tenebris

oh taehyun || jaeseung witch || 980920 “ whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. and if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the abyss will gaze back into you. ” ― friedrich nietzsche disclaimer.

[taehyunfey]

feyhawon​:

taehyunfey​:

//macabre magic

maybe it’s the gwiin blood that runs in his veins, or maybe it’s as simple as being an extrovert; hawon thrives in lights, loud noise, and large crowds. sometimes it feels like he literally feeds his magic off of the excitement of the crowd; each shriek of laughter from a group of girls lost somewhere in the thrall sending electric sparks up his spine, down his arms, and settling in his fingertips. maybe it’s just the influence of the full moon tonight, painting the world cold in shades from a cloudless sky. whatever it may be, hawon feels invincible. he feels high and floating above the masses of young witches in the best way possible.

and when taehyun’s fingers wrap around his wrist, drag him back from some sparkly fantasy and back to reality, he can’t even be mad. he smiles sweetly, albeit lazily, and lets his best friend lead him through the party and out the door. hawon feels a little too invincible; if they had stayed much longer, he’d come crashing down too hard.

summer has long given up the fight and given way to autumn, the air crisper than hawon would really like. it makes him press a little closer against taehyun, another body familiar, but more importantly, warm. always warm. he’s content enough like this, even being lead away from the crowd. still a little tipsy, a little high on the enchantments that any good gwiin or hanu witch is sure to include in their parties, but safe with his fingers tangled into his best friend’s. he feels himself coming back to earth more and more the farther they get away from the event and the magic. there’s a different sort of buzz in the graveyard that he can tune into.

“i feel great,” and as if to prove it, he squeezes the hand in his own. “i’d ask if we’re going to raise the dead tonight but i’m pretty sure they’ve done that themselves already.” halloween was the time for the spirits to walk among the living once again. there’s no fun in animating a corpse with no one home. “we probably should’ve taken some snacks or something though. i’m too skinny to be a good sacrifice.”

a joke about the darker reputation of the jaeseung witches; hawon has absolutely no fear of taehyun executing him in the middle of a cemetery, even if he might have done something to deserve it at some point. but he does have that craving for salt and snacks from the drinks now pleasantly settled in his veins; they should’ve snagged some chips or something on their way out. he’s not going to starve to death by any means, but he might start complaining in ten minutes.

he stops their trek through the tombs, holds taehyun there next to him for just a second. impulse has him stretching his body up, closing that gap to plant a kiss on taehyun’s cheek. because he wants to. because he can.

“no, it’s better this way,” taehyun adds without missing a beat, suddenly mostly straight-faced to play along with the bit.

“the emptier your organs, the easier it’ll be for the demon to possess you. anyway it’s your blood we need. and all that alcohol in your system will make it come out faster. everyone wins.”

he breaks the act easily, chuckling quietly to himself and for hawon, squeezing his hand in return and tugging him closer to his own frame as he does, a wordless reminder to watch his step as the terrain begins to get a little more treacherous underfoot. 

he leads them away from crossing over too many graves as best as he can; tonight of all nights, the last thing they need is several vengeful spirits pausing their evening’s tirade to come after a few careless young witches. it’s superstition mostly - according to his early lessons, benevolent spirits don’t pay much mind to their physical resting places, especially on a night like this, and malicious spirits are a lot less likely to wait around mortuaries and graveyards when they can look for vulnerable vessels and holes in the fabric between life and death instead. still, it’s a blue moon halloween, and the palpable spiritual energy is enough for taehyun to err on the side of safe, not sorry.

“are you actually hungry?” he begins to ask as hawon tugs them to a stop, “i can order-”

then there is a kiss planted on his cheek, sudden and warm, pink fringe brushing his temple, chilled nose grazing the skin above his cheekbone. his words fade into the moment and he looks down at hawon, surprised, before a small, pleasantly confused smile begins to grace his lips.

“what was that for?”

[taehyunfey]

//macabre magic

@feyhawon

they’ve long since left the main event of the evening, taehyun leading hawon out through the least dense crowd he can find toward the nearest exit. his head was still swimming with whatever alcoholic concoction his peers had poured carelessly down his throat, and he’s certain his vision still sparkles with a thin layer of what’s left of whatever harmless psychedelic charm once sat at the bottom of his glass. but the moon was high and the night was young and he knew all too well what that meant for the festivities of the witches’ halloween bash; he knew from experience, from word of mouth and prior years’ parties, and he knew that this was a year he did not belong in that particular portion of the night’s celebrations. 

he also knew hawon should not be there either, and at the first sign of unbridled, indiscriminate affection among witches he knew and witches he didn’t, taehyun had curled long fingers around hawon’s wrist, gently but firmly, and guided him wordlessly toward the door.

now, they walked, still tethered at the hand, but with hawon’s hand in his, through the nearest cemetery, air thick with the energy of spirits eager to crossover on an open pathway created by the moon hanging in the bright night sky.

hawon would know how comically stereotypical this was of taehyun, the jaeseung witch luring the object of his affections through the beds of the dead, perhaps to tempt his newfound partner in magic to dabble in necromancy or blood magic or worse. but taehyun had no intention of dragging hawon into any dark arts, too cautious of his own dabbling to subject his closest friend to its dangers. instead, he knew the cemetery would be a welcome peaceful contrast to the party they’d just snuck out of: crisp, clean air buzzing gleefully with otherworldly magic; a wide empty space uncrowded physically but crowded spiritually.

there was some truth to the stereotypes, taehyun thought, as he snuck a glance at hawon’s expression out of his peripheral vision, certain he could see the moonlight’s casting its ethereal magic across the pink crown of hair. truth in that he had the slightest hope this might be a little romantic, in that strange, macabre way a cemetery on the night of the dead could be.

“feeling better?” he tries, with a knowing smile, turning to hawon as they walk carefully across the varied terrain of full earth covered in manicured lawn, “we could always go back, if you want.”

[taehyunfey]

feysehun​:

life’s a mess. {open starter}

sehun practically falls out of the bar’s open door, his arm tight around the shoulder of one of his closest friends. there’s nothing but laughter and good feelings in the air. it had been a long time since he had left behind his mantle of a gwiin witch with a steep family history and expectations and traded that in for simply being sehun, a guy with a long list of friends and not enough time to spend with all of them.

when his oldest friend, a human with no connections to the other world, had reached out for a night of drinking and catching up with other people they had gone to high school with, well sehun hadn’t been able to turn him down. instead he found himself looking forward to the taste of barbecue and soju, of memories and laughter. and the night had given him exactly what he had hoped for.

but as quickly as it seemed the night started, it also ended. sehun feels his happy mood dropping quickly as he waves goodbye to his friends and turns on his heel to head towards his apartment. the streets are still busy, packed with people as they try their best to take advantage of the nice weather before fall descends on the city. sehun loves watching the locals and tourists flutter around the stores and stalls on the busy streets.

