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When Kibum told him he'd finally found a witch who is skilled enough to remove Minho’s curse and was actually willing to do it on short notice, he was elated. Just over a month ago, he and Jonghyun had been investigating rumors of a vampire nest and accidentally stumbled across a witch performing a blood ritual. Which shouldn’t have been entirely unexpected considering it was Halloween at the time, it is an important date in many spells and rituals, but they were taken off guard all the same.
There was no way they could have allowed her to continue and had interrupted, but before they could incapacitate the witch she’d managed to throw a curse at Jonghyun. Minho had pushed his partner out of the way instinctively, and now he has a lovely nightmare curse because of it. Nightmare curses are surprisingly difficult magic and to cast one that fast meant that the witch was very skilled. They were lucky they managed to surprise her, and they were even luckier that it was just a nightmare curse and not something more dangerous.
But even so, Minho would really like to get some decent uninterrupted sleep. Jinki has started buying him panda stationary because of his dark circles, and as cute as the panda shaped paper clips and panda patterned pens were, Minho didn’t appreciate the laughter that always came with them. So when Kibum gave him the witch’s address he didn’t hesitate to leave the office before his shift ended and call a taxi to go see them right away.
However, the house the taxi stops in front of is not what Minho expected. Witches, in his experience, are usually unfriendly and cruel so he expected the witch to live in a stereotypical old gothic house. Not the explosion of color and quirkiness the house in front of him was.
The house was painted bright sunflower yellow and baby blue curtains were fluttering in the slight breeze. The front yard was small but contained more variety of flowers and plants than Minho could count, and the short path to the front porch was lined with many colorful garden gnomes and mushrooms. There was even a wooden sign hanging on the door with “Magic Is All Around You” written on it in curly font. The entire thing looked very out of place among the tightly packed grey buildings in the backstreets of Seoul.
When Minho rings the doorbell he’s surprised by the cheerful tune, though he really shouldn’t be judging by everything he’s seen so far. He hears several loud thuds, what sounds like glass shattering and a surprisingly masculine voice exclaiming “Oh, bother!” before the door is pulled open and one of the prettiest men he’s ever seen is revealed. From the man’s blond hair to his doe eyes and plush lips, everything about him was stunning. If Minho happened to see him at a bar or club he wouldn’t have hesitated to approach him, but sadly he’s here for other reasons.
“I’m sorry” the pretty man says rather breathlessly before Minho can speak, “Were the gnomes bothering you? I swear I’m trying to train them better, please don’t report them.”
Whatever Minho expected him to say, it was certainly not that. Dumbfounded, he turns and glances at the motionless garden gnomes in confusion. They certainly were ugly, but he’s not sure why that would be reportable.
“Um... no? They’re fine?”
The pretty man, who Minho assumes is the witch, sighs in relief. “Oh thank the twelve, if I got one more complaint about them the Magical Creature Protection Agency would have to take them away. They’re wild you see, but they recently demolished their part of the forest to build a new shopping mall and I just had to help them. I couldn’t leave them homeless when I have a perfectly serviceable garden they can use”.
Minho glances at the gnomes again, and while he swears one of them wasn’t in that pose a few seconds ago, he fails to see why people would complain about them. Frowning slightly, Minho decides to just shrug it off as another oddity about this place and move on.
“...Right. Well, my name is Choi Minho. I’m actually here to have a curse removed. Kim Kibum said you were expecting me?”
The pretty man stares at him blankly for a few seconds before perking up and exclaiming, “Ah! That was today? Oh no matter, come in come in” ushering Minho inside excitedly, he continues in a rush “I don’t get many people actually asking for help. Most people just arrive and are like-” he pauses for a second and scrunches his face into what Minho guesses is supposed to be an angry expression but really it just looks cute before continuing dramatically “Taemin! What have you done this time? Fix it NOW!” his expression morphs into a pout and he continues with a whine, “But I didn’t do anything!”.
