Chapter Text
"You mixed up the potion labels again."
"I didn’t."
"I won’t tell Wizard Kim it was you."
"Fine, I did it."
Kim Namjoon. A Wizard barely 24 years old, absurdly tall if you ask Yoongi. Always the envy of the other apprentices (though not of Yoongi), and clearly the successor to Wizard Kim, stared at him from the doorway of the small shop. The same tired look he usually reserved for the occasions when Yoongi messed up.
In other words, Namjoon's everyday look.
Yoongi had been trying to guess which potion made you tell the truth and which one made a third arm grow when the elder entered the shop. Yoongi hadn’t been fast enough to hide the mess of books and little notes they use to stick on bottles. Namjoon just connected the dots. Clearly, it wasn’t the first time this had happened.
The wizard let out a long sigh as he stepped into the shop. He stopped at the magical coat rack and delicately removed his usual black cloak, which only those who had finished their training were allowed to wear at work. Yoongi knew only three people with such a cloak: Namjoon, his brother and his dad. And they all handled them with extreme care, which always seemed excessive to the younger one.
When Namjoon hung the cloak on the rack without issue, Yoongi squinted his eyes at the magical object, remembering that just earlier he had tried to hang his own hat and it kept shaking until it fell to the floor. Oh, he would have cast a decay spell on it if he only remembered how.
Namjoon walked to the large wall of book shelves behind Yoongi. There was a wide variety of magical books in the shop, from the simplest used to teach apprentices like Yoongi and his friends, to the most complicated written in a language that always gave Yoongi headaches. And like everything else in the shop, the shelves were magical. Yoongi remembered once how Taehyung tricked Jungkook into shouting the name of his favorite beginner spells book, and immediately a book flew toward his face. So when Namjoon loudly asked for the shapeshifting spell book, Yoongi smacked his forehead—how had he not thought to look there?
Namjoon turned around holding the book, the page with the potion that had the strangest name and the ugliest color Yoongi had ever seen was open, and the younger one collapsed onto the wooden counter. "These potions aren’t in your books. They’re eight grade. You would’ve never found them there," he murmured, extending his hand for Yoongi to pass him the labeled bottles.
"I thought I had seen the color somewhere, but it’s hard to tell when our books have pages like they’re a thousand years old," Yoongi complained. And indeed, the books were over a thousand years old. Wizard Kim had warned them to be careful, especially Yoongi, who had once nearly melted one with cobra slime by accident.
But Yoongi had been more careful since that day. He takes good care of the books, though it wasn’t his fault that the illustrations had already faded. The pages were yellowed and tattered with age. However, Namjoon ignored his feeble excuses and handed him the two jars, now properly labeled, and pointed toward the storage room. Yoongi didn’t say another word, didn’t even bother thanking the elder, and walked off to store them in their proper places.
When he returned, Namjoon was reorganizing the books by hand. The younger one returned to his seat and sank into the wooden chair.
"Jungkook and Taehyung won’t get here until noon. Why are you here so early?" Namjoon’s voice broke the silence. Though he wasn’t looking at him, too busy tidying Yoongi’s mess.
Yoongi shrugged. "Wizard Kim said it was my turn to open the shop."
"He lets you open the shop already?" Namjoon seemed surprised, and Yoongi don’t blame him.
"Only Taehyung and me. He says Jungkook’s too young, though surely he’d be the only one capable of properly taking care of the shop when Taehyung and I aren’t here." Namjoon probably thinks so too, but he only remains silent and nods.
Honestly, Yoongi wasn’t the worst of the three. At least that’s what he liked to think.
It's just that since his training began, things always seemed… complicated for him. More specifically, handling magic.
Yoongi had imagined that the day his parents brought him to Wizard Kim’s magic shop would be the best day of his life. Since he was a child aware of magic, the potion and spell shop had been the coolest place in the world, at least he used to think that. An old shop, yet still full of magic. Royal blue walls with brown accents and the Kim family symbols in gold lettering gave it a somewhat outdated but impressive look in the small town. His father trained there, then Seokjin, and now Yoongi. It was almost a family tradition between the Mins and Kims. Yoongi had thought that on his first day as an apprentice, training would be as easy as catching flying lizards. (and by the way, Yoongi is an expert at catching flying lizards). He imagined he would soon become a great wizard like his older brother, making his parents proud.
