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woojin's family just moved into their new house far from the busy city that they're used to. the land was pretty cheap for a five thousand square feet house (or mansion because damn this house is huge). it's been said that a part of the house was cursed by medusa, but at this point everything's cursed by medusa. Woojin is not taking any of those bullshits anymore.
"unpack now and we'll go out for dinner later." his mother announced before disappearing upstairs to put down the boxes in their room. yerim sprints to her room and woojin follows suit.
putting his own boxes down the big room, woojin jumps into his new bed. the window blindingly letting the afternoon sun inside the clay-colored room.
—
scanning the house, he comes across the forbidden room which in fact is really pretty and is full of books. it must be the library. he wonders why it was cursed. woojin steps inside and immediately a white envelope came flying towards him. he ducks his head and the envelope hits the wooden door.
woojin walks closer to where the envelope landed and takes it in his hands, opens it and sees a piece of paper.
hello, human
your time has come.
woojin looks around the book-filled room to see if anyone is watching him. there's none. he looks back at the paper in his hand in fear. maybe this part of the house is really cursed and his death might come sooner than he's expecting.
opening the door in horror he searches for his parents. "mom, dad!" he runs to the kitchen smelling his mother's kimchi jjiggae.
"yes, sweetie?" his mother turns to look at him, smiling, until she sees her son's current state. "what's wrong?" she frowns walking towards woojin.
woojin gives her the paper and in turn his mother calls yerim and his father. "what could this mean?" his mother looks at the three of them just as scared.
before anyone else can say anything a blue smoke suddenly appeared in front of them. the four of them moves back as if the smoke would devour them whole if they don't.
"mr. park woojin." a lady wearing a green and gold cloak appears, floating in the blue smokes. her hair is as dark as the night and on top of it is a golden crown.
"who are you?!" woojin shouts, stepping in front of his family to protect them.
"you have been gifted with an invitation to the house of divine." the lady in green and gold smiles genuinely as she looks at woojin.
house of divine? isn't that where non human creatures go to? sons and daughters of gods and goddesses, wizards and witches, and all kinds of magical creatures. woojin looks back on his parents, is there something his parents are hiding from him?
"no, mr. park. there is none." the floating lady says gaining back woojin's attention. she just read his mind and woojin is sure he can't keep anything to himself anymore as long as this lady is here. "it's a present, from us."
"present? how is this a present?!" woojin comes closer to the smoke. his father is shouting at him to stay away from the dangerous looking thing but woojin dismisses it and looks up to the lady.
"it only happens once in a century, woojin. this house has been in this world for five centuries already. we have invited four gifted humans to attend the magical school." the lady explains, still has the genuine smile on her face.
"what's the catch?" woojin narrows his eyes, suspiciously eyeing her.
"nothing."
"okay but what is this for?" woojin flails his arms in front of him. "why should i go?"
"simple: you are gifted which means you have the talent to learn magic, and if you do well you might be given the power to be as high as these creatures." she explains further, holding her hand to the side to show woojin images of the students practicing their powers and magic.
"woojin." he hears his mom speak up. "do you want to?"
he looks at her worriedly, "are you okay with that?"
"it looks fun!" yerim shouts happily looking at her older brother. woojin smiles at her, maybe it does look like fun.
"but what about the students? wouldn't i look...different from them?"
"everyone's different from everyone, woojin. it's a school to nourish your talents and grow."
woojin looks at his shoes for a minute, thinking thoroughly. what will happen after this? if he says yes, things will change. if he says no, things will be back to normal but woojin doesn't want normal. he told himself he'll change himself after moving to a new place. woojin promised himself that from now on he'll take risks. this opporunity will never happen again.
"okay, i'll go."
"wonderful. i will visit you in three days. no need to do anything else just pack your things." she leans in closer to pat woojin's shoulder. "i'll be on my way." the blue smokes lit up and spins around. in a blink of an eye, the lady was gone.
woojin exhales and later realizes that in three days he's going to attend a school full of magical and powerful creatures. he goes up to his room without stealing a glance to his family. he needs to pack his things again.
—
the day woojin has been waiting for came and he's not sure whether to be excited or terrified. woojin steps outside of the chariot to marvel at the huge building in front of him. it looks old, about hundreds of year standing there. little cracks and molds sticking on the corner of the walls.
a man taller than him greets him happily, holding his hand out for woojin to shake. "hello, i'm hwang minhyun, prefect for boys."
