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Beomgyu had always thought being a witch among regular people was a pretty cool thing.
He'd go to normal people classes in the day and then head back home to help his mother with their witchcraft business. Enchanting charms, brewing potions and magic healing teas, and making amulets just for the fellow supernatural beings around.
If anything, he found the way the supernatural community lived quietly among people to be the real magic of it all.
It was the way he'd stroll down a bustling street and find a little crowd mesmerized by a busker with a haunting voice and an alluring glint in her eyes. The way he'd go to one of those school talent shows and watch a dancer leap up in the air, footsteps light and dainty as tiny sparkles followed each movement - sparkles only visible to those with a knowing sharpness in their eyes like his own. The way he'd notice flowers creeping into bloom when someone ethereally beautiful, to even the most careful eyes, brushed past him with an impish grin, faint wisps revealing little hints of delicate wings.
So when he finally graduated from college, looking to secure some type of normal human part-time job while dedicating more time to their family's witchcraft business, he wasn't prepared for his mother to tell him that there'd be more studying. More studying if he really wanted to take over their humble witchcraft business because his parents were getting old and needed Beomgyu to fully take the reins.
In his twenty two years of life, Beomgyu had never known of the existence of some sort of supernatural academy but he wasn't too against it - studying wasn't his forte. Yet, if it was for magic, which he had always been so sweetly in love with, he could do it in a heartbeat and with a smile on his face.
Beomgyu definitely entered the academy with more of an I'm excited to learn more-type attitude. But now, he thinks he's descended to a bite-the-bullet attitude because it's the fourth time this week his roommate has used his healing potion as a beverage to pair with his freaking pizza. And it wasn't even good pizza.
The worst part was that he'd been hopelessly trying to brew this healing potion for one of his werewolf childhood friends who complained about needing more energy from the way shapeshifting had taken a toll on his health.
He'd like to think of himself as a patient and tolerant person. But Kai Kamal Huening, seventh-generation witch and his tragic classmate for his most-hated magic history class, was really trying him.
Kai was the definition of a modern witch: skating around campus in his offensively red Converse sneakers, Starbucks coffee in hand, lollipop dangling precariously from his pretty glossy lips. Did artificial candy even go with whatever coffee he had? Beomgyu doesn't care.
Beomgyu actually really couldn't care less if Kai wasn't passionate in magic, but that roommate of his just knew how to grind his gears by messing with his enchanted belongings and then proceeding to tell him to chill. All this bullshit with a trademark perpetual smirk playing on his vexingly luscious lips. They had only been rooming for a measly month and the older witch was this close to quitting witchcraft as a whole if that meant not having to deal with this roommate for the rest of his two years in the academy.
Sitting while hilariously fuming in his godforsaken Magic History class, Beomgyu instinctively shoots Kai a deadly glare when the subject of his hatred slides into the seat beside him. Five whole minutes before class even started - out of character for Kai who rarely showed up on time. But still, impeccable timing and what balls this guy really had, sitting down right beside him after stealing his shit.
The man of the hour takes in the glower directed at him expressionlessly, before looking right past and reaching across to prop his skateboard against the other empty seat beside Beomgyu.
What the heck was wrong with this dude?!
"Skateboard needs a seat," he winks, leaning back, and Beomgyu can't figure out if he should throttle him or send the skateboard scuttling across the entire lecture hall.
He narrows his eyes but doesn't let himself waver because he has an ounce of dignity in him. Yes he does.
"You drank my healing potion again! Haven't I told you a million times not to touch it? I just needed to let it stew one more day!"
Annoying Kai screeches obnoxiously like he's recording the audio for some cheap rate sitcom and Beomgyu finally understands why his mom never taught him a single hex.
"Okay chill chill Beoms. Look I'm sorry really. It slipped my mind," - he leans in unnervingly close into Beomgyu's space and the older witch truly wishes he'd enchanted his seat beforehand with a barrier to keep Kai out - "let me get you a coffee after class later okay?"
The close proximity and the way Kai slurs his words entices a wave of unwanted heat to rise to Beomgyu's ears and he elects to scoot away. Shoving the younger man away, the tinkling of the charmed bracelets lining his wrist is suddenly grating to his burning ears.
He doesn't have to look at Kai to know he's got that annoyingly smug grin etched on his lips now.
