Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

jungkook was not afraid of the dark. he wasn’t afraid of the silence, or the eerie whistle-y sound of the wind that broke it. he wasn’t afraid of the seemingly endless alleyways he passed, or the looming forest that shadowed the road across from him. full moons, he reminded himself sternly (not afraid), were the ones people said to watch out for. it was a new moon. so jungkook was fine. and he was not scared of the dark.

meow.

jungkook leaped back, heart jumping into his throat as he raised his hands in front of him. his phone clattered noisily to the sidewalk. 

meow.

that was… a decisively not-scary sound. jungkook’s wide eyes dropped down to the concrete in front of him. it was almost impossible to make out in the dark, the only streetlight in the vicinity long blown out, but a cat was curled up on the sidewalk, eyes reflecting the barely there light of the city, body little more than a shadow on the ground. 

jungkook dropped into a squat, cocking his head curiously and meeting the cat’s eyes. it didn’t seem scared of him, but it didn’t approach him either. was it hurt? it was hard to tell in the dark. jungkook reached out a hand for it to sniff, patting around for his phone with the other. 

shit, he thought, running his thumb over the cracked screen. it would take him at least four weeks to save up enough to have that fixed. the cat didn’t sniff his hand, just blinked at him lazily. jungkook turned his flashlight on, pointing it at the ground so he didn’t blind the cat. 

“you don’t look hurt,” he muttered, risking patting the cat on it’s head. it didn’t move, just kept staring. “a little creepy, though,” jungkook accused, scratching under the cat’s chin. “you’re a strange cat. should i feed you?”

meow.

that felt like a yes, but jungkook wasn’t really feeling picking up a cat he found on the street. especially one that just kept staring at him, eyes too pale, too steady. jungkook got to his feet and dusted off his knees, pointing his flashlight closer to the cat. “if you want to eat, you can follow me. if you don’t, i’m assuming you live here and are fed anyways. i’m not coming back for you.”

he paused and looked sternly at the cat, who got to its feet calmly, shaking its paws off one by one and then its full body, rotating rapidly starting from its ears and progressing quickly down to the tip of its tail. it was distinctly unsophisticated for such an imperious looking cat, but jungkook didn’t comment. the cat looked up at him and blinked once.

“... okay, then.” jungkook cleared his throat. “um. let’s go.”

the cat followed closely at his feet sometimes, other times jungkook turned his head to see if it was still there and it would be lingering half a block behind, turning a corner behind him with its tail waving elegantly in the air. “weird,” jungkook grumbled, hitching his bag higher on his shoulders.

it took a little longer to arrive at his apartment, and jungkook paused outside, waiting for the cat to catch up. it took its sweet time, strolling in a loose s-pattern down the sidewalk, eyes glinting as it stared at jungkook. jungkook tapped his foot impatiently. the cat finally reached and sat in front of jungkook with a flourish of its tail as it wrapped it neatly around its paws. 

“about time,” jungkook said pointedly, squatting back to be level with the cat. “listen, i can’t have pets in the apartment.” he wasn’t really sure why he was talking to a cat, but it seemed like it had understood him so far, so. “i’m gonna need you to jump in my bag real quick.”

the cat’s ears flattened immediately and the silvery fur on its spine lifted. jungkook paused, bag halfway off his shoulder. he scowled.

“well, do you have a better idea? if you walk in, i’ll get in trouble and you’ll get kicked out.” 

the cat flicked its tail in a condescending manner, getting to its feet and stalking right up to jungkook. it sat back on its haunches and lifted up just enough to bat one paw at the front of jungkook’s baggy coat. “you want to hide in my coat?”

one blink.

“i mean.” jungkook let out a long suffering sigh, eying the cat’s pale fur and thinking about his black hoodie. “i guess,” he mumbled, unzipping his coat halfawy and looking sadly at the unblemished fabric of his sweatshirt. “come on.” 

the cat, smug bastard, climbed up onto jungkook’s knee and sidled into the coat, jungkook’s arm holding the bottom tight against his body so it wouldn’t gape and let the cat fall out. it took a second for the cat to get situated, but once it was sufficiently comfortable, it looked up at jungkook and blinked once. 

“you’re the strangest animal i’ve seen in my life,” jungkook told it seriously. he zipped to coat up, leaving enough room for the cat to rest its little head out. “make sure you hide if anyone’s coming, okay?” the cat didn’t make any sort of acknowledgement, but jungkook was pretty sure it was smart enough to do what he said.

they got to jungkook’s apartment with no issue, the keypad beeping once before unlocking and letting them in. it was small, just one room with a tiny kitchen along one wall and a single door leading to a tight bathroom, but it worked for jungkook (it was cheap, he was broke). 

“alright,” jungkook announced, slipping his shoes off and going to kneel in front of his little couch, unzipping his coat again. “you’re free.”

the cat looked around once before slipping out of the coat and onto the sofa. its eyes narrowed infinitesimally like it was judging its surroundings. its little nose crinkled in distaste and jungkook humphed.

“if you don’t like it, you’re more than free to leave,” he scolded, crossing his arms. he was pretty sure it was a little strange to be offended by a cat, but here he was. the cat shook its head with a little exhale through its nose, something like a silent sneeze, and when it straightened again it looked perfectly calm once more. jungkook threw it one more glare before going back to the door to turn on the lights, finally setting down his bag and shedding his coat. he pouted at his reflection in the mirror on the back of the bathroom door, brushing uselessly at the fur that lingered on his black hoodie. with a sigh, he took it off too, shivering as the cold air hit his skin. 

“you got my hoodie dirty,” he told the cat through a pout. “i don’t even know if you’re clean or not. what if you have fleas?” it was the cat’s turn to look offended and jungkook rolled his eyes, dropping his hoodie in his hamper. “sorry,” he sighed, unbuckling his belt and getting out of his tight jeans. he heard a small distressed noise from the couch, but when he turned to look, the cat was just staring resolutely at the opposite wall, ears perked. jungkook grabbed a pair of sweatpants and pulled them on, relaxing at the warmth. 

“okay,” he called, walking over to his little one-wall kitchen. “what do you want?”

it was a rhetorical question, obviously, but the cat made a small mrrp! sound and padded over with a little more excitement than it had shown before. in the light, jungkook took a moment to admire its coat as it slipped between him and the open fridge, looking into it appraisingly. it was pretty, soft-looking charcoal fur with thick stripes of silvery grey. it wasn’t long-haired like jungkook’s aunt’s himalayan cat was, but it looked sufficiently fluffy, like you could sink your fingertips into the puffy fur on its belly and they’d disappear. the cat meowed, drawing jungkook’s attention to where it was pawing at a take-out container. jungkook’s heart sank and he pouted. “why that?” he whined, giving the cat his best puppy eyes. it was unmoved, pawing once more at the box, head turned to stare evenly at jungkook. “fine,” jungkook reached for the box, batting the cat’s incessant paw out of the way, “but we’re sharing. you only get a little because you’re small.”

jungkook didn’t like reheating meat, but lamb skewers were good in any form (better yet when they were free because his hyung’s had bought him dinner earlier in the week), so he microwaved them quickly. he didn’t bother getting a plate, just kept his share of the lamb in the container and portioned out a little onto the lid for the cat. 

“if you’re still hungry, we’ll find something else, but i’m not giving you more lamb.” jungkook set the food down on the coffee table, kneeling in front of it and motioning for the cat to help itself. the cat didn’t hesitate to jump up, keeping neatly to the corner of the table, and it started eating, sharp teeth tearing the meat efficiently. 

jungkook ate slower, watching the cat critically. it was certainly a strange cat. strange animal, really. jungkook had a friend with a dog who knew, like, 200 words, which was pretty impressive from what jungkook had been told. this cat was different, though. it didn’t listen for commands like the dog did. it felt more like it was participating in a silent conversation with jungkook instead, understanding his words, questions, instructions, and responding in kind. 

“do you speak?” jungkook asked curiously. “like, can you talk?”

if cats could send withering glares, this one certainly did. jungkook just shrugged with a huff, going back to his food.

“it’s a fair question, it seems like you know what i’m saying.” the cat spared him one more glance before returning to its meal. “maybe i’m making it all up,” jungkook continued, eyebrows furrowing in thought. his hair fell into his eyes and he didn’t bother blowing it back out like he usually would. “maybe all cats are like this and i’m the one who’s projecting. i’m talking to myself right now anyway. maybe i’m just having a conversation with myself, but projecting it onto you.” he looked at the cat with narrowed eyes and found it staring at him with wide eyes. “you still can’t talk?” jungkook asked. the cat growled at him. 

jungkook pouted as he finished his lamb. the cat finished too, and jungkook took the container to the sink, opening the fridge again. the cat didn’t join him this time, so jungkook grabbed some baby carrots for himself and made his way back to sit on the couch. the cat was still on the table, licking its paws thoroughly and swiping them over its face, eyes nearly closed as it washed up.

“are you spending the night?” jungkook asked it, curling onto the couch with his carrots. the cat made a little noise that jungkook interpreted as a yes. “okay. um. not to pry or anything, but what if you need to pee? i don’t have a litter box or anything.” the cat opened one eye to glare at him. “don’t look at me like that, it’s important! i like keeping things clean,” he grumbled, “and i can’t afford to replace anything. so, like. i don’t know. can you go in the shower? at least i can clean it up easily there.”

the cat stared at him before huffing softly, one ear flicking. it looked almost amused. the cat jumped off the table and started towards the bathroom. jungkook quickly followed, bag of carrots cradled in his arms. the cat stared dead at him as it hopped up precariously on the edge of the toilet seat. it sat slightly so its butt was over the hole. then it straightened, reached one paw up, and flushed the toilet. it jumped down with a wave of its tail and stalked back out of the bathroom, leaving jungkook staring at the swirling water for a good eight seconds as he caught up.

“that’s… cool,” he mumbled, nodding to himself and flopping back onto the couch. he crunched a carrot between his front teeth, small little bites until he’d ground it down. “you’re smart.” the cat made a disgruntled noise between a meow and a chirp. jungkook shrugged one shoulder. “not in a surprised way, just, like, i haven’t met many cats as smart as you.” the cat nearly hissed, tail lashing. “okay, okay,” jungkook amended, chomping another carrot. “i haven’t met any cats as smart as you. of all the cats i’ve met, you are certainly the smartest.”

the cat seemed mildly assuaged, but its fur was still a bit ruffled and it glared a bit at jungkook as it hopped to the opposite end of the sofa and settled down to clean itself.

“i’m gonna shower,” jungkook informed it once he was done with the carrots. the cat watched him disinterestedly until he started pulling his shirt off, at which point its eyes shot wide and it turned once more to the window. “if you need anything… um, meow really loud? i’ll leave the door cracked so you can go… do your business if you need to.” he threw his clothes in the hamper and headed into the bathroom, throwing one last glance at the cat, who was staring at its paws like they might detach from its body and crawl away. with a shrug, jungkook pushed the door halfway and started the water. 

showers were the one thing jungkook allowed himself to indulge in; it didn’t matter that his clothes were mostly worn thin, or that his phone screen was shattered, or that his main source of nutrition came from his hyungs taking pity on him, jungkook didn’t let himself skimp when it came to showers. the other things, he could live without- well, not food, but he was hearty and strong, he could survive on scraps if he had to- but showers kept him sane. 

most days he didn’t need a long shower, just a quick rinse to wash the grime from his body and calm his mind, but sometimes he just needed to stand (or sit, on occasion) under scalding hot water until his body felt like melted butter and his mind was empty and hazy with steam. today was an in-between kind of day, not stressful enough to warrant a full half-hour, but a bit too confusing to unpack with a quick fiver. 

jungkook washed slowly, the light, flowery smell of his soap scenting the steam like incense. the cat speaks korean , he thought to himself. maybe it couldn’t talk, but it certainly understood everything he was saying. i wonder if it can read . 

jungkook had… a fair amount of questions, but he let the water wash them away with his conditioner. if he thought about it too much, he would start thinking too closely about how he found it, where and when, the thoughts he’d been having at the moment. it was a little off-putting that it was a little past mid-october and a new moon and nearing the small hours of the morning when jungkook suddenly wandered upon a korean speaking cat that followed him home and seemed to have made itself comfortable in his tiny apartment. jungkook didn’t really know what more there could be to it- were were-cats a thing? or vampires that turned into cats instead of bats? maybe it was a normal cat that got possessed or something by a ghost? or a demon?

jungkook shook his head. it’s just a cat. he let the water run ice-cold for a minute, a quick shock to the system to get his blood pumping, and finally got out. he toweled himself dry quickly, brushing his teeth and washing his face as the steam cleared, a towel draped over his head. just a clever cat.

the clever cat had moved while jungkook showered, abandoning the couch for one of the pillows on jungkook’s bed instead. it looked at jungkook as he approached, eyes freezing on his exposed torso for a second before it looked away. “prude,” jungkook teased. “what, never seen a naked guy before?”

the cat’s tail flicked irritably, but it didn’t turn back until jungkook was in a pair of boxers and a big crewneck sweatshirt. jungkook laughed at it as it turned its head cautiously, ready to look back at the wall at the first sight of skin. jungkook had the latent thought that perhaps, if it were something other than just a clever cat, he probably shouldn’t be parading around in front of it with nothing but a towel wrapped around his hips. he blushed a bit and pushed the thought away. 

“i don’t have classes tomorrow,” he informed the cat, who blinked in acknowledgment, “but i do have work. you can stay if you’d like, but if you want to leave, you’ll have to let me know before i leave for work, okay? i’ll be gone from evening until, like, three am. so. yeah.”

the cat rested its chin on its folded silver paws, eyes fixed on jungkook. jungkook flipped the lights off and slipped into bed, thankful for the warmth of the blankets around his feet. he did his best to not disturb the cat as he grabbed his other pillow and settled in. 

“well.” the cat didn’t blink. “good night, i guess.” it was a little strange, going to sleep with those pale, reflective eyes fixed on him, but it was late and jungkook was tired, so he didn’t pay it too much mind, and before he knew it, he was drifting off to sleep.

it would be nice to say that jungkook forgot about the cat while he was sleeping and was gently reminded of it in the morning, or maybe that he woke up with a calm, clear recollection of all that had transpired before he went to sleep. unfortunately, neither of those happened. instead, jungkook woke up from a bad dream with a start and opened his eyes directly to the cat’s own: wide, clear, unblinking. with a strangled yell, jungkook pushed back and all but threw himself off the bed, hitting his shoulder on his nightstand and landing roughly on the ground with a pained groan. 

the cat blinked down at him from the bed, sitting primly where jungkook had been sleeping.