"nice to meet you." woojin smiles shaking minhyun's hand.
they start a conversation, woojin complaining about the ambiguity of the letter that flew towards him. minhyun laughs explaining that the school does that a lot: surprise people. he also finds out that minhyun's family came from the sea. not exactly a descendant of poseidon but it is close enough, minhyun jokes.
minhyun entertains woojin as they walk through the hallway. the guide tells him all there is to know about the place, even the ones woojin doesn't have to. minhyun likes to talk about the magical place, woojin notices. he beams whenever he explains the different subjects from potions to ghoul studies, minhyun knows them all. it's probably because he's been in this place since he was still training how to bend water with his soft, little hands.
"you'll love it here, i swear." minhyun exclaims. woojin finds it funny how minhyun already said that for far too many times since their meeting twenty-five minutes ago.
"i think i will." woojin answers, looking around the place. they stopped near the garden placed in the middle of the school's hallway. the fountain being the center of it. as old as it may look like, woojin finds himself admiring the place.
"hey, minhyun." woojin hears someone greet with voice too high to be called normal. he looks over to see whom the voice belongs to.
"hi, jihoon. hello, daehwi." minhyun smiles when the blonde in front of woojin bows at him but the brunette next to him didn't. minhyun doesn't seem to mind the impoliteness and continues to talk to them. "what brings you here?"
"our next class is on the other building." the blonde, daehwi—woojin assumes is his name—, chirps. minhyun just nods. woojin thinks it's getting awkward.
"well i didn't know you hire a new peon." jihoon says with his eyes twinkling. he smiles at woojin and back at minhyun but the prefect doesn't seem happy about it.
"jihoon, he's the new—"
"don't care. mr. aetos dios over there needs more water to puke, help him with that? thanks." jihoon interrupts pointing at the eagle statue on the fountain. woojin looks at him and sees that jihoon is still smiling brightly in front of minhyun while the latter looks like he wants to suspend jihoon but he can't.
"well, i see you're pretty busy." daehwi chip in, saving the awful mood. "woojin-ssi might want to know more about the place. we'll get going, bye." he continues pulling jihoon by the hand passing them. "nice to meet you, woojin." daehwi looks over at woojin before turning back to jihoon whispering something to him.
"that's park jihoon, son of aphrodite and lee daehwi, son of athena." minhyun explains to woojin bringing him back from his thoughts as he stares at the figures. "i know, i don't get why they manage to be with each other but i guess that balance their friendship."
"right." woojin exhales asking minhyun if he can show him his room now. minhyun comply rather embarrassingly. apologizing for his lost of focus, woojin tells him it's okay.
after minhyun dropped woojin into his new dorm, woojin immediately finds comfort with his fellow roommates. he founds out guanlin, a sophomore, is a werewolf. woojin jokes that he might eat him while he's asleep and he knows how bad of a joke that is but he still said it. guanlin in return just laughs wholeheartedly telling him that he hears that all the time, "no harm though." guanlin assures him.
guanlin says there's also hyungseob and samuel but they still have two classes left before they can go back. he should meet them soon, woojin tells himself. guanlin shows him around the living area and tells him a lot of things he needs to know (he already heard some of them from minhyun but woojin didn't want to interrupt guanlin, he looked like a cute little puppy as he explains).
—
jihoon walks out of his last class for the day with pure anger. yes, it's because mrs. ahn didn't accept his art project. it's not his fault he can't draw or even use a spell to draw the fucking pegasus she assigned to him. the thing likes to move a lot and jihoon did not want to chain its feet. that would hurt.
he's also angered that the boy minhyun was with someone definitely smelled like a human to him. jihoon hates humans more than anything else. more than the alectryon that wakes him up every morning or his sweet best friend's pet owl that flap its wings too much every night. jihoon for a fact does not want any human near him. now that a human is actually attending the school is infuriating.
"you look...red." daehwi scans jihoon's face as they walk back to their dorm. daehwi knows what's up but he can't say it out loud for he knows jihoon would burst.
"i know, i just hate humans."
"is it because of woojin- ssi? i heard he was gifted by professor kwon the invitation. it's cool, really. how we managed to be in the same time as the gifted one. it's—"
jihoon raises his hand in front of daehwi's face to stop him from speaking further. they stop in front of their dorm door and jihoon looks over to daehwi, stretching an annoyed smile.
"speak of him again and you say goodbye to magu." jihoon warns, unlocking the door and entering first as daehwi follows suit.