Minho barely has any time to register his surroundings as he’s practically manhandled down the hallway, though he does think that painting might have winked at him... The pretty man- No, Taemin. He just said his name, and somehow Minho thinks he’s not going to get a proper introduction, so he might as well use it. Taemin is surprisingly strong for someone of his height and build, and Minho is honestly too befuddled to resist.
After Minho has been forcefully pushed onto a sea foam green sofa in what seems to be the living room Taemin rushes out of the room again, giving Minho time to regain his bearings and finally take in his surroundings. The first thing he notices is the obnoxiously purple walls. Then the orange armchair across from the sofa he’s sitting on. Then the bright pink cushions on both the armchair and sofa. Minho decides it’s best to stop looking to preserve his sanity. There are so many clashing colors and mismatched furniture in this one room alone, he’s glad he didn’t really get a chance to see the rest of the house.
When Taemin returns he’s carrying a plate of what appears to be cookies, but they’re so lumpy and oddly shaped Minho isn’t entirely sure they are, and a bottle of water.
“I’m sorry, I’d offer you tea but I seem to have misplaced my pot.” Taemin says apologetically as he hands Minho the water, “I swear I used it this morning, but it’s disappeared. But look, I brought cookies! I think they’re chocolate chip” he pauses and frowns down at the plate, “but they also could be raisins...”
Minho thinks that it doesn’t matter if they’re raisins or chocolate chips, they’re definitely poisonous. But with Taemin looking at him so expectantly he finds himself reaching to take one all the same. He’ll make sure to haunt Kibum later if he dies.
He bites into his cookie with the witch staring at him from his seat in the horrendously orange armchair and almost spits it back out again. It was only pure force of will that kept him chewing as he did his best to look unaffected. The cookie is extremely salty, evidently raisins and chocolate chips aren’t the only thing their baker confused. He manages to choke out a strangled “They’re really good” before hurriedly draining his water.
Taemin beams at him happily, his eyes crinkling into the cutest crescents. “Really? It was my first time making them, you’re lucky you came today.”
Lucky really isn’t how Minho would choose to describe this, and he swears he feels his soul leave his body prematurely when Taemin says “Here, have another” and hands him what has to be the largest cookie on the plate while he’s still holding most of the first one. Yeah, he’s definitely going to haunt Kibum later for sending him here. This is ridiculous. He doesn’t even know why he’s going along with this, he usually has no problem telling people what he thinks even if it’s considered rude.
So why is he so weak to this witches pretty face? It’s like all reasoning and self preservation leaves his mind the second he looks at him. He’s only known the witch for maybe five minutes, but he already can’t bear the thought of seeing him anything other than happy. Is this some kind of spell? Does the witch do this to everyone?
With a cookie in each hand and desperately trying to think of a way to avoid eating them, Minho brings up the reason for his visit again to distract Taemin. “So about this curse…”
“Oh! Right.” Something seems to change in Taemin’s eyes at the mention of the curse. He sits up straighter in his (horrendously orange) chair and when he speaks again his voice is slightly deeper and less airy. More serious. “Where did the curse enter your body? I’ll need to see the impact point and check for any residual magic traces to determine the best way to neutralize it.”
“I was hit from behind, on my right shoulder.” Minho says as he shifts so his back is turned towards the witch and pulls his shirt over his head. It was slightly awkward to do while holding the cookies, but he manages without crushing them too badly. Not that it would have been a huge loss if he did, but he doesn’t want crumbs everywhere either...
Taemin makes a slightly strangled noise. “Right, okay… This was not something I predicted happening in today’s fortune”. The last part was said so quietly Minho almost didn’t hear it, though he’s also not sure that he was meant to. There are some shuffling sounds before he feels light tentative touches on his shoulder. “I can’t actually see where you got hit, so you’ll have to let me know when I find it”.
