedule of someone with two jobs and night/morning shifts.

Climbing into his bed, he reached out to scratch Mimir’s head. Mimir was quite literally Jeongguk’s dumpster cat, as he had found him as a kitten in a trashcan near his apartment. After nursing him back to health he had fallen completely in love with the blind cat, and there had not been a day that he had regretted adopting him - okay, maybe once when Mimir had managed to break his old microphone, but he had wanted to buy a new one anyway. Sometimes he liked to sleep on Jeongguk’s lap as he streamed which was always a highlight for his viewers.

“Wake me up in like 40 minutes, yeah?” Jeongguk mumbled to his cat but reached for his phone to put an alarm just to be safe. He and Mimir had different concepts of time after all. Sighing once again, Jeongguk curled up on the mattress, hands in Mimir’s fur. He closed his eyes only to open them again what felt like a second later when his phone alarm rang. Cursing quietly to himself he got up again. He had about 45 minutes to take a quick shower, put on some proper clothes, make sure the cat was being fed, tweet his usual morning tweet and maybe a picture of Mimir, grab all of his stuff and hurry over to the coffee shop across the street.

Jeongguk was the first one to arrive at the coffee shop, which was why he was in charge of unlocking the door and getting everything ready. That included (but was not limited to) arranging their tables and chairs, wiping the counter, turning on their coffee machines, making sure they were all stocked up on cups and most importantly, making himself a cup of coffee – just to test the coffee machines of course. Normally the last shift of the day did a good job of cleaning the coffee shop and making sure there wasn’t a lot to do before Jeongguk opened up in the morning, but he just liked to be extra sure. Plus it gave him something to do while waiting for 6am when they officially opened. They were the first coffee shop to open in this part of town and it hadn’t always been that early, but as they were in a district with lots of workaholics, they actually made some profit from these early hours.

Eunha arrived just a few minutes before they opened, shooting Jeongguk a bright grin as she hurried through the door. “I’m not late!”

“Sure,” Jeongguk laughed, automatically starting to fix her an iced coffee. “Might as well open the door properly, and let customers know they can come in.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Quickly Eunha flipped their sign on the door that let people know whether the coffee shop was open or closed. “You know that’s your job, right?”

“Do you want this coffee or not?”

Eunha grumbled to herself and disappeared into the kitchen in the back. She was the baker of the morning shift, but she didn’t have to arrive as early as Jeongguk, since they didn’t start selling baked goods until maybe 7am. When she trudged back one minute later to get her coffee cup, she had her apron already tied around her waist. “When’s boss coming in today?”

“Small boss or big boss?” Jeongguk asked, laughing at his own joke. “Jimin has a shift later around noon, but Namjoon is probably gonna arrive in the next hour.”

“Alright.” Eunha took a sip of her coffee. “Let’s get this show started, then.”

Every morning that Jeongguk had work, his routine was the same: he came to work, he cleaned, he waited for Eunha to arrive, and got to try some of her baking before anyone else. He knew that routine by heart now and it never changed. But a few mornings later something did change.

It started when Jeongguk unlocked the doors, and stepped into the coffee shop. Everything looked normal, but at the same time he felt like something was off. Shaking his head, he tried to ignore this weird feeling and went to put the chairs and tables into the right place. For a few minutes, everything went back to normal.

Then, there was a sound. A sound that Jeongguk didn’t cause and that he couldn’t place. It seemed to come out of the back of the coffee shop, an area where only staff was allowed. But Jeongguk was the first person to arrive in the morning. Maybe someone was breaking in?

With his heart beating fast in his chest, he grabbed a mop out of the corner of the room, and walked towards the door that was labelled ‘staff only’.

Maybe, it’s just a racoon, he thought, ignoring the fact that it made no sense at all.

Just as he was about to open the door, it was pulled open, a young man staring right back at him.

Jeongguk tightened his grip on the mop. “Who are you? What are you doing here?”

The man’s brown eyes widened, his facial expression terrified. “I, uh-“

“How did you get in here?”

“I have a key,” the man blurted out, trying to make himself smaller and smaller when Jeongguk wouldn’t stop staring at him. He fumbled with the pockets of his shorts, before pulling a key out and showing it to Jeongguk.