"you can't do anything to magu, she's a family." daehwi runs over to his pet owl beside his study table hugging its cage. "what are you even planning to do? don't do anything stupid, jihoon! the guy isn't even doing anything to harm you! don't—"
"for the love of venus, daehwi, please stop worrying so much!" jihoon pinches the bridge of his nose in frustration. "i'm not going to kill him. i'm just making his life miserable."
"i thought you don't like your mom." daehwi interrupts hearing jihoon utter the word venus.
"i don't like a lot of creatures, you know."
—
the next day woojin wakes up because of a dove banging his window. he looks up, still half asleep, the dove struggling to fly. woojin's instinct is to open the window to let the dove in, so he did just that.
the dove exhaustingly drops itself on woojin's bed side table. woojin scans the dove and it looks like its left wing is broken. he doesn't know what to do.
"what's up?" guanlin stand up from his bed, bringing a pillow with him.
"the dove..." woojin points at the poor dove crying for help on his bed side table. guanlin's eyes widen and immediately holds the injured thing in his hand. woojin stares at guanlin as he heals the dove with his hands. guanlin lets go of the bird and woojin sees it flapping its wings delightfully as it flees through the open window. "how..."
"you'll learn them soon, hyung!" guanlin encourages woojin while pointing his thumbs up.
—
jihoon walks in to his first class of the day feeling better than yesterday until he smells a certain scent that fuel his anger up. daehwi has a different schedule than he does so the younger isn't taking this class. which means jihoon can do whatever he wants without daehwi guilt tripping him.
he shows a smirk as he walks over his seat which is unfortunately at the back of the human he hates the most. woojin seems to be so clueless about what jihoon feels towards him.
mr. min's lectures are always boring and the most annoying part is he will not let his students perform the spell until he explains it for the twentieth time. today they're learning anteoculatia which is basically giving a person a horn of some sorts but mr. min still doesn't want them to do it. jihoon sighs, and pulls out his wand from under the table and looks at woojin's hair. he laughs quietly as he chants the same spell mr. min's teaching them.
woojin feels something uncomfortable being placed on his head. he touches his hair only to feel a bone-like structure, and woojin's scared. their teacher later sees him freaking out, "woojin, did you do that to yourself?"
"i-i didn't sir, i just felt something growing on my head." woojin stutters, looking directly at his potions & spells teacher. mr. min sighs, scanning the class as he lectures them about pranking anyone especially woojin who is entirely new to the place. he points at his wand in front of woojin to remove the antel on his head. "thank you, sir."
"don't mention it woojin, let's be careful next time." mr. min says before going back to the platform to discuss more about the spell.
fortunately, jihoon didn't meet woojin after that. it turns out that woojin skipped all of his classes after the incident, and he also heard that he's getting his own wand. he's kind of disappointed that he can't play pranks on him for the next few hours.
—
the next few weeks were a living hell for woojin, if you ask him, if he even has the time to answer all your questions because he has so much to do. memorizing potion ingredients and spells are hard, performing them is even harder. woojin is still learning how to hold his wand properly without turning everything into a bird. he did find it amusing that he can control the magic just not without his wand.
it has also been a living hell because of someone named park jihoon. woojin has watched mean girls for so many times and he thinks regina george is one hell of a bitch but jihoon, he's on another level. especially because jihoon has powers and regina does not.
he remembers someone told him the antels was because of jihoon. woojin later realizes how awful it is that he's sitting in front of the park jihoon. one of his classmates, haknyeon, also explained that jihoon is really that cruel for the most part.
—
jihoon has been looking up new spells that mr. min is too slow to teach and daehwi doesn't feel good about this. they've been in the library the whole day, and he's not exaggerating. they didn't have classes today as the usual soccer game by the wolves’ club are having their championship games. the whole school, of course wants to watch. but jihoon had another plan to spend the free time and daehwi had no choice but to follow him.
"i got it!" jihoon chirps closing the book after capturing the spell in his phone. daehwi is sure taking a picture of a part of a book is forbidden but he doesn't say that out loud. "let's go." jihoon pulls daehwi with him outside the library as quick as possible. it's already past six and daehwi's sure most of the students are in their respective dorms by now.
"wouldn't it be intruding?" daehwi whispers following jihoon to the men's shower. "i mean what did he even do wrong?"
"he's a human." jihoon chuckles walking faster because it's curfew and he needs to do this fast.
once in front of the men's shower jihoon smiles wickedly, opening the door making sure no one is there except for him, daehwi and...a certain human.
