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Chapter Text

Jongho was hungry. Really hungry.

His paws were curled towards his stomach in an attempt to soothe the painful knot. The pain was so strong it felt difficult to move, but he knew he had to in order to find something to eat.

Yesterday, he had spent all day looking for wild berries to eat, but without any luck. The arrival of winter meant that the majority of edible plants were frozen or dead. The bins and dumpsters in the city would probably be a better option, but the sight of a bear roaming the streets freely wasn’t tolerated for obvious reasons. That’s why he was living in the forest situated at the edge of the city.

Even though he was a bear shifter, Jongho didn’t know how to hunt, and trapping small animals wasn’t nearly enough to quell his hunger. Of course, Jongho wasn’t even supposed to live in the forest on his own in the first place.

In principle, every shifter was chosen by a witch to be his familiar. A familiar was an extension of the witch himself. It served as an additional source of magic to tap into and helped stabilize the capricious nature of magic itself. The worth of a familiar resided in the amount of magic he held inside of him.

As it turned out, Jongho had slim to none.

He had discovered this when he had gone through the mandatory examination when he turned eighteen, which explained why his bear form was stuck at the size of a cub. His parents, who took pride in their long lineage of powerful familiars, couldn’t handle the humiliation of having such a weak shifter as their son and disowned him.

Jongho was forced to leave his home with nothing but the clothes on his back and a meagre travel bag with his necessities.

With no one to turn to, he had to live on the streets. His attempts at getting a job ended up fruitless, because no one wanted to hire a homeless person. It was hard to enter any shop or restaurant really, and often ended up being asked to leave because of his unkept appearance which bothered the customers. That’s why he made the decision to remain in his bear form, hoping he would have a better life this way. He was wrong.

He now was laying on his side on the ground, close to an isolated house in the forest. A nice garden was in the backyard, and he had sneak in there every now and then to steal some vegetables or fruits to sustain himself. He tried not to go often because he felt guilty for stealing from the people who lived there.

They appeared to be nice people, from what he had seen. Four witches appeared to live there with their familiars. A couple of times, he caught himself watching them through the window. Seeing them laugh and share warm meals together always brought a pang of longing inside his heart. He sometimes wondered if his life would have been the same if he had been a powerful shifter like his parents had expected.

Jongho let his thoughts wander, his mind almost delirious with hunger. He wondered if this was how he would die. Alone in the woods, slowly consumed by the void in his stomach and the terrible loneliness that plagued him every day.

Suddenly, his ears twitched as he heard some rustling. Less than a meter away, a mouse emerged in his line of sight. Before he even knew what he was doing, Jongho used the last of his strength to launch himself forward.

The mouse squeaked as it was caught beneath his clawed paw. Saliva pooled into his mouth as he lifted the mouse and brought it closer. The small rodent squirmed and squeaked relentlessly in an attempt to get away from his doomed fate. Just as Jongho opened his jaw to eat it, he felt something slam into his side.

He stumbled and released his grip on the mouse, which quickly scurried away. However, he didn’t have time to think about his lost prey because he was being attacked by an orange blur.

He whimpered and cried, unable to defend himself because he was so weak already. All he could do was cover his head with his paws and hope the assault would stop. He thought he heard some shouts in the distance, but that was the last thing he registered as he lost consciousness.

Jongho’s eyes slowly blinked open. He felt sore all over, and as soon as he tried to move a stabbing pain came from his stomach. He groaned in pain as he clutched at his stomach. Confused, he looked down to see he had turned back into his human form, and he was lying in a bed. He also noticed he had been dressed. The thought of a stranger putting clothes on his naked body while he had been unconscious made him very uneasy.

Before he could mull over this new discovery, a knock made him jerk up. A man stepped into the room with a bowl in his hand. He instantly knew he was a witch by the amount of magic he exuded, which scared him even more.

Jongho gasped and pressed himself against the wall as much as he could despite his body protesting against the movement. He trembled as he raised his arms to shield himself. He heard some hushing sounds and a soft thud.

“You don’t have to be scared. My name is Seonghwa, and I’m not here to hurt you.”

The words did nothing to reassure Jongho. He was in an unfamiliar place, and the last thing he remembered was being attacked, so he was very reluctant to let his guard down.

“You must be hungry. I brought some soup for you.”

 A delicious aroma was caught by his nose, so at least Jongho assumed he was telling the truth about food. The enticing smell renewed his hunger, and he whimpered in pain once again.

“Aigoo poor baby. Come and fill your poor tummy with warm food, it will make you feel better.”

In the end, hunger won over fear. Jongho slowly brought his arms down and tentatively glanced at the man.

Seonghwa was smiling at him and holding the bowl his hands towards him. His ear-length black hair curled gently over his oval-shaped face.

With trembling hands, the bear shifter took the bowl and brought it towards his mouth.

“Careful, it’s still quite hot.” Just as the witch said that, Jongho took a first sip and jerked back when the liquid burned his tongue. The man chuckled fondly as he steadied the bowl with one hand. He sent another encouraging smile when the younger man looked up wearily at him.

“Blow on it before you take a sip.” Jongho followed his instructions, and he started taking slow sips. Soon enough, he was gulping down the delicious soup, and he licked the bowl clean to make sure he didn’t waste a single drop. The witch giggled at the sight, but he felt a twinge of sadness at how hungry the poor boy was.

“Do you remember what happened before you fainted?” Jongho’s eyes remained on his lap as he nodded.

“The mouse you caught is actually a shifter, and one of our coven’s familiars. Wooyoung, another one of our familiars saw you were about to eat Mingi and attacked you too free him.” The bear shifter’s eyes widened in shock as he looked up at the man. He felt overcome by guilt. If he hadn’t been stopped, he would’ve killed an actual person.

“Please don’t feel guilty about it. Mingi is safe and sound now, he just had a bit of a scare. Actually, I’m hoping this incident will deter him from wandering off in his mouse form.”

Jongho didn’t understand why Seonghwa wasn’t angry. He had almost killed one of his familiars, an act which would have been punished severely by any other witches.

“Ah, you must be wondering where you are. We brought you back to our house to tend to your wounds. Our Wooyoungie can be quite protective when he wants to be. I apologize on his behalf.” He bowed his head slightly, which prompted Jongho to do the same. As he got the time to take a better look at the man, Jongho realized he was one of the witches who lived in the house he stayed close by. This discovery made him feel worse about himself, because he almost caused harm to the people he had grown fond of.

Seonghwa got up from the seat he had taken on the bed and brushed down the robe he was wearing.

“Well, I’ll let you get some more rest. Don’t hesitate to shout if you need anything else. I’ll come get you once it’s time for dinner. The others are eager to see you.” He offered another warm smile before leaving the room. Once the door closed behind him, Jongho heard other voices speaking franticly.

The bear shifter got up from the bed on wobbly legs and got closer to the door, pressing his ear against it.

“- Can’t believe you’re letting him stay here! What if he tried to eat Mingi again?! We should’ve left him in the woods!”

“Aish Wooyoung-ah. He was hurt and all alone, we couldn’t leave him there.” Jongho recognized Seonghwa’s calm voice.

“And I’m sure there’s a good reason why he was out there alone! Have you ever seen a shifter without a coven? He’s probably dangerous!”

Jongho retreated back to the bed. He had heard enough. What Wooyoung had said brought back his old insecurities. He was oddity, and most importantly, he wasn’t good enough to be a familiar.

Despite what Seonghwa had said, it appeared his presence here wasn’t welcomed. Not wanting to trouble them anymore than he already had, Jongho decided he would leave tomorrow. He could leave now, but his selfish self wanted to at least eat the dinner he had been promised.

Jongho climbed beneath the covers and closed his eyes. Despite feeling sore and uneasy, the stress of the event had taken its toll and he was out like a light in a matter of moments.

Jongho was currently sitting at a table along with four other people. On the other side of the table, two of them were glaring at him. Another man who sat in the middle of them seemed to be curious of him, but looked away every time Jongho tried to meet his gaze. He could sense from their magic that all three of them were shifters as well. The last person was sitting on the same side and a chair away from him. He appeared to be a witch, and he wasn’t paying any attention to them. Instead, he was looking outside the window of the dining room.

Seonghwa’s arrival broke the tension lingering in the room. He was bringing several dishes with him which were levitating beside him. The curious man’s attention settled on the food and his mouth opened slightly.

“It smells so good hyung!” Seonghwa chuckled at this. Once he had set the dishes on the table and settled at one end of the table, everyone started to fill their plates. Jongho followed suit after a moment of hesitation. He noticed that they all put pieces of food in each other’s plates at some point. The two hostile men especially seemed eager to feed the others, excluding Jongho of course.

“Here, why don’t you try this meat.” Jongho turned to see Seonghwa holding a piece of meat with his chopsticks towards him. Taken aback, Jongho automatically took the bite. He heard a scoff, and looked at the man in front of him. The man threw him a glare before continuing to eat.

Halfway through the meal, Seonghwa addressed Jongho.

“I should probably introduce you to everyone while we’re here. This is Wooyoung, Mingi and San.” He pointed each man respectively, starting from the closest to him. Jongho’s gaze immediately went to Mingi when he realized he was the one he had hurt. “And the one sitting close to you is Yeosang.”

Yeosang sent him a soft smile before he continued to eat.

“Two members of our coven, Hongjoong and Yunho are absent. They’re working for the ministry of magic and they are working on an important case right now. They often have to stay late. You’ll be able to meet them eventually.”

“I don’t know why you bother saying that hyung. It’s not like he will stay long enough to do so. He’s already overstaying his welcome-“

“Wooyoung! That’s enough!” 

“It’s alright Seonghwa-ssi.” Jongho stood up and went around the table. Both Wooyoung and San got up from their seat, thinking he would attack Mingi again, but they remained baffled as he kneeled on the ground in a deep bow towards Mingi.

“Mingi-ssi, I sincerely apologize for my actions. There are no excuses for what I’ve done.” The mouse shifter was speechless for a moment before he stood to help Jongho up.

“You don’t need to kneel, it’s all in the past now! Besides, I shouldn’t have wandered so far away knowing the risks.” Jongho’s cheeks dusted with pink once he realized Mingi was still holding his hands. Once the other shifter noticed, he released his hands with a quick ‘sorry’, looking similarly embarrassed.

Jongho didn’t linger and went back to his seat. Soon, everyone settled at the table again. He was about to resume eating when he was addressed.

“Actually, you never told us your name.” Mingi inquired. Seonghwa and Yeosang also seemed curious to know.

“It’s Jongho.” Seonghwa smiled.

“It’s a nice name, it suits you.” Jongho stayed silent but bowed his head. He was feeling shy among all those people he didn’t really know.

When they were all done eating, the bear shifter thanked Seonghwa for the food.

“Would you show me the way to the door please? I won’t take much more of your time.” Seonghwa made a noise of disbelief.

“Surely you will stay at least for the night?” Jongho rubbed his arm, refusing to meet his gaze. He already felt like he was imposing, but he found it hard to say no to the witch.

“Well, I…”

“Please, I would feel much better knowing you are sleeping somewhere safe, and your bed is already made.” As soon as he met Seonghwa’s earnest gaze, he knew he had lost this battle.

“Just for this night, then.” Seonghwa clasped his hands together and beamed.

“Come, I will show you where the bathroom is so you can take a nice shower.” The witch placed a hand on the small of his back to lead him. As he turned, Jongho didn’t miss the distrustful looks San and Wooyoung sent him.

A couple of hours later, Jongho laid in bed with the cover pulled to his neck. The room was dark, and everyone was probably sleeping by now, but he couldn’t fall asleep. He kept overthinking about the dinner earlier, if he should’ve done anything differently.

He got up to go to the bathroom, hoping it would also distract him from his thoughts. Just as he walked down the corridor, someone exited the bathroom. Jongho squinted his eyes and realized with dread that it was Wooyoung. The other shifter noticed him and stalked towards him. Even in the darkness, Jongho could tell he was mad.

“What are you still doing here?!” Wooyoung whispered venomously in his face. Jongho flinched back.

“I… Seonghwa-ssi said I could-“

“It doesn’t matter! If you really feel guilty about what you did, you should leave our home at once! A shifter like you, who’s more animal than human is a danger to others! Seonghwa is too good of a person to send you away, so I’ll do it in his place. Leave, now!”

Jongho’s heart pounded inside his chest as he hesitantly took some steps back.

“And stay away from our house!” Jongho turned and left in a hurry. Once he had closed the front door behind him, he ran into the forest. He struggled to catch his breath as he sobbed uncontrollably. Warm tears were running down his cheeks as he went further into the woods without a purpose. His heart felt like it had been teared into and stomped on.

At some point, his foot caught on a root sticking out of the ground and he fell to the ground. Jongho even didn’t bother getting up. He simply laid there and grasped at the dirt with his hands, sobbing and gasping for air.

Jongho had just been reminded how unwanted and how much of a failure he was. This wasn’t news to him, but it hurt just the same.

He could’ve a spent a couple of minutes there, or an hour. Jongho didn’t keep track of time, but eventually he shakily got up to his feet and started walking.

That night, Jongho promised to himself he would avoid people at all costs. He didn't want to become a burden again. 

Chapter Text

Jongho resumed his life as though nothing happened. He continued to fight for his survival, but this time, he settled much deeper into the woods as to avoid any human presence.

It had been a few days since the meal he had eaten while at the Park Coven’s house, the hunger which had temporarily abated was coming back with a vengeance.

Jongho was trudging through the woods in his bear form, looking for anything edible as usual, when his sensitive nose picked up an appealing scent. The aroma reminded him of popcorn, a treat he used to eat often when he was child.

He followed the scent for a couple of miles, until he noticed a blue barrel laying on the ground covered with autumn leaves. It was certainly strange to see this object, which had to have been placed, in the middle of the forest with no human settlement being anywhere near.

Jongho’s curiosity was peaked. The scent appeared to be coming from the barrel, so he approached it cautiously. He shoved the barrel with his paw, and it appeared to contain something.

At the prospect of discovering something to eat, Jongho quickly searched for the place to open the barrel. It wasn’t difficult to find, but the problem was that his paws were too clumsy to open the latch, and he didn’t want to turn back to his human form because of the biting cold his heavy fur coat protected him against.

The bear shifter did the next best thing, and tried to bite into the barrel to pierce a hole into it. It was difficult to get a good grip on it because of its cylindric shape, so he kept slipping. As he was working, Jongho suddenly heard some rustling.

His head instantly jerked to the side to look towards the sound. All his senses were alert, but after a couple minutes of finding nothing amiss, he went back to his task.

A few moments later, he heard a loud popping noise before he felt a blinding pain in his abdomen. The shock of the pain made him instantly let go of the barrel. His instincts went haywire as he scurried into the woods. He barely felt the pain because of the adrenaline as he tried to put as much distance as possible between him and the place where he had heard the noise.

He eventually slowed down and found a hiding place beneath a huge rock protruding from a downward slope leading to a small creek. He settled on his rump and searched for a wound. There was blood trickling from a hole in the side of his lower stomach. Now that he wasn’t running on adrenaline, the pain felt excruciating.

He became alert again when he heard frantic voices in the distance, and he realized at once what just happened. He had been shot by some hunters, and they were now tracking him down.

Jongho began panicking since he knew he had probably left a trail of blood, which would lead them straight to where he was hiding. He looked around as he tried to think of a solution, and once his eyes settled on the water trickling down below an idea formed into his head.

He made his way down as quickly as possible. The pain in his side made him wince with each step he took, but he tried to brush it aside because he knew he would be dead if the hunters found him.

When he finally stepped into the water, he began to make his way downstream. He walked for quite some time, until he finally deemed he was at a safe distance from danger.

He left the small river and tried to find a place to lay down. The loss of blood was starting to affect him as he felt his energy dwindling. He let himself fall down in a small nook created by the roots of a huge tree.

All he wanted to do was close his eyes and sleep, but he knew it was dangerous to do so in his state. He also had to take care of his wound first. Unfortunately, he couldn’t change back to his human form at the risk of making it even worse. The only thing he could do at the moment was to put pressure on the wound and hope the bleeding would stop.

Jongho woke up with a start, and realized he must’ve fallen asleep. He looked down to see the bleeding had fortunately stopped. He heard some rustling further away from him, which must’ve been what startled him awake.

He raised his head slightly to see what was making the noise, and saw two humans walking in his direction. They seemed to be bickering with each other. As they approached closer, Jongho saw they were both holding a broom, which indicated they were actually witches.

“Hyung, how many times do I have to tell you?! We have to cross the river to reach the house!” One of the men was arguing while another was studying a map.

“Thank you for your advice Yunho, but I know where I am.” Yunho groaned in exasperation.

“There’s a reason Seonghwa hyung doesn’t let you be the guide when we go on a trip! You aren’t even able to read a map!”

Jongho’s ears perked up. Seonghwa hyung? Was it the same Seonghwa he knew?

The two witches were now standing just by the tree where he was laying. Jongho was too weak to run, so he simply stayed as still as he could, hoping they would notice him. While he was in need of medical care, he was determined to keep away from people.

Unfortunately for him, Yunho’s eyes looked down for a second, and he did a double take once he saw the bear cub laying by the base of the tall tree. He shook his companion’s shoulder, who grumbled unintelligible words upon being disturbed.

“Hongjoong, look. It’s a bear cub.” Jongho pressed himself against the tree when the two witches crouched down to take a better look.

“Not just a bear cub, I’ll say. I think he’s a shifter.” Hongjoong observed quietly, sensing the magic emanating from him.

“What are you going out here alone? Where is your family?” They probably assumed he was a child given his size. Jongho didn’t make a noise, and simply stayed curled on himself.

Yunho gasped slightly when he saw the dried blood mating his fur. When he reached out and touched it, the bear shifter let out a cry of pain.

“I’m sorry little one, I just wanted to be sure.” He turned to look at Hongjoong, “Hyung, we have to bring him back with us. We can’t leave him out here while he’s hurt!”

Hongjoong nodded and folded his map in one of his pockets as he stood up.

“You’re right. Yeosang will be able to help him. He’s probably not able to shift in this state, so I think it’s best if we carry him in our arms.” Yunho let Hongjoong hold his broom as he reached out to grab the cub.

Jongho weakly batted his paws against Yunho’s hands, but eventually gave up as the witch hoisted him up and into his arms.

Soon enough, the two witches had mounted their brooms once again.

“Lead the way Yunho.” Hongjoong said as he started to levitate.

Yunho nodded once and pushed off from the ground, and then they were off. They flew above the tree tops as wind blew against their faces. Yunho glanced down at the bear shifter who was nestled into his arms.

“Don’t worry little one, we’ll take care of you.” Too tired to protest, Jongho let his eyes fall shut and soon fell asleep, lulled by the warmth radiating from the witch.

Jongho woke up to a tingling sensation on the side of his stomach. His eyes slowly blinked open and he raised his head to see what was going on.

He was surprised to see Yeosang sitting by his side. His palms were placed over his wound and he appeared to be focused, his eyes staring at the wall with his brows furrowed in concentration. Seonghwa was hovering above his shoulder and watching him work. They didn’t appear to have noticed he was awake.

Jongho looked around and saw he seemed to be back in the bedroom where he had been staying in a few days prior. He felt confused for a second, wondering how he ended up here. Then he remembered his encounter with Yunho and Hongjoong. Given what they had said and what Seonghwa had mentioned before, Jongho presumed they were the last two members of the coven he hadn’t been able to meet.

Seonghwa happened to look towards him, and his features brightened when he saw he was awake.

“I’m glad to finally see you awake! You’ve been asleep for two days, and we were worried since you lost a lot of blood.”

Two days?! Jongho felt bad for imposing on them for so long. He tried to sit up, and he winced at the twinge in his side. Immediately, Seonghwa pressed him back down on the bed.

“No, no no, stay down! Your body probably feels really disoriented right now. Rest a bit more before you try to get up again.” Jongho’s cheeks became slightly red with embarrassment. He felt like a child being told off by his mother.  

“Thank you for your concern Seonghwa-ssi, but I think I can manage.” Yeosang chuckled. His hands were now resting on his lap as he watched the interaction.

“You shouldn’t go against hyung’s orders, especially when it’s about your health. He’ll be all over you like a mother hen if you don’t listen.” Seonghwa sent a glare Yeosang’s way before walking towards the door.

“I’ll bring you back some food since you must be hungry, and call me hyung!” He said to Jongho before closing the door behind him.

An awkward silence settled over Yeosang and Jongho. The bear shifter hadn’t talked to Yeosang much, so he didn’t know what to say. He wondered why the witch had decided to stay here and hadn’t left with Seonghwa.

He looked at Yeosang and saw he appeared to be lost in thought, staring into nothing in particular.

“Thank you for healing me.” The witch blinked and turned to look at Jongho.

“Oh, you’re welcome.” The two of them continued to stare at each other without saying anything, which made Jongho feel even more awkward.

“I assume you have healing powers?” The witch nodded. Every witch developed affinities for certain types of magic as they got older.

“My powers also extend to plants. I’m the one who takes care of the garden and the flowers outside of the house.” This explained why the plants and flowers in front of the house never seemed to lose their glow, even though it was the middle of winter.

“I’ve always found the landscape around the house beautiful.” Yeosang ducked his head with a small smile as he became bashful.

“Thank you, I try my best.” He muttered in a soft tone.

Seonghwa entered a moment later with a tray. It contained a steaming bowl of soup, a piece of bread and a glass of water.

“Just to be clear, we don’t always eat soup around here,” The older witch said with a chuckled, “It just happens to be a light meal that’s easy on the stomach. If I may be so blunt, you don’t seem to be eating a lot, and a heavy meal would only make you sick.”

Jongho felt slightly embarrassed to be put on the spot like that, but he was grateful nonetheless to be fed once again.

“Thank you Seonghwa-ssi. I’m really grateful for everything you’ve done.” He made eye contact with both of them as he said the last phrase.

“Jongho-ah, I told you to call me hyung. I think we’re past formalities now hmm?” The bear shifter rubbed his ear as he felt shy.

Before Seonghwa could add anything more, the door opened again to reveal a tall man. Jongho recognized him, but it took a few seconds for him to remember his name was Yunho.

Yunho made a small wave as he came closer. Yeosang stood up and motioned towards his chair which was now vacant.

“Here, you can take my chair. I’ll go continue working on my healing balms.” Yunho squeezed his shoulder briefly to thank him before taking his place on the chair.

“I’ll go finish some things as well.” Seonghwa announced with a smile, and left soon after as well.

After watching them leave, Jongho turned towards Yunho who was smiling at him.

“So, how are you feeling?”

“I’m not in pain, just feeling tired.” The witch hummed.

“You gave us all quite a scare. We weren’t sure if you were gonna make it,” He paused before continuing, “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but what happened to you?”

Jongho let out a weary sigh, then proceeded to tell him how he got shot by hunters and chased by a pack of wolves. At the end of his tale, Yunho was admittedly shocked by what he had been through.

“It’s a good thing we found you then.” Silence settled between them, which was broken by Jongho a few moments later.

“Why?” Yunho was confused by the question.

“What do you mean?”

“Why did you help me?” The witch thought about his response for a second before answering.

“Well, we couldn’t leave you there bleeding to death. If there was a chance we could save your life, we wanted to try.” Jongho stayed silent. The truth was, as he had been laying bleeding on the ground and feeling like life was slowly slipping away from him, he had been resigned to his fate. A small part of him had been relieved even, knowing there wasn’t anything good in this life for him anyway.

The question left Yunho concerned about him, but before he could question the shifter more, he felt Hongjoong calling for him. He got up from his seat.

“I have to go help with something. I’ll come by later to see you. Don’t hesitate to yell if you need anything.” He saw Jongho nod, but somehow Yunho had the feeling the younger take the offer.

Yunho left the room with an uneasy feeling he couldn’t shake. Back in the guest bedroom, Jongho was laying on his side, lost in his own thoughts.

Chapter Text

That evening, as everyone chatted and laughed around the table while they ate dinner, Seonghwa was lost in his own thoughts thinking about the shifter in the guest room.

Earlier this week, when he gotten up in the morning to check on their guest and saw he was nowhere to be found, the witch had begun to get worried. He asked all the others if they had seen him around the house, but they all said they hadn’t seen him since the previous evening.

Just as the witch had put on his shoes to go look for him outside, Wooyoung had held his arm back.

“Hyung, he probably left on his own.” Seonghwa hesitated. He knew most likely Wooyoung was right, but he felt guilty for not looking for him.

“But, I feel like I should still try to look for him. Maybe he’s lost his way and…”

This time San approached to reassure their coven leader.

“If he’s been living in the woods for this long, he probably knows his way through them better than any us. If he’s in trouble, I’m sure he’ll be able to find his way to our house again.”

In the end, the witch let himself be convinced. However, he did place several magical marks on the trees leading up to the house. He also stashed a couple of packs with food because he worried if the bear shifter ate enough. He knew there was a big chance other animals would find them, but he felt more at ease knowing he was doing something to help.

The following days, despite their routine going back to normal and the rest of the coven forgetting about the bear shifter, Seonghwa still found himself thinking about him late at night before going to bed, wondering if he was safe.

He didn’t know if he would cross path with the shifter again, until Hongjoong and Yunho brought home with them a familiar-looking bear cub.

He had been shocked to see how badly wounded the poor thing was, and he had quickly called Yeosang to come help them. Seonghwa had coaxed Jongho with his magic to shift back to his human form just like the first time to allow the healer to see the wound better. Fortunately, the bullet they managed to extract hadn’t hit any major organs.

Even though the bear shifter was recovering well now, Seonghwa wanted to know what happened to him, but he also wanted to ask him why he was living on his own in the first place.

“Is everything alright Hwa?” Yunho asked from beside him. The coven leader hummed with a soft smile to reassure him.

“Yes, just thinking.” Yunho nodded as he ate another bite.

“Is it about Jongho?”

When they had returned from their work assignment, Yunho and Hongjoong were informed about everything that took place while they were gone. However, they didn’t make the connection between Jongho and the bear shifter they rescued until Seonghwa shouted his name when he saw him in Yunho’s arms.

“I feel like there’s something more about him. Don’t you think it’s strange for a familiar to live alone like this, in the wild?” Yunho frowned as he thought about it.

“You’re right. I’ve never heard about a familiar living like him before. We can always ask him about it tomorrow. He must still be tired from everything he went through.”

Seonghwa thanked Yunho for his advice and resumed eating. Now that his concerns had been addressed, he was able to tune in with the debate taking place between Wooyoung and San regarding which type of fish tasted the best.

Jongho groaned as his eyes fluttered opened. Through a slit between the window and the curtain covering it, he saw a glimpse of the sun slowly rising between the trees. He was just sitting up, about to stretch his arms above his head when he stopped abruptly.

He felt like he was being watched, even though he seemed to be alone at first glance. He looked around the room with an uneasy feeling, not seeing anything at first, until he spotted a dark mass on top of the dresser across the room.