He squinted at the small key. It was the same that he had. What the hell was going on? “Why are you here, though? Are you on my shift? Do you even work here? What?”

“I’m, uh, no? I’m a friend of Namjoon’s, he… I needed to… get something? From his… office,” the stranger stammered, his eyes looking anywhere but at Jeongguk.

“What’s your name?”

“Hoseok, I’m Jung Hoseok.” Finally, the man looked at him and bowed slightly. Jeongguk took a second to really look at him. Hoseok was a tiny bit smaller than Jeongguk. He had dark hair that looked like an absolute mess and Jeongguk could see a few tattoos peeking out from under his white shirt – they seemed to be strange symbols or letters, very different from Jeongguk’s own tattoos. He was handsome, he really was, but he was also being very strange.

“Okay…” Jeongguk tried not to look too suspicious. “Did you get everything you needed? Are you gonna leave now?”

Hoseok nodded quickly. “I was about to leave, yes. Sorry for disturbing you.”

“It’s fine,” the barista mumbled.

“I’ll go then.” After another small bow, Hoseok rushed out of the coffeeshop, leaving Jeongguk behind in the back of the coffeeshop.

He furrowed his brows. The only doors you could access after stepping through the ‘staff only’ door was Namjoon’s office, the bathroom and a room that Jeongguk had never entered – the door was always locked and Jeongguk had never checked if his key could unlock it. He always guessed that it was some kind of storage room. It was none of his business. With a deep sigh, Jeongguk turned around and got back to work. He didn’t have time to question whether Hoseok had told him the truth.

“Hyung?” Jeongguk knocked against the doorframe and peeked inside the room where Namjoon was sitting at his desk and Jimin was laying on the small sofa in the corner – the younger usually arrived before his shift started, so he could spend some time in his boyfriend’s office. It was his coffee shop too after all.

Namjoon looked up from his laptop. “What’s up, Jeongguk-ah? Your shift is over now, right?”

“Yeah.” Jeongguk slowly stepped into the room. “There was a weird guy here when I came this morning.”

At this, even Jimin glanced up from his phone. “Huh?”

“He said his name is Hoseok? He had a key, and he came to… pick something up or whatever?” Jeongguk looked questioningly at Namjoon, who’s eyes widened a little.

“Oh,” Namjoon said, nodding quickly. “Yes, Hoseok. We gave him a spare key.”

Jeongguk cocked his head. “So you know him?”

“Yeah, he’s my best friend, don’t worry. He said he’d be gone by the time you arrive, so I didn’t tell you, sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Jeongguk mumbled, trying to shake his suspicious feeling. He trusted Namjoon and Jimin and if they didn’t see anything wrong with this Hoseok being in their coffee shop in the wee hours of the day… well, then he couldn’t see a reason to question it – except he did. Of course, Hoseok could work night shifts as well which would explain why he was even awake at 4 am but still… god, Jeongguk felt so stupid for feeling like there was something off. It was almost as if he could feel a secret hanging in the air.

He saw Hoseok again on his next shift, but this time as a customer. It was almost time to clock out and he was in the middle of a heated discussion with Umji, the other barista, about the best strategy to survive in the Hunger Games, when the man entered the coffee shop.

“Don’t you sleep during the day?” He blurted out, before the man could even open his mouth to order.

“Uh.” Hoseok stared at him in confusion, before slowly shaking his head and laughing. “I was about to go to sleep, yes, that’s why I’d only like a hot chocolate, please.”

“Coming right up,” Umji said from behind Jeongguk.

“Here.” Hoseok handed Jeongguk just the right amount of money and for a second he got confused about it, until he realised that Hoseok had been here a lot probably, considering he was friends with Namjoon. “I’m really sorry about yesterday by the way. I must’ve spooked you quite a lot, considering you wanted to murder me with a mop.”

Jeongguk snorted. “I did think you were here to steal the secret recipe for our MiniMoni Latte, yes.”

“Ah, believe me, if there was such a recipe, I would’ve been the one who created it.” Hoseok giggled, the sound making Jeongguk’s heart speed up. “God, don’t tell Jimin I said that.”

Jeongguk grinned, leaning over the counter. “What if I do?”

“Well, then I don’t think you’ll ever see me again and that would be a shame, wouldn’t it?” Hoseok raised one of his eyebrows.