Minho hums in affirmation. “It was a bit lower.” Taemin carefully moves his hand, following Minho’s instructions. “Mmm Lower. Lower. You’re barely moving at all, move lower.” Taemin drops his hand a few inches too far in response. “...Not that low, higher.” The hand on his back keeps moving lower, like the witch didn’t hear him. “Hey, I said higher. ...Taemin?” Getting no response, Minho raises his voice slightly. “HEY.”
The witch quickly retracts his hand in surprise. “Huh? What’s wrong? Did it hurt?”.
“No. You weren’t responding when I said higher.”
“Ah… Sorry. I was distracted.”
Minho can feel Taemin shifting behind him on the sofa, probably still distracted. “With what? Did you find something?”
“I haven’t found the curse's entrance point yet, but the good news is that it should be simple to remove since there’s no lingering foreign energy.” Taemin hums and places his hand back on Minho’s body, “You were hit around here, yes?”
Surprised by how accurate Taemin suddenly was, Minho replies a bit late, “Yeah, a little bit more to the right”.
“Okay” was all the witch says before standing again and heading back to his chair. Instead of sitting though, he moves past the chair to a bookshelf Minho hadn’t noticed before. While the witch isn’t looking, Minho seizes the opportunity to hurriedly shove the cookies from hell between the sofa cushions. He feels bad about it since Taemin will inevitably discover his deception later, but for now survival comes first.
Returning to his seat with a book, titled ‘Blessings and Curses of the Night’, Taemin is quiet as he flips through the pages and reads. Minho puts his shirt back on and observes the witch while he waits. He really is very pretty, and while everything that’s happening so far has been rather odd (and life threatening, those cookies are a weapon), Minho thinks Taemin is rather endearing. It’s not often Minho is surprised in his line of work, he’s seen a lot of weird things, yet somehow Taemin has managed to do so multiple times already.
He’s nothing like any witch Minho has ever encountered before. Though saying that, since he’s an officer of Magical Law Enforcement, or Paranormal Police as they’re more commonly called, he really only encounters the ones who break the law and they aren’t very pleasant. Taemin could be a perfect example of a normal, not crazy (relatively) witch, Minho wouldn’t know. Somehow he doubts it.
Minho is so absorbed in his thoughts that he’s startled when Taemin finally finds what he’s looking for and clears his throat.
Once he’s sure he has Minho’s full attention Taemin begins speaking, again using that slightly deeper, more serious tone. “So the curse really is simple to remove. It doesn’t need any rare items or specific phase of the moon unless traces of the caster’s magic remain tied to your energy, which there isn’t in your case. So the only things we need are common ingredients like salt and lavender. And the ritual must be performed after the sun’s light has fully disappeared beyond the horizon.
“So I was thinking we could do it tonight if you wanted? You could just come back when it gets dark? Or if you have a few hours, you could just stay until then…” he trails off, suddenly shy.
“Sure, I’ll stay” Minho says. He could come back later, but he has no desire to go back to the office and whatever new gift Jinki has for him today. And it’s only a few hours, surely he can survive until tonight if he stays. His decision is in no way influenced by the adorably hopeful way the witch is staring at him from under his long lashes. Or the fact that Minho can’t seem to stop staring at the way he’s biting his lower lip. Minho is a responsible adult and above such petty influences.
It very quickly becomes apparent that Minho might have made a mistake as they sit in silence, awkwardly staring at each other for several minutes unsure what to do to pass the time. Taemin not wanting to be rude and leave a guest unattended and Minho feeling awkward in the witch's house.
Eventually, Taemin is the one who breaks their staring contest by suddenly asking "Hey, do you want your fortune told?".
Minho is incredibly skeptical of shamans and fortune-tellers. Almost one quarter of total cases he's assigned are related to magical fraud, and a large number of them are fortune scams. But it's probably more entertaining than doing nothing, so he agrees easily.