ducking down a sidestreet, still warm and light with the taste of peach soju, he fails to notice all of the signs at first. he doesn’t feel how the temperature drops, the street lights above him flickering on and off, or how the breeze picks up, fluttering past, ruffling signs and tugging at the fabric of his shirt. he doesn’t realize something is wrong until he’s knee deep in it, until there are the familiar chilling touches against his neck and the whispers of a collection of voices against his ear all fighting to be heard, growing louder and louder. sehun stops mid step, slumping against the brick wall of a nearby building head in his hands.

on my way. just got off the train, should be there in 15

he types out the message to his group chat with practiced ease, watching hollow check marks fill as the others read it one by one (one goes unfilled, undoubtedly hawon, whose phone has either died or gone completely ignored in favor of minjun’s, assuming he hasn’t skipped out on the evening entirely). it’s a relief to have this to look forward to after an exceptionally tedious day of work. a night of social leisure and modest debauchery with his closest friends will be a pleasant way to cleanse himself of eight hours’ worth of cataloging the museum’s armor and weapons of war exhibits. 

he’s already undoing the collar of his shirt, and then another button, the heat of the day still lingering in the evening air and clinging to the expensive fabric of his work clothes. his phone buzzes, but it’s not a response from his friends, as he expected. instead, it’s a pointed reminder from his father that the family has an appointment tomorrow tomorrow, with parents of a young gwiin witch who has just returned from a year abroad. please brush up on your italian, his father follows up with, garnering an eye roll from taehyun, who has not learned a word of italian in his life. it’s similar enough to spanish that you shouldn’t be able to embarrass yourself too poorly, is the follow up, as if the man can read his mind from across the country. 

taehyun sighs, a clear tell of a fresh bout of anxiety making its way into his airways.

“sorry-” his toe nudges something too firm to be street debris and he looks up from his phone, pocketing his device as he takes in the sight of a young man slouched against a wall, cradling his head in his hands. 

“you okay?” he scowls in concern and confusion as he slows to a complete stop, then feels the ripple in the air around him, the subtle silent hum that drags a line of goosebumps down his forearms. he can’t tell for certain, but it doesn’t feel particularly hostile at first. at the very least, he doesn’t sense anything threatening, and that’s a good place to start.

“do you...need help with that?”

[taehyunfey]

feyhawon​:

stars in the water.

“i hate you,” he threatens, without actually hating taehyun at all. he doesn’t enjoy being scared and he certainly refutes his friend’s terrible impression of his shriek. hawon insists he didn’t sound like that, that there’s no way he screamed at all; it was probably some wildlife that taehyun is mistaking for his best friend’s voice. na hawon never screams like a little girl when he’s startled. “if you did have a camera i’d throw it into the middle of the lake right now. and i wouldn’t even feel bad ‘cause i know you can afford like twelve more.” he wrinkles his nose up at the other, making a face to really punctuate his displeasure.

a quiet hum confirms he’s thinking the same thing: the water is cold, but not cold enough to warrant getting out just yet. hawon is a summer baby, a child of sunburns and pool parties, and he’ll be damned if he lets a little lake chill get the best of him. “buy me a warmer lake next year,” he jokes, but with taehyun he never quite knows how far all of his jokes will go. surely his best friend understands that almost everything that comes out of hawon’s mouth is pure shit. not that he’d complain if taehyun really did buy him a lake. that’d be kind of awesome.

taehyun’s smile makes the butterflies caged in his stomach do some sort of elaborate dance, flying every which way until his insides almost feel ticklish under their delicate wings. he’s beautiful, hawon thinks briefly. he’s known it objectively since the first day they met, thought it on and off ever since. he’ll say it was this summer solstice when it all started, but looking back he could be convinced that it all began much longer ago than that. hawon has been called every sort of stupid there is by almost everyone he knows, but he might actually start to believe it.

“please, i don’t even have to expect it. i bet you’re already planning next year.” he grins, deflects from the matter at hand for just a little longer. it’s inevitable now that he’s begin the conversation, even if taehyun has no idea where this train of thought is going yet. “you know you could rent me a bouncy castle sized for toddlers and i’d find a way to have a good time.” resourceful in all the wrong ways, that’s how hawon would describe himself.

he’s not sure where to position himself for this next part. if he should swim closer to taehyun, make himself comfortable in his space as he’s done a hundred times before, so all they can see is each others faces. or maybe distance is the better option, less overwhelming for the both of them and easier to flee the situation overall. hawon decides on some middle ground, close enough to reach out and touch but a far more respectful distance than he’s probably known for. “um,” he really wishes he had just one more drink for courage right now, “there’s something else i want to tell you too.”

hawon takes a breath.

“i didn’t mention it ‘cause i thought you knew, but there was definitely an attraction spell on you way back on the solstice. i felt it. and then you did the protection spell, to attract good intentions, and holy shit i felt it,” some details go unsaid, an explanation for why he pulled his hands away, an apology for that somewhere lost in the words he doesn’t say. “but you know how those spells work. they only amplify what’s already there. anyways, what i’m trying to say is that i haven’t stopped thinking about it since the solstice. i haven’t stopped… feeling it.”

he studies taehyun’s face. his words die in his throat before he can go any further. is this alright? is he ruining everything by confessing?

“rude,” he laughs, with no indication at all that he’s even remotely offended by hawon’s useless threat, “what if it was a family heirloom? you’d feel bad then i bet. what if it was a cursed family heirloom? you know what my family’s curses are like. even i wouldn’t be able to help you then.” he punctuates his own empty threat with another small splash of water aimed at hawon’s face.

“i didn’t buy you the lake, hawon,” it’s a necessary clarification, it would seem. realistically, if he did want to buy a lake, he could afford it, if he saved up enough salary and allowance and put the pools together. but it would be grounds for disapproval from his parents’ perspective, should he buy something so grand and impractical for anyone but himself (and, transitively, whoever the future recipient of his dowry and fortune would be). not to mention the obvious qualms any reasonable person would have with purchasing a large body of water for someone like na hawon to use at his own discretion: “knowing you, you’d find some way to piss off the creature living at the bottom of it, and we’d never see you again. i am not fighting off hangry mermaids for you, so don’t get too attached to your limbs.”

it’s an extreme version of the truth, hawon’s playful assumption that taehyun has already begun planning next year’s festivities. as is typical of the gwiin witch, he seems to have forgotten everything that comes between now and then, all of the events taehyun will be expected to have a hand in putting on over the next three hundred and sixty-five days: events for work and the museum, events for his family, events for his peers (perhaps an event for his own birthday, but that feels tacky thanks to his parents’ stringent ideals of status and wealth). no, in hawon’s world, his birthday might as well be the only day of the year that matters.

“maybe. maybe i’m already mapping out the fireworks show in my head. maybe you’ll never know...”

but hawon’s suddenly serious, a lull in friendly banter fading the smile from hawon’s face and bringing him closer in the water. his tone pulls taehyun’s attention immediately, and he starts to lessen the distance between them as well, meeting hawon halfway with the beginnings of a concerned scowl on his brow.

