Archive of Our Own ^beta

The front door opens and slams shut shortly thereafter, Joshua lifting his gaze from his clipboard and the schedule for the day to see his head nurse stumble into the office, shaking his hair out. There are droplets of water on his t-shirt, only a handful, spaced apart on his shirt wide enough that you could almost mistake them for a design rather than a sprinkle. Joshua leans forward to look out the front windows but he can’t see anything.

“Is it raining?” He asks and Jihoon runs a hand through his black hair, walking into the lobby and past him to get to the break room to put his things away.

“It’s trying to,” he replies, voice far away where he’s getting ready for the day. Joshua hums, looking around curiously. He sniffles the next second and sighs, setting his things aside to grab another tissue, blowing his nose. Jihoon steps back out and gives Joshua a tired look, straightening his scrub top. “Your nose is still running? I keep telling you, you’re getting sick!”

“I’m not!” Joshua argues, but it loses its conviction in the way he’s still got a tissue in his hands, wiping his nose. “It’s just allergies,” he insists, leaning down to toss the used tissue away. He grabs for the hand sanitizer next, Jihoon still giving him a hard look as he picks up the schedule Joshua set down on the counter.

“You’ve had a runny nose for three days now,” Jihoon points out. “You’re starting to sound congested. It is not just allergies anymore. You might have a head cold,” he tells him, flipping through the appointments scheduled for the day. Joshua sighs heavily, rubbing the bridge of his nose. His sinuses are a bit inflamed, he can’t deny that, but it’s really not that big of a deal. He drops his hand as Seokmin wanders out to join them, Seungkwan hot on his heels.

“Maybe you should go home,” Seokmin suggests and Joshua frowns deeply. Seungkwan smiles at him, handing him a hot to-go cup. It’s August, it’s ridiculously warm outside still but Joshua relents, lifting the hot cup to his face because it, as he suspected, is holding peppermint tea. “You’re gonna start worrying our patients, you keep coming in like that.”

“We’re booked through until school starts,” Joshua reminds him, reaching around his fellow doctor to take the clipboard from Jihoon’s hand, who glares at the way it’s taken from him. “Vaccinations aren’t going to administer themselves.” Seokmin gives him a tired look. “I’ll take a decongestant and drink my tea, I’ll be fine. Besides, Jihoon already said it’s probably a head cold,” he defends, waving a hand at his head nurse.

“I said it might be a head cold,” Jihoon argues immediately.

“Could be something worse,” Seungkwan says and Joshua frowns as he brings the hot tea back to his lips. “You could be contagious.”

“I’m fine,” Joshua tells them all. “Let’s not worry about this right now. First appointment for the both of us is in 15,” he says, giving Seokmin a look before walking into the back. Seokmin turns to their nurses, Seungkwan lifting his hands in mock surrender while Jihoon glares after Joshua’s retreating form. He’s too stubborn to keep arguing with so they don’t.

The rain picks up throughout the day, a slow but steady increase in flow until it’s properly drizzling by two. Joshua gets through most of his day and several appointments without much other than a few sneezes and he feels vindicated in telling his coworkers that he’s fine. He sees off a brave little girl who took two shots in one appointment as well as her mother as Jihoon steps out under the building’s awning to gauge the rainfall. He comes back in, nodding politely to the departing pair, and then approaches the counter where Joshua is standing.

“I didn’t know it was gonna rain today,” he grumbles. “I didn’t even bring an umbrella.”

“I have a spare in my car you can borrow,” Joshua offers, filing the patient’s information away. He turns his head and sneezes into his elbow, Jihoon staring at him from the otherside of the counter. “Don’t say anything,” he mumbles, waving a hand and then snatching a tissue from the box Jihoon offers him.

“You need it more than me it seems,” Jihoon says, Joshua blowing his nose again. “Your last appointment’s at three, you should go home afterwards. Get some rest.”

“I’m fine,” he mumbles, tired of repeating himself. “I don’t know why you’re all so worried about it, I’ve always had allergies,” Joshua says, tossing the tissue away and pumping hand sanitizer into his palm. “This isn’t any worse than any other season.”

“You sound sick,” Jihoon tells him, getting a frown in reply. “You’re coming down with something and you never come down with stuff. It’s weird and a little concerning,” he admits. “Go home, eat some soup, get some rest tonight. Like you said, we’re booked through with back to school vaccines, the last thing you need is to be getting sick and ending up out because you caught something.” Joshua sighs, setting the clipboard aside to pick up the next patient’s forms.

“Fine,” Joshua relents and Jihoon smiles, for the first time all day. “I’ll go home after my last appointment but I don’t feel sick.”

“Okay,” Jihoon says, tone placating. “Whatever you say, hyung.”

Joshua goes home around four, after he’s already seen his last appointment out, and Seungkwan makes him take another cup of tea with him, warning him that if he doesn’t get some rest he’s going to come over and barricade him into his apartment. Joshua has no doubts that he’ll make good on his threat so he goes home (after dropping his spare umbrella off in the office for Jihoon), the rain coming down in an actual rainstorm now.

There’s no thunder or lightning but it’s a decent rainfall and he runs for the building before he can get too wet. He’s damp when he takes the elevator up to the apartment, pushing open the door with a sigh. His button down is sticking uncomfortably to his skin and he’s already unbuttoning it as he walks through the apartment, headed for his room. He hears someone moving around in the other room and glances back as he gets into his bedroom, peeling the shirt off.

“What’re you doing home so soon?” Mingyu asks, leaning on the doorway. He’s dressed down in joggers and a t-shirt but his hair is still styled and he’s got makeup on. He must’ve had a shoot earlier in the day. Joshua gives him a soft smile as he moves to change into a more comfortable shirt.

“Jihoon sent me home early,” he says and Mingyu’s expression softens considerably, as it always does whenever Joshua brings up Mingyu’s boyfriend. Sometimes he honestly wonders why he ever went through the trouble of introducing them, it’s only brought further nonsense into his life, the way the two of them melt around each other. It has softened Jihoon a bit though so maybe it was worth the trouble.

“You’re still not feeling well?” Mingyu asks. Joshua huffs, pulling a hoodie on.

“I’m fine,” he argues but even Mingyu doesn’t look like he believes him. “I’m just a bit congested, that’s all. I agreed to come home and get some rest, mostly so he’ll stop riding me about it.” Mingyu snorts, a smile coming up onto his lips. “I’m gonna lie down for the rest of the night, if that’s alright,” Joshua admits, sitting down on the edge of his bed.

“Sure. Kimchi jjigae for dinner?” Joshua nods. “I’ll get started. Get some rest, hyung,” Mingyu tells him, waving vaguely at Joshua’s bed as he leaves the doorway. Joshua is, as he always is, reluctant to bow under Mingyu’s well meaning intentions but he also knows it might do him some good.

Working at a private practice means he’s always in the office. Weekends and holidays are just days that he doesn’t see patients but he’s always got something that needs doing, even if he does share the load with Seokmin. And what’s more is that he literally spends all of his time with kids, which he adores. He's always loved children, but there’s not a single demographic of patients that are more prone to bringing illness into the office than kids. He’s been lucky in the past couple years since they’ve opened the office to not come down with anything major but he’s always figured it was just a matter of time. Taking the time to rest and recuperate before it can get out of hand is in his best interest.

Not that resting has ever been his strong suit but that’s neither here nor there.

He goes to bed early that evening, forcing himself to turn out the lights and lay down without pouring over his workload as he does every other night. He's still congested, knows he's in for a hell of a dry mouth in the morning but still, optimistic. He did rest, Mingyu's kimchi jjigae was amazing and he feels better than he did that morning. Surely everyone is overreacting, he'll be fine.

He is not fine come morning.

His illness, whatever it is, has morphed into a full blown sickness. Fever, chills, body aches, headache, congestion, sore throat, the whole nine yards. Joshua can barely roll over in bed to reach his phone when his alarm goes off at six a.m. Everything hurts and he can barely bring himself to open his eyes despite the way his room is still practically pitch black given the early hour.

"Hello?" Seokmin chirps, far too awake at such an early hour. Normally Joshua would at least be on his way to being the same way but not today.

"Seokmin-ah?" he rasps.

"Oh no," Seokmin bemoans into the phone. Joshua didn't figure it would take him too long to figure out that he's definitely sick now. He must sound awful, his own voice distorted to his ears from his inflamed sinuses. "You're really sick now, aren't you?" He asks anyway.

"Yeah," Joshua groans. It causes a coughing fit, his throat too dry from sleep. Seokmin groans as though in sympathy. "I just woke up," he adds when he finishes coughing. "There's no way I'm coming in today. I feel like shit. I don't even know if I can get out of bed."

"I'll have Jihoon and Seungkwannnie move some stuff around. Jihoon will be able to handle a few of your basic appointments while you're getting better." Joshua already knows he's going to be insufferable about it. "In the meantime just focus on getting better. You sound… pretty awful, to be honest, hyung."

"I feel pretty awful," Joshua replies. "I'm gonna go back to sleep, try and rest up. See you later, Seokmin."

"Take care of yourself, hyung. Let me know if you need anything. I mean it!" And Joshua knows he does mean it, Seokmin's got far too big of a heart for his body. It's why Joshua even opened the private practice with him to begin with, Seokmin cares so much for every patient he sees.

"I know," Joshua agrees. "Thanks."

When he hangs up he passes back out. There's a moment he vaguely recollects later, when he's no longer sick delirious, of Mingyu coming in to check on him because Joshua is never home later than seven a.m. on a weekday. He must've explained something to the effect of him being too sick to work because Mingyu leaves him to rest more and he doesn't wake back up until well past noon.

Nothing makes sense when he does wake up, it's too bright outside, he's still freezing and his body feels like someone ran him over with a truck. He groans softly as he forces himself from bed, shuffling to the bathroom and then the kitchen. He doesn't even make it all the way there before Mingyu's got him by the shoulders, mask on, turning him around and marching him back to his bedroom. Joshua would laugh if he wasn't so exhausted and sore.

"Back to bed," he demands, voice a bit muffled through his mask. "I will bring you food and tea. Keep your germs to yourself," he demands, shoving Joshua the last couple of steps into his room. "Rest up. Take another nap or something."

"I just woke up," Joshua groans but takes Mingyu's advice, crawling back under his covers. "Can you bring me some tea?" Joshua asks, voice soft.

"Of course, hyung," Mingyu agrees, eyes squinting up cutely despite the way his mask covers his grin. "Honey?"

"Please."

Mingyu dotes on him like a mother, which is kind of nice given his actual mother is on the other side of the world. It makes him feel warm and loved that someone wants to take care of him while he’s under the weather. Alternatively, as soon as Jihoon drops by that evening to check in on him, mask and a pair of gloves on, he threatens to smack him over the head for not listening to him. And yes, Jihoon is right no matter how loath Joshua is to admit it. He should’ve taken more precautions and shouldn’t work as much as he does but hindsight isn’t going to help him now.

“I told Seokmin I’d take the vaccinations. I’m plenty qualified to give a few shots and the kids love how short I am.” Joshua snorts softly into his tea, only for it to send him into another coughing fit. Jihoon sighs at him. “It sounds like you have the flu, given your body aches and congestion so try to take it easy, yeah? We need you back at the office as soon as you’re able.”

“I’ll take care of it,” Joshua assures him. “Thanks for dropping by.”

“Of course,” Jihoon agrees. “You may be a pain in my backside and my boss but you’re still my friend. And my boyfriend’s roommate. So I have to at least care about you a little bit.”

“Gee, thanks,” Joshua quips back.

Knowing how rough a flu can be, Joshua plans accordingly. He’s a doctor, it’s in everything he’s ever studied that he takes what he knows about the illness and tries to fix himself at a slightly higher speed than the average person. He’s got a Type A personality, he needs to be in control like this. The problem arises within a week of his self diagnosis, however.

He’s not getting better.

Well, he is and he isn’t. He can walk around the apartment, he doesn’t feel like his joints are glued together, he doesn’t get searing light sensitivity headaches, but he’s not better. Joshua still feels weak, to the point that being out of bed for more than an hour leaves him exhausted. He can barely manage the wherewithal to make himself food and when he does he gets tired halfway through eating it. And he’s still congested, still got a runny nose and a sore throat and his head feels stuffed with cotton. He sleeps all the time and it’s discouraging to say the least.

But he doesn’t panic. He’s just sick, it’s fine. He’ll get over it. Some flus are finicky, tend to stick around for longer periods, maybe he just got a stubborn strain. Flu season hasn’t started yet so maybe he’s just unlucky, didn’t get his flu shot in time. It happens. Joshua resolves that he shouldn’t be worried about this. There’s nothing to be worried about.

Until another week passes and he’s still sick. The changes are minute, near negligent and it’s as frustrating as it is worrisome. Jihoon finally puts his worst fears into words when he drops by with some paperwork from the office.

(Seokmin begged Joshua not to worry, to just focus on getting better since he’s so sick but Joshua is a chronic busy body and lying around, doing nothing, is slowly driving him insane. Jihoon offered to bring Joshua just a bit of busy work, filling out reports and noting documents, easy stuff. Seokmin is still upset with them but he also didn’t stop Jihoon so Joshua considers it a win.)

“Have you thought about seeing a practitioner?” He asks while Joshua is flipping through the manila folder. He stops and slowly turns his head to see Jihoon staring at him, gaze serious in a way that Jihoon rarely is. He’s stoic but he’s not serious about much, more prone to snarky comebacks and unending wit than anything else.

When Joshua just looks at him with a deer-in-the-headlights expression, he continues, “you’ve been sick a long time, Shua. I know what you think it is, and I was pretty convinced in the beginning as well but flus rarely last this long and with this severity. I’m starting to worry that what’s happening to you isn’t so much a sickness but… supernatural, in quality.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Joshua dismisses easily, going back to his paperwork. Jihoon sighs, sitting down on the edge of his bed.

“Shua hyung—”

“I’m a doctor, Jihoon-ah,” Joshua states, closing the file with a slap. Jihoon frowns at him. “This is a flu. I’m not going to see a practitioner when I know damn well what is wrong with me. It’s just a bad strain, I’ll be fine in a few more days.” He opens the file again, looking away from Jihoon’s concerned eyes. “Besides, what will they tell me that I don’t already know?”

“If it’s a hex.”

“Wielders don’t hex people anymore. I’m pretty sure that’s illegal anyway.” Joshua doesn’t keep up with magical law, it’s too convoluted to keep track of and he’s got enough nonsense in his brain due to medical school to think too hard about something that he doesn’t understand nor will it ever pertain to him.

“Yeah, so it stealing and murder. People still do it,” Jihoon points out. He gets up with a huff. “I can’t make you do anything, least of all listen to reason.” Joshua knows Jihoon is going to be holding this ‘he knew Joshua was sick before he did’ business over his head for the rest of his life. “But I think it’s worth at least taking into consideration. Especially if it doesn’t start to clear up soon.”

“It will,” Joshua says. “I just need a few more days bed rest, that’s all.”

A few more days turns into a week and suddenly Joshua has been out of commission for three weeks and Seokmin is practically beside himself with worry. He scuttles into Joshua’s apartment the third Thursday after the last one he worked and has a malady of bottles of medication with him. He’s clearly harried, and not just due to Joshua’s state. Joshua feels guilty, to say the very least, that Seokmin is by himself so much right now, how difficult it must be running the practice on his own.

“Jihoon…” Joshua is hesitant to admit it but under Seokmin’s sparkling, worried gaze he can’t think of anything else to say. Platitudes won’t do anything, especially since it hasn’t seemed to help him at all. “Jihoon seems to think I should see a practitioner. That maybe what I have isn’t a natural phenomenon.”

"What do you think?" Seokmin asks in response.

"I think… that's silly," he says and Seokmin smiles sadly. "We're doctors, Seokminnie," Joshua says and Seokmin nods his head though it doesn't hold the conviction Joshua wishes it did. "We studied for a long time for this, I know what makes up a flu, to think that some wielder might've just… magicked this on me sounds absurd, don't you think?" He asks, grasping for Seokmin's opinion.

"When was the last time you were sick?" Seokmin asks rather than answer him. Joshua sighed deeply, but not too deeply lest he start coughing again. "When was the last time you got the flu and have you ever been sick this long?" Joshua knows what he's getting at. "We're doctors, we look for logical explanations in everything but not everything is logical in this world. I've never been especially good friends with any wielders but I've seen some of them do incredible things. Spectacular even. Who's to say that there aren't people out there also willing to do horrible, awful things with that same power? Including make you so sick you can barely leave your bed for weeks."

Joshua is reluctant, to say the very least, when Jihoon shows up to take him to the practitioner. While usually Joshua would insist he's an adult and doesn't need assistance to get places he can admit he's still painfully ill. Getting dressed is enough to leave him out of breath and he considers canceling with Jihoon not just because he doesn't want to go (he doesn't) but because he's so tired from exerting a minimal amount of energy.

"All the more reason," Mingyu says from where he's kneeling on the floor tying Joshua's boots for him. He feels like a child but he's also winded and it's raining again. Has been raining on and off for the entire time he's been ill.

Jihoon comes to their apartment, kisses Mingyu and Joshua makes a face at them. Mingyu kisses Jihoon's cheek loudly and obnoxiously, making Jihoon grimace but Joshua knows it's just because finds Joshua's repulsion towards their affection entertaining.

"Let's go," Jihoon says, wrestling his oversized boyfriend away from him."Before Mingyu-yah tries to attach himself to me like a growth."

"Don't act as though you don't enjoy my affection," he complains. Jihoon shoves the kissy face he makes at him away, stepping out of Mingyu's adoring hold.

"Shua, please," Jihoon whines and Joshua laughs while putting his mask on.

"After you," he tells him, waving him forward. Jihoon is the one who knows where they're going after all. Jihoon kisses Mingyu's cheek one last time before fleeing the scene, clearly to get away before Mingyu has a chance to wrestle him back into submission.

Despite the fact that it's probably a bad idea Joshua drives them to where they're going. Jihoon doesn't drive, however, so it is what it is. He does have to navigate them to where they're going though, which is a much farther distance than Joshua was expecting.

"We're nearly out of Seoul," Joshua states when they get to where they're going. And they are, in a quaint little residential neighborhood with a small array of shops lining the main streets that will lead them back into Seoul proper. It's the kind of area you live in when you want the city nearby but not as your literal backyard.

"Is it my fault Hansol decided to start his shop out here?" Jihoon retorts, shutting the car door. "I don't know of any practitioners in the city. You're lucky I know Hansol, most of these people are so damn secretive it's like pulling teeth trying to get information." Joshua doesn't like the implications of that but it's too late for him to back out now, Jihoon's on the front stoop of the store.

It's miniscule but Joshua knows that magic shops are generally much more than they appear. He's not the type to frequent places like this one but he's not an idiot. Jihoon props open the door for him and he steps inside, immediately overcome with the smell of incense and green tea.

It is a tea house, Joshua considers after a moment. The scent must be nearly overwhelming if it managed to get past his blocked sinuses but that might also be the magic, he can't be sure. Jihoon doesn't look the least bit perturbed though as he lets the door fall shut behind them.

It's a cute place, Joshua realizes belatedly. The entire right hand wall is lined with bins, cubbies with brown paper bags for measuring tea. There are shelving units interspersed through the main hull of the store, boxes of teas on their shelves with signs above them telling customers what they are, what they're good for, the types. If Joshua tilts himself slightly he can see tables in the back with chairs around them, cozy booths tucked into the back wall. It's much bigger on the inside.

"Hello, welcome in," a bored voice says and Joshua turns abruptly because he knows that voice. They're standing behind a dark wood counter with a metal weighing scale beside them, elbow on the counter, chin in hand and a steaming paper cup in their opposite hand. Jihoon strolls right up to them, takes off their mask and their face brightens immediately. "I thought I recognized those eyes!" They chirp cheerfully.

"You sound as enthused to be greeting people as ever," Jihoon replies. Joshua has no idea how these two would even know each other. "Hansol in?"

“Oh, I’m sure he’s around… somewhere…” they trail off, eyes moving around in their head like they’re looking for him but also just simply avoiding Jihoon’s gaze. There’s a smirk painted across their lips though so they certainly haven’t changed very much. “Why do you wanna know?” They ask, eyes darting back down to meet Jihoon’s.

“I have a curious case for him,” he states, resting his elbow on the counter and then pointing over at Joshua. When he looks over at him Joshua feels as stripped as he always has in front of Jeonghan.

Even when they were in school together, roommates when Joshua was still in four year and practically attached at the hip even when they weren’t, Joshua always felt like Jeonghan could see things that no one else could. He’s been the only real experience with a wielder that Joshua has ever had, in a more intimate setting that is. They had a few other friends when they were in school together that were wielders but Joshua didn’t know them like he does, or did, Jeonghan. And it’s just the same when Jeonghan looks at him when his place behind the counter, oversized cardigan sliding down over his fingers and smirk semi-permanently etches into his features. Joshua can see the exact moment Jeonghan notices who it is he’s looking at because his eyes do this… thing. Joshua can’t quite explain it but it’s something his eyes have always done whenever he gets to the bottom of what it is he’s been trying to figure out.

“Joshuji!” Jeonghan chirps. Joshua can’t remember the last time he heard someone call him that and he approaches the counter hesitantly. “I knew I knew those eyes. Only took you several years for you to finally track me down,” he says but doesn’t move even an inch. He’s always known this would happen, Joshua knows it.

“You two know each other?” Jihoon asks, looking between the two of them.

“We went to four year together,” Jeonghan says, voice going softer. It’s nostalgic to talk about, it’s been too long since then. “When we graduated Shua kept saying he wasn’t sure we were going to meet up again, since he was going to medical school and all.” He finally straightens up and reaches across the counter to shove at Joshua’s shoulder affectionately. He almost topples over anyway, his balance is still shot and Jihoon looks briefly panicked as Joshua catches himself on the counter. “I told you we would. When have I ever been wrong about things like this?”