"I'll take it as a yes then?"
-
Beomgyu regrets saying yes. Well, he didn't exactly say yes, but more importantly, given Kai's track record, he should've expected the younger witch to tease him every chance he got. Trudging beside him with that hugeass skateboard in hand, the first thing he asks Beomgyu already gets on his nerves.
"Don't you ever get hot?" Kai comments the moment they head down the street to freaking Starbucks because if anyone's paying for overpriced coffee it's not going to be Beomgyu and he's also not about to say no to free, expensive stuff.
Self-consciously looking down at his black turtleneck and cardigan, soft cream fabric falling midway of his long black skirt, Beomgyu starts to feel a little out of place - it's not like he wants to be a stereotypical horoscope fanatic off Tumblr, he just grew up watching his beautiful mother dressed like that while tending to their herbs…
"It matches you though, the amulets on your neck look pretty against black," - Kai casts him a flirty look - "though you're prettier."
He finishes with another terrible wink and Beomgyu gags openly, earning a bout of cackling from his roommate.
Despite having roomed together for over a month, it was probably their first time interacting beyond five sentences. They didn't exactly start off on the right foot, more on Beomgyu's part because Kai had always been more amused with how pressed the older witch was.
Anyway, the day they moved in, Kai turned the air con and fans on full blast the moment he stepped in, complaining about the weather and unintentionally putting out the enchanted candles Beomgyu had set on the window sill for protection.
Never mind that - that very same night, Kai insisted on shutting their tinted windows at night for fear of insects crawling in, as if there weren't a plethora of spells to keep them at bay. And when Beomgyu protested that he needed to track the moon phases, he'd told him to chill and check his messages. To Beomgyu's utter horror, Kai had shared a freaking App Store link to My Moon Phase - Lunar Calendar at Your Fingertips.
Now, what the actual fuck.
He'd nearly passed out and despite ending up calling it a semi-truce by casting a barrier spell preventing anything from entering - Beomgyu still sticks fast to his practices, even if he's okay with compromising, he needs to look at the moon, it was beautiful enough to be admired for a good portion of his day - Beomgyu decided that Kai was the literal bane of his existence with his perpetual lazy smirk and constant teasing.
To be frank, he wouldn't have even known the other man to be a witch if not for him actually being able to occasionally cast spells when Beomgyu really needed his help on something minor like unlocking the door when they both got locked out and the older witch was too drained from his classes.
Point being, they hadn't exactly been close. And as Kai opens the door to the café for him before leaning in and asking him for his drink choice, it dawns upon Beomgyu that this is beginning to feel a lot like a date.
"Uh. An Americano I guess," and then he decides he can't let this really look like a date, not when his friend slash Starbucks barista, Yeonjun, was already waggling his eyebrows and grinning obnoxiously from two meters away, pearly and sharp teeth glinting eerily under the terrible fluorescent light. What excellent timing.
It doesn't help that the barista was no stranger to Beomgyu's wailing complaints about his roommate, though Yeonjun made it a point to annoyingly insist he was just finding excuses not to 'doop doop fall in love'. Disgusting.
"Uh to go," he adds hastily, "I kinda have to go grocery shopping after this."
"Oh? I thought a pumpkin spiced latte would be more on brand with you," Kai laughs like a drain at his own joke and Beomgyu really needs to call his mom about the hex thing right now. Get a tip or two so he can plot out his revenge.
"Stay off Tumblr and I'll hate you a lot less," he snipes right back and for some reason, Kai's face falls.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't know I was being rude. I meant. Pumpkins you know, and witches?"
There's a little panic on Kai's face and Beomgyu almost feels bad.
"You're a witch too," Beomgyu comments without bite.
Kai shrugs and it's when they're waiting from their coffees, after Beomgyu successfully averts disturbing eye contact from Yeonjun, that he suggests grocery shopping together after they get their coffees because-
"Let me pay for the ingredients so you can brew that healing thing for that wet dog."
"Wet dog?"
"Werewolf? Wet dog? Same thing. The one always clinging to you with that shaggy wet hair."
Kai scrunches his face in disgust and Beomgyu barks out a laugh despite actually feeling bad for his friend and the werewolf community in general.
And then he narrows his eyes for the hundredth time that day.