“i’m sorry,” he starts to apologize, gently, for the nth time, thinking hawon was made uncomfortable by the solstice, still hasn’t processed it for lack of closure from the day, “i said i’d make it up to you, didn’t i? i meant it-”

but he keeps speaking, blind-siding taehyun with a mirrored version of what he went through the first time he met hawon, years ago, though there was no spell on taehyun then. 

his own voice is uncharacteristically small when it seems his turn to speak, timid and tentative, afraid of rejection in that way he has been since he learned what the word meant.

“feeling what?” because he has to hear it, has to hold his breath to keep this moment still and calm and unbroken until he knows for sure.

[taehyunfey]

--what histories

@feysooyeon

taehyun is used to black tie affairs, to dressing up in fresh-pressed suits and sipping from crystal glasses while making small talk with wealthy strangers who always somehow have a hand in his future. but this feels slightly different somehow, rubbing elbows with the country’s entire undead population. in the fey’s hierarchy of things, certainly witches are above vampires, vampires, who were created to serve the fey by curbing human populations. but here, it doesn’t feel that way; here, it feels like they were lucky to be let in with the skin of their necks still intact; here, taehyun is more aware of his mortality than he’s ever been.

his mentor assures him there is nothing to worry about: the council will be present, which will almost undoubtedly prevent any adverse actions from vampires. and taehyun assures himself that there is no reason to fear a room full of civilized vampires; he’s no longer a schoolchild, and he has every means to defend himself against a fanged servant of the fey. if ever there was a time to let his fire loose, a rogue bloodsucker’s tirade would be it.

still, he is somewhat intimidated, there is an air of intrigue to it; it’s hard not to be intimidated by a hotel full of immortals whose collective age is probably somewhere in the tens of thousands. he doesn’t know how to make conversation with them without being invasive or presumptuous: what is eternity like, what histories have they witnessed, what can they tell him that lifeless artifacts in his museum cannot? so he defaults to the persona he wears at witch events, charming and handsome, but otherwise quiet and unoffensive, letting his mentor do most of the talking as he soaks in everything he can.

he slips away to seek refills for their glasses, sparkling wine to avoid any unfortunate mix-ups that might involve red liquid, pauses at an impressive ice sculpture display, when he spots a familiar face behind a small mountain of white freesias. somehow, it feels awkward now, now that he knows what he knows about sooyeon, about minjun, about hawon, about himself. he clears his throat with a hint of dramatics to it, but smiles politely at her, only a hint of the awkward strain behind the otherwise perfectly friendly expression.

“i didn’t realize you’d be here,” he admits, not realizing that his words could still be read as a potential smite of her status or character and certainly not intending it to be. he extends his arm across the display, offering her the second glass of champagne in his hand, “enjoying yourself, i take it?”

[taehyunfey]

feyhawon​:

stars in the water.

the water is colder than he expects. his first yelp is in shock, a spoiled kid expecting the warmth of a temperature-controlled pool instead of whatever nature has done with the lake water this season. but jumping in as quickly as he did also means he adjusts to the water quicker; now that his head has gone under the surface and his hair is dripping, the water is a lot less shocking. he still lets out one quick ‘brr!’ if only just to make noise. hawon’s turning to complain to taehyun; first to tease that he should’ve heated up the lake for his birthday, what a terrible friend, and second to berate him for being too slow to join him in the water.

he doesn’t get the words out before taehyun’s graceful dive into the black water. hawon watches the surface, even tries to trace the path taehyun’s momentum should’ve taken him with his eyes, only to see absolutely nothing at all. that’s fine, taehyun is a good swimmer, he’s just enjoying the water. but, just as taehyun planned, hawon begins to worry. there’s no soul-sucking monsters on this earth (at least, not anymore), but there’s weeds and rocks and neither of them could see the bottom of the water when they jumped in. what if taehyun dove too deep and hit his head? what if he’s tangled up in long, grassy foliage that grows at the bottom? what if-

there’s a shout behind him and hawon doesn’t even think to stifle his rather girlish shriek of surprise. he knows the second after his shock that it’s just taehyun, that he was never in any danger at all, and that no longfish is going to bother them tonight. he vents his anger in a big splash right at the other young man’s face, his own expression twisted up in exaggerated annoyance. “i hate you!” he gasps, shoving just a little more water at his friend for good measure, “you fucking scared me!”

hawon kicks away from the other, going so far as to (gently) push off of taehyun’s body with his own feet for a little backwards momentum. he half-floats like that, arms flapping in the water to support a position where he can still stare down the other and watch him for any other nefarious tricks. it’s much quieter out here, just the faintest thrumming of music and voices from the house. quiet too, with the sky looking massive and full above their heads. hawon sits back properly, lets himself drift for a few seconds staring up at the sky. but even he is wary enough of open water not to zone out for too long and frog-kicks his way closer to taehyun and the shore soon enough.

“actually, i wanted to talk to you,” he feels a plume of nervous butterflies take flight in his stomach. even saying this much, still casual and not so much as hinting at anything makes him a bit nervous. hawon almost wishes he had another drink before coming out here; maybe he should’ve gotten smashed and not have to remember potentially ruining a friendship tonight. “i mean, first of all, thank you for all of this. it’s amazing.”

the alcohol is already beginning its telltale buzz through his veins, and it shows in the unbridled laughter that splits his face into a bright, easy grin. his prank was a success, and it’s evident in the chilly splash of water that smacks him in the face, courtesy of hawon. his hair plasters itself to his forehead, and he flicks his head to flip soaked fringe out of his eyes, splashing hawon right back in a display of his easygoing triumph.

“i wish i had a camera,” he announces, gloating shamelessly in the face of his best friend’s startled retaliation, “i’ve never heard you scream like that. i didn’t know your voice even went that high.” he pauses his laughter to mimic hawon’s shriek, albeit quieter, so as not to attract anymore unwanted attention from invited guests or uninvited woodland creatures that may be lurking nearby than hawon’s typical high volume may already have. he also takes the moment to catch his breath, legs working to tread the pitch black water underneath him, the moonlight on its surface barely broken up by the shining mop of black hair now stuck to the contours of his face and neck.

he’s still smiling in lingering amusement as he watches hawon swim back away from him, glancing only briefly at the obnoxious beacon of debauchery that is the booming, shaking lakehouse just up the way from the water.

“it’s cold,” he comments obviously, shrugging off the smallest shiver that travels up his spine as his body starts to get used to the lake’s natural chill. he knows he’ll regret this when they step out onto the shore, naked bodies covered in cold water exposed to the amplified chill of the night and slipping into wrinkled clothes that are just as chilled, without a single towel in sight.

taehyun’s considering summoning a pair of towels for them from the hall closet on the topmost floor of the party’s venue when hawon treads back toward him and speaks, and the fleeting thought leaves him, replaced by casual curiosity at the subtle shift in hawon’s demeanor. he doesn’t hide his surprise at the overt display of gratitude from hawon, who typically and happily takes without acknowledging or returning favors.