But the moment he stepped through the old shop’s doorway, he’d broken two magical brooms and made three frogs start talking after accidentally spilling Endless-Talker Potion on them. And nobody wants to listen to frogs talking endlessly about ponds, tadpoles, and mucus.
It wasn’t just one or two accidents during his apprenticeship—it was countless mishaps and small mistakes. Yoongi was surprised Wizard Kim hadn’t turned him into a wooden statue. Magic was complicated: so much to read, memorize, and the tiniest mistake could completely ruin a potion.
Okay, maybe Yoongi really was the worst wizard.
But he tries. Tries over and over until a potion turns it out right, and he tries to keep his hands away from the frogs and brooms. Yes, Yoongi tries very hard.
"You really not going to tell Wizard Kim?" he whispered. Yoongi just wanted reassurance.
This time Namjoon looked at him, considering for a moment, then slowly nodded to ease the younger one. "But—" Ah, there was always a but. "Just because you’ll tell him yourself that you mixed up the potions again." Yoongi’s eyes widened.
Telling Wizard Kim meant punishment—and punishment almost always meant cleaning the storage room. He was doomed.
"But it’s only this time! I’ve been organizing them all week and didn’t get confused until today." Judging by Namjoon’s look, the elder didn’t believe him, but Yoongi was telling the truth. Cherry red, love potion. Magenta purple with lavender petals, sleep potion. Sea blue and frothy… uh, underwater breathing potion?
Oh no. That doesn't even exist. "No excuses, Yoongi. You can’t just confuse something like this up. Imagine if I hadn’t arrived and you mislabeled them—we can’t sell the wrong potions. What if one day you confuse a lethal potion with a basic one? You have to be careful." Yoongi hated that Namjoon was right. Still…
"What if I promise to study the potions better?" he pleaded.
Namjoon gave him the usual look. Yoongi knew he couldn’t convince him, so he gave up.
Stupid potions.
"Fine, I’ll tell Wizard. Kim," he huffed, and Namjoon smiled pityingly.
Once all the books were back in place and Namjoon explained carefully how to clean magical stones, Taehyung and Jungkook entered the shop, bickering. Yoongi just waved from his seat. They waved back. They hung their hats on the magical coat rack without trouble, and Yoongi nearly dropped the box of stones in frustration.
Stupid magical coat rack.
.
“I wanted to turn it into a caterpillar.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I swear, Taehyung. It was completely intentional.” Yoongi tries to excuse himself, but the blonde is looking at him with a raised eyebrow as Yoongi holds the bottle of his spell in the air and the caterpillar moves across the wooden table.
After a few seconds, Jungkook intervenes. “Yoongi hyung, if you want, I can give you one of my butterflies.” Oh no, that would definitely be cheating, and Yoongi is not a cheating wizard.
Of course, he’s probably not capable of turning a small, pretty snail into a beautiful, colorful butterfly just yet. But he is not a cheater. That’s why he shakes his head with conviction, feeling his two pigtails bouncing as he does. The dark-haired boy rolls up the sleeves of his robe and starts over.
Within minutes, he’s ready and approaches his last remaining snail. He applies the new formula in his hands—which he hopes this time he prepared correctly—and whispers the magical words he had previously memorized. He closes his eyes to concentrate, so the silence of his two friends beside him only makes him more anxious to see what his magic is doing at that moment. But Yoongi patiently waits for the familiar tingling on his fingertips to end, and then, carefully, he opens his eyes.
But all he finds is another caterpillar. Again. Although this time it’s purple.
Great.
“I give up. I don’t understand what I’m doing wrong!” he growls in frustration, bringing both hands to his face. Taehyung makes a sound of understanding.
“Maybe it’s because you put too much caterpillar slime. But a butterfly starts as a caterpillar, so I think you’re doing it really well,” the blonde witch tries to encourage him.
“Show your jar to Wizard Kim, he’ll probably know what you’re doing wrong,” Jungkook offers. A bunch of butterflies fly around the young wizard’s body, almost as if mocking the older one.