Jeongguk hummed, trying to hide a smile as he slid the cup of hot chocolate over to Hoseok. “If you say so.”

“Well, you could give me your number…”

The younger shook his head, a big grin on his face. “You need to work a little harder for that.”

Hoseok grabbed the cup and smiled in amusement. “Alright,” he said and nodded. “I’ll see you then.”

After he had left the coffee shop, Umji hit his shoulder. “Oh my god, who was that? What was that?”

“That was Jung Hoseok, Namjoon’s best friend,” Jeongguk replied with a laugh. “I caught him snooping around the back of the shop yesterday morning.”

Umji frowned in confusion. “Weird. I don’t know how you go from that to flirting, but congratulations.”

Hoseok kept coming back, whenever Jeongguk was working (possibly he was also coming in whenever Jeongguk wasn’t working, he wouldn’t know). And every time Jeongguk got more excited to see him, every time his stomach fluttered a bit more. It was strange, he knew nearly nothing about the guy and still… it was like he had an aura that pulled him in.

Of course, these feelings weren’t one sided, or at least, they didn’t seem to be, since Hoseok kept asking Jeongguk for his number – which he denied, but only because he liked this little game they were playing. He was sure Hoseok wouldn’t keep coming back and asking again, if this little crush thing wasn’t mutual. Jimin and Namjoon had his number, Hoseok could easily ask them. But he didn’t. Instead he kept showing up with a big smile and made small talk with Jeongguk as much as he could before his order was ready.

It was fun.

For some time.

Jeongguk was clocking out early one Saturday, right before Hoseok came in, and that’s when he decided to change their routine. As always Hoseok ordered his hot chocolate, so Jeongguk joined him while he was waiting for Umji to finish the drink.

“Is your shift already over?” Hoseok asked curiously, shooting him a kind smile.

Jeongguk nodded. “Yes, I’m leaving a little earlier today.”

“Busy day ahead?”

“No, quite the opposite.” Jeongguk grinned brightly, loving the way Hoseok’s smile widened a little at the sight. “Saturdays are my days off, so I don’t have to go straight to sleep.”

“I see.” One of Hoseok’s hands was playing absentmindedly with his long necklaces. “You don’t need beauty sleep anyway, you’re already pretty.”

Jeongguk snorted. “That was lame.”

Hoseok laughed as well. “Was it? And here I was hoping I was smooth enough that I could take you out on a date.”

The younger opened his mouth, only to close it again when nothing came out. He took out the note on which he had scribbled his number. Smiling, he offered it Hoseok. “You’re in luck then. I planned to give you my number anyway.”

Hoseok giggled, taking the note and pressing it to his heart. “Thank you. Will you still let me take you out? You’re free, right?”

Jeongguk blinked. “Now?” The other man nodded quickly, making him pause – but he couldn’t come up with a reason to say no, it was his day off after all, he wasn’t gonna stream in the evening. “I- Sure, yeah. Let me get my stuff.”

Quickly, he rushed through the kitchen into the storage space, where he usually left his jacket and bag, before getting back to Hoseok, who was now holding his hot chocolate and leading him outside.

“Where to?” he asked, feeling quite giddy. It had been at least a few months since he last went on a date and still, that had been a blind date set up by his mother – a totally different vibe. “Could we stay in this area? I live here, and I am bound to get tired in the next few hours…”

“Oh, sure!” Hoseok nodded and put a hand on Jeongguk’s lower back to guide him into a direction. “I know a great tea shop and café around the corner. ”

Jeongguk laughed. “But you just got yourself a hot chocolate.”

Hoseok waved it off. “I can drink it at the same time, it doesn’t matter.”

For a few moments, they stayed silent. Jeongguk’s giddiness fading just a tiny bit to make him realise how nervous he was. This was Namjoon’s best friend. If he and Hoseok somehow ended up in a big fight-

He shook his head slightly, as if to shake the anxiety out of his train of thought. When Hoseok glanced at him questioningly, he bit his lip. “Sorry, I guess, I’m a little nervous. You know, first date in a while.”

