Archive of Our Own ^beta

There are some things to be expected in this nice suburban neighborhood.

For example, when it rains heavily, the water covers the streets from side to side, making a little river that no one but the youngest dare to cross. That of course means no one crosses it because the mothers won't let their tiny kids go waddle in the rain. They don’t know of the healing effects of the summer rain.

Other things about this street: the generations are far far apart. Three to four kids per generation, too many old people. Maybe because of how close they are to the downtown area and also because of the youth of the city. Grandparents sure know how to keep a hold on their lanes (hashtag age-gatekeeping the properties).

The other thing: everyone loves Soobin. He’s the one who stayed. That is the reason why they love him now. Before, it was because he was nothing like Beomgyu. One was quiet, the other one was loud. One would help you with the shopping’ bags, the other would ring your bell in the middle of the siesta and run for his life (leaving a flustered Soobin mid-crisis choosing if to follow his best friend or to stay and apologise). In a neighbourhood filled with old people? Yeah, there was no doubt.

And then Beomgyu had gone to study in a University everyone seemed to know about yet no one had mentioned before. And since no one ever asked about it they never arrived at the conclusion that no one actually knew where it was or what it was called. The thing is, Beomgyu comes back every weekend. The longest he had been away was a month. Soobin only had to get used to not seeing Beomgyu every day, but they did chat continuously. Phones existed for a reason.

Every Friday afternoon, in the big avenue at the bus stop by Soobin’s former highschool, a long-distance bus would stop, and Beomgyu would stumble out of it with his mid-size bag. He had never traveled heavy and he would never do so. The essentials are not that many. And he did have his traveling tricks on the side. Soobin was not always waiting, but on those same nights they would get together and catch up.

Soobin would tell him all about his college classes and how annoying history students are (mind you, he was one, so he would know). Sometimes he would mention his crushes (yes, he had many, what about it), and sometimes he would just cuddle with Beomgyu on the second-hand couch he had rescued from the trash and just listen to the other's stories. Oh, and did he have stories.

Soobin, unlike the rest of the neighborhood, did know which college Beomgyu was attending, both the name and an approximate location. It had begun too on those rainy days when kids were not allowed to go on the street. Beomgyu’s parents had been visiting his grandma so there were no judging eyes, and Soobin had been visiting his friend after school.

Beomgyu was bored. The rain was intense, borderline electric, and the wind was messing with the TV reception. So they were bored (Beomgyu was, Soobin had his eyes on the books and a good feeling to pick one).

“Can we go outside?”

It was not a foreign thought, but it was an unusual petition. Beomgyu did not ask for stuff, he’d convince you to do it with him. He sounded like he wanted his friend's input in this decision. And as a softball who could not resist the idea of Beomgyu getting into trouble (yes, himself too, but that didn’t matter, it had been the younger’s idea) Soobin said yes.

Now, Beomgyu’s house had a yard (still does). But he wanted to go to the little street river. He wanted to be drenched by the sky’s water while remembering that one final scene in Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994). He wanted to feel like the rain was for him, and that whoever passed through would know it too.

But the rain was not for him. So it refused to touch him. Five minutes under the pouring rain and a trembling wet Soobin later, Beomgyu was as dried as if the sky was not just emptying its contents onto that one river-like street.

He had received an email that same night. He didn’t check it until the next day, he had limited access to the computer by then. Thirteen-year-old Beomgyu found out then that magic was a thing, and magic had a place in him too. Soobin hadn’t said anything about the event, except for the pouts about the uncomfy feeling of wet socks. He wasn’t that surprised when Beomgyu told the news to him later.

“Figures, you give me main character vibes,” was his whole comment. Beomgyu felt bad knowing the entirety of the Harry Potter saga laid in his friend's library, having been read a couple of times already.

It wasn’t like that though, he was not suddenly taken away from his house and never spoke again of the world he had known so far. No, magic could only help in a few things, but math was still essential. So he was receiving a weekly email with tips and info, and a couple of links and resources, but that was it. He could look more into it once he was off his parent tutelage.

So yeah, you probably guessed it by now: he was in a magic-orientated college.

From Soobin’s perspective, he had the most interesting stories. To Beomgyu, Soobin did. And both were right, of course.

There was a two street distance between Soobin’s and Beomgyu’s house. A four-to-five ish minute walk. Less if you were in a hurry or straight-up running for whatever reason.

Soobin would walk the distance if it had been an hour from the “I arrived” message and there was no Beomgyu at his door. It had happened that they met in the middle. It had also happened that Beomgyu fell fast asleep upon arriving and Soobin made it just in time to avoid said nap turning into a changing time zones situation for the younger.

And just like ever, they were now exchanging anecdotes from the week.

It could go from “You won't believe the essay I have to write by Monday.”

“Is it about why the city has a grid shape?”

“Pf, no, everyone knows why. It’s about something that could debunk fanfic set in the Middle Ages!”

“I beg your pardon?”

“Right? It could be anything!”

“No, Soobin…” It was straight-up weird.

One other time it was: “How’s the witch training going?”

“I couldn’t tell. Fine I guess? My tutor taught me how to turn people into frogs yesterday.” Beomgyu did seem phased by it, but not as weirded out as Soobin looked (and felt).

“Wha... is that just a standard part of the curriculum?”

“No, I asked. I thought it would be funny.”

“And they just taught you? You?”

“Hey what are you implying?”

Palms up, with a roll of the eyes, Soobin answered “Nothing, of course”.

Or it could also be: “He said yes?”

A groan “Yep. Just like that, like our thing meant nothing.”

“Soobin, as far as I understand, and forgive me if I'm being insensitive or forgetful, but ‘your thing’ was sharing a soda while waiting to take a final.”