Yoongi wants to tell him that’s a really bad idea, but before he can even complain, Wizard Kim enters through the secret door of the small hidden classroom where apprentices take their lessons. He carries a pile of books—or rather, a pile of books is floating above his hands—and as soon as he enters the room, Yoongi fears he is paying very close attention to his table full of caterpillars.
“Yoongi?” Earth, swallow me now.
“Yes, Wizard Kim?”
“Bring me your jar.”
“Yes, Wizard Kim.” .
.
Yoongi sits in complete silence at his spot behind the wooden table. He’s playing with the little caterpillars on it, letting them crawl over his fingers, and he would be laughing at the ticklish sensation if it weren’t for wizard Kim standing in front of him, eyes fixed on his jar and inspecting the flawed potion Yoongi had made for the fifth time.
Taehyung and Jungkook had already left the classroom. It was almost closing time, and since they were the only ones to manage to transform butterflies, they had the privilege of leaving early. Now Yoongi was alone—or, as alone as he could be with his colorful caterpillars.
“It wasn’t just the caterpillar slime; you’re also not being careful when measuring the rest of your materials, Yoongi,” the older man calls his attention, but the dark-haired boy cannot meet his eyes and simply keeps his head bowed in apology.
Wizard Kim continues. “The spell, however, was correct. But if you repeat the words mindlessly, without a clear mind, it’s obvious that the magic won’t listen to you.” Yoongi knows this.
But his mind had been focused on how annoying it would be if a caterpillar appeared again through his magic. So he really understands wizard Kim’s point.
That doesn’t stop him from feeling extremely frustrated anyway.
“If you do magic without control over your mind, the magic will follow its own path. You will never be able to control its course or make it do what you ask. Your potion could have worked even if you had just directed your magic. Between us, Taehyung isn’t very good at measuring his ingredients either.” Oh, Yoongi really is a failure as a wizard, isn’t he?
The caterpillars in his hand were no longer a sufficient distraction.
And the wizard must have noticed the boy’s change in mood, because with a sigh he adds “But you did make the snail change shape. You completed your task. Just make sure next time it’s the shape you want.” Defeated, Yoongi sighs, nodding slowly, and carefully holds the rest of the caterpillars on his fingers.
“I apologize, Wizard Kim. But before I’m allowed to leave, I think I should tell you about a small confusion from this morning,” he murmurs, a hint of nervousness in his voice.
The older man looks at him attentively. Yoongi can only accept his cruel fate. “Y-Yes… I, uh… mixed up the labels on some potions again,” he finally admits.
Wizard Kim remains silent for a few seconds, long enough to scare Yoongi into thinking the punishment might be worse than cleaning the storage room. But finally, the man sighs—for what feels like the thousandth time that afternoon.
“You know the punishment. Tomorrow you won’t be allowed to leave until you clean the storage room, and make sure to review each property once more with the help of the books.”
Tomorrow would be Friday. On Fridays, Yoongi meets Hoseok hyung at his café before closing time to eat whatever desert he bake that day. Oh, Yoongi’s luck could not be worse.
“I understand, Wizard Kim.”
Yoongi brings his hand holding the caterpillars close to his chest and makes a small bow, ready to leave when… “Yoongi.” The boy bites the inside of his cheek in fear as he turns to the wizard who called him again. “Please let this be the last time you have to stay late cleaning the storage room.”
He meant the last time Yoongi messed up, right? Wizard Kim was no longer pleased with his performance as a wizard.
Sadly, Yoongi just nods and makes another bow before finally leaving through the classroom door and then the shop.
.
The sun hasn’t completely set when Yoongi arrives home.
A rich aroma of dinner, surely prepared by his mother, scapes through the window, cheering both Yoongi and his stomach a little.
But before going inside, the dark-haired boy stops at the large tree at his home’s entrance and carefully crouches to place his now friends—the caterpillars—onto the ground, making sure he hasn’t accidentally crushed any on the way. So far, they are all starting to move slowly across the surface.
Yoongi is so focused on watching them that he almost misses Mimi jumping through the window and running toward him on all four paws. A smile finally spreads across his face as the beautiful black, fluffy cat lands on his lap, purring and letting Yoongi hold him tightly in his arms.
It’s almost a routine to be greeted this way every day by the little feline, yet it never fails to make the dark-haired boy happy. “Mimi!” Yoongi exclaims joyfully, calling the cat’s attention.