Jongho lit up the lamp on the bedside table, and sure enough, a black cat was sitting there. Its tail was swinging lazily in the air while its equally dark eyes were watching him intently.

Jongho let out the breath he had been holding and pressed a hand against his racing heart. “You surprised me.”

The cat simply blinked in response, not moving from his spot. The boy made some noises to draw it closer to him. The black feline seemed to contemplate for a moment before he jumped from the drawer and slowly walked closer to him. It got up on the bed and kneaded the comforter with his paws.

Jongho held out his hand, and the cat approached cautiously before sniffing his hand. He giggled to himself as he carefully began to scratch it under its chin.

“I never had the chance to pet a cat before,” he said as he continued to run his fingers through the soft fur. “When I was a kid, I used to beg my parents to have one, but they always refused. They said I was too irresponsible to take care of it.”

“Now that I think about it, I don’t think they ever felt proud of me for something before. No matter how hard I tried to please them, it never seemed to be enough. I wasn’t studious enough or wasn’t powerful enough. I’m just… not good enough.”

He went quiet after that, his eyes burning with tears left unshed. He broke out of his trance when he felt a nudge against his hand. The cat was looking at him, and Jongho chuckled as he suddenly felt embarrassed.

“I’m sorry for saying all of this to you. You probably can’t even understand what I’m saying anyway,” He let out a sigh before muttering to himself, “It seems like I’m only being a nuisance to people these days.” The cat’s ears twitched.

“I should probably go and thank Seonghwa hyung for everything before leaving.” Jongho brushed back the covers and slowly got out of bed. He couldn’t help but wince as he felt the twinge in his side, but he managed to stand up in the end.

The black cat slipped out of the room as soon as Jongho opened the door, disappearing over a corner. As for the bear shifter, he began his search for the witch.

After asking Yeosang, whom he met in the living room, Jongho found out Seonghwa was in the backyard taking care of the bees.

As he followed the buzzing noise coming from the side of the house, Jongho felt reluctant to approach closer. The last time he came in contact with bees, it didn’t end up so well for him. He sported several bee stings after trying to get some honey from their hive.

When he finally caught a glimpse of the witch, he was in the middle of extracting honey combs from one of the frames of the hive. However, what baffled Jongho was that he wasn’t wearing any protective gear. When Seonghwa was done, he turned around and noticed the younger standing there. He smiled and approached him while carrying several pots full with honey combs.

To Jongho’s astonishment, Seonghwa didn’t seem to have been stung by the bees. The witch chuckled when he saw the expression he was wearing.

“What’s got you looking like that?”

“Hyung, how- why don’t you have any bee stings? You weren’t wearing any protection?” The witch made a noise of understanding.

“You can say me and the bees sort of understand each other. They know I have no intention to bring them any harm. I give them a home, and in return, I get to collect the honey they produce.” Jongho hummed in response. He couldn’t say he understood very well, but he figured Seonghwa knew best.

“Did you come here to tell me something?” Seonghwa walked in front of him, and Jongho followed behind.

“Oh yes, I actually wanted-“ Seonghwa suddenly turned towards him as they reached the front porch.

“Wait! I just had an idea! I’m gonna go store my pots and make us some tea, then we can sit down in the garden so we can discuss. Just give me a moment.” Jongho watched Seonghwa entered the house, and sat down on the stairs to wait for him. A couple minutes later, he came back with a tray carrying two cups of tea and some biscuits floating beside him, which allowed him to close the door without a problem.

Jongho followed him to the backyard, where they sat down on swing chair with three seats. After giving the younger his cup of tea and offering him some biscuits, Seonghwa took a sip of his own cup.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Jongho cleared his throat.

“I wanted to thank you hyung… for everything you’ve done for me. I’m really grateful. If there’s anything I can do to repay you for your kindness-“

“Hush! There’s no need to repay anything. I’m not looking for any form of compensation from you. I’m just glad I could help you get better,” Seonghwa paused for a moment before he continued, “although I do have a question that’s been bugging me recently, and I was hoping maybe you could enlighten me.”

Jongho nodded, waiting for him to continue.

“Why did you leave so abruptly a few days ago? Of course, you can leave anytime you want, but I was wondering why you didn’t at least say goodbye.” Jongho sucked in a breath as he looked at his hands resting on his lap.

“I apologize Seonghwa-ssi. It wasn’t my intention to offend you, I just didn’t want to overstay my welcome.” Jongho bowed his head while the witch frowned in concern.

“Did I made it seem like you weren’t welcome here? Because if I did, I sincerely apologize-“

“No at all!” The shifter was quick to cut him off before he could finish his apology. “I assure you you were most hospitable. I’m the one who should’ve said something before leaving. I’m sorry for worrying you.” He got up to bend at the waist in a deep bow. Seonghwa was stunned for a second before he urged him to sit back down.

“Now, none of that. It was just a misunderstanding. We can simply put this behind us.” He saw Jongho nod, but he could tell the younger still felt uneasy. He took the opportunity to change the subject.

“I was also wondering why you were living on your own in the forest.” Jongho stiffened upon hearing this.

“I… I don’t have a coven or a home I can live in, so I wasn’t able to keep a job.” It felt shameful to admit this out loud. Seonghwa nodded in understanding, feeling sympathetic towards the difficult situation he was in.

“I have an offer for you.” Jongho perked up, curious about what he would say.

“I will help you get a job, and you can stay with us for some time until you get back on your feet. How does that sound?” The shifter got up on his feet, completely shocked.

“I can’t possibly accept this! I’ve already troubled you too much with my problems. I’m touched by your generosity, but I assure you I’m perfectly fine living in the woods by myself.” Seonghwa sighed.

“Jongho-ya, living this way isn’t living at all, it’s surviving. I’ve seen how thin you are, and I can’t imagine how hard it is to find food at this time of the year. Please, I would sleep better at night knowing you’re sleeping in a proper bed with a full stomach.”

The way Seonghwa looked at him, his eyes pleading for him to accept, made it hard for Jongho to refuse. He also felt bad for making the witch worry so much.

“I don’t want to take advantage of your generosity,” he said in a weak voice. The older hummed and thought for a second.

“Then, how about you help me with some tasks around the house to compensate? Would that make you feel less guilty?” After a beat, Jongho nodded slightly.

“It’s settled then,” Seonghwa announced with a smile as he got up as well, “Let’s go announce the news to everyone else.”

Jongho felt apprehensive as they walked back towards the house. He knew for a fact some members of the coven wouldn’t be happy with the news. However, as much as he ignored it, a small part of him was looking forward to living with the coven.

Chapter Text

Jongho stared absentmindedly through the window, lost in his own thoughts while drying a plate with a cloth. He was currently helping Mingi cleaning the dishes. The mouse shifter was chatting with Yunho, who was storing the food remaining from lunch into the fridge.

 At first, when Jongho had asked to help them, he had been shut down because they were claiming he was a guest. However, after a good amount of insisting, they had finally relented. Looking back, maybe he should’ve been less stubborn, but he was determined to help them after they had so graciously welcomed him into their home for an indefinite amount of time.

Seonghwa had decided to tell everyone the news during lunch, since all of them were going to be there. Most of the coven took the news well, and were quick to tell Jongho they were glad he was staying. This included Mingi, who seemed excited to have him live with them. This puzzled Jongho, because he didn’t think the man would be glad to have him under his roof after what happened, but he didn’t try to look further into it.

The only two people who seemed against his presence here were San and Wooyoung. He felt the latter’s glare during the entire meal, and yet he didn’t say a word. He simply ate his food mostly in silence and spoke only when he was asked a question.

As for San, the other familiar hadn’t shown his hostility upfront, but judging from his reaction when they first met, Jongho doubted he had warmed up to him since then. Regardless, Jongho made sure to all thank them for their hospitality.

“A penny for your thoughts?” The shifter blinked and looked towards Mingi after a moment, realizing he was the one who had spoken. The mouse shifter laughed when he saw is confused expression.

“You looked like you were thinking hard about something. And… you’ve been wiping this plate for quite a while. I’m pretty sure it’s dry by now.” Jongho felt his cheeks grow hot as he hastily placed it on the counter. He looked for something else to wipe only to realize all the dishes had been done, which made Mingi chuckle once again.

“Yunho helped me finish everything else.” Jongho felt very embarrassed for being so distracted, and he fumbled with the cloth he was holding while he bowed his head.

“I’m really sorry. I’ll pay attention next time.” Mingi was taken aback by his reaction. He hadn’t said this to scold him, but it seemed like the younger had really taken his words to heart.

“Don’t worry, Jongho. It happens to the best of us. I’m one of the first who’ll get distracted by the slightest thing.” The mouse shifter said this with a smile, but deep down he was concerned about him. He quickly tried to think of something to change the subject.

“Why don’t I give you a full tour of the house? I don’t think Seonghwa did one yet, which is surprising of him but well, I guess he forgot.” Mingi walked out of the kitchen, while Jongho had no choice but to follow him.

They came to the entrance where the stairs were, and approached a small door underneath them.

“It leads to the basement, where mostly Hongjoong and Yunho make their potions and spells for their job. Seonghwa and Yeosang occasionally go there as well, but not as often since Seonghwa practices divination makes charms in his study on the first floor, and Yeosang makes his healing balms and potions in the glass house you might’ve seen when you went in the backyard.”

Jongho was fascinated to see how the four witches practiced different forms of magic. He might’ve been raised with the expectations of serving a witch one day, but his knowledge of them was very basic.

After that, he went with Mingi upstairs where a long corridor held several doors.

“I could show you which bedroom belongs to who, but it doesn’t really matter since most of the time we find ourselves sharing a bed with one or two other people. It even happens occasionally that we all sleep in the living room downstairs, like a big sleepover. This often happens after a full moon when we do a ritual.”

“A ritual?” Jongho wondered out loud.

“Yeah, the coven does a ritual each full moon. It’s mostly to tune into the coven’s magic to see if everything is balanced and healthy. If one of the members as a stressful week for example, the ritual will help with that.” The younger hummed.

“I didn’t know familiars took part in rituals as well.” He questioned as they made their way back downstairs.

“Familiars are essential to regulate the coven’s magic, especially during a ritual. Magic can be unpredictable and volatile, and familiars serve as a conduct which stabilizes it.” Mingi paused for a second before continuing, “I’m surprised you don’t know this. Did your parents not teach you about your abilities?”

Jongho felt a cold feeling creep over his heart as he tried to think of a response.

“I… not really. They probably forgot to tell me.”

If Mingi thought it was a weird answer, he didn’t say anything. He looked at Jongho with a grin.

“Hey, do you want to play video games with me?” The younger was quick to agree. Jongho had never been allowed video games back at home, but he had heard how fun it was and was eager to try it out. He was also glad for the chance to change the subject and agreed. And so, the two headed out to the living room.

It was the middle of the week, and Seonghwa were currently driving them to a job interview for Jongho. The shifter was playing with the charmed necklace the witch had given him for luck before they left this morning, watching the trees and buildings fly by.

The coven leader had talked to the manager of Wooyoung’s part time job, and he had been able to get the young shifter an interview. Seonghwa had given him the news yesterday evening while they were all eating dinner, and needless to say Wooyoung hadn’t been happy about it.

“What?! Why does he have to work at my job?! You couldn’t find him work elsewhere?!” Across the table, Hongjoong was frowing deeply.

“Watch your tone Wooyoung! And stay polite to our guest!” Despite his warnings, the fox shifter abruptly stood from his chair, making it drag loudly across the floor as he dumped his utensils in his plate.

“I don’t understand why you’re all acting so nice to him, like he’s part of our coven! We should’ve sent him on his way as soon as he felt better!” With that said, he stormed off the kitchen. The room fell silent for a moment, only broken off by Yeosang announcing he would go talk to him while he left as well.

Seonghwa was quick to tell Jongho not to take what Wooyoung said to heart, claiming the shifter was probably just tired and didn’t mean what he said. However, Jongho knew better. The pit in his stomach and remained all night, even as he struggled to fall asleep.

Still, Jongho didn’t want to tell Seonghwa to cancel the interview since the witch had already gone out of his way to get him one, so he kept his worries concerning Wooyoung’s reaction to himself and tried to smile as Seonghwa talked to him during the car ride.

More sooner than he would’ve liked, they arrived at the café. Seonghwa went in with him and told him he would be waiting for his interview to end inside the café. Jongho stayed in retreat simply watched as Seonghwa ordered a coffee and settled down in a booth by the window after sending him a wink and whispering a soft ‘you got this!’.

Jongho took a deep breath as he stepped up to the counter where a young woman was smiling at him.

“Hi, I have an interview for a job here…?” The woman nodded.

“Yes, you can sit over there while I go get my boss.” She gestured towards a small table for two before disappearing behind a door probably leading to the backstore.

Jongho felt his heart pound as he went to take a seat, playing with his hands nervously in his lap. His previous experiences trying to get a job had not gone well, so despite Seonghwa’s reassurances that he would most likely get the job, he still felt incredibly anxious.

Thinking about the witch made him turned to look where he was sitting. Seonghwa appeared to be reading a book, but as if sensing his gaze, he looked up to him and sent him a warm smile with a thumbs up. Jongho felt a bit better knowing the older was close by, in case anything happened.

The sound of a door swinging open made him look ahead, and he saw what he assumed to be the manager walking out. As he approached the table where Jongho was sitting, the shifter stood up.

“You must be Choi Jongho. I’m Kim Hyunjae, the manager of this café.” The man held his hand, which Jongho took after a beat.

“So, why don’t you tell me why you want to work here…”

An hour and a half later, Jongho was walking beside the cart Seonghwa was rolling through the aisle. The older had to go grocery shopping, so they drove there after Jongho’s interview was done.

“See, I told you it would go well!” Jongho couldn’t help the shy smile forming on his lips at the enthusiastic tone he had.

The manager had been skeptical at first since Jongho didn’t have any prior experiences, but the fact that he knew one of his best employees did give him so good credit. Once the man listened to what Jongho had to say and noticed how hard working he sounded, he finally decided to give him a chance.

“I think you’re going to like it. It can be hard work but Wooyoung always come back with fun anecdotes to tell us.”

In reality, Jongho wasn’t really worried about liking the job. He was just glad to finally to have a stable income. As soon as he would have enough money, he would be able to get an apartment and get out of the coven’s hair.

Wooyoung walked through the gate leading to his home, his backpack slung carelessly over his shoulder after a long day at university. He was just about to climb up the stairs of the porch when he heard some voices coming from the side of the house.

Curious, he followed them, guessing Yeosang was probably talking to his plants again. To his surprise, the witch wasn’t addressing his plants but their guest, who was standing beside him and listening attentively.

Annoyance quickly made his nerves flare as his eyes turned dark. He turned around and made his way back to the front of the house, scoffing to himself.

When he came inside, he ignored Seonghwa’s warm greeting and went upstairs straight to his room, but not before he had removed his shoes. The months of chores he had to endure in the past were more than enough to deter him from letting his dirty soles touch the spotless floor the coven leader was determined to maintain.

Once in his room, he dropped his backpack carelessly to the floor and let himself fall backwards onto the bed. He placed an arm over his face and let out a long-suffering sigh.

Moments later, he heard the door creak open and felt someone laying down on the bed beside him.

“Want do you want?” Wooyoung asked in an annoyed tone.

“Just want to know what’s got you so worked up.” San replied. He was laying on his side with his head propped up by his elbow, waiting for him to talk.

“It’s not what, it’s who.” The fox shifter muttered, his voice muffled by his arm.

“What did he do this time?” The question made Wooyoung sigh once again.

“I don’t know! Just- I came back from university and I saw Yeosang showing his plants to him. I just don’t understand why they’re all over him like that! They don’t see that all he’s doing is bringing us trouble! We were living just fine before he arrived, and now it’s like everything is changing.” San hummed as he placed his hand over the younger’s stomach and began to trace circles over it.

“You’re right, his presence here does bring a lot of changes to our usual routine, but maybe he’s not all that bad.” Wooyoung jerked up in a sitting position and turned to stare at San, looking shocked.

“Are you serious right now?! You agreed with me when I wanted him out of our house the first time!”

“Yes, I did. But I observed him these past few days and, I think we jumped to quickly to conclusion. I believe we should give him a chance.” Wooyoung scoffed and rolled his eyes.

“A chance? I won’t risk putting our coven in jeopardy just to give him the benefit of the doubt!” San sighed and gently took his hand, meeting his gaze.

“Wooyoung, I think you and him are more alike than you think. You of all people know what it’s like to live without a family, without someone you can rely on. He’s been living on his own for god knows how long, can you really blame him for latching on to the first people who care for his wellbeing?”

In his eyes, San saw a pain that had long since been buried under layers of defenses flash briefly to the surface. But it was gone as soon as it came, leaving behind a veil of anger.

“I don’t care! I don’t know him and I don’t want to get to know him! If you want to take his side, it’s fine. But one of us has to keep a clear head about the situation.” With that said, he got up from the bed and walked out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him. San shook his head to himself, feeling disappointed and sad for his friend because he knew his resentment was stemming from his past.

The only way he would be able to let go of his unfounded dislike was to talk to Jongho himself, and San doubted this would happen anytime soon.

Chapter Text

Jongho had only just started working at the café, but he was enjoying it so far. Having to interact with so many people was a bit tiring, but he liked the warm atmosphere of the place. However, since he had to learn how to work the cash register and all the drinks they had to make, by the time his shift was done he was completely exhausted.

Despite working at the same place, Jongho didn’t see Wooyoung often. Jongho worked during the daytime while the older one did the nightly shifts since he was at university during the day.

This week however, Jongho had two shifts at the same time as Wooyoung because he had to learn how to close the café. Of course, the younger was apprehensive of spending time pretty much alone with the other, but he kept his worries to himself.

As Hongjoong drove him to work for the shift he was dreading, Jongho’s stomach was tight from nerves and his hands felt clammy. Much too soon for his liking, Hongjoong pulled into the parking lot of the café and parked the car. He turned towards Jongho with a gentle smile.

“None of us will be able to come get you after work, so you can take the bus with Wooyoung. He knows the way back to the house.” Jongho felt his heart drop to his feet, but he nodded anyway and thanked him for the lift.

After he got out of the car, he waved to Hongjoong as the older drove off. With a deep breath, he grabbed the doorhandle and pushed the door opened, hoping everything would go well.

Wooyoung definitely had a really bad day today.

First of all, he had woken up late, which made him miss the bus he was supposed to take and as a result made him late to his class, a class which was one of the most important of the semester and where a lot of material was covered.

Second of all, one of his teammates for his group project and injured himself. Wooyoung had a double major in fashion and dance, and one of his final projects was to perform a choreography for a song of their choice. One person missing meant they would have to adjust the entire choreography, and there wasn’t much time left to do so since the semester was coming to an end.

The icing on the cake was when he got caught in the heavy rain while on his way to work. He didn’t have an umbrella with him since the sky was clear this morning when he left home. By the time he crossed the threshold of the café, he was soaked from head to toe. Fortunately, he did have his uniform in his locker in the back, so at least he wouldn’t have to endure his wet clothes for his entire shift.

So needless to say, Wooyoung wasn’t in the mood to train a new employee, least of all Jongho. The younger man appeared nervous when he saw him in the backstore, but Wooyoung didn’t have it in himself to feel sympathetic.

Apparently, the evening wasn’t looking to get better. Jongho kept making stupid mistakes when taking the clients’ orders or preparing the drinks. Wooyoung had no choice but to clean up the mess he made with a smile on his face while he was positively fuming on the inside.

Maybe Jongho sensed that Wooyoung was absolutely done with him, because his responses were meek and he avoided eye contact. However, instead of making things better, his behavior only aggravated the fox shifter even more.

When the clock stroke ten o’clock and the remaining customers left the café, the only thing Wooyoung was thinking about was going home and forget about today. They only had a couple things to do before locking up and leaving, so he was hoping things would go smoothly from there.

He was currently counting the money in their little office when he heard a crash coming from the front of the store. Wooyoung took a deep breath to try to calm himself before he went looking for what caused the noise.

As soon as he stepped behind the corner and saw the mess, he felt his vision go red.

“What the hell did you do?!” Jongho’s head jerked up as his eyes went wide. He looked like a deer in headlights as he stood over the large puddle of spilled coffee on the floor with a mop.

“I-I was just-“

“Can you even do anything right?! I leave you on your own for one second, and you manage to mess things up! I really wonder what the boss was thinking hiring, clearly he wasn’t in his right mind!”

Jongho simply stood silent as he looked down at his feet, willing his tears to keep at bay while Wooyoung teared into him.

“You can clean up and figure things out on your own, I’m done for tonight! I’ve had enough with you!”

With that said, he went to grab his things and quickly left the store without looking back. His brisk pace led him to the bus stop, where he waited a couple of minutes until the bus arrived.

Wooyoung walked the down the aisle and sat down beside the window. He jammed his earphones in and leaned his head against the cold glass. He closed his eyes and tried to focus on the music playing, hoping tomorrow would be better.

The café was completely quiet as Jongho wiped down the coffee on the floor. His body shook with his sobs while tears blurred his vision and ran down his cheeks. His hands were burning because of the hot coffee which had spilled on them.

He tried his best to clean everything up, but it was hard because his mind kept going back to what Wooyoung had said, and his hands were shaking from nerves.

He didn’t know what time it was, but he finally locked up everything after trying his best to remember all he had to do. He hugged his coat clothes as he began to walk into the cold night.

Jongho walked for some time, lost in his thoughts as silent tears continued to fall until he suddenly stopped. He had just realized he had no idea where he was going, and now he didn’t even know where he was.

He frantically began to look around, trying to find a store or a sign that was familiar. Unfortunately, he didn’t know the streets well because he was always relying on the members of the coven who had their license to drive him, so he never really paid attention.  

Jongho’s breath became short as he realized he was completely lost, and he had no means to contact the coven. He didn’t have a cellphone, and he didn’t know their phone numbers either.

He let himself fall down against a brick wall and began to cry in earnest once again, his irrational thoughts convinced he would stay lost forever.

Wooyoung was currently watching TV when he heard the frantic voices of Seonghwa and Yunho in the kitchen. He had finished taking a shower some time ago and had decided to wind down in front of the television before going to bed.

He got up from the couch and went to the kitchen to see what was going on.

“Is something wrong?” Both witches abruptly stopped talking and turned to him.

“Wooyoung, do you know where Jongho is? He was supposed to come back with you.” Seonghwa asked, and he definitely looked worried.

“No, I came back alone. He was still at the café when I left.” Seonghwa and Yunho shared a look before Yunho left in a hurry.

“I told Jongho this morning that he would take the bus with you!” All four witches had been gone this evening to a meeting with other witches they were friends with. They had just returned at one in the morning.

“He doesn’t know which bus to take, and he doesn’t have a phone on him! He’s probably panicking right now!”

Wooyoung felt his blood run cold as he realized the implications of what he’d done.

“I’m really disappointed in you Wooyoung. We’ll discuss the consequences of your actions later. Right now, we need to go look for Jongho.”

Before Seonghwa could leave, Wooyoung grabbed his arm to hold him back.

“Wait, let me go with you.” The older assessed him for a second before he sighed.

“Alright, but hurry up. It’s freezing out there and I don’t want to waste any more time.” The fox shifter quickly nodded and followed him outside where Yunho was already waiting for them in the car.

As they drove, all Wooyoung could think about was how guilty he felt for leaving Jongho like this on his own, especially after what he had said to him. This event put all of his words and actions towards the younger into perspective. He realized how spiteful and petty he had been while Jongho had done nothing to him.

All Wooyoung could hope for was that Jongho could forgive him, and give him the chance to right his wrongs.

The first place the three of them looked at was the café, but they quickly saw that nobody was there since the lights were all closed and the door was locked.

“He can’t have wondered. Let’s spread out and look for him. Call on your phone if you find him.” Seonghwa said in a hurried tone.

They all began to walk into different directions, calling Jongho’s name and hoping he would answer. Wooyoung made sure to look into alleys to see if the younger had huddled there for warmth.

He was starting to get more anxious when he had been walking for a good ten minutes at least. Jongho could have gone anywhere, and he wondered if they should think about calling the police now.

He was just about to call Seonghwa to ask for updates when he noticed in the corner of his eye a small form huddled close to a garbage container. It could’ve been just a cat, but something urged him to take a closer look.

As he got closer, he realized it wasn’t a cat nor a small dog, but a bear cub laying onto some clothes which looked a lot like what Jongho had been wearing earlier. Jongho had probably shifted unintentionally because of the stress. Wooyoung felt like he could breathe better now as he got down on his knees close to him.  

The bear shifter appeared asleep, so Wooyoung gently shook him and called out his name softly. Jongho’s eyes blinked open slowly and looked startled when he saw Wooyoung standing over him.

“Hey, it’s okay. It’s just me, Wooyoung.” The fox shifter felt a sharp pang guilt hit him when he saw Jongho back away from him.

“I’m really sorry about what I said earlier, and for everything. We can talk more later, let’s just get you home okay? It’s late and you must be cold.” He saw Jongho looked down at the clothes underneath him.

“You don’t have to shift back, I’ll just carry you in my arms.” Wooyoung held his arms forward, and he willed his tears to keep at bay when he saw his hesitation.

“It’s alright Jongho. I promise, I’m not here to hurt you.” Jongho looked into his eyes for a moment before he finally moved forward. Wooyoung grabbed him and held him close to his chest.

As he began to walk back, he called both Seonghwa and Yunho to tell them he had found him. After he hung up, he started to pet Jongho’s soft fur. He felt the bear shifter gradually relax in his arms.

“You must’ve been so scared all on your own,” Wooyoung mused. “I promise you won’t have to be alone again little bear. We’ll keep you safe.”

He heard Jongho whimper and saw his eyes were wet with tears. Wooyoung couldn’t resist pressing a kiss on top of his head.

“It’s okay, you can just sleep. We’ll be home before you know it.”

Wooyoung was sitting in the back of the car with Jongho still sleeping in his arms. He had refused to let go of the bear shifter even though Seonghwa had offered to take him.

Both of his hyungs were incredibly relieved to see Jongho was safe. Seonghwa made sure to remind Wooyoung they would have a long talk when they arrived back home. The fox shifter didn’t complain, because he knew he deserved every bit of scolding coming his way.

As he observed Jongho’s chest rising and falling with each breath, he wondered how he could’ve been so blinded by hatred to ignore how kind and gentle the boy was. He had also completely forgotten the fact that Jongho was younger than him, and that he should be taking care of him instead antagonizing him. After spending years being the youngest in the coven, this was his chance to have a little brother to dote on.

Maybe it would take time before Jongho could trust him, but Wooyoung would wait for him to be ready in order to mend their relationship.  

Chapter Text

All of them felt extremely tired after the stressful situation once they walked into the house. Yunho shut the door behind them as they all removed their shoes and coats.

“Alright, let’s put the little one to bed.” They all congressed to the guest room which had been turned into Jongho’s room for the duration of his stay.

“Should we check him to see if he has any injuries?” Yunho asked as Wooyoung gently placed the cub beneath the covers.