Never, is the short answer. Jeonghan’s always been a gifted wielder, clairvoyant. He’s been able to tell Joshua every single grade he would get on anything, stopped Joshua from making stupid decisions, told him the day of graduation that Joshua looked stupid tearing up when they were going to meet again with such certainly Joshua believed him. A belief that’s been waning with every passing year until this very moment.

Jeonghan is always right. It’s as horrible as it is wonderful.

“Now, I see you’re having trouble standing upright,” Jeonghan says and Joshua frowns behind his mask. “I imagine you’ve gotten your medical degree by now, why did Jihoonie bring you all this way? Wouldn’t you have a fix for something like this?” He says it with a sparkle in his eye that tells Joshua that he already knows the answer. And why wouldn’t he?

“So you haven’t changed at all,” Joshua says rather than answer him. Jeonghan’s smile widens into a goofy, boxy grin. “If you know already why don’t you just tell me what I have so we don’t have to play this silly game,” Joshua retorts smartly.

“Oh, Joshua,” Jeonghan coos. “That’d be no fun.” He says it as he lowers himself back down, elbow on the counter, chin in hand, sipping his, Joshua assumes, tea. He rolls his eyes though, because what did he expect? “Surprised Jihoonie’s your escort today, though. I didn’t see that one coming, which is rare for me to say.” Jihoon rolls his eyes as he says it, which tells Joshua that Jihoon is no stranger to Jeonghan’s eccentricities. “Ah well, nice to see two of my favorite people regardless.”

“Back to the point,” Jihoon says and Jeonghan turns to look at him. “If Hansol is around, could you bring him here? Joshua hyung does actually have a curious case.”

“Hm…” Jeonghan hums. He taps a silver bell on the corner of the counter, one Joshua might’ve assumed was to bring someone to the counter should it be unoccupied but maybe it is for something else entirely. Or maybe the bringing of someone to the counter is a little more literal than he thinks. “Joshuji, you’ve never really believed in any of this business. How did Jihoonie threaten you?”

“I didn’t!”

“He didn’t,” Joshua confirms, voice softer than Jihoon’s irritated yell. “I’ve just been sick for a rather long time and even I have to admit that I’ve exhausted every solution to my problem. Jihoon suggested I see a practitioner and while I do agree that I don’t think he’s going to tell me anything I don’t already know,” Joshua slides his eyes to the side to look at Jihoon, who sneers in response, “I figure it’s better than nothing.”

“So you’ve already made your mind up, then. That’s certainly not changed,” Jeonghan says, voice falling soft on the latter statement. Joshua hates how seen he feels.

Jihoon and Jeonghan bicker for a few minutes until someone shows up to the counter. Joshua has no idea how these two might know one another but they’ve clearly known each other for a while if Jihoon is more than used to Jeonghan’s nonsense. In fact Jeonghan seems to enjoy the opportunity to rile Jihoon up, similar to the way he used to bother Seungcheol when they were in school, pushing his buttons until the very last second. He wonders briefly if Jeonghan is still in touch with Seungcheol until someone clears their throat as they walk up to the counter.

“I told you, he was around,” Jeonghan says rather than do anything that might be considered formal. He turns to the man then, he’s got wavy brown hair and round eyes, high cheekbones and he looks at Jeonghan expectantly but not unkindly. “Jihoonie was looking for you.”

“Hi, hyung,” he says and confirms to Joshua that he’s young. He looks young, but that’s relative if he’s a practitioner. If he’s a wielder he could make himself appear whatever age he chooses, after all.

“Hansol, Joshua. Joshua, Hansol,” Jihoon introduces them. Hansol turns to him and smiles a sweet, close lipped smile. “Joshua hyung’s come down with something. God knows what the hell it is and he’s been out of work for weeks. Please take a look at him and fix him, if possible.”

“But do know Joshua doesn’t believe in any of this,” Jeonghan states, waving his tea around for a second before taking a sip. Hansol’s eyes widen as he takes in all the information handed to him and Joshua feels embarrassed and unsure which part he should clarify first since the both of them seem keen to make him look like an idiot in front of whoever this guy is. Hansol then turns to him, lifting a brow, lips turned up at the corners in amusement.

“I don’t trust either of them to have told me the whole story,” Hansol says flat out and Jihoon makes a rather unbecoming noise of offense. “Could you tell me why you’re here?”

“Sure,” Joshua grumbles. “I’ve been sick for about three weeks now. In the beginning I thought it was the flu but it’s been persisting and refuses to go away. I’m a doctor,” he states and Hansol nods like he understands something. “I’m hesitant to think whatever you do will fix anything. I’m not particularly well versed in magic or anything like it. But Jihoon insisted and I’ve run out of ideas,” Joshua lays out, shrugging his shoulders helplessly. “Thoughts?”

“I’ll make you deal,” Hansol says, crossing his arms over his chest. “Let me run a test, I assume you’re thinking it might be a hex.” Joshua shrugs again, truly not sure what it might be. “It’ll take… 15 minutes and will be minimally invasive. If I find nothing you’re free to go and you don’t have to pay me. If I do find something at least you’ll know.”

“And I have to pay you?” Joshua asks, teasing him just a little. Hansol laughs.

“Just for the tea I’ll prescribe you.”

“Deal,” Joshua agrees.

“I’ll show you to the kitchen,” he says, turning and waving for Joshua to follow him. Joshua pauses briefly before following him.

“You coming with?” Joshua asks, looking at his friend.

“I’m gonna harass Jeonghan a bit more,” Jihoon states. Jeonghan laughs, clearly delighted to both have someone to bicker with and have literally anything to do while the store is mostly empty. Joshua nods, somehow not surprised in the slightest, then follows Hansol further into the store.

There’s a little squared room wedged into the back left corner of the store and Hansol opens the door, waving Joshua in. It’s bigger on the inside, something Joshua is starting to realize is a theme of this shop, and opens up into a small sitting area with a couple of tables, a couch, and a full kitchen. Hansol gestures to the table nearest the kitchen, Joshua sitting down at it. It’s a welcome relief to no longer be on his feet, but the exhaustion catches up to him as he does so, a headache beginning between his eyes.

“I apologize that this might take a minute. This isn’t something I usually keep on hand,” Hansol says and Joshua hums in acknowledgement, head bowed forward as he rubs the bridge of his nose. Hansol looks back at him from where he’s beginning to go through his cupboard and then his expression softens. “Can I get you some tea?” He offers and Joshua lifts his head, blinking slowly.

“Do I have to pay for it?” He asks and Hansol laughs as he reaches for the electric kettle.

“This one will be on the house,” he says, filling it with tap water. Joshua smiles softly and then nods to himself. “You wanna tell me some of your symptoms, so I know what I’m up against here?” Hansol asks, putting the kettle on to boil.

He can’t deny that as much as he wants to know what kind of hex Joshua might have, if he has any at all, he’s also hoping keeping him talking will keep him awake. It’s not hard to see that just being upright is taxing for him right now.

“Just… uh… flu symptoms, I suppose. Body aches, headaches, congestion, sore throat,” he clears his throat awkwardly, a cough threatening to come up. “Coughing, fever, chills… the fever broke after the first couple of days and I stopped having the chills then too. The body aches tapered off around the end of the first week and I don’t get headaches too often until I overexert myself. More than anything I’m just exhausted, can barely get out of bed some days. It was… more difficult than I’d like to admit just getting here.” Hansol hums understandingly, putting a tea bag into a mug and pouring hot water over it. He sets it down in front of Joshua with a gentle smile. “Thank you,” he sighs.

“No problem. It’s peppermint, should help with your congestion and headache,” he assures him and Joshua pauses, mask half way off. “Nothing magic or spooky about it, just tea,” Hansol tells him with a grin before going back to perusing his cabinets. Joshua takes his mask all the way off, tucking it carefully into his pocket before curling his fingers around the mug.

Hansol is briefly taken with how pretty Joshua is. His nose is red and raw, clearly from blowing it, and there’s a paleness in his skin, dark circles around his eyes from exhaustion but he’s still unbelievably beautiful. He hesitates just a second, Joshua lowering his head to sip his hot drink, before putting the kettle back.

As Joshua begins sipping his tea Hansol manages to amass a collection of… things. Joshua has no idea what they are, just that most of them are oddly colored liquids. He rummages around like a man on a mission while simultaneously looking like he has no idea what he’s doing, going through cupboards second, third and sometimes fourth times. Joshua would be more concerned if he didn’t know for a fact that Jihoon insisted Hansol is very competent, excellent at what he does, even if he doesn’t look like it.

“Can I ask… what you’re doing?” Joshua finally hazards when Hansol starts pouring things into a jar. It looks like a mason jar, which is a little off-putting.

“I’m making a solution,” he says, swirling it around a bit. “So, here’s the thing,” Hansol tells him, still moving even as he talks. “You can’t trace a hex, that’s just not possible. The proof is in the pudding, so to speak, when it comes to magic. The symptoms are the proof, you feel me?” He looks over his shoulder at Joshua, who nods, sort of understanding what he means. “But since we don’t know what your symptoms might be I have to find the magic, not the spell.”

“There’s a difference?”

“Everyone’s magic is different,” Hansol states.

“Like a fingerprint.”

“Just like a fingerprint,” he replies, looking over again with a smile before he goes back to pouring and swishing. “If I can determine the magic, if there is magic present, then we’ll know if someone placed a hex on you. Though…” he pauses. “I can’t say I wouldn’t be surprised if this is a hex. This is a bit extreme.”

“What do you mean?” Joshua asks, leaning forward onto the table.

“Most people who come in claiming they’ve been hexed experience things like bad luck,” Hansol explains, spooning a blue powder into the mixture. “Burning their tongue, frequent papercuts, breaking their glasses, losing their wallets, things like that. Annoying, sure. Frustrating, absolutely, but mostly inconsequential.” He pushes the vials and jars away, coming to the table with a concoction roughly red wine colored but a bit too purple to really be called that. Hansol sets it down on the table along with an empty jar before sitting down himself. “Making someone so sick that they’re out of work for three weeks is more than a little disagreement, more than just being petty. Either someone really doesn’t like you or they severely messed up their own hex.”

“I’m either dealing with someone super pissed off or just a complete amateur?” Joshua puts in laymen’s terms.

“Let’s hope it’s the latter,” Hansol says and then pushes the red-purple liquid towards him. “Swish and spit,” he tells him, tapping the top of the empty jar. “And whatever you do, do not swallow.”

“That doesn’t make me nervous at all,” Joshua says, letting go of his mug to pick up the full jar. “Can I ask?”

“No,” Hansol chuckles. “You don’t want to know.”

“Great,” Joshua mutters. “I thought you said this wasn’t invasive?”

“I said minimally invasive,” Hansol defends, getting a withering look from his ‘patient.’ “Look, I need a sample of something to figure out if magic is present. Your saliva is easier and the least uncomfortable for everyone.”

“I think I’d prefer peeing in a cup,” Joshua mumbles but takes a fair mouthful of the stuff. It stings like listerine and it tastes like stale red wine, so at least the color is apt. He swished for a little while before picking up the empty mason jar and spitting. The inside of his mouth feels both dry and foamy and he takes a large gulp of his tea, not caring of it’s temperature, to try and wash the taste out.

“There’s a reason I don’t keep this around,” Hansol says, taking the spat out mixture back into the kitchen. While Joshua smacks his mouth like a dog who just got a spoonful of peanut butter Hansol places the jar in a pot half filled with water and turns the burner on. He returns to the table with his own mug of tea. “Now we wait.”

“We wait?” Joshua asks.

“I have to boil it.”

“You have to boil it?” Joshua reiterates and Hansol nods, nudging the still half full jar of questionable contents away from them. “Is that safe? What kind of fumes are going to come from that?”

“It’s safe,” Hansol retorts. “I mean, probably. I’ve never had to, like, clear out the store or anything because of it.” Joshua scoffs, shaking his head. “Listen, I just do what the magic tells me to do. That’s what I’m trained for.”

“Right,” Joshua replies, but he doesn’t sound convinced. And then he thinks about the last part of his statement. “Wait, you were trained for this?”

“Yes?” Hansol says, a confused smile on his face. “Did you think practitioners just decide one day that they can give people herbs and other questionable items and people won’t think that’s weird? Of course I was trained, I have a certificate,” he adds, chuckling. “I can show it to you, if you still don’t believe me.”

“No, no, I do,” Joshua says. “I guess I just never thought about it too much.”

“So, you’re a doctor,” Hansol says and Joshua nods. “We’re not that different, when you think about it.” Joshua lifts a brow. “We’re both, technically, health care professionals. You prescribe medicine and teach people practical ways to take care of themselves. So do I. I just do it a bit differently, I guess.” Joshua hums. “Before there were doctors there were apothecaries. That’s not far off from what I do.”

“I guess not,” Joshua relents. “If that’s true, why is it so hard to find a practitioner?”

“Because most people don’t need them?” Hansol points out. “Most people want doctors or pharmacists. The only people who really need practitioners are wielders, of which there are considerably less since the time of the witch hunts.” Joshua grimaces reflexively. “I’m just being honest. Getting my certification was more just out of curiosity than anything else. But since there are so few in the city it’s worked out for me. And I like running a tea house.”

“It’s a very nice tea house,” Joshua replies and Hansol grins at him.

“Thank you.” He leans forward a bit, hands wrapped around his mug. “I do have another question for you though.” Joshua hums through another drink of his tea. “Your symptoms seem… normal in terms of having the flu, nothing out of the ordinary there, but what about odd things?” Joshua quirks a brow. “I mean, out of the norm things. Maybe just at the beginning of you getting sick, things you might’ve brushed off as flukes, weird happenstance, things like that. Anything come to mind?”

Joshua wracks his brain but nothing comes to mind. Everything leading up to him getting sick was perfectly normal and nothing strange has happened since. Every day has been just the same as the others, the routine of his life perfectly falling into place. He can’t even think of something of interest, like bumping into someone or tripping or spilling anything. Nothing strange at all.

Except…

“It’s been raining a lot,” Joshua says. He has no idea why he says it, it sounds inane said out loud but it comes out anyway.

“Well… you know what, you’re right,” Hansol admits. “It did start about three weeks ago, didn’t it?” He looks out the window above the kitchen sink, framed by olive green curtains overlaid with black lace. It should be tackier than it is. It’s still raining even as they speak, an easy shower dripping small droplets onto the window, rolling leisurely down the glass. “I don’t think it would have anything to do with you being hexed, seems a bit extraordinary, but I did say anything, didn’t I?” Hansol hums softly before looking over at the stove. It’s boiling, steam rising from the pot, a translucent bluish color. “It’s ready,” he states, getting up from his chair.

“That color is so unsettling,” Joshua admits, only to feel worse when the concoction is both foaming and blue-violet when Hansol takes it out of the pot with jar tongs. “Magic doesn’t make any sense,” he mutters.

“No, no it doesn’t,” Hansol agrees. He removes a bowl from a cabinet, fills it with ice and then sets it on the counter. “Here’s how this works,” he states. “I’m going to pour the liquid over the ice and it’s going to crystallize on contact. If it’s still indigo, you’re just sick and there’s no magic. If it changes color at all I got bad news for you.” Joshua grimaces, already nervous. “Alright, here we go.”

With an oven mitt on, Hansol pours the boiling hot liquid over the ice. Magic truly is extraordinary, Joshua can’t help but think as the liquid really does crystallize on contact. By all science, the ice should melt and overflow the bowl but it doesn’t and jagged shards of crystal erupt from the surface of the ice, pointing in all directions, prismatic and reflecting light across the counter. The unfortunate part is that they’re not indigo or purple or even blue.

They’re yellow. A bright, verging on highlighter yellow that sparkles like citrine. Whatever Joshua has, it’s magic.

“Well, I guess now we know,” Hansol says, setting the jar down on the counter. “That might be the bad news but I do have good news.”

“What is it?” Joshua mumbles, feeling miserable about this turn of events.

“I can treat you,” Hansol says, so assured that Joshua believes him even if all this seems far too surreal to be really happening. “And, I can make you a protective amulet from these crystals. It’ll only protect you from whoever is it that hexed you but I’m sure I can rustle up a plain ol’ protection sigil too.”

For some reason that thought is also extremely comforting.

Jihoon is still verbally sparring with Jeonghan when they get back out to the front of the store. Joshua supposes at least it isn’t Seungkwan because he’s had quite enough of listening to the two of them bicker and besides, Jeonghan is laughing even though Jihoon looked somewhere between annoyed and fond. Joshua supposes that’s just sort of the result of arguing with Jeonghan, at least from what he remembers.

“C’mon,” Hansol says, steering Joshua away from the front of the store carefully. He stumbles a bit but Hansol has a gentle if firm grip on his arm and carefully rests a hand on the small of his back to keep him steady as he regains his footing. “They’re not even paying attention, but I’ll show you what you should drink. It should have you back to work in just a few days.”

Going back to work is the very least Joshua can hope for so he listens as Hansol explains the tea he should be drinking and makes a special blend for him. Joshua’s never been too good with teas or herbs so he simply listens as Hansol fills a bag with rosemary, sage, peppermint and just a bit of ginger. He insists it’ll help and then presses the amulets he made him into his hand.

“You don’t have to wear them all the time, not even at all if you don’t want,” Hansol insists. “Just keep them nearby, your nightstand or your dresser. It’ll help, I promise,” he assures him. “And if the tea gets to be too much just have a cup a day and then switch over to whatever green tea you like. It’ll help you feel better and green tea has plenty of magic properties to help you get over your hex.”

“Thank you,” Joshua says. “Genuinely, thank you. I probably would’ve just stayed sick if not for you. I really appreciate this, Hansol-ssi.”

“It’s no problem. And don’t call me that,” he says, shaking his head. “Just Hansol is fine. You speak English, don’t you?” Joshua nods, a little confused. “Same. I’m from New York, originally. You don’t need to be so formal.”

“Oh,” Joshua breathes. “Jihoon didn’t mention it.”

“Nah, I wouldn’t suppose he would,” he sighs, rubbing the back of his neck as though embarrassed. “C’mon, I’ll have Jeonghan ring you up so you can get home. You must be exhausted.”

“How could you tell?” Joshua quips.

Jeonghan and Jihoon, blessedly, cease their bickering when Joshua and Hansol rejoin them, Hansol putting the tea on the scale to weigh.

“I have the magic,” Joshua states as an explanation and Jeonghan’s pouts exaggeratedly while Jihoon pounces on the chance to be right.

“When are you going to realize that I am always right?” He asks and Joshua rolls his eyes, strapping his mask back on his face. “I was right about you being sick. I was right about you being hexed—”

“If I give you a raise will you never speak of this ever again?” Joshua asks, leaning towards him.

“No!” Jihoon retorts. Jeonghan tilts his head at them and Joshua looks over as Hansol raises an eyebrow.

“Jihoon works for me,” Joshua explains. Hansol nods while Jeonghan only tilts his head further. “He’s my head nurse. I run… a private practice.”

“You co run a private practice,” Jihoon corrects him. “And if I had any self preservation I wouldn’t be working with you.”

“I introduced you to your boyfriend, surely I deserve at least something for that?” Joshua reminds him. Hansol rings up the tea since it seems Jeonghan has completely stopped paying attention to the register. “A single thank you would be nice.”

“Mingyu’s the worst human on the planet, I’m not thanking you for shit.” Joshua rolls his eyes and glances at Jeonghan, whose eyes have dimmed the slightest bit. It’s strange, considering from what Joshua has always known about him Jeonghan’s always loved nothing less than a good argument, even if it doesn’t include him. He thrives off of chaos but his expression is a bit softer, maybe even forlorn as he looks down into his paper cup. Joshua files it away for further evaluation as he pays for his tea. “Anyway, thanks for looking at him, Hansol-yah. I owe you,” Jihoon tells him.

“I’ll put it on your tab,” Hansol says with a smile and Jihoon rolls his eyes good naturedly. Surely he’s going to sprain something like that, Joshua thinks. “I’m just glad I was able to help.” He hands Joshua his receipt and then tucks his hands into the pockets of his jacket. “You guys get home safe, you must’ve driven a long way to get here.”

“Why is your shop all the way out here?” Joshua asks, folding the receipt into his wallet.

“I like it out there. More breathing room.”

“Do you live out here?” Hansol nods. Joshua looks at Jeonghan then. “Do you also live out here, Hannie?”

“Uh, no,” he retorts. “I drive 20 minutes to work every day because I like living close to civilization.” Hansol shakes his head, clearly used to the commentary Jeonghan has at the ready about where the shop is located.

“Well, if you’re in the city, we should get together. When I feel a bit better,” Joshua tells him and the spark reignites in Jeonghan’s eyes. “We’ll get lunch.”

“I thought you’d never ask, Shua.”

True to his word, Hansol’s tea mixture gets Joshua back in the office in three days. He’s still got the sniffles but Seokmin nearly starts crying when Joshua comes back into work. Seungkwan offers to buy a cake while Jihoon continues to complain that if Joshua had just listened to him to begin with this wouldn’t have happened. It’s a losing battle regardless so Joshua chooses not this battle and gets back into work, thankful to be back to his semi normal self.

He keeps up with the tea and hides the amulet and wax sigil Hansol drew up for him under his shirt at work, only the leather cords they’re tied to sort of visible under the collars of his shirts. It puts his mind at ease, keeping them on his person and no one even seems to notice them. For a little while, at least.

It’s a couple of days past his first week back to work when the amulet slips out of the collar of his shirt. There’s no one else in the office with him where he’s bent over a filing cabinet so he doesn’t bother tucking it back away just yet. He’s fighting with the finicky manila folder anyway so it takes a few moments before he realizes that he’s actually not alone. In fact, it isn’t until he’s straightening back up and huffing from frustration that he notices Seokmin also in the office with him.