Expecting the witch to leave the room to get tarot cards or tea leaves or something, nothing could have prepared him for the culture shock he endures when Taemin pulls out his phone instead. It's completely unexpected, just like everything else about this entire afternoon.
"I've only recently started learning tarot and cartomancy, so I'm not very good at it yet.” The witch says distractedly as he flicks through his phone, “But I think I have like, maybe ten percent accuracy so far? That's not bad for a beginner!" Taemin looks up and beams at him again. It makes Minho's stomach flutter and his heart have palpitations. Obviously he's already been conditioned to expect the worst when the witch smiles like that, those cookies have scarred him for life. It's the only plausible explanation for what he’s feeling. "I need a question you want an answer for before we start, what did you want to know?" Taemin continues, oblivious to Minho's inner turmoil.
“Um…” Minho thinks for a moment. “Will I be able to return to active duty at work soon? I’ve been relegated to being a paper pusher ever since I was hit by the curse and I’m really tired of it.”
The witch makes a disgusted noise in the back of his throat and scrunches his nose up at Minho’s question. “That’s so boring though. You already know the answer. Ask about something else!” he demands.
“You told me to ask something!” Minho absolutely does not whine, “It’s not boring! And I don’t know the answer! You haven’t removed the curse yet and we don’t even know if it will work!”
“Of course it will work,” the witch sputters indignantly, “I’m not an amateur. Ask something else!”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know, ask about your true love or something.”
“If asking about work is boring then so is asking about love, it’s so cliché”
“What’s wrong with that? Clichés are cliché for a reason. Because they’re interesting.” Taemin argues back.
Exasperated, Minho gives in to the silly witches desires. “Fine then, ask about my true love. It’s not like it will actually be right anyway.”
Ignoring Minho’s skepticism, and with an excited full body wiggle and a big grin Taemin rapidly types on his phone before showing Minho the screen. Will Minho find true love soon? was typed into a box under a large “Free Tarot Reading” header. Minho stares in disbelief. The witch is really using an app on his phone to tell his fortune. A free app. No wonder he’s only had a ten percent success rate…
Minho’s thoughts must show on his face because the witch starts rambling defensively about how he always loses his real cards around his house, or drops them in his potions, or they get stolen by the house fairies that are attracted to their energy so he has to use his phone. Besides, it’s so much more convenient. He always has his phone with him and never has to manually shuffle.
Trying not to laugh, Minho finds himself endeared yet again by the eccentric but adorable witch. How did he even think of using his phone for this?
The witch tells him to “Choose 3 cards!” and shoves his phone unceremoniously in front of Minho’s face. Leaning back slightly so he can see properly, Minho taps 3 cards on the screen at random.
Pulling his phone back, Taemin looks at the cards. “These descriptions are really long, so I’ll just summarize them. The first card, the one representing your past, is the Nine of Swords. It symbolizes anxiety, depression and nightmares. See, I told you! I’m not bad for a beginner.” he says smugly.
The witch is happy that he’s rolled a card that’s related to Minho’s issues, but Minho can’t help but point out “My nightmares aren’t in the past though…” and bursting his bubble.
“Fine,” Taemin pouts and looks back at his phone. “Your second card, the one that represents your present, is The Sun. It symbolizes Wealth, which maybe come in the form of money, a new relationship or the feeling of health after recovering from an illness.” The more he speaks, the more excited he seems to get, ending his speech with an exclamation of “Your nightmares are an illness!” and another bright smile that really isn’t good for Minho’s heart.
“I suppose they are” Minho says, smiling encouragingly at the witch. He really is too cute. “What does the last one say?”
Taemin bounces in his seat as he checks the last card before his face falls and he sighs dejectedly. “The card that represents your future is the Three of Swords… It implies you will go through a stage of intense sorrow caused by separation or divorce.” He scowls down at his phone before abruptly locking it and putting it back in his pocket. “That was stupid, I thought it was going so well…” he says with a pout.