“He didn’t appear to be in any pain when I got to him, but we can always check just to be sure.” Seonghwa looked diligently underneath the black fur for any wounds, all the while remained asleep. After some time, the oldest witch pulled the covers over the bear’s still form.

“I didn’t see any wounds. He probably just needs some rest to recover.” Seonghwa pressed a soft kiss on top of Jongho’s head before they all left the room. Yunho bid the two of them good night before he climbed up the stairs, eager to get some sleep. Wooyoung was just about to do the same before Seonghwa’s voice halted his steps.

“Wooyoung. We need to talk.” The fox shifter’s head dipped.

“Right.” He mumbled to himself as he reluctantly followed him to the kitchen. He wasn’t looking forward to their conversation, even though he knew it was necessary.

Wooyoung sat down at the kitchen table while Seonghwa boiled some water.

“Do you want some tea?” Wooyoung muttered a quiet ‘yes’ and watched silently as his hyung prepared both of their cups. Once he was done, placed Wooyoung’s cup in front of him while he sat down facing him.

Seonghwa took the time to take a sip of his tea before he spoke.

“I did not expect this type of behavior from you, Jung Wooyoung.” The younger one struggled to swallow his own sip because his throat felt tight with emotion.

“You’ve always been outgoing and friendly towards other people, so why have you been acting so hostile against Jongho?”

Silence stretched between them as Wooyoung pondered his next words. He was still wondering himself why he had acted how he did.

“I… I think it was because I felt like he was intruding on our family. He was just a stranger, and you all treated him like he was part of our coven.” He paused for a second before continuing,

“But I see now that I was wrong to act this way. I was so blinded by how I felt that I didn’t consider how hurtful my words and actions probably were for Jongho. I’ll do my best to make it up to him.” Seonghwa hummed in response, looking thoughtful.

“I’m glad you came to this realization by yourself. As your coven leader and your hyung, I should’ve spoken to you sooner, and I apologize for neglecting my duties towards. With that said, I hope you know that an apology is not enough. To make sure you think twice about your actions, you are grounded for two weeks, and you’ll also do the dishes for a month.”

Wooyoung sighed in defeat as he nodded. As much as he disliked being punished, he knew this was entirely justified.

“Do you know who Jongho reminds me of?” The fox shifter was confused at the strange question.

“Who?” Seonghwa’s lips quirked in a smile.

“You. I remember when we first met. You were guarded and reluctant to open up, and Jongho is acting similarly. I don’t know what happened to him, but I think he’s been on his own for a long time now, without anyone to lean on to. I just hope we can help any way we can.”

Wooyoung was surprised by Seonghwa’s statement. He didn’t think Jongho and him had anything in common, but then he had never taken the time to properly interact with him.

“Well, it’s getting very late. Let’s go and try to get some sleep. You probably have classes tomorrow right?” Seonghwa said as he got up and grabbed both of their empty cups to put them in the sink.

“Only in the afternoon, but I’m so tired I’ll go straight to bed.”

“Alright then, come here.” Seonghwa held his arms open, and Wooyoung didn’t hesitate to sink into his hyung’s warm embrace. The younger nestled his face into the crook of his neck and briefly closed his eyes, feeling his heart was lighter now that they had talked about everything.

“I love you, my little fox.” The older said tenderly, pressing a kiss against his temple. Wooyoung smiled and tightened his hold on Seonghwa’s waist.

“Love you too, hyung.”

Jongho didn’t wake up until late in the morning the next day. He was supposed to be working, but Seonghwa had called earlier today to tell his boss that he was sick and wouldn’t be able to come to work.

The bear shifter walked into the kitchen with his brain still foggy from sleep. He wanted to eat something, but he didn’t feel comfortable enough to look into the pantry. He sat down at the table and placed his head on top of his arms before closing his eyes. He would wait here until someone came in.

He was startled awake by a hand shaking his shoulder. He looked up to see Yeosang smiling lightly at him. Jongho realized he must’ve have fallen back asleep.

“You must be hungry! Yeosang and I were just about to have lunch!” He turned away from Yeosang towards the voice and saw Seonghwa was preparing some sandwiches.

Jongho felt frustrated at himself and embarrassed being in their presence because of what happened last night. The last thing he had wanted to do while staying here was causing them problems, and he managed to do just that.

Moments later, Seonghwa brought the sandwiches to the table where Jongho and Yeosang were waiting before also taking a seat.

Both witches didn’t waste time filling their plates with food, but Jongho was hesitant to do the same. The hunger he felt earlier seemed to have vanished, and had been replaced instead by an anxious feeling which made his stomach clench.

“About yesterday, I’m really sorry for causing you so much trouble. I would understand if you changed your mind and asked me to-“

“None of that! I know what you’re going to say, and it’s totally out of the question,” Seonghwa interrupted. “What happened wasn’t your fault in the slightest! Wooyoung’s behavior was completely unacceptable. We also neglected to give you a phone to contact us in case of an emergency, and for that I apologize. Don’t worry, we’ll get you one as soon as possible to make sure this won’t happen again. Wooyoung is also being punished for his wrong doings.”

Jongho felt himself pale at the words. Surely, Wooyoung would be angry at him for being punished. He did remember how kind the fox shifter had been last night when he had found him, but it was hard to believe the man had changed overnight. A part of him even wondered if it had all been just a dream, which would make much more sense.

“Hyung, please don’t punish him! I’m sure he didn’t really mean it!” Both Yeosang and Seonghwa frowned at those words.

“Jongho-ah, Wooyoung himself as admitted that he has done wrong. He knows his punishment is justified and didn’t protest against it. You don’t have to protect him.” Yeosang told him.

Jongho was certainly surprised by that. He felt bad for the fox shifter, because although he hadn’t been kind to him, he knew how painful punishments could be. He still remembered the excruciating pain he felt when his father hit him with his belt on his bareback. Given how nice and kind the coven was, he hoped their punishments were less severe for Wooyoung’s sake.

“I also want to take the time to say that if you ever feel wronged by any member of this coven, including me, I want you to tell someone. It doesn’t even have to be a big thing, if it makes you feel uncomfortable, we should know about it so we can work on it. Everyone knows this rule and how important it is so that our bonds stay strong and healthy. Do you understand?”

Jongho nodded, although he knew he wouldn’t be able to follow this rule. Even when he was just a child, his parents had discouraged any tantrums or show of emotion. They thought it was a complete waste of time. Now that he was a young adult, it felt like an impossible task to voice his thoughts and feelings, especially since he didn’t want to bother people any more than he already did.

“Good.” The corners of Seonghwa’s eyes crinkled slightly as he smiled. As the older witch fell into a light conversation with Yeosang, Jongho let his empty gaze fall onto the table as he continued to eat his sandwich.

Just after dinner, the coven migrated towards the living room to watch a movie for the evening. Everyone was there except for Wooyoung and Hongjoong. Yunho claimed the other witch had to stay late to finish some work and would probably arrive later in the evening. As for the fox shifter, his last class for the day also ended late.

They were probably halfway through the movie, and Jongho had a hard time keeping his eyes open. Usually, he enjoyed watching tv shows or movies on the television because he didn’t have the opportunity to do so often when he was young, but all he wanted right now was to lay down in his bed and sleep.

Eventually, he lost the battle against his heavy eyelids and fell asleep with his knees tucked against his chest and a warm blanket wrapped around his shoulders. His head fell onto Yunho’s shoulder, who had been engrossed by the movie playing. He was startled by the sudden weight but smiled fondly when he saw Jongho leaning against him.

An hour later, the credits were rolling down on the screen and the bear shifter was still sleeping. They all decided to let him sleep on the couch since no one had the heart to wake him up. Yunho made sure to be gentle as he laid him down and slid a pillow under his head. Yeosang, who had been waiting with the blanket, drapped it over Jongho’s still form. The members of the coven all felt soft by the sight of the cub looking so peaceful and warm.

After some time, Seonghwa reluctantly announced they should all get to bed. Before leaving, Yunho couldn’t resist reaching out to play with the boy’s soft hair.

“Sleep well little bear.” With one last look, he followed the others upstairs.

Later that evening, Hongjoong and Wooyoung walked into the dark house. The older had passed by the university to get Wooyoung as soon as he finished work.

After removing his coat and shoes, Hongjoong bid the younger a good night, as he wanted to take a shower and get straight to bed. As for Wooyoung, he wanted to get a late night snack because it had been a while since he had had dinner.

He walked into the living room to get to the kitchen, but stopped short when he saw a dark form on the couch. He felt slightly uneasy since the room was completely dark except for the moonlight coming in. He lit up the lamp beside the couch, and instantly relaxed when he saw it was only Jongho sleeping.

Wooyoung did find it odd that the younger was sleeping on the couch and not in his bed, but figured maybe he had been too tired. The fox shifter stood there for a moment, watching Jongho’s chest rise and fall. He was once again reminded that he still hadn’t had a proper conversation with him.

Deciding to let him sleep, Wooyoung resumed his walk to the kitchen. However, before he could take more than a step, his toe collided painfully with the side table. He let out a loud curse before pressing his lips together when he remembered Jongho sleeping, bending over to clutch his injured foot as he bounced around the living room on one leg.

Wooyoung suddenly stopped moving when he heard some stirring on the couch. He let his foot go and looked over to see Jongho staring at him with bleary eyes.

“Did I wake you up? I’m so sorry, I just wanted to get a snack in the kitchen but then I stubbed my little toe and it hurt so bad I couldn’t help but curse. Sorry.”

The two of them continued to stare at each other in silence. The air was awkward between them, neither knowing what to say exactly or where to start.

Finally, it was Wooyoung who broke first as he let out a defeated sigh. He went around on the couch next to Jongho, while the latter moved into a sitting position while clutching the blanket and watching his moves warily.

“Jongho, I don’t know if you remember what I said to you last night when I found you, but I want to properly apologize for everything I did. I don’t even know why I was so mean to you. You did absolutely nothing to deserve that, because I know that what happened with Mingi was an honest mistake.” Jongho looked down at his lap, not knowing what to say or how to react. A silence settled between them for a few moments before Wooyoung spoke again.

“Seonghwa told me last night that you reminded him of me when I first join the coven, and looking at you now, I think he’s right. I think that just like me, you’ve been hurt and let down by people so much that you’ve formed a shield around yourself. When people try to get close to you, you choose to run or avoid them because you’re scared of getting hurt again.” Jongho didn’t realize he had started crying until Wooyoung leaned back to grab a tissue from the side table and gave it to him. The younger thanked him in a soft voice and dabbed at his wet cheeks, even though tears kept falling from his eyes.

“I remember when I got to the orphanage, I was scared and confused. Every time someone tried to approach me, I would lash out at them. This went on for a couple of weeks, until I got to know Yeosang. He was bullied and teased by the other children and ignored by the adults because they thought he was strange.”

“One day, I saw him being pushed around by some other kids, and he was crying silently on the floor, just holding his arms above his head to shield himself. Somehow, I found myself walking over and fighting off the other kids. We both got into trouble that day, but since then we stuck together, and we’ve been inseparable ever since.” Wooyoung paused for a second before continuing.

“I’m saying all of this because I know how hard it is to bear the pain all alone, but you don’t have to be alone anymore Jongho. I know it might be difficult after keeping to yourself for so long, but we’re all here for you. I’m here for you.”

By now, Jongho was crying in earnest as he tried to control his sobs. He tried to hide his face by turning around, but Wooyoung stopped him. He leaned forward and guided the younger towards him, embracing him into his arms.

Jongho was tense at first, but after some time he relaxed into the hold as he continued to cry. Wooyoung’s heart felt tight as he heard his cries, and he tightened his arms around him.

“It’s alright, Jongho. You can let go now, I got you.”

They stayed in this position for a while, with Wooyoung embracing him close to his chest as if to shield him from the rest of the world. After some time, Jongho’s sobs had died down, and he laid completely exhausted against his hyung.

“Aigoo, you must be so tired after all this crying. Come, let’s go sleep in my room. We’ll be more comfortable in my bed.”

Jongho was way too tired to even protest, so he let himself be led upstairs to Wooyoung’s room. As he turned on the light, they saw a black cat laying on the bed.

“Oh, San-ah! Were you waiting for me? I got ourselves a cute maknae to cuddle to sleep.”

Jongho somehow found himself laying under the covers, and he watched with heavy lids as Wooyoung changed into more comfortable clothes to sleep. A soft meow on the other side caught his attention, and he turned to look at the cat, who had come to lay beside him and looked at him with sharp eyes. Jongho lifted a hand to pet the cat’s soft fur, making it purr in appreciation.

Wooyoung walked across the room to turn off the light before climbing into bed with Jongho. He didn’t waste time wrapping an arm and a leg around the younger one, laying his head on his chest as well. Jongho found himself curling towards Wooyoung, their legs tangling together as he sighed in content at the warmth.

They heard a soft meow above them as the black cat climbed on top of them and made itself comfortable between the two of them.

“Goodnight.” Wooyoung said as he softly scratched behind the cat’s ear and settled to sleep. Jongho closed his eyes, his mind blissfully empty as he awaited sleep to come to him.

“Goodnight.”

Chapter Text

As the sun gradually rose in the sky and pierced through the blinds covering the windows, Jongho slowly awakened from his slumber. However, his mind still felt heavy with sleep, so he remained with his eyes closed for a while, content to bask in the warmth of the sheets.

When he finally decided to open his eyes, it took him a couple of seconds to register his surroundings. When he did, he scrambled back and almost fell from the bed. San was laying just before him, and had been hugging him tightly to his chest. It seemed like Jongho’s sudden movement woke him up, because San’s eyes slowly blinked opened. He pouted when he saw Jongho laying away from him, and wordlessly tugged him back against his chest.

“Sleep, it’s too early.” San mumbled sleepily against the younger’s hair. Jongho was helpless to resist against his strong hold, so he simply gave up and closed his eyes once again. It wasn’t hard for him to fall back asleep, lulled by the steady beat of San’s heart pressed against his ear.

“Aww, look how cute our baby bear is, all sleepy and cuddled up.”

Jongho looked up to see Wooyoung standing over him while holding his phone. The fox shifter grinned when he saw Jongho was awake.

“You looked like you slept well in San’s arms, little bear. I’m a bit mad he stole you from me through. You were supposed to cuddle with me.” Wooyoung stated with a pout.

Jongho looked behind him and saw San smilling down at him, his eyes forming little crescents.

“But, I don’t remember San being here last night…?” San chuckled at his words.

“Oh I was there, you just didn’t realize.” Jongho thought for a second. Wooyoung was in the room with him last night, and there was also a black cat.

Jongho’s eyes widened and his mouth opened slightly in surprise, which made the two other men giggle at the sight.

“You’re the black cat?! Oh god, and the other day I said all those things while you were there,” Jongho whined to himself as he buried his face in his hands.

“But, h-how come I didn’t notice your magical signature?” San and Wooyoung exchanged a glance full of mischief before the older answered.

“It’s a technique that is passed down from one generation to another in my family.” Wooyoung wrapped an arm around San’s shoulders and leaned forward as if to share a secret.

“San comes from an old and powerful family of familiars settled in Namhae. He’s basically royalty within the magical world.” Wooyoung said in a low tone. Jongho’s eyes widened in surprise at the new information. San pushed his arm away abruptly, making the fox shifter erupt into giggles as he almost fell on the bed.

“Why do you keep saying that! Jongho won’t be comfortable with me now!” San complained in a whiny tone while his lips unconsciously formed a pout.

“Well don’t worry about that, because I can assure you, you don’t act like someone who demands respect.” San jumped onto Wooyoung, putting him in a headlock while the younger laughed uncontrollably. Jongho couldn’t help but smile at their antics. After a few more moments of playful fighting, they seemed to finally calm down.

“Do you think the others are up at this hour?” Wooyoung asked the older. San reached over the bedside table to get his phone and check the time.

“Hmm, maybe. Let’s just go downstairs.” With that said, the three of them left the room. They saw one or two doors opened as they walked down the hallway to the stairs.

When they went into the living room, Yunho and Mingi were already there. Mingi was laying down on the couch with his head in Yunho’s lap, while the other ran his fingers through his hair as he watched TV.

“Good morning!” Wooyoung jumped on top of Mingi. The latter’s eyes went wide opened as he spluttered and looked around in a panic, wondering what was going on. San laughed at the scene while Yunho slapped one of Wooyoung’s buttcheeks in retaliation.

“That’s for waking up the princess.” Wooyoung wasn’t deterred though. He winked at him with a coquish expression.

“You know I like it rough.” Yunho groaned in disgust and got up from the couch, going to sit on the other one. San ceased the opportunity to take his place and dragged Jongho with him, making the youngest sit in his lap.

Jongho blushed furiously as he tried to get up, but San wasn’t about to let him go. He simply held him tighter against his chest. Beside them, Mingi was falling asleep once again while Wooyoung laid on his chest.

An hour later, Seonghwa appeared with Yeosang in tow. Yeosang wordlessly went to sit beside Yunho and leaned against him. The oldest simply stood by the archway, looking amused by the various positions they were in. 

“Well, I better get started on breakfast.” Wooyoung perked up and climbed off of Mingi.

“I’ll come help you, hyung.” Seeing an opportunity, Jongho tried to get up once again to join them. However, San seemed to anticipate this as he forced him back down on his lap.

“Ah, ah, ah. Nice try, but you’re staying right here with me.” The youngest sighed in dismay and tried to relax again, resigned to his fate.  

A while later, Seonghwa yelled that breakfast was ready, so they all converged towards the kitchen. Jongho felt embarrassed when his stomach growled at the sight of the enticing plates of food on the table. Unfortunately for him, Wooyoung had heard the sound.

“I think someone here is hungry.” Wooyoung cackled in amusement.

“Stop teasing our poor little bear! Eat as much as you want, Jongho-ya.” San scolded Wooyoung who only rolled his eyes.

It was certainly strange to see Wooyoung and San acting so friendly towards him, especially since not long ago they were still acting weary of him. It’s like a flip had been switched, and it made it somewhat hard to believe for Jongho that this was real, that everything was going well for him.

“Settle down everyone.” Seonghwa warned lightheartedly as he busied himself by putting food Yeosang’s plate. On his other side, Yunho did the same for the oldest’s plate after he had filled his own.

“Do you want me to go wake Hongjoong hyung?” Mingi asked Seonghwa.

“No, let him sleep. He had a long week, he deserves to get some rest.” Jongho was distracted from the conversation when Wooyoung addressed him. He was holding up a wrap with some meat in it towards him.

“Here, I made it just for you Jongie bear. Eat up!” He didn’t really have the opportunity to protest as the wrap was basically trusted in his mouth. Jongho chewed the bite and hummed at the taste, which made Wooyoung giggle in delight.

“Good huh?” The youngest nodded.

When most of them were practically done eating, Seonghwa spoke to Jongho about the plans for the day.

“I’d like for you to go with Yunho so you can buy a phone and some clothes as well. You’d probably like to get your own clothes instead of borrowed ones.” Jongho was about to protest, because he was quite content with whatever they had given him, but Yunho was quick to interrupt him.

“Don’t even think to argue, Jongho-ya. We’re buying you some clothes and that’s final.” Jongho felt dejected at being turned down so quickly, and his lips formed a pout unconsciously. Wooyoung cooed at the sight and reached over to squeeze his cheeks.

“So cute!” Jongho was embarrassed, but let him have his moment. After he was done, the youngest resumed eating, secretly looking forward to the day ahead.

Light indie music was playing in the car as Yunho drove them. Jongho found himself singing softly to the songs playing while looking at the trees and houses passing by.

“You have a really nice voice.” Jongho startled out of his little bubble and looked briefly at Yunho. He looked sincere as he smiled at him, and Jongho quickly looked away again. 

“Uh, t-thank you.” The youngest stammered as he felt his cheeks heat up. He heard Yunho chuckle beside him, but fortunately he didn’t add anything else.

Jongho was flustered by the sudden compliment, but a warm feeling blossomed in his chest as well. He had always loved music and singing since he was a child, but it was always a passion he had kept to himself since his parents weren’t fond of arts. They deemed it was a waste of time that could be used doing more productive things. That’s why he could not deny it felt good to hear someone praise him for that. 

They had been driving for about half an hour when Yunho announced they were here.

Earlier, just as they had pulled onto the road, the older had announced he had to make a quick trip to his workplace before they went to the mall. Jongho didn’t mind. He was curious to see where he and Hongjoong worked.

He felt perplexed through, because in front them was nothing but a cul-de-sac. He looked at Yunho concerned when the man continued to drive, even though they were headed right for the trees.

“Yunho-ssi, shouldn’t we stop here?” Worry bled into his voice as he asked the question. It didn’t help that Yunho looked amused as he smiled at him.

“Nope. You’ll see why in just a second.” Jongho closed his eyes as the trees came closer and closer, bracing himself for the impact. He felt a strange pull into his chest, and when the seconds passed with nothing happening, the bear shifter dared to open his eyes.

A big mansion was standing where the trees had been just moments before. Its brick worn brick walls covered here and there with vines indicated it was an old house, but a well-loved one, because the flowers at the windows and surrounding the property were blooming with life.

The mansion was looming over a large round driveway, which circled around a majestic fountain sitting in the middle of it. The large trees surrounding the property made the place looked magical as the sun pierced through the canope, giving it a sort of glowing effect.

Jongho heard Yunho chuckle beside him, and he noticed that he had been starring at everything with his mouth hanging slightly open. He quickly closed it, which made the older laugh even more.

Yunho parked beside another car, and Jongho waited for him to exit the car first before following suit. He fell into steps beside Yunho, his eyes glued onto the imposing structure.

“Where are we?”

“The magical council of the region. An invisible veil deters non-magical humans from coming here and hides the mansion from view using an illusion.” They climbed onto the porch, and Jongho noticed several brooms lined up against the wall of the house, resting on some kind of rack.

“Most of us prefer using a broom instead of a car, but it’s not really convenient when you’re with several people.” Yunho explained when he saw him looking at the brooms. Jongho stayed silent, in complete awe as he continued to take in his surroundings.

Yunho opens one of the front doors, and they step into the entrance of the mansion. Inside, there is a flurry of activity going on. Different sets of sheets or levitating in the air from one point to another while there is a cacophony of voices overlapping each other. Some people are on phones while others are discussing among each other. Jongho startles when he sees an object suddenly bursting into flame in front of a woman, who looks annoyed

Jongho sticks close to Yunho’s side, feeling a bit overwhelmed by everything going on around him. As they walk further in, Yunho gets greeted by several people. He gets asked a couple of times about who is accompanying him.

“This is my friend, Jongho. He’s staying with our coven.” A warmth feeling bloomed inside of Jongho’s chest when he hears Yunho refer to him using that term.

They take a set of stairs which lead to the basement. After walking down a long corridor, Yunho finally opens a door to the right, and they walk into what appears to be an office. Jongho stays by the door while Yunho goes to open a cabinet. He shuffles through different files until he finally grabs one with a soft exclamation.

“I need to go over this file before I get to work tomorrow. It’s an emergency case.” Yunho explains. However, Jongho remains clueless about what he is referring to, so he found himself questionning him.

“What do you do for work Yunho-ssi?” The older seems displeased by the formal tone, but he answers nonetheless.

“I handle the cases of witches who are in a difficult situation or have powers which can be dangerous. This can include witches who have been discovered by humans, for example. In cases like these, I often get partnered with Hongjoong. He has the power to enter the minds of people, and he’s also able to erase or alter memories. We often get sent to other regions of South Korea to help other jurisdictions, so that’s we’re often gone for long periods of time”

Jongho is slightly shocked when he hears about Hongjoong’s powers. His parents did educate him about the different types of powers witches could have, but they hadn’t gone in depth, and he thought witches could only use their powers on their environment.

“I don’t know if the question is too personal, so forgive me if I’m rude, but what are your powers exactly?” Yunho smiles lightly while waving him off.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing much, but I can alter emotions. It’s useful for my work when my clients are distressed, but I have to be careful sometimes when I feel too much. When I was younger and was still learning how to control my powers, it happened often that my own emotions would transfer onto people around me. So like, an entire room of people would be crying if I was sad.” Yunho chuckles, thinking back to his childhood.

“That’s really impressive, Yunho-ssi!” The witch chuckles and brushes a hand on the back of his head, feeling a bit shy from the attention.

“Ahh, it’s nothing really. When I was younger, I used to resent my powers because I thought they weren’t cool compared to other witches my age, but now I’m just glad to do something to help people in need.” Jongho can’t help but admire Yunho for how humble and genuine he is.

After that, they had back the way they came from. Before they make a quick trip to the gardens behind the mansion because Yunho wanted to show him the different plants they cultivated. Jongho is fascinated by all various abilities they have, like the one who allows you to fly when you eat one its berries, or the flower who puts you in a deep sleep if you inhale its perfume.

At some point, they return back to the car since with their other errands, they have to leave now if they want to come back in time for dinner this evening. Before Yunho stars the car, he turns to look at Jongho.

“By the way, you can call me hyung. I don’t think friends address each other so formally.” Jongho blushes lightly and nods.

“Yes hyung.” Yunho smiles, satisfied, and turns the key into the ignition. As they drive further away from the mansion, Jongho watches the building get smaller until it disappears completely, replaced by the illusion of the forest. His eyes linger for some time until he finally turns back around, looking at the road again.

Chapter Text

The trip to the mall ended up being pretty nerve wracking for Jongho.

Since he had set up a bank account when he first got his job with the help of Seonghwa, he was planning to buy only necessary items such as underwear, socks, a few basic shirts and pants.

However, Yunho put a cog into his plans when he decided to buy all the clothes Jongho’s eyes seemed to linger on. The younger protested vehemently when he saw this, only to quieten down when he saw everyone staring at them, which Yunho took as an opportunity.

Jongho truly did feel uncomfortable at the thought of the coven paying for his own expenses. They already let him live under their roof, eating their food freely and drove him to and from work as well.

Yunho eventually noticed how uneasy Jongho seemed to feel, so he stopped walking to face him.

“Jongho-ya, please understand that it makes me happy to buy things for you. I’m not doing this because I feel obligated or I pity you.” He paused for a moment before continuing. “But I can see how uncomfortable you are, so how about I choose five pieces of clothing that you can buy for me? Would that make you feel better?”

Jongho thought five items was ridiculous compared to the amount Yunho had bought for him, but he didn’t want to argue more, so he agreed. He did feel more content now that he could give something in return to Yunho, and he made it his mission to find the best items for him.

When they returned to the house, Jongho was exhausted but satisfied with his day. He was hoping to take a short nap before dinner, but as soon as Wooyoung saw their shopping bags, he demanded he did a haul of everything he got.

Later that evening, Yunho led a sleepy Jongho upstairs and to his own room. The younger’s clothes had been put into the wash after removing the tags. Jongho didn’t even think to protest, and he let the older help him change his clothes for the night.