“Patient files getting you down again, hyung?” Seokmin quips, glancing over at Joshua. Joshua blows a stray lock of hair out of his eyes, hands on his hips. While he’s glaring at the file cabinet he misses the way Seokmin does a double take, noticing the crystal hanging from his neck. “You don’t wear jewelry to work,” he says and Joshua looks over, a furrow in his brow. “Your necklace, hyung.”

“Oh,” he mumbles, lifting a hand to tuck it back under his shirt. “It’s just something Hansol-ah gave me when I went in to see him. He said it would help,” he says, adjusting the collar of his shirt.

“You? Wearing a magic item? Never thought I’d see the day,” Seokmin comments without any particular intonation, wandering back out of the office with a fresh stack of patient forms. Joshua sighs, resting a hand over where the crystal and wax sigil sit on his chest under his shirt.

For all that Joshua has been waiting to get back to work even he can admit that he can’t live his entire life in the office and the backlog of paperwork is slowly crushing him. He’s exhausted for entirely different reasons when he gets in his car and drives the 30 minutes out of Seoul proper to get to the quaint little neighborhood where Rhapsotea is located (he should’ve known from the name alone that Hansol was American). Jeonghan is, blessedly, there and looking about as bored as Joshua imagined he would be.

“Hey,” Joshua says and Jeonghan brightens as the bell above the door dings with Joshua’s entrance. He straightens up and grins that big, boxy grin Joshua remembers him having practically all the time. “Your boss in?”

“I don’t know if Hansol’s in but I’m sure I could get him for you,” Jeonghan replies. “Why, you wanna flirt over oolongs in the back corner?” Joshua clears his throat a bit awkwardly while Jeonghan’s smile morphs into a smirk. “Ooh, Joshuji.”

“Do you want to get lunch?” he asks before Jeonghan can get on him about something that’s not even true. It’s just awkward to have your university best friend start suggesting things about someone you barely know and is also his own boss. “Do you think Hansol would be willing to let you go for a little while?”

“Oh, please,” Jeonghan brushes off. “Hansol would barely care if I disappeared for lunch so long as someone’s on the counter. Stand here for a second, I’m going to find Minghao.”

“I don’t work here!” Joshua reminds him but Jeonghan simply waves a hand before wandering off. Joshua huffs, turning to lean against the counter while Jeonghan is gone, hoping no one comes up while he’s off looking for his coworker and mistakes Joshua as an employee.

Joshua doesn’t have bad luck, usually, but he is more than willing to blame this unfortunate coincidence on the lingering effects of his hex when Hansol wanders up to the counter while Joshua is watching the door, leaning back against the front of the counter. He doesn’t even see him coming, Hansol creeping up to stand behind the counter, resting his arms on it and leaning forward so he’s hovering just over Joshua’s shoulder.

“What’re you looking for?” He asks and then bursts into giggles as Joshua jumps, startled, and then clutches his chest. He huffs, chest heaving as Hansol leaning almost entirely on the counter, nearly shaking with his giggles.

“Goodness gracious, what the hell, Hansol!” Joshua scolds, but being so out of breath the heat of the statement is near nonexistent. “When did you get there?”

“Just now,” Hansol says through giggles. “I couldn’t help myself, what can I say,” he tells him, Joshua shaking his head as he attempts to recalibrate the speed of his heartbeats. “For real though, what’re you doing keeping vigil on our front counter? And where’s Jeonghan?”

“He ran off to find someone else to watch the counter, told me to watch it while he was gone. I’m gonna take him out for lunch.” Hansol nods in understanding. “Jeonghan and I are old friends, we knew each other in university.” The qualifier might be unnecessary but he says it anyway, for context.

“Yeah, I figured,” Hansol says, “he’s talked about you before. At least once a year it was always, ‘when’s Joshua getting here, I’m not getting any younger’,” he explains with a grin, making Joshua blush softly. “He’s so impatient. He may be gifted but I think it just makes him worse, always wanting the good parts he sees to hurry up and get here rather than wait them out.”

“He’s always been like that,” Joshua says, stepping up the counter again. “How did you meet him?”

“He applied,” Hansol says, voice flat like it’s an obvious answer. And Joshua supposes it is. “I don’t know why, he hates where the store is, always complains about his drives to and from his shifts but he insisted that he work here. He was destined to, or whatever. Doesn’t bother me none, he may be a chronic complainer but he’s always on time and he hardly ever calls out.”

“All you could ask for in an employee really,” Joshua says and Hansol nods in agreement. Joshua sighs and lifts a hand to his collar, absentmindedly fixing the way his button down collar sits on his neck, only for him to expose the pair of leather cords around his neck. Hansol smiles gently.

“You’re wearing them,” he says and Joshua looks at him, eyes wide. Hansol resists the urge to laugh, it would be rude he thinks, but Joshua is the human embodiment of a deer in headlights like this, big brown eyes widening into round saucers in surprise. “The necklaces, you’re wearing them. You didn’t have to.”

“Oh,” he says, sliding his fingers along the length of the cord. The wax sigil slips out from behind the material of his shirt. It’s unbuttoned maybe two or three buttons, exposing a fair amount of his tan chest. Hansol watches the way it slides out, revealing itself against Joshua’s fingertips. “Yeah, I guess,” he says and Hansol’s eyes snap back up to Joshua’s face. “It just makes me feel better to have them on, I suppose.”

“Good,” Hansol says, grinning. “I’m glad.”

“Where have you been?” Jeonghan demands when he walks up, being trailed by a tall, lanky man with a long face and blue-purple hair. “Doesn’t matter, Joshuji’s taking me out to lunch.”

“So I heard. Be back by two?” Hansol requests.

“I guess,” Jeonghan huffs but it’s clear he doesn’t really mind. “I got Minghao to watch the front.”

“I can’t wait to stare into space for 45 minutes,” Minghao says, tucking his hands into the pockets of his robe, which stretches from his shoulder almost to his knees. Joshua’s pretty sure that’s what’s making him seem so long and wiry.

“It’ll be thrilling,” Hansol tells him. Minghao cracks a smile. “Go away, have lunch,” he tells Jeonghan.

“Yes, sir,” Jeonghan agrees and then turns to Joshua. “You heard the man, take me away!” He insists and Joshua shakes his head.

“Thanks again,” Joshua says and Hansol nods. Joshua grabs Jeonghan by the wrist, dragging him towards the door, Jeonghan all but giggling in his ear.

“Is that him?” Minghao asks. “Jeonghan hyung keeps talking about ‘him’ and he’s always so fucking vague about it,” he mumbles, trading places with Hansol at the counter. “You don’t think they’re dating or something, do you?”

“I don’t know,” Hansol admits. “You know as well as I do that hyung is cryptic at best, God knows what he’s talking about half the time.”

“So true,” Minghao agrees.

Joshua realizes almost immediately that there are not a lot of eateries in this area but Jeonghan insists that there is one place they have to go to. It’s a small grill place and the aunties apparently adore him, which is obvious as soon as they get in, the women working the counter immediately going about doting on him. It’s one of the few places to eat in this area so it’s no wonder they’re so familiar with Jeonghan, who troops Joshua over to a table, sitting him down with water and questions at the ready.

“What took you so damn long?” He asks and Joshua starts laughing because it really is just like Jeonghan to demand answers he clearly doesn’t have. “Genuinely, where have you been? I have been standing around, waiting for you to get the fucking hint for years. What have you been doing?”

“Finishing school. Starting a private practice. Slowly dying under the weight of all the paperwork I forced upon myself.” He picks up the menu while Jeonghan smiles gently at him. “What about you? You see all, I see nothing. What have you been doing?”

“Working for Hansollie,” he says with a content little smile. “His shop is in a very inconvenient location but I was one of the first people to apply to work for him. He was just opening the shop when I got out of school and it just called to me, as most things I do do.” Joshua nods, that’s always been the way Jeonghan has been, going where his heart and his gift took him. “He didn’t know shit about running a tea shop so, in my infinite wisdom, I gave him a hand. We’ve been cohabiting in bliss ever since.”

“So you also run the place?” Joshua asks and Jeonghan nods as though it means nothing. And clearly, to him, it does. “So Hansol’s not really your boss?”

“Well… he is and he isn’t,” he brushes off. “Oh put that thing down, I’ll order for us,” he demands, reaching over to snatch the menu out of Joshua’s hands. “I know what you like, I remember.”

“Maybe my tastes changed,” Joshua retorts, just to be contrary.

“Bullshit.”

Joshua, despite being the one to invite Jeonghan out to lunch, is very quickly made aware of the fact that Jeonghan is running the show, as he always is. He orders far too much food, insists to the auntie tending to them that he’ll be footing the bill and then takes it upon himself to grill the meat. Joshua can’t stand him but he’s also missed him terribly. He’d be lying if he said Jeonghan’s insistence at graduation wasn’t the thing keeping him afloat all these years, hopefully they really would meet again.

“So… the tea house?” Joshua asks, trying to ask about it again and Jeonghan huffs, setting the tongs down.

“Okay, so it’s like this: it is Hansol’s but he can’t do it alone. On top of running the house he’s had his practitioners gig that he has to maintain, there are no other practitioners in this area. And besides, he’s, like, a baby,” Jeonghan insists and Joshua lifts a disbelieving eyebrow. “Okay, he’s like 27 but that’s still a baby to me.”

“Why did he even want to do it? It sounds like a lot of work, especially since he told me he mostly trained out of curiosity rather than anything else.” Jeonghan sighs heavily. “You’re not gonna tell me.”

“Hansollie’s a weird guy. I love him but he’s the kind who can’t settle down for long. I’m shocked he’s stayed here as long as he has. Has Jihoon ever told you how he knows Hansol?” Joshua shakes his head. “They went to school together, a different uni on the other side of the city and Hansol was his hoobae, learned a lot about music production under him, until Jihoon switched majors.” Joshua knew vaguely that Jihoon used to be into music but he’s never been very specific as to what caused him to switch. He’s always figured that was maybe a little too personal.

Before Jihoon started dating his roommate, that is.

“He moved here from New York because he didn’t want to be there anymore, he dropped out of uni when Jihoon switched majors, he finished his practitioners certificate just because he wanted to but Hansol’s not the type to stop moving for long, anyone can see that,” Jeonghan admits, pushing the meat around on the grill. “He’ll get tired of this place eventually I’m sure but even I can’t see when. He’s that unpredictable.”

“You think so?” Joshua asks.

“It’s a feeling,” Jeonghan tells him. “But when he does pick up and move on I’ll still be here. I told him that if he ever gets tired of the tea house I’ll take over. I figure it’s the least I can do.”

“You have a bigger heart than you let people see,” Joshua says and Jeonghan makes a face like he’s offended to be so seen. “You do, whether you want to admit it or not. I know fighting is one of your life’s great pleasures but you care about people. Even Jihoon.”

Jeonghan blinks, and the light in his eyes dies. Joshua expected it, has been waiting for an opportunity to bring it up because it’s been on his mind. He’s missed Jeonghan, something fierce, and can piece together every single thing about him from university if he thinks hard enough so it’s not difficult for Joshua to know that something is getting Jeonghan down. Something about Jihoon.

“Hannie,” Joshua says and Jeonghan sighs, meeting his eyes. Suddenly they look so tired. “What’s going on with you and Jihoon?”

“Nothing,” he states. He picks up the scissors and cuts the meat into pieces before placing a couple of new slabs onto the hot grill. “Absolutely nothing at all.”

“Hannie,” Joshua stresses and Jeonghan falls into his seat, setting the utensils down and then running his fingers through his hair.

“Jihoon didn’t tell me he had a boyfriend,” Jeonghan finally says and Joshua’s heart aches in the worst possible way. “You know him, don’t you?”

“He’s my roommate,” Joshua admits and Jeonghan sighs again.

“Is he nice? To Jihoon?” He says it so dejectedly but also determined, like it really is so important to him that whoever Jihoon is seeing is being good at him. And Joshua wishes, more than anything in the world, that there was a way to make this easier on his friend. A way that he could make this all work out but from where he’s standing there isn’t really.

“Yes,” Joshua says, because even if it isn’t him he feels like Jeonghan will find some solace in the fact that Jihoon is seeing a nice guy who really, really cares about him. “Yes, he’s really good to him. Mingyu… he’s so stupid but he’s stupid in the nicest possible way. He’s practically smothering in how much he cares.”

“Good,” Jeonghan says. Then he takes a deep breath and sits up straighter. “Good, that’s good enough for me.”

Joshua doesn’t understand the depth of Jeonghan’s feelings and part of him feels like it’s better if he just doesn’t ask. It’s best if he just lets things land where they fall because tearing that open right now will only make Jeonghan feel worse. So he doesn’t ask and they have the rest of their lunch talking about work, about how Joshua’s been doing, about what it’s like working at the tea shop (“I didn’t name it!” “You could’ve at least stopped him from making it a pun!” “No, I couldn’t, actually.”). It’s nice to catch up with an old friend, in a very genuine way and Joshua knows that he’ll be making this trek far more frequently than he’d care to admit.

Gas is going to get so expensive.

They walk back to the tea house, walk because the grill place is literally only a street away, and manage to eek in the door at five minutes to two. Minghao’s eyes look half glazed over from where he’s literally been standing around for 45 minutes. Jeonghan shoos him away from his counter and Joshua’s pretty he hears Minghao mutter, “thank God,” as he escapes.

“Thank you for lunch,” Joshua says. “I came here to take you to lunch but here we are.”

“You’re so welcome!” Jeonghan chirps. “I had fun.”

“Me too,” he admits.

“Oh, gimme your phone,” Jeonghan demands and Joshua pulls his cell out of his pocket, handing it to his friend over the top of the counter. “If I give you my number you won’t have to keep driving out here just to see me,” he insists, going about putting his number into Joshua’s phone for him. Joshua rolls his eyes, glancing around the shop. Jeonghan clears his throat and when Joshua meets his eyes Jeonghan is smirking again. “Unless of course you have ulterior motives for coming all this way,” he says, holding the phone out.

“Just you,” Joshua insists, snatching his phone back. Jeonghan hums, Joshua sure he doesn’t believe him.

They stay in contact like that, texting back and forth like they used to when they were younger. Joshua is several years older and quite a bit busier but Jeonghan still texts like he has nothing better to fill his days with. And maybe he doesn’t, standing at that register counter and staring into space when no one talks to him. Hansol can still keep it open so Joshua can only assume that the store can’t be that slow but with the sudden influx of texts to his phone he would think it’s slowly going out of business given how bored Jeonghan is.

“Turn it off,” Jihoon demands when Joshua’s phone goes off five times in the span of five seconds. Joshua snorts, pulling out his phone to silence it, seeing a string of texts from Jeonghan whining about the new tea blend Hansol made for flu season. He’s been insisting it’s too spicy and there’s too much ginger and Hansol isn’t taking his ‘professional opinion’ seriously enough.

“Sorry,” Joshua mutters, tucking his phone back into his pocket. He starts going through his patient forms again when he hears Jihoon sigh and slap his own folder down on the counter. Joshua turns, lifting his gaze to see Jihoon staring at him. “Yes?”

“Who is blowing up your phone?” He demands. “If it’s Mingyu I’ll kill him. I told him to turn his phone off at shoots.”

“Mingyu’s been hitting a dry spell at work, Wonwoo-ah’s been looking into a new gig for him with the change in season,” Joshua explains, looking back at the forms in hand. With vaccination season finally behind them they have a new influx of a different kind of patient keeping them busy, which means even more new patients, even more forms that need going through. Makes him wish he was a wielder sometimes, just for the extra set of hands. “It’s Jeonghan,” he adds, just to clarify.

“Oh,” Jihoon says, voice falling. Joshua chances a glance and sees Jihoon pick his folder back up but his expression has fallen as well. “He shouldn’t be on his phone either,” he states but it lacks the heat previously present. “He runs the front counter for God’s sake, he must look incredibly unprofessional on his phone all the time texting you.”

“How did you meet?” Joshua asks, changing the topic. He makes it come out casual, still looking at his files but not actually seeing anymore. His attention strays to Jihoon, curious to know how and why they know each other.

“Hansol-ah,” Jihoon tells him. He closes the folder after his annotations and reaches down to the filing cabinets, opening the second drawer. “Hansol and I went to school together, we took the same music production classes. This was before I changed majors. We were close.” Joshua hums to indicate he’s listening. “He dropped out after I changed majors… I couldn’t tell you why but he got in touch with me after he opened the shop. I met Jeonghan when I went to check it out.”

“That’s a long time ago,” Joshua says. “Jeonghan said he started working there after we graduated four year.”

“Yeah,” Jihoon sighs, straightening up, new file in hand. They have a patient coming in, their parents worried about their vertigo. Joshua’s pretty sure it’s just an ear infection. “We got to know each other pretty well during that time. Hansol was finishing his certification so Jeonghan was mostly running the place. We fought a lot, if you can believe it.” Joshua snorts because he can’t imagine they wouldn’t. “But we got used to each other. Jeonghan is infuriatingly difficult to dislike.”

“Trust me, I know,” Joshua agrees. “So… you’ve just been friends this whole time.”

“Yep,” Jihoon concludes, shoving the drawer shut. “Nothing really else to say about it.”

“Right,” Joshua agrees, closing his own folder. “Just curious, I guess.”

“Well, your next appointment should be in the next few minutes,” Jihoon says, taking the folder in Joshua’s hands and trading it with the one he’s holding. “Take a look before they get here,” he states before stepping away.

“I will,” Joshua agrees, beginning to chew on his lower lip as Jihoon walks away.

Joshua runs out of tea the following week. The entire apartment is almost completely out of tea, actually, most likely due to the result of Joshua’s illness the weeks prior and Mingyu lounging around the house, bored out of his mind without a shoot or a meeting to go to. He drinks tea to keep himself occupied, which would explain the rather concerning pile of green tea bags collecting in a dish next to their trash can. Normally Joshua would just go to the store and buy boxed tea right off the normal market shelf but he knows about a nice little tea house now, why shouldn’t he buy from them? And Jeonghan keeps complaining about the flu season tea, he can’t deny that he’s a little bit curious about it.

At least, that’s how he rationalizes it as he gets dressed to drive the 30 minutes out of downtown Seoul to get to that quaint little neighborhood. It’s while he’s grabbing his keys that Mingyu pops up from around a corner and nearly causes Joshua to drop his keys when he gets startled.

“God, Mingyu,” he complains, his roommate grinning at him. “Don’t do that. I swear I forget you’re here half the time.”

“Where you goin’?”

“Out,” Joshua replies, readjusting his grip on his keys. “For a drive.”

“Can I come?” Mingyu asks.

He’s asking because he’s bored, Joshua knows this. Mingyu has been slowly going insane around the apartment, which is probably why the dishes are always washed and put away by the time Joshua gets home every evening and the living room has been vacuumed every other day and Joshua’s laundry keeps disappearing only to reappear on his bed, folded. It’s kind of unsettling to live in such a clean house, it reminds him of when he used to live with his parents. And Joshua considers saying no just to be an asshole because Mingyu’s driving him crazy but also, he wants to say yes.

A part of him wants Jeonghan to meet Mingyu. In a controlled environment without Jihoon present at all. Being told in a roundabout way that the person you clearly have feelings for is currently in a committed relationship sucks so it would only be worse if Jihoon suddenly decided to show up one day with Mingyu in tow and Jeonghan had to meet him that way. This is better and Joshua knows that Jihoon is going to be upset about it if he finds out but another part of Joshua hopes this will put Jeonghan’s mind at ease as well. He clearly cares about Jihoon and meeting Mingyu might be a good first step to helping him move on, knowing for certain that even if he can’t be with Jihoon he’s being well taken care of. Just hearing it from Joshua can’t have been enough.

“Sure,” Joshua replies.

“Oh,” Mingyu says. “I wasn’t… being serious. I mean, you don’t have to take me with you if you don’t want to.”

“Aren’t you bored?” Joshua asks, speaking the thing he knows is the truth. Mingyu’s face twists in hesitant deliberation. “Get dressed, I’m taking you on a drive,” he says, waving a hand at Mingyu’s outfit, which is a pair of joggers and a t-shirt, practically his uniform since he’s been hanging around the house. “And don’t take forever.”

Mingyu bounces back out from his bedroom in jeans and a stylish bomber jacket in record time. Joshua leads them down to his car, and begins the drive out of the main threshold of the city.

“Where are we going?” Mingyu finally asks as Joshua escapes the clutches of downtown.

“There’s this shop I was going to head out to today. A friend of mine works there,” Joshua explains, as vaguely as possible. Mingyu hums in understanding. “I think you’ll like him.”

He doesn’t know that, especially since Mingyu is the kind of soft, squishy sort that people like Seungkwan and Jihoon and Jeonghan eat for breakfast. Every time Mingyu has come into the office for one reason or another Seungkwan has had some kind of scathing remark to make, making Mingyu pout exaggeratedly while Seungkwan laughs about it. Jihoon is kinder since they’re literally dating but he also has no qualms about picking on Mingyu, who whines about it every time until Jihoon laughs and kisses the teasing better. Jeonghan has absolutely no rapport with him and Joshua is a little nervous as to how Mingyu will react to his no holds barred type of sharp tongue.

Joshua fills the time in the car with asking Mingyu how things are going at the agency. Mingyu’s never hurt for work, he’s got a beautiful face and a good body and he’s over six feet tall. He’s gone through dry spells like all models but he’s never been out of work for long and as he explains it to Joshua it won’t be long before he’s working again. The winter clothing lines are going to be dropping soon and everyone and their mother is going to want him, in all his perfectly proportioned glory, to model their clothes at the various fashion events ahead. Joshua knows that that means he’s going to be painfully lonely while Mingyu is jetting all over the world but he tries not to let it show through as Mingyu talks about what Wonwoo has been working on for him.

