SSS 2010: for sol_tama
For: sol_tama
From: Your (Emergency) Secret Santa
Title: Eye of the Fox
Pairing: Onew/Key
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 5,453
Summary: Wherein Jinki has magic and Kibum decides to be his familiar.
On the night he was born a storm raged outside that his mother’s midwife claimed bore ill will and misfortune for him for years to come. Children born at night were always cursed as evil because, as she said, only the devil himself came out then to wreak his havoc on the world.
He was tiny and round and weighed just that of a potato, his mother claiming he’d looked like one too. He had cried and cried and hadn’t stopped until his face was pressed into his mother’s bosom, his cries only muffled then until he was forced to cease his crying lest he suffocate. Admittedly, his mother wasn’t the most knowledgeable of mothers when it came to her son, but she tried her best and for that he was grateful.
His father, unsurprisingly, had not been there at the time of his birth, neither in the room nor even the house. He’d left sometime during his mother’s third month carrying their son for a hunting trip and had yet to return. They could only assume he was dead or settled elsewhere.
The midwife was the one to name him, the mother distraught from her absent husband and the melancholic atmosphere in the room following her son’s birth. Her parents were long dead, she had no other family, and thus she was, essentially, now on her own to raise her son.
He was given his father’s surname for no other reason than to at least honor the missing man’s lineage. The origins of his given name stem selfishly from the midwife’s own family, her grandfather long passed away to the next realm. Lee Jinki was a strong name for the boy, or so she thought, and it would serve him well despite her predicted misfortune that awaited him.
It would seem Jinki truly was cursed. His mother was the first to realize this but perhaps there was some luck to be accounted for as she was the only one to discover Jinki’s condition, or so they called it, and not any of the townsfolk.
Magic hadn’t been banned from the lands of course, but it was looked down upon with a wary eye. Few who possessed any form of magic learned early the benefits of keeping their talents from others. Fear could be a significant motivator indeed, especially when facing the unknown, and no one wanted to risk execution or worse, ostracization because they couldn’t keep their mouths shut or their twitching fingers still. There were some who coveted magic and would do anything to get their hands on potions or enchanted artifacts or even magical beasts. Then there were those who would do anything to rid the world of such things.
Honey was something rare in Jinki’s home, for his mother could not afford it most times from the market and didn’t have the means to procure it herself. By the age of six however Jinki was already addicted to the sweet syrup, longed for it daily and imagined himself sitting there hours a day just sticky-ing his fingers with it and licking the honey from his hands like kittens drinking from a milk bowl.
But honey was a treat to be savored, given only when available and only when deserved. One spring morning, his mother in the kitchen preparing the tub for his bathing, Jinki discovered the little jar his mother kept the honey tucked in sitting forgotten on the table. He wasn’t thinking of the reprimand sure to come afterward as his little fingers wrapped around the clay pot and brought it down to him, smiling in anticipation before the smile fell from his face. There was only a bit left inside, not even enough for two swipes of his fingers.
His mother found him like that, staring despondently into the jar. “Jinki,” she said, “Come now, you should get into the water before it turns cold.”
Jinki nodded his head but moved only to look up at her, eyes wide. “Want more,” he pleaded sullenly. His mother gave him a sympathetic look but there was not enough money to pay for another jar that day and so, wish a regretful sigh, she made to take what remained away from her son but froze, fingers tight around the container.
She stood still, mouth hanging slack as the jar filled with honey right before her eyes. It began to overfill, spilling over the edge and dripping tremulously to her fingers.
In fear, she dropped the jar, stepping back as it smashed to tiny pieces at her feet, the honey now coating her wooden floor.
She looked to her son, who seemed to find nothing wrong but cried out as the honey fell to the ground, now spoiled. “Umma!” He fell to his knees and try to scoop the honey into his hands but his mother stopped him, yanking him away, not caring as his sticky fingers gripped his thin dress. She refused to believe it had been him, that it had been her son, that did that. No, it wasn’t true, couldn’t be true. Jinki did not possess magic.
It was little things over the years that passed that continued to insist otherwise-the Jinki did indeed have magic running in his veins. Lord knows how she tried to deny it, to tell herself it was all just coincidence, something unexplainable. At night, when the denial bore little weight, she prayed to the stars secretly before bed to take the magic from her son. Take it and rid her and him of the problem, for the risk they ran of anyone catching on to her son’s secret was great.
Little things certainly. His baths never turned cold; the fires in his room never diminished; honey jars and other sweets he adored never rand empty. One time she had caught him playing with her old dolls, ones her mother had made for her when she was a child and ones she had kept to give to the daughter she never had. But the dolls did not simply remain in his hands-the ran and danced and twirled like little tops across the floor of his room, before she took them and locked them away in a trunk.