“bastard,” jungkook grunted, rolling onto his side with a wince. the air was even colder now, and his legs were almost painfully goosebumped. it took a minute for jungkook to gather himself enough to get up, rubbing his tailbone gently. it was earlier than he’d intended to wake up, especially after being up late and knowing he had work again that day, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep again, not until his mind calmed down a bit at least. 

he grumbled about (directly at) the cat as he went about his routine: setting water to boil, brushing his teeth and washing his face, putting on a pair of thick sweatpants and socks and debating whether gloves would be crossing the line. once the water was done, jungkook sat at the coffee table with a cup of tea and a bowl of oatmeal and pulled out his laptop. 

immediately, the cat was by his side, front paws up on the table, eyes fixed on the screen. 

“what now?” jungkook asked. the cat pawed at the screen over the notes icon. jungkook frowned and clicked on it. the cat rewarded him with a loud purr and a swish of its tail. 

before jungkook could react, the cat was back on the table, reaching out one careful paw at a time, and typing.

n e e f  h e l p 

“neef help.” the cat’s ear flattened, unamused. “fine, need help. you need help?” the cat nodded vigorously and resumed typing.

t u r n e d  t p  c a t

n e e d  p p t i o m

“need what?”

p o t i o m

“potion?” tail swish. yes, jungkook thought. “um. sorry, hold on. you turned into a cat. as in, you are not a cat. or- were not a cat? are you still… whatever you are even though you’re a cat now? what are you usually? please tell me you’re not a vampire.”

the cat’s blank glare was at least a little soothing.

w i y c h

“wiych? is that, like, a fancy pagan term? like, anyone can say they’re a witch, but only a real witch calls themselves a wiych ?”

the cat looked up at the screen. 

w i t c h , it typed with an impatient flick of its tail.

“oh. that’s kind of lame.”

jungkook really had to stop pissing off the magic cat. 

p o t i o n

“okay, yeah, you need a potion. to turn you back? i don’t know where to buy potions if i’m honest.”

at that, the cat perked up. jungkook was pretty sure that if cats could smirk, this cat would be smirking.

o l d  t  o w n . m o d n i h g t  m a r k e tr

“um. i think that says midnight market. or marker. your paws are too fat for the keyboard.” the cat bristled.

t

“market. that’s great. i’ve never heard of that in my life? can i find it on naver maps?” the cat made a distinctly exasperated noise. of all things, that should have been the least impressive of everything the cat had done, but jungkook still wondered how hard it had to be for a cat to be so emotive, what with their limited vocal cords and such.

h a n  r i b e r . m i d n i g h t

“i hate to break it to you, but i’ve been at the river at midnight before, i’ve never seen a midnight market. some food stalls, if that counts, but no potions that i know of.”

n o t   a t .  u n d r e

“... under?”

the cat nodded, pleased. 

“under the han river.”

a satisfied flick of its tail.

“under, like… beneath. below. on the underside. like… bottom of the river.”

a slightly more irritated flick on its tail, accompanied by a quick nod. 

jungkook paused and examined the cat closely. “look,” he started cautiously, “i don’t know how much you know about humans, but we… we drown. you realize that right? we need, like… air. to breath. and even if we could breathe underwater, i’m pretty sure the pressure of the han is, like… probably too much for a human? i actually don’t know how deep the han is. or how much pressure the human body can handle. have people scuba dived to the bottom of the han? i know scuba gear lets you go deeper because you have oxygen and stuff, but does it make your body more resistant to pressure?”

the cat let out a sharp snarl, cutting him off with an irked ear flick. 

t u n n e l d

“tunnels?”

u n d e r  h a b

“the subway?” the cat shook its head.

s j o w

“show… you’ll show me?” the cat nodded. “um. okay. now, or?”

m i d n i g h t

“i have work tonight. i told you, i’ll get back at, like three. probably.” 

n o t  t n . h a l d  m o o n 

“half moon? like, moon cycle?” the cat nodded. “that’s… in a week-ish?” another nod. “okay. um. what do we do until then? you’re… a cat. is that… like… okay with you? for a week?” the cat hunched, ears flattening. it didn’t seem angry, just frustrated. 

b e e m  s  m o n t g

jungkook took a second to decipher it before turning to the cat with wide eyes. “a month ? why haven’t you fixed it already?”

u r  o m l y  i d i o t  t a k k  t o  c a t

jungkook humphed. “this idiot gave you part of his lamb, ungrateful bastard.” the cat flicked an ear dismissively. “by the way,” jungkook perked up, “are you a boy cat or a girl cat? i was gonna, like, check, but… yeah i don’t think that would have gone well. i also have no idea what to look for. oh! or… like, not either of those, too. um. non-binary cat? other… gender cat?”

the cat seemed amused now, looking at jungkook with its head tilted. when he finished, it turned back to the laptop.

b o t

“oh, cool. um. me too. i mean, not a cat, but a boy. yeah.” it was a little strange introducing himself like this to a cat. “how old are you? i’m ‘97.”

9 3 . h y u n h

“hyung! cool! i have a cat-hyung!”

w i t c h

“witch-hyung!” jungkook corrected animatedly. “what’s your name?” the cat was more careful as it typed, double-checking every letter to make sure he spelled it right.

m i n  y o o n g i

“yoongi-hyung!” the cat felt much friendlier now that he had a name and a method of communication. he was pretty cool, jungkook thought, when he wasn’t being haughty and cat-like. 

u /?

“oh! oh, hi! i’m jungkook. jeon jungkook. i’m. um. a human? i go to snu for design. i’m from busan.”

d a e g u , yoongi spelled out with a prideful tilt to his chin. 

“i have a hyung from daegu!”

m e

jungkook giggled. “another hyung. not a cat.”

n o t  a  c s t

“i mean… you are. sorry?” yoongi flicked his tail in feigned annoyance. 

u s u a l l u  v e r y  c y t e  b o y

jungkook read it and laughed, resting his chin on his hands. “i’m sure you are, hyung, you carry yourself like a very cute boy.” yoongi nodded proudly. “if you don’t mind me asking… how’d you end up a cat?” yoongi made an annoyed growl from deep in his chest and his ears flattened, and jungkook started to backtrack apologetically before yoongi started typing again.

j i n , he typed with vicious accuracy, eyes slitted, j i m i n

“jin and jimin, or jin jimin?”

a n d

“who are they?”

j i n  h y u n g  w i t c hj . j i m i m  d e v i l

jungkook gasped. “the devil?”

n o t  f r . m i g j t  a a   w e l l  b re

“so, they’re a witch too?” yoongi flicked his tail. paused, paw hovering over the keyboard as he thought about his answer. 

k i n d . n o t  s a m r

“a different kind of witch? are you and jin-hyung the same?” yoongi paused again, tilting his head slowly.

s a m e  k i nm d , d i f f e r e b t , he paused, thought some more. s p e c i s l t y

“you and jin-hyung have different specialties, but are… the same kind of witch aside from that?” yoongi nodded slowly in a way that told jungkook there was more to it than that, but it was a good enough answer for now.

j m i n  n o t . h i s  m a g i v  o l d

“old magic?” yoongi nodded sternly. “is yours… new?” yoongi shook his head.

b o r r o w w d

“borrowed? from who?”

w o e l d . u n i b e r s e

“and jimin’s?”

i n s i d . i n  b l o o d

jungkook shivered. “are they… evil?” yoongi thrashed his tail but gave a reluctant shake of his head.

j u s t  d u m b

well. it could be worse. “two dumb witches turned you into a cat, and it’s been at least a month since, and it’ll be another week at least before we can turn you back. okay. how do you feel about… all that?”

yoongi leveled jungkook with a thoroughly unamused stare. jungkook nodded slowly in understanding. 

“not great, i take it.”

e a t  a s s

jungkook had never been cursed at by a cat. “i do, on occasion,” he informed, earning himself another glare. “i mean it though, hyung. if… if there’s something else i can do to help you turn back faster, i’ll do it. i wouldn’t want to be stuck as a cat for that long, i don’t think.”

b u n n u

“bunnu?”

y

“bunny?”

u r  n o t  c a  t

jungkook paused. “are you saying that if two dumb witches were to turn me into an animal, they’d choose a bunny? i’m… i mean, i’m cute, i guess, but… sorry, did you see my abs? my arms? i deserve, like, a wolf or something cool.”

yoongi seemed sufficiently… flustered, eyes wide and unblinking, ears slowly flattening. 

b u n n y , he repeated eventually. t e e t g

jungkook pouted, crossing his arms and slouching down. “yeah, i know.” yoongi tilted his head at him.

c u t e

“my teeth?”

u

jungkook blushed. “stop it, it’s weird, like… flirting with a cat.” yoongi’s eyes squinted in a way that made him look a bit like he was laughing

u  d o n t  e v e m  k n o w  w g a t  i  l o o k  l i l e

jungkook straightened, reaching quickly for his phone. “instagram,” he muttered, half to himself, “do witches have instagram?”

yoongi hesitated for a second before nodding.

“hyung! let me look you up!”

p r  i v a r e

“your account? as in, you don’t want me finding it or as in i can’t see your pictures unless i follow you?”

2

jungkook pouted. “what if you log in on the laptop and accept my request?” he gave yoongi his best puppy eyes, and it only took a few seconds for yoongi to drop his head and huff, nodding slightly. he really did have very human mannerisms, even in a cat body. jungkook quickly typed instagram into the search bar, pulling up the log in and moving back to let yoongi go. yoongi gave him a judging look before turning to the keyboard and typing his username and password in slowly and carefully. jungkook copied the username into his own instagram search bar, immediately hitting the follow button. yoongi paused before hitting enter, ducking to hide his face under his paws as the website loaded. 

jungkook quickly went to the notifications and accepted his own follow request before clicking on yoongi’s profile. he gasped at the sight of the pictures there, eyes widening as he took them in. “hyung,” he whispered reverently, “you’re so cute.”

yoongi made a distressed yowling sound, muffled by the fur of his paws. 

jungkook clicked on the pictures one by one, glad he was looking at them on the laptop where they were bigger than they would be on his phone. “adorable,” he cooed, admiring a selca of yoongi smiling sweetly, a big grey hoodie on that matched his hair. “that’s where you get your stripes from, hyung, that’s so cute .” yoongi’s grey and silver hair looked as soft and fluffy as his cat fur, and his nose was so small and round, and his lips were so pink and his eyes were so sparkly- jungkook was melting.

jungkook found a picture of yoongi with black hair next to another person in a black bucket hat, round glasses, and a dangly earring, holding up a peace sign. “who’s that?” yoongi peeked between his paws and immediately hissed, fur bristling. jungkook’s eyebrows shot up at the reaction. the person looked cute, chubby-cheeked and wide-eyed, not someone jungkook expected to be hissed at. yoongi tapped his paw on the screen, at the comments.

jungkook opened them, reading through until one stood out: thanks hyung! see you next week!

it was a harmless comment, as unassuming as the person’s round cheeks and little hands, but the name next to it- pjiminie . “is that… jimin? the devil witch that turned you into a cat?” yoongi nodded tersely, spine still puffed. jungkook closed out of the picture, going back to yoongi’s feed. “do you have pictures of jin?”

yoongi lifted a paw to his tagged pictures, and jungkook followed, scrolling slowly through until yoongi stopped him, tapping one. there were two people in the picture, standing in the middle of what looked to be a boatyard. one (yoongi) was dressed in all black: long sleeve shirt, bucket hat, sandals, shorts. “hyung, your legs,” jungkook breathed, eyes wide. yoongi swiped a paw at him, batting him on the head a few times. “that’s jin?” jungkook asked, pointing to the other figure. he stood a bit like a directionless sim with his bare feet in slides, but much more handsome, his features flawless even under the shade of his hat, his shoulders broad. “are there more?”

yoongi nodded and let jungkook continue, stopping him again at a picture of the two of them in orange life vests. they were both holding fishing rods, yoongi giving the camera a squinty-eyed thumbs up, bundled in a coat and hood and mask. jin stood behind him, hair brown and fluffy. jungkook flipped through the other two photos in the post, one of jin holding a fish that was still caught on the line, an open-mouthed smile on his lips, the other of him holding up a basket of his catch, face more subdued but still eye-catching. 

“he’s very handsome,” jungkook informed yoongi, who flicked his ears irritably. “are you sure he’s dumb?”

yoongi looked down at himself and then back at jungkook, a look on his little cat face that said he was questioning jungkook’s intelligence now too. 

“i was just asking! jimin too, pretty cute. neither of them looks particularly cruel. plus, look how cute you two are, fishing together!” yoongi hissed, at him or the picture, jungkook wasn’t sure. but he shut up anyway, pursing his lips to hide a smile. 

after a little longer stalking yoongi’s instagram (was it stalking when the person in question was right there?), much to yoongi’s mortification, jungkook finally stopped, going back to the notes so yoongi could talk too. 

“i don’t know if this is, like, demeaning since you’re technically not a cat but, like… if you’re gonna be here for a week, should i buy you cat food?”

yoongi glared at him. 

r e g u l s r  m e a t

“yeah, sure.” jungkook hummed nervously, wringing his hands together. “i can buy meat.” yoongi studied him for a long minute.

u r  p o o r  a r e n r  y o u

“i mean, i wouldn’t say- yeah. i mean- yeah. i could buy meat, i just don’t know if i could buy enough for you to actually have meals for a whole week and, like, me to eat food too? plus, i think you need more nutrients than just meat, and i really don’t want to kill you on accident.” yoongi drooped sadly.

c a t  f o o d  i s  f i nm e , he typed, i t s  o n k y  m y  d i f n i t y

jungkook gave him a winning smile, “exactly, hyung! and who needs dignity when you already got turned into a cat! you lick your own butthole now! and don’t tell me you don’t, because that would be even worse if you’ve been a cat for a month and never once cleaned your ass.”

yoongi was frozen for a second before he started rumbling with a threatening growl, sinking into a crouch with his pale eyes narrowed onto jungkook.