“Ah, hyung,” Mingyu coos, and Joshua knows he’s failed. “I won’t be gone for too long, and you know I always come back,” he insists, leaning over the console to press an affectionate kiss to Joshua’s temple. Mingyu’s always been like that, ladling out his love like it’ll never truly run dry. Joshua doesn’t think it ever could. Mingyu’s heart is as big as a house.

They pull up in front of the small door that leads into the tea shop and Mingyu hums, leaning forward in his seat to look at it. It is rather unassuming, with its concrete front stoop, tiny front window and black door set into an olive green storefront. But Joshua climbs out of the car and leads him to the door, pulling it open to wave Mingyu inside.

His eyes widen in that comically child-like way that only Mingyu can manage to make not look absolutely ridiculous. Okay, it’s a little ridiculous on a face as handsome as Mingyu’s but it’s also endearing. Joshua smiles to himself as Mingyu takes in the store, turning as Jeonghan crows out his nickname again, leaning forward on the counter.

“What are you doing here?” He demands. “And who did you bring with you?” He asks, looking at Mingyu. He looks a cross between amazed and just a little bit besotted with how handsome Mingyu is, the same look Joshua sees on everyone who comes into contact with his roommate. He moved into Mingyu on a whim, answered some anonymous ad looking for a roommate and has seen experienced everyone from retail employees to photographers to random people on the street look at Mingyu all the same way. It’s a special kind of magic built out of the mundane. Or, at least, Joshua’s version of mundane.

He doesn’t think everyone would think living with a literal supermodel as mundane.

“My roommate,” Joshua says and Jeonghan’s head whips around to look at him, eyes widened in alarm. “He needed to get out of the house, he’s not been working lately since he’s between gigs. Mingyu-yah,” Joshua calls out and Mingyu wanders over, offering a toothy grin to Jeonghan, who merely blinks a couple of times, expression unreadable and frozen. “This is my friend I was talking about, Jeonghan-ah. Jeonghan, this is Mingyu, he’s my roommate.”

“Ah, nice to meet you,” Mingyu says, bowing politely. The formal movement surprised a bark of laughter out of Jeonghan.

“Ugh, you would be this polite,” he comments, his icy exterior shattering as he smirks, shaking his head. “Shua, you’re a magnet for these goody times. What’s wrong with you?”

“I’m just such a good person,” Joshua says, then turns to meet Mingyu’s confused gaze. “Don’t mind Jeonghan, he’s a bit of pain. Kind of like Jihoon, actually.”

“Ah,” Mingyu says. “He means my boyfriend,” Mingyu explains, assuming Jeonghan doesn’t know who Joshua is speaking about.

“Oh, I know him,” Jeonghan brushes off. “Can’t believe he found someone like you to date though. You seem a bit too sweet for his tastes. Tooth rotting even.” Jeonghan smiles though, as though already fond. “Between gigs, huh? What does Shua mean by that, what do you do?” He asks, resting an elbow on the counter, chin on top of his curled knuckles.

“Oh, I’m a model,” Mingyu says, conversational like it’s not an odd thing to say at all. Jeonghan however starts giggling, shaking his head.

“Cute,” he coos. “Oh, I almost forgot,” he says, turning to Joshua. “I’m glad you stopped by. Hansol’s been out all day, Minghao and I haven’t been able to bring him down. You want to be a big help since you’re already around, head upstairs and check on him for us?” Joshua’s eyes widen in surprise. “His apartment’s up there and he’s magic locked the door, keeps the two of us out. You’re normal, should be able to get in easily.”

“I don’t—”

“Just do it,” Jeonghan tells him. “I know it doesn’t seem like it but I’m actually rather worried, not like Hansol to be out all day.” He turns back to Mingyu then, the conversation closed. “You, you’re gonna help me with something while Joshua checks on the owner of this place.” He comes around the side of the counter and grabs Mingyu by the collar, who stumbles after him. “Ask Minghao, he’ll show you the way,” Jeonghan tosses over his shoulder as he pulls Mingyu along, fingers tucked into the collar of his v-neck.

“Hannie!” Joshua yells. “Jeonghan!” He calls again but Jeonghan’s got a firm hand on Mingyu, who’s following him like the oversized, obedient puppy he is. Joshua groans but wanders into the store, off to find Minghao. Because what else is he supposed to do?

“Yeah, I can show you,” Minghao says when Joshua finds him restocking the bins, bags of tea herbs stacked up on a metal cart. He waves a hand for Joshua to follow him and Joshua does so. “Normally it wouldn’t be a big deal but he’s been upstairs all day, yesterday too, and it’s not like Hansol to not at least come down and let us know he’s alive. And the door’s locked, spell locked even so Jeonghan and I can’t get in.” Minghao leads him around the back of the small, square room to a different doorway, behind which Minghao reveals a set of spiral stairs. “Just head on up, the door to his apartment is at the top. No reason for me to even come, I can’t get within a meter of the thing without being repelled.”

“Is that… normal?” Joshua asks, leaning into the doorway just a bit to see the stairs. They’re iron, a shiny silver color and wind around the walls of the narrow shaft that extends into the air. Unsettlingly enough, Joshua can’t see the top from where he is.

“For a spell lock, sure,” Minghao confirms. “He must really want to be alone but Jeonghan hyung’s been worried all day. I am too,” he admits. “Just go right up, you don’t have to stay if you don’t want. Just let us know he’s okay.”

“Okay…” Joshua says. He steps into the room and Minghao closes the door behind him. Joshua steps onto the first stair, takes a deep breath and then starts climbing.

It’s a shorter way up than he expected. The stairs must be enchanted, he thinks as he gets to the door at the top. When he looks over the edge of the railing he can’t see the bottom and it makes his stomach drop like he’s on a rollercoaster, clutching the railing. It couldn’t have been more than a five minute climb but the enchantment certainly is something. He finishes climbing the last bit of stairs and comes to a wood door, dark wood and unassuming. When he looks down he sees a brass doorknob, but it’s wrapped in what looks like black thorns. Joshua is hesitant to reach for it, he doesn’t actually know what this spell might do, even if Jeonghan seemed to think he would be fine.

But he did come up here and both Jeonghan and Minghao are relying on him for some answers so he swallows and then reaches for the doorknob. The thorns dematerialize as he gets his fingers around it, and he’s able to turn it, the door swinging open for him. Whatever it was it really wasn’t enough to keep Joshua out and he steps into the apartment carefully.

It’s a simple little apartment. The door opens out into the kitchen, a foot well with shoes lining the wall next to the door. He toes off his shoes and gets past the entryway. The kitchen is small, more like a nook, and he walks through it, seeing a living room to his left when he gets to the end of it, a door that he assumes might be the restroom along the left wall of the living room and a short hallway ahead of him. He keeps walking towards the hallway, turns the corner and sees just a couple of doors down the hallway. All the way at the end the door is ajar and his feet take him towards it, peering in carefully before pushing the door open further.

It’s a bedroom and in the center of it is a large bed, low to the ground with a lump lying in the middle of it. Whoever is in the bed is covered head to toe in the covers, flat sheet, comforter and a couple of other blankets strewn around them. It’s a complete disarray and Joshua steps into the room, only to jump back when he hears growling.

It’s a dog. Medium sized with upwardly pointed ears and a striped black and tan coat. The dog is half under the blankets with their owner, only their head and paws being revealed from under the blanket. Joshua takes a deep breath, not quite used to seeing dogs, especially of this size, in the city.

“It’s okay,” he whispers. “Jeonghan sent me.”

“Of course he did,” a low, raspy voice says from under the lump. Joshua looks at the head of the bed as the blankets shift. The dog hops down from the bed, revealing it’s curled tail, stretching itself out as their owner sits up on bed. Joshua’s breath gets caught in his throat when he gets a good look at Hansol.

Hansol is wearing a loose, stretched out t-shirt, which is partially rucked up his torso, revealing a patch of flat, pale stomach, especially when he stretches his arms above his head. His eyes are half lidded, probably from exhaustion and when he pushes the blankets back further Joshua can see where his joggers are sitting low, uneven on his hips. Low enough that he can see part of his hip peeking up over the edge of the waistband. Joshua quickly averts his gaze but mostly because he’s not quite sure could stop himself from staring at the color of his hair.

His previously chestnut brown locks are a startling shade of ash gray, flopping over his forehead and falling into his eyes. When he shakes his head it falls roughly into place but it’s still startling to see. Joshua chances a glance and Hansol meets his eyes, roughly shoving his shirt back into place.

“Jeonghan hyung sent you up here, huh?” He asks, repeating what Joshua already told his dog.

“Yeah,” Joshua agrees. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean to intrude or anything, he—”

“It’s fine,” Hansol brushes off, getting out of bed. He fixes his sweats as he stands as well, thankfully hiding the offending bit of skin Joshua’s been having a hard time tearing his eyes away from. The dog shakes itself further awake, trotting over to Hansol so it can bump it’s head against his thigh. “He’s a friend, relax,” Hansol says to the dog, who looks back at Joshua, blinking twice. “His name is Horangi. I didn’t name him. I did not name my dog after a big cat, please don’t judge me,” Hansol says, patting the dog on the head twice before moving towards the door. “Can I make you some tea?” He asks, passing Joshua on his way to the kitchen.

“Uhm… yeah,” Joshua agrees, following him. The dog nudges his way past Joshua to walk directly behind Hansol and Joshua bites his lip to avoid laughing at the way the dog clearly barely trusts him.

Hansol puts a stove top kettle on to boil and Joshua leans against the side of the counter. He watches as Hansol goes through the process of picking out tea, putting tea bags in mugs, setting them down in front of Joshua. Then he meets Joshua’s eyes, sleepy as his gaze may be.

“So, Jeonghan sent you?” He repeats and Joshua nods.

“He said he was worried about you,” he says and Hansol nods as though in understanding. “He had Minghao show me up, he’s entertaining my roommate right now,” Joshua explains, glazing over the fact that he brought Mingyu. It’s complicated enough that he doesn’t want to linger on it but Hansol doesn’t miss it, lifting a brow. “Minghao said you haven’t been down in two days. Is everything alright?” Joshua asks.

“Sort of,” Hansol says. “I don’t really have a prepared explanation for this,” he explains, gesturing vaguely to his hair. Joshua looks at it, thinks to himself that even if he doesn’t the gray sort of suits him, looks nice against his complexion. Hansol sighs though and goes to pick the whistling kettle up off of the stove, pouring the water over the tea in their mugs. “It’s sort of a long story.”

“I have time,” Joshua says, pulling one of the mugs towards him. The corner of Hansol’s lips quirks up into a half smile. “I’d hope Jeonghan wouldn’t poison him. I do still need someone to help me pay rent.” Hansol snorts, setting the kettle aside and then reaches for his own mug, moving the tea bag in it by its little paper tag.

“This doesn’t happen very often,” Hansol begins. “In fact, it hasn’t happened in years, which is why I don’t really want to have to explain it to the others. It’s a magic trigger.” Joshua tilts his head. Hansol breathes a laugh, but not unkindly. “Magic triggers are like… guidestones in a wielder’s life. Some people have them, most don’t though. I’m unlucky, this has been happening to me… practically my whole life. We’re not entirely sure why it happens, my family and I. No one in my family has had a magic trigger in centuries, magic only runs on my dad’s side so it’s even more difficult to track down through the Korean lineage. Whatever reason I have, we've never been able to trace it back to its source.”

“If it’s not frequent you must have an idea as to what causes it… don’t you?” Joshua hazards. Hansol sighs.

“I have a guess. Usually it happens before a big change in my life.” Joshua’s brow furrows. “Before my family moved back here, I was born in the states, that was the first time. And before I moved back there, it happened again. Before I dropped out of college, before I started my practitioner’s training.” Joshua gets the idea and his eyes fall to the side.

“So… you’re thinking about leaving, aren’t you?”

Joshua doesn’t know Hansol but the way he says it, it sounds like he’s trying to follow the steps laid out for him by this magic, by his destiny or whatever it is that’s trying to tell him something. It’s like Jeonghan’s clairvoyance, it guides him through life, which makes Joshua all the more worried. Jeonghan even said that he wasn’t sure when Hansol would leave, that he’s been stationary a long time. Maybe he’s just been waiting for this, this sign, whatever it means.

“I don’t know yet,” Hansol admits, a small smile gracing his lips. “It’s definitely something I’ve thought about. I try to stay ahead of the curve, of what comes next for me. But nothing… there have been no other signs than this,” he says, pointing to his hair again. “I don’t know what it means so I don’t know what I could do to keep up with it. I guess I’m just waiting it out.”

A clap of thunder shakes the building, startling Joshua and Hansol looks out the window that overlooks the back of the tea shop. It’s started to rain, thick and heavy droplets of water splashing the window, rolling in rivers. It’s practically a downpour, and when Joshua moves to look with him he can see the small parking lot behind the string of shops, all the varying sizes of cars getting splashed with rain water. He’s sure his is just the same in the front and if he and Mingyu make it a single step outside the shop they’re going to get drenched, it’s that kind of weather.

“It really has been raining a lot, hasn’t it?” Hansol mutters. “Weird for the season.”

“I know,” Joshua sighs. “Feels like I can’t get through a single day without getting at least a little wet.”

“Freak weather,” Hansol states. “You’re welcome to stay here, until it lets up.” Joshua meets his eyes, Hansol’s silver hair falling into his earnest brown eyes. “Wouldn’t want you driving back into the city in this weather, it’s not safe.”

“I appreciate it.”

Joshua doesn’t make Hansol show his face but he does leave him with his number, “In case you need someone to talk to or… just to assure your employees you’re still alive.” Hansol chuckled softly as he thanked him and walked him to the door. Joshua left, a bit hesitant, Horangi tilting his head at him as Hansol gently closed the door behind him. The black thorns stretch from the wood, rewrapping the doorknob in a tightly bound knot once the door is shut tightly behind him.

He rejoins his roommate, who is making disturbingly big, moony eyes at Jeonghan where he’s bickering with Minghao behind a counter top in the back, right hand corner of the store. There are electric kettles and tea boxes lining the counter behind them, the bar counter sporting a handful of velvet covered stools. Joshua sits down at one and Jeonghan brightens, dropping an already full mug of tea in front of him.

“Drink that!” He demands. Minghao crosses his arms over his chest, staring in a mildly menacing fashion as Joshua looks hesitantly at the mug.

“Why?” He asks, curling his fingers around the mug.

“Hyung keeps telling me my tea is bitter. It is not,” Minghao insists, swinging his head around to glare at his coworkers. “He’s being horrible on purpose. What do you think, Joshua-ssi?”

Joshua takes a careful sip of the tea. It’s floral and herby, strong flavored, but not bitter. When he says so Minghao looks far too pleased with himself while Jeonghan frowns deeply, looking offended. He then turns to Mingyu, who still looks painfully endeared by Jeonghan’s dramatics.

“You agree with me, right, Mingoo?” He asks. Mingyu nods and it takes everything in Joshua to not snort loudly. Mingyu really is so easily taken with people, he doesn’t know why he was ever concerned that he and Jeonghan wouldn’t get on.

Mingyu’s always enjoyed people who are a little bit mean to him. He finds great pleasure in poking at them until they give in to his gentle persuasion, until they’re lulled into such security that it allows Mingyu the pleasure of finding their soft underbelly. Not to exploit them, Mingyu doesn’t have a mean bone in his body, but to coddle them. To venture past the sharp, acidic parts of their venus flytrap outsides so he can sow the gentle bits that will, eventually, bloom into soft petals. Not even Jeonghan can be immune to those big, brown eyes, Joshua supposes.

“Hansol is alive,” Joshua announces. Minghao’s eyes widen and he drops his arms, Jeonghan looking over at him. “He’s just not feeling particularly well. But he’s alive, he just needs some time alone.”

“Aigoo, why didn’t he just say that?” Jeonghan complains, looking across the seating area to the door tucked into the wall. “He’s the worst, he’s always internalizing shit, never talks to us about it.” Joshua hums, thumbing at the lip of his mug. “Thank you, I guess,” Jeonghan says and Joshua does snort this time. “I’m being grateful! Don’t snort at me!” Jeonghan demands, reaching over to swat Joshua with a half empty tea box.

“Hopefully we’ll see him in a few more days then,” Minghao says as though that’s that. “In the meantime, I’ll call Soonyoung hyung.” Jeonghan groans, lying himself dramatically on the counter. Mingyu lifts a hand to pat his head sympathetically. Just what Jeonghan needs, someone to encourage his nonsense. “You like Soonyoung, you’re just being dramatic because you have to be in charge of the business-y parts until Hansol feels better.” Minghao accuses, talking directly at Jeonghan’s bent frame.

“I hate it,” Jeonghan grumbles.

The weather lets up into a gentle drizzle that allows them to go home only half an hour later and Minghao gives Joshua a steep discount on his tea, insisting that it’s the least they can do since he made sure their owner wasn’t dead and decomposing in his apartment. Joshua, for a second, thinks it’ll take the jaws of life to remove Mingyu from Jeonghan.

“I required weekly visitations,” Jeonghan tells him when Joshua finally drags Mingyu away from him.

“He’s my roommate, not my child,” Joshua reminds him, “and you’ll have to fight Jihoon for custody, that one’s not on me.”

“Jihoon hyung’s great, he’ll probably be willing to share,” Mingyu jokes, sending a wink Jeonghan’s way. Jeonghan clams up at the obvious flirtation, going red in the cheeks and it’s the fastest Joshua’s ever seen Jeonghan shut up in his life.

For all that Joshua considers their trip to the tea house a success, he’s careful when he goes into work on Monday. He doesn’t know who might’ve told Jihoon but he has a feeling that taking Mingyu out there isn’t going to stay a secret for very long. Jeonghan has a big mouth, Mingyu tells his boyfriend everything and Joshua even told Hansol that he had brought him so Hansol might mention it in passing. He’s hesitant to do anything that might tip Jihoon off about the situation all day and by the time they close up for the evening he’s relatively sure he got through the day unscathed. Until Jihoon lets himself into Joshua’s private office, closing the door loudly once Seungkwan and Seokmin have both already left.

“You were just going to not tell me,” Jihoon says and Joshua sighs. “Mingyu told me you took him out to the tea shop, you wanted to introduce him to an old friend? Why didn’t you tell me you took Mingyu to meet Jeonghan?”

“Why are you so upset about it?” Joshua asks, voice measured, a little sad. Jihoon must sense the change in the tone of the room when Joshua says it because his eyes fall away. “You know how Jeonghan feels about you, don’t you? I thought it would be kinder if he met Mingyu on a more even keel. Without you there.” Jihoon’s lips set into a hard frown. “I didn’t mean to step on your toes, I just thought… it might hurt less for him.”

“What about me?” Jihoon says, but he doesn’t meet Joshua’s eyes, gaze still somewhere near the foot of Joshua’s desk. “Do you ever think about how I might feel about it, hearing my boyfriend rave over Jeonghan like that? You know what he’s like, Mingyu gives out affection like he’s an endless supply of the stuff. He doesn’t even have to really know Jeonghan to care about him.” Jihoon looks at him then. “Imagine how much it hurts listening to my boyfriend go on about this guy that I was too scared to ever approach.”

“Jihoon—”

“I… I love Mingyu,” Jihoon says. “I love him, you know that. But Jeonghan and I have been dancing around this for so long I just… I thought it wasn’t going to happen, by the time you introduced me to ‘Gyu,” he explains. “I figured it would be easier than waiting around for something that neither of us have had the guts to say so I went for it with Mingyu. And I don’t regret that!” He says, voice fierce. Joshua knows he doesn’t, how could he when Joshua has seen all the adoration Jihoon’s ever held for his roommate. “But I don’t know what to do. Mingyu adores Jeonghan and I just know Jeonghan likes him too. I’m right, aren’t I?”

Joshua can’t lie. Why would he? It's clear Jihoon already knows the truth. Jeonghan latched onto Mingyu from the moment they stepped into the tea house. Even if he didn’t want to like Mingyu by the time they left he was smitten with everything Mingyu is. It’s so easy to do, falling for Mingyu from his stupid handsome face to his painfully kind disposition. If it isn’t real yet it won’t be hard to make it so.

“Yeah,” Joshua sighs.

“I can’t keep them apart but I don’t know what I’ll do if I see them together,” Jihoon says. “What am I supposed to do?”

“Maybe it’s not about keeping it all separated,” Joshua says. “Not every relationship is a puzzle of only two pieces.” Jihoon sucks in a deep breath. “And you know how much love Mingyu has to share.”

“I don’t want to force him into anything.”

“So don’t,” Joshua tells him. “I don’t think you’ll find you’ll have to force anything.”

Joshua has never been good with relationships. He’s always been too busy to try and maintain anything for himself, the few people he has dated quickly moved on when they discovered just how married to his work he is. He’s never tried to beat himself up for that, he adores what he does but it just means that he’s spent a great deal of time being single. He’s familiar with love, with affection, the feeling of butterflies in your stomach and sweaty palms and a rapid heartbeat but it’s been so long since he’s felt it himself. He’s pretty sure it makes him the least likely person to be giving Jihoon relationship advice but someone has to.

It’s storming again when Joshua gets home, pelting the window of his bedroom with a vengeance as he stays up well past the time he should be asleep. The lightning arcs through the sky, flickering artistically over Seoul’s skyline and he can hear Mingyu snoring between the bouts of thunder. He thinks about the advice he gave Jihoon as he sits at his desk, room only illuminated by a dim desk lamp, the hour growing later and later, patient files still without annotations spread out around him.