“Don’t worry, it’s okay.” Hoseok smiled and pushed open the doors to a café. Jeongguk hadn’t even noticed that they had arrived. “I’m a little nervous, too.” The inside of the café was a little darker than Jeongguk would’ve expected – it was almost as if they stepped into a cave or a secret hiding spot. The walls were lined with shelves full of jars, mostly filled with what seemed to be tea and herbs and spices. The room was lit thanks to candles upon candles, sitting on the shelves and tables and pretty much every surface available. Weirdly enough, it felt a little as if Jeongguk had come home.

“Let’s sit here.” Hoseok walked him over to the table farthest away from the counter in the corner of the café. He put down his cup of hot chocolate and shot Jeongguk a calm smile. “I can go order for us, if you want.”

A little overwhelmed at the sight of the long menu that was hanging behind the counter, Jeongguk nodded. “Uh, yeah, I don’t- will you choose something for me? I’m not really familiar with- anything is fine if it’s not too bitter.”

Hoseok giggled and nodded. “Okay, I’ll be right back.”

Jeongguk watched as he skipped over to the counter and immediately started a conversation with the person behind the counter. He seemed to feel at home here as well, or maybe he was just that familiar with the place. There weren’t many people in the café, just two customers sitting at separate tables, both occupied with reading a book, and the man that was currently serving Hoseok. He looked a little smaller in height and had a round face. When he glanced over at Jeongguk, he noticed that his eyes were small but dark. It was almost as if the man was trying to see through him.

“Here you go, one cup for you.” Jeongguk jumped a little, not having noticed that Hoseok was back.

He picked up the cup in front of him and sniffed at the liquid. “What’s in this?

Hoseok smiled almost proudly. “Mainly lavender and chamomile.” Humming, Jeongguk blew a little into the cup, before cautiously sipping. After one sip – that was surprisingly not scalding hot but rather just the right temperature – Jeongguk pursed his lips and drank some more. “What do you think?”

Jeongguk smacked his lips. “It’s good! There’s gotta be honey or something in it, because it tastes sweet.”

“Surely.”

The warmth of the tea in his stomach seemed to warm up Jeongguk’s entire body and calm his anxiety just enough. After a few more sips, he felt more comfortable than nervous. “Are you here a lot? It seemed like you know the barista.”

"Ah, yeah." Hoseok nodded. "My friends own the shop and I kind of work for them? Sometimes at least."

"Really? What do you do?"

"I'm kind of a business owner, I suppose. I sell ingredients for tea or medicine to multiple places."

Jeongguk hummed. He wasn't quite sure why Hoseok was being so vague, but maybe it was just very complicated to explain and took a long time. Or maybe it was confidential. "With Jimin and Namjoon as well, you have a lot of friends who own shops then, huh? Where do you even find friends like that?"

Hoseok laughed and shook his head. "I honestly don’t know, it just somehow happened."

The younger smiled and nodded before he remembered a conversation they had days and days ago. "Wait, if you sell stuff, why do you work at night then? Because you sleep during the day, don't you? I think you mentioned that."

"Oh." Hoseok hesitated. "I guess, I'm just more of a night person. I get more work done around that time. So it's easier for me."

"I get that," Jeongguk replied. "There's something about working when most of the country is sleeping."

For a moment, both of them stayed silent, just drinking their tea. Jeongguk had so many questions for Hoseok, so much he wanted to know and learn, but he didn't know which to ask first without seeming annoying.

"I really like your tattoos," Jeongguk said eventually, motioning to the symbols on Hoseok's forearm. "I didn't peg you to be a person who has so many tattoos, because you're very... I'm not sure I can explain it. But they do look amazing."

"Thank you." Shyly Hoseok turned his arm and looked down at the black lines on his skin. "They're only temporary, though. I draw them on myself." He paused peering up at Jeongguk, before smiling. "They're called sigils."

Jeongguk raised his eyebrows in interest. "Oh, I've heard of those before. They're like symbols with meaning, right?"

Hoseok snorted. "Kind of, they have a purpose, yes."

"You have to tell me more about them someday," Jeongguk said. "It sounds really interesting."

"I will, I will."

"So." Jimin grinned and nudged Jeongguk playfully. "A little birdy told me you've been going out with a certain Jung Hoseok?"

Jeongguk frowned, his attention on the cups of coffee he was making. His shift was coming to an end, which didn't make it any better that it was a slow day and therefore he was mainly standing around. "Who told you?"