“What have you been doing all day while I was out? Huh? Did you miss me?” And as if to answer, the black cat simply meows, and Yoongi hugs him even tighter.
When he was just seventeen years old, after pleading with his mother for so long, Yoongi had received Mimi for his birthday—a beautiful, small black cat back then. Something his father always pointed out as a cliché for a wizard. But Yoongi couldn’t have been happier that day. Seokjin adopted Mimi for Yoongi, placed Mimi in a box full of pencil-made holes, and it was almost impossible not to notice what it was, yet the little wizard acted surprised—just to show extra gratitude to his older brother. He spent the rest of the day with the kitten in his arms, showing the cute black furball to every guest at his birthday party.
From that day on, Mimi and Yoongi became inseparable. Mimi certainly wasn’t a grumpy or violent cat; in fact, he was very calm and slept a lot. But his behavior with the rest of the family was completely different from how he acted with Yoongi.
Yoongi was the only one who could hold him in his arms without Mimi wanting to get down. Also the only one he napped with, and his mother had told him countless times that Mimi always waited for him by the window, jumping on it whenever he arrived—just like now.
A laugh escapes from the black-haired boy’s lips when Mimi begins rubbing her little head against his cheek, and Yoongi has to move slightly away from the feline.
“I’ll take that as a yes. I missed you a lot too, Mimi.”
The young wizard gently kisses the cat’s head and carefully stands up still holding Mimi in his arms. He finally enters the house where the smell of delicious food is stronger and makes his stomach growl. The black-haired boy takes off his shoes and holds Mimi in one arm to place his small bag with his notebook on a desk, then heads to the living room where his mother and father are seated.
“I smell pork skewers. Is dinner ready?” greets the younger one. His mother simply snorts in amusement.
“Hello to you too, son. Dinner is ready, and your plate is on the table—heat it up if it’s cold,” his mother responds. Yoongi just nods and, still holding Mimi, runs to the kitchen where his dinner plate is waiting and begins to eat in silence. The black cat sits on his lap trying to steal some of the meat with his paws.
Yoongi is about to take his second skewer when his mother appears in the doorway of the kitchen, arms crossed in front of her chest. He looks at her with confusion, and in that moment of distraction, Mimi finally grabs a small piece of meat and runs away from the wizard’s lap.
Yoongi doesn’t have time to scold his traitorous cat because his mother is talking to him.
“How was your lesson today? You came a little later than usual.” Ah, of course.
Yoongi remembers again that he’s a terrible wizard.
With a noticeable change in mood, the younger one just shrugs at his mother and bites into a piece of meat. Once he swallows it, his mother remains standing in front of him, and Yoongi knows he has to give her an explanation.
“Wizard Kim told me I have to clean the storeroom tomorrow after closing hours.” And that’s enough for his mother to understand—Yoongi can tell by the look on her face.
Still, she decides not to press further and sighs. “Hoseok’s gonna be sad with no one to share his lemon pastries with tomorrow.” she says simply.
And honestly, Yoongi will be sad too.
“I know.”
.
There was something else, besides the lemon pastries Yoongi shared with Hoseok, that made Fridays a more perfect day and it was that Mimi was allowed to accompany him to the Kim’s shop.
It all started because apparently, his mother couldn’t bear seeing Mimi waiting for the wizard at the window every day. She feared the cat would be sad if he didn’t spend enough time with Yoongi. So, she convinced Wizard Kim, and he agreed to give his apprentice wizards one day when pets were allowed. Jungkook and Taehyung didn’t have pets, but if they did, they would be welcome every Friday just like Mimi.
So maybe that Friday wouldn’t be all bad. He would arrive early, label more potion bottles, and play with Mimi. Customers would probably want to pet him, which Mimi loves, then he would take his lessons and finally clean the storeroom as quickly as possible to get home and take a nap with his feline friend. Yes, it sounded like a great plan.
With that in mind, Yoongi confidently enters the shop where Taehyung is already leaning on the counter with a bored expression that immediately turns into a big smile when he sees Mimi in the black-haired boy’s arms.
“Mimi! Oh, how I missed you!” he exclaims, arms outstretched. Yoongi doesn’t hesitate to place the feline in them once he’s close to his blonde friend.