Minho is rather amused at the fact that the witch seems to only accept good results and ignore anything bad. Even though Minho doesn’t believe in this kind of thing and he’s sure that’s not how it’s supposed to work, it’s obvious that Taemin does believe, at least in the positive results anyway, and he feels kind of bad that he’s disappointed. Minho would much rather the witch keep smiling and making his heart leap (in fear, obviously) than wear the disappointed expression he is now.
Hoping to take his mind off the failed tarot reading (that he will definitely be telling Jonghyun about later, he has a feeling his partner will find Taemin’s strange actions to be just as endearing as Minho himself does), he asks about what the witch would normally be doing if he wasn’t here.
Which causes the witch to gasp, his pretty lips parting in shock. “Oh no! My babies! They must be wondering where I am, they might think I forgot them!” He stands and quickly takes a few steps towards the door before remembering Minho’s presence and turning back to him. “They’ll probably understand why I’m late if I introduce you to them, you must come meet them!” he says before turning again and rushing from the room.
Minho stands and quickly follows Taemin down the hallway back towards the front door. Now that he's not being dragged along he actually has a chance to look around and he sees that the hallway is actually very short, with pastel pink walls and a cupboard near the door for shoes and coats. There's a painting of a middle-aged lady wearing a pointy witches hat in the middle of the wall opposite the living room that's waving at him. Minho is not sure if he should be relieved he wasn't hallucinating the painting winking at him before, or concerned that the painting actually winked at him. He’s no expert, but he doesn’t think paintings are meant to do that.
When he catches up to the witch he’s on the porch holding what’s probably the most hideous pair of floral pants Minho has ever seen, which he holds out towards him. “Here, you can wear my favorite ones!”
“I can- ...Why?”
“So you can meet my babies, did you forget already?” Taemin says, waving the pants around. “Unless you want to get your nice clothes dirty…” He eyes Minho’s pants. “I don’t see why you would, though.”
He shouldn’t have asked. Resigned to his fate, he takes the pants and stands there awkwardly, wondering where he should change. Just as he’s about to ask, the witch starts changing in front of him. On his front porch, in broad daylight where anyone can see. With a shocked squawk, Minho spins around to give him at least an illusion of privacy, but not fast enough to avoid catching a glimpse of milky thighs.
“What are you doing?!”
“...um, I’m changing?” The witch sounds confused. “Why are you looking over there?”
“Why are you changing out here? What if someone see’s?!”
“What’s wrong with here? No one is around anyway, and I’m wearing underwear. Aren’t you going to change too? I’m already done.”
Minho sputters and turns back around. “Not here, I’m not!”
“Are you not wearing underwear?” Taemin asks, tilting his head and frowning.
“What- I am! Why would you ask that?”
“I don’t understand why there is a problem if you’re wearing underwear.”
“...You have no shame.” Minho observed. “It’s just- not done. You don’t change outside where people can see!”
The witch looks around the empty street then stares at him for a few seconds before saying, like Minho is the one being weird, “You can change inside if you really want to, Gladys won’t mind.”
Not bothering to ask who Gladys is, Minho agrees with a simple “Okay” and steps back into the house. It’s only after he’s changed that he remembers the painting, who, when he checks, is blatantly staring at him while giggling to herself. Blushing, Minho hurries back outside to where Taemin is waiting with an armful of gardening tools and wearing a wide brimmed straw hat.
“Let’s go, my babies are waiting!” the witch says cheerfully and drags Minho out into the garden only to stop in front of a group of potted plants. “Hi babies, I’m sorry I’m late.” He coos, squatting in front of them. “Minho came to visit and we got a little sidetracked. Please forgive me~”
Minho is staring at this in disbelief. Plants. The witch’s ‘Babies’ are plants.
Taemin looks up and motions for Minho to come closer. “These are my babies! This is Mark-” he touches each one briefly as he speaks. “Ten, Seulgi, Yuta and Lucas. There’s more, but you’ll meet them later!”