"A birdy."

"The singer?"

Jimin groaned. "Me, you dumbass. I told myself, I found out. I have eyes and ears everywhere."

Jeongguk rolled his eyes. "Sure, you do."

"Well, are you?" Jimin raised an eyebrow. "Dating Jung Hoseok?"

A small smile formed on Jeongguk's lips. "I mean, we're not together yet but yes we've been on a couple of dates."

"I see." Jimin giggled. "I really think you should bring these cups over to our customers then." He nodded towards the three men sitting in the corner of the coffee shop.

"Why me?" Jeongguk asked in confusion. Normally Jimin was all too happy to play waiter.

"Because they're Hoseok's friends, duh." Jimin shook his head. "Why do I always have to explain these things to you?"

Giving in - because he didn't want Jimin to keep nagging at him - Jeongguk put the two cups of coffee and a cup of hot chocolate on a tray and carried it over to the table where Hoseok's friends were sitting. "Here's your order," he said quietly and smiled kindly at the three men, only to make eye contact with the barista from the tea shop where Hoseok had taken him on their first date. "Hey, I know you."

The guy with silver hair smiled knowingly. "You're Jeongguk."

Before he could even reply, the man next to him gasped, almost spilling his hot chocolate. "You're Jeongguk?"

"You're just as pretty as Hoseok said," the third man said, rendering Jeongguk more than just speechless. "I'm Seokjin and this is Taehyung. You've already met Yoongi."

"I-" Jeongguk laughed and shook his head. "Yeah, hi. So you're Hoseok's friends? I'm guessing you own the tea shop?"

"Yes," Taehyung replied with an excited grin. "The Magic Tea Shop. We've been friends with Hoseok since forever. We're also together in a Cov- ouch." He frowned and rubbed his leg out of nowhere. Maybe he had bumped it against the table.

"In a what?" Jeongguk asked curiously.

"A ... cover band," Seokjin said slowly. Yoongi let out a big sigh. "It's kind of a hobby, we don't talk about it a lot."

Jeongguk laughed, trying to imagine these three and Hoseok in a cover band. “How long have you known Hoseok?”

“Since we were little, we basically grew up together,” Yoongi replied, sipping his black coffee.

Taehyung leaned onto the table, looking up at Jeongguk expectantly. “So, do you like Hoseok hyung?”

The barista bit his lip, holding himself back from grinning like a dork. “I do, yeah.”

“We’ll make sure Hoseok keeps you then,” Taehyung said with a grin.

He giggled. “Well.” Jeongguk looked back to the counter where Jimin was watching them as discreetly as he could. “I’m going to go back to work but I’m happy he has good friends like you. I’m sure we can maybe see each other again.”

“Of course.” Taehyung nodded. “That’d be awesome.”

Jeongguk had always been very vague about his belief system. At least when it came to supernatural topics. If you asked him whether he believed in aliens, he wouldn’t be able to give you a clear answer. Because in his logic, whether he believed in aliens or not didn’t change the fact whether they existed or not. So he had always been inclined to have no opinion, be open minded.

And still, his whole worldview got turned upside down on a Thursday evening.

That Thursday evening Jeongguk was rushing over to the coffee shop way after it closed. He had switched his usual Friday morning shift with another co-worker, because she needed to have the earlier one and he didn’t mind coming in a little later for once. Except he had forgotten that he still had the keys to the coffee shop. So he decided to quickly drop by the coffee shop – he was almost 100% sure that Namjoon was still there doing business owner things – because leaving the keys with Namjoon was still better than keeping them himself.

At first, nothing seemed wrong. The doors were still unlocked, so he could just slip inside. But then he heard voices arguing, Namjoon and Hoseok’s voices.

“It’s not like I never want to tell him, I just don’t think-“ Jeongguk frowned, was Hoseok talking about him? Was there something he wasn’t telling him?

“Hoseok, he’s gonna find out, he’ll walk in on you and then-“ Their voices seemed to come from Namjoon’s office. Hesitant, Jeongguk walked to the back of the coffee shop.

“Calm down, Jeongguk’s not gonna find out!”

“Find out what?” Both Namjoon and Hoseok’s head turned to where he was standing in the doorway of the office. His boss only sighed, while Hoseok looked downright terrified to see him standing there.