“sorry, you’re right, not my business,” jungkook corrected quickly. “what i meant was, there’s nothing wrong with accepting your new limitations and making the best of your current situation. it’s not demeaning, it’s admirable that you’re doing your best.” he nodded sagely and yoongi paused, growl catching in his throat and making him hack like he was about to throw up a hairball before sitting up and tilting his head, still looking at jungkook. jungkook just shrugged. “i’m poor. i do a lot of things at the cost of my theoretical dignity. it is what it is, and i do my best. i’m proud of me.”

yoongi hesitated before slipping off the coffee table and onto jungkook’s lap, reaching his front paws up to jungkook’s shoulder and rubbing his cold little nose against jungkook’s jaw. jungkook just blinked, warmth flooding through him at the gesture. yoongi let his furry little cheek press against jungkook’s for a second longer before he was jumping back onto the table as quickly as he’d come, leaving jungkook floundering a bit, but not in a bad way.

u r  v e r y  g o o d

jungkook flushed pink and ducked his face into his hands. 

i l l  p a y  u  b a c j  w h e n  u m  h u m a m

jungkook shook his head, frowning. “hyung, no. cat food isn’t that expensive, and it’s not like you’re taking up space or using all my water or heating or anything. it’s not your fault you’re a cat,” he argued. yoongi swatted at him with no violence.

h y u n g  w i l l  p a y  u  b a v k

yoongi started at him firmly, ears pointed and eyes narrowed. jungkook sighed and nodded. “fine.”

they talked a little more before jungkook had to get ready for work. he set out a big bowl of water for yoongi, and made him some oatmeal apologetically. “i looked it up, naver said cats can eat it. i know it’s not meat, but it’s all i have right now. i’ll buy some food for you on my way to work.”

yoongi wound between his feet gratefully, leaning his weight against his legs. it made jungkook feel a little proud, like he’d done a good job. he felt a little more hesitant this time as he started to undress out of habit, but yoongi was already looking away, facing the window again, so jungkook just changed quickly, trading his sweats for jeans and a fitted black shirt, tucking it in and slipping his belt through the loops, pulling it tight and buckling it. his boots were by the door, so he put on his hoodie and coat and grabbed his bag, hesitating once to check the one room apartment over cautiously. 

“you sure you’ll be okay?” jungkook asked, drawing yoongi’s attention back. yoongi mewed once. “okay,” jungkook muttered to himself, rocking forward on his toes. “okay. i’ll go then. i wish i could give you, like, an emergency phone or something. i don’t know. okay. it’s fine, you’re an adult. and a cat. okay, okay. i’ll go then.”

yoongi mewed again, gently, sending him off with a flick of his tail, and jungkook left for work.

it became a routine throughout the week- yoongi and jungkook talked using jungkook’s laptop, jungkook mixed kibble with a spoonful of warm oatmeal because yoongi said it was better that way, and jungkook went about his day, work and classes, doing his best to not worry about the cat-hyung sitting alone in his apartment. 

yoongi was getting worked up, jungkook could tell, being pent up in the one room all the time. jungkook tried to leave the window open for fresh air, but yoongi argued that it left the apartment too cold for when jungkook got back. jungkook didn’t fight him on that too much. 

finally, it was the night of the half-moon (jungkook had marked it on his calendar), and he got back from class to find yoongi all but bouncing off the walls. jungkook had taken the night off of work, wincing at the look on his boss’ face when he told him the number of hours he’d have taken off his paycheck, but it was more important that yoongi got back to being a person again. his whole life had been put on hold for nearly a month and a half. jungkook could pause his own for one night. 

“i get it, hyung, you’re excited,” jungkook laughed as yoongi ran figure eights through his legs, nearly tripping him as he crossed the room. yoongi meowed loud and long, jumping onto the coffee table impatiently. jungkook set his laptop out with the notes open so yoongi could type and busied himself changing into comfy clothes. he got back to the couch to find yoongi sitting, tail wrapped tightly around his paws but flicking at the end, eyes wide and impatient.

m i d n u g h t  m a r k e y  t n  

i l l  b e  h u m a m  a h a i n 

w e  n e e d  i n g r e d i w n t s

f o r  t h e  p o t u o n

r o s e m a r y

b l a c l  s a l t

c r u s g e d  j a s p r r

f e n n e l

i n s a m j u  f r o n  t a e

j i m i n  b l o o d

jungkook paused and looked up. “jimin’s blood?” yoongi nodded. “um. why?”

c a s t e r . m a g i c  i n  b l o o d

“he cast the spell?” yoongi nodded. “and he has magic in his blood. does the potion need that magic to work? hold on, am i making this? i don’t have magic, will it work?”

y e s  n e e f. u  w o r k  f o r  m e , m y  m a g i c  i s  u

jungkook tilted his head at the screen and then at yoongi. “since i’m doing it with your instruction, it’s basically like you’re doing it? like, just… through means of me?” yoongi chirped enthusiastically. “okay. that’s cool. those are all the ingredients then?” yoongi nodded.

j i n  h y y n g  w i l l  g i c e  i n s r r u c t i p n 

“so… we have to find jimin and jin, i guess? and… tae?” yoongi nodded. “will they help us? they’re the ones that… you know.” 

c o m p l i c a y e f , yoongi typed, t h e y l l  h e l o

“okay,” jungkook said. “we’ll find them first then, that way they can tell me what to get so i don’t have to wander around like an idiot trying to find these things.” yoongi stood up and walked in a very pleased circle, a scratchy purr leaving his throat. jungkook cooed at him and, for the first time, yoongi didn’t let that stop him.

there wasn’t much to do in the time they had to wait for midnight, so jungkook put some anime on the tv and grabbed his sketchbook to draw. yoongi, still energetic and not too interested in the show, wiggled his way under jungkook’s elbow to watch him draw.

“i’m gonna draw you, hyung,” jungkook teased, “as a witch.”

yoongi just tilted his head, eyes big and round. jungkook was fairly certain at this point that witches in real life were probably not like the witches he’d seen on screen or read about in books and comics, but he’d be damned if that was going to stop him.

he pulled up yoongi’s instagram and found a good candid picture of yoongi smiling, gums on show, cheeks round and pink. it was kind of strange drawing someone he knew but had never seen in person, but he may have looked at yoongi’s pictures more than a few times in the past week, so his face was fairly familiar at this point. 

jungkook giggled as he drew a big moon, a broomstick flying across it, and a pretty witch sitting on it, pointy black hat and everything. the hat, of course, was held in one hand, and from the top of yoongi’s head sprouted two fluffy cat ears. 

yoongi meowed and batted at the page, covering the cat ears with his paws. jungkook just snickered and drew a cat tail peeking out from beneath the witch dress. yoongi hissed, but his sheathed claws let jungkook know he was more amused than anything.

“is this what witches do?” jungkook teased, sketching yoongi’s face in carefully. yoongi made a mrow sound that sounded distinctly like an absolutely not . “that’s so cute, hyung, you’ll have to take me flying someday. but i’ll only go if you wear your witch uniform.”

yoongi glared at him and jungkook sent him a cheeky smile in return. yoongi watched him draw until it was finally time to go.

“are you sure you know where we’re going,” jungkook hissed through his teeth, glancing around furtively to check that no one would see him talking to a cat. it was just their luck that it was a friday night, so the streets were crowded with all kinds of people despite the hour. yoongi’s small form slipped between bench legs and shop signs as he kept close to the edge of the walkway to avoid being stepped on. jungkook had a bit more trouble trying to avoid people while also keeping his eyes trained on yoongi.

yoongi’s grey fur blended into the background, especially in the long shadows of the street lights and shop lights at night, and jungkook couldn’t look away for a second without losing him, but yoongi didn’t hesitate, just kept moving forward without pause.

“can you slow down,” jungkook cursed, dodging out of the way of a group of loud bachelors, stumbling from alcohol and laughter. “hyung!”

yoongi finally paused, looking over his shoulder with his pale reflective eyes and letting jungkook catch up. jungkook glared at him when he reached, but he barely had a moment before yoongi was off again, winding further and further until they were suddenly away from the crowds. they weren’t even in eyeshot of the han, just a street or two down but blocked by the buildings, and yoongi was weaving through alleys and side streets easily and with purpose. jungkook just followed as best he could.

jungkook only hesitated when yoongi suddenly slipped down the street entrance to the subway. “hyung,” he called, “this station’s closed.” yoongi was already halfway down the stairs and didn’t show signs of stopping. jungkook heaved a sigh, and with one last glance at the rusted sign and the stained and torn do not enter flyers, he followed him down. 

yoongi was waiting for him at the bottom, sitting on the last step with his tail flicking impatiently and his eyes all but glowing in the dark. jungkook had to squint to see, the lights from the city barely infiltrating the abandoned steps. “yoongi-hyung…” he stopped on the last stair, looking at the security gate that blocked the tunnel, rusted over and draped in dying plants and the remains of bird nests. “you might fit through this, but i’m not getting through.”

yoongi mewed to grab his attention and then stepped through the gate.

as in, through the gate. through the metal and ivy and bird shit, and into the tunnel. or at least that’s what jungkook assumed, seeing as the second yoongi stepped through, he vanished. jungkook stared. 

meow.

yoongi’s head popped right out of a metal bar and jungkook’s jaw dropped, equal parts shocked and disgusted. “um. do i just. walk through?”

meow.

jungkook shivered, eying the flaking rust decaying the corners of the gate, double-eying the stained bird pooped that was piled inches deep on some bars. “do i have to?”

mrow. 

“okay, okay,” jungkook muttered, looking for the cleanest section he could. “if i get tetanus, you’re fixing me with your magic shit.” he reached a tentative hand out, hesitating before pushing it to the gate. it went straight through.

jungkook stared at the gate where his arm suddenly disappeared. yoongi meowed impatiently and jungkook stepped forward more. he didn’t even feel anything- he flexed his hand, rolled it into a fist- but it was weird as hell mentally. jungkook took a deep breath and stepped through with a wince.

yoongi was sitting and watching him with an unimpressed gaze, but jungkook barely paid him any attention, looking back at the gate in awe. “i just walked through that,” he murmured. yoongi let out a sound that was all too close to a sigh. “hyung, that was literally magic.” yoongi looked down at himself and back up at jungkook. “no, i know, but like… knowing you were turned into a cat or whatever is different than walking through a literal gate .”

yoongi let him freak out for just a few more seconds before he was up and moving again, and jungkook finally took in his surroundings. it was still dark, but as jungkook’s eyes adjusted, he could make out the bricks laid into the walls, the way the tunnel rounded overhead in domed sections divided by intricately tiled arches, all coming together halfway down the wall. it wasn’t anything like the regular stations jungkook usually went to, and he wondered how long it had been here, how old exactly this strange tunnel was.

there were a few times when the tunnel split, the arches weaving together and bounding apart down another dark path; and a few little passageways that appeared in the walls and gave no indication of where they might lead, but yoongi moved steadily, never straying from his course. eventually, jungkook heard noises coming from the darkness ahead of them, and then, shortly after, light leaked into the tunnel. 

jungkook slowed as they finally rounded into what he assumed must be the actual midnight market. the room, if it could be called that, was massive, the ceiling arching up into a towering dome made of glass and iron, a beautiful pattern that sent light scattering across the market in an ever-changing display. above the glass, jungkook could just barely make out the moon, and he realized why quickly- the dome was at the bottom of the river. jungkook gasped, eyes flying wide. he knew logistically that anything made of glass would probably never withstand all the water pressure of being down here, but the dome showed no signs of giving. he followed the arches down to take in the rest of the room. 

everything seemed to be somehow more breathtaking than the last- the red columns that surrounded the room, footing the jade green arches, the lanterns that hung from ropes, crisscrossing the entirety of the massive room, the hints of fire flickering in torches and flaring from amidst the sea of tents.

they were just as striking as the room itself, the stalls and shops that littered it: a range of modern looking tented stands and more traditional looking shops that looked more permanent, some of them built into the walls of the room itself. people were milling around in a strange combination of regular clothes and clothes that looked like they came from a period drama or a family holiday, but no one looked out of place. jungkook even saw a few animals sneaking through the crowd or swooping overhead, so even yoongi the cat fit in. in fact, jungkook was pretty sure he saw someone with actual animal ears sprouting from their head, but they were gone in the crowd before he could look too close.

a meow drew his attention to where yoongi was circling his feet, eyes wide and ears alert, looking more on edge than he had all week. jungkook was suddenly reminded of their mission and he shook his head to clear it. “sorry, hyung. lead the way.”

yoongi was off in an instant, and jungkook had to all but shove his way into the crowd after him. the market was thankfully smaller than the entirety of the han riverbank, but that didn’t mean it was any easier for jungkook to keep up- he found himself nearly chasing the wrong cat for a second a few times- only that, thank god, the chase was over faster.

yoongi let jungkook catch up outside one of the more permanent looking shops, one with a sliding screen door to enter and a carved plaque overhead with hanja that jungkook could barely understand (he recognized the symbol for moon, but nothing else). yoongi shook himself briefly and narrowed his eyes at the door, letting his fur bristle for a second before getting it back under control.

“you ready?” jungkook asked, giving himself a split second to wonder how exactly this was going to go. yoongi gave a curt flick of his ears, and jungkook nodded. there was no sign on the door, so jungkook pulled it open slowly, calling out a hello and poking his head in.

“shoes outside,” a voice called out, loud and melodious. jungkook worked his big sneakers off and lined them up neatly before stepping in. yoongi shook one paw off and followed. 

“um,” jungkook couldn’t see anyone as he turned in a circle, examining the room. “i’m looking for jin, i think? or jimin or tae?” 

a screen near the back of the room opened (jungkook was certain this shop was much larger on the inside than it appeared to be on the outside) and a man stepped out, looking every part some sort of mystical creature. jungkook could only stare as the man eyed him up critically, gaze lingering on yoongi, who sat stiff by jungkook’s feet. 

the man was taller than jungkook, with broad shoulders and a face that looked otherworldly. jungkook recognized him as jin, but he didn’t look anything like the pictures. where that jin had been in street clothes and a life vest, hair fluffy and face bare, this jin was… the opposite. his clothes looked almost traditional, but they seemed to be made of a sheer, sparkling white fabric, paper-thin and draped in delicate flowing layers over the man’s body. jungkook was pretty sure it was a hanbok, but it lacked the boxy structure they normally had and seemed to fall over his body like liquid moonlight instead, emphasized by the richness of the blue sash and the sheer blue robe that draped over the silvery-white layers, sparkling with little bits of gold that shone like stars. jin’s eyes were smoked out and striking, his lips full, and there were small hanja markings in white ink written over his face and hands in symmetrical patterns. he looked, in every way, bewitching.

“holy shit,” jungkook muttered, risking a glance at yoongi, who didn’t appear at all shocked, “you didn’t tell me he’d look like this .” yoongi lifted his lip in a silent snarl, showing his perfectly sharp canines. 

“ahem,” jin announced, not bothering to even fake a cough. “who might you be? you don’t look magic.”