They both settled into bed, and Jongho turned to lean against Yunho’s chest, sighing quietly at the warmth emanating from his body. Just as Jongho was about to fall asleep, he heard the door creak open. A moment later, someone settled behind him and snuggled closer to him. The youngest was too tired to bother looking at who came to join them, briefly thinking it was probably Mingi since him and Yunho were often together. He slowly drifted to sleep, feeling safe and protected between the two of them.

The next day was a special occasion for the coven, because it was a full moon.  

Full moons were the moments where magical beings were at their most powerful. This was a good opportunity for witches to perform powerful spells that they wouldn’t be able to do usually. Tonight, like every full moon, the coven would do a ritual to strengthen their bond and tune in with their magic.

Jongho was secretly hoping he would be able to watch their circle. Back when he was with his parents, they hadn’t allowed him to see a circle with their coven because he hadn’t come into his powers yet. He was curious to see how it worked.

As Jongho helped Seonghwa prepare lunch by cutting some vegetables, he found himself asking him some questions about tonight.

“Do you have to do some preparations for the ritual tonight?” Seonghwa hummed as he thought for a second.

“Not for the ritual in itself, but we have some potions, charms and poultices that can only be completed during the full moon, so after dinner we’re gonna work on that before we do our circle at midnight. Yunho, Hongjoong and Yeosang are already preparing their things in advance so they’ll have less to do this evening.” The soft music coming from the speaker placed on the windowsill filling the silence that naturally fell between them as they continued to work.

Jongho’s mind was far from quiet, however. He had another question to ask the coven leader, but this one was harder to ask since it was more of a request. After some time, he finally gathered the courage and braced himself for disappointment in case the answer wasn’t what he was hoping for.

“Do you… do you think I could watch your circle tonight? It’s alright if I can’t, I know it’s a really sacred event for a coven and I understand if you won’t allow a stranger to-“

“Jongho-ya,” Seonghwa stopped his rant and placed his warm hand on his shoulder. “Not only you can watch, but we’d be happy if you would join our circle.”

The youngest, who had been pointedly avoiding his eyes while talking, turned to look at him with wide eyes.

“But, I thought covens didn’t allow non-members to join their circle?” Seonghwa seemed perplexed by this.

“I don’t know who taught you that, but it’s common for covens to invite other people to their circles. As long as the person is welcomed by all the members, it doesn’t affect the ritual.” Jongho was taken aback by this turn of events, and while he was glad to be invited, he felt insecure as well.

“I’ve never taken part in a circle before though, I don’t know how it works and I don’t want to mess up.” The witch smiled warmly to reassure him.

“There’s no instructions to a ritual. Of course, we’re gonna be there to guide you through it, but you should know the objective of a circle is to follow your heart. There are no expectations for how should act.” His words did alleviate some of Jongho’s concerns.

“And Jongho?” The youngest hummed as he looked up at Seonghwa once again.

“You’re not a stranger. You’re our friend, don’t forget that.”

After the coven had eaten together, Yeosang announced he would take a short trip into the forest.

“I have to go get some moonflowers for my sleeping draughts. Does anyone want to come with me?” Wooyoung jumped up from the table, his chair tilting precariously on two legs before setting back down.

“Count me in! I’m itching to change in my fox form.” The two other shifters were quick to agree as well. Jongho was also feeling the pull of the moon as well, urging him to change in his bear form. However, he still felt hesitant, feeling like he would intrude in a special moment between them.

“Why don’t you come with us, Jongho? I’m sure you want to shift as well.” Mingi addressed him, looking hopeful. The youngest found himself caving them.

“Yeah, I’ll come.” Wooyoung cheered and rushed to get outside.

As for the other three witches, they explained that they would be busy placing their potions and charms outside so they could catch the moonlight. However, Hongjoong asked Yeosang if he could bring back some moonflowers for him as well.

As Jongho stepped outside with Yeosang, he let out a squeak and promptly turned around once he saw the three shifters in the midst of getting naked. Yeosang giggled good naturedly once he saw his reaction.

“Sorry Jongho, we completely forgot! We’re so used to seeing each other naked that we aren’t fazed anymore. We’ll tell you when we’re done.” Jongho heard San say. A few moments later, Yeosang told him he could turn around. Jongho did, and he saw all of them had changed into their second form. Despite knowing what they all were and being a shifter himself, it still felt strange to know that seconds before people were standing in the places of the fox, the cat and the mouse.

“You can go to the side of the house or in the shed if you aren’t comfortable changing in front of us.” Yeosang told him.

Jongho followed his advice and walked around the house. He didn’t think it was necessary to in the shed since nobody lived close to the property, so he removed his clothes, carefully folding them before shifting to his bear form.

He met back with the others at the gates leading to the entrance of the house, where they were waiting for him. Wooyoung bounded towards him, and Jongho couldn’t help but flinched slightly when he leaped towards him, only for the fox to give him affectionate licks on his cheek. Even though he knew that Wooyoung didn’t have any intention to hurt him, he had been briefly reminded of their first meeting. Luckily, Wooyoung hadn’t seem to notice his behavior, or if he did, he acted like nothing happened.

“Alright let’s go, and don’t stray too far. I’m talking to you Mingi.” Yeosang threw over his shoulder as he opened the gate. The mouse abruptly stopped and raised on two legs, looking affronted before he continued walking after being nudged by San.

Immediately after passing the gate, Wooyoung deliberately bumped into San before breaking into a run towards the path leading to the woods. San quickly gave him chase, and soon the pair disappeared from sight.

Jongho decided to stay close to Yeosang, trotting beside him at a leisurely pace. In the corner of his eye, he could see Mingi’s small grey form roam through the grass and the low leaves. 

“You can go ahead and explore with the others Jongho, I won’t mind.” Yeosang told him. The younger appreciated the offer, but he preferred to keep the witch company at the moment.

The bear shifter startled a bit when he felt something grab at his fur and settle on top of his head. He tried to see what it was but it was impossible to do so at this angle. Yeosang noticed Jongho stopping, and started laughing when he looked at what was going on.

“I think Mingi found himself a good viewing spot.” Well, that explained it. Feeling a bit mischievous, Jongho nodded his head back and forth a few times. He heard Mingi squeak in fright, trying not to fall down while Yeosang continued to laugh.

They continued to walk further into the forest, with Mingi still settled on Jongho’s head and seemingly dozing off. Just as Jongho wondered where Wooyoung and San had gone, the three of them reach a small clearing. Jongho stopped in his tracks, completely amazed by what he was seeing. The ground was covered with dozens of small flowers which looked like they were glowing as the moonlight shined upon them.

In the middle of the clearing, Wooyoung and San were wrestling playfully with each other. Yeosang sighed in exasperation as he moved forward.

“Guys, go elsewhere if you wanna play. You’re stomping on the flowers!” Wooyoung snickered but he and San stopped what they were doing to join them.

“You can help me picking flowers if you’re looking for something to do.” Yeosang stated as he bent down to start plucking flowers from the ground. Jongho let himself fall back on his behind with his two small legs spread out on either side of him, and he began to pull at the stems with his paws. San joined them as well while Wooyoung chased Mingi around the clearing.

Jongho was in the middle of dropping the flowers he had picked inside Yeosang’s basket when he fell something collide into him. He looked over to see Wooyoung snickering to himself. The fox run a couple of steps away from him before looking back and calling out to him. The bear shifter was confused by his behavior, but followed him anyway until he found himself caught in a game of chase.

Jongho panted, his tongue as he let out small growls. At some point, Wooyoung circled back and tackled him to the ground, and the pair began to wrestle playfully with each other. Jongho had never played like this before, and he felt exhilarated and extremely happy.

When Yeosang had collected all the moonflowers he needed, they all tackled him to the ground, licking and nipping at him while he laughed wholeheartedly.

“Alright guys, let’s get back home.”

When they arrived back at the house, Yeosang retreated to his working space to complete salves. Meanwhile, the rest of the small group shifted back to their human forms and went back inside the house.

“So… what do we do now?” Jongho asked as they walked further into the house.

“Well, we just have to wait until midnight. The hyungs are probably going to work on their potions until then. Do you want to play video games with us?”

The four of them ended up playing Mario Karts for the remaining time. Jongho had never played the game before, but it didn’t take him very long to get the hang of it. The other complained loudly every time he ended up first place, but he knew they weren’t actually mad about it.

While the game was very interesting, Jongho couldn’t help but look constantly at the clock on the wall to check the time. While the others didn’t mention it, he knew they were also impatient to do the ritual. Wooyoung especially couldn’t seem to stop fidgeting from where he was sitting practically glued to San’s side, but then again Wooyoung always looked like he couldn’t keep still, always moving about.

Just a quarter from midnight, Seonghwa, Hongjoong and Yunho appeared in the living room.

“Alright guys, it’s time. Can someone bring the water bottles and the snacks?” Everyone quickly forgot about the game, not even bothering to shut the television as they hurried to get outside. Once they were in the backyard, Yunho went to get Yeosang, who was probably too engrossed in his work to notice the time.

Seonghwa and Hongjoong worked in a practice rhythm as they lit candles on the circular pavement made of rocks which sat in the center of the backyard. When Yeosang and Yunho joined them, they started to draw sigils witch chalk between the candles.

“What do they mean?” Jongho muttered, not even registering he had said this out loud as he was too captivated by what the witches were doing.

“It’s kind of like wishes for the coven,” Mingi said beside him. Hearing his voice suddenly brought Jongho back to the present as he focused on his explanation. “There are sigils for protection, health, wealth, devotion and so on. I don’t know exactly what each of them mean but that’s pretty much it.”

Jongho nodded before looking up at the sky. The moon was staring back at him from high above, and the shifter felt a rush of energy climb from the tip of his toes to the top of his head, which made him shiver.

A door closed in the distance, and Jongho turned to see Wooyoung and San walking back from the house. The fox shifter was carrying two plastic bags while San was holding a pack of water bottles

“What do you need that for?”

“Usually by the time the ritual is done we’re all exhausted because we used so much magic, so we developed this strategy to have something close at hand to help us get some strength back.” Mingi explained. This made Jongho wonder if it was a good idea to do this after all, knowing his magical energy was pretty low. Before he could worry more, Seonghwa spoke up, interrupting his train of thoughts.

“Alright guys, we’re ready to begin.” Jongho followed everyone’s lead as they gathered into a circle inside the sigils. The youngest ended up standing between Mingi and Yeosang as they all held each other’s hands. 

Everyone stood still for a moment, but then Seonghwa closed his eyes and started to speak.

“Tonight, we invoke the spirit of the moon to shine his light upon us. We humbly ask for his blessing and his guidance on this night.” He then began to chant into a language Jongho couldn’t recognize.

Soon, the rest of the coven joined him. As their voices grew louder, Jongho noticed that the sigils started to shine brightly. He felt a tingling feeling grow in his core, like small pinpricks.

The bear shifter stared in awe as a fine dust formed in the middle of their circle. At first it was barely visible, but then it grew in density. The silvery mass changed to pale green, only to morph into a gold hue before switching to blue. While the colors were changing periodically, the mass coiled and shifted to form different shapes Jongho could not distinguish.

The tingling sensation had continued to grow, spreading to his legs and arms while the shape in the center started to spin onto itself, forming a colorful spiral which started to mount higher towards the skin. Jongho was forced to close his eyes because of how overwhelming the sight was. It was like his magic was being pulled away from him and towards the spiral, and all of his body felt numb.

Then all of a sudden, all the magic building shot up towards the sky. Jongho instantly fell to the ground, like a puppet with his strings cut. He panted heavily, laying on his side on the stones. The members of the coven also appeared completely exhausted, everyone catching their breath.

Jongho found he couldn’t even sit up if he tried. His body felt like it was made of rock, pinning him to the ground and preventing him from moving.

“Jongho, are you all right?” He heard someone ask beside him, but he couldn’t find the strength to answer. Finally, he couldn’t fight his exhaustion any longer and let his eyes fall shut, allowing him to succumb to the darkness.

Chapter Text

Jongho woke up abruptly with a burning sensation all over his body. He trashed around, clawing at his chest and arms to try get rid of it, in vain. He heard frantic voices around him, shouting over each other but he couldn’t make out what they were saying. The pain grew stronger around his chest, and he began to have difficulty breathing. He gasped for breath, his hands clutching at his chest as he curled around himself.

“Make it stop! Make it stop, please!” he heard someone cry out, and Jongho realized the words were coming from his own mouth.

Suddenly, he felt something being pressed onto his back, and the burning began to lessen until it died down to a low simmer.

Completely exhausted, Jongho felt his body sag where he was laying and fell back into unconsciousness.

Jongho woke up again, his mind slowly coming back to awareness. He felt sore all over, like he had been ran over by a truck or two. His eyes blinked opened, and he barely managed the strength to turn his head to the side to look at his surroundings.

He was in his room, and Hongjoong was sitting beside his bed in a chair. The witch’s focus was upon the book held open in his lap, his brows furrowed in concentration. It was only when Jongho cleared his throat that Hongjoong looked up from his book. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw the younger staring back at him, but a relieved smile appeared on his lips and he put his book aside to turn towards him.

“Jongho-ya! I’m glad finally see you awake again! You gave us quite a fright.” Jongho wanted to say something, but his voice sounded scratchy when he tried. Hongjoong seemed to realize something as he jumped from his seat.

“I’ll go get you some water. I’ll be right back!” The shifter could only watch as he disappeared from the room. He tried to remember what had happened to him, but his mind felt foggy.

Jongho heard a few voices further into the house, and a few moments later, Hongjoong came back with Seonghwa and Wooyoung in toe.

“Jongho-ya! You’re awake!” Before he could brace himself, Wooyoung jumped onto him and hugged him tight. The younger shifter groaned in pain at the sudden weight.

“Wooyoung! I told you to be careful! He’s still recovering!” Wooyoung immediately released him and sat back on his haunches on the bed, wearing a sheepish look.

“Sorry Jongho, hyung forgot.” He confessed with a shy smile as he rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

Hongjoong took the opportunity to bring a glass of water close to Jongho’s lips. The younger was embarrassed to be taken care of like that, but unfortunately, he hardly doubted he could drink it by himself without dropping the glass since he felt so weak, so he swallowed his pride and gulped down the clear liquid.

He instantly felt much better, the water soothing his dry throat and clearing his mind a bit.

“What… happened?” Seonghwa sat down on the side of the bed, and reached over to brush a strand of hair away from his eyes.

“You fell unconscious after the ritual. It’s normal to feel tired after, so we thought you would wake up soon, but then hours passed, and then a day.” The witch looked down at his lap, seeming deep in thought. Hongjoong and Wooyoung also looked quite serious. Jongho felt like there was something they weren’t telling him.

“What’s wrong?” Seonghwa looked up at him again, and then towards Hongjoong before returning back to Jongho.

“Do you remember waking up?” Jongho frowned in confusion.

“What do you mean?” Wooyoung scooted closer to him on the bed and took one of his hands in his own.

“You were unconscious for two days, and we were so worried. Your magic felt almost inexistent, and we didn’t know if you would wake up. But then, out of nowhere, you started trashing and crying like you were in pain. The amount of magic coming from you was so great, it felt overwhelming just standing close to you. Yeosang was able to temporarily ease your pain, but then he almost collapsed as well. He told us he felt like his magic was about to burst out of him, and he had to go outside and perform a spell to release the excess of magic residing inside of him.”

“We knew then that we were out of our depth, so we reached out to more experienced witches to help you. Daesung agreed to come, she’s an old friend of Yunho and was his mentor when he was just beginning for the committee. When she examined you, she said it was the first time she saw anything like this, and there was only one reported case of a shifter with the same condition. She told us that you had more magic inside of you than your magical core could contain, and that the ritual had probably unlocked magic inside of you that had stayed hidden until now.”

“She drew a sigil on your chest to contain help contain your magic, but she did warn us that it would only be temporary, and that she’ll have to replace it eventually.”

Jongho’s mind was reeling with all of this information. He couldn’t believe what they were saying. This put into question everything he had been told since his evaluation in high school.

All this time, he thought he wasn’t worth anything because of the low quantity of magic he possessed. He had been shunned by his parents, kicked out of his house, and living on his own all this time because of that. And now, he just found out that actually, he just hadn’t unlocked his full potential.

“Can… Can you help me see the mark?” Jongho asked in a hesitant tone. He needed to see for himself the proof that what they were saying was real, but at the same time, he felt reluctant to face this new reality.

“Of course.” Seonghwa drew back the comforter to reveal his naked chest. There, right on top of his sternum between his two breasts was an intricate design of black loops and lines that connected to each other.  

Jongho stared at the sigil for some time, while the three other men in the room watched him. They were all concerned for him, because he looked so distraught by what he just learned.

“Are you all right?” Wooyoung asked, giving his hand a squeeze. Jongho stayed silent for a moment before looking up at them.

“Can I have some time alone?” He asked in a soft voice.

They didn’t want to leave him on his own while he seemed unwell, but they understood that Jongho probably needed time to process everything.

“Of course, Jongho-ah. We’ll be close by, so just give us a yell if you need anything.” Hongjoong told him with a kind smile as both Seonghwa and Wooyoung got off from the bed. Seonghwa made sure to tuck the comforter back over him so he wouldn’t get cold. As they left the room, Wooyoung gave him one last glance before closing the door behind him.

Jongho sighed before struggling to turn on his side. His entire body still felt heavy and sore, and all he wanted to do was close his eyes and let sleep take over. At least for a while, he wanted to forget about everything and pretend nothing had changed.

It took a few more days for Jongho to regain his strength, and during that time, the coven took care of him. They helped him move around to go the bathroom, and they fed him when his hand was shaking too much. At least one of them would spend time with him to make sure he wasn’t lonely, sharing old stories and talking about their day.

They didn’t say it out loud, but they were all worried for Jongho. While his health had improved, his mood still remained downcast, and he often seemed lost in his own thoughts.

Despite having just recovered, Jongho insisted he went back to work, claiming he had missed too much work already. Of course, Seonghwa was very reluctant to see him go, but when he saw Jongho’s eyes as he pled, he didn’t have the heart to refuse him.

After Jongho left for work, Seonghwa realized it was the first time the youngest had asked for something. He would’ve been happy about this new development, if only it wasn’t for something that was detrimental to his health.

The coven leader sighed to himself. He had no choice to abandon his work for the moment. He was using his magic to mold the metal into intricate charms to serve as pendants for necklaces, bracelets or earrings. However, he was too distracted right now, and it was affecting the magic he infused into the metal. It would certainly have an impact on the intention he wanted to place in his charms.

“Hyung, is something wrong?” Mingi poked his head through the opening of the door, seeming curious and worried at the same time. A light smile appeared on Seonghwa’s lips upon seeing him.

“Nothing you should worry about, dear. Come here.” The witch beckoned him closer, and Mingi eagerly came to sit on his lap. Despite his large frame, he made himself comfortable on his hyung and drapped his arms around his neck.

“Tell me about what you’ve been working on recently.”

Mingi began to ramble about the music track he was going to send to an entertainment company, and Seonghwa focused intently on his words as he put his worries at the back of his mind.

“Have a goodnight!” Jongho said as the last client in the café left. As soon as the door closed behind him, his fake smile dropped as he let out a sigh of exhaustion. All he wanted to do was go lay down in his bed and get some much-needed sleep, but he still had to finish closing the café.

In retrospect, maybe he should’ve listen to Seonghwa and taken another day off work, but he couldn’t stand being trapped in his thoughts for another day.

While he had been recovering, memories about his parents and his childhood kept coming back to him. Ever since he had been living with the coven, those thoughts had been pushed to the side as he learned more about them and grew closer to them. His life, which had been so dark and monotone before was now filled with vibrant colors and warmth because of them.

But now, he was once again being plagued by his insecurities. The small child remaining inside of him, who was eager to please his parents, wondered if they would take him back now that his magic had grown. The thought planted a seed of hope inside his heart, that Jongho desperately tried to squash.

At the same time, he couldn’t help but feel guilty towards the coven. Once again, he had caused them to worry. He felt like he had brought them nothing but trouble since he met them. He was beginning to wonder if he should part ways with them. He was steadily saving money after all, and he would probably be able to afford a small apartment soon enough. He would be out of their way, and they could return back to their peaceful lives without him.

Although Jongho knew it was for the best, he felt pained to leave since he had grown attached to them. They had been so kind and welcoming towards him, and he knew they would probably insist for him to stay if they knew what he was thinking.

So instead of continuing to think about that, Jongho had decided to go back to work. He was still feeling quite tired that morning, but he thought he would be able to go through his day despite that.

Clearly, he had been wrong.

Halfway through his shift, he had begun to feel tremors in his hands. He had to ask his coworker if they would switch with him so he could work the cash register, because he kept spilling milk all over the place.

His state continued to deteriorate through the rest of the day. At some point, his coworker clearly saw he wasn’t feeling well, and asked him if he wanted to leave and rest at home. But Jongho, being as stubborn as he was, declined her offer and told her he was fine. He saw she wanted to say more, but luckily for him she didn’t press any further.

Jongho did his best to power through his exhaustion, feeling relieved every time another hour went by and brought him closer to the end of his shift. Right now though, he was tapping into his last reserves as he cleaned the equipment and the working areas. His legs felt like jelly and his head felt like it was filled with cotton.

Just as he was preparing to lock up, Jongho heard a knock coming from the front door. When he saw Wooyoung waving at him, he couldn’t even muster the energy to feel happy. Instead, he only felt numb as he walked out of the café and locked the door behind him. He saw Wooyoung frown when he looked up at him.  

“You okay baby bear? Had a rough day at work?” Jongho felt his shoulders sag as he nodded. He struggled to keep his eyes open, and he couldn’t wait until they got home.

Wooyoung stepped forward and wrapped his arms around him. The younger sighed as he let his forehead rest against his shoulder. He allowed himself to lean some of his weight onto his hyung.

Jongho didn’t know how long they stayed like this, but eventually Wooyoung pulled away, and the youngest did the same even though he wanted to stay in his warm embrace a bit longer.

“Let’s go home, yeah?” Wooyoung wrapped an arm around his shoulders and began to guide him towards the bus stop.

When they climbed into the bus, it was practically empty. Jongho chose a seat by the window and Wooyoung sat next to him. The hyung gently guided the shifter’s head to rest onto his shoulder, and Jongho allowed himself to close his eyes.

When they finally walked into the house, they discovered everyone sitting in the living room.

“What’s going on?” Jongho asked while Wooyoung left his side to glue himself next to Yeosang on the couch.

“We were waiting for you two to come home so we could have a movie night.” Yunho explained. Wooyoung cheered when he heard this, claiming it’s been a long time since they’ve done one.

“If it’s alright, I think I’m just go back to my room and sleep.” Jongho felt bad for not joining them, but he knew he would probably fall asleep during the movie anyway.

At his words, everyone seemed to realize how tired he looked. Seonghwa opened his mouth to say something, but Hongjoong interrupted him.

“Let me help you get settled then. You guys can start the movie without me.” With a hand againt his back, the witch guided him out of the living room.

Later, when Jongho came back to his room after showering and brushing his teeth, Hongjoong was waiting for him, scrolling absentmindedly on his phone. It felt slightly awkward to be alone with him, because the pair hadn’t really interacted until now.

As Jongho climbed beneath the covers, Hongjoong came to sit on the side of the bed.

It was quiet between them for a moment before the older began to speak.

“You know, I’ve always been passionate about my hobbies and the things that I love. When I began to work for the council, I threw myself into my work, often forgoing sleep to spend late nights pouring over cases. It took a big toll on my health though, and my magic began to be affected too. It wasn’t until I met Yunho and his coven that I saw how detrimental my lifestyle was for my health.”

“With them by my side, I was able to find a way to balance my work and my free time so that I could have some proper rest. They were there to remind me to take a break when I got carried away, and I could lean on them when I had doubts about my abilities to help people.”

Hongjoong paused for a moment, and placed his hand on top of Jongho’s covered chest.

“I’m saying this because we can all see how you’re struggling right now, and I wanted you to know that we’re always there to listen if you have something that’s weighing on your mind.”

Jongho stayed silent as he took in his words. His throat felt tight with emotion, and he willed himself not to cry.

“Have a good night.” Hongjoong patted his chest lightly with a small smile before standing up.

When the door closed behind him, Jongho turned on his side to face the wall. He curled onto himself as he closed his eyes, but he couldn’t control the tears leaking from his eyes and trailing down his cheeks.

The exhaustion soon caught up to him, and it wasn’t long before he fell asleep, bringing his restless mind some measure of peace.

Chapter Text

When everyone ate breakfast together the next day, Jongho was glad that nobody said anything about yesterday and acted like normal. He had had a good night’s sleep, and his day at work went better than yesterday, although he was still tired after his shift was over.

Later that day, he found himself helping Seonghwa prepare dinner. Jongho saw that the witch wanted to say something, but until now he had only asked how his day went. Half an hour later, the food was ready to be eaten. The smell of the enticing meal lured San, Wooyoung and Yeosang from the living room and into the kitchen. San came to wrap his arms around the eldest, who was busy plating the food.

“Smells good hyung.” San said with a smile as he swayed them from side to side. Seonghwa gently patted the man’s arm.

“Thank you Sannie, our maknae helped me a lot.” Before Jongho could say anything, Wooyoung sneaked a kiss onto his cheek. The youngest startled back and wiped the kiss with a disgruntled expression.

“As expected from our dear maknae!” Wooyoung exclaimed as he walked around the table to sit next to Yeosang who was listening to the interaction in silence.

“You could certainly learn from him, Wooyoung-ah.” Seonghwa muttered as he brought the plates to the table with San waddling like a duck behind him.

“What?! I help you plenty in the kitchen!” He then fell into a rant about everything he did to help Seonghwa while the witch tried to interrupt him, with San joining him occasionally to tease Wooyoung.

It was starting to get a bit loud for Jongho, so he told them he would get upstairs to get Mingi. The other shifter was probably working on his music in his room, so he wouldn’t hear him call out his name if his door was closed and his headphones on.

He had to knock on the door several times before Mingi opened it.

“Sorry, I was engrossed in my work.” He looked a bit sheepish as he removed one of the ear pads to hear him better.

“It’s fine. I’m just here to tell you dinner’s ready.” Mingi seemed surprised to hear this. He turned behind him to look at the window in his bedroom, and he saw the sun had begun to set long ago.

“I really didn’t see the time pass. Listen, I just have to finish working a quick arrangement, and I’ll come downstairs. You can come inside if you want.” The older opened the door fully and went to sit back to his desk filled with all his equipment. 

Jongho stepped inside the room and quietly looked around. Despite living here for quite some time now, he still hadn’t seen Mingi’s room. The walls above his bed, which was pushed against the wall in one corner of the room, were covered with posters of music bands and anime that he had mentioned before. Everything looked tidy, but Jongho suspected that Mingi mostly used this room to produce music, because he knew the others often slept in two or three’s in the same three bedrooms.

As the youngest sat down on the bed, a picture frame on the bedside table caught his attention.

“Who is that beside you on the picture?” Mingi looked towards him and got up from his chair to come take a look at the frame. He smiled when he saw the picture.