“You name your plants?”
The witch looks offended. "They're not just plants, they’re all the people who have come to visit! My babies!"
Minho hopes he doesn't mean that literally, he has no desire to be turned into a plant as well. Just in case, he puts a bit of space between himself and the witch.
Standing up and dusting off his pants, the witch continues, “There were a few things I was going to do for them today, I’m glad you’re here to help” Minho doesn’t remember agreeing to help, but it’s easier to just do what the witch wants than argue, so he goes along with it. “Irene’s roots are getting cramped in her pot, so we have to relocate her to a new one. And Taeyong has asked for more sun, he’s feeling a bit under the weather because Johnny has grown too tall and is blocking it all, so we have to prune his branches back a bit.” The witch pauses, thinking. “We also have to weed and replant the vegetable patch.”
“Alright, which one is Ir- Ow!” Minho begins but is cut off by something sharp hitting his ankle. When he looks down there’s a very angry looking garden gnome holding a mini pitchfork staring up at him. Minho stares back in shock. The gnome stabs his ankle again, causing Minho to stumble in a belated attempt to get away. Minho has been attacked by many things before, but being attacked by an angry garden gnome is a completely new (and ridiculous) experience.
Finally noticing the gnome, Taemin rushes over to scold it, “Baekhyun! What have I told you about stabbing people! Do you want to be reported again?!” The gnome doesn’t reply and makes another stab at Minho’s ankle. “Baekhyun! If you don’t stop right now you’re going in the bucket!”
Unsurprisingly, the ferocious little gnome does not stop and continues to attack Minho’s ankle with fervor until he’s picked up and dropped into a bright green bucket, which Taemin then hangs onto a hook in a nearby tree (who Minho presumes must be Johnny, as it’s the only large tree in the entire garden).
“You can come out when you’ve learned your lesson!” Taemin says to the gnome trapped in the now wildly swinging bucket before turning back to Minho. “I am so sorry about him. He really doesn’t like people now, not after what they did to his last home. Did he hurt you?” Not waiting for a response, Taemin bends down to check his ankle for himself.
“No, it’s fine. I was more surprised than hurt.” Minho says. Which is true, he isn’t lying to make the witch feel better. The gnome was too weak to cause any damage, though the lucky strike that hit Minho’s ankle bone did sting a bit. “I see why you asked about the gnomes when I arrived now…” Taemin grins at him, eyes crinkling cutely. Minho swallows. “So uh… Should we get started? Irene was first, right?”
They spend about 2 hours in the garden before it gets too dark to continue. Minho was introduced to many more of Taemin’s babies and even found himself talking to them when the witch wasn’t looking. He’s pretty sure the witch knew though, judging by the amused glances he kept sending him…
After they put away the tools and get cleaned up, Taemin walks over to a lavender bush to speak to it. “Hello Joy” he says, “would it be alright if I take some cuttings today? You are an important part of tonight’s ritual, and Minho would really appreciate your help in removing his curse.” After waiting a few seconds for a response that never comes (or just one that Minho doesn’t hear) the witch cuts a few flowers off before bowing towards the plant in thanks.
Heading back inside, past Gladys, who is still giggling while covering her mouth with a fan she has somehow acquired since Minho last saw her, they move into the witch’s kitchen.
There are a few more plants, mostly herbs, under the only window in the room, which is surprisingly neutral in color compared to all the others Minho has seen so far. The only bright colors are from the liquids in the variously shaped containers and bottles on the table. There is also a broken bottle on the floor, which is probably what caused the shattering sound Minho heard before the witch opened the door earlier.
“Ah, I forgot about that.” The witch says when he sees the shards of glass still on the floor. “Don’t come in yet, just give me a second…” He holds his hand out towards the mess and after a few seconds of concentration he says “...Yeet!” and everything on the floor disappears. He smiles cheerfully at Minho, “Okay, you can come in now!”