“um. jungkook. jeon jungkook, i’m… human. you’re very handsome.”

jin lifted his chin imperiously, but the tips of his ears looked a little pink. “jeon jungkook, how did you find your way to the midnight market? i’m assuming this cat had something to do with it?”

yoongi hissed, drawing jin’s attention back to him. he wasn’t very intimidating, what with being a little smaller and a little fluffier than the average housecat, but the lashing of his tail wasn’t playful as he got to his paws and advanced slowly. jin’s eyes widened.

“call your cat back,” he called to jungkook, keeping his eyes on yoongi’s bristling form. 

“um. he’s not my cat?”

jin squawked, a bit undignified as he hopped away from yoongi. “you let a stray into my shop?” he sounded nearly offended, and jungkook found himself apologizing.

“sorr- i mean, wait, no? he’s not a stray, um, he’s yoongi? min yoongi?”

jin froze, head whipping to jungkook. his eyes were piercing, and jungkook shifted uncomfortably. “you’re joking.” jungkook shook his head. jin looked back at yoongi, who was growling from his chest. “yoongi-chi?”

yoongi went absolutely feral, and jungkook could only stare in abject horror as he leaped forward, claws out, dangerous yowl ripping from his needle filled mouth. 

jin cried out, tried to run, but it was too late- yoongi was upon him, tearing into his beautiful robes and shredding them as he climbed higher, claws digging through fabric and into skin.

“yoongi, i’m sorry, hyung’s sorry!” jin begged, shimmying in a horrible dance as he tried to shake yoongi off. “jimin! jimin-ah, come here!”

“busy, hyung!” a soft voice called, filtering through the screen jin had come through. jin screeched violently as yoongi neared his shoulders, claws reaching for jin’s face. jungkook’s eyes were peeled. 

“i said,” jin boomed, “come here , you pretty bastard!”

the screen slid open with a soft slam, but then nothing further happened as jimin froze in the threshold, staring at jin and yoongi with an expression that very accurately mirrored jungkook’s, fear and shock warring over his pretty features. 

jungkook was happy for his appearance, if only because he was just as beautiful as jin, albeit in a very different way, and it distracted him from the violence. once again, the picture yoongi had shown him didn’t do jimin justice. the real jimin was sharp jawed and sharp eyed, lips and cheeks that looked plump and pokeable, blond hair swept back from an elegant forehead (could foreheads be elegant?) and dark robes that looked like jimin had emerged from the night sky itself- steel grey and midnight blue and cosmos purple. where jin had white hanja scrawled across his pale skin, nearly invisible, the striking red on jimin looked like war paint. he was even scarier than jin. 

jungkook had the horrifying realization that yoongi probably dressed like this too when he wasn’t a cat or fishing with jin. he wondered breifly if he'd be able to handle that. the easy answer was no.

“what the hell is going on?” jimin asked. jin couldn’t answer, mouth opened in a steadily increasing scream as he tried valiantly to swat at yoongi, who had successfully clawed his way around to jin’s back and onto his shoulder. 

“um,” jungkook offered, “hi. i’m jeon jungkook. the, um. cat. is min yoongi. you must be jimin.”

jimin turned to him slowly, and jungkook wondered if he was actually withering on the spot or if he just really, really wanted to. 

“min yoongi?” jimin asked slowly. jungkook nodded. jimin turned back to the war zone between them. jin was rubbing against the wall like a bear on a tree, and yoongi was clinging on with no mercy, yowling like a banshee. “why is min yoongi a cat?”

“um. he said you and jin did it? he said you were the caster?”

“min yoongi is a talking cat?”

“um, no, he typed?”

“he typed.”

“on my laptop? i’m a college student. he said i was the only idiot dumb enough to talk to a cat… so…”

“are you?” jimin asked.

“i’m sorry?” jungkook tilted his head.

“dumb. are you dumb.”

“um. no? i just… like animals?”

“okay. did he say when he turned into a cat?”

jungkook wondered if maybe they should be helping jin, who was dangerously close to becoming permanently scarred on his beautiful face. “like. over a month ago? i found him a week ago, on the new moon, so he said we had to wait until tonight to come, but also that he’d been a cat for around a month.”

“last new moon…” jimin mused, narrowing his eyes as he watched yoongi squirm up onto jin’s head, messing his hair up and probably leaving some not very pleasant scratches on his scalp. “hmm.” 

he didn’t seem like he was going to say more, so after a few more seconds of tense silence, punctuated by jin’s shrieks and yoongi’s growls, jungkook cleared his throat. “sorry, but… should we maybe? help them?”

“huh? oh,” jimin exclaimed, suddenly flying into motion, arms waving elegantly around as he traced symbols into the air with his hands. with the robes following his movements, he looked like he was dancing. it only took a second or two for him to finish whatever he was doing, and he sent it forward with a flick of his fingers. no sooner than it reached them, yoongi and jin were flying apart, slamming into opposite walls with dull thuds and slumping to the ground. 

jungkook felt his heart stop as he ran forward with a cry, falling beside yoongi’s tiny body. he was breathing, jungkook could see the rise and fall of his little ribs, but he wasn’t moving. jungkook pet him carefully, fingers running over his bones to check for damage. he wasn’t sure what to do if he found something broken or something, but that was a later problem.

“hyung,” he gasped softly, curling over yoongi to shield him from the others. “hyung, can you open your eyes? are you okay?”

yoongi’s whiskers twitched. his eyes squinted open. 

“hi,” jungkook whispered, petting yoongi’s cheek softly with his knuckles. “hyung, are you hurt?’

yoongi took a second, probably gathering his bearings after being tossed into the wall, but then he curled back onto his stomach, getting his paws under him with a wince and shaking his head. he closed his eyes for a few seconds, but when he opened them again, he stood fully and gave himself a good shake. 

jungkook finally breathed, sitting back on his heels. “oh, thank god.” yoongi gave him a little raspy purr and pressed his nose into his hand, a silent thank you. jungkook ruffled the fur between his ears thoughtlessly. “don’t do that again.” yoongi paused, ear flicking, but finally nodded, ducking free and letting jungkook’s hand fall to the ground.

someone cleared their throat behind him, and jungkook was reminded of where they were. who they were with. the devil , he remembered yoongi saying, and he felt it now. he got to his feet and turned with fire in his blood. his eyes immediately locked on jimin and narrowed. the little witch looked downright bored, like he hadn’t just flung a 4 kg cat into a solid wall without a second thought.

“you bastard,” jungkook growled, drawing himself tall and broad, stepping towards jimin with barely restrained anger boiling in his veins. he knew how to be intimidating, and he knew how to back it up- that was his job after all, you couldn’t become a bouncer if you couldn’t scare off most people and fight off the rest- but he rarely used those skills outside of work. “what the hell were you thinking.” 

jimin’s eyes were the slightest bit wider, his apathetic mask painted the faintest shade of surprised. jungkook didn’t care for it, didn’t care for the pretty face or the demon it hid. he got close enough that jimin took a step back. jungkook knew not to underestimate little guys, but he found comfort in the fact that he was bigger, that his muscles showed even through the sweater he wore. 

“jungkook,” jin called cautiously, “i wouldn’t.”

“wouldn’t what?” jungkook spat, turning his narrowed eyes on jin, where he was brushing himself off gently, little beads of blood staining his iridescent hanbok. “wouldn’t turn your friend into an animal and leave them to fend for themselves? wouldn’t throw your friend across a room even though they’re a fucking cat and not bother to see if you broke their fucking spine ?” his venom was fully directed back at jimin now, who had composed himself once more. “because you did both. i don’t know what fucking business hyung had with you, but you’d better apologize and help turn him back or, so help me god, i’ll fucking tear you apart.”

the silence stretched terribly thin, but jungkook didn’t back down, eyes locked unwavering on jimin’s. finally, jimin laughed. 

it wasn’t a big laugh, just a little snort if anything, a little surprised sound. jimin looked pleased. jungkook wondered if he’d still look pretty with a fist in his face. yoongi stopped him, stepping delicately between them and meowing softly, rubbing against jungkook’s leg until he looked down. 

“you’re tougher than i thought,” jimin said. it sounded like an insult and a compliment at the same time. quite frankly, jungkook didn’t really care what jimin thought. “did you see that, hyung?” jimin called to jin, sending him an amused smile. “he was all stuttery when he walked in, i thought no way yoongi-hyung would show up with this kid, but look at that!”

yoongi clawed at jungkook’s pants, pulling slightly until jungkook bent with a furrowed brow. before he could ask yoongi what he wanted, the cat was jumping up, barely giving jungkook a chance to catch him in his arms and cradle him to his chest. jimin snickered. jungkook glared at him, but he softened when he felt the vibration of yoongi’s purr against his chest. 

“hyung, you did well,” jimin chuckled, directing his words to yoongi. yoongi gave a half-hearted hiss and swatted his paw lazily towards jimin. he leaned deeper into jungkook’s body. “okay,” jimin laughed- a real laugh, one that sounded like what jungkook imagined morning dew refracting sunlight into rainbows might sound like- “i’m sorry i tossed you. you know i wouldn’t let you get hurt.” yoongi unsheathed his claws pointedly. “being turned into a cat didn’t hurt you, did it,” jimin sassed. 

jungkook didn’t know what was going on at this point. his body was still tense, still ready to fight jimin or get yoongi out if he had to, but as long as yoongi was staying calm, he would follow his lead. jin was finally rejoining them, sending yoongi a childish face as he tried uselessly to fix his hair. he still looked stunning even as disheveled as he was. 

“what happened?” jin asked. “why is yoongi-chi a cat?”

jimin shrugged nonchalantly. “you remember last new moon?”

“this past one or the one before?”

“before. a month and a week ago.”

jin paused, brow furrowing. then shook his head. “not at all.”

jimin smiled wickedly, “me neither.”

“meaning?” jungkook interrupted, not bothering to speak politely. jin’s chest puffed and his eyes narrowed, but jimin waved it off. 

“meaning, we got wasted. us and your sweet little kitty-hyung here-” yoongi growled- “got absolutely shitfaced that night. if we, or i, turned him into a cat, i can honestly say i have no recollection. sorry though, hyung.”

yoongi meowed, a little annoyed but mostly resigned. jungkook stroked his head absentmindedly, and his meow faded into a purr. jin smirked. 

“we’ll get him back though,” jimin said. “does he know how we… got him like this?”

jungkook looked at yoongi, who nearly imperceptibly shook his head. jungkook mirrored the action to the two witches. “he told me he needed a potion. i have a list.”

jin nodded, “makes sense, if we don’t know what the spell is, a counter could be dangerous. a potion is his best bet. what’s the list?”

jungkook pulled out his phone and read off the ingredients. jimin and jin nodded at each one. jimin’s nose wrinkled at the sound of his blood. “i hate doing that,” he muttered. jungkook felt a little smug.

“okay,” jin pondered out loud, his serious face at odds with his fully disheveled appearance otherwise. “let’s check our inventory first, we should have most of this, and then we’ll head to taehyung’s, see if he has anything we might be missing.”

“taehyung keeps horrible stock,” jimin lamented. 

“it’s his only flaw,” jin agreed. yoongi nodded too, and jungkook frowned a bit. 

jin excused himself to the back to clean himself up, and jimin left to look through their supplies, leaving jungkook and yoongi alone in the room once more. 

yoongi meowed softly, squirming until jungkook loosened his grip and let him jump down. on the ground, yoongi gave his face two little swipes with a licked paw- the cat equivalent to splashing cold water on your face, jungkook thought. 

jungkook folded onto the ground beside him, sitting on his butt with his legs out in front of him. yoongi walked over to his side and pawed at the pocket with his phone in it. jungkook pulled it out hesitantly, opening it for yoongi when he nodded. yoongi moved very carefully, paw tapping the screen daintily and opening a new note. jungkook chuckled and slid the phone closer to him. 

m o t  b s d  

yoongi stared at the screen and then up at jungkook, waving his paw as if to say as far as styluses go, this is the worst. jungkook giggled. “not bad? what’s not?” yoongi tilted his head towards the door where jin and jimin had disappeared. jungkook frowned. 

f r i e n d d

“sure,” jungkook said, trying not to scoff. he sighed at yoongi’s narrowed gaze. “sorry. sure, i’m sure they are. as long as they’re helping you, i don’t care what they are, in all honesty. but if that bastard so much as pets you the wrong way, i’m breaking his hand and we’re finding you new friends.”

yoongi stared hard at him, but jungkook didn’t back down. finally, yoongi went back to the phone.

w h s t  k o b ?

jungkook stared for a few seconds. “what job?” yoongi nodded. “mine?” another nod. “um. i’m a bouncer? at, like, a few clubs and bars around the city. they always need someone and the hours don’t overlap with my courses. plus it pays decently.”

yoongi’s sharp eyes looked him over slowly. jungkook swallowed. jimin came back with a silky pouch in his hand. jungkook stiffened where he sat, back on guard as jimin approached, but jimin just sent him an amused look and sat down gracefully across from him. 

“rosemary and fennel we had, jasper as well. obviously, my blood. all you need is the black salt and taetae’s insamju. look good?” 

he’d laid the ingredients out on the ground, and yoongi stepped over to them on light paws, sniffing them carefully and examining them with a critical eye. finally, he circled back to jungkook’s side and sat down with a nod. jimin smiled with his eyes.

“the boy is doing it?” he asked, and jungkook tensed. yoongi’s tail flicked once, but he nodded again. jimin looked jungkook over thoroughly as if he could study the very marrow of his bones. “hmm. i guess with my blood, it might be enough to counter his… humanity.”

since when is being human a bad thing, jungkook thought to himself, a frown tugging at the corner of his lips. yoongi’s tail tapped rhythmically against the bone of his wrist where he supported himself and it gave jungkook something else to focus on. 

“still, i’ll have jin send over a cauldron and some tools. you’ll want to have everything else as strong as you can for the potion to work. kid, give me your phone.” jungkook’s lip curled at the order, but yoongi gave a little rumble in his throat and leaned against his leg soothingly, so jungkook gave jimin his phone. he only had it for a few seconds before handing it back. “i put in mine, jin-hyung, and taetae’s numbers. send me or jin your address and we’ll get you anything you might need for the potion to go well. if anything changes with yoongi-hyung or if there’s an emergency of some sort, call us.”

jungkook stared at jimin and nodded, slowly pulling his phone back. sure enough, there were three new contacts- park jimin-ssi, kim seokjin-ssi, and taetae~ followed by a string of heart emojis. jungkook raised an eyebrow questioningly, but jimin’s face gave nothing away. jungkook quickly typed out his name and address and sent it to jin, not thinking too hard about the fact that he was giving his address to strangers (who were probably insane too). worse came to worst, they would break into his home and quickly realize he had nothing at all worth robbing. 

jin finally emerged, his torn up hanbok and robes traded for a much simpler- though no less stunning- hanbok made of pale powder blue and tied with a thin red ribbon. his hair was brushed back, and he looked untouchable once more. “i’m ready,” jin announced, brushing his shoulders as if any speck of dust would dare land on them. “let’s go. jimin-ah, are you coming or watching the store?”

