Chapter Text
“Pain and suffering are always inevitable for a large intelligence and a deep heart. The really great men must, I think, have great sadness on earth.”
― Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment
“Let’s get out of the rain, Minnie. Before you catch a cold,” Jongho said, steering them both under an awning on the darkening cobblestone street. The light of the sun was fading, the streetlights yawning to life, and the evening was approaching.
The storm clouds had been their only friends for the past few days. The rain softly sprinkled, but didn’t storm, thankfully.
Jongho and Mingi had had their fair share of great sadness on earth, by no fault of their own.
The world was full of magic. But, that also meant it was full of power-hungry fools and those who wanted more, more, more.
There were Witches and there were Familiars - those who could shape-shift into animals and had the power to amplify witches’ magic. Mingi and Jongho were Familiars and unfortunately that meant a life of pain and suffering.
At least they had one another. At least their deep hearts helped them both float amidst a world that wanted them to sink, sink, sink. At least they were finally free…
They were on the run, of course. But, they were free.
“Can we go inside? Just for a moment?” Mingi asked Jongho, giving him soft, yearning eyes that Jongho could never say no to.
“We don’t have any money to buy anything, Minnie,” Jongho says, trying his best to blink away the trance Mingi’s gaze could put him under.
Mingi squeezes his hands.
“But, don’t you feel the pull, Jongie? Towards the shop? Let’s just go inside and see it. Just this once,” Mingi practically begs.
They had been in this neighborhood for a few days now, combing the streets, sleeping in the alleys. It was a quiet area.
Despite either of them saying anything, they found themselves circling the store at the end of the street multiple times a day. It was a magical shop - an emporium - with a cafe, books, and potions galore.
They both would glance longingly at the windowsills, lined with trinkets and plants. They could see the smoke from the fireplace constantly brewing above their heads. They could smell the soft pastries being baked and sold as the door opened and closed. And, they both felt something. Like, a pull…
They spent most of their nights sleeping in the alley behind it - in their Familiar forms. The storeowners would throw out any pastries that didn’t sell and that’s what filled Jongho and Mingi’s bellies most evenings.
But, they had never gone inside. They had never approached the shop in their Human forms. They had never discussed the pull they both felt. Until now…
“I don’t know, Minnie. It might not be safe,” Jongho responds.
“If it feels unsafe, we will shift and leave immediately,” Mingi counters, giving Jongho the look that Jongho could never resist.
“Five minutes. That’s it and then we will leave,” Jongho responds, which has Mingi glowing and pulling him into a tight hug.
“Yes, yes, yes - let’s go!” Mingi exclaims, pulling the younger boy into the warmth of the shop before he could change his mind.
The door jingles as they step inside and the pair take in a deep breath. It smelled like burning vanilla candles, old books, croissants, and green tea. It smelled calm and welcoming - it smelled like something they’ve never truly had before…
Home.
Jongho glances over at Mingi, who is already taking in the shop - eyes glazing over the space like he’s committing it to memory. The soft glow of the candled lights dance across his face.
For the rest of his life, Jongho wants to see Mingi at peace like this.
Jongho, with a deep breath, finally lets himself look around too… At the crystals lining the shelves, the ancient artifacts and books fighting over visibility, the plants and vines twisting through the nooks in the floorboard. There were large armchairs sprinkled throughout the room, accumulating more and more towards the back where a small counter lay with a glass case filled with pastries.
Behind the counter lay a young man who was watching them - curiously. His eyes were wide and his mouth was ajar - as if mid-word. Jongho could feel the man’s magic from across the room, mingling with the crystals’ auras.
A Familiar… Was he free? He looked content…
“Welcome in,” a voice to their left spoke out, causing both Mingi and Jongho to jump. Mingi leaned into Jongho and their hands clasped tighter than before. They both turn to the voice, only to find another young man softly smiling at them, a mop in hand. He was tall and handsome with a pocket watch tucked into his vest.
A Human… Just a Human…
Mingi can just stare, so Jongho nods for the both of them.
“Anything I can help you find?” the young man asks, his eyes wandering to take in their full form.