Jinki did not understand the peculiarity of the things he could do. He did not understand that it was in fact him doing those things, at least not until much later, in his teen years.
No one else aside from his mother knew about those things either and she preferred to keep it that way. Theirs was not a way of life to be envious of but for a while it worked.
Like all things, however, the relative peace his mother had maintained for so long shattered one fall night, dinnertime. Jinki was 18.
“I think it’s time I left,” he started, placing his chopsticks carefully down beside his plate on the table. His mother looked up, surprise shining in her eyes.
“You want to leave?”
He shook his head. “It isn’t that I want to leave, it’s that I think I should.”
“Why?”
He sighed before answering, unsure how to express clearly all that he felt. “I just-there’s something about me, isn’t there? Something strange, something-”
“No, don’t say it-”
“-Something magical.” Silence fell between them, heavy and uncomfortable before Jinki broke it. “There is mother. And I know you’ve been trying to hide it. Considering how others would react, I guess I understand your reasons but I can’t live like this anymore. I need to find out what I can do, if I can you know-do more with my life.”
He noticed how she refused to meet his eyes, how the fingers of his left hand resting on the table closed into a fist. “Where will you go?” she finally asked. Her lip trembled.
Jinki swallowed thickly, suddenly unsure if this really was a good idea. It had been so easy to make the decision to leave but now, faced with his mother’s despondency at the idea, he wasn’t so certain anymore. “I’m not sure,” he answered. “There are more villages several days’ walk from here; I thought maybe I could go to some, see if there’s anyone who can help me understand what I can do. Train me, maybe.”
She sighed and finally looked up. The soft browns of her eyes glistened and Jinki knew a moment of shame for putting that watery look on her face. “Your father said the same thing to me, right before he left.”
“Umma-”
“He’d spotted a beast that he claimed could feed us for one full moon cycle but didn’t think he could kill it himself. So he went to another village with his group of hunters and he told me, ‘There will be others there that can help us.’”
He had no idea what to say, having known why his father was missing already. It hurt to think his mother had so little faith in his ability to stay alive and well but at the same time he didn’t think he could fault her for being cautious, given the circumstances.
“I’ll be fine,” he said, sounding more confident than he felt. “I’ll leave in a few days, before the heavy winter sets in.”
“And you’ll come back?” she asked, more a statement than a question, but Jinki answered anyway. “I will.”
He left three days later, plans of what he’d do once he reached the first town already forming in his mind. The ground was frozen stiff and his feet ached by the third league he travelled as he trudged through dead grass and cemented mud. He carried on his back a satchel with only a set of spare clothes and of course food, though he doubted it would last him more than a few days.
He stopped the first night and rested beneath a tall oak tree whose branches extended outward like reaching hands to the sky. The leaves were already darkened to a fiery red and when he tilted his head back to lean against the trunk, the colors of the forest surrounding him blended into a community of reds and yellows against the setting sun.
He slept fitfully, plagued by dreams of faceless men and women who were running towards him, their countenance nothing but fearful and enraged. When he awoke, some hours later huddling beside the last embers of his fire, his breath ghosted in front of him and it was like the people he’d dreamed about were the trees towering all around him, angry and bitter and cold. It was still dark, though a few rays of sunlight were beginning to inch up from the horizon.
He tended to his fire and pulled out a loaf of dry, stale bread, toasting it over the tiny flames in hopes of softening the food.
An idea, unbidden and not far from crazy he believed, struck him then, and he was powerless to stop himself. He tore a piece of the bread away and held the smaller piece in his hand outstretched before him. It would require concentration, but he thought if he focused enough, he could control that nearly dismissible thrum of magic in his veins, let it flow through his limbs and set it where he willed.
He focused on one thing-softening the bread. Nothing happened for several long moments until, holding his breath, Jinki closed his eyes and pictured himself eating the bread, warm and soft and just as delicious as if his mother had made it not minutes before. He felt his fingers go numb, but he wasn’t sure if it was the cold or his own magic’s doing.
When he opened his eyes, feeling suddenly drained, he had to contain his excitement for there in his hand was the same piece of bread he’d broken off, only now little wisps emerged from the center. Taking a bite, he savored his newly warmed, soft meal.
Jinki reached a village on his third day of walking and he’d never been so relieved to see plumes of smoke in the distance before in his life.
He approached the town with caution, considering his options. His first action would be to find a tavern and finally get a decent meal and find some warm lodging. From there, he’d have to figure out a way to find someone who could help him with his magic without inadvertently revealing his secret to those who wouldn’t approve.
No one paid him any mind as he made his way carefully through the dirt streets. Houses line the roads, houses and stores whose names made him curious. Jinki made a silent note to himself to check the stores at some point, because many sounded promising to his purpose.