“That’s me and Yunho. Our parents were in the same coven.” Jongho hadn’t recognized him since they were children in the picture, but now that he knew, he could see the resemblance.

“You must’ve been close.” Mingi went back to sit at his desk to continue working while talking to Jongho.

“Oh yeah, we were always together. He decided to come with me when I made the decision to leave the coven.” His tone had gone more serious now.

“What happened?” Jongho sensed that it was a sensitive subject. He didn’t want to prod too much and cross a line. Mingi heaved out a deep sigh as he leaned back into his chair.

“When I shifted for the first time into my mouse form, my parents thought it was a joke. My dad can shift into an eagle while my mother’s second form is a panther, so you can imagine their deception when they saw this. They started to treat me coldly from then on, and the other children of the coven made fun of me.”

“Anyway, I slowly became more withdrawn and avoided shifting into my other form. I was lucky that Yunho was there for me, but he could only do so much to shield me from the insults and glares. When we finished high school, that’s when I talked about leaving, and he was ready to follow me. We went to live with one of Yunho’s uncle, who is a member of the magical council. That’s how we met Hongjoong actually, because he was his apprentice. Once we started to live there, I gradually got out of my shell and got more familiar with my second form.” Mingi paused for a moment, as he reminisced about his past.

“My parents never tried to contact me to convince me to come back home or to ask me how I was doing. It hurt at first, the thought that this was enough to stop them from considering me as their son, but now I think I’ve made my peace with it.”

Jongho didn’t know what to say. Mingi’s story was so similar to his own, it brought back all the feelings and thoughts he tried hard to forget and bury. His hands clutched at the comforter beneath him, and his head hung low between his shoulders.

Mingi noticed his silence and looked over to him. He grew concerned when he saw how distraught Jongho seemed.

“You don’t have to feel bad for me. Like I said, it’s all in the past now, and I feel much happier today.” The youngest looked up briefly at him before avoiding his eyes again.

“No, it’s not that. I mean, they shouldn’t have treated you like that, but I-“ Jongho cut himself off, not knowing what he wanted to say exactly. Mingi stood up and went to sit beside him on the bed. He placed a hand on his shoulder, but otherwise stayed silent while waiting for him to continue.

“T-the reason why I was living in the woods in my bear form is because my parents threw me out of the house. They said I wasn’t worthy of being their son because my magic is weak for a shifter.” Jongho took a pause to try to clear the lump in his throat. It felt difficult to speak as his sorrow threatened to break to the surface.

“I was left alone in the streets without anything of value with me, and as hard as I tried, I wasn’t able to make much money. That’s why I left the city and chose to live as a bear. It wasn’t easy, but that way at least I was able to survive.”

His words hung heavy in the air as Jongho anxiously waited for Mingi’s reaction. A moment later, he was pulled against a warm chest while two arms wrapped around his back, fully encompassing him.

“I’m so sorry this happened to you Jongho. It must’ve been so awful and scary for you, being on your own to deal with all of this.”

To hear someone acknowledging his pain for the first time was like a punch in the gut. It felt like all of his feelings that he had bottled up surged all at once, and he found himself sobbing uncontrollably into Mingi’s chest.

Mingi was a bit startled by his strong reaction, but it only urged him to hug the boy tighter as he rubbed his back in a soothing motion.

“Oh, it’s okay little cub. You can let go now, hyung’s here.”

Jongho sank more into Mingi’s embrace as he continued to cry. He felt like he couldn’t stop, as wave after wave of tears fell from his eyes and sobs tore from his chest.

“What’s going on?” Jongho vaguely recognized Seonghwa’s voice coming from somewhere close. He couldn’t find the strength to respond as he continued to clutch weakly on the back of Mingi’s shirt, the side of his nose pressed against his chest while his eyes remained closed. Mingi said something above him, but it sounded muffled so he couldn’t understand very well.

A moment later, he felt the mattress beside him sink, and what he assumed was a hand began to stroke his hair gently. He heard other voices surrounding him as well, but he couldn’t distinguish what they were saying.

Slowly but surely, his sobs began to die down as well as his cries. Now, he felt completely exhausted from all the crying he had done. Despite Mingi’s now wet shirt sticking to his cheek and the ache slowly forming in his lower back from his bent position, he didn’t have the will to move away from where he was resting.

Soon enough, his mind gave away to sleep, putting his thoughts to rest.

Jongho felt groggy as he slowly woke up. His eyes were stinging slightly, and his nose was clogged as well. As he tried to recall how he ended up falling asleep, he remembered his conversation with Mingi. He did feel embarrassed for having cried so much, but he couldn’t deny that he felt lighter now that he had told someone.

He looked to the side and saw he was laying haflway onto Mingi’s chest. The other man was still sleeping, his chest rising and falling with each breath while his mouth remained slightly open. The shifter felt a rush of fondness for his hyung, as he watched sleep so peacefully and uncaring of the world.

He didn’t know how long he slept for, but the window above them revealed that the sky was dark outside, so at best it was now late in the evening. Jongho wanted to stay in bed with his hyung, but the hunger churning in his stomach was too painful to ignore.

To avoid waking Mingi, Jongho crawled on the comforter to reach the end of the bed. As he left the room and got into the hallway, he could hear some faint voices in the direction of the stairs. As he went downstairs, the voices grew louder. Jongho took a peek in the living room, and he saw Wooyoung, San, Yeosang and Seonghwa sitting there.

Jongho cleared his throat, and they all looked towards him. Wooyoung and San immediately got up from their seats and went to him. Wooyoung came to hug his front while San wrapped himself around his back The youngest froze for a second, not prepared for their touch, but slowly let himself relax into their arms.

After some time, Wooyoung pulled away with his hands still holding his shoulders. His eyes were concerned as he looked at him.

“Are you feeling better now?”

Was he feeling better? Jongho thought for a second, trying to figure out how he felt. His insecurities were still there, lingering underneath his skin and waiting for another opportunity to tear him down. However, the hopelessness he had felt didn’t feel as crushing right now.

“Yeah, I think so.” Wooyoung’s concern was replaced by a light smile.

“Come, we saved a plate for you.” Jongho heard San say behind him, before he was being led by the arm towards the kitchen.

The bear shifter ate the food with gusto while San and Wooyoung spoke about their day and occasionally drifted onto another topic. Jongho felt content as he listened to them absentmindedly, as it served as background noise while he focused on each delicious bite he put into his mouth.

After he was done eating, he realized how tired he was. Despite his short nap, he still felt compelled to go back to bed and sleep the rest of the night away.

He expected to go to his room to sleep, but Wooyoung and San dragged him upstairs despite his meager protests. In the end, he ended up sandwiched between as they both cuddled up to him.

Before he closed his eyes, there was a knock at the door. Seonghwa poked his head through the crack and wished them a good night, his stare lingering on Jongho. They all bid their hyung a good night, and when he left, Jongho finally let his eyes fall shut.

Earlier that evening…

Seonghwa shut the door behind him, after making sure Mingi and Jongho were laying comfortably on the bed. His heart tugged into his chest as he remembered Jongho’s loud sobs echoing into the room. Seeing him so distressed had been difficult to bear, especially since there wasn’t anything he could do except be there by his side.

As he reached the living room, he saw that Wooyoung, San and Yeosang had been waiting anxiously for him to arrive. They clearly weren’t happy when Seonghwa told them to wait downstairs, since they wanted to help their distressed maknae. However, they had listened to him because they knew crowding Jongho would probably overwhelm him instead of helping him.

“Well, how’s he doing?” Seonghwa smiled gently at San and reached out to give his hand a reassuring squeeze.

“He’s sleeping with Mingi right now.” He sat down on one of the couch, and the three of them followed suit, with San sitting beside him while Wooyoung and Yeosang sat on the couch perpendicular to them.

“Do you know why he was crying?” Wooyoung asked in a concerned tone, which prompted Seonghwa to shake his head.

“No, but I think it’s best if we let Jongho tell us himself. I wouldn’t want to go behind his back and ask Mingi.” Wooyoung hummed in response, and the four of them fell into silence as they got lost in their own thoughts. Meanwhile, the television was heard in the background, playing a TV show some members had been watching avidly recently.

“Hyung, can Jongho join our coven?” Yeosang spoke up after a while. San and Wooyoung looked back up, anticipating his response.  

Seonghwa wasn’t surprised by the question. He knew all of his members, including himself had grown quite to Jongho this past month. He already felt like one of their own, and it was only a question of time until the topic was brought up.

“We’ll have to have a conversation with everyone, but I definitely see Jongho joining our coven. We’ll also have to ask Jongho as well if that’s something he wants.”

Yeosang smiled and nodded, while Wooyoung and San cheered. They all hoped Jongho would agree when the time came.

Chapter Text

It had been a couple of days since his conversation with Mingi, and right now, Jongho was helping Yunho and Yeosang unload different candles, charms and potions to get everything ready for the Winter Market for magical beings, which took place tomorrow. Around them, several other covens were setting up their own stands across the field, exchanging pleasant chatter while the sun shone high above them.

The market took place in an open field, which was pretty much deserted given its location. This field was ideal because it was located on the outskirts of the city, and it was surrounded by trees on all sides. To make sure it was undetectable to the human eye, the committee organizing the market had set up a spell to repel non magical beings away. It would unknowingly deter them from approaching the location.

Given all the things he had heard from different members of the coven, but mostly Wooyoung who claimed it was his favorite day of the year after the Summer Market, Jongho was looking forward to tomorrow. According to Wooyoung, different renowned witches would come every year to showcase their talent to entertain the visitors. A friendly competition of magical duals also took place for whoever wanted to enter.

Back when he was a child, his parents had never brought him to any kind of festival or trivial activity that was designed only for fun. They claimed it was a waste of time and money to go to these places, and they would rather he focused on his education. The young child lingering inside of him was excited to visit all the stands and watch the demonstrations.

As Jongho bent down in front of a box to retrieve more items, he felt a sudden burning sensation on top of his chest, which prompted him to put a hand over the area as he winced in pain.

This wasn’t the first time this happened. These random flashes of pain had began yesterday morning. The first couple of times were merely uncomfortable, so Jongho wasn’t too concerned, but now, the pain made it difficult to breathe.

“Everything’s okay Jongho?” His focus drifted away from the pain as he heard Yunho say his name. He must’ve spent to long bent over the box.

Jongho stood up and turned towards his hyung, quickly schooling his expression. He didn’t want to worry them even more, after everything that had happened these past two weeks.

“Yes hyung, I was just worried we forgot the love charms.” Before Yunho could answer, another flash of pain struck Jongho. This time, the pain was so blinding that his knees buckled and he fell to the ground. He held himself over the ground with one hand while the other was clutching tightly at his chest. His hyungs’ alarmed voices broke through the sound of his own panting.

“What’s wrong Jongho?! Are you hurt?!” Both witches crouched beside him on each side as they tried to see what caused him to collapse so suddenly.

“My chest.” Jongho managed to gasp out. Yeosang and Yunho looked at each other over Jongho’s head.

“Do you think it’s the sigil?” Yeosang asked in a worried tone. Yunho was equally concerned as he got up and began to help Jongho stand.

“If it is, I think it’s best we bring him to Eunji as soon as possible. Got get the others, you can meet us back at her house.”

Although Yeosang was reluctant to leave their maknae, he knew the rest of their coven would want to be there as well. He helped Jongho climb in front of Yunho on his broom, before summoning his own broom as soon as the two set off into the air. As Yeosang kicked off from the ground while curious onlookers watched him go, wondering what was going on. The witch flew as fast as he could towards the house, eager to go back to Jongho’s side.

Understandably, all the members were alarmed when Yeosang arrived and told them what happened. He didn’t go in the details, only telling them that Jongho was in pain and that Yunho had gone with him to Eunji. He didn’t want to spend too much time talking, and the rest of the coven fortunately felt the same since they wanted to join their two missing members as soon as possible.

They flew to Eunji’s house at record speed. She lived in an isolated but cosy cottage in the woods. She wasn’t a part of a coven, but she nurtured friendly relations with many of them and was a beloved member of the community. With her many years of experience, she was a source of knowledge and a reference for many witches.

Once they all landed in the front yard of Eunji’s house, they all hastily directed their brooms to lean against the side of the house before they went inside, forgoing to knock given the situation.

Their eyes all darted around to try to locate Jongho. They must’ve made a ruckus while entering, because Yunho’s voice was heard from the back of the house before they could say anything to announce their arrival.

“We’re in Eunji’s bedroom!” Everyone rushed at the same time towards the narrow corridor leading to the room, which caused them to bump into each other and to stumble a bit.

Before they could reach the bedroom, Eunji, followed closely behind by Yunho, emerged from it and effectively stopped them from going any further. The woman looked a bit exasperated as she waved her hand in front of her.

“Alright! I know you all want to see him, but he’s currently asleep now and we shouldn’t crowd him too much to let him rest.” Before any of them could protest, she raised a hand again which silenced them.

“I’ll allow three of you to go in the bedroom, the rest of you can come with me in the living room. I’ll make you some tea and we can talk about what is happening with Jongho.”

Yunho followed Eunji down the corridor since he had already spent time by Jongho’s side. The rest of the coven debated on the question for some time before it was agreed that Wooyoung, Yeosang and Mingi should go. Seonghwa and Hongjoong, as the coven leader and the second oldest respectively, felt it was important for them to listen to what Eunji had to say in order to help their maknae. As for San, he was simply too weak to his members charms and caved in, although he made it clear he would monopolize time with Jongho in the next few days to make up for that.

Some time later, the four of them were all gathered around Eunji with a cup of tea in their hands. Since the living room wasn’t designed to house so much people, Yunho and San were leaning against the wall while their hyungs occupied the single couch. In front of them, Eunji had settled into her rocking chair.

“First off, I want to let you know that Jongho is well once again. I gave him drought for his pain when he arrived, but he should have recovered when he wakes up. The cause was his excess of magic once again, and it was confirmed when I checked on the sigil on his chest and saw it had faded almost completely.” She took a sip of tea before continuing.

“To be completely honest, the sigil was a temporary solution while I searched for something that would last longer. I was also hoping the sigil would be enough, but clearly his body still hasn’t adapted to his sudden surge of magic. Normally, the core of a shifter would grow alongside his magic, but since the expansion of Jongho’s magic was sudden, his magical isn’t currently developed enough to handle all of his magic.”

“So what can we do to help him?” Seonghwa asked. He was leaning on the edge of his seat while clutching his cup tightly in his hands. The three others were also listening intently.

“I designed a talisman that will be able to contain his excess of magic. He should wear it all the time, and his magic will be able to gradually seep into his core as it expands, until it has fully adapted.”

“So he won’t be in pain anymore? He’ll be able to function normally?” Hongjoong asked with a hopeful note in his tone. Eunji nodded with a soft smile.

“Yes. However, there is something else I want to warn you about.” The brief relief they all felt was tainted by her ominous words as they became tense once again.

“You shouldn’t discuss this in public, or share it with anyone else. Many people with bad intentions could try to take advantage of Jongho’s large amount of magic, and drain him of magic for their own purposes.”

The room remained silent after her warning, as they registered what it implied.

“Don’t worry,” Yunho broke the silence, “We’ll do what it takes to keep him safe.”

An hour later, Jongho woke up from his impromptu nap. He felt much better than when he had been awake before. His eyes opened, and he first thing he saw was Mingi and Yeosang, talking in hushed tones in the corner of the room. He then noticed a pressure on his arm, and he looked to his left. There, Wooyoung appeared to be sitting in a chair, and had his folded arms drapped on the side of the bed while his head laid on top of them. One of his hands was clutching his arm while he slept soundly.

Yeosang happened to glanced towards Jongho, and he had to take a look again when he saw his eyes were opened. He immediately went over to his side, cutting Mingi mid-sentence. The mouse shifter was a bit put off by this, until he saw what caught his attention.

“We’re so glad to see you awake. You gave us quite a scare!” Yeosang said as he sat on the right edge of the bed. Mingi joined them as well, standing close with a relieved smile.

The smile Jongho had faltered slightly at his words, and he avoided their gazes.

“I’m sorry. I’m always causing you trouble, aren’t I?” Mingi leaned forward to grab his shoulder, which made Jongho look up again.

“Yah, don’t say that. You’ve just been through a lot these past few days, difficult times can happen to everyone. Besides, we’re more than happy to take care of you.” Yeosang nodded, supporting his words.

Their voices must’ve woken up Wooyoung, because the fox shifter’s head lifted up as a small groan escaped his lips. His tired eyes suddenly became bright again when he saw Jongho was awake.

The second youngest didn’t hesitate to flop forward and wrap his arms around the maknae. Jongho spluttered slightly as he was forced to adjust to the sudden weight.

“Wooyoung-ah! Be careful! He’s just recovered!” Wooyoung pouted in Yeosang’s direction as he snuggled closer to Jongho.

“I can’t help myself! I’m just so happy to see my dear maknae alive and well! With what you had told us, I thought he was on the brink of death!” Yeosang scoffed as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“You’re exaggerating again. I never said the word death, I just said he was in pain!” The two of them continued to bicker, while Mingi watched them with an amused smile and a fond gaze.

Despite the fact he was frustrated at himself for worrying them again, Jongho was happy to have them in the room with him. It felt good to have people caring for him, something he had hardly experienced even when he was a child.

A while later, Eunji entered the room with the rest of the coven in toe. Normaly, she would’ve come sooner, but the three hyungs were all so caught up with their youngest and their own banter that they had forgotten to tell her Jongho was awake.

Just as the four remaining members of the coven were about to come in, Eunji asked them to stay outside since it would be much too crowded. The four of them were dejected, but nonetheless stayed just outside the doorframe, trying to see how Jongho was doing.

Eunji walked up to the bed where Jongho was laying and placed her hand on top of his chest. She closed her eyes, remaining still for a few seconds before she pulled away.

“Your magical levels seem to be stable again, so I don’t think I have to keep you here. You’re free to go home with your hyungs.” Wooyoung, Mingi and San cheered while the rest of the coven kept quiet, but looked pleased by the news. Jongho was also glad to back to the house, eager to go back to a familiar setting after the day he had.

“Just before you go, I want to explain how your necklace works.” Jongho frowned in confusion before he looked down to his chest, and finally noticed the pendant laying on top of his shirt. It was blue, with different layers appearing to swirl inside of it.

“The pendant will contain your excess of magic until you’re finally able to keep all of it. It must remain in physical contact with you at all times. If you stay apart from it for an extended period of time, there’s a good possibility you will have another episode like today.”

Jongho nodded, feeling uneasy at the thought of feeling this type of pain again. What if he lost the pendant, or broke it accidently?”

Before he could think much further, he felt a hand lay on his shoulder.

“Don’t worry Eunji Noona! We’ll make sure he’s careful!” Wooyoung declared in decided tone, which made Yeosang chuckle beside him. Jongho found himself looking up at him, and saw the fox shifter was already looking down at him with a bright smile. This instantly made the younger more relaxed, knowing his hyungs would be there to watch over him.

Chapter Text

“I don’t think it’s a good idea he leaves the house right now, with what happened yesterday” Hongjoong said with a frown. He had woken up an hour before, and he had just taken his first sip of coffee when the three youngest had accosted him in the kitchen. He definetly didn’t feel awake enough to have this conversation

“But hyung, he feels fine now! And he has his pendant with him, so there won’t be any problem!” Wooyoung declared in a light tone.

“And we’ll make sure to stay by his side at all times! Come on hyung, Jongho’s been really looking forward to this!” Mingi added. As for Jongho, he stayed in retreat as he watched the two shifters plead his cause.

He felt flustered by their attempts to convince Hongjoong, and also bad because he didn’t want to go against his word. He had actually followed Wooyoung and Mingi in the kitchen to stop them from going to Hongjoong, but of course they completely ignored his protests.

He now regretted telling them this morning he was sad to miss the festival.

Hongjoong sighed and leaned back into his chair, running a hand down the side of his face.

“That’s great and all, but I would like to hear Jongho’s opinion about this.” Wooyoung and Mingi both seemed a bit put off. They were so engrossed in their mission to convince their hyung that they had completely forgotten that their maknae was behind them, staying silent the entire time.

They both turned towards him, which caused Jongho to feel flustered under the three men’s gazes on him.

“Well, I-it is true that I was looking forward to the festival, and that I’m disappointed I can’t go, b-but I understand why I can’t, and that’s totally fine! I don’t mind staying here!” Jongho stammered as he played with his fingers in a nervous habit.

Hongjoong’s eyes softened as he witnessed his shy demeanor. In the back of his mind, he felt saddened to see that even after living for a month now with them, Jongho still remained careful and subdued. He sometimes wondered what it would take for the young shifter to open up to them, but at the same time, he didn’t want to rush him and make him clam up even more.

He didn’t know the details, but he knew Jongho’s home hadn’t been the best. Surely, growing up in this environment must’ve taken a toll on him, and unfortunately, only time would be able to help him overcome his past.

“In that case, it would be unfair of me to keep you here,” Wooyoung and Mingi cheered upon hearing this, “But if you feel any discomfort or pain, I want you to come back home alright?”

Hongjoong could see Jongho trying hard to keep his smile hidden as he nodded and bowed slightly.

“Yes, thank you hyung.” The youngest was then quickly dragged away by Wooyoung and Mingi.

“And don’t forget to watch over him!” Hongjoong called out as he heard them move around the entrance. He heard a vague response before the sound of the door slamming echoed throughout the house. Hongjoong shook his head before returning to his book with a lingering smile on his face.

The first thing the trio did upon arriving was to go the coven’s own stand, where Yeosang, Seonghwa and Yunho were.

Jongho was filled with awe as they walked through the stands, his eyes lingering everywhere and trying to catch everything in. The place looked really different from when he was here yesterday. Back then, it was early in the morning and there were only a few stands in the process of being set up.

Now, the field was filled to the brim with people moving in throngs across the site. The air was light with excitement and enthusiasm while the sun shone high above them. Everyone had to speak loudly in order to be heard above the cacophony of voices, music and laughter.

Holding Jongho’s hand securily in his own, Wooyoung finally led them to where the three witches had set up their shop. Seonghwa and Yeosang were both busy talking with customers, explaining their products and answering their questions. As for Yunho, he was seemingly taking in a break, sitting in a pliable chair while sipping from a fizzy drink. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw them approaching.

“I didn’t know you were coming here!” He said after putting back his drink.

“Nice to see you too, hyung.” Wooyoung deadpanned. Yunho rubbed the back of his head in a sheepish manner.

“Sorry, I’m glad to see you of course. I just thought that Jongho would rest back home today.”

Jongho felt a bit frustrated by his words. He wasn’t the first person to say he should rest, and while he did appreciate how much everyone cared for his wellbeing, he felt slightly smothered by their care sometimes. He thought they were exaggerating. Couldn’t they see that he doing fine?

Still, he knew they didn’t have any bad intentions, and he didn’t want to appear ungrateful, so he kept his feelings to himself and decided to focus on the day ahead.

“Me and Mingi managed to convince Hongjoong hyung to let him come.” Yunho hummed in understanding.

"If he says it’s alright, then I guess there’s no problem.”

“Great! Jongho-ya, what do you want to do first? Do you want to go through the different stalls?”

The younger didn’t really know where to start, so he decided to follow Wooyoung’s suggestion.

“Okay, let’s go then!” Once again, Wooyoung took his hand to avoid losing him in the crowd.

It took them at least two hours to take a look at each stall, and Jongho found his wonder growing as the time passed. The products being sold varied from vegetables and fruits to jewelleries and garments.

For instance, one stall was selling dolls and toys. The inanimate objects, which had been infused with magic, were able to interact and talk as though they were really alive. They were also able to walk and do other movements, such as cartwheels. The vendor had also installed a small theater for the children, where different dolls were interacting together and making the kids laugh in delight.

Another vendor was selling different types of plants, and each of them had their own properties. The man was in the middle of practicing a spell on a plant to make it grow when he was startled by a loud popping noise coming from another stall close by. This must’ve altered his flow of magic because the plant suddenly started growing much faster and bigger, until it went way higher than the ceiling of the stall. The vendor started to panic, while the onlookers laughed among themselves, pointing towards what was happening. Jongho couldn’t help but chuckle as well. It reminded him of a tale he had read as a small child, about a boy and a beanstalk reaching the clouds, where a giant resided.

At some point, they passed a stand where a witch was selling homemade outerwear for the winter such as scarves, hats or mittens. Behind her, a pair of knitting needles were working tirelessly to make what appeared to be the beginning of a sock or a mitten. Jongho was particularly drawn in by the scarves, which looked so soft and warm. The weather was steadily getting colder know that they were in the middle of December, and it made waiting for the bus after work seem much longer than it actually was. The thought of getting a scarf was certainly alluring, but he hadn’t brought his wallet with him, as he didn’t think he would buy anything.

He must’ve been taking too much time, because Wooyoung, who was a couple of stalls ahead, appeared beside him.

“I remember hyung bought a hat from her last year. He said it was good quality! Apparently, the wool is enchanted with a warming spell.” Jongho hummed as he wondered briefly which hyung he was talking about, but then he figured it didn’t matter much in the long run.

“I didn’t bring any money.” The younger said, trying to mask his deception. He told himself he could always buy one in town. Wooyoung took a quick look at him, and without another word he approached the vendor.

“How much for a scarf?” Jongho’s eyes widened and he quickly started to protest.

“Hyung! It’s okay, I’ll buy one in town!” Wooyoung shushed him without looking at him.

“It depends, which one would you like?” Both her and Wooyoung turned to Jongho, who was now slightly stressed about the whole thing.

“No, I’m sorry m’am, but we won’t buy anything-“

“Nonsense! Let hyung buy something nice for you, hmm? It would make me really happy, please?” Jongho remained silent, unable to accept such a gratuitous offer.

“If you want to be stubborn, that’s alright. But we won’t leave until you let me buy this for you, and I can be very patient.” A quick look at the vendor told Jongho that she wasn’t very pleased with this development, and this pushed him to finally relent.

“I’ll take the burgundy one please.” He pointed towards it. Wooyoung made a pleased sound beside him as he grabbed his money.

Moments later, both of them walked away from the stall, Jongho with his new scarf in hand. He carefully wrapped it around his neck, and he couldn’t help but feel pleased at the instant warmth engulfing him.

“Thank you, hyung, but you didn’t have to. I can repay you-“ But Wooyoung interrupted him with a tutting sound.

“Like I said, I’m very happy to buy this for you! We’re allowed to spoil you from time to time. You’re our maknae, after all.”

Our maknae. Jongho felt a warm sensation in his chest, the good kind, as he tried to repress a smile, clutching the scarf tighter in his hands.

The rest of the day went by pretty fast.

Around lunch time, Hongjoong and San flew over to bring them something to eat. San had cooked several meals for them, and they thanked him profusely for his efforts. Between Yunho, Yeosang and Seonghwa managing the stand, and Wooyoung and Jongho walking the entire morning, they were all starving.

