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Dongmin nearly chokes on the apple he just bit into. “I beg your pardon?”
Myungjun stands on the opposite end of the kitchen, holding onto the edge. He's wearing one of his signature outfits; a mix of bright colors and patterns that hurt Dongmin's eyes.
Speaking of, Myungjun is rolling his own. “I need you to get me into the Institute,” he repeats, annoyed.
Dongmin doesn't bother hiding his warlock mark at home, so his green cat-eyes give Myungjun a confused stare. “What could you possibly want to go there for?”
“I just—” he interrupts himself with a sigh, “—need to get in.” He isn’t gonna tell Dongmin he wants to see the future Head of the Seoul Institute in an unprofessional, staring-at-his-chest-tattoo kind of way.
“You just said that,” Dongmin says dryly, taking another bite. Juice trickles down his chin, but with a quick snap of his fingers, it’s gone.
Myungjun, though older and more publicly known amongst the Shadow- and Downworld, is not the High Warlock of Seoul. Dongmin is. So whenever there's some sort of meeting at the Institute, Dongmin is always invited to join, but it's often Myungjun who shows up in his place.
Dongmin is more of a ‘let them come to me’ kind of guy, so his clients usually visit his and Myungjun's shared apartment. Much more comfortable (and has far less people) than the super tech-heavy Institute.
“How could I help you with that anyway?” Dongmin asks, rolling the apple between his fingers.
Myungjun levels him with a look. “You know damn well you have to be invited.”
“I’m not invited to anything though.”
The smirk on Myungjun’s face, Dongmin doesn't like. “But you could be invited to something.”
At last, the puzzle pieces fit together and Dongmin groans. Now that he and Bin have made it official, he does get invited to the Institute more often than he did when he was just the High Warlock of Seoul.
“Hyung, no.”
The older warlock’s grin widens, leaning into Dongmin’s space. “Hyung, yes.”
Dongmin rolls his eyes. He takes another bite, and with his mouth full, says: “He doesn’t like you, y’know.”
Myungjun tsks. “He does.”
“Uh, no, he does not,” Dongmin says matter-of-factly, hand covering his mouth as he swallows. “He might actually hate you.”
Myungjun huffs. "Ungrateful bastard... I literally got your pathetic, pining selves together."
Dongmin blinks. “Maybe he dislikes you because you thought he was ‘pathetically pining’. Which you have said to his face, by the way. And besides, you literally did nothing to get us together. I don’t know if you remember, but you make a point out of calling him every name under the sun but his own.”
Myungjun turns his nose up. “It is hardly my problem that Ben has a difficult name.”
“Bin,” Dongmin says flatly. “His name is Bin.”
“Right,” Myungjun says with a nod. "That's what I said."
Dongmin throws the apple at Myungjun’s head.
Actually getting Bin and Dongmin together, though, was a nightmare.
When the Institute found out that Kim Myungjun was, in fact, not the High Warlock of Seoul, they forced Dongmin out of his apartment and into a meeting per request of the Head of the Seoul Institute.
The meeting was about the Accords, of course. Dongmin expected as much, so he still took Myungjun with him to do most of the talking and to make things at least a little less awkward.
He and Myungjun weren't the only Downworlder one at the table, thankfully. Myungjun talked animatedly with a vampire, werewolf and Seelie while Dongmin waited for the meeting to start. All of them were undeniably beautiful in their own respective ways, but it was the Shadowhunter that barged into the meeting late that caught Dongmin's eye; tall, angled eyes and a cute smile.
After the meeting was over, that same Shadowhunter started knocking on Dongmin and Myungjun's apartment door every chance he got, always dragging along another Shadowhunter.
Quite the pair they made. One with a big smile and one who always looked annoyed.
The first few visits made sense to Dongmin. It wasn't unlike the Institute to send someone over to get a potion, a spell or just some warlock-y advice. But the cute Shadowhunter with a snort in his laugh was actively using every excuse to ring their bell, no matter how ridiculous they were. He once stopped by, without his companion, to ask if Dongmin had any sugar at home, because "the Institute is all out".