“You say it like that, but I swear it changed something in me.”

“Was it that good of a soda?”

“Not the soda you idiot, him!”

“Well, he probably only and barely remembers the soda.”

“Why do you have to be so mean?”

“Dude, you love me.”

And also: “So do you like him?”

Usually, it was Soobin who talked about the pretty people on his campus, so it was new that Beomgyu was suddenly sharing. Soobin had a little feeling that it was because he would never meet this magical heartthrob. And he was fine with it. Besides, there was something nice about seeing his best friend a mess of fussy feelings.

“I mean, I guess I do. I didn’t before.” Beomgyu looked at his hands intertwining and losing the grip with each other as the silence grew.

“Aha, and why would that be bad?”

“It’s not, I'm just thinking how to formulate it! Let me think, Soob, c’mon!”

“You? Thinking? Huh, he must have you bad.”

The “Shut up,” was followed by a playful push that almost left Soobin on the floor.

Nope, there was no way he was letting it go.

“Aw, is baby Beomie struggling with his feelings?”

“Why must you be such a nuisance?” Crossing his arms, Beomgyu turned towards the wall. The red was visible in his neck still.

Soobin laughed and hugged him sloppily. “It’s ok, you don’t have to tell me nor get a set idea of what it is that you feel right now. You can take all the time in the world, no one’s pressuring you. I just like bothering you, but you knew that.” Soobin also added a wink that went unseen because Beomgyu sure was slow to come back out of his shell.

But he did eventually. He turned back to where Soobin was with his legs crossed in front of his friend, all while picking the skin around his nails, distracted.

“I think I do like him.” Beomgyu waited for a second or two, just in case Soobin decided to interrupt and never again hear about the topic, but his friend knew better. “He’s older and he took over my tutor’s place temporarily until she comes back from a congress.”

“Ah yes, the substitute teacher trope, I’m acquaintance”

“No, you're not, shut up.”

“Please, you’re so easily annoyed, I love this.”

“Can I keep being vulnerable or will you just throw this friendship out the window?”

“Ok, drama queen, go on.”

Beomgyu cleared his throat, much more sure than before.

“Anyways, yes, he took over the Magic for the Daily Life spot. It’s a companionship that a lot of advanced students chose to do… actually, it might be a curriculum requirement, to get the credits to graduate.” He looked at the window. It was sunny. “I knew him from before, he had helped in other classes, and we talked before. I suspect he’s a teacher’s pet.”

Soobin let out a little scoff

“Yes, I know that does not make me look good but that’s-”

“I didn’t say anything, can you chill for a second?”

Beomgyu sighed. “Whatever. The problem is he’s hot.”

A little bit of silence preluded the “And why the fuck would that be a problem?” Soobin let out.

“Oh, Soobin. Poor naive Soobin. You, knowledgeable of all things Beomgyu, should know why.”

“Dude, my life does not orbit around you. Quit the bullshit and tell me.”

“Ouch. Well, I have two possible reactions in front of hot people: I flirt with them or I panic and space out until the interaction is over. My conscience says ‘farewell’ and there I am, left with nothing but the vague memory of royally fucking up.”

“Do they take written tests at your college?”

“Yeah, why?”

“You must do very well on them.”

“Well, now that you mention, yeah.”

“You sure know how to take the shit out of your mouth and make it look pretty.”

“Omg, is that all you took from my well-shaped confession?”

“What confession? You just said you get nervous and go blank… or flirt, but I've only seen you flirt with delivery people so I guess the flirting response has something to do with food, it’s a theory in the process.” Soobin’s hand was scratching his chin, resembling that one emoji. Beomgyu wanted to slap it off his face, and out of his body altogether.

“I- why the hell are we talking about that? Also, that delivery boy did smile to me prettily,” he answered matter-of-factly.

“Yeah, probably because you were flirting with him?”

“And how would I have done that?”

“You do the eyes! Your whole demeanor changes when there’s food or just general services on the line.”

“What does that have to do with Yeonjun?”

“Well, for once, I doubt that you can even flirt with him, I think you’ll just blank out. Also, Yeonjun huh?”

“I mean, we only had one out of two encounters, congresses do not last that long. My tutor will be back in no time. I could still get flirty with him for the time being.”

Soobin hummed.

“You know what’s the funny part?” He waited for Beomgyu’s signal of attention to continue. “You seem to be laying all of your romantic hopes with this guy on the single fact that your one good (?) reaction will get you through it. Why not do anything about it? Like, willingly?”

Beomgyu looked at him speechless. Then he let himself drop lying on the bed.

“I don’t… I don’t know, I guess I’ve never done anything of the sort,” he sighed.

“And you never will with that attitude.”

“Can you please stop the roasting and just be my friend for now?”

“I can do both.”

“I am so close to murdering you right now”

“Likewise.” Soobin fell too, side by side with Beomgyu, watching the ceiling. “If you like the boy, you can always tell him. It’s a scary thing, but it is a possibility.”

“I know. But I've never liked anyone before and simultaneously had a chance to speak to them and get to know them. It’d be so much easier to do nothing and let next week go by.”

“Yeah.” Soobin thought of taking the other boy’s hand, but he knew Beomgyu wouldn’t like it. He just leaned closer, so their shoulders would touch. “Do whatever makes you feel most comfortable. And, if you can, try to do the things your future self won't have to regret.”

When the required minute had passed, Beomgyu just: “Please send me the PDF of whatever self-help book you’re reading, you are not this wise with your words”.

“Oh, fuck you.”