"So you knew that was a healing brew… And for him?"
It's Kai's turn to blanch and look a little awkward before he busies himself collecting their drinks and return to swing an arm over Beomgyu's shoulder to offer the drink to him in the most fuckboy manner possible, straw planted right in front of his lips.
Beomgyu's heart picks up its pace despite himself.
Smooth little shit.
-
Perhaps grocery shopping with the modern witch was a terrible idea, he decides, as Kai performs the most sacrilegious act of heading for the dried goods corner instead of the fresh produce section the moment they enter.
Or maybe Kai just really liked tea, which is why he kept stealing his brews?
Beomgyu follows a little dazedly, and he decides that's definitely not the case when Kai smiles and reaches out for the mint tea blend which he horrifyingly realizes is rather similar to the ingredients needed for his brew.
"Is that a Lipton tea blend?" Beomgyu cries incredulously, skin prickling with an instinctual shiver.
Kai stares him dead in the eye, tossing four whole boxes into his cart.
"If you think you can get Thai, Japanese, and black mint leaves from a grocery store, you're in for great disappointment."
The audacity. Beomgyu lets his jaw fall dramatically.
"Improvise, adapt, and overcome, baby boy," Kai slurs and Beomgyu grimaces, blood rushing a little to his head with the term of endearment.
But then again, Kai wasn't exactly wrong but still…
"I'd have plenty of those mint leaves if not for you gulping all four of my brew attempts this week!"
His roommate huffs out a laugh as they push the cart along the aisle.
"Just curious uh - why're you so nice to that wet dog?"
"We've been rooming together for a month and you haven't even taken so much time to brew something for me," Kai comments flippantly, staring straight ahead in almost comical contrast, "I've been tired lately from classes too you know."
"Hm, Soobin? He's a childhood friend of mine and he's always gotten injured easily when shifting, more so now that he's in the academy," - Beomgyu pauses thoughtfully, chuckling a little - "he only decided to come here since I told him I didn't want to enter the academy alone. And also because his crush goes here too I guess."
And then Kai lets out what his sharp ears identify as a tiny exhale of relief and Beomgyu has a strange realization that the younger witch had possibly been jealous.
Sue him if he doesn't think before poking fun mercilessly, happy that he finally has the upper hand for once, "Why? Were you jealous?"
The unusual lack of some lazy, snarky clapback takes Beomgyu aback and he glances to his side to find a tinge of glowing crimson on the younger man's ears.
And if Beomgyu leaves a tumbler of enchanted tea - brewed with an intricate blend of yerba mate leaves and rose blossoms sent straight from his mother's garden - on their table with Kai's name on a post-it the very next day, then perhaps it was simply more than a peace offering.
Beomgyu would deny that till his last breath though.
-
Perhaps their little coffee run and grocery store not-date broke a little bit of the tension. Because Kai starts leaving little 'thank you' post-its with wonky-looking drawings of tiny bears or mice. Beomgyu can't actually tell. And he even starts asking the older man to join him in his weekly pizza and movie 'self-dates' as he called it. The same ones during which he'd gulped down Beomgyu's healing brews for Soobin.
There's a nagging inkling that Kai shifted his usual pizza and movie sessions to suit his schedule and knowing he has a little part in the younger witch's social recharging time makes him feel a little honored. They still bicker about everything, from the movie to the pizza flavors, before Beomgyu consistently relents because he's consistently weak to the devastating combination of puppy eyes and then the jarring smirk that follows soon when Kai ultimately gets his way.
In turn, Beomgyu starts spending more of his study sessions with Kai in their dorm, instead of somewhere else on campus with Soobin or Yeonjun.
He soon realizes that Kai's a lot more different from the flippant witch, who didn't really have an interest in witchcraft, he had assumed him to be.
The exhibit being: Kai's enchanted playlist meant for extra productivity which he shared during one of their study sessions. It was just a typical list of 2000s pop rock tunes, if he was being honest, but Kai had the music charmed with an intricate spell, each resounding note and flowing melody laced with a calming yet compelling aura despite the starkly contrasting upbeat bpm of the music itself.
