Chapter Text
His fingers are working mindlessly to shuffle a deck of tarot cards as Felix has his gaze lost into the void, hazy static in his brain and nothing else. Outside of his mystic tent, the world is noisy and joyful, full of laughter and music and he can see people passing by in between the flapping hems of the entrance, their steps crunching on the gravel. The inside of his tent is, instead, quiet and fuzzy, dim lights coming from the candles clashing with the shining sun outside, the underlying scent of myrtle coating everything and making the atmosphere otherworldly, mystical. It’s not really Felix’s aesthetic, but it’s what people expect to see, and if he really wants to make some money from his gift, then he has to endure sitting in a tent colored in yellow hues in the middle of a fair, waiting for someone to appear.
Felix doesn’t really consider himself a diviner, or a fortune teller for that matter, but he has a peculiar little gift of seeing things in his crystal ball, be it what is happening at a present time on the other side of the world, or what will happen in the future. It’s nothing strange in a world that, despite being covered in concrete, luckily still holds magic from bygone days, swirling around city parks and skyscrapers in fluffy volutes, amazing children and, sometimes, adults too. In all, Felix’s power is nothing but a spec if compared with others, better gifts, but he can’t complain, not on a personal level, at least. Seeing the future has its perks: knowing which questions will come out in a test, which are the lucky numbers of the week, who will win the next football game, and so on.
However, to clairvoyants like him, betting is forbidden by the law and so is trying their luck at gambling, so most of the amusing perks are off-limits by default, which considerably turns down the hype for his power. Moreover, these days being told one’s future is not very popular, Felix supposes it’s because of the fear of it not being great, so business is slow. So, while he likes to have a little bit of magic to know if his friends will really like their birthday gifts (they always do), sometimes clairvoyance is just a bummer.
Sighing, he shifts his gaze from a soft pillow in the corner of his tent to his crystal ball, which is glinting faintly in the dim light of the candles scattered around, the fog inside swirling around in gentle waves. It’s the biggest one he has, about the size of a basketball, perched on a golden pedestal that luckily doesn’t look too cheap and does the trick of making the ball look like an ancient piece of lost magic. It was manufactured two years ago and he bought it at his witch friend’s, Jisung is the name, shop, but, again, it’s what people want to see. His most precious crystal ball it’s actually very little instead, fits in his hand easily, and was gifted to him by his grandmother shortly after the discovery of his gift, passed down in his family for generations. He always carries it around, but, usually, it stays hidden in a pouch, especially when customers could come around.
As the crystal ball on the table feels his gaze on itself, or rather senses the tendrils of his magic automatically shifting towards it, the fog inside stops to swirl in a confused way and starts to make out some shapes. While most people believe that clairvoyants have the power to see everything they want, most of the times the connection to the crystal ball cannot be forced and, sometimes, it even refuses to show what Felix is kindly asking, instead displaying whatever it wants, as if to mock him. Before the blurry vision has even yet to be shaped properly, Felix groans, trying to dispel it, but the ball is stubborn and doesn’t let him and he’s forced to look at the shadowy figures becoming alive.
It's a vision Felix has seen a thousand times over with more and more insistence as the years have passed, always coming up on the ball when he is more distracted than usual, lost in thought. Poetically so, it’s also the first thing he has ever seen reflected on a crystal ball, the very first one that he was gifted. The first times it was sweet, as a kid it made him jolly, but these days Felix simply feels like it’s haunting him, like he’s cursed (his shaman friend, Minho, has assured him he’s not, but he’s starting to get suspicious at this point). Nothing has changed over the years, it’s always a larger figure stumbling into view, dragged by a much smaller one, and it never fails to make him feel a bit like he’s on cloud nine, deep down, and it doesn’t make any sense. It’s nothing more than that, a very short vision, but the crystal ball has been presenting it to him with more and more frequency over the years, until, in the past weeks, it shows him at least once a day, like a reminder that an impending thing is coming in, almost in an ominous way.
Finally, the vision dispels, and the fog goes back to swirling lazily into the ball, almost mocking him if he dared to say. Felix scoffs at the audacity, throwing a drape over it for good measure, sick of seeing the same thing all over and over again, endlessly. He goes back to shuffling his tarot cards, careful of not letting even one slip out as he always feels uneasy with tarot cards prediction. Since he’s a clairvoyant, reading tarot cards is just a skill he’s picked up along the way in order to be granted stalls at fairs, trying to not let the gloomy illustrations get to him. To be fair, he has a real job outside of this, so having a fortune telling tent wouldn’t even be needed, but, at the end of the day, he likes it, even though it’s a bit tacky. Having magic and not using it to enchant people in the best way always felt off to him, so, even if he only gets a couple of visitors per day and he can’t even enjoy the fairs, all cooped up between soft pillows, hazy scents and heavy drapes, he wouldn’t give it up for anything else.