His thoughts swim aimlessly around in his head until he thinks back to what Jihoon had said about Jeonghan. The way the both of them spent so much time waiting around they feel as though they’ve both missed their window of opportunity. Joshua truly doesn’t think that’s the case, if anything Mingyu will create a much needed addition to what could’ve been a truly explosive relationship. But his mind gets away from him when he thinks about missed windows. Opportunities.

from: Joshua
> hey

from: Hansol
> hey
> i’m still alive, if that’s what you’re worried about
> shouldn’t you be asleep though, it’s a school night

Joshua breathes a laugh.

from: Joshua
> probably. but i still have a lot of homework to do.
> have you thought more about leaving?

from: Hansol
> yes and no
> maybe we should talk about this over the phone. can i call you?

from: Joshua
> sure

His phone rings almost immediately.

“Hello?”

“You’re using me to shirk your responsibilities. Don’t think I don’t see that,” Hansol accuses immediately and Joshua laughs, clicking off his desk lamp. The annotations can be done another day, this is more important.

“But you’re being so helpful in helping me do so,” Joshua replies, tucking himself under his blankets. His room is dark without the desk lamp on and his eyes adjust slowly to the near pitch blackness of his bedroom. The only thing truly clear in the absence of light is Hansol’s warm, gently raspy voice in his ear.

“Damn me, being so accommodating,” he says, punctuating the statement with a gentle chuckle. “I don’t know how I feel about leaving yet. Jeonghan hyung would hate it, for more than just having to take over the tea shop. I know he thinks of me as his little brother, even if he won’t say it out loud. Besides, I still don’t know what it means,” he admits with a sigh. “Nothing’s changed.”

“It’s been raining a lot,” Joshua says. “I know you said that’s not really a sign, be pretty extraordinary if it was, but it hasn’t really stopped even though my hex has. Just thought it was worth pointing out.”

“Never thought to move my whole life around just because it suddenly got a little wet,” Hansol tells him and Joshua breathes another laugh. “How would you feel if I left?” He asks suddenly.

“I… don’t think I’m qualified to answer that question.” Hansol hums into the phone as though in question. “I don’t know you very well. We only met… three weeks ago? I don’t think you should take the opinion of some random human you barely know very seriously.”

“And yet here we are, talking on the phone at half past one a.m.” Hansol tells him and Joshua takes his phone away from his ear to check. He is going to be so tired tomorrow. He puts his phone back to his ear anyway. “I don’t care how random you think you are. Everyone’s opinion is important. Consider it me collecting all the necessary data to make an informed opinion.” Joshua smiles to himself. “I can also rephrase the question if you’d prefer. Do you think I should leave?”

“I think…” he trails off for a moment before something comes to him. Maybe it means nothing but it surfaces at the front of his mind as though it does and he has to say it. “Do you remember what you said to me about Jeonghan? That he’s impatient, always wanting to skip to the good parts he sees rather than wait them out? Maybe… you’re rushing things a bit. You said you’re always trying to get ahead of the curve but there might still be a lot of road between here and there. Maybe it’s not about forcing the change but waiting for the change to come to you.”

It could’ve been out of place, wrong to suggest that Hansol was going about it the wrong way but it comes out anyway, a stream of consciousness more than an actual reasoning that Hansol shouldn’t go. It is almost two a.m. after all so maybe Joshua’s a bit loose tongued with exhaustion but he can’t put the words back. He listens to the silence only disrupted by the sound of Hansol’s breathing that tells him he’s still on the line. Joshua brings his bottom lip between his teeth, suddenly anxious to know what Hansol might be thinking.

“I might have silver hair a long time then,” Hansol says and Joshua breathes a laugh. “But you make a good point. I have one stipulation though, if I’m going to listen to your advice.”

“Okay?”

“I’m gonna start running an experiment. I want you to come to the shop every weekend. I’ll even pay you gas money if you want.” A laugh escapes him without his permission, leaning his head further back into his pillows. “But I got some teas that need testing. Can you give me a hand?”

He has an ulterior motive. Joshua doesn’t need magic to know this but he’s also a sucker. He knows that for sure, especially when Hansol’s voice is slowing down, thick and raspy with tiredness. And Joshua needs to go to bed or he’s going to be completely useless in the morning.

“Okay,” he agrees. “How do Saturdays sound?”

“Sounds like a date.”

Joshua goes to the shop bright and early Saturday morning, the bell tinkling brightly overhead. He thought about getting coffee but it seemed a bit rude to go to a tea shop holding a fresh brewed coffee so he went without. The moment he gets in he's surprised to see a new person standing behind the front counter, bright eyed and bushy tailed the way Jeonghan never is. His thin, feline-like eyes are lined in black and the grin on his face is infectious, Joshua finding himself smiling back on instinct as he approaches the counter.

"Hi, welcome in!"

"Hi," Joshua replies in kind. "Where's Jeonghan?"

"He's in the back, said he'd be busy most of the morning, actually," he explains, a strange twist to his lips. Joshua's not quite sure what it means. "You're a friend of hyung's." He states it, not a question mark in sight. Everyone in this tea shop certainly is sure of themselves, Joshua can't help but think.

"Yeah," Joshua sighs, "unfortunately." The man behind the counter giggles. "I'm Joshua. From what I've been told you might've at least heard of me."

"Oh! You're Joshua!" He says as though coming to some grand conclusion. And maybe he is, Joshua wouldn't be surprised considering it seems Jeonghan hasn't been shy about complaining about Joshua's absence. "He had mentioned you. I'm Soonyoung, by the way," he says and Joshua nods in understanding.

"Minghao mentioned you."

“Ah,” he sighs as though it explains everything. “Well, if you’re looking for Jeonghan hyung he’s gonna be in the back offices, probably. Minghao’s on the floor somewhere.”

“Oh, uh, I’m actually here to see Hansol.” Soonyoung’s eyes widen just a bit. “He’s in his apartment, right?”

“Yeah, been there all week,” he tells him. “You can go right up if you want.”

“Thanks.” Joshua nods politely and Soonyoung waves as he leaves the front counter. He feels like he can feel Soonyoung’s eyes on him even after he’s gotten around the wall that sprouts from the left wall that separates the counter from the rest of the shop.

Joshua isn’t sneaking around, technically, he’s just not announcing his presence to the other two employees supposedly trolling the floor of the tea shop. He doesn’t see a reason to, mostly because he doesn’t actually have an explanation for why he’s here other than, “Hansol asked me to be,” and while Minghao might take that at face value Jeonghan will not. He’s like a dog with a bone, the ‘give them an inch they’ll take a mile’ type and Joshua doesn’t have the energy to spare even a centimeter for him today.

Mostly because he’s not entirely sure himself why he so readily agreed to be Hansol’s tea guinea pig.

He keeps to the left side of the shop all the way towards the seat area, stepping out to get around the square little room he knows houses the kitchen and break area. Soonyoung said Jeonghan would be in the office for most of the morning so he thinks he might actually be able to get out of this unscathed, until he sees Jeonghan standing at the counter on the far side of the sitting area.

If Joshua were a lesser man he’d try to make a break for the stairwell door but he’s also 30 years old and the last thing he needs to be doing is making a fool of himself. So he simply tries to blend into his surroundings as he walks the final couple of meters to the door he knows will lead him up to Hansol’s apartment.

It’s when he gets the door that he realizes that Jeonghan isn’t paying attention to him. In fact, the rest of the tea shop might as well not exist at all because he’s got all his focus on two figures that Joshua is quite familiar with, sitting and standing at the counter in front of him. Even from behind it’s hard to mistake Mingyu and Jihoon, their height difference, even while Mingyu is sitting, is striking and Jeonghan is leaning forward on the counter while Jihoon gestures vaguely.

When Joshua left this morning he assumed Mingyu had gone out to see his agent, Wonwoo, to discuss any upcoming shoots or fashion shows he might have to go to. He’s surprised to see him already up and out of bed to do something not at all work related but it’s clear that this is important. He’s never seen Jeonghan so serious before and Jihoon’s moving his hands around in wide gestures, a nervous habit of his. Joshua doesn’t linger, is pretty sure the last thing they want is someone else being privy to this conversation, ducking into the stairwell and closing the door softly behind him.

The stairs are a bit less menacing the second time around and he gets up to the top of them easily. Hansol is clearly still trying to keep his employees out, there are still black thorns wrapped like barbed wire around the knob. Joshua tries not to pay them any mind, he’s still completely non-magical after all, and they retreat as soon as he gets close enough, allowing him to push the door open.

"Good morning," Hansol greets him, moving around the kitchen leisurely. There's a distinct casualty to his movements despite the fact that there are four mason jars (why the mason jars, Joshua can't help but wonder) steeping various colors of tea in them. There are timers attached to each one and Joshua closes the door behind him, toeing off his shoes.

"Good morning?" He replies. "Why does your kitchen look like a mad scientist's lab?" Joshua asks, looking away from the jars to see the stove top kettle still steaming away, a questionably wide bottomed pot taking up residence on a separate burner and various tea herbs and other ingredients spread across his countertop.

"I was trying more for 'witch of the woods'? I must've gotten my aesthetics all mixed up," Hansol jokes, fishing a mesh tea ball out of one of the jars.

"From this angle, your hair really sort of messes with the whole vibe," Joshua quips back, coming into the kitchen. Hansol turns to meet him, offering a cup of tea.

His hair is still a startling shade of silver, a bit unkempt but it's barely past nine a.m. Besides, Joshua can hardly judge him, he's usually a mess until at least noon on his "days off". If that's what you can call a weekend for him.

"Drink that," Hansol tells him, handing him the jar. It's a nice shade of red-brown, rich in color and it smells like cinnamon.

"What is with everyone in this shop and handing me questionable liquids to drink," he mutters and watches as Hansol's smile widens while he sips the tea.

It's warm, the flavor profile itself, besides the fact that it's physically a hot drink. It's earthy and a bit spicy, the kind of tea that's good for a really cold day. It's chilly but the weather misses the mark even if it is making a valiant attempt to rain. Again.

"So?" Hansol prompts.

"It's good," Joshua says, rolls the flavor around in his mouth. "A bit bitter though." He can't trace the reason but the aftertaste leaves a bit to be desired.

"Bitter like it's been brewed too long or bitter like it needs a bit of sugar. Because the latter I'm not going to take as a real critique, that's just your unrefined palate." Joshua's mouth falls open in mock offense as Hansol pries the jar from his fingers to take a sip himself. "Ooh, no, I let it steep too long."

"That was incredibly offensive. And after I agreed to come all this way to taste test for you. I never," Joshua lays on, getting a laugh in response. "So, you never told me why you needed my help," Joshua says, Hansol quickly going about yanking steepers from jars, setting them aside on a towel lined plate lest they leak all over the counter.

"Next Friday is the first of October," he says as though it answers the question. Joshua makes a sound of confusion and Hansol presses another jar into his hand. "You don't know what that means, huh?"

"Am I supposed to?" Joshua replies, bringing the mug to his lips. This one's more floral, a little fruity, earthy. He looks down to assess the color, wondering why he so blindly drank something when he barely even looked at it.

"Weather's gonna start getting colder, the beginning of tea season." Joshua can't deny that; iced tea isn't much of a thing in Korea, he can't even remember the last time he had some. As the weather gets colder people are going to be crowding the store to get a cold weather staple. "So I have to sus out some seasonal blends, both enchanted and not." Joshua lifts a brow. "You're safe, I've not fed you any magic." Joshua sips his newest tea once more. "Yet."

"Yah," he whines and Hansol laughs in earnest, moving around to empty his kettle, refilling it with new water to put it back on the stove. The pot remains where it is.

"But more importantly, October's a big season for magic." Joshua hums as Hansol picks up a wooden spoon, stirring whatever the contents is of the pot. "Most magic related celebrations are pagan or celtic in origin, which is whatever, but no matter what it's still the harvest season and by the time the month is over it's the end of the harvest season. Chuseok is a big marker for most wielders here. The harvest is a huge boon in every sense, including magic. Most wielders get their powers genetically so it's an additional thing to thank our ancestors for, you know. By the time the month is over everything has begun to die, thinning the veil between this world and the one after. Some who practice dark magic use this time of year far too opportunistically."

“Is it dangerous?” Joshua asks and Hansol sets the spoon aside to instead pluck the half finished tea from Joshua’s hands, replacing it with another. This one is much lighter colored, a watery green-yellow shade but Joshua doesn’t bring it to his lips. “Are you worried?”

“Not especially,” Hansol says, leaning back against the counter. “October isn’t any busier a month than any other, it’s just good to keep your wits about you. The shop and everyone in it will be fine but you… well, you’ve already had a run in with a hex, right?” Hansol looks right at him as he says it and Joshua averts his eyes, feeling a little too seen under his well meaning gaze.

It’s what brought Joshua to Hansol’s doorstep after all, of course he remembers the way Joshua’s hex kept him out of work for days, weeks even. He was barely able to leave his home just the day he came here, was so exhausted he conked out nearly as soon as he got home. Still, it’s uncomfortable to be reminded of it, something that even Joshua was too out of his depth to handle on his own. And to think he might be more vulnerable because of it… terrifying to think about.

“You think I should be worried?” He asks, sipping the tea. It’s a green tea, light and floral and perfect for a rainy day like today. His eyes turn towards the window of their accord, little droplets landing on the window from an irregular sprinkle.

“I think you should be careful,” Hansol says, voice kind. “But you still have the necklaces I made you, right?”

“Never leave home without them,” Joshua says, lifting a hand to rest it on the pendants that hide beneath his shirt, settling right in the middle of his chest.

“Good,” He replies with a grin. “Then you should have nothing to worry about.”

Joshua trusts Hansol, in a weird way. Joshua isn't the type to so blindly trust anyone, he's a doctor after all. It's in his nature to check and double check even the most assured opinions to make sure it's really the best one. His diligence is what so many of his professors and supervisors said was one of his best qualities. But he trusts Hansol, implicitly. Maybe it's because he's got so little experience in the field of magic that it makes him sure Hansol's opinion is of the utmost authority.

But it could be something else.

All the same, time ticks on. October comes, Chuseok comes and goes. The tea shop is closed for the week of the holiday but Joshua comes back that Saturday to hear Jeonghan yelling in the back of the store.

"Hi, Shua hyung!" Soonyoung greets him brightly, as he always does. "Just follow the noise, Hannie hyung and Sol are both back there."

That bodes so well.

"You knew about this?!" Jeonghan yells as soon as Joshua is within hearing distance, possibly even a little bit further than that. He's standing roughly next to the white tea display and he would be lying if he said he didn't think briefly about diving behind it for cover.

"I did," Joshua admits, walking towards them instead. Because he is a masochist, he supposes. Meanwhile, Hansol looks far too pleased about annoying Jeonghan while Jeonghan's got his arms over his chest, a truly ferocious pout on his lips. "He asked me not to say anything."

"I'm one of your best friends?!" Joshua shrugs, finally getting to the edge of the bar.

It's nice to see Hansol out of his apartment, dressed for work again in jeans, trainers and a long sleeve henley. He looks good and his hair is still a stunning shade of silver, falling over the right side of his forehead prettily. He's gorgeous and Joshua feels severely underdressed, as he usually does under Hansol's kind eyes.

"Shua was just doing me a favor," Hansol says.

"I can't believe you hid in your apartment for a week and a half because you're prematurely greying," Jeonghan says, rounding to look at Hansol. He looks, rightfully, offended and Joshua can't control the laugh that comes out of him.

"That is not what this is!"

"Sure," Jeonghan replies. "That remains to be seen."

Jeonghan's temper tantrum notwithstanding, things proceed as normal. Joshua doesn't hear about whatever happened between Jihoon, Mingyu and Jeonghan but he supposes it's not his business anyway. Jihoon isn't particularly forthcoming about anything, he doesn't know that it's a good idea to even ask Jeonghan and Mingyu has finally gotten back to work, gigs keeping him so busy Joshua hardly ever sees him. He'll find out in due time. Or until Mingyu blows it up so big in his head he explodes in a fast talking explanation in Joshua's room late at night.

Either or.

Nothing of interest happens even as the month progresses to the 13th. Friday the 13th. Everyone Joshua sees that day seems to be on edge and he hears people in the grocery store, wielders most likely, mumbling about incense. He's never been too particularly worried about it. It's just another day on the calendar to him.

He even goes back to the shop on Saturday, already having fallen into the routine of it, driving all the way out to sample teas until his tongue is nearly numb and Hansol offers to buy him lunch as compensation. Joshua doesn’t mind, in fact he’s glad to get out of the house, but he won’t deny free food when it’s offered and it gives him an excuse to stay a bit longer. He enjoys Hansol’s company, even if it’s paired with Jeonghan’s commentary and the knowing side-eyes he receives from Minghao.

It isn’t until Monday that he realizes that something is off.

He drops both necklaces.

Joshua is not clumsy. He’s even footed and has steady hands, it’s practically a prerequisite to even be a doctor. He’s handled more than his fair share of delicate samples, medications and bodily fluids in his life. And besides, if anyone in their house is a klutz, it’s Mingyu. The man’s a walking disaster. Joshua’s seen him trip over a flat surface before. So to say that he’s disappointed in his own mistake would be a bit of an understatement.

All the same, he sweeps up the broken crystal and scattered wax and then goes about his business. It’s inconvenient, sure, but it’s not the end of the world. A few days without a couple of talismans won’t kill him, he figures, as he finishes getting ready sans his usual adornments. He’ll see Hansol on Saturday anyway, it’ll be fine.

He misfiles three patient files, drops his mug in the break room and steps in a puddle so deep it wets his socks. It’s a veritable of bad happenstance and every single instance leaves him feeling worse than the last. He gets a papercut on the last file he has to put away at the end of the day and huffs before sticking his finger in his mouth, wandering over to the first aid cabinet.

“Papercut?” Seokmin asks and Joshua hums in agreement as he rummages around for a band aid. “You’re having a bad day, hyung,” he says, sympathetic as always as he turns to lean on the counter.

“I know,” Joshua mumbles, finally pulling a small band aid out of the miscellaneous medical supplies box. “When Hansol told me to be careful this month I didn’t think it would be like this,” he adds, cleaning out the cut to apply the bandage.

“That practitioner you’ve been seeing?” Seokmin asks. Joshua freezes.

“I’ve not been seeing him,” Joshua retorts. Seokmin makes a confused noise.

“You’ve not? I thought he was the one you consulted with about your hex?”

‘Seeing’, in a medical manner. Not ‘seeing’ in a dating manner. Right.

“Oh… yes…” Joshua agrees, and Seokmin’s lips turn up in a knowing little smile, tilting his head. “I have been seeing him for that. He was a bit worried about this month, it’s supposed to be a big month for magic so… he was concerned since I’ve already had a run in with a hex this year.”

“Right…” Seokmin drawls. “Well, maybe you ought to check in with him again. I’ve never seen you so clumsy.”

“Just a bad day,” Joshua insists. “I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“If you’re sure,” Seokmin replies but he doesn’t sound convinced in the slightest.

The next day Joshua twists his ankle on the apartment stairs, having to take them since the elevator went out in the middle of the night, burns his tongue on his coffee and runs into the cabinet door Seungkwan has open when he turns away from the water cooler too quickly. The sound is loud enough that it jars everyone, Seungkwan peering around the cabinet door while Jihoon leans back to look through the doorway, only to find Joshua rubbing his forehead.

“Alright there, hyung?” Jihoon calls out.

"I'm fine," he grumbles.

"Do you want some ice?" Seungkwan stage whispers, leaning around the door.

"No, it's okay, Seungkwan-ah," he sighs. "I'll be in my office," he announces, widely weaving around the cabinet and Seungkwan to get away from the break room and down the hall. Jihoon follows closely behind.

"Bad luck, huh, hyung?" Jihoon asks, leaning against the frame of his office door. Joshua sighs as he sits in his desk chair, only for it to tip back dangerously and almost deposit him on the floor. Jihoon makes an aborted movement to catch him, Joshua grabbing the edge of his desk to right himself before he falls or Jihoon has to catch him. It's embarrassing all the same.

"God above," Joshua says. It's unlike Joshua to be so exasperated that even Jihoon finds himself grimacing. "What is going on?"

"With those charms Hansol gave you I'd think they could handle something as simple as a little bad luck," Jihoon says, crossing his arms over his chest.

"I'm not wearing those," Joshua says, as though it's painful to even admit it. "I dropped them yesterday morning. They broke."

"They broke?" Jihoon asks. "You should see Hansol today. That's not a good sign."

"I was just being clumsy, and I'm having a bad run of it, I guess," Joshua says, stabbing the button on his computer to turn it on. "I'll see him on Saturday, I wouldn't want to interrupt him during the week anyway. I can handle a few days of bad— what the fuck?" He groans, leaning forward to put his face in his hands.

"What?" Jihoon asks and he only gets a step in the room before Joshua turns his monitor around, showing Jihoon a solid blue screen. "Go today," Jihoon insists. "And be glad we back everything up on the cloud."

After getting out of work at half past six (he had to stay late on the phone with IT while they figured out why his computer bricked and ended up having to reboot the whole thing to default so it would turn back on), the last thing Joshua wants to do is drive 30 minutes out of the way. With the season changing as it is it’s already cold by the time he gets out, there’s a watery yellow-orange-pink light streaming through gray clouds and he looks up at the sky as thunder crackles above.

“Great,” he huffs. As much as Joshua doesn’t want to, he tosses his jacket into the passenger seat and starts the drive out of the city towards the tea shop.

The normally 30 minute drive turns into a 45 minute trip with traffic and he can feel a headache beginning behind his eyes, running his hands through his hair as he tries to keep himself calm. It’s been a frustrating couple of days and he feels a bit bad about the way he has to bite back a groan at the way the bell above the door rings overhead when he finally gets to the shop.