“I-,” Hoseok stuttered. “You-“

Namjoon reached out to squeeze Hoseok’s shoulder. “Tell him,” he said, before he left the office, closing the door behind himself.

Slowly, Jeongguk stepped into the middle of the room. “Is it something bad? Because I was really starting to like you, I mean like like you and-”

Hoseok pressed his lips together and rubbed the back of his neck. “Listen, I want you to be my boyfriend…”

“I’m sensing a ‘but’ coming.”

He let out a quiet laugh, easing Jeongguk’s anxiety a little. “But there’s some things I need you to know.” Jeongguk nodded, telling Hoseok to continue talking. “First of all, when we met… I was still here because I set up my makeshift potion brewery here and use it overnight. I used to have a proper one, but it kind of blew up, but that’s beside the point.”

“Your what?” Jeongguk cocked his head, feeling like he must’ve misheard. “Your potion what?”

“Ah, yeah, probably should’ve not led with that.” Hoseok grimaced. “I’m a witch.”

Jeongguk laughed, mainly because he didn’t know what else to do, but when Hoseok didn’t join him and instead looked almost defeated – he paused. “Wait. You can’t be- Are you being serious?”

“I’m a witch,” Hoseok repeated. “A real magic witch with spells and potions and, well, sigils.” He motioned to the tattoos or rather sigils on his arms.

The younger just blinked.

“Here I can show you.” Hoseok showed him his hands, before taking off the few heavy rings he was wearing. He piled them in one hand, holding the other one over them. As he pulled his hands apart, one by one the rings started … hovering? In the air? “I’m a moon witch which means I get most of my energy from moonlight or the nighttime in general, but it also means I’m very good at gravity spells. Like this.” He grinned brightly at Jeongguk as he wiggled his fingers, the rings dancing through the air.

Jeongguk lifted a hand to rub his eyes. “I feel like I’m hallucinating.”

Hoseok smiled. “I know. Seokjin, Yoongi and Taehyung are witches, too, by the way. I heard you met them. We’re in the same coven. But… I know this is a lot to take in.” Slowly, he reached out to cup Jeongguk’s face. “I really like you. I was being honest earlier. I want to be your boyfriend and I want you to be mine. But Namjoon was right and we shouldn’t start a relationship on a lie, or well on a secret, which is why I told you and… it’s a lot. So if you need some time to wrap your head around this, I’m totally fine with that.”

“Yeah,” Jeongguk mumbled, stepping closer and leaning into Hoseok’s touch. “I might need to- yeah, I can’t believe this. I need to- yeah, I probably need some time.”

“Alright.” Hoseok leaned forward to kiss Jeongguk’s forehead. “You get all the time in the world, no worries.”

So Jeongguk took some time. Though he didn’t really stop talking to Hoseok. He couldn’t meet with him, since he was busy with both of his jobs, but he was still messaging Hoseok multiple times a day – mainly asking stupid questions like “do unicorns exist then?” or “can you time travel with witchcraft?” (the answer to both questions was ‘no’).

Every day, he got more familiar and comfortable with the idea, the reality that magic existed – and that the boy he really wanted to make out with was, in fact, a witch. It still felt a little… strange. But he was getting the hang of it. Which meant the second that he finally had some free time, he invited Hoseok over.

“I’m ready to be your boyfriend,” he blurted out, when they were standing in his kitchen, waiting for the water to boil in the tea kettle. Hoseok’s eyes widened, a grin forming on his lips. “I’m- still wrapping my head around stuff, but I think… I think being a witch’s boyfriend wouldn’t hurt.”

“You think?” Hoseok reached out to hold Jeongguk’s face in his hands. Jeongguk hummed and wrapped his arms around Hoseok’s middle. “I would really like that.”

“Yeah.” Jeongguk closed his eyes, when Hoseok leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. The moment their lips touched, the younger felt like something was being lit on fire inside of him. Now, he knew that he was probably just imagining it, had been thinking about magic so much lately that he was imagining it now. Still, it felt good to be kissing Hoseok. He knew he had made the right decision, staying. Leaving and not being with Hoseok was never an option in the first place, even if it had been overwhelming to learn about magic and witches. But this? It was probably one of his best decisions.