The tavern wasn’t difficult to find but he stopped before going inside. A quick check in his bag revealed only 6 gold coins, his entire life’s savings. He hoped the coins would last him long but he had an idea that he could possibly duplicate one of them several times with his magic should the need arise-though it’d have to be done in complete secrecy, and who knew just how private the inn’s rooms would be.
Inside it was boisterous and exciting, men chugging their drinks from large tankards and women in their laps smiling coquettishly down at them. Jinki had never seen such behavior before-his town certainly hadn’t behaved in such vulgar ways.
“Who might you be and what’ll you need?” Jinki grew aware of the several patrons sitting at the bar appraising him quickly before once more returning their eyes to their drinks. He finally looked at the barkeeper, confused as to why someone so young would be working in a place like this.
“I’m looking for a place to stay,” he answered, ignoring the first question. “Can you provide me a place of lodging?” Show him politeness, he thought to himself. Be polite and they’ll have no reason to suspect anything strange of you.
The bartender threw his head back and laughed, clearly amused by Jinki’s choice of words. “’Place of lodging?’ Yeah, yeah, we’ve got that here! Take a seat, have a drink-I’ll have a room cleaned for you and then you can go on up.”
Jinki took a seat on one of the rickety chairs, feeling one leg shorter than the rest that kept causing it to wobble. He waited patiently for his first drink, telling himself he’d only have one and then find his room and think about his next action.
Jinki awoke the next morning with a pounding headache, his mouth dry as cotton-and tasting like it too, and no memory of what happened the day before. He was, mercifully enough, lying on his back on a bed with the covers pulled over him and his head rested on a lumpy pillow.
He fell like hell had struck him.
He groaned as he sat up, clutching his head. There was already a cup of water on the bedside table that he used to rinse his mouth before spitting into the basin beside it. Lords but he was never drinking again.
It was quiet when he trudged down the steps back into the bar area, for which he was immensely thankful for. He attributed the blessed silence to the early hour of the morning. He sat at one of the tables, which was really just a barrel with two chairs on either side of it, and cradled his aching head in his hands, willing the pain to go away.
A plate of food and glass of milk was miraculously placed in front of him. He looked up, coming face to face with a plump woman whose hair was matted down and pulled back in a tight bun. She smiled at him before walking away.
“So he lives!” called a voice, and had Jinki known how to, he would’ve hexed the speaker of the words. As it was, he merely sunk further down in his seat and groaned, trying to ignore the obnoxious barkeeper.
He clearly didn’t get the hint however, as he took the remaining seat at Jinki’s table and began speaking some more, talking nonsense that Jinki barely paid any attention to as he nibbled his food.
“-be going, I assume, since the whole town is going to be there?”
“What was that?” Jinki finally tore himself away from his food and focused again on the man-really a boy his own age, in front of him.
“I asked if you’ll be going to the beast auction today?”
“What is it?” He’d never heard of a beast auction before but by its name, Jinki had some idea of what it would be.
The barkeeper grinned at him, leaning back in his chair and looking like he was deliberating carefully what to say. “The beast auction comes once a year,” he explained. “A bunch of hunters travel all over the place, through the forests, to the plains, the sea, and back again, looking for magical creatures to sell in various places. They come to our town once a year and always have interesting things to sell.”
“Magical creatures?”
The barkeeper nodded. “You know, little gnomes, bottled fairies, talking animals. One year I remember someone brought a baby dragon-nearly singed the whole town before someone was able to kill it.”
Jinki tried to hide his shock and disgust at the nonchalance in the other’s voice as he spoke. That something like this was allowed to happen, capturing and selling magical creatures, was disgusting to him. “And people can afford these things? I can’t believe that they come cheap.”
“Oh no. I mean, obviously not everyone can afford a flying horse or a tree sprite, but lucky toads and talking cats? Not really a problem you know? Since they’re so common and all.”
Jinki shrugged indifferently, trying not to show how affected he was. “And when is this auction?”
“Midday,” he said. “So get that pouch of coins ready if you don’t want to miss out.”
Jinki was about to ask where the auction was going to be held but before he could another voice called out, “Jonghyun-ah?! I need you to clean up the kitchen for me!”
“I’m going!” He turned to look at Jinki, rising to his feet with a nod of his head. “Good luck today,” he said before walking away, leaving Jinki to his own thoughts. What a noisy barkeep, Jinki thought to himself, finishing his meal.
He needn’t have worried about not finding the ‘beast auction’ because it was the talk of the whole town. He was easily enough able to follow behind a group of people as they made their way to the center of the town, the courtyard where the auction would be held.