When even shuffling gets boring and he almost spills a couple of cards, he sets the deck on a corner of the table and stands up, stretching his arms out after having been sitting for so long. He then checks his myrtle candles, pats the pillow all around the little tent and, finally, takes a peek outside, the sun almost blinding him. It’s very noisy, the tent dimming most of the chaos, lots of people strolling around, children squeaking at a mage performing some tricks a couple of stalls down from him. There’s a scent of pancakes and candy floss in the air that makes Felix’s mouth water, his stomach growling a bit, but he reminds himself of his job and of his mystical persona and, reluctantly, retreats back into his tent.
He's just about to sit back down behind his small table when the unimaginable happens. The little bells attached to the flaps of the tent ring jovially and Felix turns around just in time to see a little girl sprinting in, dressed in a pink princess-like dress, dragging along a man («Wait, Haein, don’t run sweetheart, wait») whom Felix can’t see properly, because the next moment he’s stumbling forward, tripping on a carpet due to the momentum and looking like he’s going to crash directly on his crystal ball. In the blink of an eye, Felix scrambles forward, stretching his arms out to prevent the man’s plummet, but he can only do as much as to help him fall on his knees instead of face-first into a rock-hard ball. Consequently, he ends up on his knees as well, hands still perched on the other’s chest, stunned by the sudden entrance and by the familiarity of the view. The reason hits him only a second later, as the man gets out of his shock. It’s familiar because he has seen it a thousand times over, throughout his whole life; the vision has finally come true, right in front of his eyes. Then, the man lifts his eyes, and Felix even forgets where he is, let alone the amazement of a redundant sight coming to life.
The first thing Felix notices is that his eyes are warm and so very human, and it’s more than enough for his heart to give a pang and then start to beat out of his chest, butterflies in his stomach. The brown curls softly framing his face, the dimples at the corners of his apologetic smile, the slope of his nose, the cut of his jawline, the firm muscles under Felix’s fingers only make his heart race even more and, briefly, he asks himself if he’s not having a heart attack all of a sudden, or simply going crazy. He probably has warrior blood in his veins, to be so handsome and firm, a demigod with a face sculpted in Ancient Greece. Felix knows he’s basically raving, but the man’s appearance has struck him like lightning, sudden and shocking, a thing never happened before. It’s not news that he likes men, and he likes them strong, but this goes past it, somehow. Stupidly so, it feels like a dream coming true, like something he has wished for his whole life finally appearing before his eyes. He blames the vision for that delirious thought, trying his best to regain his composure, despite gaping like a fish out of water.
«I’m terribly sorry» the man apologizes, getting him out of his mind, his voice soothing like a cup of hot chocolate in winter «My daughter insisted on coming in as fast as she could and I tripped on your carpet. I hope I didn’t mess up anything» he explains, looking around and then fixing his eyes on Felix.
The latter almost squeaks under the gaze, tearing his hands away from the man’s chest, his cheeks heating up «You’re good, no harm done!» he exclaims, a bit high-pitched.
The man doesn’t say anything for a couple of seconds, seeming star-struck as he looks at Felix, the tips of his ears a fiery red and his plump lips slightly parted. It’s like the world stops for a second before starting to turn faster than usual, leaving him dizzy with his stomach doing somersaults. As Felix stares back, the other’s cheeks get dusted in pink as well and he glances away, clearing his throat.
«I, umh… Haein, apologize for barging in, you know it’s not polite» he scolds his daughter, rather gently and, finally, Felix tears his eyes away from him as well, focusing on the sweet girl in the pink dress.
She looks absolutely adorable, soft black curls all the way to her shoulders, carefree excitement on her round face and pink cheeks, eyes twinkling in amazement. The girl, as expected from a child her age, doesn't look the tiniest bit apologetic, but she's so cute it's easy to let it slide, especially since it was nothing. Her dimpled smile is a bit mischievous and she's holding her candy floss like it's a wand, but when her father asks her to apologize, her expression gets more genuine, eyes crinkling up.
«I'm sorry pretty elf man» she says, startling a small giggle out of Felix.