Taehyung hugs the little cat to his chest and smiles.
“I thought Wizard Kim wouldn’t let you bring Mimi after you ruined your potions last night,” said the younger one. Yoongi must admit he feels somewhat offended.
“I didn’t ruin them,” the black-haired boy frowns. “And anyway, Wizard Kim would never punish me by not letting me bring Mimi.”
Or at least that’s what Yoongi hopes to believe. Taehyung, on the other hand, looks eager to continue arguing, but Jungkook’s arrival distracts them both, and in seconds, the three of them start playing with Mimi, spinning a ribbon, and the rest of the morning passes quickly.
During the lessons, Yoongi’s bad mood returns because they continue using the shape-shifting potions, but this time he’s supposed to create a hybrid of two species, and certainly, if the black-haired boy hadn’t been able to change a snail into a single species, he could hardly do a mix of two.
But he tries, and Mimi rests his| little head on his left arm, which feels like a message of encouragement for the wizard. Still, after his fifth failed attempt at a ladybug-firefly hybrid, Wizard Kim decides it’s enough and ends the day’s lesson, this time without any comment on Yoongi’s performance before leaving the room so his apprentices can start gathering their magical instruments.
Yoongi doesn’t know if a scolding is worse than receiving no comment at all.
Still, he has no time to worry because Mimi is spinning his body on the wooden table, trying to get Yoongi’s attention, and is about to knock over Yoongi’s box of snails, so he must react quickly to catch them and stop his cat from causing a mess. Mimi certainly just enjoys rubbing against his human’s hand. Taehyung and Jungkook quickly say goodbye, waving to Yoongi and leaning in to give Mimi one last kiss on the head, ready to enjoy their weekend.
After a long sigh, Yoongi decides it’s time to get to work.
He takes Mimi in one arm and carries his things with the other one, he decides to leave the box of snails on the entrance counter for now. Wizard Kim had left the shop keys next to the magical cash register, so it’s very likely Yoongi is now completely alone.
The black-haired boy enters the storeroom, Mimi now jumps from his arms, and Yoongi quickly starts sweeping the wooden floors and dusting the shelves. He decides he has to remove the potions, herbs, and books to clean better, so he carefully moves them. Meanwhile, Mimi watches him from the large table in the center, tail swishing from side to side.
The potion bottles are heavy and large, though at first glance, they look like delicate, light glass, but Yoongi thinks it’s because they contain great magical energy. Even the herb jars are heavy, and don’t even get him started on the small wooden boxes with crystals.
So Yoongi lines up the bottles from each shelf to keep them organized and continues dusting, murmuring a small spell to the enchanted duster so it grows longer to reach higher places.
Then he has to clean more thoroughly with a damp cloth, but he can feel his arm getting tired so he has to stop occasionally, but never longer than necessary. He has to finish quickly. Luckily, the magical staircase he summoned started helping, becoming taller so he wouldn’t have to stretch too far.
Fifteen minutes later, he’s dusting each bottle before putting them back in place with Mimi’s help, who reminds him of the correct order by lightly touching the glass with his paws.
“I never imagined corpse flower dust would smell that bad… but I guess I should have guessed from its name.” Yoongi wrinkles his nose as he cleans the jar as fast as possible.
Curiosity had led him to open and smell it since, until recently, every herb jar smelled wonderful, and he and Mimi just wanted a little fun playing a guessing game about the herbs. Bad luck led him to smell a flower that literally reeks of rotten meat, and Mimi seems to agree with how unpleasant the smell is because he has moved away from Yoongi and is lying on the floor, covering his face with both front paws.
“Why would anyone want to buy something this disgusting?” he mutters to himself. Finally, he places the jar back and wipes his hands with the damp cloth.
Mimi now licks his paws and rubs his head with them. Yoongi finds this action too cute.
Yoongi clicks his tongue. “Do you want to smell lavender to recover from that assault on our noses, Mimi?”
As a response, the cat meows and jumps back onto the table as the apprentice wizard opens a new jar.
Five minutes later, no light filters through the window, and Yoongi has to light the candles. The jars gradually occupy less space on the table, and Mimi plays with one of their lids.
If Yoongi stays positive, he’ll finish as soon as he puts the last jars and books on the shelf, which would take less than five more minutes. The problem is that the last jars are the heaviest and on the highest shelf, and he’ll probably have to lift them one by one.