“And here we have you folks a young water nymph-isn’t she a beauty? She’ll clean your water for you and keep your families entertained with her song and dance! Let’s start the bidding at, oh say, 10 gold pieces? Do I hear 10? 15? Anyone for fifteen? How about-”
Jinki tuned the auctioneer out, looking around him. Everywhere he looked were men and women and even children all digging around in their pockets and talking animatedly to each other. A raised platform had been set in the courtyard where the auctioneer stood, calling out bids and giving information on each creature that was brought to the front. A large covered tent stood erected behind him, no doubt hosting the ‘merchandise’ the hunters who’d caught.
The whole place was chaotic and crowded. Jinki elbowed his way to the front, ignoring the angry calls behind him.
He could do nothing but stare as small, large, furry, scaly, hairless-all manner of creatures, were paraded one by one up the step to the platform, held there by the collar and rope around their necks. The auctioneer continued to call out names for each one and as he watched them be handed off to their new owners, Jinki felt sick to his stomach. This is-this is completely wrong; how can they do this?
Hours could have passed but still Jinki remained, watching. So many times he wanted to call out, to tell them to stop, but something held him back.
It seemed, after some time, the auction was coming to a close. The afternoon sun still hung heavy and bright in the sky but the chill of the wind kept everyone in attendance on their toes. Jinki thought it was over but was proven otherwise as one final creature was brought up.
“And now, my friends, I bring you the best of the best of this lot this year! Finding this one was a hard thing indeed, yessir, but my hunters are nothing if not resourceful!” He cast his gaze around the crowd whose noise had come down to a hush, anticipation prevalent in the air as they waited to be told just what the new creature was.
Jinki watched as a small, makeshift cage was brought up and set down. He had to squint to see properly what it was but from the looks of it-
“This here, good people, is a spirit.” His voice carried over all other movement-even the wind itself seemed to have quieted its howl for him to be heard. “It’s said magicians and witches use these beasts in their work-familiars, as they’re called. Beautiful, strong but! Dangerous, dangerous to the untrained hand. Now, bidding at-”
“It’s a fox!” someone in the crowd yelled and suddenly the simmering reverence that had fallen over them all was broken as cries of disbelief rang out.
The auctioneer, rather than look nonplussed, instead adopted a demeanor of excited glee, eyes twinkling as he licked his mouth and smacked his lips obscenely to quiet the anxious people. “A fox, yes it is indeed a fox. But this-” he gestured to the cage, “is not some teasing little fox your mutts run after! Oh no, this here is familiar, as I mentioned earlier. Fox now, he is, but he has another form, a human form and anyone who sees him shift is lucky for sure!”
“Let’s see him change then!” There was a murmur of agreement, everyone suddenly insisting on seeing the little animal inside its cage turn into a human.
Jinki’s hands balled into a pair of fists at his side. The poor, defenseless animal, caged like it was some monstrous beast-one look at him and Jinki knew he could not let it be tortured any longer.
“I’ll give you 50 gold pieces for it!” he shouted above the raucous. His voice pierced through the other voices and the auctioneer faced snapped to look at him.
“You boy, you said that? Fifty pieces?”
Jinki nodded. His right hand dug into the pocket of his trousers, pulling one coin out discreetly and slipping it into the little pouch tied by a string of twine to his pants. He stepped forward with his face set, and even before he’d reached the auctioneer, he already knew his coin purse was full of the gold currency.
He pulled it away and held it out to the man, biting back a look of disgust at the greed on his pudgy face as he took the purse from Jinki’s hand with a flourish bow. “Well then, the familiar is yours, my boy.”
Cries of protest shouted out at the unfairness of Jinki’s purchase, as no real bidding had taken place. He ignored them all though, climbing onto the platform and picking up the small cage in his arms. Inside, the fox pressed itself to the farthest corner away from him and hissed, baring its tiny, pointed teeth at him.
He couldn’t go back to the tavern, not with the fox at least. So heated and angry had he been that Jinki hadn’t thought of anything beyond rescuing the creature. Now he had a whole new problem on-or rather, in, his hands.
“What am I going to do with you?” he asked, more to himself than the fox as he walked with the cage in his arms. He was careful to weave between homes and roads that were deserted, making his way out of the town and back into the forest he’d come through.
He stopped at the forest’s edge, finding a sizeable tree to hide behind before kneeling down and putting the cage on the ground carefully. The fox no longer looked angry but defeated, body slumped at the side of the cage. Jinki felt his heart go out to it.
“Shh, easy there,” he whispered, struggling to unlatch the cage door. It had been slotted in a complex design by wood and rope knots and Jinki, in a fit of frustration, opened his palm and held it against the bar, thinking of and waiting for a lick of fire to emerge from his open hand. When a small flame came out and burned through the cage, leaving it easy to pull apart, he closed his hand, effectively extinguishing the fire.