“we can close for an hour,” jimin said with a shrug, getting up and dusting himself off, neatly gathering the ingredients back into the pouch. “i wanna see tae.” jin smiled softly, which caught jungkook off guard slightly- jin looked intimidatingly perfect even with his clothes torn to shreds, but one sweet smile and he suddenly looked like the picture that would appear in the dictionary beside the word 'friend'.

yoongi nudged jungkook, urging him back up as well, and jungkook scooped him up without a second thought. yoongi froze in his arms for a second and jungkook realized what he’d done, a blush threatening to overtake his cheeks, but before he could set yoongi down, the cat relaxed in his arms and wiggled into a more comfortable position.

“let’s go,” jimin said after a minute of awkward silence where he and jin just stared at yoongi and yoongi stared at jimin and jin. jungkook was happy to leave the store, though he held tighter to yoongi once they were back in the crowded paths of the market.

jimin and jin were much easier to follow than yoongi had been, although they surprisingly didn’t stand out that much even despite their (by jungkook’s standards) far too fancy clothes. regardless, they didn’t have to go far before jimin was disappearing into a tent, jin following quickly after. where jin and jimin’s shop had been fancy and sturdy and pristine, this place was very much the opposite. 

it was bigger than most of the stalls but smaller than most of the shops, deep-colored fabric keeping it closed, but with a sign floating in front of it that read open and then, underneath, spirits. jungkook chose to assume that the sign meant spirits like liquor and not like ghosts. he’d find out soon enough. he got to keep his shoes on this time as he crossed the threshold, lifting the tent flap with one arm and holding yoongi with the other. 

“is that him?” a deep voice whispered all too loud. it was followed by a loud shhh (jimin) and a smack (jin). 

“jungkook, this is kim taehyung. taetae, jungkook. the cat is hyung.”

taehyung, unsurprisingly, was stunning. jungkook wondered if that was a requirement to be a witch. with dark unruly hair and thick eyelashes, taehyung looked somehow innocent and demonic at the same time, a pleased half-smile pulling at his lips. he, unlike jimin and jin, was dressed much more casually in a pair of high-waisted, flowing trousers and a cropped ivory vest underneath an open blazer. his hands were bandaged up past his wrist, on display with his jacket sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and there was a bandanna tied around his head, pushing his hair back from his eyes. 

“hi,” taehyung said with a rectangular smile, and jungkook instantly liked him because he was, so far, the only one who had actually greeted him. jungkook smiled back shyly, waving with his free hand before wrapping it back around yoongi. taehyung cooed and jungkook felt himself blush under the man’s scrutiny. “you’re very cute, jungkook-ah. and yoongi-hyung! look how adorable you are! you’re nearly as cute as a cat as you are as a human.” he said this with absolute certainty, and jungkook, shockingly enough, felt yoongi purr for a second in his arms. it seemed that everyone was soft for kim taehyung, judging by the honeyed glances jin and jimin kept sending him when he was distracted. 

“he says thank you,” jungkook responded with a small smile, holding yoongi’s paw to make him wave. yoongi bit his finger, but barely pressed hard enough for jungkook to even feel his fangs. taehyung found it adorable, and he promptly showed it.

finally- although jungkook didn’t really mind being fawned over by taehyung- jimin drew their attention back to the matter at hand. “yoongi-hyung needs a potion. the only ingredients left are some insamju and black salt. do you know if you have any lying around?”

“insamju? definitely, third shelf on the right,” taehyung said, pointing. “black salt?” he paused brows knitting together in thought. “maybe in the storeroom? it’s… a bit messy back there, though.”

jimin sighed knowingly and nodded, “i’ll go look,” he said, patting taehyung on the arm as he passed. jungkook went over to the insamju and let yoongi point out the one he wanted.

“um, taehyung-ssi?” 

“hyung is fine. you’re ‘97 aren’t you?” 

jungkook decided to not question how he knew, just nodded instead. “taehyung-hyung, how do i pay you for this? i don’t know if my card will go through for… magical purchases?”

taehyung and jin both laughed, and even yoongi chortled (or some cat version of it) in his arms. jungkook felt dumb, but at least jimin wasn’t there to see it. “jungkookie,” taehyung finally said, sounding impossibly endeared, “you don’t have to pay. if anything, jin-hyung and jiminie would pay on your behalf, seeing as they turned yoongi-hyung into a cat in the first place, but i wouldn’t make them pay anyway. this is on behalf of yoongi-hyung, and yoongi-hyung never has to pay in my shop.”

“or ours,” jin added with a grin. yoongi’s prideful ear flick was enough to confirm that. jungkook still bowed to them both anyway.

“thank you, hyungs.”

“so he does have manners,” jimin’s snide voice sounded as he returned, and jungkook straightened quickly, fighting the urge to roll his eyes. he assumed jimin was the same age as taehyung since they were so casual with each other, which would make jimin jungkook’s senior as well. jungkook scowled.

“i had them before you threw hyung across the room like a ragdoll, too. if i don’t now, it’s no one’s fault but yours.”

taehyung looked absolutely delighted by this turn of events and jin had to physically stop him from clapping gleefully as jungkook and jimin faced off.

“hyung is fine,” jimin argued loftily, sidling back beside taehyung and jin. the red hanja on his face stood out even more in the dim light of taehyung’s tent. “and, in case you’ve forgotten, he’s our hyung before he’s yours. how long did you say you’ve known him? a week?”

hmm. that stung a bit. jungkook bit the inside of his cheek. “all i’m hearing is that a practical stranger takes better care of him than his own dongsaeng. i can safely say i never abandoned him in a body that wasn’t his, i never forgot about him for a month and a half, and i certainly never threw him at a wall knowing full well his body now is much more fragile than his own.”

jimin’s face twisted into something bitter for the first time since they’d met, and jungkook caught a glimpse of just how scary jimin could be. “i suggest you don’t speak on things you know nothing about,” he hissed, voice silky smooth and dipping low. “i’m not someone you want on your bad side, jeon.”

jungkook knew that being prideful against a witch was probably the most idiotic thing he’d done lately, but that didn’t stop him. “judging from how well yoongi-hyung is doing, i don’t think there’s any reason to want you on my good side either. if calling you out on your mistakes is all it takes to get on your bad side, i pity your friends.”

taehyung no longer looked delighted, and jin looked quite serious too, his straight eyebrows drawn close. jungkook held a little tighter to yoongi, feeling very distinctly outnumbered and out of place. he could feel the faint tingling of panic creeping at the bottom of his gut, the distinct familiar feel of when things got too far out of his control, and he tried not to think about the fact that he didn’t even know how to get out of here- if yoongi were to leave his arms now and take the side of his witch friends, jungkook would be well and truly lost and alone, not to mention enemies with people much more powerful than he knew how to deal with.

jimin’s eyes literally blazed, a dark spark lighting the brown-black of his iris’s. “what do you know of friends, human boy,” jimin spoke, and his voice- no, voices, one layered over the other in a discordant hiss- rattled jungkook’s bones. “i can see your whole life like a picture; you’ve never had a friend in your life. almost out of college and you’re living alone in a rent-controlled closet because you had no one to live with. you feed off your hyungs so much, it’s no wonder they avoid you when they can, you’re just a spoiled leech. look at you, clinging to hyung like he’s your friend. you don’t know him. you took him home because you’re lonely and desperate, but he just needs someone to turn him back. what did you think? you would have a new hyung when this was over? a boyfriend maybe ?” jimin sneered. “you’re truly pathetic coming into our district and acting like you’re anyone. you’re nothing, jeon jungkook.”

jungkook wasn’t really sure what was happening in his body at this point. the threads of panic had turned to ropes and tied him tightly in the back of his own head. even his own body was out of his control. it was still standing, though, not crying, which was good. his heartbeat kept getting faster, but that meant he was still breathing, so. also good.

“jimin, that’s enough.” taehyung’s voice was low and stern, brooking no room for argument, and it seemed to snap jimin out of his state, his eyes losing their fire and his shoulders relaxing a little. he frowned, too close to a pout for the words he had just been spitting like poison. jungkook could vaguely feel jin’s eyes on him. yoongi was frozen in his arms. jungkook realized he was nearly crushing him.

he let go with a gasp, yoongi letting out a distressed noise at the sudden drop, but, as cats do, landing on his feet anyway. jungkook wanted to stammer an apology, but all he could think about was that now yoongi wasn’t in his arms. that meant there was nothing keeping jungkook there but his own desperation. and who was he kidding, three actual witches would be much better equipped to deal with the whole mess that jungkook alone was. all he had going for him, as yoongi had said, was that he was fool enough to talk to a cat.

maybe he managed a good luck or a goodbye as he scrambled out of the tent, but he wasn’t even aware enough of himself to know. all he knew was that the second the flap fell shut behind him, he was running. there were tunnels sprouting from the market in all directions, and jungkook knew his bets were all equally bad, so he picked the closest one and ran.

the second he was in the tunnel, he was immersed in darkness. he didn’t give his eyes time to adjust to the sudden change either, his body too pressed to keep going, desperately in need of… in need of what? he couldn’t tell. maybe he just needed to run, to get away, regardless of what he was chasing. maybe what he needed was air, fresh air from above the han, to fill his lungs and let him breathe freely. no matter, jungkook ran anyway.

jungkook ran until his legs or lungs gave out, he wasn’t sure which, and he collapsed to the ground, eyes stinging with tears as he heaved for breath. he was truly panicking now- it took a lot for his body to give out, which meant that he had been running for a long time, and yet the dark tunnel he was in looked just like every dark tunnel he’d run through since leaving the market. he wasn’t going anywhere- there was nowhere to go. he could run forever, he was pretty sure, and there would never be an exit from the tunnels. and with no one looking for him-

jungkook curled on his side, gripping his chest tightly as he gasped desperately for air. was he even under the city still? was there anything above the tunnels, anything outside of the tunnels? he wasn’t sure there was. 

jimin had been right, he thought, the bitterness tasting more like relief now as he accepted it. jungkook was only in this mess because he was pathetic and lonely. he’d found a cat when he was scared and alone, and thought it might be a friend. the cat turned out to be a person, so jungkook thought they could be his hyung. but why? when jungkook was the way he was- poor and anxious and hopeless- why would anyone want to be his hyung? even namjoon and hoseok, who’d been there since his first day of college, even after they graduated-

jungkook curled tighter on the cold stone ground. they must think he was such a burden, he realized, feeling it run through him like a train. jimin had said as much, and he knew everything, had told jungkook his whole life from just a glance. his hyungs- jungkook squeezed his eyes shut, trying to stop the shaking in his body, rattling his lungs inside his ribs like pennies in a can. 

at least he would be dying down here. at least there was that. yoongi was taken care of now, safe with his magical friends who would get him sorted. his hyungs were doing something without him, and were all the better for it. he’d be off their hands now. that was relieving. even the little apartment he lived in, all but untouched since the day he moved in, could now be a home to someone who would need it.

jungkook, all he had to do was keep running around the tunnels until his body stopped working. 

his head was spinning, growing hazier with each shallow breath he couldn’t take. the ground was hard underneath him, uneven cobbles that dug into his hip and shoulder like daggers. the tunnel echoed noises all around him, noises that didn't come from anywhere in particular but grew closer nonetheless. jungkook thought he heard his name, but blackness quickly overtook his senses, and he didn’t hear anything else after that.

“-know it can’t be one of us… has to be yoongi’s… your fault...”

jungkook couldn’t tell if it was one voice he was hearing or more. it felt like he had cotton stuffed in his ears.

“-didn’t mean… hyung asked for him… waking up-”

jungkook gritted his teeth to stop from groaning as his eyes fluttered open, letting in too-bright sunlight. he shut them quickly, his brain shrieking in protest. his whole body felt sore and stiff, muscles tight and aching. there was a weight on his chest, drawing his attention to the strain of his lungs as he breathed, slow and even.

it took a minute for him to open his eyes again, slowly and one at a time so he could adjust. he had no idea where he was, only had faint memories of what felt like a dream- running ceaselessly through unending tunnels, hard cobbled floors and the echo of footsteps. the whiteness of the ceiling hurt his eyes.

“jungkook,” a soft voice called, making him blink and turn his head. he had the familiar migraine and tacky mouth that always followed his panic attacks. his eyes were a little blurry still, but they focused on the two figures by his bed, one shorter, one much taller and broader.

jungkook licked his lips, but his mouth was too dry to speak. the weight on his chest shifted, and he looked down to find yoongi curled tightly in a ball, tail wrapped over his nose, eyes shut tight. 

“jungkook.” it was jimin speaking, jungkook thought faintly, the voice too light and melodic to be jin, who was standing beside jimin. jungkook was a little confused. the last he’d heard of jimin’s voice, it had been cruel and biting, but he sounded soft now, sweet and apologetic. 

jungkook looked back at him and jin, taking in their troubled expressions slowly. they looked different than they had last night, more like the versions of them jungkook had seen on yoongi’s instagram. there were no markings on their faces and their robes and sashes had been traded out for regular clothes that wouldn’t look out of place walking down the street. 

jimin stepped closer to the bed, lifting one hand gently to rest against jungkook’s forehead. jungkook’s body was too groggy to react, much less flinch away, so he just blinked. “i’m sorry,” jimin said, quiet but clear, eyes genuine as they met jungkook’s. “i spoke out of anger and you didn’t deserve it. the situation was… more complicated than you assumed it to be, but that was no excuse to lash out at you. my mouth gets the best of me sometimes and i can lose control of my magic, but i want you to know that what i said to you wasn’t true. i knew what would hurt you, and i took advantage of that. for that, i’m sorry, and i promise to be better going forward. you didn’t make an enemy of me, but i’ll understand if i’ve made one of you. my actions were inexcusable, and i won’t ask your forgiveness, only that you don’t let my own anger get the best of you too.” jimin bowed deeply before jungkook, head grazing the edge of the mattress.

when he rose, he stepped back to jin’s side with a sniff and a pout, and jungkook wondered if it was just his vision or if jimin’s eyes were actually glassy. jin stroked a hand calmingly down jimin’s back. 