The coven sat in a circle, some of them sitting on the ground since there were only a few chairs. Mingi volunteered to look over the stall, since customers were still coming by even though they were taking a break.

Everyone praised San for his cooking, and even though the man shrugged it off, it was clear he was pleased by their words.

“It’s really good San,” Wooyoung said after slurping a mouthful of ramyeon, “Even though we all know it can’t compare to my cooking.”

Hongjoong promptly smacked the back of his head, which prompted everyone else to start laughing while Wooyoung whined in protest while rubbing the sore spot.

“One day, this mouth of yours will get you into trouble.” Hongjoong scolded lightly, although he said it with a slight smirk. Wooyoung scoffed at this.

“Please, this is what makes me so charming!” Yunho, who was sitting beside Jongho, shook his head in disbelief while wearing a smile as he dug into his bowl.

Jongho couldn’t contain his smile as they all continued to eat, exchanging anecdotes and jokes. He felt happy and warm, being in their company and sharing this moment with them.

It seemed so simple, sharing a meal together, but to Jongho it meant everything. In the past, he had been used to dinner spent in silence, feeling tense and waiting for a harsh remark from one of his parents. He never imagined that eating together could be so jovial and lighthearted.

Later, when everyone was done eating, they gathered the empty containers so Hongjoong could bring them back home.

“I’ll come with you, hyung. I have some work to finish at home.” Yunho announced as he took some of them in hand. Mingi decided to follow them while San chose to stay back.

“I’ll help the hyungs to manage the stall.”

Mingi went to sit behind Yunho on his broom while Hongjoong climbed on his as well, after securing the bag with the containers around the base of the broom.

“Don’t forget to come back for the fireworks!” Wooyoung exclaimed. Yunho and Mingi assured they would come, will Hongjoong seemed a bit reluctant.

“I don’t know, Wooyoung. I wanted to catch up on some sleep. Besides, aren’t they the same every year?”

The fox shifter looked positively affronted by this.

“You better come Kim Hongjoong, or else you’re sleeping on the couch for the rest of the week, right Hwa-hyung?” He looked over to the coven leader, who looked positively amused.

“You know better than to upset Wooyoung, Joong.” The said witch sighed dramatically and rolled his eyes before starting his ascent towards the sky, followed suit by Yunho and Mingi.  

 “Yeah, yeah. I’ll see you later.” Hongjoong shouted before the two witches shot off into the distance. Wooyoung definitely looked too proud of himself.

It was close to midnight, and the sun had long since retreated to give way to the blanket of night. All the women, men and children were gathered on the edge of where the stands began, facing the part of the field which had been left completely empty. Some were sitting down, while others chose to remain standing up, but everyone was chatting among themselves and awaiting the beginning of the fireworks.

Jongho was standing among the coven. All the members were there, and while some seemed more excited than others, everyone was looking forward to the spectacle.

“Have you ever seen fireworks, Jongho?” The sudden question startled him out of his thoughts, and he turned towards Yeosang, who wore a gentle smile.

“No, we never went to these kinds of things with my parents.” Yeosang hummed in understanding.

“They’re really spectacular, you’ll see.” A twinkle appeared in his eyes before he looked away towards the field. Jongho followed suit, and soon enough, they saw a light shot off from the ground at the edge of the forest. The light went high into the sky, causing a whistling noise, before exploding into hundreds of small lights. The sudden loud sound caught Jongho off guard, making him flinch slightly as he put his hands over his ears.

Fireworks after fireworks followed the same pattern as they exploded into the sky into different shapes and colors, and Jongho couldn’t look away by the mesmerizing sight.

The sight was already impressive, but then other kinds of fireworks were launch. When they popped, they formed different kind of animals which came to life. Horses galloped across the sky while mighty lions roared, shaking their impressive manes. Dragons flew towards the crowd and blew fire, entertaining the children who laughed and screamed in delight. Rabbits bounced here and there, and one of them came close to Jongho. The shifter tentatively petted the animal, even though his fingers passed through the illusion.

The fireworks went off for about half an hour, each one even more impressive than the next. The last one to go off formed boreal lights above the crowd, who awed and gasped at the beautiful sight. The crowd erupted into cheers and started clapping, congratulating the technicians for the wonderful show.

Gradually, everyone began to leave, all of them probably heading towards home after a long day of festivities. Jongho felt disappointed that it was already over, but he was still happy to have made a new memory.

“Don’t feel so dejected, Jongho. There will be other fireworks for the summer festival.” Wooyoung stated as they walked towards where the brooms had been stored. Jongho was touched that Wooyoung implied he would still be with them this summer.

He grabbed Wooyoung’s hand and gave it a squeeze, which seemed to surprise the other shifter given the way his eyes widened slightly.

“Thank you, hyung.” Wooyoung’s eyes softened as he smiled. Without a word, he swung his arm over Jongho’s shoulders as they followed the rest of the coven, pressing him against his side.

Chapter Text

It was a Friday evening, and Jongho was out into town with San and Hongjoong. San had asked Jongho if he wanted to come try out this new restaurant with him, and the youngest had agreed happily. His long week of work was finally done, and while he did like his job, he was glad to be able to rest and enjoy the weekend. This was also an opportunity for him to have a break from his usual routine, since he rarely went anywhere else other than his workplace

They were about to leave for the restaurant when they met Hongjoong in the kitchen. There were dark bags under his eyes, and he appeared to be making himself his fourth cup of coffee today.

“Hyung, why don’t you come with us to this new restaurant. You could use a break from your work, you look totally exhausted.” Hongjoong drew out a long sigh.

“I still have a lot to do before I’m done…” The witch said in a dejected tone. San didn’t seem convinced by his words, so he pushed a bit further.

“Come on, hyung! How long has it been since you’ve done something fun?” Hongjoong thought for a few seconds before finally giving in.

“Alright, but I can’t come back too late.” San cheered while Hongjoong went to change clothes since he wasn’t quite fit to go out with his pair of joggers and his old hoodie.  

They had a great time at the restaurant. The food was quite good, and their table was located on the side of the restaurant which was facing the sea, so they had a beautiful view of the sun as it slowly set into the distance.

Jongho was also glad to have an opportunity to talk more to Hongjoong. He wasn’t as close to him as the other members of the coven, since the witch was often busy with work. It was a good thing San was there to act as a buffer between them, because it could’ve been awkward if they had been alone given that neither Jongho nor Hongjoong were avid talkers.

Throughout the evening, Jongho learned more about how the coven came together. Hongjoong came from a powerful family of witches. He told Jongho how difficult it was in the beginning when he developed his ability to read minds. He had trouble shutting off other people’s thoughts, which caused him frequent headaches. He avoided crowded places like the plague to give his mind rest, but unfortunately his classes required him to be present.

His headaches caused him to be in a bad mood almost all the time, so other people tended to stay away from him. One day, he was gathering his things after the class ended when he was approached by a man.

“Hi, I’ve noticed you’ve been holding your head a lot, like you’re in pain. I wanted to give you this charm. I’m hoping it can ease your pain a bit.”

He extended a hand with a small delicate bracelet inside. Hongjoong didn’t know what to say. He was taken aback by the whole interaction, but he accepted the gift with a bow.

The next day, Hongjoong wore the bracelet, and he was surprised when he noticed his headache was much more bearable. A whole week passed before he saw the man again in the class they seemed to share. Hongjoong took the time to go up to him and thank him again for the bracelet.

He learned his name was Seonghwa, and from then on, the two of them continued to hang out together even outside of classes.

“And that was how our mom and dad met.” San commented with a cheeky smile. Hongjoong rolled his eyes, used to those types of comments by now while Jongho chuckled slightly. It was true that Seonghwa and Hongjoong often acted like parents with the other members of the coven.

“And, how did San join the coven?” Jongho asked.

San explained that the coven hadn’t been formed at the time. His family owned a Taekwondo studio back in Namhae, and he moved to Seoul because he wanted to experience life in the big city and to establish his own studio.

His studio ended up being right in front of Seonghwa’s parents’ apothecary. San frequently visited the shop since his muscles often ached from doing taekwondo, and the soothing balms they sold worked wonders. That’s where he ended up meeting Seonghwa, who at the time had already met Hongjoong.

The two of them quickly became friends, and Seonghwa presented him to Hongjoong after some time. Hongjoong didn’t seem interested at first, but soon enough San’s warm personality melted his brooding demeanor.

“If you didn’t notice, Hongjoong takes some time to warm up to new people.” San said to Jongho with a wink.

“There’s nothing wrong with being more introverted.” Hongjoong defended himself, glaring at San. However, his stare fell short of intimidating.

“Of course, hyung. That’s what makes your charm.” San patted his back as if to placate him, which only aggravated the older man further.

After they paid the bill, the three of them left the restaurant. San suggested they could come back here with the whole coven next time, so they could experience the food as well.

For his part, Jongho was happy to have had the chance to learn more about the coven, Hongjoong especially. There were still some gaps to fill, but he had a clearer image of how the coven came together.

It was a beautiful winter evening to walk in the streets. The temperature wasn’t biting cold, and the pavement was clear of snow. The streets were mostly clear of cars given the late hour, which was a clear contrast to the day time where honking and the sound of engines running was constant.

Ahead of them, a couple exited a luxurious restaurant. The pair began to walk in their direction, and once Jongho got a look at their faces, he stopped in his tracks. This prompted San and Hongjoong to stop as well.

“What’s wrong, Jongho?” The younger didn’t respond. His eyes kept staring straight ahead at the couple, who now had stopped walking and stood only a few feet ahead.

“Oh, Jongho. We didn’t expect to see you here.” The woman’s voice appeared surprised, but underneath was a layer of annoyance that she couldn’t seem to disguise.

Beside her, the man didn’t hide his annoyance. He glared at Jongho with clear disdain in his eyes.

“I didn’t expect you to find yourself a coven. Surely, they must know how useless you are.” His words were sharp like knives, and they found their mark as Jongho lowered his head. His throat felt tight, and he willed the sting in his eyes to go away.

“I don’t know who you are sir, but you should watch your words.” Hongjoong said in a tone that betrayed his anger. San looked equally angered, with his hands forming fists by his side.

“He used to be my son, so I assure you I know what I’m talking about. Let me give you a piece of advice. You should kick him out of your coven, he’s worth nothing as a familiar. He’s just a deadweight.”

His father’s eyes held nothing but contempt and disgust when Jongho glanced back up. He felt years of hurt and shame climb back up. It was like he was brought back to when he was a child, standing still as his father picked him apart piece by piece with his words.

“Let’s go Jongho, we don’t have to listen to him.” Jongho felt San’s hand guide him forward as Hongjoong followed behind them. He felt like he was treading through water, not really aware of his surroundings.

His father appeared insulted to be dismissed like this as they passed by them.

“You think you can just ignore me-“

He abruptly reached out to grip Jongho’s forearm, but then suddenly stopped speaking. Hongjoong was quick to remove his hold, and the man stumbled back slightly, looking taken aback. Jongho’s hyungs quickly guided him down the streets, eager to bring him back home after this harrowing event.

Jongho was arguably still shaken by the encounter with his parents. When they first got into the car, the hyungs tried to ask him if he was alright, but after a few attempts without any response, they finally gave up.

There were so many different emotions swirling inside his mind, it was difficult to make sense of what he was feeling exactly.

One thing he was definitely feeling was shock. After spending a few months with the coven, his parents and his trauma had been pushed to the back of his mind. But now, seeing them for the first time since they had kicked him out, it brought back all the pain.

Maybe, a small part of him had hoped for them to have changed. To apologize for what they had done so they could all put this behind them and become a family again. Unfortunately, that hope had been completely shattered as soon as he heard his father speak. If her mother’s annoyance hadn’t alert him, his father’s words were the nail into the coffin. 

Each word was like a sharp knife sinking deep into his heart. Even though it certainly hadn’t been the first time he had been spoken to that way, it still held the same effect every time. The happiness and confidence he had managed to build in those few months crumbled into dust, leaving only a certain truth lingering inside his mind.

I’m not good enough

Jongho didn’t even register the car had slowed to a stop as he was startled by his door being opened. San was holding the car door, waiting for him to step outside. Jongho got a glimpse of his face, but he wasn’t able to tell what expression he was wearing because of the dark.

He found himself being led towards the house, Hongjoong following behind, and it felt like he wasn’t really in his own body, like his brain was numb to everything around him.

After removing their shoes and coats in silence, they went to the living room. The rest of the coven was there, watching a movie on the TV. Most of them all looked towards the three once they came in, but their happiness soon dwindled when they saw their faces.

“What happened?” By now, everyone looked concerned. The trio was supposed to have a good time at the restaurant, and they didn’t know why they looked so somber.

“I’ll go to my room now.” Jongho announced while avoiding their eyes. He made it a few steps before Hongjoong called out to him.

“I know you’re probably overwhelmed right now, but I don’t feel comfortable leaving you on your own after what happened. Why don’t you come sit down with us, hmm?”

Reluctantly, Jongho turned back around towards the living room. He went to sit down between Seonghwa and Wooyoung, while Hongjoong and San took a seat.

Jongho felt a hand taking his own, and he turned to see Wooyoung offering him a kind smile.

“When we stepped outside the restaurant, we met Jongho’s parents. His father said a lot of nasty things to him about how he wasn’t a good familiar and he shouldn’t be in our coven.”

A couple of them swore under their breath, and they all looked angry.

“You should’ve hexed them, make them have diarrhea or something.” Wooyoung muttered under his breath.

“Wooyoung, you know we can’t do magic in public.” Seonghwa scolded him half-heartedly. He didn’t sound opposed by the idea.

Jongho stayed silent as they talked continued to talk amongst themselves, coming up with different creative ways to make his parents miserable.

“Jongho, are you okay? I hope you didn’t take what he said to heart?” Mingi questioned from the other couch, looking concerned. Jongho opened his mouth before closing it again, unsure of what to say.

“I… I mean I don’t know I guess… it’s probably true, isn’t it? Since I was a kid, everything I did was never good enough… and…”

A sob broke free from his mouth, quickly followed by others as he buried his face into his hands. He faintly heard several of his hyungs make concerned noises, and he felt someone press him against their chest while a hand rubbed his back.

“It hurts so much… why can’t they love me?!” Their hearts broke as they heard his words and his heartwrenching cries.

“I j-just want to be good enough… to feel like I belong somewhere…” Inside of him, Jongho felt the young child inside of him cry with him, as they both pled for something that seemed unreachable.

He felt himself being pulled away, and discovered that Mingi had taken Wooyoung’s place. His eyes were wet with tears as he held Jongho’s shoulders firmly.

“Listen to me, Jongho. You are good enough. I know it’s hard to believe when you’ve been told the contrary your whole life, but it’s the truth. It’s your parents that aren’t good enough. A parent’s love is unconditional, they aren’t supposed to tear you down with insults. And even if they don’t love you like they should, you should know that we all love you, and you’ll always have a place with us.”

Jongho rubbed at his wet cheeks with his hand while he tried to quell his sobs.

“But… why?”

“Because you’re our precious maknae,” Seonghwa spoke behind him, which prompted Jongho to turn towards him, “and we’ll always love you no matter what you do.”

Jongho launched himself into Seonghwa’s arms, which made the coven leader chuckle in amusement. Above the maknae’s head, Seonghwa made eye contact with Hongjoong, who nodded his head once.

“Actually, we’ve been talking about this for a while, but we never found the right moment to ask you. Jongho, would you like to join the coven officially?” Jongho slowly lifted his head, his eyes wide and still shiny from leftover tears.

“Really, you want me in the coven?” Seonghwa chuckled fondly as stroked the younger’s hair.

“Of course. We already consider you a member of our coven, right?” Everyone else quickly agreed.

Jongho found himself crying again, but this time, his tears didn’t come from a place of hurt. He was overwhelmed with happiness. After everything he had been through, he never thought he could ever find a place where he could be happy, and yet, here he was, surrounded by people who loved him and wanted him.

“Yes, I want to.” He said in a choked-up voice. Cheers echoed around the room as everyone rushed over to try to get their hands on the maknae. Soon enough, some began to complain about being squished while others whined that they weren’t close enough to Jongho.

Maybe his wounds wouldn’t heal overnight, but for now, it was a start.

Chapter Text

The following days, the members of the coven seemed to pay extra attention to Jongho. They already cared for him a lot, but now, all the time he spent at home was with someone at his side.

Hongjoong, who wasn’t a morning person, was in the kitchen early in the morning, often with a book and his coffee as Jongho prepared to go to work.

Yeosang brewed him some herbal tea in the evenings to soothe the ache in his back from a long day of work.

Mingi invited Jongho up to his room to show him the track he was working on, seeking his advice.

Yunho taught him more about the different types of magic and spells that could be casted.

San settled in Jongho’s lap in his cat form as he watched television, offering his quiet but warm presence.

Wooyoung’s touch lingered on his shoulder, his back or around him as he hugged him close at night, like an anchor tethering him to the present.

 Finally, Seonghwa’s comforting presence was never far, even if he couldn’t be seen, showing his care in the meals he prepared or in his silent understanding.

Despite his lingering doubts about him deserving his place in the coven, the care they showed him only proved how much they wanted him here and helped ease his insecurities.

The whole coven was looking forward to the upcoming full moon, which was only a week away. That’s when they would perform the ceremony to make Jongho a member of the coven. Jongho was excited as well, to finally have a permanent place to stay where he was wanted and people cared about him.

Now that he didn’t have to live from day to day anymore, focused solely on surviving, he also had the time to think about what he wanted to in the future.

He never really had the opportunity to ponder what he wanted to do, or what he enjoyed doing before, so now, all the possibilities that laid in front of him felt slightly overwhelming.

He was finally able to share his concerns Tuesday afternoon.

Usually, Wooyoung always came and waited for Jongho to finish his shift before going home. However, today brought a change in their routine, because Jongho’s shift was actually finishing earlier than Wooyoung’s practice. Jongho always got the same hours, but the café was actually closing earlier because of a holiday.

When he heard this, Wooyoung suggested Jongho could come to the university so they could leave together after. The fox shifter also claimed it was an opportunity to show him a new choreography he was working on.

Jongho had never seen Wooyoung dance before, so he was looking forward to see him in his element.

Jongho took the bus to reach the university, and then followed the directions Wooyoung had given him to find the correct building. Once inside, he read the indications on the walls, which finally led him to the room he was looking for.

The door was closed, muffling the loud music coming from inside the room, and Jongho hesitated for a moment whether he should knock or simply walk inside. In the end, he opened the door only a fraction and peaked his head inside. His eyes easily found Wooyoung, who was dancing in front a mirror which spanned the entire wall with two other men.

Jongho timidly stepped inside and quietly shut the door. They didn’t appear to notice him, and he watched in silence as they finished their dance. The three men congratulated each other with pats on the back, and only when Wooyoung glanced at the corner of the room did he notice Jongho standing there.

“Jongho-ya! You’re here!” The fox shifter bounded towards him and wrapped his arms around him, making the younger stumble a bit. Jongho realized a bit too late that Wooyoung was covered in sweat from practicing, and he cringed internally from the sticky shirt pressing against him. Wooyoung turned towards his friends to introduce him.

“This is my little brother, Jongho.” The younger was taken aback by the term Wooyoung had used. He didn’t know the older thought of him as his brother. The thought warmed his heart and he fought off his smile.

“Really? You don’t seem to look alike.” One of the men pointed out. Wooyoung disregarded his remark with a wave of his hand.

“We’re not related biologically, but I still consider him my brother.” He punctuated this by dropping an unexpected kiss on Jongho’s cheek. This made his eyes grow wide as a blush formed on his cheek. His reaction made the two other dancers laugh.

“Clearly he isn’t as touchy feely as you though” Wooyoung wrapped himself around Jongho’s arm, leaning against him.

“I don’t mind. I’m affectionate enough for the two of us.” His friends laughed again.

“That’s true enough, you’re like a koala. Always have to be wrapped around something.” Wooyoung pouted before a mischievous smile appeared on his face.

“The way you say it, it’s like you want me to hug you.” Wooyoung launched himself towards his friend, which triggered a small chase between the two of them. Meanwhile, the other dancer standing close to Jongho introduced himself as Yongbok. The youngest in the room was intrigued by the uncommon name, but say anything, simply greeting the man with a bow.

A moment later, Wooyoung wore a triumphant smile and his arms wrapped around his taller friend’s back. Since Wooyoung refused to let go, they walked back in a penguin-like way, which caused Yongbok to chuckle.

“That’s right, I forgot to introduce my friends. This is tall guy here is Yeonjun, and I guess you already met Yongbok. I’m doing my final project with them.” Jongho bowed towards Yeonjun, who had apparently given up on getting rid of Wooyoung and seemed resigned to his fate.

“Do you want to run over the choreography one more time?” Yongbok asked the two other dancers. They both agreed as Wooyoung unlatched himself from his friend, who shook his head with a fond smile. Despite appearing brash and loud, Wooyoung had a way of worming himself into people’s heart. Jongho understood that despite their teasing, Wooyoung’s friends appreciated his honest way to demonstrate his love, because he also felt the same way, even though he never told Wooyoung explicitly.

“Jongho, why don’t you sit at the back so you can get a good view?” Wooyoung gestured towards the wall facing the mirrors while Yeonjun went to the laptop to start the music.

Jongho sat down with his back to the wall, while the group of three got into position. A few seconds later, the music started, and they started to dance. As he watched them, Jongho was struck by how passionate they seemed as they moved along with the music.

Soon enough, the three men struck their final pose as the music ended, their ragged breaths breaking the silence. Jongho found himself clapping as they tried to regain their breath.

Wooyoung brushed his hair away from his forehead, which was covered in a thin layer of sweat. He walked back towards Jongho with a smile on his face, even though he looked tired.

“And, what do you think?” Jongho stood back up again and echoed his smile.

“It’s really great hyung! I’m not a professional, but the choreography seems to match well with the music, and you’re really talented!”

Wooyoung brushed him off with a wave of his hand, even though he seemed pleased by the compliment.

“You shouldn’t say that, Jongho. His head will grow bigger than it already is.” Yeonjun commented. Wooyoung ran towards him and aimed a high kick, which was easily dodged by the taller man who was chuckling.

“You’re just jealous you’re not as handsome as me.” Wooyoung snarked before going back to Jongho and leading him by the arm.

“Let’s go Jongho, I’m starving. I can’t wait to see what Seonghwa hyung cooked for dinner.” Jongho turned and waved towards Wooyoung’s friends, who bid him goodbye as well, before following him.

Inside the bus, Jongho took the seat beside the window while Wooyoung slid into the one next to him. Jongho let his eyes trail on the different buildings moving outside, the exhaustion of the day finally seeping into his bones. His thoughts went back to Wooyoung’s dance practice, and he remembered how happy he looked. Jongho wanted that too, to be good at something and enjoy doing it. The only problem was, he didn’t know what he liked or what he was good at.

Beside him, Wooyoung was sitting with his eyes closed, his earbuds resting inside his ears. They rarely talked during the bus ride, since both of them were usually tired from the day they had spent.

“Hyung, how did you know you liked dancing?” Wooyoung peaked at him with one eye before opening the other one and removing both of his earbuds.

“Well, I’ve always loved watching idols dance on television when I was young, and I remember wanting to be like them. As soon as I had enough money, I enrolled into a dance class. That’s when I fell in love with dancing, and decided I wanted to do this for the rest of my life.” Wooyoung seemed lost into memories as he shared his story. When he finished speaking, he sent Jongho a questioning look.

“Why did you want to know?” Jongho glanced down at his lap and started fidgeting with his fingers.

“I guess… I’ve been wondering what I could be doing with my life. The job I have is good, and I’m really grateful to Seonghwa hyung for helping me get it, it’s just that… I know all of you have an important job or a hobby you enjoy, and I don’t have any of that…”

He heard Wooyoung made a noncommittal noise beside him, and he looked up when the older took a hold of one of his hands.

“I think Seonghwa hyung told you before, but you can enroll into university if you want to. You don’t have to do this job for the rest of your life if you don’t want to.” Jongho hummed in agreement.

“I know, but I don’t even know what I enjoy doing. How can I choose which program I want to get into?” Some desperation bled into his voice as he said this. Wooyoung leaned forward into his space, searching his eyes to make eye contact.

“Jongho-ya, you don’t have to have everything figured out right now. You can take the time to try some hobbies and do some research on different programs. Me and the hyungs can help you if you want.” Jongho nodded, but remained lost in his thoughts, which didn’t escape Wooyoung.

“Is something else bothering you?” Jongho stayed quiet for a moment, finding it hard to express what he was feeling out loud.

“I… I was never really allowed to do things that I liked when I was a child, so I guess… I’m excited to be able to try new things but… it’s a bit overwhelming…” Wooyoung wrapped his arms around Jongho, holding him against his chest.

“I’m glad you told me, Jongho. Like I said, you don’t have to do everything all at once, and we’re always here to support you, alright?” The younger nodded quietly, suddenly feeling grateful to have found such good hyungs.

Later that evening, Jongho found himself in Mingi’s bedroom. The older had wanted to make him listen to the most recent sound he was working on.

Jongho always enjoyed when Mingi showed him what he was working on. Listening to the songs and tracks he made allowed him to travel to a space where his worries and his past didn’t exist. It made his heart feel light inside his chest.

“I’m pretty much done with the melody, but I haven’t found somebody to sing yet. I can’t really think of any singer I know who could match the song.” Mingi explained. Beside him, Jongho was reading the lyrics that were written in a notebook.

They expressed a desire to let go of the past and live in the present, and how difficult it was. Jongho could definitely relate to them.

“Would you like to give it a try?”

Jongho made a questioning sound as he looked up at Mingi.

“Singing, I mean. Yunho mentioned you had a great voice the other day.”

Jongho felt a rush of excitement from the proposition, but it was quickly quashed by his doubts.

“But hyung, I don’t even know how to sing. I never took any classes.” Mingi looked fondly exasperated as he leaned back into his chair. He had an inkling Jongho would say something like that.

“You don’t necessarily need classes to be a good singer. Some people are already talented.” A large part of Jongho wanted to say yes, but there was still something holding him back.

“I don’t want to mess up…. What if I sound bad?” Mingi had to refrain himself from cooing at the boy in front of him. Jongho sounded just like a little kid, looking for reassurance.

“You won’t, I’m confident you’ll do great. And if by chance you don’t sound good, I won’t laugh at you, I promise. The only thing I might do is give you some pointers to improve.” The youngest was still feeling unsure, but he trusted Mingi’s words.

“Okay.” Mingi’s eyes lit up as he grinned.

“Great! I haven’t prepared my equipment yet, so we won’t be able to start tonight. How about we start tomorrow evening?” Jongho nodded with a soft smile.

His stomach felt tight with nerves, but there was also some excitement as well. He had always enjoyed singing, and but now this felt a bit more serious since his voice would be included in a real song if everything went well. After his conversation with Wooyoung earlier, this felt like a step into the right direction.

Chapter Text

Jongho hummed to himself as he wiped the counter clean from any stains after the rush of clients they just had.