Myungjun, as unhelpful as ever, thought it was hilarious. He found it so entertaining, in fact, that he liked to point out the flush on Dongmin's face every time the arrow-carrying Shadowhunter left their apartment.
Bullying, is what Dongmin called this, and it became so severe at one point, that Dongmin decided to change into his cat form to avoid making a fool of himself in front of the boy.
Myungjun remembers this like it was yesterday.
He recalls grinning against the rim of his wine glass, absentmindedly tapping the window with his nails. He wasn't really seeing anything as he looked out onto the city, but at the same time, he was seeing everything.
"He's on his way," he said.
Dongmin, who was neck-deep into a book, heaved a sigh. There was no need to dog-ear the page, he'd read that book at least 200 times, and just dropped it onto the coffee table.
Myungjun's grin turned into a smirk. "I don't see why you keep hiding from him."
"I'm not hiding." His argument was uncharacteristically weak. He took his sweater off. "It's just—"
"You're scared," Myungjun filled in for him, and unnecessarily so, in Dongmin's opinion. "Which, I suppose, is a normal reaction."
"A normal reaction to what?"
He shrugged, the necklaces around his neck clinging together. "He likes you. You like him."
Dongmin flipped him the bird.
Myungjun took a sip of his drink, smug.
Dongmin took the jewelry on his fingers and wrists off, placing them neatly on his book. He didn't like how everything dropped to the floor as soon as he turned into a cat.
"Two more minutes," Myungjun said, his eyes no longer the same bright color they turn when he lets his psychic abilities run free. "Funnily enough, he hasn't brought his friend."
Dongmin rolled his eyes. "You must be so upset."
"Who is supposed to entertain me when you're making heart-eyes at the archer?"
Dongmin took off his undershirt, throwing it Myungjun's way. "You're a pain in my ass, hyung.”
Myungjun just continued to smirk. "I'd hurry up, lover boy. I'm not going to pick up your clothes when you're four-pawed." Dongmin wanted to argue, but his roommate was right. He quickly picked up his sweater and sprinted awkwardly to his room to further undress.
Myungjun moved to the front door swiftly. Before the Shadowhunter could even knock, the warlock already pulled open the door, wine glass still in hand. "Hello."
The Shadowhunter's eyes widened in surprise, but he quickly recollected himself and bowed. "Good afternoon, Kim Myungjun-ssi."
He slipped inside as Myungjun opened the door wider, and the warlock definitely didn't miss the Shadowhunter's craning neck and searching eyes.
"So, Bam, what's it this time?" Myungjun sighed, closing the door with his magic.
The Shadowhunter's white hair was a wild mess on top of his head, as if he'd been violently running his fingers through it on his way there. "It's Bin," he said, wrinkling his nose.
Myungjun waved a hand. He dropped down on the leather couch, crossed one leg over the other and took another sip of his drink. The Shadowhunter just stood there, trying desperately to look as innocent as possible as his eyes continued to search the apartment for a familiar mop of black hair.
Myungjun, obviously, saw right through him. So he, way better at playing innocent, cocked his head and gave the boy a smile. “Are you looking for something, dear?"
"Hm?" Bin mumbled before he cleared his throat. "Oh. Uh, no. I'm not looking for something."
Myungjun hummed.
"I— I mean," Bin floundered, "I did come here on a mission. Jinwoo-hyung needs somethi— oh, hey, I didn't know you had a cat." Myungjun turned in an instant and the black cat stopped dead in its tracks, Dongmin's green eyes shining brightly.
Myungjun huffed, rolling his eyes at Dongmin's stupidity. "Oh, that old thing?" He turned his attention back on Bin. "Don't mind him, he's a pain in my ass."
Hearing Myungjun use the same description Dongmin used sparked something in him, and so he jumped on the couch, curling into himself next to Myungjun.
Bin cooed, striding forward to carefully pick up the cat. Dongmin, who wasn't very touchy-feely, didn't make a sound. His fur almost blended in with Bin's black clothes, that's how close the Shadowhunter held him.