Impressively intricate. The spell was profound and high-level or perhaps it was just out of Beomgyu's usual practices since it didn't revolve around herbology and potions which was more up his alley. Either way, music had always been a difficult area to enchant - especially when it came to music created by non-supernatural people. And Kai being able to charm an entire playlist of over 40 pop songs impressed him to no end. Especially when he typically barely behaved his part as a witch.
Beomgyu lets him know just that, albeit by a tiny slip of his tongue.
His casual statement prompts Kai to look up thoughtfully, lips in a little pout and Beomgyu almost fears he's accidentally opened a can of worms.
"I guess? It's not like I don't want to be a witch. But I am attending the academy more for the music side of witchcraft? My family's practice is centered around rituals and they have more than enough witches to support them. I just use music as a medium to enhance their practice," he muses, "I'm not great at spells though, which is why I have to take a beginner's magic elective."
Beomgyu's a little impressed and a little embarrassed for having chalked Kai up to being one of those kids who only went to the academy because their parents forced them to.
Chuckling, he responds, "Well, you can show me some of the spells you've learnt. Just don't blow up the dorm."
The both of them abandon their work for a second, Kai chortling and poking fun at a disgruntled Beomgyu for being the one who had nearly burned down their dorm while trying to make ramen in the microwave while half-asleep - a hilariously stark contrast to his expert precision and meticulousness when it came to brewing potions and healing concoctions.
-
Kai nearly burns down the dorm. He actually fucking does it.
He had been tinkling with some potion he had to brew for his introductory class. It scares the living shit out of Beomgyu who immediately casts an extinguishing spell after being rudely awoken by a sudden burst of magic and a familiar watery pop. Having had his share of failed experiments in the past, Beomgyu's instincts kicked in almost instantly.
But what truly scares the living shit out of him is his second dawning realization in the past few weeks. It only hits him like a truck when he finds Kai's delicate hands in his own and really processes the urgent words of concern spilling out of his own mouth on autopilot.
He'd rushed to check on Kai immediately instead of assessing the damage to his beloved brass cauldron which had suffered a nasty dent from the explosion of magic.
The brass cauldron was delicate, precious, and impossibly tough. Some sort of tool passed down from his grandparents. Yet, there it sat with a glaring wound. And Beomgyu hadn't even thrown a fit. Couldn't even find it in him to be upset as long as Kai escaped unscathed.
Kai mentions he's not hurt or something but Beomgyu zones out for a second, blood roaring in his ears, and he only registers his roommate's sullen and sheepish look of guilt and worry-
"I'm sorry, your pot's a little damaged. I swear I didn't mean to!"
He swears he doesn't mean to read too much into it, but Kai prioritizing his cauldron - which he also just defiled by calling a pot - instead of his own wellbeing basically has him by the neck. Beomgyu barely chokes out an amused giggle on the absurdity of it all.
Kai shoots him a worried glance - not bothering to hide the fact he's assessing Beomgyu's maniacally untimely laughter to be a sign of him losing it.
But Beomgyu guesses it's whatever.
Maybe he has a crush.
So be it.
-
Being presumptuous isn't something Beomgyu likes to indulge in. And he thinks he's honestly way too old to be worrying about having to act normal while practically living with someone he might care about as more than just a friend. He knows he's past the starry-eyed college boy phase where he'd crush on people easily and borrow notes to slip discreet sigils among their pages just to make sure they were protected.
Beomgyu had always seen love to be something arbitrary and fleeting. He liked letting the initial fever of tripping into a crush run its course
But when it comes to Kai, he's unreserved in showing his affection - easily looping an amulet round the younger man's neck for protection when he said he was going to try some new trick in the skate park. Naturally nagging at the same man when he returned with a mad road rash and a scraped elbow - and only grumbling in tiny huffs when Kai looped his arms round his shoulders to assure him he was fine.
And he couldn't help the magical spark in his chest which glittered with alarming intensity every time he found himself spending an unhealthy portion of his time with Kai. Every time Kai waited round with his gaudy converse and scratched up skateboard for him to end his class. Every time Kai rested his chin on Beomgyu's shoulder to see what he was brewing.
Perhaps he still saw love to be arbitrary. But maybe not so much fleeting.
And perhaps, he was also indeed being presumptuous, but he liked to think they were practically dating.
Well, in Yeonjun's words because-
("It's not a big deal? Do you not spend as much time with your roommate?"
"No. No, I do not."
"Well then, good for you, I guess."