"but jihoon." daehwi whines again, tugging the older as he chants a spell he got from the library just a few minutes ago.
just as jihoon utters the last word from the spell, they both suddenly hear a scream from one of the cubicles.
"what did you do?" daehwi glares at jihoon from his side.
"relax. i just made something levitate." jihoon explains, the wicked smile never leaving his face.
"help!" they heard a familiar voice screaming and jihoon had the audacity to laugh loudly. "who's out there?" the boy said, demanding.
"oh, scary." jihoon singsongs walking closer to where the boy is. "hi, human." jihoon smiles for a bit until he noticed the boy naked. thankfully the levitating towel is covering the lower part of his body. jihoon coughs and suddenly his confidence is gone.
"jihoon." the boy utters with remorse.
"mr. park woojin." jihoon looks back at him, unconsciously checking woojin's toned upper body. he shakes his head in disgust.
they walked out right after woojin grabs the floating towel and daehwi excusing the two of them for invading his privacy. woojin's nice enough to forgive them and daehwi smiles in return before pulling jihoon outside with him and head back to the dorm.
"jihoon, are you serious?" daehwi quietly screams, walking faster since the hall monitors might be on their nightly rounds right now.
daehwi hears jihoon laughing viciously loud next to him. he tries to shush the other but jihoon didn't budge. "did you see the look on his face? i can sleep tight tonight knowing i made him embarrassed."
"more like made you flustered." daehwi mumbles to himself, relieved that jihoon is still laughing aloud that he didn't hear what daehwi just said.
they both changed into their pyjamas after dropping their things into the sofa and proceed to lying in their bed waiting to fall alseep.
his father sits on the edge of his bed, smiling at him. "good night, jihoonie."
"dad? when can we see mom again?" jihoon mutters, hiding behind his blankets playfully, not noticing the sadness in his father's eyes.
"someday, you will." his father answers pulling the blanket off of jihoon's face to kiss his forehead. "sleep well, my angel."
—
guanlin steps out of his and woojin's shared room to include himself to the people talking in the living area. hyungseob and samuel are discussing about the recent news about trolls and ogres trespassing near the lands where their school stands.
"i heard fifty humans were already killed." guanlin chimes in sitting beside woojin. woojin sweats, his family is safe right?
"yeah, i don't know what i'd do if i see them here." samuel says as he shivers in fear and disgust. the three of them began talking about other things after that. woojin sits there worrying about his family he left behind.
it's a saturday which means, jihoon can sleep earlier than his usual time. he smiles grabbing the pink blind folds before laying flat on his bed. daehwi hears snoring after a few minutes, he snorts at his best friend's cute habit.
—
jihoon wakes up with daehwi shaking him into consciousness. he blinks and blinks before staring at daehwi who looks like trolls are having a killing spree outside of their room.
"what?" jihoon yawns. he checks the wall clock across them. yeah, it's two in the morning. "daehwi speak up." he groans getting more annoyed at daehwi's shaking.
"trolls!" daehwi screams in front of his face and jihoon didn't have the time to react when daehwi pulls him off the bed and he's sure he heard a girl crying for help outside but he dismissed it. he's too confused and daehwi is already scrolling through his phone looking for a spell to get them out of this place.
thunder grumbles from the sky and the lightning is too bright for jihoon's own liking (he never really like those). "where are we going?" jihoon whispers. daehwi squeezes the older's hand in reply.
"daehwi, jihoon." woojin said upon seeing the two in the hallway. "come with me." he instructed and the two follows him inside a room far from where the screaming is.
they hide there for a while, the sound of thunder never leaving them alone. they have no idea if the trolls are still there or if everyone is still alive. all they know is that they're inside a dark room, and hopefully they're safe.
jihoon is shaking, he notices later as daehwi and woojin leans closer to his side. "jihoon." daehwi whispers beside him. jihoon didn't budge.
"jihoon." it's woojin's time to call him but jihoon's just stares into the darkness as his body shivers in what seems to be fear.
they hear a faint scream outside and they both avert their attention to the door. "i-i'll check what it is." daehwi volunteered. woojin was about to call him out but the younger was too fast to stand up and before woojin had the time to speak daehwi was outside of the dark room.
woojin looks back at jihoon and the boy is still shaking more than before. "jihoon say something, please." woojin says quietly as he places his hand on jihoon's cold ones. the other flinches at the touch.