Minho is so confused right now. “What was that?!”
The witch blinks at him. “That? ...You mean the banishing spell?”
“Banishing spell?” Minho exclaims, not making any move to step into the kitchen, “You just said yeet and it disappeared! What kind of banishing spell is Yeet?!”
“It's the intent and magic behind the spell that matters,” Taemin says, giggling, “not the words used to focus it! Though they do have to be relevant at least. I can’t say anything weird like ‘chicken nuggets’ when I’m casting a cleaning spell...” he trails off, pouting.
Minho wouldn’t be surprised if he’s speaking from experience. Rubbing his temples, he moves over to the table. “I don’t even want to know how yeet is relevant in a banishing spell. What are all these, then?” he says, motioning at what he assumes are potions. With how unpredictable the witch is, they could just be juice or something instead...
“Oh, I was restocking some common potions earlier before you came. These are all for coughs and colds, just in different flavors.” Taemin picks up as many potions as he can carry, and Minho moves to get the few that are left. “I like Mango best.” he tells him as he’s putting them in the cupboard labeled ‘Potions and Stuff’.
Minho catches a glimpse of some potions in the cupboard and makes a mental note to never come to this witch for a potion, you’d never know what you’re getting. Some of the labels include things like Probably Not Poison, Idk what this is, Jitter Juice and Invisibili-tea. Why can’t the witch just use normal names for things?!
Taemin is mumbling to himself as he moves around the kitchen collecting items. “-think it was this one... or was it rock salt? Probably doesn’t matter…” The witches mutterings aren’t really inspiring confidence, but Minho chooses to believe he really does know what he’s doing.
Looking around the kitchen again, Minho happens to see something that catches his attention. “Is that your tea pot?” he asks and points at it. It’s tucked away in the corner, behind a jar of nuts and half filled with bubbling purple liquid.
“Oh, My teapot! You found it! Just in time too, we’ll need that.” He grabs the teapot and empties its contents into the sink. “Will you make the tea while I set up the spell circle, please? Just choose whatever flavor you like best.” He places a few boxes of tea leaves that were obviously bought from the nearest convenience store on the counter, picks up his gathered items, and leaves the room without waiting for Minho’s reply. That’s the second time he’s just assumed Minho will do what he wants now. Not that he was going to refuse anyway, he doesn’t like feeling useless.
The tea pot is one that you heat on the stove which Minho isn’t very familiar with, but he’s sure it can’t be that difficult. He fills it with water and places it on the closest burner, then spends way too long (it was probably about 5 minutes) trying to figure out how to turn it on.
Finally succeeding, he turns to look at the surprisingly normal flavors of tea. He has a choice of honey, green apple or vanilla. He was honestly expecting something as unique as the witch's personality. He’s never liked vanilla, so he grabs the honey one and waits for the pot to whistle before adding a scoop and letting it steep.
He searches through the cupboards until he finds cups, grabs two and carries them and the pot back into the living room where the witch is working. All the furniture has been pushed to the side to make room for the large patterned circle the witch is drawing on the floor with salt. It probably has a specific name, but Minho has no idea what it would be.
The witch looks up from where he’s working and tells Minho to put the teapot on the table closest to him. There’s a bowl of different colored crystals in the center, a few unlit candles and some incense that looks homemade already on the table, so he moves them over a bit to make room.
“What are these for?” He asks, feeling awkward just standing and watching the witch.
The witch glances at him to see what he’s talking about and answers distractedly as he works, “The candles are the anchor points and our metaphorical and literal ‘light in the darkness’ to guide the magic, the lavender incense is used to purify and calm your energy and body, and the tea isn’t really needed but it’s also calming and just tastes nice.”
“I see. And what do you use these for?” Minho asks again, waving at the crystals.
Confused, the witch pouts up at him. “Huh, why would I use those? They're rocks..."
"...Then why are they on the table?"