Soobin could tell something had gone wrong when he woke up Friday morning to a text from Beomgyu that read “I fucKEd up”. From the random cap letters, he could tell that it was written on a computer, and the timestamp revealed it was sent at 3 am from that same day. A funny voice that sounded like Huening Kai’s (whose research area was closer to the witch trials) mentioned in his head a “Witching hour” followed by a giggle. He laughed at that and did not worry one single bit more than he needed about Beomgyu: he would know about it when he arrived that afternoon.

The thing is, he did not arrive at the hour. That was ok. It happened from time to time. While picking his wallet, phone, and keys, Soobin did wonder if it had something to do with that text from ungodly hours. It had been weird, if he thought about it, that there was no explanation further once daylight hit.

The sky looked clear, but the wind was never to be trusted. Soobin remembered as he turned to Beomgyu’s street (the one that would flood) that the climate app had said the possibilities of rain that day were high. Maybe he’d had to come back home earlier that night or sleepover.

He clapped outside and waited for someone to open the door. Now, Beomgyu’s mom opening the door for Soobin hadn’t happened since that one time Beomgyu got sick and was not allowed to move a single muscle. She smiled at him, waved for him to enter quickly, and casually mentioned that her son was “acting weird as ever”. And that was it.

Soobin was one for signs. There was a before and after of seeing pouring rain avoid your best friend’s frame like there was some sort of force field protecting them. So yeah, now he was worried. Not troubled by the unknown, just a bit weary.

He knocked on Beomgyu’s door and took a deep breath. That door was never closed. You didn’t hear it from him, but strict parents are so weird about closed and open doors. Soobin suspected Beomgyu might’ve never grown out of the always opened door, even when his parents wouldn’t bother him about it anymore.

But now the door was being used as such. Weird.

And it opened to Beomgyu. A finicky Beomgyu.

“Hi.”

Soobin squinted at him. “What’s up?”

“Nothing’s up, why would something be up?” Yeah, he was acting weird as hell.

“I don’t know, you tell me.” They kept eye contact for almost a full minute before Soobin spoke again. “No, seriously, what’s up? Why won’t you let me in?” He hadn’t noticed at first that Beomgyu’s hand was firmly holding the open door, and his body was standing right in the opening. Soobin couldn’t walk in.

“Oh, nothing. I’m just not feeling good and I don't want to invite you in if I'm not going to be good company.” He sounded down to earth and sincere, almost sad. Then they stared in silence again. And just as Soobin was going to give a doubtful but sincere ‘okay’, the sound of movement came from inside the room.

“Oh my god, I almost fell for that!” Soobin moved him aside and walked in, ignoring Beomgyu’s pout. “I hate that you’re such a good liar, now tell me what the hell is g-”

The next thing he knew he was screaming because something had jumped at him.

“Take it off! Take it off!” Soobin was wiggling his torso and wailing as if he was being eaten by scorpions. Not that Beomgyu would know how Soobin would react to that. So he tried to capture the scene in his mind and stepped closer, taking the little thing in his hands and then holding it towards his chest.

“Calm down,” he implored, covering it.

“What the hell is that and why are YOU not scared? You hate bugs! Or anything ugly looking in general!” Soobin was pressed against the closet window corner, breathing harshly still.

Beomgyu lowered his head and made eye contact with it. It looked scared too. “It’s okay,” he said, as he placed it back in the towel in his bed.

“Beomgyu, explain yourself.” Soobin’s nerves sure made him sound authoritarian.

Even though seeing tall and calm Soobin distressed was funny, the joy of it did not last long enough for Beomgyu to forget his nerves and anxiousness.

“So, you see, I got nervous today.” Soobin made a hand gesture for him to hurry the explanations. “That’s it. I accidentally turned him into that,” and he pointed at his bed.

At the frog in his bed.

Soobin opened his mouth and closed it back. He then straightened himself out of the corner. His fingers were in the bridge of his nose, doing a massaging motion. Beomgyu sat on his bed by the frog. He jumped a little when the frog croaked. The same noise sent Soobin back to the corner with a little scream.

“He won't hurt you,” Beomgyu clarified.

“Wait.” Soobin had extended a palm his way as if trying to make him disappear from his view field. “Wait, I have too many questions.” Beomgyu nodded and gave him a couple more minutes to straighten himself. The frog croaked again. He kinda wanted to pet it.

“You said ‘he’, what do you mean with that?” Something about Soobin jumping straight to the questions and him being surprised by how quickly they came his way made him question if maybe Beomgyu was the one that needed some time to get his facts together.

“So… this is Yeonjun. He’s my temporary tutor and… he probably wants to murder me right now.” The frog croaked as if reassuring Beomgyu that that was in fact the case.

“I mean, I get that. Almost every day to be honest, but that's because I know you.” Soobin had now crossed his arms and was getting closer. He didn’t like ugly things either.

“Oh my god, how is it that you’re already being mean to me?”

“I’m sorry, it’s in my nature. Also, don’t say it like you’re no worse than me.” Yeonjun croaked once more. “Right, the person in your bed is in frog shape. Why don’t you just turn him back? Oh my, is this a kidnapping? Is this where your feelings have brought you? I get why you were worried last wee-” Beomgyu’s hand almost got into his mouth from the desperation to shut him up.

“SHUT UP! He’s right there!” They both turned to look at the frog, who was, in turn, staring at them. Yeonjun leaned his tiny head to the side as if he was curious.

“He’s cute.” Soobin then proceeded to push Beomgyu off him. They were both sitting on the floor now, eye level with the frog on the bed.

“Yeah, yeah. My problem is that I don't know how to turn him back.”
Soobin scoffed.