Jongho knows they don’t look well. They haven’t changed clothes in days and their jackets are tattered and torn. At least the rain has helped them wash away the grime - but he knows they don’t scream ‘ideal customer.’
Jongho starts to panic, shaking his head, not knowing what to say - realizing they made a large mistake.
What if they keep asking questions? What if they call the police? What if they make a report of two wandering young men - two wandering Familiars? What if this leads to them being found and sent back?
Jongho is about to grab Mingi and yank him - and his wondrous gaze - from the store once and for all, when another voice perks up.
“Are you new to the neighborhood? Please come and sit,” the voice says - this time from their right.
Jongho freezes. The magic in the shop wasn’t just coming from the Familiar and the crystals.
There is a Witch. A Witch. A Witch...
They are surrounded on all sides. The Familiar behind the counter is still watching and the Human to the left has cocked his head to the side. And, there is a Witch to their right. But, the door is still within reach.
Jongho notes everything and begins to panic - his breath quickening.
But, then Jongho turns and sees the Witch and his panic subsides. Something about the tall, lanky man, exudes tranquility. For the first time since Mingi and Jongho ran away, Jongho finally feels calm.
Jongho meets hazel eyes and the Witch smiles. He has his hands outstretched to the armchairs closest to the counter. Jongho almost rumbles at how comfortable they look.
“My name is Seonghwa - we own this shop and welcome anyone in need, whether or not you buy something. Feel free to take a seat from the rain. It seems to be growing heavy,” the Witch says, his eyes never leaving Jongho’s… as if he’s trying to show Jongho it’s okay, they are welcome, they are safe.
Surprisingly, Mingi begins pulling Jongho forward, further into the shop. He continues to glance at anything and everything in his path, but holds steady to Jongho. True to Seonghwa’s words, the rain seems to blast against the windows with a heaviness that wasn’t there before.
At least Mingi was dry. For now… Jongho thinks.
Once at the chairs, Mingi seems to sink into a dark green futon, letting out a sign of comfort. Jongho takes a seat in the purple, mismatched chair beside him, but stays on guard, ready to jump up and defend them if necessary.
The Witch - Seonghwa - is there, close but not encroaching, and gives them another soft smile.
“Can we get you some tea? And a pastry? Yeosang, can you help?” Seonghwa asks, finally tearing his gaze away to make eye contact with the Familiar behind the counter.
“T-that’s okay. We aren’t h-hungry,” Jongho lies, clearing his throat.
With perfect cinematic timing, Mingi’s stomach growls. Jongho would laugh if the world hadn’t hardened him.
“We insist. We like to welcome all new neighbors with some tea and pastries - complimentary of course,” Seonghwa continues.
The Familiar from behind the counter - Yeosang - appears with a tray carrying two tea cups and a variety of small pastries. This time, he doesn’t match Jongho or Mingi’s eyes, but pulls a small table up and places the items within their reach.
When close, Jongho can feel the boy's magic buzzing at the surface. He wonders if Yeosang can feel the same as him. Jongho, though, had always tried his best to force his magic down, down, down.
Jongho tries to look for scars or burns or anything on Yeosang’s arms and neck, but doesn’t see anything.
Jongho wants to ask him: “Are you here of your own free will?” - “Is the Witch hurting you?” - “Do you need to escape?” - “Do you need help?”
But, he knows the Witch is watching him… knows the Human is probably listening in too… so he just says:
“Thank you - t-that’s very kind,” Jongho responds.
Mingi gives Jongho a look before reaching for a pastry - the tart bursting with fresh berries - and practically inhales it whole.
Mingi loved the pastries - they were his favorite part of the day, eating the leftovers from the shop. But, the shopowners shouldn’t know that - that the pair were practically stealing from them night after night…
Jongho places a hand on Mingi’s thigh in warning.
Tread carefully…
Jongho picks up the tea and brings it to his lips to taste. He wants to moan at the warmth of the drink - it was as if he was drinking sunlight. It had been so long since he had drunk anything warm, let alone this delicious.
Seonghwa just smiled and turned away, giving the pair space. It’s as if he knew that they were overwhelmed and didn’t want to be questioned.
