Chapter Text
If you know Donghyuck you would think his mornings were a mess. Slamming his sunflower clock to shut it up, rolling out of bed with his auburn locks a tangled mess, and having a piece of burnt toast for breakfast. If you really know Donghyuck however, in the way that gets you written down on his ‘These people cannot stop being my friends because they know too much’ list, you’d know that Donghyuck’s mornings follow a strict routine. He wakes up at 9 am every single day, does not slam his sunflower clock, and tries to float out of bed. Whether he succeeds or not is none of your business, thank you very much. He then stands in front of his wardrobe for a good five minutes trying to open it before giving up and retorting to using his hands. Before getting nourishment for himself he waters all 16 of the plants in his room and tells them all, individually, ‘good morning’. In the kitchen, he drinks his daily cup of lavender tea, eats whatever breakfast he’s made that morning, and reads through his damned spell book - again.
Donghyuck is now 21 years old and he’s had this same routine for at least 2 years. That means he’s read this spellbook over 600 times and you would think that would be enough no? Wrong. Donghyuck still cannot make a single potion or spell work. His mom could do every spell in the book when she was 15. And yes, Donghyuck is actually a witch, he’s taken blood tests several times to ensure he’s not just a regular earthling. So until he succeeds, he’ll stick to his routine and read the spellbooks a thousand more times if that’s what it takes. One day he’ll be able to prove Renjun wrong and when that day comes, it’ll be done with much grandeur. Maybe he’ll cast an honesty spell on him and not undo it until the older boy admits that Donghyuck is an amazing witch after all.
As Donghyuck squirts some more honey into his lavender tea, he sees something that does not belong in his strict morning routine: Mark Lee attempting to flee the land. Through his kitchen window, he sees the raven-haired boy stomping down the path of their neighborhood with a big camping bag on his back, the pots and pans attached to it scrambling loud enough to awaken Jisung (that kid can sleep through anything). Donghyuck is frozen for a few seconds, the porcelain teacup halfway in its journey to his parted lips. Mark looks angry, something that is unsettlingly foreign to Donghyuck. Then, he notices the blazing sun that is beating down on his friend and jumps out of his chair. He shoves the spellbook into his emergency bag, the one that’s always packed in case he needs to leave quickly (which is very necessary if you live in a world where monsters could stomp your house at any second). He yells ‘Be right back, I love you, mom! Please water my plants while I’m gone!’ over his shoulder before snatching up his straw hat and racing out the door. The neighbour’s dog goes crazy when it sees him, barking up a storm while Donghyuck struggles to avoid trampling the budding wildflowers residing on their unkempt lawn.
Donghyuck pants as he tries to catch up to the boy in front of him, damn those fuckers are fast. Racing down the only path of their small neighbourhood, he sees three familiar faces lining up at their respective doors, looks of confusion painting their faces.
“Where are you two going, Hyuck?” Jeno, a boy with dark blue hair and kind eyes that Donghyuck has known since elementary school, shouts after him from his spot on the porch.
“I have no clue, but hurry you three!” He yells back before turning back to the path in front of him after almost tripping over a murderous stone.
Jeno and Jaemin, the fae who lives right next to him, quickly kick into action, grabbing backpacks of their own before sprinting after Donghyuck down the dirt path which coughs up cloud after cloud of dust. The last boy, the aforementioned Renjun, who has the privilege of calling himself Donghyuck’s best friend, hesitates briefly in his doorway before ultimately sighing and yelling after them to wait for him. Jeno and Jaemin slow down to allow their neighbour to catch up, Renjun grumbling something about their ‘ridiculously long legs’. Donghyuck, at last, reaches Mark who has now reached the outskirts of the forest that indicates the end of their village.
“Mark!” Donghyuck exclaims, a clammy palm landing on his shoulder to halt him in his tracks. Mark’s shoulder is ice cold to the touch even through the fabric of his white dress shirt, an incredibly weird choice of outfit for a hike in the forest if you ask Donghyuck.
“Oh, Haechan. Sorry, I didn’t hear you.” Mark’s face is expressionless for a second before a small smile spreads over his lips. The nickname slips effortlessly from his lips after years of using it since Donghyuck came up with it years ago. After all this time, Mark is the only one who still insists on using it.
Donghyuck pauses as he considers his options. ‘Mark would probably appreciate it if he pretends he didn’t notice’ he convinces himself and returns his smile with a full watt sunshine grin. To his delight, that seems to smooth out the wrinkle between Mark’s arched eyebrows, turning the smile into a genuine one that lets a fang peek out from his upper lip.
“It’s all good, Markiepoo! I am wondering where the hell you think you’re going though.” He punctuates his sentence by pushing the sunhat he’d snatched up before racing out his house down over Mark’s raven locks. His neck bends like a turtle trying to escape into its shell before he straightens up again, most likely about to lecture Donghyuck on how the sun being dangerous to him is just a myth when the other trio catches up to them.
“I hate running. Why are you making me run, Mark?” Renjun huffs as he comes to a stop, pushing his sandy bang from his forehead and fanning himself with his hand.
“I wouldn’t mind carrying you, Junnie!” Jaemin offers, a grin on his face that doesn’t falter even when the only response he gets is an eye roll.
Mark blinks, eyes a shining obsidian. “I’m not making anyone run.”
Renjun huffs again, arms crossing in front of his jean-clad chest. Donghyuck notes that he has a new stitching on his overalls, a small green frog. It matches nicely with the pink of his shirt.
“Yeah right, like we’d just let you walk out into that forest on your own. You do know there’s nothing but trees and trees for miles that way, right?”
Of course Mark knows that. It’s common knowledge in their village. As soon as they were old enough, kids got lectured by their mothers never to go playing in there. Mark seems to realize that everyone knows that he knows and shifts his eyes around. Donghyuck’s eyes narrow. He’s hiding something. Mark Lee is hiding something. If there’s one thing Donghyuck hates more than people keeping secrets from him it’s when Mark keeps secrets from him.
“I have a mission.” Mark at last states flatly. The silence stretches on for a few seconds as they all wait for some more clarification, but Mark spins around again and starts for the forest.
Mark isn’t exactly known for being the smoothest guy in conversations. Donghyuck has many experiences of Mark thinking something makes perfect sense while to any other person it was as confusing as quantum physics. This, however, is different. Mark must be well aware that he’s confusing everyone. Donghyuck’s eyes narrow further. Definitely hiding something. Still, he isn't about to let that helpless idiot walk out into that ginormous forest on his own. The other three boys seem to be looking to Donghyuck for directions; Renjun’s lips pursed in something akin to worry, Jeno’s dark eyes shining in confusion, and Jaemin’s eyebrows furrowed, so, shrugging his shoulders, Donghyuck turns and starts trailing after his oddly behaving friend.