“Of course you don’t, typical Beomgyu.” When the bickering did not continue after that, Soobin turned to his friend. Beomgyu looked conflicted. “Hey, it was a joke.”

Beomgyu looked down, at his feet. In a low voice, he answered: “I know you meant it as a joke, but that does not mean you’re not right. I literally foreshadowed my own despair. Why did I not ask how to revert it? I asked how to make the transformation, why would I forget about the undoing of it?”

Soobin smiled.

“I mean, it was a dumb… spell? magic request? Sounds to me like magical small talk. Don’t stress about what already happened, the important thing is figuring this out now.” Beomgyu nodded. “I mean, maybe it’s something so obvious that it didn’t require an explanation,” Soobin suggested.

“I thought about typical undoing spells but it just won't work. I think it has to do with the changing matter thing…” One look at Soobin’s expression pushed Beomgyu to further explain. “Look, in Harry Potter they were two different classes for it, right? Transfiguration and Charms? To me, it seems like one subject’s ‘undoing’ spells won't work for the other. It could also be that it’s a human being. All I learned so far is how to transform objects.”

Soobin looked like something about what Beomgyu had said didn’t sit well with him.

“Little intermission. If you can only transform non-alive objects, why would your tutor teach you how to do this?” Yeonjun croaked. “I’m guessing he agrees with me.” Another croak.

“I don’t know, but if it was something that advanced then I must be super smart to pull it off just like that.”

Soobin’s “Or straight-up dumb” and a new set of croaks came as an unquestionable retort.

“Why guys, thank you for the trust.”

Soobin laughed and hopped close to the bed. He lifted his hand towards Yeonjun and asked “May I?” in a tiny voice. Yeonjun jumped closer to him. Soobin was petting the frog in no time. “Maybe it’s just a sign that you two weren’t supposed to part ways just yet.”

“That’s corny even for you. Also, he’s right there, could you please ease up on the exposure?”

“We are sure he understands right? It is not just perfectly timed croa-” But the croaked that cut his statement sure was enough. “Haha, sorry Boemgyu, I guess he now knows you’re head over heels for him.”

“DUDE!”

While Beomgyu was regretting every life decision specifically being nice to Soobin ever, Yeonjun hopped onto Soobin’s shoulder and sort of… laid there. Naptime maybe? Soobin did not look repulsed by him anymore.

“Why did you bring him here? There must be someone with more experience who you could recur to…”

“I don’t know either. Panic takes the best out of me. I did technically kidnap him which I am so sorry for,” the last parts were aimed at the frog, which seemed unbothered by his apologies. “He definitely hates me now, as he should.”

“There, there, Beomie. You don’t get to talk over him when he can’t talk for himself. Just... pull yourself together and think of an answer. There’s a limit to how much I can do knowing nothing about this whole… thing.” By thing he meant magic. “Maybe you have to say the spell backward?”

And so, they spent the rest of the evening brainstorming how they could turn the frog back to human. None of their ideas worked.

After eating pizza and watching a movie (and did Yeonjun have a lot of thoughts on Back to the future… they just couldn’t understand any because of, well, the obvious) Soobin said farewell, taking an umbrella borrowed. It was starting to rain and it looked like it would be heavy, so he had to hurry before the flood.

The last thing he said was: “You know? I can’t shake off the feeling that the answer is right there in front of us… I’ll probably remember as soon as I stop seeing you guys. Good night.”

Beomgyu nodded and walked back inside, Yeonjun in his hoodie’s pocket to not scare his parents. He waved them goodnight and headed straight to his room.

As soon as he closed the door behind him, he took the little frog out and placed it on the towel in his bed. Beomgyu felt exhausted. The frog was watching him, but knowing that nothing Yeonjun could say he’d understand, he decided to just keep quiet. Not starting a conversation where only he would do the talking seemed wise.
If the situation was any different, crawling on his bed and lying in it by the frog, who happened to be his crush, would’ve meant a whole set of conflicting emotions and reactions. But it had been too much already to even consider those things.

Beomgyu closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

From the moment Thursday afternoon when Yeonjun showed up in the campus gardens to check up on him, Beomgyu couldn’t have imagined all that would go down. As he pictured the memory of his tutor walking towards him, blond hair reflecting the last bits of sunshine, he floated out of his body and into a memory land where all the times Yeonjun had been unnecessary kind to him lived. A place in his mind where he felt at ease. He was half brought back by the opening question of “How are you?” and “What’s the last thing you learned?” Fast forward to a surprised gasp and no more Yeonjun.

He wasn’t hard to spot in a crowd, so Beomgyu’s haziness caused by nerves sort of diluted into worry about the sudden disappearance. And then, the croak that made him look down. Since he had been still a bit out of it, he could avoid a reaction similar to Soobin’s (because doubt not, that would’ve been his exact same response upon encountering the frog). But no, he just looked at the frog, and the frog looked at him.

He thought, ‘we are nearing summer, but humidity is not high enough, and this is not an area known for its amphibious life presence.’ And then the word frog acquired solidity in his mind. A conversation from not so long ago felt suddenly too close, and upon looking at the frog, standing by Yenjun’s bag on the grass, he understood. “Oh no”, “Oh my god” and “What now?” were some of the things that occurred to him then.

The frog did not make a move, it just seemed to be looking around, like getting used to it. Beomgyu had kneeled in front of him and shyly asked “Yeonjun?”

The look he received felt like the most sarcastic remark one could come up with, those you feel before properly digesting them. “Ok, I’m sorry. Do you know… do you have any idea what to do now?”

That’s when the croaking started. A frenetic frog was a fun thing to see. Except guilt was overpowering the possibility of enjoying anything out of this.