"stay quiet, jihoonie," his brother whispers. he nods. it's just like playing hide and seek, right?
he smiles at him. it should be reassuring but it feels sad. and jihoon is confused. but then, he closes the door of the closet, and then there's darkness. he can't help but jump slightly when he hears the thunder resound from outside, so he thinks of sparkling fairies and clothes. and maybe it'll be okay.
woojin hears jihoon exhales deeply and he stares at the boy's pale face. concerned doesn't even begin to explain how woojin feels. jihoon is so vulnerable right now that he thinks if he moves or touch him he'll collapse. jihoon might be mean to him. he might love seeing woojin suffer, but woojin isn't the same as jihoon. woojin looks back at the boy. jihoon looks more...human than a son of a powerful creature.
"hey, jihoon." woojin wraps his arm around jihoon's neck and his other hand caressing jihoon's thigh to calm him down. thunder growls stronger and jihoon hides his face on woojin's chest. "it's okay jihoon, i'm here."
"woojin..." jihoon speaks for the first time and woojin looks down at jihoon, and he seems to calm a bit. "i'm scared." he admits, tears rolling out of his eyes and falling in his rosy cheeks.
woojin frowns as he examines jihoon's state. it's new, very new. in fact, woojin hates this new emotion he's seeing on jihoon. he thinks it's fine that jihoon chants levitation spells on all his things. he thinks it's better that jihoon laughs at him when woojin fluster himself in front of the prefect when he found woojin standing next to the broken vase that jihoon broke but never really admit it. he thinks it's better that jihoon is mean to him and not crying with fear in his eyes.
"everything is going to be alright, jihoon." woojin assures him holding the boy tighter. jihoon sobs as he snuggles his face on woojin's chest. "i'm here, don't you worry."
—
the sun seeps in the slightly open door and jihoon blinks at the sudden brightness. he feels warm, and jihoon knows it's been quite cold lately since it's the middle of fall but now he's not cold. jihoon leans over to whatever it is that's making him feel warm until it holds him tighter and jihoon is suddenly awake. he opens his eyes and scans the room. his eyes widen when he sees an arm wrapped around his waist and the other drooping over his shoulder. jihoon looks over to his side to see woojin's face pressed at the wall beside them. he wiggles himself out of woojin's hold until it wakes the other boy up.
"jihoon," woojin mumbles with his raspy morning voice making jihoon shivers but he dismissed the feeling entirely after. "are you alright?" woojin asks subconsciously caressing jihoon's arm.
"get off of me woojin." jihoon spits out, remembering what happened a few hours ago if he can calculate.
"jihoon?"
"get. off." jihoon says once more, pushing woojin beside him. he stands up looking at a confused woojin.
"what's wrong?" woojin stands up slowly, regaining his vision.
"nothing, i'm going back to my room." jihoon answers, getting on his feet to leave but woojin was fast enough to stop him. he holds jihoon's wrist tightly.
"you can talk to me, if you want. i'm always here for you, jihoon." woojin says as he loosens his grip and completely lets go of jihoon's wrist. the other just scoffs and turns to leave woojin behind.
jihoon walks out of the room only to be faced by a messy hallway. the walls are full of cracks, more cracks than before. the aetos dios fountain is broken and that pillars are close to falling down. he can see the other students from across the hall also scanning the disaster. jihoon runs toward his and daehwi's dorm to see if daehwi is safe.
he later sees daehwi petting his owl, she looks more scared than jihoon and daehwi. daehwi doesn't even look scared.
"where have you been?!" jihoon shouts making magu jump. daehwi looks at him with a raised brow.
"thank me for saving everyone's ass instead of asking me where i have been." daehwi stands up, holding up his phone. "i just found a spell on how to lure and kill trolls easily. aren't you proud?" he waves his phone in front of jihoon as he smiles, wider than when he won first place on their sixth grade spelling bee.
"great, so proud. but uh, care to explain why you left me with woojin?" jihoon tilts his head to the side waiting for an answers. daehwi rolls his eyes.
"you can thank me for that as well."
jihoon gives him a disgusted look and smells himself. "see, i smell like a human now. why should i thank you for that?"
daehwi laughs but didn't answer, instead he walks back to magu to pet her head and whisper sweet things into the owl.