“you’re very welcome,” he returns with a half-smile, still anticipating some sort of caveat to show itself in hawon’s next few breaths, “even if i’m sure you’ll expect me to out-do myself next year.”

[taehyunfey]

feyhawon​:

stars in the water. 

taehyun is tense. hawon can feel it in every inch of space that they share, his friend strung so tight that the smallest of pressure might cause him to snap. it’s a good thing that hawon has always had the looser, more fluid personality. everything about him is bright, loud. he knows he grates on taehyun’s nerves sometimes, but isn’t tonight’s celebration evidence enough of just how much taehyun tolerates him?

if he’s being honest, he’d say that taehyun really should have known better. there’s no way that the young witches were ever going to be gentle and considerate once they had been let loose to party however they’d like. add in the couple of vampires who also made it onto the guest list (per hawon’s special request; he still hasn’t seen kijung which is a damn shame), and it’s a perfect recipe for disaster. literally. if hawon cared a little bit more about responsibility and poor taehyun’s inevitable nervous breakdown right now, he might’ve said something, stopped a few guests from doing something stupid. but he’s hawon, and it’s his birthday, and he’s always been an agent of chaos in one way or another on a normal day.

“i trust you,” he gushes, shifting positions to hug taehyun’s arm to his chest instead now. it’s much more comfortable. “you’re so detailed. i bet you know exactly what’s native to this part of the lake already, you’re just making up excuses ‘cause you know i’m the better swimmer.” it’s a challenge, a little extra temptation to get his friend to do what he wants him to. plus, eels are probably the least of their concerns. they’re witches after all, aren’t they?

a curious glance over to the victims of taehyun’s shouting is all that’s spared before forgetting about them completely, instead grinning wildly as he finally cracks and takes the drink. and what a drink it is; hawon would be impressed if they weren’t partying with a few hanu witches tonight too; they make drinking look professional. but hawon is nothing short of thrilled that he’s gotten his way, that taehyun’s agreed to come out to the lake with him. the glass is set down (with a satisfying thump) and hawon wastes no time in tugging taehyun’s arm toward the nearest lake-side exit.

the signature grin lays proudly on his face, eyes and teeth catching the faintest bit of moonlight as they head outside. hawon takes a deep breath of fresh lake air and pretends it smells better than a lot of dead fish. he’s pescatarian after all; if he’s not sick of dead fish by now, then he may never be. there’s only a moment of pause, a second where he considers just pushing taehyun into the water fully clothed, before he thinks better of that and instead strips down to underwear and hurtles into the water with reckless abandon. taehyun will follow, if only to make sure he doesn’t drown or get killed by one of those eels. hawon never has to look where he leaps; he’s confident that he has someone to catch him wherever he may fall.

he can feel himself succumbing to hawon’s ministrations almost immediately, even with the sound of desperate retching and cruel whooping still invading the air from the other room. he lets himself, because it is admittedly nice to have a moment of familiar warmth with his best friend as a reprieve from the countless responsibilities of putting together the perfect birthday party for him. it’s obvious that hawon, at least, is having a good time, which is, taehyun reminds himself, what matters most about the events of the evening, even if it means taehyun might be the one eating nothing but instant ramen for the next month.

“yes,” he nods, putting on an air of eager insistence, as if he is genuinely concerned about what awaits them in the depths of the lake, “eels. like i said. venomous ones. and longfish,” he adds hastily, as they push through designer-clad guests he can recognize by face and name at the drop of a hat, “longfish that- suck up your soul through your big toe. so i hope you’re not too attached to your soul or anything.” he can be reckless with hawon, or as reckless as he is humanly capable of, which is nowhere close to hawon’s default. but he can let his guard down, can allow himself to be a bit unbridled, a bit more playful, less frigid and proper. he doesn’t have to impress hawon, he never has, not since the day they first met, years ago. it’s refreshing to have that much of a break, when he must work so hard to impress literally everyone else, even in the comfort of his own family home.

they make it outside relatively unbothered, most of the party’s guests too far gone to pay much attention to the birthday boy and their host slipping out through the front doors and into the night. it’s nearly pitch black outside; taehyun picked this house on purpose, because of its remote location and lakefront appeal, but it means that they are surrounded by nothing but trees and lake, the only electric light being what spills out from the glass walls of the house gradually shrinking behind them. hawon darts out to the modest pier like an excitable puppy, leaving taehyun to catch up with him as he does. taehyun takes the moment to glance up at the sky, to take in the unpolluted stars and bright waxing moon. there is a heaviness in the air, though not an unpleasant one: it’s moisture, he realizes, pressure changing to give way to an imminent storm. it’s left the woods around the wake quiet of animal life as well. he wonders if hawon’s even noticed.

once he’s clocked the storm (an hour, maybe, give or take a half hour; he’s a little out of practice), he toes out of his shoes, tugs his shirt over his head, undoes his trousers and lets them fall in an uncharacteristically unruly pile in the grass. then he travels to the end of the pier, diving gracefully into the dark water with barely a splash. at first, there is only darkness, a moment of instinctual concern as he attempts to get his bearings in the dim, murky depths. then he circles around, peers through the dark gray toward the moon’s reflection on the surface until he can make out pale legs and a hint of pink hair. he waits a few more long moments, careful to leave the surface where he dove undisturbed, long enough to worry his companion, before kicking suddenly to the surface, popping up just behind hawon with a shout.

“look out! a longfish!”

[taehyunfey]

feyhawon​:

stars in the water.

@taehyunfey

“i wanna go swimming,” he bursts forth from the crowd, a grin sitting loosely on his face now that he has a couple drinks in him. not enough to be messy, just enough to be fun. he has to stretch up to get his arm around taehyun’s shoulders, not a very comfortable position when his friend is standing to his full height, but hawon doesn’t care right now. he just wants to be close, close enough that his senses are overwhelmed and fixated on one person among dozens. the feeling from the solstice never really went away, that giddy breathlessness when shadows dance across his friend’s well-sculpted face, or when he’s ruffling his hair or pushing him around, as best friends do. the spell has long worn off, hawon knows, but the feeling stayed. which means it’s not magic. which means it’s real.

he pouts in taehyun’s face for now. “you can’t say no to me. it’s my birthday.”

not that taehyun had forgotten this, if hawon could ever let him. his best friend is the host for tonight’s activities, a beautiful house on the lake rented for the weekend for a bunch of adolescent witches (and a few vampires) to get away, to celebrate the anniversary of the very first day that hawon came into the world screaming- and hasn’t shut up once since then.

hawon may be tipsy, a little extra loose-lipped than usual, but his cleverness hasn’t completely deserted him. he knows his friend well enough to know he’s going to be tense and uptight, that he’s going to take on too much responsibility for the house and the party. that’s exactly why he came prepared with a drink already in hand, pushing it onto taehyun until he takes it. he promises he only took one sip, maybe two, on his way across the room to get it here.