"Who waits for their roommate to walk them back to their dorm when he lugs his fully functional and heavy skateboard around?! You guys are practically dating!"
"Well then, good for me, I guess.")
The matter of fact was that they weren't actually dating. Not officially But Beomgyu finds Kai's attentive and thoughtful self good enough. And he had a tiny inkling he possibly wasn't alone with his feelings.
It was magical to him, but it wasn't magic, and Beomgyu didn't need tarot cards to confirm it.
So he stalls, because what they have is good enough. Beomgyu doesn't need awkward conversations and having his pride smashed to smithereens all because he's greedy. Greedy for what exactly, he doesn't know.
But he thinks he has the answer when Kai returns home a little later than usual one evening, blinding sparkles in his eyes mirroring the electricity thrumming in Beomgyu's veins.
"Gyu," he's yelling exuberantly the moment he steps into the apartment and Beomgyu whips his head up from his laptop, cursor blinking at him from where his unfinished report on curse breaking sat.
He hums from where he's sprawled across his bed and Kai starts excitedly scrambling to kick their bags and stray pieces of messy sigil drafts to the corner of their room.
"What… Are you doing?" Beomgyu mutters curiously, sitting up when Kai starts pulling his mattress off his bedframe to let it plop on the ground with a heavy thump.
"Oh my god," - Kai shoots up and skips right up to Beomgyu - "I'm sorry, I was so excited I was yelling loudly in my head and didn't realize I hadn't actually said anything out!"
He exclaims ridiculously and Beomgyu finds it even more ridiculous how endearing he finds the rambling.
"So," Kai proceeds to prod Beomgyu off the bed and he grumbles, packing his laptop and setting it safely on his desk, "Taehyun taught me some advanced spell and I have to show it to you! Off off off!"
Beomgyu eyes him warily as Kai pulls his mattress down to the floor too, kicking it flush next to the other one.
Wow, Kai acted fast - so much for practically dating. He lets his mind short circuit for a second, forgetting about the spell thing and straight-up thinking of cuddles.
"It's visible better from the ground and we can look at it together like this," he grins, explaining.
Oh.
Meh.
Beomgyu smiles lazily anyway, sliding down gracefully to take his place across the two mattresses.
Kai looks at him a little blankly, expression unreadable, before Beomgyu simply scoots a little further and sticks his hand out, tearing him out of whatever haze he had been in.
Beaming, he takes Beomgyu's outstretched hand, allowing himself to plop a little jerkily beside Beomgyu, their shoulders sitting warmly against each other's.
"No explosions this time right," he squints, playfully glaring at Kai who turns to him with a nervous smile.
It's almost jarring, the way Kai's face suddenly being this close to his is making his heart pound erratically, yet it also makes him feel at home, comfortable and right.
He guesses Kai is all things paradoxical - as he had always been the moment he stepped into their dorm for the first time, traversing Beomgyu's personal space, being so goddamned frustrating yet irresistibly intriguing.
"No it won't be," Kai's voice has fallen to a whisper and a little tension falls over them as they lock eyes for a little longer than appropriate.
Beomgyu would like to blame his essay for frying his brain, because before he can process anything, he finds himself scooting even closer to Kai, their noses nearly touching, before he catches himself and turns away to lay flat on his back. The moment broken and comically odd series of actions probably weirding out his roommate.
He expects a giggle or laughter to ease the tension but it never comes.
Kai simply turns to face the ceiling just like him, hushed and gentle voice guiding him to watch the ceiling.
Humming in acknowledgement, Beomgyu stares daggers at the cream-colored ceiling, willing his reddening cheeks to disappear for goodness sake.
There's a rustling sound and Kai whips out an ornate sigil scrawled precisely on a piece of parchment paper - one that Beomgyu, the supposed witchcraft nerd, can't exactly identify. He isn't surprised though, because he's heard a lot about Kang Taehyun and his famed extensive knowledge on the most obscure spells.
Kai brings the paper up above their faces, muttering a chant before he's tracing his finger round the sigil, little pink sparks in pursuit of his touch. He starts humming a foreign melody, laced with layers and layers of intricate magic, and Beomgyu nearly thinks Kai might be a siren with the way his smooth voice is drawing him right in.