Jongho’s eyes followed him as he moved around the store arranging and re-arranging items. The tall Human who first spoke had also gone back to mopping. Jongho turned his body so he could also see Yeosang in his periphery, wiping the counter.
There are only three of them. There are stairs leading up somewhere to their left - a door behind the counter leading to probably a kitchen. The front door is to their right in case anyone makes a move out of turn…
Jongho reached down, down, down, into himself to grasp the bubbling magic. He would call upon it if needed… To protect Mingi, he would do anything…
By the time Jongho looked back at Mingi, the boy had devoured a third pastry and half his tea. His cheeks were full and his eyes were crescents. Jongho sighed. He wished he could provide this sort of life for Mingi everyday. Warmth and food and shelter…
“That smells like pumpkin, Jongie. Your favorite,” Mingi whispered to him, pushing one of the remaining pastries in Jongho’s direction.
When was the last time Jongho had eaten pumpkin? He couldn’t recall.
He gives Mingi a soft nod and picks up the pastry, taking a small bite and relishing the wonderful flavors.
He sees Yeosang move towards the door behind him - the kitchen… out of sight, out of sight, out of sight…
Jongho’s heart rate picks up. Is he going to call someone? They must sense that they are Familiars, just like Jongho knows their identities. What if they call the police to retrieve two unclaimed Familiars? But, a fellow Familiar wouldn’t do that, right?
He can feel Yeosang’s magic mixing with Seonghwa’s. Yeosang is Seonghwa’s Familiar. So, maybe he would rat out Jongho and Mingi…
Most Familiars stay close to their Witches. It should seem suspicious that Mingi and Yeosang are out here alone.
“Enjoy the treats? Yeosang is an excellent baker,” Seonghwa says, pulling Jongho from his frazzled and panicked thoughts.
Seonghwa is looking at Mingi this time, a soft playfulness in his tone and his eyes. Mingi was literally licking his fingers. Obviously he enjoyed…
“Yes, thank you. We love his baking - particularly ones with berries,” Mingi says without thinking, turning his attention to the blanket on the chair - scrunching it under his fingers, playing with its softness.
Jongho pinches his thigh. Sure the comment might seem normal. He hopes Seonghwa doesn’t read too much into it - as if this wasn’t their first time eating the pastries.
“I’m glad. Will you both be in the neighborhood for long?” Seonghwa asks, now turning his attention to Jongho.
Jongho sucks in a breath.
“We don’t know. But, we appreciate the warm welcome,” Jongho responds stiffly. Seonghwa just smiles in response.
Before they can deflect any more questions, someone storms through the door.
The door flies open, letting in a harsh, cold, wet breeze. Rain spatters in the first five feet of the shop. And, a man flies in - but he seems to have an air of comfortability - as if he was okay with flying in, drenching the floor with water in every step.
All of that was fine, but something caused Jongho to fly up - standing tall and stiff as a rod.
The man radiated magic - stronger than anything Jongho has ever seen or felt. It was as if he couldn’t contain the magic himself. He was a porous vessel - Pandora’s box with the lid ajar - spewing magic.
Was it intentional? Was he demanding everyone know?
He’s a Witch, he’s a Witch, he’s a Witch - a powerful one… Jongho’s heart races.
Powerful witches were known to hurt Familiars the most. Once you have power, you just want more, more, more. And, the easiest way to gain that is through a Familiar - willing or not. Jongho unfortunately knew from experience.
Maybe Yeosang wasn’t actually safe here - maybe Mingi and Jongho weren’t either…
Jongho doesn’t even try to make eye contact with the man. He just yanks Mingi into standing position too.
“Hongjoongie! Slow down - you are soaking the floor that Yunho just cleaned!” Seonghwa gasps out, focusing on the man who walked in instead of the Familiars.
They seem familial - maybe they are a Coven?
The Human - Yunho - is already moving towards the powerful Witch - Hongjoong - with towels.
Slowly, Jongho pulls Mingi along the periphery of the store, towards the exit.
Maybe they can just inch out of sight.
Seonghwa and Yunho were yanking Hongjoong’s jacket off of him, wrapping him in towels, and littering the floor with more towels to absorb the rest of the water.