—
winter comes and goes, and before they know it it's already spring season. all the damage from the night when the trolls trespassed were fixed and replaced. woojin is used to his environment by now. he's used to seeing satyr jumping around the hall, wizards practicing their potions and flying skills in the open field, and children of gods and goddesses playing with their own powers.
the pranks have mildly stopped. jihoon isn't talking to him anymore, they were never really the chatty type and they're not even friends to begin with. although he is happy that jihoon does not prank him anymore, he kind of admit it bothers him.
so when jihoon and daehwi started walking his way, woojin tries to avoid any eye contact even with daehwi. it's pretty funny how panic woojin can get when in fact all he felt for jihoon was remorse because of his attitude towards him.
jihoon enters his and daehwi's dorm only to be met with a dove sitting on his bed cozily. he smiles sitting beside it before tucking it into his arms. "hello, little thing." jihoon whisper to the dove when daehwi walks in.
"oh, a dove." daehwi announced quietly as if it's forbidden to talk about doves.
"yes, i know daehwi."
"no but," daehwi turns to sit on his bed across to jihoon, "dove? remember how professor kim told us that your mother send doves to creatures who are in love?"
"what do you mean?" jihoon narrows his eyes. "i'm not in love."
"i mean, are you still seeing that pixie?" daehwi whispers leaning towards jihoon.
"no, of course not." jihoon utters in absolute disgust. daehwi laughs but nods in understanding.
"but what could this mean."
"don't worry, daehwi. it's probably because i'm her son."
"yeah, that could be it too."
—
another morning, another boring hour courtesy of mr. min and his endless lectures. woojin knows he slept early last night but what he doesn't get is why are his eyes closing. the professor has been babbling about other things for the past fifteen minutes and woojin is so close to falling asleep.
he shakes his head and turns to look straight in front only to be distracted by the spell book flipping on its own in front of him. woojin sighs and looks back at jihoon to glare at him. "can you stop?" he whispers furiously.
"what?" jihoon points at his ear as if telling woojin he can't hear him. woojin boils in anger.
"stop using your magic on me, dammit." woojin groans far too loud than he's expecting. so when he looks over jihoon, the boy is already snickering. "you're unbelievable, really."
"mr. park...and mr. park." their teacher calls their attention and walks closer to them. "what's going on?"
"woojin is delusional." jihoon says patting woojin shoulder making the other flinch.
"i am not! you were playing with my spell book, jihoon!" woojin whines pointing at the book in front of him, still flipping pages by itself.
"okay, that's it. you two, go outside and clean the garden. now."
woojin and jihoon went outside to do what mr. min had said and began cleaning the area. woojin on the left side and jihoon near the fountain. they don't talk for the most part, just jihoon commenting on how ugly woojin looks.
"you're so petty, jihoon." woojin spits out as he set down the broom.
"yeah, like you know me more than i know myself."
woojin couldn't think of anything to reply at that so he continues sweeping the ground while jihoon rubs the side of the fountain to wash out the dirt. they stay silent for a few minutes until jihoon speaks again.
"i was thrown into this school because my father got killed for marrying an immortal. my brother died too because he sacrificed himself to save me." woojin heard jihoon's breath shaking as he speaks. "humans. they killed the only family i have. they're disgusting creatures who don't care about others unless it involves them."
woojin stands there frozen as he steals a glance to jihoon. "why am i even telling you this. you're a human too, you're definitely like all of them." jihoon shakes his head and laughs bitterly.
"i can try. i'm not like other humans, jihoon. i can help—"
"woojin, you don't understand. you will never understand." jihoon cries, tears falling down from his beautiful eyes. woojin remembers the last time he saw jihoon like this. it wasn't long ago, but he never wanted to see it again. yet, he's here making jihoon afraid of himself.
"jihoon, i don't know you well but, you are so much more than what you think you are." woojin walks closer to jihoon and the other steps backwards like they're dancing without a song. "you think no one's going to be here to catch you so you shove them away before they get closer. but jihoon, everyone's here for you. i, i am here for yo—"
"stop saying nonsense! you don't give a shit about me! i've been making your life miserable for the past five months and you come saying shit like i'm here for you?! who the fuck are you joking, park woojin?" jihoon yells, his cry echoing in the empty garden. he's annoyed that someone actually sees him being like this, but jihoon knows how stubborn he can be and he wants to prove woojin he can live on his own without humans pitying on him.