"I just think they're pretty! I wouldn't leave important crystals just laying about, they'd collect negative energy." Taemin states matter of factly as he adds the finishing touches to his circle. The witch stands and stretches as he moves to peer out the window into the night. It’s a lot darker than Minho expected, more time must have passed than he thought.
“I think we’re good to start any time now” Taemin says, serious once more. Minho finds it fascinating how his voice changes, it’s very pleasant to listen to. “You can remove your shirt again and step into the center of the circle, be careful not to smudge it.” As Minho follows the witches instructions, Taemin pours the tea and passes Minho a cup when he moves to sit behind him.
Placing the palm of his hand that isn’t holding his cup of tea on Minho’s back over the area the curse hit, the witch begins muttering words Minho can’t understand under his breath. His hand on Minho’s back starts to radiate enough heat so it’s a bit uncomfortable, but not enough to cause any pain.
“I’m introducing your body to my magical signature,” Taemin explains, sensing his curiosity, “The less resistance we face, the easier the curse will be to remove. Drink your tea and try to stay calm for a few minutes before we begin.”
With nothing to do while he waits, Minho finds himself wishing the witch was in front of him instead of behind. At least he could stare at his gorgeous face then. After he finishes his tea, the witch takes his cup and places it outside the circle without removing his hand from his back.
“Are you ready?” the witch asks.
Feeling like he’s unable to form words, Minho just nods in response.
The flames of the candles around the circle flare brighter as Taemin starts chanting, “Haunting terrors of the night, be gone and leave him be, until the dawning of the light, gentle moon watch over thee." before suddenly blowing out completely.
Removing his hand from Minho’s back, the witch declares the curse removed.
“That’s it?” It’s Minho’s turn to blink in confusion now. “That was very anticlimactic…”
Taemin laughs at him. “I told you it would be simple.” he says, “It took more effort to draw the circle in the first place than remove the curse. You were very lucky though, most curses aren’t that easy.”
Putting his shirt back on for the 3rd time that day, Minho wonders what he should do now. He finds himself reluctant to leave, even though he has no reason to stay anymore. Taemin leaves the room and comes back a few seconds later with a dustpan, and Minho quickly offers to help. He’ll delay his departure as long as he can.
Working together in suddenly awkward silence, they clean up the salt, pick up the candles and move the furniture back into position. When they finish, they stand there staring at each other for several seconds before speaking-
“Did you-”
“Thank-”
They start and stop at the same time and Taemin laughs.
“You first.” he says, covering his mouth with his tiny hand. How did Minho not notice how tiny it was before when it was on his body? It’s adorable, just like everything else about the witch.
“I just wanted to thank you,” Minho mumbles, still staring at Taemin’s hand, “for removing the curse. I’ve almost forgotten what uninterrupted sleep feels like, so I’m looking forward to that tonight.”
“Ah… You’re welcome. It really wasn’t difficult.” The witch moves his hand from his mouth to the back of his head and shyly continues, “You have a nice aura, my babies liked it a lot… Would you-” he cuts himself off before trying again, “I mean, it would be nice if you came back to talk to them some time… they really liked you.”
Minho suddenly feels better about having to leave. He can’t leave the witch’s babies hanging, if they want him to come and talk to them, then he will. And if he happens to see a certain blond witch while he’s here, he definitely won’t complain.
“I’ll come back whenever you want, just text or call me.” he says, pulling out his phone and handing it to the witch so he can put in his number. “I wouldn’t want to upset your babies.” he finishes with a smirk.
After handing Minho’s phone back, Taemin escorts him out to the porch. The last thing Minho sees before he walks away to catch a cab on the main street, is the witch’s shy smile and red cheeks as he closes his front door.
It's only later, once Minho is back in his own apartment and trying to sleep, that he realizes. He didn't pay the witch for his services. It wasn't supposed to be free…
Oh well, he thinks, smiling to himself, I guess I'll just have to go see him again sooner than expected.