But it’s better to start working than losing time complaining.
“Magical staircase, go up please,” the wizard requests, holding the railing in front of him while waiting for the staircase to do its job. Seconds pass, and nothing happens. Yoongi is confused, as is Mimi, who tilts his head watching.
“Magical stairs,” he calls more clearly. “Go up, please.”
The object ignores him again. Yoongi doesn’t understand because it was working fine until recently.
“Stairs, go up. Go. Grow taller. Take me to the top shelf.”
But the staircase doesn’t move. Yoongi gets down and groans in frustration.
“Why aren’t you working? I even said please!” he whines, but it’s as if it’s never been a magical object and just an old wooden staircase. The black-haired boy begins to suspect that all magical objects in the shop really hate him.
“Stupid magic furniture…” he mutters through gritted teeth, clicking his tongue.
Now how is he supposed to place the remaining jars? Yoongi can’t reach the top, not even standing on the stair’s small steps.
Maybe he could stack magical books… It’s a bad idea. But what choice does he have?
Yoongi just hopes it won’t hurt if he falls.
With no more time to waste, he begins stacking the largest books, then medium-sized ones, on the magical staircase, high enough for him to reach, or so he hopes.
After removing his shoes to avoid dirtying the books and almost ensuring the stack is stable, he carefully climbs. One hand grips the shelf for balance, the other presses the jar to his chest. Once at the top, he realizes it’s still not high enough.
“Ah, great. Just what I needed.” He mutters through gritted teeth.
Mimi meows from his spot on the wooden table, but Yoongi can’t and doesn’t want to look down.
He’s probably less than a meter off the ground, most likely, but things always feel higher from above, and honestly, Yoongi is feeling a bit dizzy.
“Damn Seokjin hyung who stole all the family height, I wouldn’t be in this situation if it weren’t for him.” Yoongi knows it’s not true, but in situations like this, blaming someone else is tempting.
The black-haired boy grits his teeth to push aside his nervousness. He has to tiptoe and stretch his arm to place the jar on the shelf. It’s heavy and large, and he’s not exactly the strongest person in town.
Oh merlin, even his legs are trembling.
And Mimi hasn’t stopped meowing.
Which makes him even more nervous. “Mimi, enough,” he scolds without looking away, but the meows continue. “Mimi, I need to concentrate,” again ignored
The apprentice wizard lets out a deep sigh and stretches as much as he can. "How I wish you’d stop meowing and actually help me with these jars."
With a sudden impulse, Yoongi manages to place the jar on the shelf, barely holding it by the edge. A satisfied smile lights up his face as he lets his aching arm drop to his side and turns to finally look at his cat. "Mimi! Look, I did it! I think I grew two centimeters with all that stretching!" he celebrates.
But before the black-haired boy can climb down to continue with the next jar, the stack of books wobbles, causing Yoongi to lose his balance and hit his back against the wooden shelf. The jar falls, shattering as it hits the floor, and along with it, Yoongi’s body collapses too.
The crash echoes through the room and the wizard whimpers because his arm hurts. Mimi runs to him immediately, and when Yoongi turns to look at him, he’s licking his soaked arm, now streaked with a little blood since, apparently, the broken glass from the potion had cut him.
Mimi surely just wanted to clean his wound like he’d done before ever since Yoongi could remember, but his tongue scraped the area of the wound even more. The wound left by the shattered potion. And Yoongi was too scared to move—he didn’t even want to know if there was a piece of glass stuck in his arm (though honestly, he didn’t really think that was the case).
God, the black-haired boy now truly promises to improve his magic techniques so he’ll never again be punished with cleaning the—
Wait.
The broken glass… from the potion.
Yoongi’s arm was hurt and wet, from the liquid and the potion’s glass.
Oh no.
Yoongi immediately sits up, ignoring the pain in his body and the dizziness in his head, and searches through the puddle of liquid for the label. When he finds it, he feels as if his soul completely leaves his body and moves to China.
And the black-haired boy, still in a daze, can only take Mimi’s small body in his hands, his eyes wide open. The cat meows in confusion.
" Mimi! What have you done?!"
Mimi had licked the shapeshifting potion from his arm.