“c’mon, hyun, look outside. the moon’s almost full and you can see the stars in the water. come with me, please?”

he doesn’t tell him that he wants to get away from the noise (that he usually loves getting lost in) or to get the both of them alone somewhere away from all of those eyes and ears. he doesn’t tell taehyun that there’s words laying too heavily on his chest for his tongue to dig out. things he’s been planning to say all week, all month if he’s being honest. he’s still not sure he can get them out, but there’s a little liquid courage in his belly. and it’s his birthday; taehyun isn’t allowed to be mad at him today.

at the time, it had seemed like a good idea, putting together a massive celebration for his best friend’s birthday, renting a lavish modern lakehouse and filling it with the most elite of hawon’s social circles. with minjun’s help, taehyun had planned everything down to the last champagne flutes: rented the venue, prepped a guest list, ordered the catering, saw to the importing of a fresh batch of ayuhuasca tea, everything it took to make a gwiin’s birthday party exceptional. if he kept a keen eye and a steady hand, the party was sure to go off without a hitch, both amping up his reputation as a decent event host and, more importantly, making hawon’s birthday a night to remember.

taehyun has regrets now. mostly, he’s tired of babysitting, the night not half over. already he’s seen furniture damaged, floor-to-ceiling windows smudged, drinks spilled, food thrown. he knows that, if he were on the opposite end of things, was attending instead of hosting, that he would most likely be partaking in the dionysian ruckus of the evening, lost in food and wine and music and laughter. but currently all he sees are won signs falling out of his account like rocks, liabilities he will undoubtedly be paying for out of his own pocket springing up left and right. 

it’s when he is feeling the edge both mentally and physically, after minjun leaves, like a relentless ringing in the space between his eyes, that hawon bursts from the crowd in a cotton candy whirlwind, face tinted as rosy as the silken mop on his head. i wanna go swimming, he declares through that unbridled grin, the one that hasn’t changed since the first time they met, at an event much more formal than this one. 

“what?” taehyun’s barely heard him, his focus zoning in on the sound of wet retching in the next room over, “won, we’re in the middle of nowhere. there could be, i dunno, eels in that lake or something.”

“hey!” he snaps suddenly and sharply over hawon’s head, toward the faceless culprit, “clean that up, or i swear to fey i will come over there and feed it to you!”

it seems he only notices the drink hawon’s shoved into his hand in that moment, and something clicks in his brain as he tosses the entire beverage back in one swift go. 

“fuck it,” he mutters to himself as he concedes to hawon’s request (demand), setting the glass down with a little extra force than necessary, making his decision on the spot. he planned the party, he might as well enjoy it, “if i drown out there, don’t save me.”

[taehyunfey]

feyxzhixin​:

CRITICAL KISMET;

A lot can happen in ten seconds and Zhixin isn’t counting, really, but he does take into consideration that he has roughly ten seconds to make a point or ready himself to fight someone in broad daylight in front of basically everyone on campus. Not that many students even pay attention to what’s going on outside of their own little worlds anyway, but were they to decide to for once, he would certainly be to blame. It’s the hefty weight of two choices that sit on his shoulders, one completely opposing to the next, that eats away the majority of the passing time between them, with each second feeling shorter than the next. There’s so much residual anger in him that the thought of just doing something to pacify it is tempting. Even if the target gets placed on the wrong back, it’s still a target and he hasn’t ever taken pleasure in the concept of violence before, but then he thinks of fairness and justice and it almost feels right to be ignorant if it meant he could just get that sentiment off of his chest; the one that keeps chanting an eye for an eye, the one that just wants someone to hurt like he did.  Then, humorlessly, he looks at the spilled coffee on the ground and snorts because the logical part of him knows better, knows that answers aren’t hidden in fists or blood, only endings. No matter how good it would feel to just punish something — for the suffering, for the sleepless nights, for all of this — other than himself, it wouldn’t get him anywhere closer to finding honest solutions to those problems and what good was momentary relief when it wouldn’t mean anything in the end. He can’t wake up his friend or forgive a family ( or himself for that matter) with savagery.  “I need names.” He says, making eye contact again, without letting go of the other’s shirt, because he can’t risk someone running off with the information he desperately needs. The man could tear his arms off, for all he cares, he wasn’t letting go any time soon. “The people you were with, I need their names and, if you’re feeling generous, I need to know where I could find them.” He thinks back to the smile that curled on the lips of the one individual in particular he was hoping for information on, thinks about how it only took that one gesture and zero words to confirm intentions and to fill in a good ninety-seven percent of the blanks in his head. Subconsciously, his grip tightens. He’s so locked in place with the rush of anger, Zhixin nearly forgets to breathe, studying the far from pleased expression staring back at him and forcing himself to really notice who’s staring back. If he had a more in depth grasp of the language he knows he would say something equally as witty and threatening, but he’s stuck with what he has and at the very moment all he can muster is an ugly sounding “You wouldn’t be giving me something I don’t already have.” He realizes he doesn’t have much, and the feeling grips his throat without mercy. Distance happens between them but it isn’t much, just enough to wedge away from the wall at least. 

The stranger snorts, almost derisively, at Taehyun’s spilled coffee, and it makes the witch bristle even further, if that’s possible.

“Something funny?” He lets his own derisiveness show in a display of unamused sarcasm. Perhaps he isn’t as wary of the situation as he should be, having made it through several other bizarre brushes of death recently, and all with his head still attached to his body. He wonders if this is a curse, if somebody’s plucked a hair off of his person and dropped it into some sizzling mortar somewhere, laced in runes and chanting and misplaced vengeance. It would be explanation enough for his run-ins with malicious, hot-headed strangers. 

“That’s like a six thousand won cup of coffee you ruined, by the way.” It’s a useless detail, frivolous, considering the circumstances. But Taehyun points it out nonetheless, because he is feeling spurned, and unfairly targeted. He has friends for more reckless than he who get off far more easily, and he can’t help but question what he did to piss off fate this much that he can be so easily accosted for simply minding his own business. Maybe, he starts to think to himself, the Jaeseung curse isn’t a myth after all.

I need names. The people you were with, I need their names...

It’s Taehyun turn to snort, staring back at the offensive stranger with a certain emboldened annoyance. A hunter, then, or a frightened human who pissed off the wrong witch and wants Taehyun to tattle, as if he’d turn in his own kind to a random human, let alone one wrinkling designer polyester between the clenched fingers of rough, graceless hands.

“Yeah, sure. Why don’t I just lead you to their doorsteps while I’m at it?” Taehyun’s intentions are clear: he has no inclination to give the man any of the requested information whatsoever. Whatever his friends did, he’s confident they had good reason, and he likes to think that, if any of them were in his shoes, they would protect their own as well, would refuse to sell him out. He can feel the grip on his shirt tighten and his own palms begin to warm dangerously, heat brimming at the surface in anticipation of closing it around fragile, unprotected skin. But he forces it back, contains it within itself, just in time for the offending hands to loosen, putting distance between the two of them.