Pretty elf man? Sure, his ears are a bit pointy, but fantastic beings stopped roaming the earth a thousand years ago and he's pretty sure his beauty doesn't even come close to the one of an elf, all the stories that got to their time portraying them as of an unreachable, ethereal beauty. Still, he smiles at the girl, sitting back on his heels.
«You're alright, princess» he winks «But I am no elf, just a mere fortune teller» he adds lowly, like it's a secret «Felix the fortune teller»
«It's princess Haein» the girl tells him with all the superiority such a small kid can muster.
«Haein...» her father warns her, his ears still a bit red.
«It's alright» Felix whispers to him, amused, trying to keep his gaze from roaming all over his broad figure «My sincere apologies, princess Haein. Have you come all this way for a reading by this humble fortune teller?» he then addresses the girl.
«Yes» she nods «I wanna see the swirl in the ball» she declares, waving her candy floss around like a scepter.
«Your wish is my command» he agrees amiably, trying his best not to giggle at the cuteness as he bows his head.
The man is shaking his head, clearly fond but still a bit embarrassed and Felix nods at him to silently tell him again that it's alright. These interactions are exactly why he likes to place his tent at fairs, children getting excited at his little tricks his main and only goal. He stands up and rounds the table to get into position, blowing his blond bangs out of his eyes as he sits back down, cross-legged, on his most comfortable pillow. The ball is still under the drape and he makes the best show of looking mysterious as his hands hover over it.
«Come forward, your highness, do tell me what you wish to see...» he trails off, setting the atmosphere «The present or the future?»
He briefly looks over the little girl's shoulder at the man to see if he's alright with her getting a reading and he simply nods once, inching closer and coming to sit behind his daughter. He looks down at her with utmost love, setting the crown perched in her black curls straight with gentle care and then patting her hair too. So not only he's handsome, but he's also incredibly kind, Felix's mind supplies unhelpfully, sidetracking him for a wild second before he gets back to his job, forcing his gaze on the drape covering his crystal ball.
«The future of course!» Haein exclaims like it's obvious, making him focus back on her.
«A most wise decision» he replies, smiling «So let us ask the crystal ball» he affirms, swiping the drape away from the ball with a theatrical gesture.
Haein squeals as it gets into view, glinting on the golden pedestal, the fog inside swirling as lazily as usual, no recurring vision coming up on it as Felix looks at it, since it belongs to the past now. Even the man perks up from behind her, interested in the magical object, his eyes following the movements of the mist as if to check if he too can see something. He looks a bit like a puppy doing that and Felix almost coos, stopping himself last second and reminding himself he has met the man only five minutes ago, that he has a daughter hence he’s probably married and that he doesn't even know his name, no matter how handsome he is. The prospect of the man having a partner is enough to calm him down, to help him focus back on more important things other than the strange feeling swirling in his chest that is making him have thoughts about a complete stranger.
«Oh, crystal ball, let us see what the future holds for this most esteemed princess» Felix chants, not an ounce of awkwardness as he's used to having to do these theatrics, his hands moving over the crystal ball.
His tendrils of clairvoyance magic make contact with the enchanted object and, luckily, it reacts, the swirls starting to take shape. Silently, he asks the ball to show him a close future of the girl, hoping it will be something pleasant and that he won't have to lie. That's the worst part of his work, of his magic, seeing things he wouldn't want to see, or, even worse, not seeing anything at all, the finality of death leaving him hollow. It doesn't happen often and the only time he saw that there was no future after some point was when he asked to have a vision about his old dog, but that doesn't mean it's less heartbreaking. Over the years, he's found out it's easier to find happier things if he looks at the imminent future, especially for children, and he's been doing that ever since.
«Ah, yes, the crystal ball is replying...» he trails off, leaning forward, his long earrings brushing his freckled cheeks.
When he sees that the vision is a happy one, he channels a sprinkle more of magic, enough to let others see as well what he's observing. Haein lets out a sound of wonder, jumping in her place with so much fervor that the crown in her hair almost falls, her father quickly grabbing it and placing it back in its place with practiced ease, like it's something that happens often. Trying to not think about how even that display of confidence is somehow appealing, Felix focuses on his magic, trying to clear the vision as much as he can.
