Chapter 9

The nocturnal witch and lunar witch had woken up a little early that evening, planning on going to the fae marketplace to get some groceries before it closed. They were drinking coffee and talking when there was suddenly a knock at the door. Minho went to get it, with reluctance of course.

He unlocked the door and opened it mumbling to himself. “It’s too early in the evening for this— OW MY EYES!”

Minho shut his eyes and slapped his hand over his lids, hissing in pain. It hurt. Like going to the bathroom in the middle of the night and turning on the light only to immediately be blinded by how bright it is.

Changbin went over to check out what all the commotion was about and Minho, still hunched over, walked away to deal with his eyes.

“Oh, you two must be missionaries,” Changbin said while glaring at two boys who were standing outside the door.

“Um actually-“ One of them started.

Changbin waved his hand and interrupted them. “Am I happy with the current state of things in my life? No. But honestly, who is? Would I like for you to leave and never come back? Yes, I would like that a lot. Have a nice day. Hail Satan and all that.”

The lunar witch shut the door in their faces and went over to Minho, asking him what happened and trying to see if he was okay.

Jisung and Felix stood outside, dumbfounded by what just happened.

“That one was your soulmate, right?” Felix whispered.

“Nu-uh, only a weirdo like that would belong to you. Mine was probably the grumpy one that answered the door first. The one I blinded with my bright smile I guess,” Jisung said while showing off his wide grin.

Felix knocked on the door again. “Hello? We know you guys are in there!”

Changbin scowled at the banging on the door. But then he turned back to Minho who was starting to stand up straighter, his eyes adjusting once again.

“Who were they?” Minho breathed.

“Just some nobodies. Want me to get the hose? Or maybe we can sneak out the back door?” Changbin suggested.

“Light energy,” Minho whispered to no one in particular.

“Huh?”

“Light energy. Remember when I told you about Ms. Choi telling me something about a source of light magic? I think one of them out there is the source,” Minho explained.

Changbin groaned. “Well what are we supposed to do about it? We need to get groceries soon.”

Minho frowned. He hadn’t the slightest idea how they were supposed to go about this either. “If one is a source of light magic, they’re definitely not human. Do you think they could be other witches?”

“I hope not. You get… nervous around other witches Minho,” Changbin said in a more soft tone, knowing how it could possibly bring up some trauma for the older.

“How about I just go get groceries for us? Just write me a list. While I’m gone you can see what the other two want,” Minho suggested.

Changbin didn’t like the idea of letting some strangers hang around his cottage, but considering how serious Minho sounded, he couldn’t help but agree to it. The lunar witch got out a pen and paper, scribbling down the items he wanted before giving the list to Minho.

“Be back soon,” The younger said.

Minho gave him a small smile. “I will.”

Felix and Jisung almost jumped when the door flew open again. It was the witch that had previously told them to get lost.

“Alright, I’ll hear you two out,” Changbin grumbled while closing the door behind him.

The lunar witch plopped down on a chair placed on the porch and eyed the two, arms folded across his front.

“Well then... I guess we should introduce ourselves. I’m Felix and I’m a kitchen witch,” The light-blue haired one said.

“And I’m Jisung, a diurnal witch,” The one with ash-blonde hair said, his voice somewhat wavering with fatigue.

“Ah, a diurnal witch. No wonder you blinded my hyung,” Changbin frowned.

Jisung giggled, “In my defense I didn’t know my smile would blind him. Sure it’s bright for some, but that’s the first time it’s ever had that much of an effect.”

Changbin shifted his eyes to Felix unamused.

“So what are you doing here and how did you find us?” He questioned.

Felix smiled, already having a lie ready in his head. “We’ve actually heard about you and your hyung and wanted to come see you guys. Talk about magic and stuff.”

The lunar witch raised his eyebrow. “Is that all?”

“Pretty much. But we also came a long way here and my friend is diurnal so he’ll probably pass out any second. You think we could crash here for the night?” Felix asked as if they were casual friends.

A sea of red flags were waving in Changbin’s head. How was he supposed to trust these two witches he’d never met inside his cottage? Possibly messing with things that were important to Changbin, especially things that belonged to his family.

“Please? We don’t have anywhere else to go,” Felix pleaded, giving the lunar witch puppy eyes.

Changbin was annoyed by how easily he caved in at that. He reluctantly got out of the chair and opened the door, bringing the other witches inside.

“Don’t. Touch. Anything,” Changbin growled.

As soon as they got to the living room, Jisung saw a couch and he immediately walked over to it, flopping on the piece of dark blue velvet furniture and going to sleep.

“Your kitchen is so sad!” Felix gasped, running over to the area. Changbin followed closely behind him, worried the other would break something.

“Your oven is so old! And is that a food mill? What are we living in, the 20th century?!” The kitchen witch shrieked.

“I didn’t invite you in here just to complain about my kitchen,” Changbin scowled.

Felix looked at him and motioned to the whole room with his arms. “But don’t you see? This is a crisis!”

“Can you stop shouting? And how is your friend sleeping through all your yapping?”

“Oh once Jisung’s asleep, he’s out cold. I could throw his body against the wall and he’d probably still sleep through it,” Felix shrugged.

Changbin rubbed his temples and went over to the kitchen table, sitting down. Felix followed him, sitting on the opposite side.

“So where did the other witch go?” Felix asked.

“He went to make a grocery run. He’s actually pretty sensitive around any other witch besides me,” Changbin revealed.

Felix nodded, understanding that he shouldn’t press forward about that. “So what do you study? Magic wise?”

Changbin’s body loosened a little bit, no longer feeling as tense. “I mainly study this forest. This place has a lot of diverse organisms, and it’s dark energy as well as it’s behaviors are really complex.”

Felix sucked in a breath. He remembered what Jeongin had said earlier to him about the boy in his future. How he would study the dark forest and has lived there just like previous generations in his family before him. It really sunk in for Felix that this witch really could be that boy.

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