The fox looked suddenly more alert, standing on its feet again. Jinki held his hand out, careful not to appear harmful to the scared animal.
It was much smaller than a normal fox, Jinki realized. Its length was the size of his forearm and it wasn’t very tall. The fur looked soft, painted a vibrant orange from its nose to its tail with a white, downy underbelly and chest. Each leg was black and Jinki realized, appraising the fox admiringly, that it was a gorgeous creature indeed.
“You can stay in there if you want, but I think you’d be better coming out and stretching your legs,” he said, speaking lowly so as not to startle him. He pulled his arm back and rocked back on his heels away from the cage, giving the fox room to come out. He waited a beat, but the fox didn’t move.
Jinki settled down and crossed his legs. He had nothing better to do; he may as well wait to see what the fox would do once it no longer felt threatened.
His wait, thankfully, was not long.
The little fox moved hesitantly after a minute. He watched Jinki warily as he stepped to the opening the human had created for him. His feet fell with precision around the bars and out of the cage until he was finally in the open wilderness again.
As though suddenly realizing his newfound freedom, he spun around and took off, leaving Jinki behind.
Great, he thought to himself. Of course the fox is just a fox.
He watched the fox dart away but was shocked when he suddenly stopped, one foot still hanging in midair. Before Jinki knew what was happening, the fox turned again and ran back toward him.
When he was several arm lengths away, the fox surprised Jinki again by suddenly leaping into the air, front legs stretched in front of him. Midway to Jinki, the fox transformed and Jinki ended up on his back, a very thin, very naked, boy on top of him.
There were many things in his life that had shocked Jinki, but this was perhaps his greatest surprise. A fox, any animal really, was not supposed to turn into people. Though he himself had heard the tales of witches and their cat familiars, or dangerous magic users who employed equally dangerous creatures to help them with their work, Jinki himself had never thought he’d have the pleasure of meeting an animal shifter himself.
“Well-hello,” he said, feeling very awkward.
The boy was about his age, maybe a bit younger. His hair was dark brown like Jinki’s, sharp, angular eyes held above high cheek bones and a defined jaw. As Jinki stared, he couldn’t help but think that the creature lying on top of him as a boy was just a strikingly beautiful as the creature as a fox.
The boy’s hands wrapped around Jinki’s neck but not menacingly, simply holding him still. “Why did you buy me?” he asked Jinki and his first words alone had Jinki nearly trembling, so smooth and melodic were they.
“I-I-Uhm, well I-” He had no idea what he was trying to say and so he stopped, choosing his words carefully. “You looked scared-I couldn’t just let you be sold to some careless worker.”
The boy’s eyes narrowed, lips thinning to a straight line. “What’s your name?”
“Jinki,” he answered, “Lee Jinki.”
“Lee Jinki.” The boy said his name as though tasting the words for himself, looking thoughtful. “My name is Kibum. I’ve lived 17 summers.”
It was only then, as Kibum’s hands tightened around Jinki’s neck, that Jinki realized his hands were holding Kibum’s form securely to him, arms around his waist. He blushed and willed his embarrassment to go away, too scared to move his hands now lest Kibum suddenly realize just where his hands were resting on him.
“Okay, uhm well…” he trailed off again. Kibum licked his lips and Jinki’s eyes were drawn to the action.
“I’ve only been in this form a few times,” Kibum revealed. “It’s a bit…strange.”
“You spend most of your time as a fox?”
Kibum nodded. “It’s easier to move around that way. When it’s not your hunting season, that is.”
“And what exactly do you do in this form? Just like like a normal fox?”
The young fox spirit smiled down at him, face moving closer to Jinki’s and looking as though he was about to reveal a very important secret to Jinki. “I’ve been looking for someone,” he said simply.
“Who?”
“Someone who has magic. Someone who can do good things with what he has. I’m a familiar, remember?”
Jinki realized then that he didn’t really know what a familiar was. He knew they often helped witches. He also knew they were protective, strong, and possessed a large amount of magic themselves, the kind of magic only they knew the extent of. “So what does that mean exactly? For us, at least?”
Kibum shifted his bottom and Jinki really wished he wouldn’t move around quite so much. The way his body moved over Jinki’s was doing strange things to the young magic holder. “Well, I choose one person to attach myself to, to serve. And I suppose you’ll do.”
At this, Jinki froze.