“H— Shua?” Soonyoung cuts himself off and Minghao looks over where he’s standing at the side of the counter, a crease in his brow. “It’s Tuesday, what’re you doing here?”

“Is Hansol in?” He asks, no longer interested in making pleasant conversation.

“Oh, uh, he’s in the kitchen. I can—”

“It’s alright, I know where it is.” Joshua wincing at the way he interrupted him. “I’m sorry, Soonyoung, I’m just in a bit of a rush tonight. I appreciate it though, really. I can take myself back,” he assures him. He nods curtly to Minghao before walking around the counter to head into the store. Minghao turns to watch him go, the crease in his brow deepening in concern.

Joshua lets himself into the break room and stops short when he sees Jeonghan and Hansol standing over a steaming kettle, Jeonghan in the middle of whatever he’s saying. He closes the door behind him, the sound cutting off Jeonghan’s commentary and Hansol’s smile slipping away as he turns and sees Joshua standing there.

“Shua?”

“Shua hyung,” Hansol says, voice soft. HIs eyes cloud over in concern and Joshua huffs, sure he looks like a mess. He’s still wearing his slacks, dress shoes and button down but it’s unbuttoned a couple of buttons, his tie having been discarded in the car and his jacket hanging over his arm, the weather not having turned yet but sure to by the time he leaves. The threat of the weather made people drive even slower and he’s sure his hair’s a bit tousled from the way he couldn’t stop running his fingers through it in frustration. “What’re you doing here?” He asks, stepping forward.

“Jihoon told me I should come see you.” Jeonghan straightens up a bit in the corner of his eye but he can’t bring himself to think too much about it right now. “I’ve had a run of bad luck lately. It’s sort of concerning.”

“The sigil isn’t helping anymore?” Hansol asks.

“That’s… sort of the thing,” Joshua says, ducking his head, eyes falling to the floor. He feels like a child, having to explain that he’s broken something to his parents. He knows it’s not a big deal but it feels like it is and his tongue is heavy in his mouth when he says, “I dropped them the other day. They broke.”

“Both of them?”

“Yeah,” Joshua sighs.

“Shua—” Jeonghan begins but Hansol is faster, crossing the room to rest his hands on Joshua’s shoulders. Joshua startles, surprised that Hansol is so close.

“When they hit the ground? They both broke? Into a lot of pieces?” He asks, quickly, like it means something.

“Uh… yes?” Joshua agrees. “They shattered when I dropped them. I’m not usually so clumsy, Mingyu’s usually the one to go around dropping things, I didn’t mean—”

“You should’ve told me sooner,” Hansol tells him and Joshua flushes. “Amulets and sigils like that aren’t supposed to break, even if you drop them. Hell, you could’ve dropped them from the top of your apartment building and they should’ve been perfectly fine when you found them later. And you’ve been having bad luck ever since?”

“Yeah,” Joshua breathes.

“Really bad?”

“No… mostly just minor inconveniences,” Joshua admits. “But it’s been happening a lot. I keep dropping things and getting hurt, mostly little stuff. I got a papercut yesterday,” he explains and Hansol looks down to see the band aid wrapped around the side of Joshua’s middle finger. “I wasn’t going to get worked up about it but I guess I should’ve said something sooner.”

“Hansol-yah,” Jeonghan says and Hansol sighs.

“I know,” he agrees though Joshua’s not sure what with. “I’ll handle it, hyung.”

Jeonghan nods once before heading for the door, resting a hand on Joshua’s shoulder briefly before stepping through the door, gently closing it behind him. Hansol lets go of Joshua’s shoulders, instead letting a hand slide down to his forearm, fingers gently closing around it.

“I wish you would’ve told me sooner,” Hansol says, turning and tugging Joshua further into the room. Joshua lets himself be led farther into the room, Hansol sitting him down at the table, the one Joshua sat at almost a month and a half ago now, before venturing back into the kitchen. He leaves Joshua there to start going through drawers. “It’s not safe to be without protection, especially when you’ve already been on the wrong end of a hex this year. If something found you again you’re going to need stronger protection than last time.”

“What do you mean, ‘stronger protection’?” Joshua asks, setting his jacket on the table. “Why don’t you just do what you did last time, that seemed to fix everything?”

“Because guarding you from just one person won’t be enough if there are multiple people coming after you,” he says, yanking open a drawer. “There it is,” he mumbles, pulling a small plastic box from the drawer. “This time I’m going to make sure nothing else comes after you. But if we want to be sure we need to make something that no one else can break.” He walks over to the table, setting the box down on it but just as quickly covering it with his hand as he leans forward on the table. “Your charms shouldn’t have broken, it takes stronger magic than an amateur to manage something like that and it’s October. Someone is using the strength of this month to make their spells more potent. How many times have you hurt yourself in just the last two days?” Joshua’s eyes avert to think about it. “I don’t like that you have to think about it. This time the amulet will be stronger, but I need your help to do that.”

“What do you need?” Joshua asks. Hansol sighs and pushes the plastic box towards Joshua. He looks down, eyes widening and then darting up to look at Hansol. A set of neatly lined up pins look up at him through the clear lid.

“Your blood.”

Joshua, as he’s stated multiple times since meeting Hansol, is a doctor. So he’s pretty sure there’s nothing sanitary about this as Hansol runs the tip of a pin through a candle flame. It’s a rudimentary way to sanitize it, sure, but it is certainly not the best way.

“I’m pretty sure this isn’t a good idea,” Joshua says and Hansol breathes a laugh.

“The blood part or the needle in the fire part?” Hansol asks, finally removing the needle from the fire.

“Either part,” Joshua states. Hansol laughs again, and offers the needle to Joshua. “The things I do for you…” he mumbles, taking the needle (it’s a sewing needle that Hansol put in a flame for 30 seconds, this thing cannot be sterile) and stepping over to the stove where a pot is already boiling with something. He’s still not sure what all Hansol put in here but it’s an odd black-ish color that makes him more nervous than words can describe. “Just a drop?” He asks and Hansol nods.

“It won’t take a lot.”

“Fuck,” Joshua curses before bringing the needle down on the soft part in the middle of his fingertip. It stings and he winces as it breaks skin, setting it aside as the blood wells to the surface. He turns his hand over, the blood dripping from the tip of his finger into the boiling liquid.

Before his eyes the liquid in the pot turns red, spreading out from where his blood dripped into it, and he pulls back, going for the sink to wash the pin prick out. Hansol snorts and pulls another pin out to put to the flame. He’s less shy about it as, after a fair amount of time in the fire, he also pricks himself, letting the blood well and drip into the pot. Joshua joins him at the edge of the stove, the liquid turning a soft pink color. It smells like rosemary and rose petals and Joshua looks at Hansol, who flushes high in his cheeks.

“Don’t mind that,” he says. “Magic as a mind of its own.” He turns off the heat and puts a lid on the pot. “Give it a couple of minutes to cool. I’ll pour it over ice and it should crystalize like the other, but this one should stay this color. And this one shouldn’t break.”

“You didn’t really explain why this one was so much stronger,” Joshua says.

“Because it’s my magic,” Hansol says with a smile. He looks tired all of a sudden, leaning against the counter. “Your blood was to assign it to you and my blood strengthened the protective elements of the ingredients I put in it. It’s designed for my magic to only protect you. And because I’m a practitioner it should be work, practitioners have extremely strong magic.” His eyes droop a little and Joshua moves to catch him as Hansol’s knees nearly give out underneath him.

“Are you okay?” Joshua asks, holding him up.

“This is more draining than you might think,” Hansol says. “I just need to sit down for a second.”

Joshua sits him down at the table and reaches up to check his pulse. It’s instinctual, checking Hansol for any signs he might be in an actual medical crisis. But his fingers only barely touch his pulse point before Hansol’s reaching for them, threading their fingers together as he brings them down. Joshua’s eyes widen and Hansol looks at him, blinking a couple of times.

“I’m fine,” he assures him. “I just need a few minutes.”

Joshua sits down in the chair beside his and lets Hansol hold his hand, rubbing his thumb gently over the back of Hansol’s hand.

Joshua goes home that night with a new pendant hidden under his shirt, crystal rose pink and softly glowing every time it sways a little too close to his heart.

Mingyu explodes that Friday after two weeks of work and silence. He’s been working so hard lately that Joshua ordered in for the both of them and bought two large bottles of red to share. It’s been a trying couple of weeks for everyone, as the year is tapering off to the end of it around them, the weather is getting colder and colder and the threat of the holidays is getting ever closer. It’s still October so Joshua is trying not to overthink it, he has so much time but Mingyu seems to have a lot on his mind. Joshua has no problems with being his sounding board if it comes to that, shoveling Vietnamese in their mouths as a mindless action flick plays on the TV and they’re fuzzy with too much wine.

“I like them both so much but I know I have to go to New York soon and I don’t want to make a big deal out of it,” he whines, third glass of wine half empty. Joshua nods, still poking at his portion of rice. “We only started dating at the beginning of the year, Jihoon hyung and I, and Fashion Week was so awful, hyung,” Mingyu complains, tipping himself over to lie down on the couch. Joshua’s just glad the wine is on the table and he lifts his food so Mingyu can rest his head on his thigh.

“You didn’t even go to fashion week this year, ‘Gyu,” Joshua reminds him.

“Because I was between brands!” He insists, tone reaching a pitch only dogs can hear. Joshua is buzzed and giggly though so he doesn’t mind too much. “Hyung, what if they decide they don’t want me anymore when I leave? I know that my job is horrible about just throwing things at me, and getting on planes last minute. What if I go to New York and they think it’s too much, that I’m too much work— ow!” He complains when Joshua flicks him on the forehead.

“You’re drunk and overthinking things,” Joshua tells him, Mingyu pouting in response. “Don’t tell Jihoon I said this, but he worked himself up when you met Jeonghan because he liked you both so much he didn’t know what to do with himself. He made the leap to ask you out knowing full well that he also liked Jeonghan because he liked you so much. I mean, he used the L word, ‘Gyu,” Joshua says and Mingyu scrambles back into the sitting position, stupid puppy eyes widened like tea saucers.

“He did?” He asks. Joshua hums in agreement, nodding his head.

“He likes you a lot and I’ve seen the way Jeonghan looks at you. He adores you, you big oaf,” Joshua tells him, reaching over to shove his shoulder. Mingyu giggles as he tips backwards onto the couch. “They wouldn’t make such a big deal and have this conversation with you if they weren’t 100 percent sure they wanted to be with you. And Jihoon already knows what comes with your job, they’re going to be waiting for you to come back with open arms, Mingyu-yah.” Joshua finishes his point by shoving another large piece of caramelized pork in his mouth.

“You’re good at relationship advice, hyung.” Joshua almost chokes on his pork when he laughs. “You are!” Mingyu insists from where he’s lying. It loses some of its conviction due to the fact that he’s pink in the cheeks and getting just about as giggly as Joshua. “Why don’t you have a partner, you’re good at talking to people and communicating and stuff. You always seem to know what you’re talking about.”

“With other people,” Joshua says, reaching over to pick up his wine glass. Something explodes on screen and Joshua can see it reflecting in the red of his wine when his gaze drops to look down into it. “I’m not very good at talking to people I like. I have a hard time putting myself out there, I guess.”

“But you’re great!” Joshua smiles gently at the way Mingyu sounds so sure of himself. “You’re smart and you have a good job and you’re responsible and you’re handsome. Why would anyone not want to date you?”

“I’m boring,” Joshua says. Mingyu frowns. “I am. I’m a doctor and I work a lot and I’m just… a human. That’s all.”

“We’re all human,” Mingyu grumbles, struggling to sit up. He gets it eventually and Joshua snorts as he sways a bit before regaining his balance. “Some of us have cool magical powers and can do crazy spectacular things but we’re all just people,” he says, picking his wine back up. “And so what if you can’t wield, neither can Jihoon hyung even if his parents can!” Joshua tilts his head, curious. “You’re still capable of a lot of really incredible things, hyung.”

“Am I?”

“You’re a doctor,” Mingyu points out and Joshua giggles softly. “I stand in front of a camera and look pretty. You studied to like, save lives and stuff. That’s pretty cool.”

“I’m a pediatrician.”

“So?!”

They put themselves to bed at an hour far too late for being the age they are and Joshua wakes up the next morning with a wine hangover that makes it hard to open his eyes. Mingyu does not sound much better where he’s groaning in his own bedroom but unlike him Joshua has places to be. A standing date with Hansol that they never settled on an end date for so he shoves a pair of sunglasses onto his face, brews a strong cup of coffee and forces himself out the door.

“Nice sunglasses, cool guy,” Jeonghan quips when Joshua comes in, finally back to his usual place at the front of the store. He gives Joshua a hard look and Joshua takes off his sunglasses, wincing in the bright lights of the tea shop. “You look like shit. How much did you drink last night?”

“I was treating your boyfriend, you should be nicer to me,” Joshua tells him and revels in the way Jeonghan clams up when he refers to Mingyu as ‘your boyfriend’. "I don't need your commentary."

"I always have commentary," Jeonghan insists, breaking out of his frozen state to snap back. Joshua shoves his sunglasses back on his face pointedly. "Hansol-yah's in the kitchen. Go on your stupid little date, idiot."

"It's not a date," Joshua hisses and Jeonghan sniffs in reply, giving a rather unnecessary look. Jeonghan is always so full of looks and comments Joshua often wishes he knew a little less just so it would humble him a bit.

There's nothing else to say though so Joshua heads back into the store. It feels bigger today, though he can't quite place why as he makes his way to the kitchen. He gets a hand on the door and then hesitates.

The last time he was here he was a mess, and the resulting amulet from that visit is still hanging around his neck. He's noticed the glowing, the way it warms against his skin, there's something about it. Something a little less generic than the other, more than just what Hansol had told him. He rests a hand over it, where it hides under his shirt and it's warm to the touch. Joshua takes a deep breath before opening the door.

The kitchen smells like rosemary and bay leaves and wax. There's incense underneath it but the other herbs prevail and Joshua blinks, overwhelmed by the scent, before his brain focuses on what he's seeing. On the other side of the room there’s two large pots on the stove and Hansol bobbing his head to an imaginary beat. He clearly hasn’t even noticed that he isn’t alone anymore and Joshua peels off his jacket, hanging it on the back of one of the chairs, sunglasses left on the table, as he approaches, footsteps soft on the tile.

He gets close enough to peer over Hansol’s shoulder, the pots on the stove full of liquid wax, herbs floating along the surface while Hansol seems to be fishing a few stones out of it, delicately setting them aside. Joshua hums softly as he watches, hooking his chin over his shoulder and Hansol barely reacts, setting the wax coated stones aside on a piece of parchment paper.

“Yes, hyung?” Hansol mumbles, still going about his business.

“As per usual, I have no idea what you are even doing,” Joshua says conversationally and Hansol turns, fast enough that Joshua has to jerk back lest Hansol accidentally bump into him. He certainly looks surprised now.

“I… I thought you were Jeonghan hyung,” he says as an explanation and Joshua shrugs a shoulder. “When did you get here?” Hansol asks, setting the tongs he was using aside.

“Just a minute ago,” he says. “What’re you doing? Genuinely, I never have any idea what you’re doing.”

“Making wax sigils,” Hansol tells him, turning back to the stove. Joshua hooks his chin over Hansol’s shoulder again and this time he can feel the way Hansol shifts a bit to accommodate him. “Halloween is soon and I give wax protection sigils out to the community. I’m the only practitioner in this area, I’ve said that before, so everyone usually comes to me if they need anything so these are just free gifts. Practical thank you gifts for trusting me and a lot of people like to give them to their kids or their significant others during this time of year.” Hansol glances out the corner of his eye at him and Joshua smiles, close lipped and sweet.

“Can I help?” Joshua asks.

“You can strain the rosemary and bay leaves out,” Hansol says, reaching over to pick up a mesh strainer, offering it to Joshua. “I think I need to sit down.”

“Are you tired?” Joshua asks, resting a hand on Hansol’s waist.

“A bit drained,” he admits. He stumbles when he moves to step away from the stove though and Joshua holds fast to his waist, setting the strainer aside to catch him. Hansol’s hands land on his shoulders and he breathes a shy laugh. “Maybe a little more tired than I thought.”

“You’re overworking yourself,” Joshua tells him, directing him to the table. Hansol falls into a chair and Joshua pushes his hair back with a gentle hand, carefully running his palm along his forehead. Hansol huffs another laugh, reaching up to take Joshua’s hand in his again. He holds onto his hand gently, pulling it down to rest in his lap.

“You’re scolding me about overworking myself?” Hansol asks and Joshua tsks at him. “You work yourself to death, we both know it. I’m sure that hex wasn’t the only thing keeping you down,” he says and Joshua rolls his eyes.

“I’m worried about you. As a doctor,” Joshua reminds him. Hansol shrugs his shoulders, unbothered. “Can I at least get you something?”

“There’s some chrysanthemum tea in the cupboard. If you’re worried you can make me a cup. Think you can handle that, Dr. Hong?” Hansol quips and Joshua resists the urge to smack him, instead carefully untangling their fingers to move to the cupboard. “How have things been, since Tuesday?” Hansol asks and Joshua slows down his movements, carefully opening the cupboard door.

“Fine,” Joshua says. He can feel the heat of his amulet against his skin. “Everything seems to have gone back to normal.” He explains, going about preparing a cup of the tea for Hansol. “It’s a bit concerning that these things keep happening to me though, isn’t it? I’ve never had a run in with this kind of magic before, it’s a lot for me to take in. I’ve never really had much of a relationship with magic to begin with,” Joshua says, turning on the electric kettle once filled with water.

“Yeah, you struck me that way when we met,” Hansol admits, leaning forward to rest his arms on the table. “You must not have known many wielders when you were growing up.”

“No,” Joshua says, dropping the tea ball into the mug while the water is boiling. “I grew up in the church, I was raised Catholic, so I didn’t know many wielders at all growing up. There were a couple of kids at my school who were wielders or came from wielders but I didn’t know them very well and almost all the kids I went to church with were… mundane, like myself.” He reaches for the hot water as the kettle beeps. “Just one of those things, I guess. I didn’t know any real wielders until I reached college and started rooming with Jeonghan,” he explains. When he brings the tea over and sets it in front of Hansol he sees the softness with which Hansol is regarding him. “What?” He asks, pulling his hands back quickly.

“Some things are just… starting to fall into place, I guess," Hansol tells him, smile soft. Joshua sighs, turning away to do the task he offered to help with. As well as avoid Hansol's kind gaze.

"Glad you think so," Joshua says. "Because I don't know that I can say the same." He dips the mesh strainer into the wax, pulling up pines of rosemary and bits of bay leaf with every stroke. "Sometimes I feel like I'm never going to figure you out. All of this magic stuff just goes so completely over my head I don't know that I'll ever get a grasp on it."

"Rome wasn't built in a day," Hansol says.

"I know," Joshua agrees, dropping bits of wax coated greenery onto the parchment lined plate. "But it must be frustrating, right? Dealing with all these questions."

"No," Hansol says. The chair scrapes the tile and Joshua thinks about scolding Hansol to stay sitting, he's still not well, but Hansol is at his back too quickly. He's got a hand on Joshua's waist, gently turning him around and the strainer clatters to the counter as Joshua drops his hand.

"For all the things I feel like I'm learning about you there's still so much I don't understand," Hansol tells him, fingers of his opposite hand circling Joshua's wrist. "I'm still trying to figure out why it bothers you so much. Magic, and how little you understand. Not knowing doesn't make you a burden, especially when you've never had the tools to learn."

"I don't get it," Joshua finally says. "Any of it. How can anyone have the patience to work with something that doesn't make any sense?"

"It doesn't have to. Not all things do," Hansol says. "It's like emotions that way. We can't always explain them, we just feel them. Magic is like that. You just feel it."

The moment the words leave Hansol's lips the amulet is warm against Joshua's chest again. He can't bear to look down because he can't bear to know if it's glowing as brightly as he thinks it is. His eyes close, embarrassed, when Hansol breathes in sharply. He must've noticed and Joshua can feel it when Hansol's fingertips ghost over his shirt, tracing the outline of the amulet under the material.

"Does it always…?"

"Just sometimes," Joshua says, eyes still closed. "When I feel too much."

He moves in closer, Joshua can feel the material of his shirt brush against his own, fingers wrapping tighter around his wrist, his other hand resting on the curve of Joshua's waist again. He's near holding his breath as Hansol gets closer, Joshua's eyes still closed. He can't open them, doesn't know that he could if he tried, Hansol is so close.

The door to the kitchen swings open and Joshua reacts blindly, shoving Hansol backwards. He doesn't fall, catches himself on the counter, stumbling a bit while Joshua turns toward the counter. Hansol clears his throat, awkward, as he turns to their visitor, a wide eyed Minghao.

"I can come back," Minghao offers.

"It's fine. What's up, hyung?" Hansol asks, resting what he hopes is a casual hand on the kitchen counter.

"I… huh," he hums. "Well, anyway, I just talked to Soonyoung and he's got classes this weekend. The studio's swamped since he's been here so much so he's gotta run a few more classes to make up for the time loss. So he's a no-go for the holiday weekend. Sorry, boss."

"Ugh, fuck, okay," Hansol sighs, sagging back against the counter. "Could you ask Junhui hyung?"

"Is this… an order or a request?" Minghao asks, lifting a brow. "Because it makes a difference."

"Whichever it needs to be that gets you to ask him," he admits. Joshua sneaks a glance out of the corner of his eye and Hansol looks stressed. He almost never looks this unsettled. It lights a flame of concern in his stomach.

"Fine," Minghao grumbles, turning away.

"Thank you!" Hansol yells after him, Minghao yanking the door closed behind him. It snaps shut and Hansol brings a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose.

"You need help this coming weekend?" Joshua asks, voice soft and unsure in the wake of… whatever just happened between them.