“I don’t know what to do either, but I have to go home tomorrow. I promise you, until the moment I step on that bus, I won't rest until I figure it out.”

And so he had been in the library. Correction, he had snuck into the library since it wasn’t open after hours and searched for undoing spells. Maybe it was how tired he was, maybe it was the stress, maybe it was the thoroughness he was aiming at every book he searched because he did not find anything useful. He didn’t go through all the books he had made aside either. Beomgyu was not the fastest reader. Yeonjun had also been reading books that he had pointed to Beomgyu to get from his bag. To be fair, it didn't seem like after that initial meltdown he was that worried. At one point, he was just reading a little booklet on how to deal with irresponsible children which did seem like an obvious remark towards someone.

But no, at the beginning of the day, Beomgyu had no clue how to undo it. He had hidden from the librarian once they arrived, and managed to pretend to just get in there really early. He missed his two classes that day, continuing with the reading, but nothing. He knew he hypothetically could walk up to the librarian and ask them where could he find the answer, but there was something so humiliating about admitting being wrong and fucking up that he just didn’t. His pride sure would be his downfall. He couldn't have seen that coming.

When the time to take the bus came, he very honestly told Yeonjun that he could take him to whoever he wanted. But Yeonjun didn’t even croak to answer. Beomgyu then placed him on the ground, but the frog immediately jumped to his shoe. It felt kinda rude to shake it off so he just asked: “Do you want to come with me?” And the little head signaled yes.

Fast forward to now, Beomgyu was sleep-deprived and anxious as hell. Hiding stuff was hard, and not telling his parents about the unexpected visit felt weird. The one thought he was rabidly trying to avoid was Soobin constantly bringing up his crush on the damn frog. Maybe that was Soobin’s vengeance and not so subtle way of confirming his friend that he had fucked up and there was no coming back from this one.

Beomgyu sighed. He was really tired, but he couldn’t fall asleep.

Then, Beomgyu felt a little weight on his chest. He opened his eyes and held his head up. Yeonjun was looking at him. He croaked.

“You’re right, I should be using this restlessness to do something useful”. But the frog moved his head slightly from side to side. “I should not be using this restlessness to do stuff?” The frog just croaked at him, so he took it as a no. “I am so sorry, it’s really hard trying to do anything without feeling guilty. I can’t even remember how I triggered the transformation, I was that out of it.” Silence. “Yeah, that’s probably even worse. I can’t even talk to you properly enough that I got you under a spell by mistake.” There was a blush on his face, he felt the redness of being honest in the dark.

They stayed in silence for a bit. The room was unlit because the intent had been to nap a bit. Only the streetlight was casting some sort of yellowish luminance into his room through the shades. The rain could be heard outside. And maybe it was the quiet ambiance, but suddenly Beomgyu felt like talking it out.

“I love it when it rains. Here it doesn't happen that often, but when it does… I love it, it reminds me of a memory I barely recognize as my own. And it fills! The water will go from one sidewalk to the other. One of the first things I learned in college was the healing properties of summer rains, and how that increases if the water gets accumulated somewhere. That one outside might just be a magical pond and OMG IS THAT…?”

Yeonjun was looking at him.

“This is so anticlimactic, I get an idea and you can’t even confirm if it’s right or wrong.” He laughed a bit, trying to ease the nerves. Healing could mean to return someone to a state they were before being hurt right? To maybe return them to a previous healthy shape? Maybe he was just twisting the meaning beyond the limit of interpretation. But it was worth a try.

A vibration signaled a new message.

Beomgyu took the frog and scooped it to the side while taking a sitting position. He reached for his phone and opened Soobin’s text: ‘DUDE, A KISS!’

“Pff, Soobin lost it,” he said, laying his phone on the bed and going to get his rain boots (otherwise known as his only boots, he didn’t need rain boots when magic was a thing). The croak that came from his bed was followed by a louder croak and then an even louder one. “Hey, if you keep that up they’ll hear us and I don't think my mom likes frogs.”

When he turned back to Yeonjun, he found the frog over his phone’s lit-up screen. “You’re really tiny. Let’s go now.”

Now, one thing Beomgyu had never done was climb out his window. That’s a lie, he had done it. But the reprimand after that was stressful enough to not do it again. Also, he had always used the door. But going outside through the main door meant passing in front of his parent’s room, and he was not the quietest nor the most discreet person... between the window and the door, there was a clear winner. He placed Yeonjun in his pocket and climbed out. It was a floor-level house, but the construction was taller given the street’s particularity. No one wanted a flooded house.

His boots splashed a bit when he landed, but his hair and clothes remained dry. He could purposely do it now, repelling the water that is.

The sky was that weird shade of purple it gets when the rain clouds can’t be told apart from each other. They become a big magic blanket that provides water. Beomgyu loved the rain. But right now he had a bigger mission than just appreciating the falling tears.

He got closer to the sidewalk, which was already covered by water, and took the frog out of his pocket. He sort of lifted Yeonjun in his hand as if he was doing some type of sacrifice. And he stood there for a minute and an half, until his arm cramped up. He then pulled the wet frog back to face it.

“Well, that didn’t work out either… At least you shine now.” He chuckled but Yeonjun did not seem to find it funny. The little frog turned on his hand and jumped straight into the river street. “Wait, no-!”

Beomgyu stood there as Yeonjun disappeared in the water. The frog was too tiny to overpass the water level the little river carried, and Beomgyu had absolutely no idea if frogs could survive long underwater. He didn’t have to worry much because he saw right away the frog jumping in the flood. Once. Twice. He automatically took a prepared stance and exclaimed to him: “I’ll catch you”.

Next thing he knew, Yeonjun was jumping towards his chest, where he hugged the frog safely.