“Wait, wait.” He finally sat up, pushing Kibum more into his lap with his arms still slung over his shoulders. “You’re going to ‘attach’ yourself to me? Why on earth would you do that? I’m not even that good at magic-I’ve just been doing whatever I can to get by-and I’ve never even had a pet before, let alone another person to look after and I just gave away all my money to some shady auctioneer so I can’t even pay you and I think you should-”
“Stop.” Jinki immediately fell silent. “It’s pretty obvious you don’t know anything about familiars, Lee Jinki, otherwise you’d have turned me back into my human shape a while ago. And judging by the way you summoned the fire just now to open that stupid cage rather than just will it away or something, I can tell you have no training whatsoever in matters of magic.
“That’s okay though. I’ve chosen you and I,” he unexpectedly wiggled in Jinki’s lap, causing another rush of heat to flush his face, “am very adept at magic, barring certain useless magic repelling devices like that cage over there that I couldn’t get out of. Consider this my thank you for freeing me.”
“Thank you?”
Kibum nodded. “Yes. I’ll help you learn to control your magic, and in return?”
Jinki swallowed, fighting to keep his eyes open and remain sitting up when all he wanted to do was push Kibum off of him and collapse onto his back before he did something they’d both regret. “In return?”
“In return-you protect me from evil hunters. Alright?”
Jinki couldn’t do anything else but nod at Kibum, who looked very pleased indeed. “Good,” he said, and before Jinki could stop him, Kibum pressed his lips to his and held their mouths unmoving against each other for several long seconds before finally pulling away. “Oh and Lee Jinki?”
“Yeah?” Even Jinki heard how breathless and stunned he sounded.
“This partnership is permanent-”
“So I’m…?”
The familiar looked overtly pleased with himself as he nodded to Jinki’s unfinished question. “Yes, you’re stuck with me.” With that, he pressed another gentle kiss to Jinki’s cheek, before shifting back into his fox form.
From: Your (Emergency) Secret Santa
Title: Eye of the Fox
Pairing: Onew/Key
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 5,453
Summary: Wherein Jinki has magic and Kibum decides to be his familiar.
On the night he was born a storm raged outside that his mother’s midwife claimed bore ill will and misfortune for him for years to come. Children born at night were always cursed as evil because, as she said, only the devil himself came out then to wreak his havoc on the world.
He was tiny and round and weighed just that of a potato, his mother claiming he’d looked like one too. He had cried and cried and hadn’t stopped until his face was pressed into his mother’s bosom, his cries only muffled then until he was forced to cease his crying lest he suffocate. Admittedly, his mother wasn’t the most knowledgeable of mothers when it came to her son, but she tried her best and for that he was grateful.
His father, unsurprisingly, had not been there at the time of his birth, neither in the room nor even the house. He’d left sometime during his mother’s third month carrying their son for a hunting trip and had yet to return. They could only assume he was dead or settled elsewhere.
The midwife was the one to name him, the mother distraught from her absent husband and the melancholic atmosphere in the room following her son’s birth. Her parents were long dead, she had no other family, and thus she was, essentially, now on her own to raise her son.
He was given his father’s surname for no other reason than to at least honor the missing man’s lineage. The origins of his given name stem selfishly from the midwife’s own family, her grandfather long passed away to the next realm. Lee Jinki was a strong name for the boy, or so she thought, and it would serve him well despite her predicted misfortune that awaited him.
It would seem Jinki truly was cursed. His mother was the first to realize this but perhaps there was some luck to be accounted for as she was the only one to discover Jinki’s condition, or so they called it, and not any of the townsfolk.
Magic hadn’t been banned from the lands of course, but it was looked down upon with a wary eye. Few who possessed any form of magic learned early the benefits of keeping their talents from others. Fear could be a significant motivator indeed, especially when facing the unknown, and no one wanted to risk execution or worse, ostracization because they couldn’t keep their mouths shut or their twitching fingers still. There were some who coveted magic and would do anything to get their hands on potions or enchanted artifacts or even magical beasts. Then there were those who would do anything to rid the world of such things.
Honey was something rare in Jinki’s home, for his mother could not afford it most times from the market and didn’t have the means to procure it herself. By the age of six however Jinki was already addicted to the sweet syrup, longed for it daily and imagined himself sitting there hours a day just sticky-ing his fingers with it and licking the honey from his hands like kittens drinking from a milk bowl.
But honey was a treat to be savored, given only when available and only when deserved. One spring morning, his mother in the kitchen preparing the tub for his bathing, Jinki discovered the little jar his mother kept the honey tucked in sitting forgotten on the table. He wasn’t thinking of the reprimand sure to come afterward as his little fingers wrapped around the clay pot and brought it down to him, smiling in anticipation before the smile fell from his face. There was only a bit left inside, not even enough for two swipes of his fingers.
His mother found him like that, staring despondently into the jar. “Jinki,” she said, “Come now, you should get into the water before it turns cold.”