«I see... I see you, princess Haein, and a friend, enjoying an afternoon together a few days from now» he announces, his tone low and mystical, letting the vision replay a couple of times before moving forward «I see you starting elementary school happily in a couple of weeks, princess, with a cute pink backpack and a white bunny plushie attached to it» he goes on, trying his very best to make the vision colored, although it's still quite dim (he still has to master that, his visions for now most of the times like a black and white television) «Then... I can see you very happy, whole, fulfilled in a couple of months, like something very important to you is complete» he states and, this time, is more of a feeling than a vision, since it only shows the girl laughing as two people, out of view, hold her hands «And one day you will be a true princess, I can see that too, but such a shocking revelation is only for my eyes» he adds at last, telling a white lie just the way kids like.
He smiles as he lets the fog in the crystal ball resume its natural lazy flow, his tendrils of magic retreating along with his hands. It was a good reading, a light one like he usually does for children, and he's happy that in this girl's imminent future there's only happiness, as it should be. Haein looks joyful as well, although there's a little pout on her lips, almost like she's about to throw a tantrum.
«Is there nothing more?» she asks, looking at Felix with fiery eyes.
He shakes his head, careful to hide his amused smile «I am afraid not, princess, one cannot force the crystal ball, as the knowledge of the future is no easy burden»
Haein pouts a bit more, but luckily her father comes to the rescue «Come on Haein, didn’t he show you a lot? Your playdate with Hyunjae will go well and even elementary school will be a good place» he points out, rubbing her back.
«Mmh, fine» she agrees, although the pout is still there.
«Alright then, what do we say now?» the man asks her gently, pointing with his head at Felix.
His smile is dimpled and adoring and it’s clear he loves his daughter so very much, like she’s the main anchor in his life, the thing that keeps him going. As a clairvoyant, it’s somehow easy for Felix to tell such things, perhaps because a simple glance in the crystal ball would confirm it. His smile doesn’t dim down as he looks at the blond, eyes crinkling up even, and he feels his heart skip a beat, happiness so charming it could have him faint.
«Thank you Mr. Felix the fortune teller» Haein says and she’s so cute Felix can’t help but giggle, trying to hide it behind his hand.
«You’re welcome, princess Haein, it was my pleasure» he replies and, unable to help himself, he stretches a hand out and ruffles her hair, making her laugh.
She then snatches a bite of her pink candy floss and her father takes advantage of the moment of distraction to take out his wallet. As usual, it’s the most awkward part of the reading. It’s not that Felix minds the extra money, why would he ever in such an economy, but sometimes making money out of his clairvoyance, or out of some kid’s wish and joy, just feels wrong, and this time is one of those. Still, the man is looking at him expectantly, his brown eyes kind and lovable, and so he just has to quickly sign twenty thousand won and call it a day. He slides the bill out of view just an instant before Haein looks back at them, the corners of her mouth full of sticky sugar.
«Come on, Haein, say bye» the man tells her, getting on his feet and hauling her up gently so her hands don’t end up accidentally dirtying Felix’s pillows «I’m sure the fortune teller now has many magical things to do that we cannot see»
«Alright daddy» she sighs «Bye, Mr. Felix the fortune teller» she greets, waving her hand «I’ll come back if your visions won’t come true… and also if they will» she affirms, trying to make it sound like a threat «You’re very pretty Mr. Felix» she then adds, more earnestly.
He can’t help but laugh at that «Thank you Haein, you’re really pretty yourself and I really hope all your happiness will come true» he giggles and waves back as they walk out of the tent.
He catches the man’s eyes at the last second before the tent flaps close and his heartbeat quickens. He’s tried to ignore his sudden attraction as much as he could, but he can’t deny it’s there, as silly as the concept sounds. Magically speaking, infatuation at first sight isn’t something unheard of, but the implications of something like that having actually happened are already giving Felix a small headache, all of Jisung’s mindless blabber on the topic unhelpfully swarming his brain. The man is surely spoken for, what fool would not snatch such an opportunity, and so he has no rights to even let his mind linger, something magical having happened or not. That doesn’t mean he has a say on how his heart wishes to behave, skipping beats as if it doesn’t have to keep him alive.
The tent’s hems close and it’s quiet again, Felix left alone with himself, his heartbeat going back to a normal one, but an odd pull in his chest not leaving him alone. He makes the mistake of looking briefly at the crystal ball and the vision comes so fast he’s not able to dispel it. It’s blurry, shadowy, just like the vision that has followed him his whole life, but now Felix feels like he knows anyways who is the figure that stumbles right after opening a door and the one that comes to steady him. Feeling torn between happiness and horror, Felix dispels the vision as fast as he can, the pull only getting stronger.