"just fucking listen to me, dammit!" it's woojin's time to scream and shut jihoon up. he's been so fed up by the other's facade. it kills him every time he sees jihoon acting as if he doesn't care that he's hurting people, that he's pushing them away for his own sake. "you're not like that at all jihoon."
the other scoffs, "yeah and what am i?"
woojin sighs in frustration, "you love puppies. i saw how your face fell when you saw one without a leg so you went to sneak into mr. min's potion lab to give it a new leg." he pauses to look at jihoon whose look softened and his arms uncrossed. "you like helping other students. you helped yoojung perfect her invisibility spell even if you had to teach her for five hours straight."
"that's part of my job—"
"shut up, you won't do that just because you're the smartest one in class." woojin stops in front of jihoon and held his wrist tight. jihoon glares at him, gritting his teeth as he tells woojin to let him go.
woojin leans in closer, their face are inches away. jihoon is chanting a spell but before he completes the action woojin leans in more to press his lips to jihoon's plump ones. woojin closes his eyes while jihoon keeps his eyes wide in shock.
after a few seconds, woojin steps back a bit to look at jihoon. "if i didn't do that i would probably freezing to death right now." he half jokes.
"woojin what the fuck did you just do?!" jihoon murmurs as he wiggles his wrist out of woojin's hold. "let me go, woojin!"
woojin did, rather harshly, and jihoon has to rub his wrist from the sudden pain he felt. it might not be coming from his wrist though. jihoon turns his back to leave.
—
it stopped, they stopped. the pranking stops after the incident at the garden happened. mr. min moved jihoon to another chair far from woojin, and the both of them felt as if a piece of them is missing. jihoon thinks it's crazy, woojin thinks it's unusual. they both brush the thought away.
"you look so gloomy these days, jihoon." daehwi observed, holding his best friend's arm to comfort him.
"there's just so many things in my mind, daehwi. with the finals coming up, and all of the extracurricular i have to finish." jihoon answers, his head aching from all the work he needs to do.
"are you sure that's all?" daehwi replies, careful not to hit jihoon's bad side.
"yes, i'm—" jihoon stops whatever he was supposed to say when woojin walked pass the two of them. "sure." jihoon feels his heartstrings being pulled but he shakes it off and avoids woojin's look.
daehwi rolls his eyes and sigh. he understands jihoon's feeling enough to know that's not all he's worried about but the jihoon he is, it looks like daehwi is going to have to do something more. so he did. "you can't play dumb all your life, jihoon." he stops walking to face jihoon, glowering.
"i'm sorry, did you just call me dumb?!" jihoon gawks, placing his hand on his chest as if daehwi just said something offensive to him. daehwi laughs resentfully.
"you know what jihoon, i don't know what horrible thing humans did to you but stop blaming it all up on woojin. he's trying to understand you. he's the first creature that's actually trying to figure you out. if i didn't know you back then, i wouldn't actually want to be your friend." daehwi spits out which turned jihoon speechless. the younger walked away leaving jihoon standing there alone in the hallway with just his agonizing thoughts. he fucked up.
—
jihoon opens his eyes looking at nothingness, "w-where am i?!" he shouts but no one answers. "help! someone help me!" jihoon shouts louder hoping someone would come and rescue him. he waits but still none.
"jihoon." he hears a female's voice a couple of seconds after. "it's me, your mother."
jihoon blinks, looking for the person speaking but he couldn't. "mom?" he whispers, tears already blurring his vision. "mom is that really you?"
"yes, it's me. i apologize for not watching you grow. i'm sorry that you have to go through this alone." jihoon hears himself sobbing before kneeling because he can't bear to stand up enough. "jihoon, please remember that i'm always with you. you were made because of love, jihoon. don't take that away from you because you despise me."
"i-i don't despise you." jihoon cries covering his eyes, his voice breaking as he continues speaking.
"jihoon, honey, it's okay. it's okay." she assures jihoon with her calming voice. "i just wish you stop being cold and distant because believe it or not, we all care for you. we love you."
jihoon sits up abruptly, his vision turning black because of the force. he rubs his sleepy eyes and felt that it's wet. jihoon looks at his clock, it's five am. daehwi's bed is empty, the boy didn't come back after the argument they had in the hallway. he's probably sleeping at jinyoung's, jihoon considers.
—
"hey, woojin hyung." guanlin grabs his attention one friday afternoon. their classes are all cancelled for the time being since the school committees are having a meeting for the school dance next month. "have you asked jihoon out yet?"
woojin chokes on air, glaring at guanlin. "why would i ask jihoon out? you think i want death?"