“You dumbass, what were you thinking?” The question, of course, went unanswered. “This is too much for my heart, I am so tired” Beomgyu commented, before walking closer to the front fence and leaning on it. He was still dry and he’d like to keep it that way.

“I really don’t know what else to do. The only idea we haven’t tried was Soobin’s and I refu-” but the croak was louder than his complaints, louder than the rain itself. “C’mon, it’s too much. Also, you’re not a prince as far as I know. If anything I'm closer to being one, catch this looks,” with the hand that was not holding the frog, he flipped the back of his hair. The unimpressed Yeonjun in his right hand knew how to use his silences. “God, you sure are one for jokes. Something tells me you’d get really well with Soobin. You both like to ignore my brilliant remarks.” Still, no answer.

“Do you think we should… try it?” Beomgyu felt really dumb saying it out loud. “The kiss I mean.” If anyone would have told him that one day he would be avoiding eye contact with a frog, he would have laughed so hard.

There was a croak. When he looked at Yeonjun, the frog was doing the motion to ‘yes’.

Beomgyu sighed. “Ok, then.”

He was not comfortable with this. But the scene was pristine. The rain, the one street light by their side. There wasn’t an awkward silence because the drops hitting the water surface made a symphony of alive nature. This was, if so, the best case scenario. But, overall, he did not envision his first kiss to be with a frog, no matter if that frog was a person he had imagined kissing before.

All of that aside, he had a purpose bigger than his personal wishes and that was to undo the wrong he had caused to Yeonjun. And if kissing a frog (mind you, the one part he did not like from The Princess and the Frog) was all it took, then he’d do it.
Beomgyu elevated his right hand, where the frog was, to the height of his face. He looked at it once more, and asked: “Are you sure about this?” The frog nodded. “Ok then, I’ll kiss you now.”

And so, Bemgyu kissed the frog.

You’ll forgive him, but he did not aim for the mouth. He just kissed the frog’s general headspace and closed his eyes, trying not to think about it. Beomgyu couldn’t even describe the way it felt on his lips because the next thing he knew, he was being washed whole by the rain. The water was cold and the drops were big.

He didn’t notice either that in the shock caused by the water he had dropped his right arm. As soon as he remembered, he looked at the ground, searching for the frog. Except all he could see were legs standing by his side. He slowly looked up, until eye contact was unavoidable. There he was, Yeonjun.

“Oh my god, it worked!” And Beomgyu hugged him. The laugh in his ears was the one that made him notice that he was, in fact, hugging this one person he had caused so much trouble to. “I’m sorry.” He said, letting go.

Yeonjun did not erase the smile from his face. “Don’t be. We should head inside though, you’ll catch a cold.”

Beomgyu just nodded, trying to hide his happiness.

Sneaking into the bathroom for a couple of towels was not the hard part. Getting the cloth to clean up the water they had carried in with them, that was a bit harder. but not unachievable.

First thing he did was send a message to Soobin: ‘You were right, I hate you (thank you)’. He was not expecting an answer at this hour, it was nearing 3 am and he himself was fighting to stay awake.

Yeonjun walked back into his room just when Beomgyu was coming to the conclusion that maybe he needed to dry himself first and then clean the floor. A giggle was the omen of Yeonjun’s approaching steps. He kneeled by Beomgyu’s side and faced him.

“Here, let me.” Yeonjun then blew on his face, and next thing Beomgyu knew, he was dry.

“Thank you.”

“Sure,” Yeonjun said, standing up and walking towards the bed, where he sat. “Your impermeability spell probably faltered once you undid the frog transformation. Too much energy coming out of you, you went into some sort of forced save energy mode.” Yeonjun’s voice sounded so calm, so put together. He had been a frog for the past day and there he was, chilling in Beomgyu’s bed like he did that every friday.

Beomgyu, on his side, was back at cleaning the floor. Not because it was still wet (it wasn’t) but because he desperately needed to hide the flush and embarrassment that the memory of “undoing the frog transformation” brought back to memory. Blessed his shitty short-term memory and damn Yeonjun.

“Hey, I think that’s dry already.”

“Can you please let me hide in this mundane chore? I have courage to build up and you interrupting is not helping at all.” Well, there went the attempt of keeping his chill.

There was a moment of silence and then Beomgyu sighed.

“I’m sorry, that was a bit rude.” Beomgyu turned and sat on the floor. He gathered enough courage to look at Yeonjun, and regretted it almost immediately. Beomgyu had the ability to overanalyze stuff, so the slight jest in Yeonjun’s eyes was no match for the fondness and the worry that were also there. He felt personally offended by the first, but overwhelmed by everything else. He didn’t need nor deserve the pity.

“I guess an apology is due.” Beomgyu scratched his neck and made up his mind. He sat up straight and started. “I’m sorry that I turned you into a frog. If it helps in anything, it was not my intention. I did know how to do the spell, and I was less aware that I had triggered it when we were speaking. I don’t… I don't remember much from meeting with you. Nerves take the best of me. That, however, it’s not an excuse. I should’ve known better, even when it came to finding a solution. We were at a place filled with students and professors that know way more than me, I could've just swallowed my pride and ask. But I didn't. I’m sorry for that.” A pause in which he took a deep breath. “ On that same note, I'm sorry I sort of kidnaped you. I know you kinda gave your consent, but it wasn’t clear and I should've known better than just take it. I am sorry too that I made you lose a day of your life, going for two at this rate.” He finished by lowering his head. He was ready for whatever answer Yeonjun wanted to give. Then he remembered: “Oh, and you can totally stay here all the time you need or want. I can talk to my parents in the morning and work something out. The bus will pass tomorrow at the same hour it did today so, if you don't want to see me until then, I'll understand.”