“we found you unconscious in the tunnels,” jin spoke, voice steadier than jimin’s. jimin sounded soft, like pillow down, while jin sounded solid, like the room around them. they were both comforting, which was strange. “we shouldn’t have let you get so far, i’m sorry. this is my home, we’re in hannam-dong- i live closest to the river, so it was fastest getting you here. how are you feeling?”

jungkook took a mental assessment. he opened his mouth and winced at the cracking of his lips. “like shit,” he rasped, trying not to cough. jin nodded sympathetically and jimin pouted more, head and shoulders drooping. compared to the terrifying image of him the night before, he looked downright pathetic now. it was a little satisfying, but not as much as jungkook would have thought. 

maybe it was jungkook’s movement as he talked, or just the sound of conversation, but yoongi stirred on top of jungkook, and jungkook looked down just in time to see his eyes crack open. yoongi blinked at him slowly. jungkook managed a sheepish grin.

“hi.” he wasn’t sure really where he stood with yoongi- not after what jimin had said, even if he admitted it was said out of spite. he still had a point that yoongi and jungkook were really not much more than strangers. 

yoongi stared at him for half a second more before he was croaking out a tiny, broken meow and moving forward, nuzzling his wet nose and fuzzy cheeks against jungkook’s jaw, a purr rattling through his tiny body strong enough that jungkook could feel it in his chest. yoongi licked at jungkook’s face, tiny raspy little things that made jungkook’s nose scrunch as he giggled. 

“hyung almost killed me when we found you,” jimin interrupted, sounding fond. “we tried the laptop thing and he damn near wrote me an essay with those tiny little paws of his before deciding i wasn’t worth his time and curling up on you instead.”

“sorry,” jungkook murmured, raising a tired arm to stroke yoongi’s vibrating body, trying to calm him a little. “i’m okay.”

yoongi bit his chin for that, and went back to nuzzling, as if trying to make sure every piece of jungkook was still in place. jimin giggled softly.

“speaking of yoongi,” jin added, “we have everything you’ll need for the potion.” jungkook paused, hand stopping on yoongi’s back as he turned back to the witches in confusion.

“um. i thought you would do it. since you’re-” he had to pause to cough and swallow, throat hurting- “you’re magic, so it would work better?”

jimin shook his head. “since we don’t know what the spell we cast was, or what the counter would be, yoongi needs a potion to turn back. we could make it ourselves, but his own magic would yield the best results. since hyung and i have magic of our own, the potion would use that magic instead of yoongi-hyung’s, so it wouldn’t work as well to neutralize whatever magic is in him now. depending on what we did, the spell could wear off eventually anyways, but the goal would be to overpower the outside magic with his own so that the potion could work best. our potions would have some effect probably, but one he made would work fastest and most thoroughly. obviously, he’s a cat. but since you don’t have magic-”

“he said his magic would go through me,” jungkook finished. jin and jimin nodded. 

“theoretically, it would be as if he was doing it himself,” jin added. “many witches do this with familiars or non-magic apprentices, or even objects like wands or staffs, but… it works best when there’s an existing bond between witch and worker, as it were. that’s why we were a bit cautious, considering you’ve known yoongi for a week or so, but… it doesn’t appear that there was any cause for worry.”

yoongi meowed grumpily from where his face was burrowed into jungkook’s neck, but he didn’t move away, and jungkook felt like maybe his insides were turning into molten sunlight with how warm and bright it made him feel.

“as i was saying,” jin continued, voice ripe with amusement, “i figured we’d save you the trouble of doing everything at your apartment and having to deal with the consequences.” jungkook looked at him questioningly and jin beamed. “we’re taking a field trip to yoongi-chi’s house!”

yoongi stiffened under jungkook’s hand and very slowly lifted his head, turning to face jin with flattening ears. 

“don’t be upset, yoongi-chi,” jin crowed, “it makes the most sense. if you use jimin’s cauldron or mine, it’ll put more of our magic in it. obviously, your own tools will work best! besides, wouldn’t you rather turn human again in your own home with your own clothes and shower and bed?”

yoongi’s tail was flicking and his teeth were bared like he very desperately wanted to growl, but he held himself back, and finally relaxed with a resigned huff. 

“atta boy, yoongi-yah.”

“whenever you feel ready, jungkook,” jimin said earnestly, a hint of worry still lingering on his face as he looked over jungkook’s body. “we don’t want to rush you, okay? you need to be well-rested.” jungkook nodded slowly, and that was that. 

jin and jimin left jungkook to rest some more before he finally felt like he could get up. he tried to go straight home, but jimin insisted that he shower first while jin made him some food. it was magic, the oldest insisted, his cooking would have jungkook feeling better in no time. 

the shower was actually… lovely. the whole apartment- villa?- looked like something jungkook had only ever seen in magazines and dramas, windows everywhere and smooth hardwood floors, a shower that took up half of the massive bathroom, a jacuzzi tub inside the shower- as in, you could shower in the massive tiled stall (two opposing showerheads! so much room!) and, without leaving the glass confines of the steamy shower, step into a big ass bathtub with jets that sat farther back than the showerheads. it took jungkook ten minutes alone to figure out how to get the water on, much less at the right temperature. once he figured it out though… (there were jets in the shower walls! water from every direction at every pressure! he was getting a full body massage from the shower alone!)

jimin looked at him knowingly when he finally emerged nearly an hour later, skin pink from steam and eyes wide with awe, dressed in a comfy sort of modern hanbok that jin had let him borrow. he liked it a lot, wondered if it was something he’d be able to afford or not. jin was still cooking, moving around the huge kitchen effortlessly. jungkook could only watch him, dazed. finally, jimin snapped him out of his zone. “hyung wants to talk to you, i think,” he offered quietly, a little cautiously like he didn’t want to offend. “he’s been sitting by the laptop since you got in the shower, but hasn’t typed anything to me or hyung.”

“oh,” jungkook looked around, feeling a little lost. “um, where is he?”

jimin pointed to what looked like a living room, separated from the kitchen by a partition wall with a built-in double-sided fireplace. jungkook stared. “he’s on the table.” jungkook nodded and walked away.

sure enough, yoongi the cat was sitting next to an open laptop atop a table that looked like it was built from a single solid slab of rosy marble. jungkook shuffled over and eyed the couch warily before sitting on it. he was pretty sure it probably cost more than everything he’d ever owned in his whole life put together, including his apartment. on second thought- he slipped to his knees on the floor instead. the plush rug under him was also probably priced beyond his imagination, but it was easier to ignore. 

“hi, hyung,” he said softly. yoongi narrowed his eyes at him and began to type.

i d i o r

d u m b a s d

w j y  w i u l d  u  r u n  a w s y  u  i d i o t  h y m a n

t u n n e k s  n o t  s a f r

f o r  w i t c g e d

m u c h  l e s d  h u n a n s

t o o j  u s  5  h r 

y  r   u  s o  f a d t

t h o u h h t   u  w e r r  d e s d

o n  t g e  f l o o r

i f  u  e b e r  d o  s m t h i b g  l i k r  t h i s  a h a i n

i  w i l l  t u r m  u r  f e e t  i n y o  p u d d i m f

s o  u  c a n t  r u n

h e a r d ?

jungkook chuckled wetly and wiped at his nose. “heard. sorry, hyung. i’m sorry i worried you.”

yoongi glared.

t o l f  u  j i m i m  d u n b

“you did.”

d o n t  l i s t e n  w h e b  h e s  m e a n

o k ?

h e  k n o w d  t i o  m u c h

b u t  n o  d i s c i p k i m e

“i won’t, hyung. i’m sorry.”

yoongi glared at him some more.

u  m e  f r i e n f s

i m  h y u n f

e v e n  a f t e r  c a t

i f  u  w a n r

jungkook sniffled and nodded. “yes, please.” 

yoongi glared at him for all of three more seconds before he finally relaxed. he turned back to the laptop again.

g l a f  u r  o k

jungkook snickered between sniffs. “thanks, hyung. me too. i’m sorry i ran away. i’ll try to be smarter next time.”

yoongi shook his head easily and finally left the laptop, shifting to the edge of the table so he was level with jungkook’s face. jungkook could only giggle when yoongi rubbed their noses together before pulling back, averting his eyes like he was shy. jungkook reached forward and scratched behind his ear.

jin called them back into the kitchen soon after, jimin having set some places at the ridiculously oversized island for them to eat. even yoongi had a little plate. jin set out the food as it finished, various bowls and plates that were so loaded up that jungkook could only stare wide-eyed as he took his seat. jimin was humming happily as he reached for his chopsticks, and even yoongi seemed at ease, perched on the edge of the counter with his tail swishing eagerly behind him. 

“jin-ssi,” jungkook breathed as jin finally took his seat, discarding his apron and draping it over the back of his chair, “are you a chef?”

jin’s chest puffed out in pride while jimin snorted a laugh, reaching out to scoop some noodles into his bowl. “i could be,” jin said assuredly. “and call me hyung, you’ve already given me a near-death experience, so you can drop the formalities.”

jungkook bowed his head gratefully, a little shell shocked by everything, but he decided to follow jimin’s lead and start eating. jin went about loading his own bowl, and jungkook turned to yoongi. “hyung,” he asked softly, “what do you want?”

yoongi’s eyes widened happily and he sat up, looking over the food. jungkook was pretty sure that most korean food was probably not good for cats, but he was hoping that yoongi technically being a person would make him a little more tolerant. yoongi quickly zeroed in on the bulgogi, which made jungkook relax a bit. if there was anything on the table that a cat could comfortably eat, it was probably that. he took yoongi’s plate and added a few slices of meat. he gave yoongi a spoonful of rice too, for fiber.

yoongi let out a little mrrp! when jungkook gave him his food, and leaned into a little head pat before jungkook finally set out to get his own.

“so,” jimin said, drawing out the vowel, “you two. how’d you meet?”

yoongi growled shortly as he ate, but didn’t bother tearing himself away from his food (no doubt much more satisfying than his kibble and oatmeal at jungkook’s). jungkook eyes jimin warily. “i thought you could see everything, or whatever. don’t you know?”

jimin had the decency to blush at that. “sorry. i can see things, but i try not to… look. besides, i can only see it, i can’t experience it. i’d still like to hear, if that’s alright.”

jungkook shrugged and shoveled some food into his mouth, nearly moaning at the flavor. jin gave him a smug glance, so he wasn’t sure he truly managed to stifle it. “i found him on the street,” jungkook finally responded. “scared the shit out of me at first because i was walking home late and by the woods-”

“good instincts,” jin interjected, “it’s always good to be cautious on a new moon.” jungkook nodded haltingly.

“when i saw he was a cat, though, i figured i should probably take care of him or something. he didn’t have a collar, obviously, so i told him that if he needed food, he would have to follow me home. i didn’t want to accidentally take him if he had a home, right?”

“you asked what you assumed was a normal cat to just… follow you if it wanted a meal? did you expect it to understand you?” jimin sounded shocked, and jungkook felt himself flush and shrink a bit.

“i just didn’t want to steal him,” he protested. “plus, lots of animals are smarter than people give them credit for. and he was acting weird too, so i didn’t really think he was just a normal cat.”

“i wasn’t judging,” jimin soothed, “just surprised. most humans, like you said, dumb animals down a lot. us witches know better, you just have to know how to communicate. go on.”

“um. so i went home. yoongi followed, and i snuck him into my room. that’s another thing; i basically had a conversation with him then too. he didn’t want to go in my backpack, so he made me hide him in my jacket. anyway. then he helped himself to the last of my meat skewers and showed me that he could operate a toilet, which is pretty cool for a cat. i didn’t actually talk to him until the next day, though, when i got my laptop out. that’s when he told me what happened and asked me to help.”

“that must have been quite a shock,” jin said. “you don’t seem like the type to have known about the magic world before.”

jungkook shrugged. “i didn’t, but like i said, he acted too strange to be a normal cat. it made sense.”

“you’re a weird kid, you know that right?” yoongi let out a little warning growl, shooting jimin a glare. jimin held up his hands defensively, lips curling into a smile. “in a good way. your heart is more open than most. that’s a good thing to have.”

jungkook just ate, unsure what to say to that, but it didn’t appear jimin needed an answer anyway. jin and jimin talked more as they ate, bickering about witchy things jungkook couldn’t understand, occasionally throwing yoongi a yes or no question or asking him to pick a side, protesting or nodding triumphantly when he gave his short answer. jungkook felt significantly out of place, but the food was better than he’d had in ages, so he pushed through.

“how are you feeling?” jimin asked once they were finished and all the dishes were washed. jungkook felt surprisingly good, given the circumstances, and he said as much.

“i told you,” jin said, “my food is magic. you’re very welcome.”

jungkook wasn’t really sure if it was a joke or not, but he bowed anyway. “thank you for the food, jin-hyung.”

if jin could glow- could jin glow? probably, right?- he glowed then, the happy little scrunch of his eyes undercutting the cocky lift of his chin. “look jimin,” he exclaimed, “a dongsaeng with manners.”

“you only ever yell at me,” jimin whined, “what about yoongi-hyung and taetae?”

jin scoffed, and yoongi mirrored the sentiment with a wave of his tail. “yoongi-chi is always respectful-”

“tell that to the scratches on your shoulders.”

“- and taehyung can do no wrong. you’re just an overpowered brat with a pretty face.”

“aww, hyung,” jimin cooed, batting his eyes, “you think i’m pretty?”

watching jin blush was a bit like watching a kettle boil over in anime, jungkook thought. the red was visibly clear as it rose from his neck, up over his cheeks, and all the way up to the tips of his ears. maybe even more amusing was the way he grew more animated with it too, squaring his shoulders and shifting his stance as his hands flew into motion.

“yah! i ask how the little one is doing and you come in here trying to seduce me, you little brat! i cook to feed you, i work all day to make sure this business is running smooth and my dongsaengs are taken care of and this is what i get? not even a thank you! just a smug little jerk with magic powers, you think you can use your little tricks on me? on me! i’m twice as pretty as you’ll ever be, and don’t you forget it! three times! i’m a garden full of roses! you’re a dandelion! don’t go getting big-headed in my own house, you short little-”

yoongi’s exasperated meow cut jin off, but jungkook could have gladly watched them go all day. 

“ahem.” jin straightened himself, hands flitting briefly to his ears like he could somehow cover their redness. jimin was watching him with a look that jungkook couldn’t quite decipher, but reminded him vaguely of how yoongi had looked at the bulgogi on his plate after eating only kibble for a week. “jungkookie. are you feeling up for some magic?”

jungkook hesitated, looking at yoongi with wide eyes. he had absolutely no idea if he was ready for some magic. yoongi just shrugged, or as close to it as he could get in his cat body, but jungkook could see the nervous swishing of his tail. yoongi had been in a cat body for weeks now, jungkook reminded himself. it didn’t really matter if jungkook felt ready or not, it mattered that yoongi could get back to himself as soon as possible. 