He was looking forward to the end of the day, because tonight he would record his voice for the song Mingi was working on.

Obviously, he was nervous since he would sing in front of another person. It was even more nerve-wracking given that Mingi was someone he knew, and he cared about his opinion. Still, the older one had reassured him that he would only give him some tips to guide him, and that it was normal if he made some mistakes at first since he had never done this before.

Despite his nerves, Jongho was looking forward to having his voice implemented into a song. Music, whether it was listening or singing, had always been a comfort for him and his only escape away from his strict parents. Most importantly, he was finally doing something he wanted to do of his own accord, and not because he had to avoid punishment or to please others.

The doors of the café opened as a customer stepped inside. The man was familiar to Jongho, because he had been coming here every day for a week now.  He would come in the morning and leave late in the evening. Some of Jongho’s colleagues thought it was unusual for someone to spend an entire day here, but some elderly people stayed for hours in the café chatting and playing cards, so Jongho thought that maybe the man simply enjoyed working here since he was often on his computer.

However, Jongho did feel like there was something off about him, but he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what. He felt uneasy when it was only him and the man remaining in the café, because there were only a few people inside the café after six in the evening. Despite this, the customer had never done anything inappropriate to justify Jongho’s feeling, so he didn’t dwell on it.

Jongho smiled at the man as he came up to the counter.

“Good morning.” The man smiled back.

“Morning, I’ll have a large black coffee, no sugar, and um…” He leaned back and looked at the different pastries layed out inside the glass display which was just beside the cash register.

“An almond croissant, heated please.” Jongho made the man pay the two things he ordered before leaving the register to prepare everything.

As he poured the coffee into mug and put the croissant into the oven, he could feel the man’s stare lingering on him. It wasn’t unusual for customers to watch as he prepared everything, but right now he could feel the hair on the back of his neck stand straight.

He handed the coffee and the pastry to him, and the man smiled and thanked him before walking off the table where he usually sat. Jongho watched him for a few moments before he turned his gaze away and went to continue other tasks.

The rest of the day went relatively quietly, with customers coming and going until only Jongho was left to close to café. He made quick work of the things he had to clean, and after he had counted the money inside the register, he was finally ready to go home.

Jongho stepped outside and closed the door behind him, making sure it was locked properly before walking off.

As usual, the night was dark as he walked down the street towards the bus station. His surroundings were quiet, a relative silence which was only broken occasionally by a vehicle passing by. For most people, walking alone at night could be a scary experience, but on the contrary, Jongho found it peaceful. This was a moment for him to enjoy some time alone after working all day, listening to music coming from his earbuds.

He was about halfway to the bus stop when he began to feel the strange sensation of being watched. He turned around briefly to look behind him, but he didn’t see anything.

Jongho hastened his pace, and he was just about to turn the corner of the street where the bus stop was located when he felt something grab the base of his neck. He heard some words being said behind him, but it happened so quickly that he couldn’t understand them, and the next thing he knew he fell forward as he lost consciousness.

Jongho’s eyes blinked opened slowly, as he tried to chase away the fog clouding his mind. His head, just like the rest of his body, felt heavy as he finally succeeded to look up after a few tries.

The room he was in was dark, except for a single light attached to the wall beside a door. He appeared to be in some sort of basement, given that the walls appeared to be concrete.

It was only when he shifted slightly that he noticed his arms were positioned above his head. He looked at them and saw shackles secured around his wrists, which led to chains bolted into the wall behind him.

That’s when Jongho started to panic and he tried to recall how he ended up here. His memories began to come back, as he remembered walking back from the café and having the impression of being followed before being grabbed from behind.

With some effort, he gathered himself on his knees and was able to stand up. He grabbed one of the chains with both hands and tugged at it a few times to test its strength. He gave up after a few tries, because it was clear he wouldn’t be able to break chains made of metal.

He did his best to push aside the fear rising inside of him and tried to think of a solution. He finally remembered the phone in his pocket, and for a moment hope flickered inside of him. It quickly died however when he checked both of his pockets and found them empty. Whoever was keeping captive had probably taken it.

Jongho sat back down against the wall, feeling defeated. He had no way of contacting anyone, and he had no idea where he was. He wondered if his hyungs had noticed he was missing, if they were looking for him.

All Jongho could do was sit and wait as hours passed, waiting for someone to come while different thoughts crossed his mind. He racked his brain, trying to find who could have taken him and why. The only people who had shown bad intentions were his parents, but he didn’t think they would go as far as to kidnap him, especially since they were the ones who had kicked him out of the house.

At times, fear and hopelessness would take over and he would start crying, begging outloud to be freed. He longed to go back to his hyungs, where he was safe and protected.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, the door opened with a creak, startling Jongho out of his spiraling thoughts. He could feel his blood pumping into his ears in anticipation as a tall man walked into the room, his heels clanking against the ground with each step he took into the room. He stopped in the middle and yanked on a cord dangling from the ceiling, lighting a light Jongho hadn’t noticed before and illuminating the room.

Jongho was shocked once the light showed the man’s features. This was the regular customer he was serving at the café, the one who came every day. He had given him a coffee just earlier today.

“You… why?” The man chuckled, a smirk on his lips. His hands were casually buried in his pockets as he adopted a casual stance.

“I guess I should introduce myself first. My name is Lee Gyeontak, and I’m a close friend of your parents.”

Jongho couldn’t really speak as he processed the information. If this man was friend with his parents, this could only mean he was a part of the magical world in some way. It was only when he focused that he finally noticed his magical signature, which made him even more scared.

“You’re probably wondering why you’re here, hmm?” He didn’t wait for an answer as he continued to speak.

“Your parents always expected great things for you, you know. They were really disappointed when they learned how worthless you were as a familiar. So, imagine their surprise when they bumped into you recently and saw you were wearing a containment amulet.”

The bear shifter felt his blood run cold, and he looked down at his chest, only to see his amulet was gone.

“Needless to say, they were quite delighted to discover that their son was a powerful shifter after all. You might not know that, but your parents always planned for you to be bonded to a witch or a coven with prestige and wealth. And, well, I was one of the obvious choices.”

The prospect of being bonded to a stranger against his will horrified him. He had thought he was finally free from his parents clutches, but even after being kicked out of the house, they still managed to find a way to control his life for their own benefit.

“I don’t want to be bonded to you! I already have a coven who wants me to join. You can’t force me!” The man came closer and crouched down until he was on eye level with him.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Jongho-ya. Although it has been banned by the magical council, there is a way to bond with a familiar without their consent, so you will be bonded to me whether you want to or not. I have great plans for the future, and the magic you possess is just what I need to accomplish them. A powerful witch like me needs a powerful familiar, after all.” Jongho shook his head, and he felt tears gather in his eyes.

“No! Please, let me go!” The witch sighed before getting up again, looking bored.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. I’ve already sealed the agreement with your parents, and even if it wasn’t, there is no way I would let you go now that I have you. You just have to get used to it.”

All Jongho could do was cry as the man stood back up and exited the room. He could scream until his throat was raw and bang his chains against the walls, but deep down he knew throwing a fit wouldn’t help him get out of here.

He only hoped that his hyungs had realized he was missing, and they were looking for him.

Seonghwa took a shuddering breath as his blew wide open after being abruptly pulled away from sleep. It took him a moment to register who was standing in front of him.

“I’m sorry for waking you, hyung, but I think you should go sleep in your bed if you don’t want your back to ache tomorrow. It’s almost midnight.” Yunho said with a gentle smile, endeared by the sight of his hyung looking soft with sleep.

“You’re right, thank you Yunho-ya. Jongho came back alright?” The oldest had developed the habit over the years to wait until everyone was home before going to sleep, unless he knew in advance they wouldn’t sleep over.

“Well, I didn’t see him come in since I was with Mingi, but he’s probably already in his room sleeping.” Seonghwa nodded as he got up from the couch and stretched a bit. This made sense since usually Jongho slipped in quietly when he came back from work.

“Alright, I’ll just take a look in his room, just to make sure.” Yunho nodded and wished him a good night before going to the kitchen, where he was originally going to get a late snack.

Seonghwa went and opened the door to Jongho’s room, only to find it dark and empty. The witch found it strange, but he thought maybe their youngest had gone to sleep with one of his hyungs.

He went upstairs and knocked on San’s door before walking in. San, Wooyoung and Yeosang were tangled together on the bed, and they must’ve been sleeping because the room was completely dark and only Wooyoung’s head turned in his direction.

“Hyung is sorry to wake you up sweetheart, but did Jongho come up here?” It took a few beats for Wooyoung to register the question before he shook his head.

“No, we didn’t see him. Why?” Seonghwa felt a pit slowly form in the bottom of his stomach. He was starting to get worried. Jongho hadn’t told them he would be staying out after work, and he had never been late before.

Seonghwa grabbed his phone and selected Jongho’s contact. Meanwhile, Wooyoung was sitting up in bed now, and Yeosang had just been woken up by their voices.

It seemed like the phone rang endlessly, and Seonghwa kept waiting to hear Jongho’s voice, only to be answered by the voice mail.

“He isn’t answering his phone, and he was supposed to be home two hours ago.” The witch said out loud.

“Maybe he missed your call. He’ll probably call you back in a minute.” Wooyoung tried to reassure him. He gave a short resume of what was going to a barely awake Yeosang, who was wondering what they were talking about.

Seonghwa passed around the room, biting his nails as he waited for a call. After a few minutes, he had finally enough.

“I’m going to the café to see if he’s there.” He announced. He didn’t want to worry his dongsaengs, but he had a bad feeling about this.

Chapter Text

Seonghwa’s hands were gripping the stirring wheel hard as he drove down the road, toeing with the speed limit. He would have preferred to use his broom, since it was much quicker, but he knew using magic near non-magical humans was not a good idea.

After what felt like an eternity, he finally parked in front of the café Jongho worked at. He immediately noticed all the lights were off, so this eliminated the idea that he was there. Still, he got of the car and tested the door to be sure, and it was indeed locked.

Seonghwa paced a bit, looking around and trying to think about what to do next. He grabbed his phone and called Jongho again, just in case he answered. Just like earlier, he heard the voice message which prompt him to end the call with a frustrated sigh.

His mind went to the university, where he knew Jongho had went a couple of times to see Wooyoung. He climbed back into his car and travelled there. He had a quick look around the campus where the main buildings were, but he quickly figured out most of them were closed for the night.

Seonghwa leaned back into his seat, his chest feeling tight with anxiety. He didn’t want to believe it, but it seemed like Jongho was missing. He briefly wondered if the younger had chosen to leave them of his own accord once again, but Jongho had been living with them for a while now, and he had agreed to join the coven, so he easily dismissed the thought.

Seonghwa took his phone once again, and hesitated. He didn’t want to alert the rest of the coven, since it felt like it was making the situation even more real, but he knew he had no choice. He couldn’t find Jongho alone.

He pressed one of his main contacts and held the phone to his ear. A few rings later, a voice heavy with sleep answered.

“Hmm Seonghwa, why are you calling me so late?” The oldest fought against the lump in his throat to reply.

“Hongjoong, I think Jongho’s missing.”

They never had a group meeting this late into the night, or rather this early since it was now one in the morning. Surprisingly, everyone looked quite awake despite the hour, and this was probably because they were all worried about Jongho, who they still hadn’t heard from.

Seonghwa hadn’t plan to hold this sort of meeting, but when he came back home Wooyoung, Yeosang and San were already waiting for him along with Hongjoong. The three confessed that they hadn’t been able to go back to sleep after Seonghwa left. And then, it was only a matter of time before Yunho and Mingi joined as well, alerted by the voices and the noise coming from downstairs.

“So, everyone is certain Jongho hadn’t mentioned he had plans to go somewhere after work?” Hongjoong asked.

“Yes hyung, we were supposed to work on a song together this evening, and he was really looking forward to it. If something happened and he couldn’t make it, I’m sure he would’ve texted or called me.” Mingi confirmed, putting emphasis on his last words. They all knew it would be out of character of Jongho not to warn them if he was late, the youngest remaining careful not to cause trouble, even if they had reassured him countless times that it wouldn’t be the end of the world if he did, and that they would love him regardless.

“So, what do we do now? Do we call the police?” San asked.

“No. The last thing we need is to accidently expose our magic, and it puts the entire magical world at risk of being discovered. I definitely know some people who could help us. We can start by trying to track his magic around town.” Hongjoong said, his gaze focused and determined.

“When I went to the café to look for him I definitely felt his magic, so we should probably start from there.” Seonghwa explained, and the others nodded. There was a lull in the conversation before Yeosang spoke up.

“Do you think it’s related to his magic?” A heavy silence followed his words. It was a possibility that they were all thinking about, but hadn’t dared to say out loud yet. If it was the case, this meant Jongho was in real danger.

“Let’s just hope it isn’t.” Yunho replied, but the idea still remained in the back of their minds, and they were quickly realizing that time was of the essence.

“We should probably try to track down Jongho’s parents as well. There’s a possibility they are involved in this.” San suggested with his brows furrowed as he thought about their last encounter with them.

“You’re right San-ah. They’re probably registered at the council, so we’ll probably be able to have their address.” Hongjoong said. Every magical being was required to register at the magical council for safety purposes.

Seonghwa stood up from his seat and looked over them.

“I’ll go back into town to try and track down Jongho. Who wants to come with me?” Despite it being late at night, the coven leader didn’t want to waste any more time.

Yeosang and Mingi agreed to go with him. Meanwhile, Hongjoong and Yunho planned to go where they worked to get Jongho’s parents address.

“Be careful, everyone,” Seonghwa said before leaving, “We don’t know what we’re dealing with here.” He waited for each of them to show they understood before passing the threshold and closing the door behind him.

Jongho woke up to the sound of a door creaking open. His eyes blinked opened as he lifted his head up to see what was going on.

“Good morning, Jongho-ya. I hope you slept well.” His captor said in a cheerful tone as he walked in the room. He was carrying a bowl as well as a water bottle with him.

Jongho felt a rush of panic as he tried to figure out where he was, but slowly the memories of yesterday came back to him. He had hoped all of it had just been a bad dream, but unfortunately, the soreness in his backside and the stinging in his eyes from all the crying he had done were concrete proof that this was real.

Lee Gyeontak came up to him, crouching down to place the bowl and the bottle beside him on the floor. He opened the lid of the bottle before standing back up.

“I brought you some breakfast. I wouldn’t want you to lose your strength, we’re going to be busy tonight after all.”

Inside the bowl was some cereal with milk. Being offered such common food, something that Jongho often ate in the morning in his everyday life, contrasted heavily with his current situation, which felt completely surreal.

“After tonight, you will be bonded to me, as my familiar.” Jongho abruptly looked away from the bowl up to the man, who was smirking triumphantly.

“No! please, just let me go.” The bear shifter pleaded, his voice hoarse with emotion as his eyes filled up with tears. He gripped the chains around his wrists tightly, his body desperately looking for an anchor while his freedom steadily slipped from his fingers.

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. You’re far too important for my plans, and I’ve already given your parents a hefty sum for you. You might as well make yourself comfortable here, because this is your new home now.” The witch said in a detached voice as he turned around and headed back to the door.

“I didn’t ask for any of this! Please, let me go home!” His shouting was interrupted by the sound of the door slamming shut.

Jongho slumped against the wall, all the fight leaving him as he sobbed, his chest heaving painfully with each breath.

Despair and hurt rolled over him like a tidal wave. He knew his parents were involved in his kidnapping somehow, but to think that they had basically sold him away, their own son, like he was cattle was hard to take in. He knew they didn’t care much about him, but he had never thought they despised him so much they would do something like that.

Jongho thumped his head repeatedly against the wall, his eyes closed as he clutched at his chest. He hurt so much inside, he wanted to claw his heart out to take away all the pain he felt.

What had he done so wrong to deserve all this? Why couldn’t he just live a peaceful life, without anyone hurting him or dismissing him. He thought he had found happiness, after spending so many years alone and drowning in his sorrows. But now, the rug had been swept beneath his feet once again.

Maybe this was a sign that he didn’t deserve happiness, or good things. Maybe he was only good enough to serve as a mean to an end for people around him.

After he had cried for what felt like hours, Jongho felt completely empty, like a shell without anything inside of it. His blank eyes stared in front of him, unseeing. In the back of his mind, the hope still lingered that his hyungs would come and rescue him. However, right now, it was hard to imagine he would ever get out of here.

Yunho parked on the side of the street, in front of normal suburban house in the middle of the town. The average person would never guess this was the home of two magical shifters.

The witch removed his safety belt, and his action was copied by San and Wooyoung, who were sitting in the backseat. Hongjoong hadn’t accompanied them, even though the hardness in his eyes showed that he would’ve liked having a talk with Jongho’s parents. Instead, the older witch wanted to talk with some of his colleagues, in case they had heard some unusual activity that could be linked to Jongho’s disappearance.

After leaving the car, the three men walked up to the porch and knocked on the front door. They waited for a few moments, and Yunho was about to knock once again when the door opened.

A thin woman appeared in the doorway. Her eyes were cold as they swept over them, and they widened slightly when they settled upon San. Clearly, she recognized him.

“Can I help you?” Her tone appeared annoyed, and she kept the door halfway closed, only enough for her to fit into the narrow space.

“We’re here to talk about Jongho. We can’t reach him, and we think someone may have taken him.” The woman crossed her arms over her chest, appearing defensive.

“Don’t you think it’s too early to say he’s been kidnapped? I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d gone away somewhere without telling anyone. Jongho is quite irresponsible after all.”

Before Yunho could add anything, San abruptly stepped forward and pushed open the door, bumping into Jongho’s mother as he walked inside. Yunho and Wooyoung were both taken aback for a moment but quickly followed his lead.

“What do you think you’re doing?! You’re trespassing into my home! I can have you arrested for that!” The woman yelled as she followed after them. San turned around to face her, and his eyes seemed to be blazing with anger.

“If anyone should be arrested, it’s you and your husband! You’ve treated Jongho like he’s less than dirt all his life! Abusive parents like you belong in jail!” She put a hand to her chest as she scoffed in disbelief.

“How dare you talk to me like that! All we did was teach the ungrateful boy some discipline and manners! He’s been difficult since the day he was born!” San took a step towards her before he was held back by Wooyoung, even though he looked just as enraged as his friend.

“That’s enough! We came to ask you if you knew where he was, or if you’re involved in his disappearance.” The woman scoffed once again.

“That is simply ridiculous! Why would I help kidnap my own son?! You should get out of here already, or I’m going to call the cops!” She began to walk over to grab her phone but San stopped her by grabbing her arm.

“Given how you’ve been treating him since he’s been a child, we wouldn’t put it past you. We know how you’ve been grooming him, introducing him to powerful families as a kid. It wouldn’t be a stretch to say you wanted him to become a familiar for one of them, right?” Coming from a powerful family himself, San knew how this circle of people worked.

She appeared taken aback by his words, and she busied her hands by flattening the pans of her skirt.

“Even if we did, we’re in the complete right to do that! We’re his parents! We have to secure his future!”

“More like your future. I doubt Jongho would be willing to join a coven he doesn’t know. He would have to be forced.” Wooyoung spoke up, his expression dark as he stared at her.

The woman remained silent as she looked like she was searching for her words. Close to her, Yunho could clearly detect the shift in color in her aura, indicating she was nervous. He knew she was hiding something.

“You know who took him, I can tell. Just tell us, and we won’t come after you.” The witch said in a tone that demanded no questions.

“You think I’m scared of you? Me and my husband have contacts in high places. You can’t do anything!” She said with false bravado.  

“That’s where you’re wrong. I work for the magical council along with another member of our coven, specifically for the department of justice. It would be very easy for us to start an inquiry about a family who’s abused their son and are involved in his disappearance.” The color seemed to drain from her face.

“You’re bluffing!” Yunho reached inside the pocket of his jeans to grab badge, holding it up so she could have a clear look.

“I am not. If you don’t tell us anything, I’ll make sure we drag you and your husband through the mud, and your precious reputation will be forever tainted.”

The woman cursed as she gripped her hair. She began to pace around the room in an erratic manner, her heels clicking frantically against the hard wood.

“Lee Gyeontak. That’s man he’s with. Now get out of my house!” She exclaimed with rage.

Not wanting to spend any more time in her company, the three of them exited the house. They climbed into the car, and silence lingered as Yunho started the car and began to drive away.

“Hyung, do you know who this man is?” Wooyoung inquired. Yunho sighed before answering.

“Unfortunately, I do. Our Jongho is in serious trouble.”

Chapter Text

The sun had long since set by now, and the coven still hadn’t found Jongho.

After Yunho had been given Lee Gyeontak’s name, he had quickly relayed the information to Hongjoong, who went through the files of each registered magical beings. After hours of searching, he had finally found Lee Geyontak’s registration papers. A single address was listed under his name, and they all hoped this would lead them to Jongho.

The atmosphere was tense inside the car as they drove to the address, while Yunho and Yeosang followed on their brooms higher into the sky.  In the beginning, only the four witches had planned to go search the location because it was dangerous, but after much arguing the three familiars were allowed to come as well.

The full moon was only a few hours away, and if they didn’t find Jongho there, they probably wouldn’t have enough time left to search another location.

Full moons were the only time where a bonding ceremony could take place, and since Lee Gyeontak was known as a powerful witch who didn’t have qualms about bending the rules to achieve more power, it was likely that he wanted to bond with Jongho in order to use his magic.

It didn’t happen often, but Yunho and Hongjoong saw cases where witches had abused from their familiars’ magic, and the victims were in critical conditions. They often fell into a deep coma, and some of them even died after being completely drained from their magic, which was essentially their life source.

So arguably, both of them, along with the whole coven, were afraid for Jongho’s safety.

Soon enough, they arrived at Lee Gyeontak’s house. There was no car in the driveway, but this didn’t mean that the witch wasn’t inside. Seonghwa parked the car one house down to avoid being located, while Yeosang and Yunho went to dismount in the backyard. 

To avoid being detected, the four witches casted a spell to hide their magical signatures as well as the animal shifters’. They decided to split up, Hongjoong and Yunho coming up the front of the house with San while Seonghwa, Yeosang and the two other shifters would come up the back. If all went well and Gyeontak wasn’t there, Hongjoong’s group would enter and let the others inside. It would look too suspicious if they all came up to the front door.

As the first group climbed up the porch to the front door, they couldn’t sense Jongho’s magic, but they weren’t deterred because it was likely the witch had placed protective wards to hide him if he was there.

Hongjoong knocked on the door, and they waited in tense silence to see if someone would answer. After waiting for almost a minute, Hongjoong used a spell to unlock the door before the three of them quietly stepped inside.

It was almost completely dark inside of the home since it was nighttime, so Yunho mumbled a few words which created a glowing orb, providing them with enough light to see, but not enough to alert their presence to the neighbours or anyone looking in.

San went to go open the back entrance while Yunho and Hongjoong continued to look around. They quickly noticed that the place didn’t appear to be lived in. There weren’t any jackets hanging from the hooks by the door, or shoes on the carpet. The kitchen counters were bare, as well as the fridge, which would usually have magnets or notes stuck onto it. By curiosity, Hongjoong opened the fridge and discovered that the shelves were completely empty, which basically confirmed their theory.

When the four other members of their coven joined them, Hongjoong and Yunho filled them in on what they had found so far. Most of them were disheartened by the news, as their hope dwindled of finding their youngest here, but Yunho’s words gave them new resolve.

“From outside the house appeared to have a basement. There’s still a chance Jongho could be here.”

The group decided to split up to be more efficient in order to search for a door or a set of stairs leading to a basement. Hongjoong warned them to remain careful, even though the house appeared empty.

Since the house was rather small, it wasn’t long before they found what they were looking for. One of the doors they opened revealed stairs going down into darkness. A cord dangled from the ceiling, and once San pulled on it a light came on, giving them a much better view of the stairs. However, it was still not possible to know what was waiting for them downstairs.

“I’ll go first.” Hongjoong pushed to the front of the group before starting his descent. The light above the stairs didn’t allow them to see much, and the room didn’t appear to have any windows that could provide natural light. The witches summoned several more glowing orbs, which revealed the full layout of the room.

The space was mostly baren, except for a table and a bookshelf pushed against the cement wall. Everyone began to look around the room, trying to find a hidden door or a spell that could conceal a secret room. They weren’t ready to give up hope of finding Jongho here.

While everyone busied themselves with the search. Hongjoong looked at the different books stacked inside the shelves. They were all books of witchcraft, containing different spells and recipes of potions, and describing how to make them. There were also several books on the history of magic and witchcraft, telling the stories of the most brilliant witches and their contributions.

A book in particular caught Hongjoong’s attention, because the magic emitting from it appeared heavy and oppressive, which was a sign of dark magic.

The experienced witch was almost certain this book was sealed by some sort of curse, given its dark nature.

“Yunho, come take a look at this.” Hongjoong beckoned, his eyes never leaving the book. Yunho came to stand beside him as he followed his gaze.

“I don’t think we can touch it, not unless we figure out what kind of curse protects it.” Yunho said. Hongjoong hummed thoughtfully.

“Is there a way we can bring it back with us?” Just as Yunho was about to answer, he was cut off by Wooyoung.

“Why are you standing there looking at books? That’s not going to help us find Jongho!” The fox shifter said in frustrated tone. The rest of the group had noticed the two witches were focused on something and had come to see what was going on.

“Calm down, Wooyoung. I know we’re all frustrated right now but lashing out isn’t going to help us either.” Seonghwa chastised with a firm tone. A scowl remained on Wooyoung’s face, but luckily he didn’t add anything.

“Actually Wooyoung-ah, this book might help us figure out what Lee Gyeontak plans to do with Jongho. I think it would be a good idea to take another look around the house to see if there are notes or other clues that could lead us to him. Yunho and I will try to find a way to break the curse in the meantime.”

The others all agreed and began to walk back upstairs to resume their search. As Wooyoung walked beside Seonghwa, the younger couldn’t help but voice his concern.

“We won’t be able to stop the bonding, right hyung?” Seonghwa’s eyes were full of sadness as he looked back to him. There was now only barely an hour left until the full moon, and their youngest could be anywhere as far as they knew. The feeling of helplessness he felt was almost choking him.

“I’m afraid not Young-ah, but the bond can still be broken. We will find him and bring him home, I promise you.” The witch sounded determined, and it help reassure the fox shifter slightly.

‘Just hang in there, Jongho’ Wooyoung thought as Seonghwa brought him against his side in a short embrace.  

After what felt like hours after Gyeontak had come down to see him, the witch came in the basement once again. Jongho had dozed off a bit during that time, but mostly he remained awake, much too anxious about what Gyeontak was planning to get some proper rest.

“Hello again. I hope you took some time to rest for the ritual.” Jongho hated how casually the witch spoke, like he was in some kind of retreat instead of being held against his will.

“You can still let me go. Please, I won’t say a word to anyone.” Gyeontak scoffed upon hearing his words.

“As if I believe that. I know who your friends are, and they will surely come after me if I release you. Besides, I’ve already told you, you’re far too important for me to let you go. You’ll be stuck here until you’re no longer of use to me.” He said while gathering all the tools he needed.