That’s when Yeonjun couldn’t take it anymore. A muffled laugh escaped his lips.

“You’re really cute.” There it went, the blood circulating Beomgyu’s face as if he had suddenly been hanged upside down. Beomgyu covered his face. “Hey, I accept your apology. It’s fine, truly. You shouldn’t have known that spell, to begin with, and it’s even more irresponsible that you weren’t taught how to revert it. Oh, and we’ll talk about that, don’t worry,” and he had the nerve to wink at him while saying the last bit. Beomgyu, who had peaked between his fingers, went back to hiding his face. “And don’t worry about, what did you call it, kidnapping me? None of that, I did say yes! I should’ve made it clearer somehow, but with the tools we had I think we did pretty well. And about taking my time, don’t worry. I was free and I had a blast!” He sort of laughed at the end. Yeonjun did look like he was in a good mood. That made one of them.

Beomgyu lowered his hands and nodded. He couldn’t accept being forgiven that easily yet, but he could try. Beomgyu was also not ready for what Yeonjun added next: “Hey, I was going to ask you out that Thursday night, so it’s not like the experience we ended up with was that much far from what I intended.”

The thing about Beomgyu is that he liked banter, so he purposely ignored the implications of that last statement and just: “Oh, so were you planning on transforming me into an amphibious? That’s a weird plan dude, but whatever.”

“I mean, no, but you would be the cutest frog, bet.” Before Beomgyu had time to retrieve to his shell and die from happiness (he was not imagining, Yeonjun was implying he was interested in him!) Yeonjun cleared his throat. “Hey, not to be inconvenient but I haven't eaten since Thursday,” and he let the statement hang.

“I mean, I know that’s a lie, I saw that fly you snatched on the bus here-”

“Oh my god, you saw that?”

“But I'll be happy to get something for you to eat.”

“C’mon answer me, brat. You can’t just have that image of me! Also, don’t force me to describe to you what it tasted like because I will!” And a pout as the cherry on top. Beomgyu did not feel like indulging in the sweetness.

“That’s a weak threat. Also, yes I saw you. Speaking of pictures, I did also see the selfie you sent Soobin while being a frog.” Beomgyu stood up, a smirk on his face.

“Hey, I was trying to catch your attention, the answer was right there… and also, I thought I looked funny.”

“You’re so full of yourself,” Beomgyu said mid-laugh while walking out the door.

“Choi Beomgyu, I swear to go-”

“Look, transformations are hard as hell,” Yeonjun was explaining how and why it worked. They were now sitting on a tablecloth they had spread on the floor, eating leftover pizza. It rounded 4 am. Beomgyu felt like he was on his last stretch. There is, however, a weird energy boost one gets after being awake longer than one should. “It’s easier to transform things into insects, especially the ones who do not live long. It’s kind of mean, but you give an inanimate object a bit of life. That life comes from you. That’s the first thing you’ll learn about transforming one inanimate object into a living one. After that comes the conversation about living beings to living beings. It tends to stay as a theoretical lesson, because it takes a lot of energy to transform, and if something goes wrong, undoing it takes a toll on you too. The spells and the details depend on what you’re trying to transform and the final form you’re aiming for. And for most of it, it also takes into account how much you want to do it, how much of your magic you are willing to put into it. Please don’t think so highly of yourself, but the way you’ve only slept on that bus ride and you’re still standing right now? It’s impressive, you should be in bed and pass out for a couple of days minimum.”

“So I AM a genius!” Beomgyu did not think that at all, he just liked to be proven right after he had received such a loud retaliation earlier. Also, he did feel like dying right now.

“Debatable. I tried to ease the load, but you see, frogs can do a different sort of magic I am not well versed in. The magic associated with my human shape was locked. So yeah. If we hadn’t solved it in time, I don't know how much time you would’ve had. The prolonged link to maintaining me as a frog would’ve consumed you in a day or more. If we had separated, the distance would’ve made you spend extra energy preserving the spell. And you would’ve run out of it way quicker.”

“Run out of magic?” Beomgyu asked.

“Well yeah. That, and life.”

“Ah, so nothing serious I see,” yes, sarcasm to hide that in the end it wasn’t that Yeonjun wanted to come home with him. Another thing to ponder in his sleep.

“Why a kiss?”

The question. He had asked the question. He hadn’t mentally prepared for this, why had he asked.

Yeonjun swallowed before answering. “It isn’t something really scientific or well justified. It will sound dumb, but kisses have been the answer to an array of magical issues all along history. The fact that we know of them in popular media is a side effect of trying to keep the spells alive even when we’re not. The solutions most of the time are in songs, and in proverbs and in fairy tales. And magic is so dumb sometimes. To get you dry I blew on you. That’s quite literal. To release me from your spell, you who placed it in the first place must want to undo it. And by kissing me you materialised the intention to do so, even if you lacked the words to express it. We could say the kiss it’s like a wild card when it comes to magic.”

Why did magic have to be so corny? Beomgyu kinda hated it and kinda loved it.

“I see.” He felt too tired to elaborate more than that.

“I mean, we can kiss again if it was that disappointing the first time,” Yeonjun joked.

“You see, I know that you don’t mean it right now, but I'm too tired to kick your ass with intricate remarks.” And it was true. If Yeonjun mentioned kissing him once more, Beomgyu would just do it out of spite and to shut him up. He wanted to sleep. He stood up and started collecting the things they had used. “I’ll take this back to the kitchen. Use my bed, it’s the comfiest place on earth, I promise.”

“I’ll take your word for it. Where will you sleep?” Yeonjun was already sliding under the blankets.