"Don't say that. He has feelings, too." Myungjun gaped at how easily Dongmin let Bin pick him up and stroke his fur, but then he was reminded of Dongmin’s crush and rolled his eyes.
Dongmin purred when Bin scratched behind his ear, earning a sweet smile from the Nephilim.
Myungjun snorted. "Actually, you’re right," he said, pointing at Dongmin, "this one definitely has a lot of feelings." Myungjun took another sip of his drink and continued to watch Dongmin being a lovesick fool. "You were saying?"
Bin reluctantly removed his eyes from the cat to look at Myungjun. "Oh, yeah. Right. Hyung gave me a note, but I think, reading it, it requires Dongmin’s help." The cat made a surprised noise and Bin put him back on the couch.
"Brave of you to address the High Warlock of Seoul so informally," Myungjun said.
Bin cheeks turned pink. "He, uh. He told me to."
"Did he now?" Myungjun replied, smirking. The warlock glanced at his roommate, who made a small hissing sound at him. "That's interesting."
Bin blinked. "Is it?"
Myungjun rose from the couch after putting his glass down. "Can I see the note?"
He looked confused for a second. "Oh. Yeah, yeah, sure," Bin said, digging into his pocket, but his face turned beet red when he pulled nothing from it. "Fuck. I must’ve left it on my desk."
Myungjun smiled in faux-sympathy. "Of course you did."
It was only after Bin left, with a final pet to the cat's head, that Dongmin dared turning back into a human. So there he was, naked on the couch with a blanket covering him as he listened to Myungjun go: "If you don't go out with him fast, he might be the cause of own death."
Dongmin huffed. “You're being dramatic.”
”You were purring, Dongmin. Pur—ring,” Myungjun emphasized with a groan. "I'm going to bed."
Dongmin looked at the clock, then back at his friend. "It's 6 P.M."
Myungjun gave him a look. “You’ve exhausted me.”
The few visits after, Myungjun wasn't so nice to let Dongmin know that Bin was coming like he usually did.
Dongmin just got out of the shower, which Myungjun jumped into next, when the bell rang. He wasn't a warlock with future-telling abilities and his memory was garbage, but he vaguely recalled Myungjun telling him about a client.
In all his damp hair and bathrobe-wearing glory, Dongmin lazily opened the door, only to be looking straight into the eyes of the cute Shadowhunter.
Bin looked just as shocked, but then Dongmin received a warm smile. "Hi, Dongmin."
"Oh. Hi," Dongmin said, trying but failing to bite back his own smile.
Bin rubbed at his neck, but his sleeve got caught in his arrows and the bag fell to the floor with a loud clang.
"Dammit," Bin muttered under his breath, but before he could even begin to pick them up, Dongmin had already snapped his fingers and the arrows were back in the bag as if they’d never fallen out. Bin looked up from where he'd been crouching, blinking up at Dongmin. "Woah. Thank you."
Dongmin chuckled awkwardly.
Bin got back up to his feet, slinging the bag over his shoulder again. The collar of his sweater hung low, revealing more of his runes. Especially the deflect one on his neck looked so good up close. He wondered what they felt like.
Meanwhile, Dongmin prayed he tied his robe tight enough, because Bin was checking him out just the same.
He cleared his throat, ears red. “Um, I have an appointment with Myungjun-ssi.”
"Right," Dongmin said with a nod. He further opened the door, giving Bin access to the apartment. Of course Myungjun would neglect to mention his client was Bin.
As if on cue, he appeared. "Ah," Myungjun said with a flair of innocence, like he hadn't been anticipating Bin's arrival, "if it isn't Bing—"
"—Bin," Bin corrected.
"What can I do for you today, sweet Shadowhunter?" Myungjun looked behind Bin curiously. "I see you didn't bring your partner in crime." Just as Dongmin, the older warlock wore a bathrobe, but unlike Dongmin's, his was made of silk. Myungjun took one look at Dongmin, then disdainfully said, "Dongmin-ah, go change. We have a guest."
Arguing that they were, in theory, wearing the exact same thing, was pointless. Any argument with Myungjun was, really. They'd been living together for over hundreds of years, and Dongmin knew which battles he could win and which he couldn't.