“And when will that be?” Jongho asked. The witch hummed thoughtfully before answering.

“Probably when you’re completely drained of magic, in which case you’ll die.” He announced matter-of-factly.

Jongho was at a loss for words as he became frozen with fear. The danger he was in seemed much more real now. It was clear that if he stayed here, he would die.

The witch came up to him and crouched down, grabbing one of his wrist. Pulling out of his stupor, Jongho grew confused as he saw him remove his shackles.

“Don’t get any strange idea now. I’m only releasing you so we can go outside to perform the ceremony since we need the moonlight.”

Unfortunately, the bear shifter’s newly gained freedom was short lived. As soon as the chains fell against the wall, Gyeontak muttered a spell under his breath, and shortly after, an unknown force pinned Jongho’s arms tightly against his sides. As much as he tried to budge, they wouldn’t move.

“Stand up and follow me, and don’t make this more difficult than it has to be, I’m warning you.” The witch gave him a pointed glance.

Knowing he didn’t really have a choice, Jongho reluctantly stood up. It was difficult to gain his balance since he couldn’t use his arms to push himself up. Once he rested his weight fully onto his legs, they felt weak after spending so long without using them.

Jongho stumbled behind Gyeontak as he led the way upstairs. A bowl of black ceramic levitating beside him carried the other items necessary to complete the ceremony.

The shifter tried to memorize the layout of the house in case he ever had a chance to escape. A good thing was that the house appeared quite small. It consisted of a main room which served as the kitchen and the living room, and the other doors led to what Jongho believed to be the bathroom and the bedroom.

They emerged outside in the front yard, and Gyeontak continued to walk alongside the house, probably to around the back.

Jongho saw his chance, and despite the witch’s warnings, he knew there was a probability he wouldn’t have an opportunity to escape again. He started sprinting towards the woods that were surrounding the house, but he only made it a few meters before he felt something bind his legs together, prompting him to fall face first into the ground.

Without his arms to grace his fall, his head took the brunt of the impact. He felt disoriented as a dull pain spread across his head. He could hear himself groan in pain, but before he could try to move, he was grabbed and pulled upright again. The bind around his legs seemed to have gone as soon as it came, and he came face to face with Gyeontak, who appeared very displeased with his stunt.

“I told you not to do anything stupid, and look where that got you!” The witch dragged him by his arm, and all Jongho had no other choice but to follow him, focusing instead on trying not to fall again because he was still stunned from the impact.

They reached the back of the property, but the witch continued to walk further into the forest. The woods appeared to surround the entire lot, and Jongho realized with unease that it appeared to be isolated from any road or other signs of civilization.

Since the only source of light was a glowing orb that the witch had summoned when they left the house, Jongho struggled to keep his footing as they walked through a narrow path that was covered with protruding tree roots, low branches and rocks.

It wasn’t long before they walked into a small clearing. Gyeontak muttered some words, and suddenly several candles Jongho hadn’t seen all light up. They were placed on a white line which formed a circle, and inside this circle, other lines were overlapping each other to form an intricate pattern that reminded Jongho of the sigils he had seen when the coven had done their own ritual. Above them, the moon shone bright, cleared of any clouds lingering in the night sky.

The glowing orb in front of Gyeontak disappeared, and he led Jongho to the center of the circle, where he forced him onto his knees. He then placed the bowl he had brought in front of him, and inside of it he grabbed a black ribbon with white runes drawn onto it. Next, he took a sharp wooden knife with a wooden handle. The sight of it made Jongho want to get up and run, but despite all his instincts screaming at him to get away, he remained still. He knew it would be pointless to run again, and who knows what Gyeontak would do to him this time, especially now that he had a knife in hand.

Jongho suddenly felt the invisible force binding his arms release, but even before he could try to move them, Gyeontak grabbed both of them. Jongho’s shoulders protested as the witch positioned both arms in front of Jongho and held them together before beginning to bind them with the ribbon. As he did so, the witch chanted words Jongho couldn’t understand in a low tone, but even then, he knew this couldn’t mean anything good.

 When Gyeontak finished the binding with one last knot, Jongho a tight sensation grow in his chest. He began to panic when the witch once again grabbed the knife and took a hold of Jongho’s hand.

“Don’t, please!” He cried out desperately, trying to tug his hand away despite his arms being tied. Gyeontak only grabbed his hand tighter, and Jongho could do nothing but watch as he brought the knife closer and sliced his palm.

Jongho flinched as he began to sob, the stress of the situation and hopelessness taking over him. Paying him no mind, the witch approached the bowl closer and let the blood dripping from the wound fall into it. He released Jongho’s hand and began chanting again, his eyes closed as he grabbed the bowl and lifted it up the sky. Meanwhile, Jongho could only cry, tears dripping down his cheeks as he looked up at the moon.

‘Please, somebody just help me’ He thought helplessly, hoping against hope one of his hyungs would burst out of the woods and come free him from this horrible nightmare.

Unfotunately, no one heard his silent prayer. Lee Gyeontak placed the bowl back on the ground after finishing his chant and got up on his feet. He grabbed the knife again and pricked his own thumb, his dark eyes looking down at Jongho. They were completely devoid of emotion, and to the bear shifter, the two black orbs seemed like two bottomless pits ready to swallow him whole.

The witch placed his bloody thumb on Jongho’s forehead and drew a pattern the young man didn’t recognize before resting his whole palm on top of his head. One last time, he began to chant, but this time, his voice seemed to grow louder upon each word, booming across the clearing.

Jongho began to feel a burning sensation in his chest, similar to what he had felt when his magic had overwhelmed him. The sensation grew more and more, until it took over his entire body and he felt like he was burning from the inside out. He wanted to writhe on the ground from the pain, but it was like he was tethered to Gyeontak’s hand, forcing him to remain upright on his knees. The only thing he could register was Gyeontak’s voice, seemingly echoing inside his mind, and his own cries of pain.

Light suddenly flashed inside his closed eyes, and his ears began to ring with white noise until he completely collapsed, and his entire world turned black.

Chapter Text

Jongho woke up in a haze of pain. Every muscle in his body felt sore, like he had been trampled by a hard of elephant. It took everything for him to pry his eyes open, and he had to blink a couple of times to adjust because his vision was blurry.

He found himself once again in the basement, this time laying on his side crumpled on the ground. His arms trembled violently as he pushed himself up in a sitting position, almost falling back down in the process. All he could do was lean was on the wall, his breath ragged as he stared ahead of him.

It was hard to concentrate with the pain he felt, but he was slowly able to remember what happened. His blood ran cold as he realized he was now bonded to Lee Gyeontak. Every hope he had of being freed from him seemed to crumple into dust now.

Jongho couldn’t help but begin to sob in earnest, and he let out a cry of anguish, both filled with frustration and distress.

“Let me go!!” He yelled at the top of his lungs before collapsing into sobs once again. He slammed his fist against the concrete a couple of times, needing an outlet to release the turmoil of emotions living inside of him. He brought both hands to his face, his fingers reaching up and tugging harshly at the roots of his hair.

It was like all the rejection, hopelessness and frustration he had felt since he was a child up until now had come surging up to the surface like a huge tidal wave.

His sobs turned into big heaving breaths, as he began to have difficulty taking air in. He started to panic once he realized oxygen wasn’t coming in anymore, and he clawed at his throat in desperation. He wanted to cry for help, but he couldn’t form any words because he was hyperventilating.

He slumped against the wall once again as he began to feel lightheaded, and the last thing he saw were black spots in his vision before he completely lost consciousness.

It was early in the morning, and everyone felt completely exhausted since they hadn’t gotten any sleep that night. However, no one wanted to rest while their youngest was still missing. As their coven leader and the oldest hyung, Seonghwa was very concerned seeing everyone stretched thin, but he was the first who refused to get some sleep, so it was hard to convince the others to do so.

Hongjoong and Yunho were busy pouring over books they had taken from Lee Gyeontak’s house, including the sealed manuscript. After contacting one of their colleagues who was specialized with cursed objects, they had been able to conjure a spell especially crafted to transport them safely. Back at their home, this same colleague had come and helped them remove the seal from the manuscript, a task which had taken a couple of hours since there were many layers to remove.

They discovered that this manuscript had been written by one of the most infamous witches involved with dark magic. It was thought to be lost, but now that they had found it, the council of magic requested that the coven handed it to them after they were done studying it. At first, the council was reluctant to let them look at its content since it was dangerous material that needed to be sealed away, but since Hongjoong and Yunho both work for the council themselves, the members of the board agreed to let them keep it for a while, as long as the manuscript remained in a secure space.

Meanwhile, the other members of the coven were feeling restless, because they had to wait until a new lead came up. They all tried their best to find something to occupy themselves.

Yeosang was tending to his garden in an almost obsessive manner, pouring his focus on his task to avoid thinking about the situation they were in. The only thing betraying his stress was his lack of humming, a habit he always had when he was caring for his plants.

Mingi had locked himself up in his room, his headphones blocking all the noise from the outside as he worked on one of his songs. However, his frustration only grew when every new musical arrangement he tried to make sounded bad, and it took some time before he realized why. Jongho’s voice was supposed to be on this track. They had planned to record him the night he was taken. Mingi almost threw his headphones at the wall out of frustration, willing himself not to cry as he rubbed his hands over his face.

The oldest wasn’t doing any better. He had taken to baking, a task he often picked up when he was stressed. It wasn’t long before a three layer cake, a pan of cupcakes and treacle tart was resting on the counter, waiting to be eaten. He was in the middle of spreading the frosting on the second layer of the cake when Wooyoung burst into the kitchen, followed closely by San, who looked concerned.

“How long are we going to sit here and wait hyung?! Jongho could be hurt at the moment, and we’re doing nothing!”

Seonghwa let out a weary sigh. He had already gone over this with the fox shifter, but he knew how difficult it was for Wooyoung, who had an impulsive nature.

“You know there’s nothing we can do until Hongjoong and Yunho find something. We have no clue where Jongho could be right now. This is our best shot.” Wooyoung shook his head, his hands clenched by his sides.

“I just don’t understand how you and the other hyungs can tolerate this! There has to be something else we can do! I- I don’t want to lose him, not after we just got him!” His voice got thick with emotion, and tears began to run down his cheeks. He brushed away his tears with a quick swipe of his hand.

Seonghwa put down his spatula, taking a step towards him when Wooyoung, abruptly left the kitchen.

“Wooyoung!” San pleaded as he grabbed his arm to hold him back, but the fox shifter was quick to shrug him off. His hurried steps echoed throughout the house, and then they heard the front door slam shut.

A day or two had passed since the bonding ceremony took place, and Jongho spent that time floating in and out of consciousness. He thought he saw Gyeontak coming in once or twice, but it could’ve been his imagination.

In his delirious state, different images came up to him at random times, like helping Seonghwa prepare dinner while soft music played in the background, or listening to Wooyoung rant about his day on the bus. These warm memories felt so distant right now, he almost felt like they belonged to someone else.

Sometimes, his magic would flare up and would send him into pain once again, leaving him to contort on the floor in agony, feeling like he was burning from the inside out.

The necklace that was containing his magic had been taken from him the night he was kidnapped, but at least the seal remaining on his chest had been able to keep it at bay. However, now that he was bonded to Gyeontak, the seal had been broken and all of his magic was flowing freely.

Right now, Jongho was laying on the ground on his side, his shirt sticking on his skin and sweat running down his temples from exertion. He forced his eyes open when he heard the door creak open.

Gyeontak walked in, holding something in his hand that Jongho couldn’t distinguish properly with his vision being hazy. The witch crouched in front of him and brought around his neck. As much as Jongho wanted to protest and struggle, he was completely exhausted. Even keeping his eyes open was a hard task for him.

He felt something cold being wrapped around his neck, and heard a soft click. Gradually, Jongho his mind began to feel clearer, and the constant tight feeling around his chest started to ease until it was completely gone.

“There, much better. You’e certainly proven to be quite burdensome. I’ve paid a hefty sum for this, you know? If I didn’t need you for my plans, I certainly would’ve left you to die. You should be grateful.”

The witch had bought a metal collar, specifically made to contain magic much like the necklace Jongho had had. Keeping the necklace certainly would’ve have saved him some time and money, but he couldn’t take the risk of the maker of the necklace tracing it back to him and giving away his location.

Gyeontak sighed in annoyance when Jongho didn’t respond.

“Unfortunately, I have no choice but to wait for you to recover before we move. It would ruin my plans if you die on the way there. Anyways, I’ll come back later with dinner.”

With that said, Gyeontak turned on his heels and left the room once again, leaving Jongho with his own thoughts.

One of the main things he had understood was that they would be leaving this place soon, and this made Jongho panic internally. Any chance his friends had at finding him would be lost if they moved location.

Before he could dwell on this more, his eyelids grew heavier as his body begged for the rest he desperately needed. It wasn’t long until he was pulled under the veil of sleep, his worries being pushed to the back of his mind for now.

The sun was setting outside the coven’s house, casting a soft orange hue on the walls of the kitchen and dinning room. Seonghwa sat down at the table after serving everyone, but despite how inviting the food he had made looked, he didn’t feel like eating.

San, Mingi and Yeosang didn’t look very hungry either. Both Mingi and Yeosang were eating well, but they didn’t seem to be enjoying their food like they usually did. They just went through the motion of taking one bite after the other, their eyes downcast.

As for San, the cat shifter moved his food around his plate without really noticing, his eyes staring longingly outside the window.

Wooyoung hadn’t come back since his argument with Seonghwa three days ago, which put even more stress over everyone. Leaving for a couple of days without telling anyone where he was going was a behavior Wooyoung had adopted frequently when he had first joined the coven, but this habit had faded over time as he got more comfortable with everyone.

They eventually learned that during those periods, Wooyoung would wander around the forest in his fox form. When he was under a lot of stress, he felt the need to get away from everyone and be on his own. This gave him the space to sort his own thoughts.

Despite knowing this, the coven was still concerned for his safety, especially since they were already missing Jongho.

“Try to eat something, San-ah.” Seonghwa prodded gently. His voice seemed to bring him out of his thoughts, and he gathered some food on his fork.

San had gone out each night in his cat form, trying to find Wooyoung, but he hadn’t been successful. The two of them were thick as thieves, and his absence was especially hard on him.

At the same time, Hongjoong and Yunho were tirelessly skimming through notes and making calls, trying to find more information on Lee Gyeontak. A day ago, they had found a marked paged inside his book about a spell created to revive a dead person, and Hongjoong had a hopeful gleam in his eyes when he revealed their findings to the others.

They were finally beginning to make some progress, but they still had no clue where Gyeontak could be. Yunho was planning to go to the archives tomorrow, to do some research on his family which they hoped might be useful.

Needless to say, Seonghwa was worried about each and every one of them. A part of him felt like he was failing them as the oldest, because he couldn’t really do anything to help.

Later that night, Seonghwa went outside, holding a plate of leftovers he had just heated up. He walked up to the fence made of stones surrounding the house and placed it on top. He knew Wooyoung often liked to sunbathe there in his fox form in the summer. Seonghwa crouched down with his back against the fence, facing the forest.

He remained there for some time, completely silent as he listened to the sounds of the wind rustling against leaves and of birds chanting.

“I brought you dinner again Wooyoung-ah. We had some meat tonight, and I know how much you enjoy it. Please, make sure to eat everything.” Seonghwa paused, perhaps waiting for an answer, but the trees remained silent.

“Hyung is so sorry, Wooyoung-ah. I know I haven’t done my part as the head of the coven these past few days. I’m ashamed of myself, really. What good am I if I can’t even protect all of you?” The witch wiped a tear that had slid down his cheek, hugging his knees tight against his chest.

“So, I understand why you’re angry with me, and why you need time for yourself. Everything is a mess right now and… I’m just so sorry I failed you.” Seonghwa bowed his head down, sniffling as tears continued to stream down his face.

Ahead of him, he heard some movement in the brushes. He looked up and saw a familiar looking fox, slowly walking towards him. The fox stopped just in front of him, observing him for a moment, before he closed the distance and nuzzled against Seonghwa’s leg.

The witch choked on a sob as he ran his fingers through the soft fur. The fox climbed on top of him, and pressed his nose against Seonghwa’s cheek before giving a soft lick. Seonghwa wrapped his arms around him and continued to pet him gently, feeling the pain in his heart ease slightly.

Things were hard right now, but together, they would find a way.

Chapter Text

The familiar sound of the door creaking open was heard inside the basement as Lee Gyeontak stepped inside, carrying a plate of food.

It was hard to have a notion of time since there were no clocks, and he couldn’t see the sun, but Jongho was pretty sure several days had passed now since his bonding with his kidnapper. During that time, he was pretty much always on his own except for when Gyeontak would bring him food two times a day.

The pain and dizziness he had felt after the bonding was gone now, and as much as Jongho despised the collar around his neck, branding him much like an animal, he was glad he was feeling better now.

This didn’t mean his situation wasn’t all that comfortable though. By now, it had been a long time since he had been able to wash, and he definitely felt dirty. His clothes were feeling uncomfortable as they clung to his skin, and he had a hard time standing his own odor. He wished he could have a shower or a bath, but he wouldn’t give the witch the satisfaction of asking for it.

At least, he was able to relieve himself in a bucket nearby, though Gyeontak had to unchain him from the wall each time. This was certainly less than ideal, but he was glad he wasn’t left to soil his own pants. The small vindictive part of him was also satisfied each time Gyeontak had to go empty the bucket, his face scrunching in disgust as he muttered under his breath. This was quite tame compared to what Jongho was going through, but he would take what he could get.

There was something different this time, however. His captor appeared restless, and there was a gleam in his eyes as he placed the plate in front of him. His thoughts were proven correct when he spoke up.

“Eat up quickly, we’re leaving in an hour.” Jongho slowly brought the plate closer as he watched him move. Gyeontak walked over to the worn bookshelf across the room and grabbed a book before heading towards the door.

“Where are we going?” Jongho asked before he left. The witch stopped in his tracks and looked at him.

“We’re going to see my master, and you’ll finally be serving your purpose.” Jongho felt a shiver run down his spine as the door slammed shut. Whatever this purpose was, he doubted this was anything good.

Any appetite he had was gone now, and a pool of dread built in the bottom of his stomach as he wondered about his fate. As they often did, his thoughts strayed towards his hyungs.

He really hoped they were looking for him right now, but a part of him whispered they had forgotten him, and that no one would come to rescue him because apart from them, he had nobody else.

It was easier to dismiss those dark thoughts in the beginning, but as the days went by, his hope was dwindling. Especially now, after hearing Gyeontak’s ominous words, Jongho felt like his days were numbered.

Unfortunately, all he could do right now was wait and pray for a miracle.

The days for the coven seemed to drag on forever. The thought of Jongho being trapped somewhere, and not knowing what was happening to him, lingered in the back of their minds even as they tried to distract themselves.

In the beginning, everyone had tried to cope with the situation on their own. However, they came to realize that this only caused tensions to spark between them, as they were all caught up in their own sadness, guilt and uncertainty.

So now, they found comfort in each other instead. The heavy weight pressing upon them seemed to be lighter when they were leaning onto each other.

Seonghwa began to make trips to the basement to check on Yunho and Hongjoong. He made sure they ate the food he brought and coaxed them into taking naps. Before, he had avoided it and told himself they could take care of themselves. It wasn’t in his nature to be selfish like that, but deep down, seeing them working to find Jongho was a painful reminder of his absence, and it was easier to continue his daily tasks and pretend nothing was going on.

The two witches were always quick to tell him they were fine, of course, but he could see in their eyes that they were grateful to him. This brought back some of his confidence, knowing that he was easing some of their strain.

The coven also began to sleep together on one bed. Unsurprisingly, this was Wooyoung’s idea. The fox shifter was a big fan of skinship after all.

Now, it wasn’t something unusual for two or three members to sleep in the same bed, but they had never all together like this before. Of course, even Seonghwa’s queen bed could only fit so many grown men, so the shifters changed into their animal forms to make it easier.

The uncertainty which had plagued their nights and made it hard to sleep was much now less present when they could seek comfort in the arms of one of their coven mates. It was a reminder that they were stronger as a whole, and that they would get through this together.

Around midday, Yunho burst into the house and reach the kitchen with quick steps. The rest of the coven was in the middle of eating lunch. Even Hongjoong, who Seonghwa had to pretty much drag upstairs to eat with them. They were all startled by Yunho’s sudden appearance.

“I’ve found the address of Lee Gyeontak’s parents.” He announced in an excited tone. Their surprise quickly turned into joy and excitement when they heard the news. They had been waiting for this for a couple of days now.

After combing tirelessly through Lee Gyeontak’s notes and books, Yunho and Hongjoong were both pretty certain that Gyeontak intended to perform a revival spell. Of course, this was very dark magic, and it was one of several spells forbidden by the council. However, even if they knew about his plans, they didn’t know his whereabouts, a piece of information which would most likely lead them to Jongho.

That’s where Yunho had the idea of looking for his relatives. It wasn’t difficult to find who they were, and he was quite surprised when he discovered his father, Hyeonmin, was currently part of the magical council. The man had a reputation for being cold and being strict about sticking to the rules.  

Yunho went to him directly and explained to him his situation, but as soons as he mentioned his son’s name, Lee Hyeonmin shouted angrily not to talk about him and told him to get out.

After the disastrous meeting, Yunho decided to call at their residence in a last-ditch attempt. He hoped he could talk to Gyeontak’s mother, and that she might be more receptive to talk with him. Instead, his call was answered by the maid.

When Yunho said he hoped he could talk with her employer about her son, the maid timidly answered she doubted the woman would, because both parents had disowned him. The witch was desperate at this point, and he asked her if she knew anything about Lee Gyeontak’s whereabouts, and told her about Jongho’s kidnapping. 

His heart sank when she said she had no clue, but she paused for a moment and told him they might want to take a look in his old bedroom at the residence. It was a bad idea for them to come when Ms. Lee or Mr. Lee was there, so she told him they could come in two days at midday, where both of them would be gone. Yunho made sure to thank her profusely for her help, and the woman simply giggled, telling him she was happy to help if she could.

Currently, Yunho and Hongjoong were in a car together and were heading to Lee Hyeonmin’s house. Yunho’s fingers were drumming on top of the stirring wheel while Hongjoong was biting at his fingernails. They were both eager to reach their destination.

They had decided only the two of them would go to the house, because if Lee Hyeonmin or his wife came back early, they didn’t want the rest of their coven to get into trouble.

They soon pulled up in front of a big house, surrounded by similar looking houses with big yards and several stories high. Many old families of witches actually lived in wealthy neighbourhoods much like this one, amongst non-magical humans who were known the wiser.

They both got out of the car, but before they stepped onto the property, Hongjoong muttered a spell to hide their magical signatures. As they walked up the driveway, they could feel a slight ripple in the air, where an invisible ward had been placed. It was common for witches to place wards around their property to let them know about intruders.

Yunho and Hongjoong climbed onto the front porch and knocked on the door. It wasn’t long before a small, old woman opened it, and quickly ushered them inside. She looked outside for a moment before closing the door behind her.

“I’m sorry, neighbours can be quite noisy and it’s best if you don’t linger outside.” She said before leading them further into the house.

“It’s alright, we’ll be as quick as possible. Again, thank you for helping us. This is Hongjoong, a member of my coven. He also works with me at the council.” Yunho gestured towards the older, who greeted the maid. She gave them a sincere smile.

“I’m happy to help, I can’t imagine what you must be going through. I admit that when I heard Gyeontak’s name, I wasn’t shocked to know he was involved in something like this.” Her tone became more serious. This certainly peaked their interest.

“Can you tell us more about him?” Yunho asked.

“Of course, take a seat.” She motioned towards a chair by the dinner table. While Yunho sat down, Hongjoong remained standing.

“Is it possible for me to go take a look in his old bedroom?” The maid clasped her hand together and led him to the stairs.

“I’ll show you the room. I’ll be just a moment.” She said to Yunho.

While he remained alone in the dining room, he let his eyes linger on the paintings and pictures hanging on the walls. One picture in particular caught his attention, and he got up to take a better look.

Yunho recognized Hyeonmin in the picture, albeit a younger version of him. Beside him stood his wife, and three children were standing in front of them, two boys and a girl. Everyone was smiling in the picture, except for the boy on the left. He stood slightly apart from the rest of the family, who were pressed relatively close. His brows were furrowed over his eyes, which seem to hold anger and resentment. It didn’t take long for Yunho to deduce that the young child was Lee Gyeontak.

“Do you want some coffee or tea?” The witch startled slightly as he turned towards the voice. He hadn’t heard the maid return from upstairs. She quickly apologized for taking him by surprise.

“It’s alright, and no, we don’t want to stay too long in case Hyeonmin or his wife come back sooner.” Yunho answered, and they both took a seat at the table.

“I saw you looking at the picture when I came down. I’m sure you can tell the Lees weren’t a happy family.” Yunho offered her a crooked smile.

“Gyeontak certainly didn’t look happy to be there.” The maid chuckled at his comment before sighing.

“Gyeontak could be considered the black sheep of the family. At a young age, the children began to practice simple spellwork. But unlike his brother and sister, Gyeontak had a hard time learning how to cast spells. Years went by as he tried his hardest to master spellwork, but he wasn’t improving.

As I’m sure you know, this family is built on generations of talented witches, so when Mr. Lee saw his son wasn’t living up to their name, he grew frustrated with him. Mr. Lee is a strict man who bears a lot of pride in his family name, and he didn’t hesitate to berate his son for his mistakes and humiliating him in front of his friends.

Because of this, Gyeontak began to resent his family more and more. He spent most of his time in his own room, avoiding his parents and siblings. Things remained this way for a long time, up until he was sixteen years old.

Gyeontak had picked up an interest for dark magic, and he found that he excelled in it. His practices would’ve remained a secret if his mother hadn’t found his journal while cleaning. Inside was all of his notes and research on dark magic, describing blood sacrifices, curses, and much more.

His father was furious when he found out, and they got into a heated argument. Gyeontak was only sixteen at the time, but he was thrown out of their home. He was told never to come back, and his family severed all ties with him. That was the last time I ever saw him.” Silence settled over them after the old woman finished her story, before she added something else.

“I did feel bad for the boy, you know. His father was too rough with him. Maybe if he had been more caring, his son wouldn’t have turned out that way. No one deserves to be disowned by their parents.”

Her words made Yunho think about Jongho. Their youngest had a similar childhood to Gyeontak, having grown up with strict parents who had eventually disowned him because he wasn’t good enough in their eyes. Yet, the two of them had gone on opposite paths in life.

However, the choices Gyeontak decided to make were his own, and his rough childhood couldn’t serve as an excuse for what he did. The coven will make sure he will be held accountable for his crimes.

Yunho’s thoughts were interrupted by frantic steps coming from the stairs. They both looked as Hongjoong came up to them, holding up a thin, worn book in one hand.

“I think I know where they are.”