Jinki nodded his head but moved only to look up at her, eyes wide. “Want more,” he pleaded sullenly. His mother gave him a sympathetic look but there was not enough money to pay for another jar that day and so, wish a regretful sigh, she made to take what remained away from her son but froze, fingers tight around the container.
She stood still, mouth hanging slack as the jar filled with honey right before her eyes. It began to overfill, spilling over the edge and dripping tremulously to her fingers.
In fear, she dropped the jar, stepping back as it smashed to tiny pieces at her feet, the honey now coating her wooden floor.
She looked to her son, who seemed to find nothing wrong but cried out as the honey fell to the ground, now spoiled. “Umma!” He fell to his knees and try to scoop the honey into his hands but his mother stopped him, yanking him away, not caring as his sticky fingers gripped his thin dress. She refused to believe it had been him, that it had been her son, that did that. No, it wasn’t true, couldn’t be true. Jinki did not possess magic.
It was little things over the years that passed that continued to insist otherwise-the Jinki did indeed have magic running in his veins. Lord knows how she tried to deny it, to tell herself it was all just coincidence, something unexplainable. At night, when the denial bore little weight, she prayed to the stars secretly before bed to take the magic from her son. Take it and rid her and him of the problem, for the risk they ran of anyone catching on to her son’s secret was great.
Little things certainly. His baths never turned cold; the fires in his room never diminished; honey jars and other sweets he adored never rand empty. One time she had caught him playing with her old dolls, ones her mother had made for her when she was a child and ones she had kept to give to the daughter she never had. But the dolls did not simply remain in his hands-the ran and danced and twirled like little tops across the floor of his room, before she took them and locked them away in a trunk.
Jinki did not understand the peculiarity of the things he could do. He did not understand that it was in fact him doing those things, at least not until much later, in his teen years.
No one else aside from his mother knew about those things either and she preferred to keep it that way. Theirs was not a way of life to be envious of but for a while it worked.
Like all things, however, the relative peace his mother had maintained for so long shattered one fall night, dinnertime. Jinki was 18.
“I think it’s time I left,” he started, placing his chopsticks carefully down beside his plate on the table. His mother looked up, surprise shining in her eyes.
“You want to leave?”
He shook his head. “It isn’t that I want to leave, it’s that I think I should.”
“Why?”
He sighed before answering, unsure how to express clearly all that he felt. “I just-there’s something about me, isn’t there? Something strange, something-”
“No, don’t say it-”
“-Something magical.” Silence fell between them, heavy and uncomfortable before Jinki broke it. “There is mother. And I know you’ve been trying to hide it. Considering how others would react, I guess I understand your reasons but I can’t live like this anymore. I need to find out what I can do, if I can you know-do more with my life.”
He noticed how she refused to meet his eyes, how the fingers of his left hand resting on the table closed into a fist. “Where will you go?” she finally asked. Her lip trembled.
Jinki swallowed thickly, suddenly unsure if this really was a good idea. It had been so easy to make the decision to leave but now, faced with his mother’s despondency at the idea, he wasn’t so certain anymore. “I’m not sure,” he answered. “There are more villages several days’ walk from here; I thought maybe I could go to some, see if there’s anyone who can help me understand what I can do. Train me, maybe.”
She sighed and finally looked up. The soft browns of her eyes glistened and Jinki knew a moment of shame for putting that watery look on her face. “Your father said the same thing to me, right before he left.”
“Umma-”
“He’d spotted a beast that he claimed could feed us for one full moon cycle but didn’t think he could kill it himself. So he went to another village with his group of hunters and he told me, ‘There will be others there that can help us.’”
He had no idea what to say, having known why his father was missing already. It hurt to think his mother had so little faith in his ability to stay alive and well but at the same time he didn’t think he could fault her for being cautious, given the circumstances.
“I’ll be fine,” he said, sounding more confident than he felt. “I’ll leave in a few days, before the heavy winter sets in.”
“And you’ll come back?” she asked, more a statement than a question, but Jinki answered anyway. “I will.”
He left three days later, plans of what he’d do once he reached the first town already forming in his mind. The ground was frozen stiff and his feet ached by the third league he travelled as he trudged through dead grass and cemented mud. He carried on his back a satchel with only a set of spare clothes and of course food, though he doubted it would last him more than a few days.
He stopped the first night and rested beneath a tall oak tree whose branches extended outward like reaching hands to the sky. The leaves were already darkened to a fiery red and when he tilted his head back to lean against the trunk, the colors of the forest surrounding him blended into a community of reds and yellows against the setting sun.
He slept fitfully, plagued by dreams of faceless men and women who were running towards him, their countenance nothing but fearful and enraged. When he awoke, some hours later huddling beside the last embers of his fire, his breath ghosted in front of him and it was like the people he’d dreamed about were the trees towering all around him, angry and bitter and cold. It was still dark, though a few rays of sunlight were beginning to inch up from the horizon.