Taehyun’s glare doesn’t lighten.

“Oh cut it with the Buffy act,” he punctuates his disdain with a scoff, tugging his shirt back into place and smoothing out his collar, “I can guarantee you’ve never had your eyes melted out of your skull -- you’re welcome -- so put the angst away and explain to me again why you thought assaulting me was a good idea.”

[taehyunfey]

feyhawon​:

//idle hands

his body curls around a fist that never actually touches him, instinctive, and hawon’s grinning even despite the massive flinch. it’s comfortable here, taehyun’s arm around his shoulders and the buzz of a crowd around them. it’s familiar, it’s safe. if he can count on anyone, it’s taehyun. even if they bicker and squabble every time they’re together for more than ten minutes like especially indignant old hens.

“good luck,” he rolls his eyes, not really wishing taehyun any luck at all. the whole wedding thing, again. he swears, sometimes his best friend acts like a damsel, like he’ll be left to the wolves if he can’t secure his place as another witch’s spouse. they’re, like, barely more than twenty. they’ve got a good sixty years left in them at least. hawon’s in no rush to get married (much to his parents’ dismay ‘why can’t you be more like your sister?’), so he can never quite understand taehyun’s urgency. he bites back words that he’s said a hundred times before though; taehyun doesn’t need to hear that hawon thinks it’s stupid yet again.

he thought he was clean, or at least as clean as he could be without going home and thoroughly sanitizing every inch of skin. the important thing is that he’s not sticky and that he’s wearing a fresh set of clothes, even though the fake potion is still on his skin and the cute from the glass only barely scabbed over. hawon’s not really surprised when taehyun leans in to sniff him properly, but his face still wrinkles up. “what are you, a dog? don’t tell me you went and got bit by one of your werewolf hookups. you’ll really never find a witch wife then.”

hawon holds his hands out, palms up for taehyun to see. the cuts add to the story, give a little more truth beyond the smell. “can you believe some asshole vampire pushed me into a potion booth? it was all fake anyways, but she bottled everything in glass. what a fucking mess.” he says it oh so innocently, as if he had nothing to do with instigating said vampire. hawon would swear up and down that he was totally innocent, even if he knows taehyun will always know better.

“gee thanks,” he returns, amused, though with no hint of anything but pleasant sarcasm, ruffling hawon’s hair again before letting his arm fall back over his shoulders, “i am drowning in your enthusiastic support, truly i am.”

taehyun is not so impervious that he doesn’t know how hawon feels about taehyun’s family pursuit of his betrothal, though even the densest, thickest skull in the world could not keep this fact out. he has always, since their friendship began, been vocal about his less-than-generous opinion of the entire concept. they come from very different bubbles within the same world, hawon, from a family that can afford to put less stock in the marriage of their younger child, even if he is a boy (man, now; it’s hard to shake the image of them as young teens when they have been friends for so long, best friends almost immediately, even in light of their glaring differences). and though the na family does not necessarily boast the same wealth as taehyun’s, they make up for it in gwiin-induced charm and prestige: hawon does not have any social black holes to climb out of, his birthright granting him the reckless freedom he embraces so naturally.

hawon bites back his words, but taehyun might as well have heard them in his head nonetheless.

“no,” he laughs, removing his arms from hawon’s shoulders to shove him away instead, “that’s just what happens when you pay attention to your herbology tutors. you know, you should try it some time.”

then there is a story being told, scratched up palms held out for him to see. he frowns softly in mild concern, reaching out to pull hawon back toward him with a firm but friendly grasp around one of his wrists as he examines the mild cuts.

“your hands. has this fucked up any of your readings? ‘you will die in seven days’, any of that popping up now?”

then there is an explanation given, as if hawon is the one true victim of some horrible, unprompted crime. taehyun looks at him as he often does, like a friend who could smell his bullshit from another world away. it doesn’t stop taehyun from quirking a judgmental brow at the other male, hand still wrapped around his wrist.

“mhm. and what did you do to this vampire to warrant that kind of response?”

[taehyunfey]

feyxzhixin​:

Critical Kismet.

He isn’t sure why he’s on campus still. Classes ended about two hours ago and he’s found himself pacing the same path through the central common area where the trees are always occupied by napping or studying colleagues. In a way, it’s comforting and that’s probably why he’s here in the first place; to not feel so alone when he goes home and maybe also because he remembers reading somewhere that walking is a healthy activity to better mental wellness. Maybe if he just keeps walking then eventually he’ll just eventually forget all of the negativity he’s managed to kick up in the past couple of months. Zhixin nearly laughs at how pathetic that sounds but then he drops his pencil case and he can’t afford to lose another one of his good pens.

Somewhere between plunging his hand into the freshly cut grass just off of the pathway and crouching down to collect his things, he raises his head to see if anyone witnessed him being clumsy for what feels like the first time in forever because hunter’s aren’t raised to make easy mistakes like this and he hates that he can hear that sentiment to the tune of his father’s voice. If he closes his eyes for second he swears he could feel the older man’s rings pressing into his jaw to illicit fear, so he doesn’t close his eyes, so he looks ahead to a group of students who sadly notice his commotion despite being a good trek away. At first, Zhixin is hyper aware of how the blood is rushing to his ears, but then the instincts in him practically rip his eyes from his skull with the force in which they pinpoint the silhouette of a recognizable figure, leaning against the side of a building. 

The acid in his stomach makes a straight jump into his throat and he’s convinced he hasn’t felt this horrible in a long time. He’s convinced if someone physically lit him on fire at this very moment it would feel better than making eye contact with the person solely responsible for the avalanche that is his life right now.  To make it worse, he swears they smile before darting ⁠— no, vanishing into the shadows the school building provides, and he knows he’s not hallucinating when suddenly the small crowd of other bodies around them begin to phase out of vision too. All but one. The bag, the pens, the workbooks all get left behind before that individual has the choice to flee with them. He wouldn’t be responsible for losing another chance to do something, anything. Even if that meant sprinting across the commons to collide with a stranger against the brick of their science hall, jaw clenched and the fabric of their shirt balled into his fists so tight he can feel his own knuckles screaming white. “You’re not going anywhere.” He hisses between lungfuls of air.

@taehyunfey

Taehyun doesn’t mind being back on campus; even after graduating from university, his world is a small one, his social circle comprised of a small group of elite witches close in age, and in understanding. Some of them have not yet graduated, having started university a year or two after him, pursuing a degree in a field that demands more than four years, or perhaps eyeing graduate school to even further up the ante on the competitive quality of their resumes. Taehyun has considered it, another round of schooling, though he can recall vividly the times his family has discouraged him, citing the cost compared to the value of a graduate degree in the non-magical world when they are already pouring so much time and family capital into securing his future among his own kind.