“um. yeah. yeah, let’s do it.”

jin’s smile was surprisingly wicked. “great. let’s go.”

“you know,” jungkook proclaimed as they climbed the endless cement steps, “when you said ‘let’s go’, i was expecting something with a little more pizazz. as far as modes of transport go, the subway is… not very impressive. i thought you guys flew on broomsticks or something.”

jimin giggled so hard his body folded a bit as he walked. yoongi wiggled a bit inside jungkook’s coat, and he unzipped it a bit now that they were out of the subway. “witches on brooms,” jimin said between laughter, “firstly, is very western. secondly, it originated from women who used hallucinogenic drugs consumed intravaginally. in other words, they slathered some drugs on their broomsticks, and then rode them like good coc-”

“jimin,” jin interrupted, face pink once again. jungkook was also a little shocked, but he took it in stride. “um. wow. that’s- cool, good for them?”

jimin snorted a bit and bit his lips to keep from laughing more. jungkook had to zip yoongi back up in his coat as they got in a cab, the three of them crowding into the back seat with jungkook squished awkwardly in the middle. the ride was quick, but, after jin paid the driver, they walked a bit further anyway.

“we’re here,” jin stated, pulling them to a stop. they were in eunpyeong, somewhere in the northern part, and jungkook was a bit in awe at his surroundings. he was used to the parks around seoul and the nature around the river, but this… the buildings were all traditional style hanoks, with their tiled roofs and wooden pillars, and all around them were trees and rising hills that spoke of the mountains. 

“you live here?” jungkook asked, tilting his chin to look at yoongi, who had dug his little head out once more. the rumbling purrs he could feel through his clothes were an indication that yes, in fact, he did. 

the hanok they had stopped in front of was one of the smaller ones, not one of the two-story hanok-mansions that jungkook had seen as they walked, but it was still somewhat intimidating, standing at the stone wall that hid it, the big wooden doors closed in front of them. jimin did one of his little magic things with his hands, and the door creaked open. jungkook followed the witches in.

the second they were inside the gate, yoongi was jumping free of jungkook’s coat, something about him looking more confident and serene than jungkook had seen him till now. it felt fitting, seeing him (even in cat form) wandering around the courtyard. it was a lovely courtyard, too, dappled with needles from the twisted pine that grew to one side. there was a path to the house laid out with flat stones, and around them were all kinds of plants growing despite the changing weather, all clearly planted with purpose. weeds seemed to have run errant since yoongi had been gone, and he seemed a bit distraught at the fact, claws digging into the earth as he tried to rip them free.

“yoongi grows a lot of our ingredients,” jin informed jungkook. it seemed fitting, jungkook thought, a little fuzzy feeling warming in his ribs. “let’s go in. yoongi-chi! weed later!”

yoongi hissed and dug for a second longer before flattening his ears in frustration and stalking after jin and jimin as they headed into the house. jungkook followed him with a last admirative glance around the courtyard, slipping his shoes off beside jin and jimin’s. 

the building itself was beautiful as well, white walls and smooth wood. it was bigger than jungkook would have assumed yoongi would live in, maybe because he’d only seen yoongi as a little cat in a little apartment, but it seemed to suit him too. 

jimin and jin seemed to know where they were going, but yoongi’s cat legs moved faster and he slipped between their feet easily, disappearing into another room. jungkook followed, trying to take in as much of the house as he could as they moved. from what he could glimpse, the interior was, design-wise at least, much more modern than the architecture of the house, although simple and warm enough that it didn’t look out of place. the floors were warm under his feet, jungkook noticed. yoongi would have ondol floors, probably hated waking up and stepping onto cold ground. jungkook smiled to himself at the image.

the room he followed them into was on the side of the courtyard, separated by an intricate wooden screen which was all but blocked from the inside by shelves of… things. jungkook honestly had no idea what they were. there were books, and some plants, mostly dried, but there were also many things jungkook couldn’t name, and some things (a wooden rack with possibly hundreds of tiny needles?) that he didn’t really want to.

in the center of the room was what jungkook assumed was a cauldron, though it looked more like a massive gamasot pot, lid and all. it was set into a stone table, an opening under it for, jungkook assumed, the fire. he’d noticed a little chimney at the side of the house earlier, so he assumed the smoke wasn’t much of an issue. 

yoongi jumped up on the stone table and made a disgruntled noise at the dust that lifted in his presence. jimin hummed sympathetically, eying the room with a wrinkled nose. jungkook thought it really didn’t look that bad for a room that had been left alone for over a month.

“witches are very particular about their workspaces,” jin explained quietly. “a disorganized space leads to a disorganized mind, and one’s mind should always be focused and clear when working with magic.” he shifted his focus to jimin. “can you clean it a bit, jiminie?” jimin already seemed to be on it, working his magic into the air around them and lifting the dust from the surfaces in neat little funnels. jungkook tried to pretend he wasn’t in awe. “it’s not the best way,” jin continued, “especially since we want this to be heavy with yoongi’s magic. a witch should always keep their own space clean and in order, and they should do it by hand. it shows dedication and commitment to the room and to the magic, and it will show when they cast. in this scenario, obviously yoongi’s been unable to. since we’re… kind of in a rush, jiminie’s cleaning it with magic, but it’s not ideal. yoongi will have to do a deep clean in here when he’s back to normal.”

jungkook nodded like any of that made sense, and jin gave him a knowing smile. yoongi meowing drew them back to the center of the room. jimin, it appeared, worked incredibly fast, and every surface looked spotless now. it seemed they were ready to begin. 

maybe it was because it was yoongi’s space, or because it was his magic, but the other witches immediately turned to him for guidance. obviously, he couldn’t talk, but even jin seemed deferential to him as they waited for the go-ahead. yoongi gave it with a tense nod. 

jimin pulled a pouch out of his bag and handed it to jin, who began laying out the ingredients as jimin reached back in for the bottle form taehyung. jin started a fire by hand with yoongi’s permission, and jimin moved around the room gathering a few tools. 

jin finally spoke up, beckoning jungkook closer to the table under yoongi’s watchful gaze. “jimin and i will be here and we’ll tell you what to do, step by step, if you need it. even if we give you an instruction, though, don’t do anything unless yoongi says. i’ll tell you now, though- once his magic is in you, you won’t need much guidance. you might not know what’s happening, but trust your gut- that’ll be yoongi working through you, understand?” not really. jungkook nodded. “ok. if anything goes wrong, jimin or i will step in, but don’t be afraid. magic should be treated with respect, whether it’s yours or someone else's. and keep in mind, this is not an easy thing for a witch to do. it can be physically draining, especially the first few times and especially with someone new, but more than that, it requires a lot of trust. you could damage or even take yoongi’s magic when it’s in you. don’t try to hold on to it, let it just move through you, and then let it leave. if you hurt yoongi, jimin will use your bones for fortunes, and he’ll use the rest of you for summonings and spells, understand?”

it was terrifying, sure, but surprisingly not at the same time. jungkook didn’t want magic, he just wanted to help yoongi be human again. he nodded solemnly, and jin stepped back, giving him a reassuring squeeze on the arm. jimin was watching him with guarded worry and a hint of determination. 

“you can do it, jungkook-ah,” jimin said softly, not sounding at all like someone who would dismember jungkook for blood magic purposes. “hyungs will be right here.” ah. okay. jungkook gave him a small grateful smile, and jimin returned it two-fold, raising his little fist and mouthing fighting !

jungkook turned back to yoongi, who was watching him carefully, his eyes, despite the pale color and slitted pupils, looked far too human, and it was a bit unsettling, but jungkook didn’t look away. he stayed still as yoongi walked over to him. the heat of the fire was warming his legs. yoongi stopped at the edge of the table and waited for jungkook to approach.

“hyung,” jungkook whispered, quiet enough for only yoongi. “will it hurt? the magic?” 

yoongi seemed taken aback for a second before shaking his head vehemently and leaning his cheek into jungkook’s stomach. it was settling, but jungkook was still worried.

“what about for you? will turning human again hurt?”

yoongi froze. shrugged slowly. pulled back. the set of his ears, upright and stiff, seemed to say it doesn’t matter . jungkook supposed it was true- either way, yoongi had to turn back. he reached forward and thumbed across yoongi’s whiskers. 

“if it does, hyung, i’ll stay here until you’re better, okay? i’ll do whatever you need. let’s do this quick, alright?”

yoongi nodded again, short and fast, and then turned so the top of his head was cupped in jungkook’s hand, forehead pressed into jungkook’s palm. jungkook took a deep breath, like he’d been taught in taekwondo as a kid, and made his body relax.

he didn’t feel any different when yoongi finally lifted his head and moved back, taking a seat on the far side of the table where he could survey everything, but he just kept breathing, focusing on that instead.

it didn’t feel strange to move forward and reach for the insamju, although jungkook knew he had no idea what he was doing. he just reached for it and untied the string around the cloth covering the cork. he was moving consciously, it didn’t feel like anyone else was controlling his body, but there was a progressive thrum building in his fingertips as he moved, acting on an instinct he didn’t know.

the insamju went first, half the bottle poured into the cauldron and slowly heated over the fire. the little vial of jimin’s blood went next- the caster’s magic, to jumpstart the potion, a little voice in his head told him. jungkook stirred it in with a long-handled wooden spoon made of smooth nanmu. the blood thickened the ginseng wine, probably more than it seemed normal for it to do, but jungkook knew instinctively that that was what was supposed to happen. 

the rosemary and fennel had to be ground up while the blood and wine simmered, so jungkook pulled the small mortar closer, scooping generous spoonfuls of both herbs into the stone bowl. he ground them slowly and patiently, pausing before they were powdered fully to add in the black salt. the small particles of salt would break the herbs down further until the three ingredients were turned into a single fine power. into the mortar, jungkook added another splash of insamju, still grinding everything together until it was a thick paste. 

he scraped the paste into the cauldron and stirred it in until it was dissolved. the potion was thicker now and a dark reddish color. the crushed jasper went last- healing and strength, jungkook’s mind whispered, grounding. the red powder strengthened the color, and jungkook kept stirring it even after the whole potion was one single, smooth mixture, little bubbles rising to the surface as it boiled. 

jungkook knew when it was done, even though nothing particular signaled it. he spooned the liquid into a makgeolli cup, and stirred it with a smaller metal spoon until the cup was cool enough to touch. when he was finished, the spoon resting on the edge of the cauldron and the remaining ingredients neatly cleared to one side, he stepped back from the table, suddenly directionless. jungkook turned back to jin and jimin, standing silently by the door, with wide eyes. they nodded encouragingly, jimin offering him a small smile and jin a thumbs up. 

yoongi stood slowly and approached the cup, crouching to sniff it. he looked up at jungkook for a long second, truly indecipherable for the first time since they’d met. jungkook tucked his hands behind his back to hide the way they shook. the silence dragged on infinitely, but, finally, yoongi dipped his head and drank. 

the makgeolli cup was big for a cat, but yoongi didn’t stop until he’d licked every last drop clean. jungkook waited for something to happen, but yoongi just jumped down from the table and left the room with his tail high. jungkook stared.

“um.” he curled his hands tight, ignoring the waver in his own voice. “did i mess up?”

jimin shook his head slowly, also looking at the door where yoongi had just disappeared. “you did everything right. it might just take a minute to kick in?”

“should we follow him?”

jin shook his head more decisively. “let’s give him a bit. he’s probably just be going to find clothes so he doesn’t end up butt naked on his work table.”

jungkook should have thought about that. actually, no, no he very much should not have thought about that. oh no. yoongi butt naked on the work table. jungkook shut his eyes. 

“ok,” he said, voice small. jimin giggled, but didn’t call him out.

every second seemed to drag on forever as jungkook waited- either for yoongi to come back or jin to say they should go find him- but finally, the sound of the door sliding open drew all their attention.

jimin was the first to move, rushing forward with a delighted sound and a big teary smile. “hyung!” he exclaimed, wrapping yoongi- living, breathing, actual human man yoongi- in a bone-crushing hug.

jin followed, a fond smile on his full lips as he reached out and ruffled yoongi’s hair- not fur, hair; silver and grey like he when was as a tabby, but fluffy and messy around a very human face.

jungkook couldn’t move.

sure, he’d seen yoongi in pictures, even studied them at times when he was feeling particularly curious about the cat-witch-hyung he was housing, but… but this was different. this was min yoongi, standing in front of him with messy hair and a human face and human limbs and clothes and-

jesus, he was so pretty. 

“hyung,” jungkook breathed, still rooted to the spot. yoongi was already staring at him, sharp eyes trained on jungkook with caution swirling in his deep brown irises. jin and jimin didn’t move back, but their celebration quieted and they loosened their hold on yoongi. 

“hi,” yoongi said, clearing his throat. his voice was… fuck, his voice was like audio porn, oh god. jungkook swallowed. 

“hi. you’re not a cat.”

“i’m not a cat.”

jungkook rocked nervously on his heels. “can i hug you?”

yoongi bit down on his lip (pink and soft and so pouty and beautiful and-) and nodded.

jimin barely had time to move back before jungkook was barreling forward and curling around yoongi as tight as he could. yoongi was smaller than him by a few centimeters, but his shoulders were broader, and despite jungkook’s more built and defined muscles, yoongi still felt sturdy and strong. his hands were big and warm as they landed on jungkook’s back, awkwardly at first, and then stroking slowly over his spine, comforting and calm.

“hi,” jungkook whispered again, his head tucked over yoongi’s shoulder. he felt the rumble of yoongi’s body as he chuckled silently.

“hi.”

“you’re really pretty.”

“ah,” yoongi said, “no…”

“yes.”

“thank you. you are too. it’s nice to… meet you, finally.”

jungkook pulled back reluctantly with a shy smile. “you too, hyung.” 

yoongi’s face was a little pink, all the more obvious on his pale skin, and he didn’t meet jungkook’s eyes but jungkook just felt… a lot. he felt a lot for the pretty man standing in front of him, hands still loosely wrapped around jungkook’s waist, pouty lips rolled between his teeth, grey and silver hair looking mussed and soft. jungkook fought the urge to pet him like he had when yoongi was a cat.

jin cleared his throat obnoxiously. “well,” he drawled, “that was lovely.”

jungkook watched as yoongi’s face immediately drew closed, eyebrows turning down in the center, jaw tightening. he turned his narrow eyes to jin.

