Chapter 4

Minho sat down on a rock near the cottage. Changbin was probably inside going over his many journals that he basically carried everywhere. The lunar witch was interesting in that way. He was always working on getting stronger with his magic while Minho wasn’t anything like that. If anything, Minho wished his magic wasn’t as strong as it was. He’s never had good control on his powers and he knows this. Especially now since his abilities were probably more active than ever. But luckily for him, the forest was the perfect outlet for his darkness.

“Minho hyung, you wanna come in and eat instead of staring at the sky like a weirdo?” Changbin called from an open window.

Minho turned his head and let out a light chuckle. “Says the guy who meditates for hours in random clearings!”

The lunar witch frowned. “It’s beneficial for recharging and spiritual connections! Not like you’d know anything about that though.”

Minho swiftly got up from the rock and sauntered towards the cottage, his eyes still on the other. “You’re really gonna try to give me a headache this early in the night huh? I’ll be right there, the food smells good.”

Changbin closed the window and walked away from the glass. Minho studied the cottage for probably the hundredth time since he started living there. The place used to belong to Changbin’s family. It was a nice shelter made of stone and wood. The outside was neat with a nice porch at the front and green vines slowly making their way up the sides. Minho loved it. He loved his home, he loved his work, and he loved Changbin like the brother he’d never had.

After eating dinner—which is basically just breakfast for Minho and Changbin— both witches set out to walk across the forest. That night, they’d be going in an area far away from the other creatures of the forest. In the Southeast of the land, there was a large tree with dark bark. And there, Minho would touch the overgrown roots of the tree, releasing his energy into the wood and watching as the plant illuminated a dangerously dark aura. Changbin just stood to the side, already having seen Minho do this countless times.

When Minho finished the job in a matter of minutes, he dusted his hands off. “There isn’t much else I need to do tonight,” Minho said breaking the silence.

Changbin nodded and hummed a response, only half listening. He was in the process of quickly jotting some information down in one of his journals, finishing up a study of some sort of fungus that he didn’t get done last time.

Minho rolled his eyes. “You’re such a nerd Changbin. Why do you do so much witch stuff if you never even need to know it anyway?” Minho leaned against the tree, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

The younger looked up at him with a serious gaze. “Well maybe I want to continue my family’s work. And there might be a day where you won’t be around to keep this forest strong. Then what would happen? So that’s why I observe this forest and your abilities so closely. So I can learn how you do things.”

Changbin’s family for generations had lived in the dark forest. But despite being so far away from human civilization, the place went under attack one night and humans had found Changbin and his family. They were to be killed, their powers considered evil and too dangerous to exist. His parents and his sister were drained of their magic and slaughtered before his eyes and the only reason he survived was because it happened to be a full moon, letting him escape out of pure luck. The forest was never the same since his family was killed. He could tell that the dark energy managed by his family for generations was getting weaker, along with the creatures that lived among it. That was until Minho came along. The nocturnal witch ran into the forest with nowhere to go. While trying to find a place to hide, the creatures of the night protected him, almost like he was one of their own. In return for protection, Minho helps out the forest. He understands the dark energy and has to keep the land strong with his magic. At their first encounter, Minho and Changbin did not trust each other at all. That was until Changbin realized that Minho had to stay around for the sake of the forest.

“I don’t know, this is kinda boring if you ask me,” Minho shrugged. He didn’t think what he did for the forest was all that interesting. If anything, when he worked it kinda just felt like a stress-reliever to him.

Changbin closed his journal and got on his feet. “Then what do you want to do?”

Minho thought about it and then his face lit up. He straightened his posture and flashed a grin toward the lunar witch.

“We should go near the creek! We can go visit the animal spirits!”

Changbin couldn’t help but smile back, finding it cute how excited the older got over these things, especially a certain spirit type. “You probably just wanna go there to see those three cat spirits again.”

Minho fake gasped. “How dare you! I love all those spirits equally!”

Changbin snickered and grabbed Minho’s hand, walking in the direction of the creek. “I know you have your favorites hyung, don’t lie to me.”

Minho humphed but didn’t say anything else. He did like all the cat spirits there, but there was always this one trio that would kindly go up to Minho every time they went. The nocturnal witch even went as far as naming them Soonie, Doongie, and Dori because they were just that precious to him.

“About what you said earlier,” Minho started, “hypothetically, if I were to go for any reason, you’re the only creature I know who I would ever trust with this forest. I know it would be in good hands.”

Changbin looked up at him and smirked, “Of course it would hyung. Probably better in my hands than your tiny ones.”

Minho snapped his head at Changbin and swatted his shoulder. “Yah, you’re shorter than me!” He retorted. Changbin just giggled, the sound echoing through the cold air of the night.

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