“Oh, so you’re not leaving space for me? Shame. I’ll figure something out.” And he walked out.

Soobin had woken up to Beomgyu’s declaration of hatred. That meant he had been right. What a nice morning (noon) that was. Him, magicless Soobin, was right. Of course, he then had to figure out what he could send back to Beomgyu in order to annoy him further. He settled on ‘OMG and there was ONLY ONe BED!!’ and waited for the chaos to be unleashed.

While he helped with laundry, Soobin couldn’t keep himself from thinking about the whole situation. He’d probably hear from his friend soon, with how stressed he had been about the whole thing.

Honestly? He said to Beomgyu once that he gave out main character vibes and the dumbass took it to heart. He could’ve turned into an animal any other person in his life, Soobin knew they existed. No, Beomgyu had to go and turn his crush into the most ugly-cute frog Soobin had ever seen (he had never seen a frog before. Only toads).

He had lunch with his parents (“no, mom, i still don’t have a theme for my thesys”) and then played a couple of games until he was officially bored. Beomgyu had spammed their chat with stickers that showed distress. Soobin’s consequent ‘What happened?’ went unanswered so he didn’t push for it.

So he played a bit more and then studied for a bit. Who would’ve thought to waste a Saturday afternoon like this?

He didn’t, however, have to wait too long. As if summoned, Beomgyu clapped outside the house not even five minutes afterwards.

“Did that take you time,” Soobin greeted. They made their way to his room with a little detour to set the kettle, make tea and get some cookies. As soon as the door closed at Soobins back and the cups were safely set on a surface, he struck: “Spill.”

Beomgyu proceeded to make a ball of himself and cringe. “It was awful. I forgot there was only one bed.” Beomgyu peaked angrily at him. “But we did not share. How dare you. Do you really think I'd fall for that? Pathetic.”

“The hope you have in me to recall every single fact about your persona kinda worries me sometimes,” Soobin was much more interested in the cookies in front of him to be fair.

Beomgyu sighed. “I just pulled a couple of blankets on the floor and passed out. Apparently is easier to fall asleep when you’ve been maintaining a spell for almost twenty-four hours-”

“Beomgyu, I love you, I love magic, but I know you (against my own wishes). So stop trying to stall and tell me about the guy. I heard from a very trusty source that you kissed him.”

Ah, yes, there it was again, the wiggling in the bed and the embarrassment. Sobin laughed. “You’re cute.”

“I swear if anyone else today tells me I’m cute I’m gonna combust!”

“So he called you cute! Also, you are, stop fighting your true nature!” ‘Beomgyu, 21, cute’ was his twitter bio too, TMI.

“And what if he did? He was a frog yesterday, he lost.”

“That holds no logic but I'll take it. Now, the kiss.”

“It was gross and uncomfortable and I hated that my own acts brought me to it. And it was fucking cute too. Argh!” Beomgyu went back to fetal position.

“I cannot tell if you liked it or not, but let me inform you that you do not have to count it as a first kiss. I don’t think it can count if it’s with a frog, even less if he didn’t turn into a prince afterwards- I see you and your raised eyebrow, put it right back to its resting place, little man. You are not about to blab to me about how prince-like he looks.” Soobin’s index finger was threateningly pointing at his friend.

“Soobin, I would for nothing in the world jump into a conversation like that with you,” Beomgyu assured. “But he does.”

“I hate you, please go back to never speaking to me again.”

“You’d cry for me to talk to you again, so just, let me tell you.”

Once Soobin approved, Beomgyu told him about the events of the night. About the few other ideas they had when he left, about them not working. The rain and the kiss. The late-night extra meal and magic wildcards.

“So he went home?” Soobin did not place any sort of second intent in the question. He meant it as just that, information.

“I mean, I guess so. I just made sure he got on the bus to college safely.”

“You’re a whole ass gentleman.”

“I don’t feel like one when you say it like that.”

“That’s not my fault,” Soobin said, a smile creeping in his face, the dimples saluting.

“I guess it’s not.” Beomgyu picked his cup and looked into it. He could not read tea leaves where there were none.

Silence settled between them while they sipped from their drinks.

“I’m gonna miss the little guy,” Soobin said.

“You’re so full of shit… but yeah.”

“You’re whipped,” with a false accusation tone.

“We been knew.” Beomgyu gave a wink that then died in a shudder.

Soobin laughed and came closer just to take Beomgyu’s cheek and shake it a bit. “I honestly don’t know why the elders don’t love you.”

“The hell you’re talking about now, they adore me!” He mustered enough drama to sound convincingly offended.

“They literally cross themselves every time they see you on the street.” It was not an exaggeration, this is true.

“I- do they? Damn, must they be scared of me. Am I… the coolest ever?”

“Why would that make you cool at all?” Soobin was unimpressed to say the least.

“I mean, aren’t you jealous that I never have to help them?

“Dude, I don't have to help them either, I choose to do so.”

“That’s on you.”

“That is literally what I said.”

They stopped there. They could go on. But when one of them stumbled or lost the thread, a comeback would sound lame. And giving up is always better than being lame.

“How are your sweethearts?” Beomgyu wiggled his eyebrows and felt the world turn back to normal speed when Soobin was the one flustered and trying to hide.

“They are not my sweethearts”

“Not yet and not with that attitude”.

Soobin sighed.

“Why is my life so full of you?” He downed the last of his tea then.

“I don’t know either,” Beomgyu answered with a smile. He had finished his tea long ago.

The next day, at the same hour, Beomgyu was saying his goodbye to Sobin and climbing the long-distance bus ladder again.

“See you next Friday.”

And yet another weekend went by like that.