“Our tea is ready,” Hoseok whispered, pulling away slowly. Jeongguk let out a quiet sigh, poured the hot water into the mugs and carried them over to the coffee table. Once on the sofa, he didn’t waste any time before climbing halfway into Hoseok’s lap. “Clingy, huh?” With a grin Hoseok wrapped his arms around him, kissing the top of his head.

“A bit,” Jeongguk mumbled his fingers running over Hoseok’s skin. “What does this one mean?” He pointed to the dark sigil in the middle of Hoseok's forearm.

Hoseok peeked at the sigil. “I am brave.”

“Does it really make you braver?”

“Yeah.” Hoseok nodded, one hand rubbing Jeongguk’s back. “It makes me braver but not so brave that I’m not me, you know? Just gives me a little boost.”

Jeongguk hummed. “I think I’d need one against restlessness.” He leaned his head against Hoseok’s shoulder. “I never stop working, I can’t seem to stop working. I feel like I just… well, never stop moving. If I’m not being productive, I feel like I’m being a failure and I know I’m not, I’m just… restless, yeah.”

“I can draw you a sigil for that, if you want to.”

The younger frowned in confusion. “Would that even work on me? I’m not a witch.”

“Of course, magic has its effects on non-witches as well. You just can’t practise it.” Hoseok reached for Jeongguk’s right arm, the one with the tattoo sleeve, and rubbed his thumb over the back of his hand. “I could put it here, so it would blend in a little with your tattoos.”

“What if a witch is watching my streams and sees it there?”

“I mean considering your amount of following, there’s probably a witch or two watching you.” Hoseok shrugged with a warm smile. “They might know that it’s a sigil, but they won’t know what it means, because every witch has their individual style of making sigils. They could possibly think that you’re a witch but even then, we prefer not to out ourselves.”

“Okay,” Jeongguk replied, nodding quickly. “I just didn’t want to accidentally expose you.”

“You won’t, you won’t.” Hoseok pressed a kiss to Jeongguk’s cheek. “Speaking of, the summer solstice is coming up and Seokjin, Yoongi, Taehyung, and I are going to invite Jimin and Namjoon over into our apartment. I’d love to have you there, too. I wanna celebrate it with you.”

Jeongguk’s eyes widened. “I- yeah. Yes, definitely. I’ll be there.”

“Get a room, you two!” Seokjin shouted as he rearranged the altar, trying to find the right place for everything that was on it.

Hoseok who had been busy kissing Jeongguk in greeting only giggled. He waved Seokjin off and pressed one last kiss to his boyfriend’s lips. “I got something for you.” Hoseok placed a flower crown on top of Jeongguk’s hair.

Jeongguk giggled and reached out to touch the crown with his fingers. “Thank you,” he whispered.

“Did you bring what I asked you to?”

“Ah, yes.” Jeongguk pulled a picture of his cat Mimir out of the pocket of his jeans. “Here?”

Hoseok nodded. “Can you put it on the altar with the others?”

“Sure.” Jeongguk walked over to Seokjin and watched him line up a bunch of candles for a moment, before he handed him Mimir’s picture. “I don’t wanna ruin your layout.”

Seokjin shot him a thankful smile. “Thanks.” He leaned the picture against one of the bigger candles. “Excited for your first ritual?”

“Very.” Jeongguk laughed. “Where do you need me?”

“Right now you can just go and sit with Namjoon and Jimin,” Seokjin replied absentmindedly. “We’re almost finished with preparations.”

With a shy smile, he shuffled over to the sofa, where Jimin and Namjoon were already in a pile of entangled limbs.

“Hi, you,” Jimin said cheerfully. “I’m so happy you could make it.”

“Yeah, thankfully my bosses gave me the day off.” Jeongguk grinned at the two, making Namjoon snort. “I’m a little nervous, though.”

“Ah, you don’t have to be.” Jeongguk turned his head to find Taehyung walking towards them, a grey cat perched on his shoulder like a parrot. He was carrying a tray of baked goods, which he presented to the three of them. Jimin and Namjoon immediately grabbed one, Jeongguk hesitating at first. “They’re honey cakes. Yoongi hyung made them, he’s a kitchen witch.”

Jeongguk raised an eyebrow. “He magically bakes?”