When Mingi and Jongho reach the door, a voice causes them to pause.
“Leaving already?” a deep voice asks - one they haven’t heard yet. Jongho looks and sees the Familiar, Yeosang, at the kitchen doorway watching them sneak out.
The three men in the middle of the store stop and face Jongho and Mingi too.
“But, the storm! You don’t even have raincoats," Seonghwa gasped.
“It’s just rain. We will be fine. We already overstayed our welcome. We appreciate the pastries and the tea. We will get out of your hair,” Jongho says, already grabbing the door.
Jongho catches worry on Seonghwa’s and Yunho’s faces - and he even catches Hongjoong’s eyes. They burn and Jongho is afraid, afraid, afraid.
He hopes that Hongjoong can’t feel his magic - it’s shriveling in fear.
“You are truly welcome any time. I mean it,” Seonghwa says, catching Jongho’s eyes one last time.
Jongho wants to believe them. He does.
But, he’s scared for himself and Mingi. He’s been tricked before.
He’s just escaped and saved Mingi by the skin off his back…
He can’t let his guard down now - maybe ever.
“Okay,” is all Jongho can squeak out before grabbing Mingi and yanking him into the rain.
The door seems to close with a finality that breaks Jongho’s heart. He wants to run back inside, but he can’t. He won’t.
They won’t be any different from other Covens. Especially with a Witch as powerful as Hongjoong. It’s foolish to hope.
Besides, all Mingi and Jongho have known is pain and suffering. That’s all they will ever know. Well, all Jongho will ever know. He vowed to protect Mingi and that’s what Jongho plans to do with every breath.
“They seemed nice,” is all Mingi says softly as they trudge through the rain, breaking Jongho from his thoughts.
They are walking aimlessly - at least for a couple blocks in case anyone decides to follow them.
Mingi is holding Jongho’s hand tightly, grasping it with all the strength he has. He’s gotten weaker since they ran away.
“The second Witch is powerful. We can’t be too sure of anything,” Jongho responds. Mingi just nods in response.
He doesn’t want Mingi to hope, hope, hope.
Jongho doesn’t want to admit it, but he still feels the pull back towards the shop. It feels stronger than ever…
Truly, it’s Jongho who doesn’t want to hope, hope, hope…
They walk in silence.
Finally after an hour or so, they make it back to the shop - or rather the alleyway behind the shop.
The sun has fully set, the rain is still pounding against the cobblestones, and the street is quiet. Jongho signals to Mingi and they both shift into their animal forms.
Jongho - a bear cub - so small, as he never felt safe to grow bigger.
Mingi - a feeble duckling - shivering in place.
Jongho uses his paw to drag Mingi underneath him, bringing him out of the storm. They both move towards the emporium’s trash cans, where they normally find leftover pastries in a bag.
But, before Jongho could nose through the bin, Mingi quacks to stop him, his small beak pointing towards the back door to the emporium, covered from the rain with a small canopy. There, on the step, was a bag of pastries.
“They must’ve left the pastries on the step because they didn’t want to get wet with all this rain,” Mingi ponders, his voice going directly into Jongho’s mind.
The Familiar pair - they were bonded and could speak to one another telepathically. Mingi and Jongho were a Coven - the only one they ever needed.
“Hmm,” is all Jongho says in response, a bit suspicious.
He paws open the bag and Mingi leaps forward, hungrily beginning to munch through the pastries - as if he didn’t just eat four of them but an hour ago.
Jongho also doesn’t comment that some of the pastries were warm - the one with berries and the pumpkin one… were they just leftovers?
Jongho munches on a couple pastries, but leaves most of them for Mingi. Sure he was small in his duckling form, but he needed all the food he could get.
Once they were full, Jongho took the mangled bag and placed it in the trash can. He also tried his best to wipe the crumbs from the step. Hopefully the rain would help him clean the rest.
Then, per their usual routine, Jongho hopped up onto the step and curled into a ball. Mingi leaped into the middle, cuddling Jongho for warmth. Slowly, sleep came upon them.
Tomorrow will be another day, hopefully better than the last and the one before.