"Yeah," Hansol admits. "The weekend before Halloween is such a mess. We're always swamped because it's the first weekend it's really cold. People are stocking up on tea or just herbs and a lot come in just to see me or get a wax sigil. I'm slowly expanding the store, literally, in preparation and I could use all the help I could get." He sighs and drops his hand. "Without Soonyoung it's going to be a rough weekend."

Joshua mulls it over for just a moment. Then he says, "I could come down and help."

"You?" Hansol asks, eyes wide as he turns to face Joshua, sounding nearly aghast at the suggestion. Then he clears his throat, schooling his expression. "Sorry, I didn't mean to sound so… I can't ask you to do that," he settles on saying, resting a hand on Joshua's where it's resting on the counter. "You work all the time as it is and I don't want you to feel like you have to come here on your days off. I was going to ask you not to come next Saturday anyway—"

"Then I would've had the day to myself anyway. I can come down and help you a bit with the masses," Joshua says but it doesn't loosen the frown on Hansol's face. "You need help and you're not asking me to do anything, I'm offering. You're really gonna turn down unpaid help?"

"I'm going to pay you!" Hansol insists. "What kinda…" Joshua smiles at him, and Hansol sighs. "You're gonna show up regardless so I don't know why I'm even fighting you about this."

"You are learning things about me," Joshua says and Hansol gives him a tired smile. "Don't worry about me. I can manage a weekend with you guys."

"Worrying about you is what I'm good at," Hansol says and it's a bit humbling. It always is, being reminded of the reason he ever even walked into his tea shop.

The entire week leading up to the following weekend is full of Joshua’s anxious fidgeting and the near consistent glowing of his amulet. He tries to calm his racing heart when he so much as thinks about spending an entire weekend with Hansol but it only serves to make the amulet act up even more. Around the third time Seungkwan gives it a critical look Joshua starts hiding it in his bag because at least it won’t be obnoxious in there. He really doesn’t know what he would say to someone if they came in and their child started asking about why Dr. Hong’s chest is glowing under his shirt.

Jihoon is as obnoxious as ever about it, which is wildly unfair to Joshua considering the man was nearly sweating bullets just a few weeks ago when it came to Mingyu and Jeonghan. Which he can only assume is going well because Mingyu keeps not coming home from his evening shoots. He’s choosing not to ask Jeonghan about it because he’s always been almost disturbingly nonchalant when it comes to talking about his sex life.

Third year was really hard for Joshua. He spent more time than he’d like to admit on his friend Kun’s sofa.

Despite the goading from his coworkers he gets up at an hour near the same as he would if he were going into work so he can get ready and drive to the tea shop. When he pulls up in front of it Hansol looks genuinely surprised to see him there as he’s opening the door to the tea shop. Joshua gets out of his car to meet him at the front stoop and even offers him a warm to-go cup.

“I don’t drink coffee,” Hansol says with a coy smile and Joshua knows he’s just being difficult.

“It’s black tea,” he retorts and Hansol takes it with careful hands. “This is coffee,” he says, pointing to his own and taking a long sip. Hansol shakes his head at him, mock disgust on his face.

“Horrible. Bringing that filth into my shop,” he jests and Joshua laughs as he lowers his cup. “C’mon, I’ll give you the grand tour before everyone else gets in. The others probably won’t be here for another hour or so.”

“Are they always so late?” Joshua asks, setting his cup down on the register counter before peeling off his jacket.

“No, you’re just early,” Hansol says with a smile, stabbing buttons on the register until the drawer pops open. “I don’t know what time you got up to get here but we don’t open until eight, Shua. It’s barely seven,” he points out and Joshua merely shrugs a shoulder.

“There was no traffic,” he states in an excuse. Hansol laughs, tucking a big black metal drawer into the register before shutting it.

“At half six in the morning? Well, I just can’t imagine,” He jokes. “C’mon, I’ll show you the ins and outs. Where the magic happens and all that.”

In a surprise to absolutely no one except maybe Joshua from a couple of months ago, the back of the store is hidden behind a door that opens into a much bigger back room than the storefront might suggest. Joshua doesn’t miss that it takes a bit longer to get to the back than it normally would, Hansol wasn’t kidding about literally expanding the store, several shelving units that he didn’t see previously decorating the floor as well as a half wall separating the seating area from the main sales floor. The door to the back is behind the bar counter, next to another door that Joshua doesn’t recognize.

“Offices,” Hansol says when Joshua looks at it, but pushes open the door on the left instead. “Jeonghan hides in there when he’s sulking, for the most part. Not much other than a couple of computers, which are always on the fritz. Seungcheol hyung keeps telling me that we should bring in an IT specialist or a wielder that specializes in electrics but I really don’t think either will help.”

“Seungcheol?” Joshua asks, head whipping over to look at him.

“Seungcheol hyung… that’s right, you probably know him from college. Jeonghan hyung said they went to uni together.” Hansol waves him into the backroom, which is a high ceilinged, concrete floored den with shelves on every wall, covered in meticulously labeled tea and herb boxes, categorized by type. “He works here sometimes when we need help, usually on weekends. He might be in today, actually.” Hansol turns to the store room then. “This is the back room. Everything has a place, Minghao hyung made sure of it.” He gives Joshua a look that tells him that he’s had many an argument with Minghao about his meticulous storage system. “He’s my normal stocker mostly so I don’t touch anything.”

“You don’t… really run this place, do you?” Joshua hazards and Hansol shakes his head.

“Not really,” he admits and Joshua laughs. “My name may be on the paperwork but Jeonghan hyung’s the best at the financials and Minghao takes care of most of the inventory stuff, because he’s a control freak. I’m a practitioner first and a store owner second. This place would completely fall apart without them and I know it.” Joshua looks at the backroom for a moment, committing the way it’s set up to memory. “I’m showing you this mostly as a formality, you won’t be back here much. Running a register or talking to people might be more your speed.”

“I’ll have you know, I have retail experience,” Joshua tells him and Hansol gives him a curious look, leaning back against the open door, crossing his arms over his chest. “I worked at the campus bookstore for two whole years while I was in uni.”

“You must be very good at organizing shelves,” Hansol tells him. “You still know how to count, hyung?” He quips, waving a hand to direct Joshua back out of the back room.

“I’m sure I can figure it out.”

The register is easy enough to figure out, especially since more people pay by card these days. Hansol sets a large wooden box of the wax sigils, all strung on leather cords and packaged neatly in mesh drawstring bags, on the counter next to the register.

“Just hand them to people,” Hansol instructs. “Near everyone will ask for one anyway and they don’t even have to buy anything to get one.”

“How do you make money like that?” Joshua asks, amused smile on his face.

“Loyalty, mostly,” Hansol answers simply. “This neighborhood isn’t very big and they’re all good people.”

Joshua doesn’t doubt that, especially with someone like Hansol looking after it.

Jeonghan and Minghao drag themselves into the store around 15 minutes to eight and Jeonghan nearly starts vibrating when he sees Joshua is already there. He’s less excited when Hansol informs him that Joshua will be taking over his usual post at the register but it's momentary. Minghao gives them both a long look before wandering towards the back of the store. Joshua is hopeful he doesn’t bring up whatever happened last weekend, mostly because he doesn’t think he could handle the embarrassment.

“Hansol said Seungcheol-ah might be coming by today,” Joshua says to Jeonghan, who’s fluttering around like a caged bird.

“Yeah,” Jeonghan says, casual as can be. “He usually works weekends with us, whenever he has a spare moment not being rich and successful.” He meets Joshua’s eyes and notices the pointed look directed at him. “Oh! I didn’t tell you! Seungcheol-ah’s running a company now, you’ve heard of them, SVT Productions.” Joshua has heard of it. “He runs the whole thing. That music producer thing worked out for him, he’s not so bad after all. Hansol-yah helps with lyrics sometimes. That unfinished college education wasn’t a total waste after all,” he throws out and Joshua turns around to look at Hansol, who’s looking a bit like a deer in headlights.

“I… uh… yeah,” Hansol agrees. “It’s mostly just a hand here or there. I have writing credits on a few songs but it’s not like… a big deal.”

“What don’t you do?” Joshua asks, voice coated in amazement and Hansol blushes high in his cheeks. Joshua turns away, hand over his amulet in hopes to mask the way it’s glowing, warm and bright against his sternum.

The store opens at eight and Joshua gets swept up in the rush of customers, the familiar rhythm of helping people. He really hasn’t done something like this since he was 20, stumbling over himself every time someone tried to ask him where to find the psych textbooks, but it’s like riding a bike. He smiles at the customers who come in to ask for items and greets everyone who comes in. The families that come in around ten and eleven greet him warmly and he waves at the small children that cling to their parents.

“Dr. Hong?” A woman asks around ten thirty and Joshua is surprised to see a familiar face. Her name is Wheein and she has a pair of twins, Dongju and Dongmyeong, who come in to see Joshua every school year for wellness checks. The two of them are hanging on their mother, six years old and still wide-eyed and a bit shy, Dongju more than his brother. Dongmyeong brightens up when he recognizes the doctor though and bounces over to say hi, Joshua ruffling his hair affectionately.

“Hello, Ms. Jung,” he greets her. “I didn’t know you lived out here.”

“Oh, we just moved out of the city. Their mother just got a new job in the neighborhood,” she explains, coming over to the counter. “You live here as well?”

“No, I’m just helping out a friend for the weekend,” Joshua says. “Hansol-yah said he needed a hand and I had a free weekend.”

“That was kind of you,” Wheein says. “Do you know Hansol-yah well?” She asks. She drops a hand to run it through Dongju’s hair comfortingly, the boy still clinging tightly to his mother’s leg. He’s always been the more nervous of the two, finds seeing Joshua a bit scary. This does, however, mean that Dongmyeong takes great pleasure in messing with his brother and he bounds away from Joshua to tease his brother mercilessly.

“Yeah,” Joshua agrees after a moment. “I would say so. I don’t mean to take up your time, though,” he says and Wheein sighs when she looks down and sees her twins trying to catch each other around her legs. “It seems you have your hands full,” he jokes and she nods, as tired as any mother is.

“Don’t I always,” she tells him. “Well, it was nice seeing you, Dr. Hong.” Joshua nods as she herds her rambunctious pair away from the front of the store and further into it. The scamper off into the shelves, Wheein close behind. Joshua turns away only to find Jeonghan standing at the register instead, jumping in surprise to see his friend so close.

“Why?” Joshua asks, and then shoos him away from the counter. Jeonghan goes but doesn’t go far, just enough to let Joshua get back behind the register, still lingering next to his elbow.

“You’re quite the hit with the families in this area,” Jeonghan points out. “You know Wheein?” He asks, nodding his head in the direction in which she went.

“Her kids are patients of mine,” Joshua says and Jeonghan nods slowly and though in understanding but he’s got his look on his face like he’s trying to figure Joshua out. “They’ve been coming to me ever since they were small, they’re good kids. She and Hwasa are good parents.”

“I know,” Jeonghan retorts. “She’s a wielder, she comes in all the time for herbs. And she’s friends with Hansol-yah,” he informs him. Joshua lifts a brow. “Just saying.”

“Just say it somewhere else,” Joshua tells him and Jeonghan rolls his eyes before flouncing off into the store.

Around noon Hansol comes around to scare Joshua off the register, telling him to trade out with Junhui for half an hour. Junhui is Minghao’s roommate and bickering partner, the two of them going at it from the moment Junhui steps behind the counter. It’s like watching Seungkwan and Jihoon, Joshua realizes as Hansol leaves them to it, instead directing Joshua to the break room. The store is in a brief lull due to the lunch hour and Joshua sits down in the break room, surprised by how tired he is.

“I didn’t think my feet would hurt this much,” Joshua says as he sits down. Hansol laughs, as he sits down across from him, beckoning a teapot and two mugs from the counter to the table. They float over and land easily on top of the table, Hansol pouring them both a cup. “Too lazy to just pick it up today?” Joshua asks but takes the offered tea anyway.

“It’s been a busy day,” Hansol points out, taking a sip of his own tea. “You should head out around four, get some rest.”

“I can stay,” Joshua replies and Hansol’s shoulders fall, giving him a hard look. “You’re going to be here all day, and I’ve had more difficult days at the office. I’ll stick around until close, it’ll only be a few more hours anyway.”

“Shua—”

“I’m staying anyway, so you can argue about it if you want but I’m not leaving until you close.” Joshua smiles serenely at him. “When will you learn that it’s not worth it to argue with me?”

“I can be stubborn too. I just haven’t found something worth the argument yet,” Hansol tells him. “Stay if you want, but you should get something to eat while you have the time. We’re closing at nine tonight,” he says, getting to his feet. “Don’t overwork yourself,” he warns him, taking his mug with him as he goes to leave. Joshua smiles to himself only for it to dissolve when he feels the press of a kiss to his temple. He turns to look as Hansol walks out, the break room door closing softly behind him.

His amulet is hot against his skin.

Seungcheol saunters in the door around one, Joshua back from lunch and Seungcheol nearly suffocates him when they hug. He hasn’t seen Seungcheol since graduation, Seungcheol offering him platitudes that if he’s going to see Jeonghan one day he will certainly see him too. Joshua’s never been too sure but fate clearly knew what she was doing and Joshua hugs him back nearly as tightly. Seungcheol eventually lets him go and goads Junhui into running the counter so he can steal Joshua for a while. Junhui sighs long sufferingly but agrees to watch it while Seungcheol drags Joshua back to the counter in the back.

Joshua’s never seen it actually being run before but it must be a special weekend because the seating area is quite nearly full and Jeonghan is manning the counter. He starts crowing for the two of them as soon as they’re close enough and Seungcheol slips behind the counter with him as Joshua gets to the edge of the bar, the two of them moving around each other as they always have.

Jeonghan scolds him about being late, Seungcheol reminds him that he’s doing the shop a favor by even being here and they bicker back and forth about it. That’s not different at all, it seems.

“So,” Seungcheol says as soon as he’s settled in, an apron around his waist and looking a bit silly with it on. “Hannie told me you returned to us from med school. What’s that about, how’d you find us? He wasn’t very specific.”

Joshua tries to condense the last two months into as few sentences as possible but it’s not easy. A lot has happened in a very short time frame and the words all sort of spill out of him at their own pace. He’s not entirely sure he’s making sense by the time he’s done because everything feels a bit too crazy to be true. Even so Seungcheol manages to make them both a London fog and is smiling at him in the gentle way that Seungcheol has that makes you feel like everything’s going to be okay.

“Who was that boy you liked in uni, Shua? I forget his name,” Seungcheol says and Joshua tilts his head, narrowing his eyes.

“What does that have to do with anything? I barely even remember him,” Joshua says. Seungcheol gives him a pointed look and Joshua sighs. “Oh… Sanghyuk, I think? He was friends with Youngbin hyung.”

“Yes!” Seungcheol agrees. “I haven’t heard you talk about anyone like you just did about Hansol-yah since Sanghyuk.” Joshua groans, shaking his head at his friend. “It’s true! It was impossible to listen to you talk about how you got here and not notice. Your eyes get all soft and you get the stupidest expression on your face when you talk about Hansol-ah. You really like him, Shua.”

“So?” Joshua retorts, thumbing at the edge of his paper cup.

“So, you should tell him,” Seungcheol insists. “I can’t believe we finally see each other after all this time and I have to be the voice of reason around here.” He turns to Jeonghan. “Yah, Hannie! You couldn’t handle this?” Joshua reaches over the counter to swat at his friend.

“You think Joshuji listens me? Fat chance,” Jeonghan says, pouring hot water over a tea bag. “Shua’s as stubborn as he always has been.”

“Yeah, and who taught me that?” Joshua calls out, Jeonghan shrugging an innocent shoulder.

“Hansol’s a good guy, Shua,” Seungcheol assures him and Joshua sighs heavily. “Genuinely, a really good guy and if you could convince him to stick around I think you’re underestimating just how much you mean to him as well. Take the leap, what’s the worst that could happen?”

“I fall on my ass?”

“It’s still better than never knowing at all.”

Joshua retrieves Junhui from the counter and runs it until close, the box of wax sigils dwindling by the end of the day. The sun sets on them around quarter to seven, right on time for a rain shower to start up. Joshua comes out from behind the counter to look out the front door window, watching rain fall in sheets from the sky. It’s a heavy downpour and the traffic dies out quickly, people shuttering away in their homes until the rain lets up. Joshua takes the reprieve to check the weather and finds that it’s supposed to rain all night.

“Let’s just close up,” Minghao suggests around ten to eight. There’s no one left in the store, the setting sun and rain made sure of that. “No sense in staying open while the weather’s this bad,” he says, the employees coming together to congregate in the front of the store, Hansol at the door watching the rain come down, fast and hard enough that it causes the white glow of the street lights to flicker in the window.

“Yeah, okay,” Hansol agrees. “Let’s close up.”

“Hell of a drive home, I got,” Joshua says, voice soft.

“You can’t drive home in this,” Seungcheol tells him. “It’s way too bad. Even Hannie and I are staying at Minghao and Junhui’s for the night. It’s way too dark, you won’t even be able to see the road.”

“I don’t have a place to stay,” Joshua says. “I don’t want to put you guys out,” he says to Junhui, who shrugs.

“You can stay here,” Hansol says and the room goes deathly quiet other than the sound of the rain drumming on the roof of the shop. “I have a pull-out couch. Okay, it’s a futon but it’s a place to sleep. And Cheol hyung’s right, you can’t drive home in this, it’s way too dangerous.”

“It’s… really fine—”

“No, Hansollie’s right,” Jeonghan says, and Joshua turns to give him a hard look. “You should stay here. It’s safer than driving home. Text Mingyu-yah, he’ll be glad to know you’re staying somewhere safe for the night.”

“...okay,” Joshua relents. “If it pleases everyone, I’ll stay here for the night.”

“Good,” Minghao says. “Let’s close up and get the fuck outta here.”

It doesn’t take too long with so many hands around to help, closing the registers and straightening up the store. Hansol waves the others out the door at half past, the four of them all but running for Minghao’s car to get them back to the apartment. It’s only a five minute drive according to the roommates, which is why they’re not letting Jeonghan or Seungcheol drive all the way back into the city for the evening, and the rain hasn’t let up at all.

“You can head up, if you want,” Hansol says, sitting down in the office. “It’s mostly just busy work now.”

“How can I help?” Joshua asks instead.

As Hansol said, it’s mostly busy work when it comes to counting the drawers but Joshua stays nearby, sweeping and wiping down counters. He’s busy with the counter top when Hansol glances out the office door, watching the way Joshua diligently cleans up. He breathes a laugh to himself, shaking his head as he goes back to finishing the drawers.

They head up to the apartment overhead around nine, Horangi nearly jumping on top of Hansol when they get in. Joshua nearly forgot all about the dog but he’s quick to remember Joshua, nosing at his hands to also get pets when he’s done harassing his owner. He’s clearly warmed up to Joshua a bit since their first meeting and he bonks his head into Joshua’s chin when Joshua squats down to get eye level with him.

“He’s so needy,” Hansol says but fond. Horangi barks as though indignant. “You know I’m right,” he argues back. He turns back to Joshua, clearly uninterested in bickering further with his owner. “Sorry about the weather and all, I’m sure I have something you can wear to bed, though.”

“I would appreciate it. I don’t mean to put you out,” Joshua says as he straightens back up.

“You’re not. If anything I feel bad you can’t go back to yours tonight,” Hansol says, waving Joshua further into the apartment. Joshua follows him back, a familiar path to the first time he came up here. Hansol leads him into the bedroom and rummages through his dresser to find something for Joshua. Joshua looks around the bedroom as Hansol looks.

It’s a simple bedroom but the window behind the bed overlooks the front of the store. The rain is still coming down in sheets, the height of the street lights casting a white glow in the window and over the bed, flickering in and out with the speed of the rain. A clap of thunder rings out overhead and Horangi noses meaningfully at Joshua’s hand again. Even he doesn’t like thunder, it seems.

“These should fit,” Hansol says, offering a pair of sweats and a t-shirt. “We’re about the same size, I think.”

“I would think so,” Joshua agrees, taking the clothes. “I really do appreciate this.”

“No problem. Bathroom’s in the living room, you can’t miss it.”

When he changes in the bathroom he glares at the way his amulet won’t stop glowing. It’s getting sort of annoying, the way it keeps lighting up at the most inconvenient times. He wonders if he can get away with hiding it in his jacket for the evening, so he can stop being so constantly reminded of how he feels. In the end he keeps it on him, tucking it under the t-shirt Hansol let him borrow and hopes it just stops at some point. When he steps back out Hansol’s already unfolded the futon for him and threw a couple of pillows and a blanket on it.

They manage to get through the evening and even a small dinner without too much awkwardness even if Joshua still feels like he’s vibrating with nerves. He can’t help but be far too aware of where he is, who he’s with and the fact that they’ve never talked about what happened last Saturday. They haven’t talked about anything, really, in terms of their relationship and that’s fine. Joshua is fine with being friends, or he would if he didn’t feel like there’s been an elephant in the room with them since they met. Something unspoken that’s inflating like a balloon and threatening to pop with every passing moment they don’t acknowledge it.

“Are you sure you’re comfortable?” Hansol asks, hesitating in the living room when Joshua lies down to go to sleep.

“I’m fine, Hansol,” Joshua assures him. “Thank you. Get some sleep.”

“Alright,” Hansol agrees. “Good night, hyung.”

“Good night, Hansol-yah,” Joshua says. Hansol flicks off the light and Joshua lies down to go to sleep, the sound of the rain still going on the roof, louder now that they’re closer to it. It’s soothing in a way and Joshua can hear it when Hansol closes his bedroom door softly. He closes his eyes and hopes sleep will come quickly.