"that's seongwoo hyung, right?"
"what?!"
"the embodiment of death himself, literally." hyungseob explains before going back to whatever he's doing.
"no, but seriously. you're like not dating?" samuel chip in, too immerse on the topic.
"no? he hates me." woojin glares at them. he glares at people too much these days.
"sure he hates everyone but for the love of venus, the tension between the two of you is so thick." samuel exclaims as guanlin nods in return.
woojin made a face before standing up and announcing he's going to go out to get some fresh air.
he finds himself opening the rooftop door, but it seems that he's not the only one who needs fresh air. "hey," woojin waves his hand awkwardly before sitting far enough from jihoon. "haven't seen you around lately." he admits.
jihoon chuckles, and woojin finds himself smiling. he misses jihoon's laughs even if he doesn't admit it out loud. "i've been hiding."
"from who?"
"you."
woojin turns his head to jihoon's side faster than hermes sending messages to sky from the underworld. "what?"
"i don't know, woojin. do you want me to say it?" jihoon groans, covering his face in unknown embarrassment. a dove lands in front of them looking over at woojin and back at jihoon before another one lands beside it. woojin hears jihoon snicker and he looks over at him seeing the boy staring at the doves in front of them. "unbelievable."
"what?" woojin screech, still confused over the doves and jihoon's words.
"i can't believe this."
"jihoon, what the fuck is going on?!"
it's frustrating, really. how right samuel is, woojin thinks. and how jihoon knows whatever daehwi said is real. "do you know what the dove symbolizes?" jihoon starts after calming his heart beat.
"professor kim told us that it follows the person..." woojin stops once he realized what he's about to say and stares at the doves in front of them.
"follows the person that is what, woojin?" jihoon whispers, afraid that if he speaks louder woojin would leave him and he can never admit his hidden emotions ever.
"...that's in love."
just like that, the two doves fly over them as a few more follows circling about the rooftop on top of woojin and jihoon, like in some romance movies when the main characters finally get married. the two of them stay quiet for the longest of time and again, samuel's words rang through woojin's mind.
"do you want to be my partner for the dance?" woojin blurts out before he can even back out.
"woojin, don't force yourself."
"i'm not." woojin argues, moving closer to jihoon. "i'm not forcing myself." he lifts jihoon's chin up to look at him in the face, but jihoon's eyes are looking down to avoid woojin.
"you're pretty shy for someone who loves playing pranks on me." woojin teases, leaning his face closer to jihoon's. "are you sure you're the jihoon i know?"
jihoon scoffs, his breath touching woojin's lips making the boy smirk. "please, you don't know—" woojin shuts him up by placing his lips onto jihoon, shakily, making himself laugh but jihoon is still in a state of shock. woojin starts moving, holding jihoon's neck to hold him in place. they get on a steady rhythm as jihoon follows woojin's actions. jihoon smiles into the kiss making woojin smile as well.
epilogue.
"this is so itchy." jihoon whines as he tugs the huge bow between his collar. it's the night of the school dance and this is the first time jihoon is actually going. he blames woojin, his boyfriend, for everything.
"probably because you never wore one. you'll get used to it." daehwi chirps opening the door for jihoon. he's wearing the same suit plus the big bow as jihoon but instead of a navy blue color, daehwi's a lighter shade of blue. "you're so cute, woojin won't be able to keep his hands to himself."
jihoon blushes, hitting daehwi painfully as they go on their way to the ballroom. "woojin should keep his hands to himself or i'll chop it off."
nervous doesn't even begin to cover what woojin feels. he guesses it's because it has been years since he last wore a suit, and that was his uncle's wedding. or maybe it's because he got himself a boyfriend, who is not just anyone but aphrodite's son. the fucking goddess of beauty gave birth to a fucking beautiful son and now he's dating him. woojin remembers professor kwon said he's gifted. he probably is.
speaking of jihoon, the beautiful boy is now standing in front of the huge wooden door together with daehwi. they locked eyes and jihoon smiles. woojin feels like he's underdressed because jihoon, he can wear anything and it'll still look good on him. but he throws the thoughts away and waltz over to jihoon.
"i'll leave you two alone." daehwi announces, bouncing towards jinyoung who is impatiently waiting for him.
"may i dance with you, my prince?" woojin held his hand out for jihoon to hold.
"woojin, i can't dance."
"don't worry, just follow me." he assures jihoon as he pulls the boy by the waist to stand close to him.