The campus acts as a hub for the busy adolescents to get together in the midst of busy, unaligning schedules, career-adults of the group treating the ‘starving’ (they are usually far from hungry, often, like Taehyun, delving into their monthly portion of family fortunes to get by) students to a round of expensive coffee drinks as they catch up on the latest both at school and within their pocket of the witch community. Engagements are, of course, the most common topics, along with gossip that traces along the various twisting branches of distantly intersecting family trees. But they discuss magic too, of course, and the complex (commonly pretentious) theories that come along with their expensive educations, and the status of current events in the world.

Eventually, they dissipate, as usual, to resume their lives after the typical same time next week exchange. There is an uncharacteristic hint of abruptness to it as they take turns fading into the shadows cast by the late evening sunset, however, and Taehyun decides to finish his cold brew before cutting his own reprieve short.

He pulls his phone out, scrolls through a few emails with a calm, thoughtful scowl sitting comfortably on his brow while he lifts his cup for another sip. His reprieve is, ultimately, cut short, in spite of his best efforts, by the sudden slamming of a body into his just as he’s slipped his phone into his pocket. He manages to curl forward slightly, so that his upper back takes the brunt of the collision, instead of his head, but his coffee is not so lucky, splashing its contents against the wall and his shirt before falling with a half-empty thud to the ground.

“What the fuck?!” he is immediately ornery, staring down the stranger accosting him through dark eyes and a threatening aura.

“What the hell’s your problem?”

Surely it can’t be another werewolf territory dispute. He hasn’t even (knowingly) been around werewolves for at least a month. A hunter, maybe? But since when do hunters go after young witches in broad summer daylight? Taehyun’s fingers twitch at the thought of the hunter from weeks ago taking advantage of him at his most vulnerable for an attempt at garroting him with his bare hands. Not again.

“You have about ten seconds to back up off of me before you come out of this with some very nasty scars,” he declares lowly, voice seemingly level despite the dangerous promise behind his words.

[feyevents]

these sentence starters may be used either as drabbles or as thread starters, canon or alternate universe. to let members know that you’d like to receive asks in your inbox for this meme, please reblog this post. and remember “rp karma”; the more memes you send out to your fellow members, the more you’re likely to receive!

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“The best thing to do is always to follow your greatest desire.”

“Sometimes we are what we are, and we should embrace that.”

“Life’s too short to hold grudges.”

“You shouldn’t have to change for anyone. And neither should I.”

“It’s better to move forward than stay stuck in the past.”

“You have to stop taking responsibility for things that you can’t control.”

“Self-worth comes from within, bitches.”

“Sometimes we need to lose something to understand its value.”

“Emotions are hard, but that’s why they make you strong.”

“No matter how bad things get, the true test is how we choose to respond to the pain.”

“We need the most love when we’re being most unlovable.”

“We all need someone to have our backs every now and then.”

“Say you fall in love with a woman who has a cat. What are you gonna do? You accept the cat.” 

“People sometimes kill the people with whom they’re in love. The heart’s mysterious.”

“If you desire something, just take it.”

“That’s why I don’t lie. It’s so hard to keep track of who knows what.”

“Desire shouldn’t be contained, it’s unnatural.”

“I’m not one to get into the feels, usually, but… you seem genuinely distressed.”

“What? Oh, no. I’m not here to stop you. If you want to jump, go for it.”

“I’m done trying to please someone who isn’t ever here.”

“That tingling sensation running up your spine…Inevitability. And the bit running down your leg? Fear.”

“So you want to destroy me. Well, get in line.”

“What makes us vulnerable is often right under our noses.”

“The danger of getting hurt is positively thrilling. Fun with mortality? Bring it.”

“Miracles aren’t my thing, but I’m sure we can come to an arrangement.”

“Just because I’m about to slaughter a man in cold blood doesn’t mean I’m not civilized.”

“Hey! No one calls my skank a skank.”

“Am I dreaming? No, I can’t be, you’re dressed.”

“I don’t fully understand why, but I’m only vulnerable when I’m close to you.”

“Take a swing and I’ll shove that so far up your ass you’ll have splinters in your stool.”

“Remind me at some point to give you a refresher on the meaning of loyalty.”

“No rest for the soulless.”

“I’m great at dismembering humans. How hard can it be to fix one?”

“I guess humanity isn’t entirely awful. They make vodka.”

“This is the craziest plan I’ve ever heard. I’m in.”

“Sometimes there’s a darkness waiting just under the surface.”

“See? Didn’t have to chase him at all. He got tired.”

“What is it this time? Are frogs about to start falling from the sky? Or perhaps winter is coming.”

“I wasn’t afraid of you. I was afraid of losing you.”

“Hey. No one insults my family, except for me.”

“Fetch me the goat!”

“The best time to get things done is when everyone else is asleep.”

“Always gratifying to find out that one’s nemesis is altogether lacking in style.”

“Act like a child, get treated like a child.”

“Turns out an arranged existence kind of takes the spark out of things.”

“Return it with so much as a scratch and I’ll see you in Hell.”

“Oh please. I’m not going to text you every time someone stays the night. Think of my data plan.”

“No, of course not. What do you think I am? Human?”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but there are more important things than me right now.”

[jaevoon]

hes got no business lookin this good 

[taehyunfey]

feyhawon​:

taehyunfey​:

//idle hands

he can appreciate the craftsmanship. it might not be real, or even authentically aged, but hawon can see that the human woman definitely put time into making her store bought spirit boards look unique, special. hand painted, he could tell, and no two exactly the same. he might collect things like this if he had the space or money, or a roommate who may or may not bleed all over them at some point. he’s complimenting her work, and then her, and then chatting her up just to see her flush shyly when he feels a hand on his shoulder.

the boy flinches at first, at least until he recognizes the voice. and then he grins.

hawon wraps an arm around taehyun’s waist, comfortable sharing his space as always. “i dunno,” he muses, as if his friend was actually being serious, and as if he was actually going to purchase a distinctly un-magical board. “are we sure we ever really got the last one out? i might be immune now. or, like, from anything new. i still blackout sometimes.”

color drains from the woman behind the stall’s face. hawon has to laugh. he does thank her for her time and for being so informative about the boards though. the stories she spun were impressive if they had truly been on the spot.

“where have you been?” he punches taehyun in the arm, too weakly to do any significant damage. his hands are going to be scratched and stinging for a while from the fair’s earlier events; fists are a bit painful to make. “my sister has been a slave driver for her plant booth. thank god you found me on a break. you would not believe the time i’ve been having.”

or maybe taehyun would absolutely believe it. he of all people should know what sort of trouble hawon can get into when left to his own devices. being shoved into a booth full of glass is probably one of his less catastrophic adventures.

“ahh,” he nods, dramatically, exaggerated, playing along with hawon in every effort to frazzle the doll-faced fraud behind the table, “you’re absolutely right. that explains a lot. sometimes your eyes still turn black when you blink.”

he turns his attention to the woman, who has now gone remarkably pale, considering the rosy tint that had made itself so firmly in place on her cheeks only moments earlier, “did you know he still speaks in latin sometimes? i thought he was just practicing his english, but then i realized he was speaking backwards. it’s a cool party trick, i wish you could see it.”

taehyun also gives the vendor a polite goodbye through his own laughter, leading hawon away from the stand and down the heavily populated walkway. he chuckles again at hawon’s fist against his bicep, adjusting so he can mime punching him back, in the stomach, before moving his hand to hawon’s other side so he can drape his arm over his shoulders.