Taehyung laughed, setting the tray down. “Kind of. It just means he prefers to practise his magic through cooking and baking. You know Hoseok’s sigils? Yoongi for example draws his with honey on the bottom of a teacup or on top of a cake.”

Jeongguk hummed around a piece of honey cake. “Well, it tastes amazing. What kind of witch are you?”

“I do well with animals.” Taehyung turned his head so that his cat could rub their forehead against his. “If you couldn’t already tell. But I’m also really good with plants.”

“Seokjin hyung’s focus is divination and spirit work in case you’re wondering,” Jimin added, trying to lean over Jeongguk so he could pet the cat on Taehyung’s shoulder. “You should see his tarot deck, it’s so pretty.”

Taehyung nodded. “Yeah, maybe he’ll show you his crystal collection.”

“Hey, I didn’t even get to show him my crystals yet.” Hoseok pinched Taehyung’s side and squeezed himself onto the sofa next to Jeongguk.

“There’s time,” Jeongguk replied with a smile and pulled Hoseok’s legs over his lap. He pursed his lips until Hoseok gave him a short kiss. “We have time, baby.”

His boyfriend giggled. “We do.”

“You guys are gonna be more disgusting than Jimin and Joon, huh?” Yoongi put a small plate with food down on the altar, before turning to smile at Jeongguk.

“Clearly,” Seokjin replied with a laugh.

Jeongguk suppressed a yawn and stretched his arms, his eyes on the comment section of his stream. “Yeah, I’ll just chat tonight for some time,” he said and nodded to himself. “The last weeks have been very stressful, so I’ll have to do this a little more often. Just chat and destress, you know?”

What have you been up to lately?

“Other than the games I’ve been streaming on here?” Jeongguk cocked his head. “To be honest, not much? My life has just been a cycle of streaming, working my day job, and seeing my boyfriend. I have a few projects that I’d like to do, but I really just can’t find the time right now. I might actually have to rearrange my streaming schedule, though that’s the last thing I wanna do.”

“Jeonggukkie?” There was a knock on the doorframe.

Jeongguk smiled at the camera. “Hold on for a moment please.” Quickly he muted himself, before turning to Hoseok who was slowly walking into the room, making sure to stay out of the camera’s view. “What’s up, baby?”

“Can you try this?” Hoseok handed him a cup of tea. “I’ve been working on my anti-anxiety potion.”

“I’m doing a livestream and you want to give me an anti-anxiety potion?” Jeongguk laughed and sniffed at the liquid. “Do you want me to embarrass myself by spilling my secrets on the stream?”

Hoseok giggled. “No, but I know it wouldn’t hurt if you drank it now.”

Jeongguk squinted back at him, pursing his lips. “I’ll drink it under one condition. You’ll come and sit with me for some time. Ever since we played Mario Kart on stream, the people are begging to see your pretty face again.”

“Okay,” Hoseok replied quickly, even surprising Jeongguk. His boyfriend must’ve had a sip of his own potion as well then.

He pulled a second chair in front of the camera and unmuted his mic as he got Hoseok his own pair of headphones. “I’m back and I brought Hoseok.” He smiled, when he saw the way comments rushed in the moment Hoseok sat down in front of the camera and waved.

Is he your boyfriend?

“Yes, hyung and I are dating,” Jeongguk replied as he made sure Hoseok’s headphones were connected. He didn’t really need them but if Hoseok was joining him for this stream, they might end up playing a game together after all. “We’ve been together about five months now?”

“Yeah, five months.” Hoseok nodded and smiled at Jeongguk. “Drink your tea, love.”

“Yeah, yeah, Hoseok hyung made me tea.” He showed the cup to the camera, before taking a few sips. “Tastes good.”

“Wonderful.”

When Jeongguk turned to look at Hoseok, Mimir was in the process of curling up in his lap. For being a blind cat, he was pretty fast at finding Hoseok wherever he was in the apartment. It definitely had something to do with Hoseok being a witch. His boyfriend was able to communicate with his cat in a lot of other ways than Jeongguk. But he wasn’t jealous, he was happy to see the two of them snuggling up all the time.

Jeongguk grinned and leaned over to give Hoseok a kiss, before scratching Mimir’s head. “Well, now that we’re all complete, we can answer some more questions, huh?”