“you,” he growled, voice gravelly and low, “and you,” he turned to jimin, “turned me into a goddamn cat for a month and a half.”

jimin offered an innocent smile. “but we helped turn you back!”

yoongi’s eyes grew impossibly darker. jungkook reveled in the fact that yoongi’s hands were still on him, warm and solid and relaxed. “i’ll take him,” yoongi rumbled threateningly, fixing the two other witches with his stony glare, “i’ll take taehyung right back to daegu with me.” fuck, jungkook could hear it, the lazy drawl in his words, the roughness around the edges of his syllables. even yoongi’s satoori was unreasonably attractive. jungkook pushed that thought away. “you know he’ll come. and you two, little seoul witches, what will you do without your favorite boy?”

jungkook was admittedly a little lost, but he was paying more attention to yoongi’s voice and his face and his hands and his shoulders than he was to the content of his threats. nonetheless, he bit back a laugh at the sudden fear that dropped over jin and jimin’s faces. 

“you wouldn’t,” jimin breathed. 

“wouldn’t i?”

“yoongi-yah,” jin tried, “be reasonable. taehyungie’s business is thriving here! you wouldn’t want to uproot his whole life, would you?”

yoongi scoffed and his fingers squeezed jungkook’s waist . “i know for a fact that taehyung’s grandma has been wanting him to take over the shop back home. you know he loves the farm, too. and if his favorite hyung were leaving…”

“yoongi-hyung, we’re so sorry we accidentally turned you into a cat,” jimin stammered, bowing deeply. “we’ll never drink again if it means keeping you, our most beloved yoongi-hyung, safe and sound and well as a human being. please, please do not take our taetae away from us or we’ll have to uproot our own lives to follow him and i would not do well on a farm, my hands are too small and my skin is fragile and jin-hyung is afraid of bugs and you can’t buy his fancy ingredients in the middle of nowhere so he wouldn’t be able to cook. please leave taehyungie where he is.”

yoongi turned to jin with a deadly eyebrow raised. he was still holding jungkook. jin chewed the inside of his cheek and bowed as well, not as deep as jimin, but enough to make the point.

“yoongi-chi, we’ll take good care of you from now on and won’t turn you into a cat for this long ever again. unless you take our taehyungie, in which case i will turn you into a cat permanently and irreversibly. if you’re lucky.”

it wasn’t really great as far as apologies went, but even jungkook could tell it took a lot out of jin, so yoongi accepted with a huff. 

“fine. you’re forgiven.”

jimin beamed, his smile brighter than the autumn sun outside, and jin gave his own little round smile, eyes not quite hiding the fondness and relief that wrote itself clearly across his handsome features.

“ah,” yoongi said, his attention flitting back to jungkook- more specifically, down to jungkook’s waist where he was still close to yoongi, yoongi’s hands around him. “sorry.”

yoongi’s hands squeezed once more before falling from jungkook’s waist. jungkook stepped back with a smile plastered on his lips. his heart felt like it was tripping over itself. “it’s okay, hyung. i’m glad you’re finally human.”

yoongi smiled, a little bashful, and jungkook wondered if it was possible to be attracted specifically to someone’s gums or if that was maybe very weird. “me too. i have thumbs again, it’s nice.”

“and that’s not all he has,” jin commented, sending jungkook an incredibly unsubtle wink. jungkook didn’t get it immediately, but when he did his head snapped to yoongi, cheeks pink and eyes wide, mouth closing and opening a bit like a fish. yoongi was straight-faced but also red, shooting jin a glare before looking towards jungkook, still not in the eyes.

“ignore him. he’s never seen my dick and he never will.”

“i have too!” jin protested, arms waving. “or did you forget the three years of college where we were roommates and you were too lazy to cover your ass getting out of the shower?”

yoongi glowered. “you’ve never seen my dick in any way that matters, and you sure as hell don’t know what i do with it.”

jungkook snapped his mouth closed before he maybe started drooling. jimin snorted.

“yah,” jin argued back, face scrunching in disgust, “don’t talk to me about what you do with your dick.”

“you don’t deserve to know anyway,” yoongi snarked back, “i wouldn’t want you anywhere near my dick.”

jin let out an offended gasp. “i’ll have you know i ride dick like a fucking pro-”

“okay, that’s enough,” jimin interrupted, a hint of pink surprisingly on his own cheeks. “you’re both too old to be having pissing contests, quit it before you start hate-fucking in hyung’s work room.”

jungkook rolled his lips between his teeth to keep from saying anything stupid. 

jin and yoongi had a silent stare down before jin finally threw his hands into the air with a decisive sigh. “keep your little dick, yoongi-chi, i don’t want it.”

yoongi snarled, not unlike how he did as a cat, but he stopped himself from retorting. jungkook’s eyes wandered down cautiously. for some reason, he didn’t really buy that yoongi had a little dick. not that it was any of his business. his eyes snapped back up, flitting around the room. he fought the urge to whistle. 

“come on,” jimin said with a laugh, pushing past jin and yoongi, “let’s get out of here before jungkook explodes." jin and yoongi both turned to look at jungkook, who promptly turned red and scrambled after jimin. “cute,” jimin giggled, but he didn’t say anything more and jungkook was grateful.

“hyung will buy some chicken and we can celebrate yoongi’s return,” jin called, walking out after them. “jiminie, you should call taehyungie over.”

jimin’s face lit up and he nodded eagerly, pulling his phone from his pocket. jungkook hovered awkwardly by the door, unsure if he was technically included in the celebration or not, but as yoongi slid past him and into the room, one of his big hands came up to jungkook’s bicep and squeezed once, the barest pressure before it was gone. yoongi gave jungkook a soft smile and tilted his head as he passed. come on , it said. so jungkook followed him to the table.

the food arrived at roughly the same time as taehyung, and jungkook thought that perhaps yoongi hadn’t been bluffing when he said he was taehyung’s favorite hyung, because no sooner than taehyung was in the house, he was wrapped around yoongi like an octopus, and yoongi showed no signs of getting him off.

it made jungkook think of yoongi as a cat, curled up next to him on the uncomfortable couch in his apartment, furry body pressed against his leg. he wondered what it would be like to do that with yoongi as a person. what it would take to be able to have that- to wrap around him as easily as taehyung had and not have to let go. 

he pushed down the strange empty feeling at the back of his mind and focused on the chicken in front of them instead. it would be easy to feel left out here, but jungkook found that he didn’t mind just observing the four witches laughing over the beer taehyung had bought and bickering about nothing. 

it was interesting, he noticed, how jin and jimin shut up immediately whenever taehyung opened his mouth, how they teased him gently and watched him with eyes that could probably only compare him to galaxies and nothing less. also interesting was the way they progressively curled closer, jin’s flailing arms settling as jimin sank under them. 

it made sense, jungkook pondered, even though they both had such wildly different personalities, both big in their own ways. they were clearly in love with taehyung, that much was obvious. it was harder to tell what they felt for each other, but something about the fierceness in jimin’s eyes when he looked at jin and the awe in jin’s when he looked back made jungkook think that there was probably nothing they wouldn’t do for each other. and, when it came down to it, wasn’t that love?

despite whatever was going on with them, the three never seemed to make yoongi feel left out. their affection was subtle and hidden, and even jungkook could tell that it was built on friendship first, that the four of them were a single unit before and above anything else.

jungkook thought of his own hyungs, how they always invited him out and offered him food and never made him feel isolated. he wondered what they would think of the witches. of yoongi. he had to hang out with them soon, it had been a while.

the witches brought him into the conversation every now and then- jungkook found that he and taehyung got along almost too well, instantly at ease with each other, while jin’s over the top drama made him laugh and bicker without caution. jimin… he still wasn't sure where he stood with jimin. he’d accepted his apology, and he knew now that his initial impression of him wasn’t accurate, but he was still a little wary. jimin seemed to know it too, but he treated jungkook kindly anyway, a little softer than the other two did, like he didn’t want to scare him off again. his personality was oddly comforting, despite the image that kept flashing in jungkook’s head of the way his eyes had blazed the night before.

yoongi… yoongi was somehow the same as he’d been as a cat. he let the others mostly fill the silence, watching with observant eyes and interjecting here and there with a dry remark that reminded jungkook of his irate tail flicks and scrunched nose. yoongi also kept looking at jungkook. at first, he wasn’t sure if he was imagining it, but the more the others drew him into the conversation, the more he started feeling yoongi’s gaze lingering on him. he couldn’t tell what it meant.

eventually, it was time to go. jin followed jimin and taehyung outside, the two youngest hyungs draped over each other happily, and jungkook and yoongi were left hovering by the door. it was the first time since yoongi was a cat that they were alone together.

“jungkook-ah,” yoongi said in his rumbly voice, “thank you. i know we laughed it off, but… being stuck in a different body- it’s not fun. you made it better. thank you for helping me find my way back, and thank you for taking care of me when i couldn’t.”

“hyung,” jungkook whined, cheeks heating up. he looked down at the ground and shuffled his feet. “it was nothing, really. i didn’t mind taking care of you, and i wanted to help. thank you for trusting me.”

yoongi huffed out a small laugh and ruffled jungkook’s unruly hair. “you earned it,” yoongi said softly. “i mean it. and i’m still going to pay you back. here, give me your phone.”

jungkook handed his phone over wordlessly and yoongi typed in the password. at jungkook’s raised eyebrow, he just shrugged and offered a sly smirk. yoongi typed in his contact and sent himself a text before handing the phone back to jungkook. 

“let’s meet up, okay? hyung will buy you food whenever you want.”

jungkook stared at his phone in silence for a second or two before finally looking back up at yoongi, who looked almost nonchalant if not for the way his eyes kept wandering over the door behind jungkook instead of at his face. jungkook bit back a smile and pocketed his phone again with a nod.

“i’ll text you,” he promised quietly. “thanks, hyung.”

jin called for them to come out. jungkook hesitated for a split second before stepping forward and giving yoongi one last hug. he liked the way yoongi fit against him, liked the way yoongi’s hands didn’t hesitate to find jungkook’s back again and squeeze him tight. it was strange to think that they were kind of only just meeting when they seemed to fit together so well.

jungkook stepped back with a smile, his nose scrunching happily. “i’ll see you,” he said. yoongi nodded, and then jungkook followed jin and the others outside, ignoring jin’s waggling eyebrows and accepting jimin’s offer to get him a cab home. 

taehyung hugged him tight before he got in the cab, whispering that he was glad jungkook was okay after last night and that if he ever wanted to get revenge, taehyung would be on his side. jungkook smiled big and shook his head. “you couldn’t do anything to them, hyung,” he informed him. “even if you dyed their hair in their sleep or nailed their furniture to the ceiling, i’m pretty sure they couldn’t be upset at you even if they tried.”

taehyung blushed, something jungkook hadn’t seen till now. “yeah,” he said with a breathy laugh, lips pursing nervously. “i wonder if they’ll ever do anything about it.”

jungkook squeezed him reassuringly. “don’t underestimate yourself, hyung,” he whispered conspiratorially, “who says you can’t do something first?” he pulled back with a cheeky grin. “i’ll text you so you have my number. text me if you ever need to vent or get some advice, okay?”

taehyung laughed and pulled him back into his arms. “i’m glad hyung found you, kook-ah,” he said, voice rich and warm and welcoming. “i hope we become good friends.”

jin said goodbye next, ruffling jungkook’s already mussed hair fondly. “you’re a good kid, jungkook-ah. i’m sorry you got involved in all of this, but i’m happy it was you. you have hyung’s number, right? if you ever need anything, call and i’ll take care of it.” he paused and brought jungkook into his own hug, a little less comfortable than taehyung’s or yoongi’s, but once jungkook relaxed into it, it felt overwhelmingly nice. “thank you,” jin said earnestly. “we show it differently, but yoongi is very precious to us. thank you for keeping him safe.”

jungkook blushed and nodded against jin’s (massive) shoulder. “i’m glad i could help. please don’t turn him into a cat again.” jin laughed and patted him on the back before letting him go.

finally, jimin. jimin reached out cautiously, but not for a hug. he took one of jungkook’s hands between both of his, holding it loosely at first to give jungkook a chance to draw back. “jungkookie,” he started, his voice soft and with that little bit of music in it. “i- i’m sorry. i know i apologized already,” he said, cutting off jungkook’s protest before it could even start, “but i really mean it. hyung has a bad habit of disappearing, so we didn’t think too much of it. i was scared when you showed up and i realized we could have put him in danger for so long and never even known. or that it could happen again. the things you said… they were just things i was also worrying about, and it made me feel nervous and afraid. hyung… hyung is someone very important to me. i never want to lose him. and i was scared i might, and you… you represented that. you were the one that might take him from me because i couldn’t take care of him myself.”

jimin paused to take a shaky breath and jungkook licked his lips nervously, lifting his other hand to jimin’s. jimin looked up at him with a small smile.

“i know what i said hurt you. i would have known even if you hadn’t run off, because i said it to hurt you. it’s part of my powers- i know things. i knew what to attack on you and i make it worse. but, because i know things, i want to tell you that i know i was lying too. your- i’m sorry if this is overstepping, but i need to say it- your hyungs care about you so much. all of them, not just namjoon and hoseok, although they would do anything for you. yoongi-hyung too. i patronized your relationship with him because of my own insecurities, but, jungkook, he cares about you so much. and you’ve proved that you’re someone who deserves that. not many people do. i hope… i hope that i could put to rest any doubts i put in your mind. and i hope you can find it in yourself to forgive me. you’re- you’re a good person, jungkook-ah, genuinely. and i would very much like to have someone like you as a friend. if you would have me, i would like to be a hyung to someone like you. you don’t owe me a decision now, but i want you to know where i stand on-”

this time, it was jungkook that pulled him into a hug, dwarfing jimin’s surprisingly lithe body with his own. jimin froze for a second before hugging back, clinging tightly to jungkook with a heavy breath.

“i think it would be very cool to have you as my hyung,” jungkook admitted. “i accept your apology, and thank you for explaining. just, please don’t be mean to me again.”

jimin shook his head vehemently. “you’re too much of a baby to be mean to,” he said without a trace of laughter in his voice. jungkook giggled. “thank you.”

the cab pulled up and jimin let him go, stepping back and brushing jungkook’s shoulders off like he was sending him off on a voyage. jungkook giggled and batted him away, waving to jin and taehyung who were watching with barely concealed fondness. “bye, hyungs. see you around.”

jin gave the driver a generous stack of bills and asked him to drive safe, and then jungkook was off. it wasn’t until he got home to his empty apartment and collapsed on the bed that he realized he had just concluded what was probably the strangest week of his life.