“my family’s here,” he explains easily, smile still on his face in spite of the implication of his words, because even the mention of his stone-faced family cannot do much to curb the joy that comes from being around his best friend, “there’s always the chance mother might find a wife for me somewhere between the fake ouija boards and the real truth serums.”

he catches a whiff of something strong from hawon, sweet and floral in nature, then uses his height advantage in the moment to lean his face closer to pink hair, sniffing curiously, and frowning as he considers the strange combination of scents that are not at all akin to hawon’s  normal conditioner (he knows from firsthand experience, having probably used just as much of his best friend’s hair products as his best friend). 

“what is that...sandalwood? camellia? ...basil? you smell like a mortar, what have you been up to?”

[taehyunfey]

//gladiolus

GLADIOLUS: my muse will make your muse a promise // submitted by @feyjinyoung​

there is something tense in jinyoung’s shoulders, even now; taehyun can see it easily from where he’s now hovering over him, hands framing his face where they’re pressed into the mattress. it’s significant enough to make him pause, to take in the face below his.

“you okay?”

there’s a small nod, a “yes,” and then, “i just need...a distraction.”

taehyun smiles slightly, amused, though not unkind, “am i the distraction?”

another “yes. please.”

“okay,” taehyun accepts, bracing himself on an elbow so he can brush jinyoung’s hair out of his face, soft smile still in place, uttering, before he leans in to leave a series of kisses at the junction of his neck and shoulder, “then i’ll help you forget whatever it is that’s giving you shit. i promise.”

taehyun sees him first, before his family does, from across the room. they are in the middle of conversation with a family friend out of gwiin, and her new son-in-law, when he meets jinyoung’s eye and promptly chokes on a mouthful of champagne, trying his best to excuse himself through watering eyes and the bubbled burn now coating his airways.

what is he doing here? it’s virtually rhetorical, the question he asks himself silently, as something resembling mortification crawls up his spine. the real questions, which he has no answer to, are: how could they have done what they did without knowing they hailed from the same world? how had taehyun never met him before? how hadn’t he recognized any signs of another witch when they’d been almost as physically close as any two people could be?

“my gods, boy,” his father utters, under his breath so as not to disturb his mother more than she already is by her son’s ungraceful display, as if he’s nearly drowned in french wine on purpose, just to embarrass them,“what’s wrong with you?”

he excuses himself from the group, toward a refreshments table, to exchange his champagne flute for a glass of ice water. then, when he is certain his family’s attention has turned away from him, he drifts into the formally-clad crowd, cutting through perfectly tailored bodies with murmured apologies until he makes it to jinyoung.

his grasp on the other male’s arm is gentle, but firm, as he pulls him away from prying eyes, toward a corner of the room.

“what are you doing here?” it sounds even more stupid to his own ears when he says it out loud; it is obvious why he is here. so taehyun takes a breath, tries to calm himself. this is not the first time he’s spent the night with a fellow witch, but he tries not to make a habit of it, lest word should spread. and he certainly doesn’t like not knowing that’s what he was doing. what if jinyoung’s family is influential, significant enough to ruin his future marriage prospects over a harmless fling? still, he tries not to express his panic so openly.

“did you know?”

[taehyunfey]

//in the dark

@feyzihuan

he is unaware of the blood on the hands of the man he’s just brought into his condo apartment, has no inclination of the irony that he’s invited a human monster across his threshold, one that thrives on killing the beasts who actually do need to be invited in, according to myth. taehyun is on his own turf, his guard down, surrounded by his own energy and his own possessions, his magic lingering in the air.

there isn’t much need for talking, they exchanged enough words over strongly poured drinks, away from his equally inebriated friends, their focus on their own conquests for the night. even there, in the presence of others, in a dimly lit bar with velour booths and shellac tables, they only had to speak a handful of words to know they were on the same page. that was normal for taehyun, who had, over the years, learned how to communicate through his eyes, even without magic. it was how he’d learned to repurpose the ‘seen, not heard’ principle he’d had ingrained into his psyche by the time he was old enough to walk and talk at the same time.

they are a blur of bodies once the front door is shut behind them, taehyun kicking his shoes aside carelessly, fumbling for the light switch, then giving up, bracing himself with a hand against the corner of the wall. there is a high-end sectional feet away, in the living room, and his bedroom is only a few meters down the hall, through an open door. but it’s unclear whether they’ll make it that far in any direction.

“make yourself at home,” he utters lowly through a tilted, daring smile, dragging the other male toward him with a lazy grip on his forearm, still blind to the danger he’s brought into his home, into his space, closer and closer until even the air they’re breathing is the same.

[taehyunfey]

SNAPDRAGON

send a flower // status: accepting ! SNAPDRAGON: my muse will lie to your muse. 

Vampires should not exist, but they do, and that conundrum has fascinated Taehyun for as long as he can remember. They were created by his most ancient, most magical ancestors to curb the mortal population, given all of the traits of ferocious, blood-thirsty monsters, disguised under a layer of impossible strength, charisma, and beauty. They are the perfect predator, and they defy the laws of death in a world where death is the only real inevitability. He knows firsthand that there are those who actively dissuade their killer instincts, who live among mortals with compassion and empathy. And he knows, from their stories, that there are those who do not exercise those ideals, who hide cruelty and sadism under sultry words and toothy smiles.

Cho Hojin is his own entity, is Wonho, ancient and impossible, a living breathing boogeyman. Taehyun knows that much from the vampires who are kinder, who so generously provide warnings to their mortal peers. But even the undead should pose no threat to witches, the Fae saw to that thousands of years ago. So Taehyun allowed himself to succumb to his curiosity, because he knows his blood is bitter, even to the beast at the bar, whom he’d approached with finessed fascination. Every story book monster has a weakness, surely this one is no exception.

Though it doesn’t feel that way, when he is face to face with the master vampire, on the threshold of the museum’s doors, after hours, in the dark, key and code in hand. Is the vampire stuck there until Taehyun invites him in? Can an old wives’ tale hold any stock against someone who is 1700 years old, perhaps older than than the tale itself?

Aren’t you afraid of me? Asks the cat to the mouse through a powerful stance and a wicked grin. No, Taehyun returns silently, his own posture strong, even in the face of the immortal. It is a lie; death is not to be feared, says the Jaeseung witch, but anything that cheats it must be,

“Ten minutes,” is the parameter he gives the vampire out loud while he holds open the door for him; ten minutes to peruse the museum’s collection, to see if there is a single relic within its walls that might belong to him, “After that, I’ll drag you out of here myself if I have to.”

Another lie: he is not stupid, he knows if it came down to it, he wouldn’t stand a chance.