A soft tinkling reverberates from the now-glittering sigil and the beam of sharp white light that shoots out from it blinds the pair momentarily.
"Holy-" he holds his tongue because he has no idea if the full spell has been completed or even gone haywire and the greatest no-no was distracting a witch mid-spell.
But when the floating red shapes and spots finally clear up, he's tongue tied. Didn't even need to remind himself to hold his tongue for this.
Because what greets him above, is the clear view of the dark indigo night sky, shimmering stars glittering back at him, and most of all, the gently ashen full moon glowing in full view. His heart stutters when he realizes that's probably the exact image of the night sky right now - he'd just checked it before Kai returned back.
He gasps in awe, barely audible, afraid that any movement would shatter the illusion.
Kai seems to read his mind, hushed words tearing him out of his starstruck and frozen state, "It's not an illusion. I just replicated the view of the sky from outside right into our room."
"It'll last maybe twenty minutes or so, I think. I'm not too good at it," he mumbles a little shyly.
Beomgyu doesn't say anything. The silence was comfortably palpable - in the way he felt at ease, yet could simultaneously register each deafeningly heavy thump of both his and Kai's heartbeats.
"It's beautiful," Beomgyu finally whispers back after a prolonged few minutes because he's still caught up with the enthralling view unperturbed by city lights and cloud cover.
"But why?" He turns to Kai, furrowing his eyebrows, finally managing to tear his eyes away from the breathtaking view.
Kai turns his body to face him fully and Beomgyu's breath hitches for a moment.
"Remember how we argued our first day here over the windows and the moon thing?"
Beomgyu huffs out an amused snicker, "So you learnt this so I'd just close the windows forever?"
"No no. That night, really changed a lot of things for me," Kai mutters, reaching out to intertwine their hands. Beomgyu swears the younger witch can definitely feel his racing pulse right at his fingertips now.
"You drew the bug barrier so easily, I was suddenly in awe, you know. Because I never took magic too seriously, and watching you cast the spell with so much ease because you were trying to compromise even though you were fuming, was pretty hot."
Beomgyu snorts and Kai laughs easily, a soft gentle giggle.
"No but, I sobered up I guess, though I didn't stop trying to get your attention because you seemed really offended by me since the first day. I'm glad we're past that," he smiles a little wistfully, "this. This is for you. Because I know you don't just like keeping the windows open at night to observe the moon phases, but you also probably find it really freeing or something."
It's so sweet, Beomgyu can feel tears prickling the back of his eyes.
But then Kai just has to go on and add something annoying and stupid.
"You're always on some sappy shit."
He doesn't hold back at all, pouncing onto Kai and tickling him mercilessly and eliciting an entire cacophony of screeches from the younger witch mixed with gruff empty threats from him.
Kai finally puts Beomgyu's attacks to an end by grabbing his hands and letting him press against his own body.
"Truce! I call for truce!" He exclaims and Beomgyu scowls, drawing out another round of subdued giggles from Kai.
"I'm sure you know it, but I like you. A lot," Kai whispers, a tiny nervous smile gracing his lips.
"Yeah," Beomgyu breathes back a little dumbly.
"Yeah as in?"
"Yeah as in yeah I know it," Beomgyu grins proudly.
He leans forward, taking Kai by surprise, and he slips his hands out of the momentarily loosened grip to cup the younger witch's face in his hands, pulling him into a tender kiss.
Kai melts into the kiss easily, hands encircling his waist in softly kindling desire mirroring Beomgyu's own.
They end up cuddling when Beomgyu finds his hands numb from being squished by Kai's head, much to their amusement.
"Yeah. Yeah as in yeah, I like you too," Beomgyu laughs finally, nuzzling his head into the crook of Kai's neck, half of his body still pressed up against the younger witch's.
Kai will probably start feeling the after-effects of being squished by a fully grown man very soon, but if he wants Beomgyu, he's gotta deal with it.
Just like that, they lay peacefully, watching the night sky start to fade slowly, even as the replicated image of the gentle yet persistent glowing moon never seems to dim at all.
And it's really on brand for Kai, because he can't physically stop himself from saying the weirdest shit ever at the most inappropriate time.
"Guess your werewolf friend can't visit and watch the moon with you huh."
Beomgyu laughs, unbridled.
Well this - this is indeed magic, he guesses.