So, he simply sighed and looked a little regretfully at Bin. "I'll be right back."
Bin smiled cutely at him, nodding.
When Dongmin shut the door to his bedroom, Myungjun flopped down on the couch with his chin on his palm in interest. "Happy he's here?"
"Hm?" Bin asked, peeling his eyes from Dongmin's closed bedroom door.
"Dongmin," Myungjun clarified with a roll of his eyes.
"What about him?"
Myungjun huffed. "Dear, are you always this dense?" He reached towards the coffee table to pour himself a drink.
Bin narrowed his eyes, unimpressed. "Are you always drinking?"
Myungjun chuckled. "It's lemonade, sweetheart."
"In a wine glass," Bin said slowly.
The warlock shrugged dismissively. "Makes me feel fancy." He set the glass back down, crossing one leg over the other. "Now, about Dongmin. As you know, he's immortal and you're not. Are you going to wait until your first wrinkle to make a move?”
Bin jaw dropped.
Myungjun had an amused smile on his face. "You surely didn't think I was dense, did you, Bam?"
"Bin."
"Sure," Myungjun said. Dongmin came out of his room, in a casual outfit and with dry hair. He must have used a spell.
"By the way," Bin piped up, trying to move on from the topic Myungjun brought up. "Your cat is really cute. Super soft."
Dongmin stilled in his tracks, face burning.
Myungjun grinned. "That's so kind of you. I do myself love it, too. It's such a pity, though, that the cat is so terrible at listening. You tell it to do one thing, but it completely disregards your advice. I assume you can’t relate to that, or can you, Ben?”
Then both Dongmin and Bin said in unison, “It’s Bin!”
Luckily for Dongmin, Bin finally did take someone’s advice, because he sneakily left Dongmin his phone number.
But when Dongmin found it, he frowned at it.
“I don’t have a mobile device,” he said defeatedly, pouting just a little.
“A cell phone,” Myungjun corrected with a huff. “God, you’re old.”
“Hyung, I will not hesitate to burn your hair off,” Dongmin bit back. He looked back at the twelve digits, completely useless to him.
“You can use mine if you want,” Myungjun offered.
Dongmin recoiled. “You have a phone?”
Myungjun shrugged, smug. “’Course I do. I’m eight-hundred years young and blindingly handsome. Do you know how many people’s numbers I’ve gotten? A lot, Dongmin-ah. I need this thing. This thing is my life.”
Dongmin grimaced, still dumbly staring at the piece of paper.
Myungjun got off the couch to walk to his room, and he came back with a shiny, black piece of plastic.
Dongmin examined it with distaste.
Myungjun sighed. “Do you want to use it or not?”
He seemed hesitant, pursing his lips as he thought it over. Finally, he said, “Where can I buy one?”
“Are we seriously going into the city to buy a thing made for Mundanes so you can be all grossly in love and text your crush?”
Though a blush crept onto Dongmin’s cheeks, he shrugged. “I guess.”
Myungjun smiled brightly. “Finally. Some action.”
Lee Dongmin:
Hello?
Lee Dongmin:
This is strange
Lee Dongmin:
It’s like I’m talking to air
Bin??? I hope:
Hey!! :D
Lee Dongmin:
Oh my God this is scaring me I’m throwing it away
myunglegend:
bam, this is kim myungjun ㅋㅋㅋ
myunglegend:
dongmin-ah has the competence of a fish and killed his phone
myunglegend:
pls just visit us if u wanna talk ( ͡~ ͜ʖ ͡°)
myunglegend:
he rlly likes u ㅋㅋㅋ
nephilim who likes dongmin for some reason:
Aren’t you like, a trillion years old? You text like a teenager.
myunglegend:
nvm ur uninvited
After receiving a serious beating from Myungjun because Dongmin flushed the phone down the toilet, Bin and Dongmin managed to get their heads out of their asses.
“I still don’t get how you did it,” Myungjun said just the other day, shaking his head. “I need a life. And to get laid.”
Dongmin grinned behind his book. “I truly couldn’t have said it better myself, hyung.”