Himchan notices that Jinhwan appears to be rather perplexed. Whether it was his presence or an unrelated matter, he does not know. He decides on the latter, though.
“Is it my personality then?” He gasps, clutching a hand to his chest. “I have to say, I am a cool dude to hang out with. I am sure your customers would agree if they got to chill with me.” Being friendly was one of his prized traits, after all, and he would not accept that some people disliked him, even if they truly did.
The irritation coming off of Jinhwan is almost unmistakably because of him, though. He knows it now. He can almost smell it. Slowly, he brings a hand to his mouth, teeth beginning to chew his nails out of habit – oh, and he was nervous. Maybe today had not been the best day to visit Jinhwan. Usually, he would enjoy getting underneath Jinhwan’s skin, but something has him on edge – something has his guts twisting. Is it because of the feathers?
“I thought I should greet you first before I spend hours looking through everything.” He adds a small laugh at the end, trying to salvage the situation. At the question, though, a real smile comes onto his lips. “Oh, I don’t know.” Himchan’s free hand reaches over to Jinhwan’s face, taking an iridescent feather between his index finger and thumb. “Maybe this gave you away.” With a feather in between his fingers, he admires it closer. Jinhwan or not, he has to admit, the feathers are a pretty addition. “I know of someone else who has issues with keeping their animal side under wraps, too..” He mumbles, eyes lifting back to Jinhwan.
The question alarms him, and Himchan is uncertain how to respond. Was his friend really a were this whole time? Himchan feels his heart start to beat hard against his chest, and a cold sweat breaking out over his skin. “I-I am sorry, Jinhwan. I would never judge you if you were a were, you know?” His gaze is unable to meet Jinhwan’s. Brown irises, instead, focus on the counter. “I didn’t mean to treat you like a joke or be insensitive about the matter. I was so blunt because, well..” Himchan trails off, voice lowering into a whisper. “I mean, I am not a bird, mind you, but a wolf.”
It had never been his intention to tell Jinhwan today. He doesn’t even know if this was something he would have ever told Jinhwan. However, he wants to support his friend, and if that means revealing himself, so be it.
Jinhwan stares blankly at Himchan for a moment. He’s having trouble switching gears from nearly scolding Himchan for touching his feathers, his brain slow to process what seems to be a confession of some kind. He’s completely caught off guard.
“You’ve… got to be--” Jinhwan starts, but trails off. Himchan has no idea about him, right? He didn’t know Jinhwan was a witch before and seems to have somehow missed that now to the point Himchan’s actually flustering over this? -- He was actually serious?
But Himchan? a were? Is that what he’s saying? Well, shit.
“Shit...You are serious.” It’s a statement of fact, voice quiet as his eyes focus, and he stares at Himchan unblinkingly. Jinhwan is truly flabbergasted. Himchan’s a were — a werewolf — and he thinks Jinhwan’s a werebird. That’s literally what’s happening here.
He opens his mouth, and closes it, glancing down at the counter and trying to figure out a way to deal with this situation elegantly. He’s not so sure there’s an easy way to soften the truth when Himchan’s unwittingly (mistakenly) outed himself like this. “One moment,” he mumbles. He walks around the counter cautiously and flips a sign on the entrance door over to indicate the shop is closed; he’d hate for someone to waltz into this conversation. Sighing, he plops back down, this time on top of the counter and crosses his legs, apron draping over them.
“Himchan… Himchan, I don’t…” he starts again, and resists the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. The unfortunate point he needs to convey is bad enough without him cringing physically too. “I’ve told you about my shop, haven’t I? Sure, I might have left out a few details but I still make—“ he waves his hand at his merchandise “—all this myself, minus the rather showy display case in the corner -- Minhee keeps outdoing herself…” he adds, mumbling. He hooks a claw under his shirt and draws forth a patinaed little charm, playing with it. He can’t quite look at his friend in front of him, cursing how this situation has managed to become even more awkward than he thought it would be before, back when Himchan first said he was on his way.
“I get all kinds in here--humans, beastblooded, weres--so I see no point in trying to hide what I am. I like my customers to feel I’m like them. But... I’m not a were, Himchan. I’m... sorry.”