It doesn’t. He falls asleep for a few minutes at a time, waking up shortly thereafter, unable to stay asleep. It’s disconcerting, to say the very least, Joshua’s not one to not be able to sleep. Even in foreign or unfamiliar places, if he’s tired enough he can fall right asleep but not here. He finds himself turning over to try and find a more comfortable position every time he wakes up. He’s exhausted from being on his feet all day and he expects that this time, every time he finds a new way to sleep, that he will finally fall asleep for good.

He doesn’t and he stares at the ceiling for far longer than he’d care to admit, glaring up at it in irritation. A few minutes later he hears the bedroom door open again and he tilts his head back to see Hansol at the mouth of the hallway, looking about as defeated as he feels.

“Did I wake you?” Joshua asks, voice small.

“No, I can’t sleep,” Hansol says. “C’mon,” he tells him, walking to the edge of the futon and offering a hand.

“C’mon where?” Joshua asks, voice still soft in the darkness.

“Don’t play coy with me, hyung. You know where,” Hansol says and Joshua sighs before taking the hand offered. He drags the blanket with him, letting Hansol lead him like a sleepy five year old down the hallway back to Hansol’s bedroom.

The light is still off in the bedroom but Joshua’s eyes have long since adjusted the darkness and he climbs into the opposite side of the bed from Hansol, curling up with the blanket, the white glow of the street light outside being the only source of light in the room. Hansol settles down next to him and Joshua rests his head on one of Hansol’s pillows. Hansol turns onto his side and looks at him, the white glow of the street light making the silver of his hair also glow, an otherworldly gray color. He looks about as magical as he actually is like this.

“Why did you bring me here?” Joshua whispers into the darkness.

“I’m taking an educated guess as to why neither of us can sleep,” Hansol says. He slides in closer and Joshua freezes up briefly as Hansol’s hands find his hips. Hansol hesitates for a moment, waits and when Joshua relaxes again his hands slide around to rest on his back, bringing Joshua in closer. Joshua lets himself be moved and when Hansol is done with him he’s close enough to rest his forehead on Hansol’s shoulder, letting his own arm drape over Hansol’s waist. He smells like incense and green tea.

“Good night, hyung,” Hansol says and Joshua noses in closer.

“Good night, Hansol.”

When Joshua wakes up the next morning he’s on his side of the bed and Hansol is on his and he turns over, surprised to find that he’s not being held. His groggy half asleep brain struggles to figure it out and he looks at Hansol where he’s sleeping facing the opposite wall. Joshua tips his head back to look out the window but, even though it looks like it’s supposed to be morning, the sun hasn’t gotten the memo, gray light sliding in through the window. It’s still raining but it’s slowed to a drizzle, sliding down the window in slow, leisurely drips. He looks back at Hansol, who shifts in his sleep, turning onto his back.

Joshua considers getting out of bed, maybe making them both tea while it’s still early but he doesn’t. He stays lying in bed, simply shifting up to get an elbow in the pillow, propping up his head to look at Hansol. He’s dead asleep, features relaxed and lips slightly parted. He’s not snoring, which is kind of a surprise to Joshua, he sort of figured Hansol might be the kind to do so. His gray hair is a mess, splayed on the pillows and half covering his face. Joshua reaches a careful hand out, pushing it away from his eyes.

It’s only after he’s managed to push it away from his long lashes and is thumbing sweetly at Hansol’s cheek that Hansol’s eyes slide open. He blinks blearily and Joshua pulls his hand back, Hansol lifting his hands to rub his eyes.

“‘Morning,” he mumbles in a raspy, morning voice. Joshua smiles as Hansol shoves himself up the bed a little further, leaning back against his headboard. “Have you been up long?”

“Just woke up,” Joshua says. “Sorry to wake you.”

“S’ fine, probably should’ve been up a while ago,” he says, dropping his hand only to have to lift them again, covering a yawn. “Gotta open the doors before Jeonghan and Minghao hyungs get here, anyway. You hungry, I’m not good at making a lot of things but I can manage a few eggs,” Hansol says, blinking slowly.

“I’m okay, thanks,” Joshua tells him.

“How about a cup of tea? I know you drink coffee in the morning but I think I have a black tea you might be able to stomach,” Hansol offers.

“That sounds fine,” Joshua agrees. “Still early though, and it’s still raining.”

“Is it?” Hansol asks and he twists to look over his shoulder. “Damn, it really has been raining a lot, hasn’t it? I swear, we haven’t had a dry day since…”

“August,” Joshua says and Hansol looks at him. “Since August.”

“Yeah…” he mumbles. “S’ so weird, we don’t usually get this much rain this time—”

Joshua pushes forward before Hansol can finish his thought, catching his lips in a clumsy kiss. Hansol breathes in sharply, surprised, but his hands come up to catch Joshua, resting high in his waist, nearly on his ribs. Joshua’s hands cup his jaw and Hansol’s eyes flutter shut. He separates from Joshua’s lips just to readjust, slotting their lips together properly. It’s a dry, chapped kiss, sticky with morning breath but Joshua couldn’t care less as he kisses Hansol like he’s been thinking about doing for weeks. His amulet is discarded on the table in the living room but if he was wearing it he just knows it would be burning his skin, glowing brightly like a captured star.

Hansol pulls Joshua in further and Joshua moves with him, settling down with his knees on either side of Hansol’s lap, their kisses getting messier, needier. Joshua’s hands move from his jaw to his hair, Hansol’s finger pressing in hard enough to dimple the skin beneath. Joshua breathes a sound in Hansol’s lips that he swallows readily, lifting a hand to hold Joshua’s face, opening his mouth to kiss him deeper.

It’s too early for it to lead to anything but they kiss like they’re starved, trying to take as much from each other as they can manage at this hour. Joshua acquaints himself with the softness of Hansol’s palate, the feeling of his hand holding tightly to his waist, his hair between his fingers while Hansol’s teeth catch on his lips. Hansol’d be lying if he said he hasn’t thought about what Joshua’s lips would feel like against his own, the gentle bump of Joshua’s nose against his own, the soft, breathy noises he makes when Hansol bites at his lips. The impulsiveness of Joshua’s kiss makes him feel unhinged from reality, the only thing he cares about being the press of Joshua’s chest against his own, the feeling of Joshua’s tongue dragging along his own.

“Hyung,” Hansol breathes and Joshua hums, stealing another kiss, recklessly deep, teeth catching on Hansol’s lower lip. “Fuck,” he curses, swallowing before kissing him again. “I have to… the doors…” he mumbles, lost between the needy kisses Joshua leaves on his lips.

“It can wait.”

“It… it really can’t,” Hansol says, breathing a laugh. “Hyung, please,” he sighs and Joshua nips at his lower lip again.

“Say it again,” he whispers and Hansol’s fingers flex on Joshua’s waist. Joshua’s hands slide down from Hansol’s hair to his neck, fingers splayed to tilt his jaw up with his thumbs. “Say please.”

“Please,” Hansol breathes, kissing Joshua delicately on the lips once more.

Joshua climbs off of Hansol to let him get to the door but he stops to steal one more kiss from Joshua’s lips, Joshua giggling into his lips before Hansol is off, rushing to get to the door. Joshua feels giddy with it, lying back on the bed to wait.

Hansol unlocks the spell binding the door, the mechanical lock being enough to keep the average vagrant out until Jeonghan and Minghao show up. It’s half seven in the morning, they open late on Sundays anyway, and Hansol heads back up to find Joshua still lying in his bed. He hesitates in the doorway when he gets a good look at the way Joshua is splayed on his bed.

His gaze slides up from the way his own sweats are sitting unevenly on Joshua’s hips, to the way his t-shirt is rucked up, from his hands or Joshua’s sleeping he’s not quite sure, stretched across the broadness of his chest and then to his face, lips kiss swollen and bitten an even darker pink than they normally are, eyes watching him from the bed. He crosses the room to get to him, Joshua sitting up only for Hansol push him back down into the blankets. Joshua breathes a laugh as Hansol settles himself down on his hips, pulling him up by curving a hand around the back of his neck, lips crashing together. Joshua makes the most wonderful whimpering noise as Hansol kisses him, his hands coming up to hold tightly to Hansol’s forearms.

They kiss in bed for so long they literally lose track of time. Joshua learns what it feels like to have Hansol’s teeth on his throat and Hansol commits to memory all the noises Joshua makes when he’s kissed really well. By the time someone finally realizes where they are, both of them are bruised from each other’s mouths and Joshua’s shirt has long been discarded over the edge of the bed. His amulet is the first clue that they’re still in and the person that finds them screams when they push open the door to the bedroom.

“Jesus Christ!” Jeonghan shouts and Joshua goes lax in Hansol’s arms, Hansol’s mouth still resting on his collarbones. He curves over Hansol, Hansol breathing an embarrassed laugh into Joshua’s skin, hands on his back while Joshua’s arms are curled around Hansol’s shoulders where he’s sitting in Hansol’s lap. “Why didn’t either of you lock the fucking door!? What’s wrong with you?!” He demands to know, still standing outside of the bedroom.

“Because this isn’t your apartment and you should probably knock before you just waltz into someone’s home?” Hansol offers.

“Oh, excuse me for not expecting the first thing I see in the morning is my best friend shirtless, how fucking silly of me!” He shouts.

“Did you want something, or?” Joshua asks.

“Yeah, you want a ride back into the city to, I dunno, get dressed?” Jeonghan suggests. “Or would you like to hide in Hansol’s bedroom for the rest of the day, doesn’t fucking matter to me.”

“Give me like ten minutes.”

“I’ll give you 20 if you promise not to do this again.”

“This is my apartment!” Hansol reminds him.

When Joshua is finally able to drag himself away from Hansol, Seungcheol drives both him and Jeonghan back to the city. Jeonghan reprimands Joshua about neglecting to use a lock the entire way back to the city while Seungcheol tries not to burst out laughing the entire time. It’s a long drive but Jeonghan will not be stopped and Joshua simply lets himself be scolded.

Mingyu is in when he gets home, already awake and puttering around the apartment, only to stop short when he sees both his roommate and one of his boyfriends coming into the apartment.

“Mingoo, you will not believe what Joshua did to me this morning!” Jeonghan yells as soon as they get in, and then pitches himself right into Mingyu’s arms. Mingyu, being the disgustingly in love schmuck that he is, simply catches his boyfriend with a fond expression, petting Jeonghan’s hair affectionately.

“He’s full of shit, he shouldn’t have even been there,” Joshua states, walking past the two of them. “Don’t let him lie to you, Mingyu-yah.”

“Is that a hickey?!” Mingyu asks, aghast as Joshua rushes past him. Not fast enough it seems because Mingyu is able to see the incriminating love mark Hansol left on his neck. Joshua doesn’t respond, however, as he makes a beeline to his bedroom. “Hyung! Hyung, you didn’t!” He calls after, sounding more amused by the second and Joshua slams his bedroom door behind him.

“He did!” Jeonghan crows. “Oh, Mingoo, it was horrible. Neither of them even locked the door!”

“You don’t live there!” Joshua shouts from behind his bedroom door. “You shouldn’t have even been there!”

Joshua reemerges from his bedroom in a turtleneck (it’s cold and raining, it’s not suspicious), pulling his jacket back on over it, only to see Mingyu looking at him smugly. Jeonghan’s sitting next to him on the couch, except that rather than sitting like a normal person he’s got his legs over the top of Mingyu’s thighs, clinging to his boyfriend’s arm like an overly affectionate barnacle.

“That’s not obvious at all,” Jeonghan states.

“I’m cold,” Joshua retorts, perhaps a little too defensively to be taken seriously. “Let’s go, Seungcheol’s still waiting in the parking lot.”

“Are you coming home tonight?” Mingyu asks as Jeonghan slowly extracts himself from Mingyu’s side.

“I work tomorrow,” Joshua says, zipping up the front of his jacket.

“That’s not a yes.”

“Yes, I am coming home tonight. Damn,” Joshua states, moving towards the door. “Man comes home with a hickey one time and no one lets him live it down…” he mutters, opening the door.

He’s silently thankful for the way that neither Minghao nor Junhui comment when he gets back to the store, despite the way Hansol is on the floor and very clearly also sporting a hickey, a couple of them in fact. Joshua might actually look more suspicious since he’s wearing a turtleneck but thankfully no one says anything when he gets to the counter.

“You look nice,” Hansol says, meeting him at the front counter.

“Get away from me, or Jeonghan’s going to be insufferable about it,” Joshua says, lifting a hand to push him away but Hansol will not be deterred. He comes in closer, taking Joshua’s hand in his and pecking him on the temple.

“He’s going to be insufferable regardless,” Hansol points out and he’s not wrong. Joshua turns to him and Hansol reveals Joshua’s amulet, the rose pink crystal on it catching briefly on his pocket before letting go. Hansol carefully loops it around Joshua’s neck, the amulet resting in the middle of his chest. He kisses him again, this time on the corner of his lips and Joshua blushes when the amulet starts glowing. “I knew it,” he mutters into Joshua’s lips.

“Well, you’re the one who made it. Would’ve been a bit concerning if you didn’t know,” Joshua tells him with a sigh. He meets Hansol’s eye then. “Magic has a mind of its own, huh?” He asks and Hansol grins.

“Contrary to what you might be thinking, I didn’t make it do this. Maybe we’ve always just been a bit too obvious,” Hansol tells him. He steals another kiss to the corner of Joshua’s lips.

Maybe they have. Joshua can’t argue that.

“Hey,” Seokmin says, peering into Joshua’s office. Joshua looks up from his paperwork and computer to the doorway where Seokmin is leaning into it. “Sorry, to bother, but someone’s here to see you.” Joshua’s brow furrows and he pushes his sleeve up to check his watch. “It’s not an appointment. They just wanted to talk to you real quick.”

“Oh, uh… sure,” Joshua agrees. He closes his files and minimizes the window on his computer before getting up. He follows Seokmin to the front, who waves to a woman and the girl with her, who Joshua can only assume is her daughter, maybe 15 years old. Seokmin bows out and Joshua looks over at Chan, who’s currently on the phone behind the reception counter. The waiting area is empty of all other people so Joshua approaches them where they’re sitting. The woman stands as soon as he approaches, bowing deeply.

“Hello, Dr. Hong,” she greets him. Joshua bows back respectfully, looking at the girl beside her. She doesn’t get up, still staring at the floor. The woman looks and then sighs before looking back at Joshua. “I’m not sure you remember, but I’m Park Soyoung, we came to see you with our son a few years back, Park Doyeon.”

Joshua does remember her. It was at least two years ago now, when the practice was just getting off the ground. She and her daughter were both younger then, the mother looking considerably so but that’s probably due to the stress of her son’s condition. Joshua had had to refer them to a specialist, her son had a rare autoimmune disease that he hadn’t been able to diagnose at the time. He hadn’t known until it was almost too late, the family having been in to see him multiple times before he directed them to a specialist.

“Ms. Park, I remember you,” Joshua assures her. “How have you been? And how’s Doyeon-ah?”

“He’s doing well,” she says with a smile and it’s a relief. “He’s been back to school for about a year now, he’s really enjoying it.” Joshua nods, thankful to hear it. “Doyeonie’s not the reason we came all this way though. I’m afraid my daughter has something to tell you,” she says, looking down at her daughter. Joshua’s brow creases in confusion. “Hayeon-ah,” she says, tone cold enough that it sends a shiver down Joshua’s spine.

“Fine,” the daughter says, getting to her feet. She bows deeply. “I’m sorry, Dr. Hong,” she says and Joshua’s frown deepens before looking at Ms. Park again.

“Hayeon-ah, tell him why.”

The daughter straightens again, expression empty. “I’m sorry for putting a hex on you.” Joshua’s eyes widen in surprise. “I was upset because of what happened with my brother. I realize it wasn’t your fault now. My mother told me the situation, but at the time…” she trails off and she drops her head, staring at the floor. “I thought you were just wasting our time. My parents didn’t tell me the truth until now and to be honest, things have been really hard for us because of Doyeonie’s condition. I apologize for what I did.”

“I understand if you’re upset with our family, Dr. Hong,” Ms. Park says, Joshua still stunned that a 15 year old was able to do what she did. “I didn’t know until the second time,” she gives her daughter another critical look, the teenager glaring off to the side. “My daughter’s magic… is abnormally strong, given that both her father and I are wielders. I hope it didn’t cause you any inconvenience, but all the same I understand if you’d want to press charges.”

“Oh, no, no,” Joshua says, waving his hands around. “I wouldn’t want that, really. I’d hate for a misunderstanding to have such consequences, I mean…” Joshua sighs, dropping his hands. “I was a teenager once too and I can only understand how difficult things have been for you all since Doyeon-ah’s diagnosis.” He turns to Hayeon then, who’s frowning to herself, staring at the wall. “Hayeon-ah,” he says and the girl hesitantly looks at him through a curtain of black hair. “I accept your apology, but you ought to be careful. You have no idea the kind of power your magic has. Trust me.” The corner of Hayeon’s lips quirks up in a little smirk. “If you’ve never considered it, with magic like that, you could be a practitioner, you know?”

“You think so?” She asks. “Don’t practitioners have to be really good?”

“You got me. Twice.” Hayeon’s smile widens a bit more. “But maybe try using it for good instead of bad next time.” She nods in understanding. “If you ever want to learn I can point you in the direction of a practitioner to learn under.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that,” Ms. Park insists but Joshua merely shrugs.

“I think he’d be interested in finding the person who broke his own sigils.”

Joshua is far too amused when he tells Hansol over tea that Saturday evening, Jeonghan watching with rapt attention as Hansol’s eyes widen into the size of saucers.

“She’s how old?” He asks and Joshua laughs, leaning on the countertop with a smile.

“She can’t be older than 16,” Joshua tells him and Hansol blinks, stunned. “She seems like a good kid, she just needs a better way to direct her magical energy. I told her I’d point her in your direction if she wants.” Hansol’s brow furrows, lifting one of them at Joshua. “She’s a good kid, she was just mad. Besides, you’d be a great teacher.”

“Maybe that’s your next calling, ‘Solie,” Jeonghan suggests, chin in hand. “Teaching future practitioners. The direction that you were looking for.”

“I think I already found the direction I was looking for,” Hansol says, looking at Joshua, who looks away, sipping his tea. Jeonghan makes a weird noise from between his teeth, shaking his head at the way Hansol looks at Joshua.

He might not be wrong about that, though, as Joshua walked into the shop that afternoon to find Hansol’s hair back to its previous chestnut brown color. He told Joshua when he asked about it that it had changed color Sunday evening, woke up Monday morning to his hair being back to normal. A part of Joshua misses the silver color, thought it looked nice on Hansol, but he likes this more. He knows this is what Hansol normally looks like and he ran an affectionate hand through Hansol’s hair, pulling him into a kiss with a hand at the back of his head once he had finished.

“Evening hyungs,” Hansol says and Joshua turns to look and smiles as well when he sees Jihoon come in, followed by his oversized boyfriend. Jeonghan brightens up when they walk up to the counter, Mingyu leaning over it to press a kiss to Jeonghan’s cheek. Jihoon doesn’t move to do the same so Jeonghan takes it upon himself to flounce around the counter and smack a wet one to his cheek. Jihoon shoves him off shortly thereafter, a blush on the apples of his cheeks.

“What’re you guys doing here?” Joshua asks.

“I leave tomorrow,” Mingyu says and Joshua nods in understanding. “So we were going to get dinner tonight.”

“And don’t come home,” Jeonghan says, reaching over to pinch Joshua’s cheek. Joshua slaps it away and then turns to Mingyu, mouth open in offense.

“Excuse me?” He demands. “Jihoon has an apartment.”

“Jeonghan hyung’s driving Mingyu-yah to the airport tomorrow morning,” Jihoon states. “So we figured we’d just stay over. That’s no problem though, you have somewhere else you can stay tonight,” he says, winking at Joshua. Joshua rolls his eyes and then looks at Hansol, who shrugs his shoulders.

“Horangi has been asking about you,” he says.

“Your familiar doesn’t talk, don’t lie to me,” Joshua tells him. “Can I at least get a change of clothes?” He asks.

“It’s in your car already. You’re welcome!” Mingyu chirps and Joshua glares at him.

“The three of you are going to be the death of me,” Joshua insists.

They leave a few minutes later, Hansol all but shooing them out of the store. Jeonghan was going to be painfully distracted with his boyfriends in the store anyway and Hansol takes Jeonghan’s place at the counter when he leaves, hanging all over Jihoon just because he finds it annoying. Joshua smiles to himself as they leave, turning back to Hansol as the bell chimes with finality as the door shuts behind them.

“You don’t mind, right?” Hansol asks and Joshua hums. “Staying at mine.”

“I should be asking you that. Considering Jihoon volunteered you as my place to stay and all,” Joshua tells him. Hansol smiles softly and then takes Joshua’s free hand where it’s resting on the counter into his. Joshua watches as Hansol runs his thumb over Joshua’s knuckles.

“I mean… we never talked about it,” Hansol explains and Joshua nods. “I think I made it pretty clear that I like you, hyung. So… I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page and all. I don’t want to assume anything because for all I know you could just think I’m really easy.” Joshua laughs at that and Hansol brings Joshua’s hand up to his lips, pressing a kiss to the back of it.

“‘Really easy,’ my ass. This would be the longest con just to sleep with someone when we haven’t even slept together yet, Hansol,” Joshua reminds him. “I really like you too. I think I’ve really liked you for a long time, maybe even since we met. That’s kind of a blurry situation though, everything while I was sick is kind of hazy.” Hansol laughs. “But I do like you, Hansol. And I want to be with you, if that’s okay. I don’t really know what I’m doing but I’m willing to figure it out with you.”

“Neither do I,” Hansol admits. “Does anyone, really?”

“Emotions are like magic, right? You just feel it?” Joshua asks and Hansol nods.

“You just feel it.”