He tended to his fire and pulled out a loaf of dry, stale bread, toasting it over the tiny flames in hopes of softening the food.
An idea, unbidden and not far from crazy he believed, struck him then, and he was powerless to stop himself. He tore a piece of the bread away and held the smaller piece in his hand outstretched before him. It would require concentration, but he thought if he focused enough, he could control that nearly dismissible thrum of magic in his veins, let it flow through his limbs and set it where he willed.
He focused on one thing-softening the bread. Nothing happened for several long moments until, holding his breath, Jinki closed his eyes and pictured himself eating the bread, warm and soft and just as delicious as if his mother had made it not minutes before. He felt his fingers go numb, but he wasn’t sure if it was the cold or his own magic’s doing.
When he opened his eyes, feeling suddenly drained, he had to contain his excitement for there in his hand was the same piece of bread he’d broken off, only now little wisps emerged from the center. Taking a bite, he savored his newly warmed, soft meal.
Jinki reached a village on his third day of walking and he’d never been so relieved to see plumes of smoke in the distance before in his life.
He approached the town with caution, considering his options. His first action would be to find a tavern and finally get a decent meal and find some warm lodging. From there, he’d have to figure out a way to find someone who could help him with his magic without inadvertently revealing his secret to those who wouldn’t approve.
No one paid him any mind as he made his way carefully through the dirt streets. Houses line the roads, houses and stores whose names made him curious. Jinki made a silent note to himself to check the stores at some point, because many sounded promising to his purpose.
The tavern wasn’t difficult to find but he stopped before going inside. A quick check in his bag revealed only 6 gold coins, his entire life’s savings. He hoped the coins would last him long but he had an idea that he could possibly duplicate one of them several times with his magic should the need arise-though it’d have to be done in complete secrecy, and who knew just how private the inn’s rooms would be.
Inside it was boisterous and exciting, men chugging their drinks from large tankards and women in their laps smiling coquettishly down at them. Jinki had never seen such behavior before-his town certainly hadn’t behaved in such vulgar ways.
“Who might you be and what’ll you need?” Jinki grew aware of the several patrons sitting at the bar appraising him quickly before once more returning their eyes to their drinks. He finally looked at the barkeeper, confused as to why someone so young would be working in a place like this.
“I’m looking for a place to stay,” he answered, ignoring the first question. “Can you provide me a place of lodging?” Show him politeness, he thought to himself. Be polite and they’ll have no reason to suspect anything strange of you.
The bartender threw his head back and laughed, clearly amused by Jinki’s choice of words. “’Place of lodging?’ Yeah, yeah, we’ve got that here! Take a seat, have a drink-I’ll have a room cleaned for you and then you can go on up.”
Jinki took a seat on one of the rickety chairs, feeling one leg shorter than the rest that kept causing it to wobble. He waited patiently for his first drink, telling himself he’d only have one and then find his room and think about his next action.
Jinki awoke the next morning with a pounding headache, his mouth dry as cotton-and tasting like it too, and no memory of what happened the day before. He was, mercifully enough, lying on his back on a bed with the covers pulled over him and his head rested on a lumpy pillow.
He fell like hell had struck him.
He groaned as he sat up, clutching his head. There was already a cup of water on the bedside table that he used to rinse his mouth before spitting into the basin beside it. Lords but he was never drinking again.
It was quiet when he trudged down the steps back into the bar area, for which he was immensely thankful for. He attributed the blessed silence to the early hour of the morning. He sat at one of the tables, which was really just a barrel with two chairs on either side of it, and cradled his aching head in his hands, willing the pain to go away.
A plate of food and glass of milk was miraculously placed in front of him. He looked up, coming face to face with a plump woman whose hair was matted down and pulled back in a tight bun. She smiled at him before walking away.
“So he lives!” called a voice, and had Jinki known how to, he would’ve hexed the speaker of the words. As it was, he merely sunk further down in his seat and groaned, trying to ignore the obnoxious barkeeper.
He clearly didn’t get the hint however, as he took the remaining seat at Jinki’s table and began speaking some more, talking nonsense that Jinki barely paid any attention to as he nibbled his food.
“-be going, I assume, since the whole town is going to be there?”
“What was that?” Jinki finally tore himself away from his food and focused again on the man-really a boy his own age, in front of him.
“I asked if you’ll be going to the beast auction today?”
“What is it?” He’d never heard of a beast auction before but by its name, Jinki had some idea of what it would be.
The barkeeper grinned at him, leaning back in his chair and looking like he was deliberating carefully what to say. “The beast auction comes once a year,” he explained. “A bunch of hunters travel all over the place, through the forests, to the plains, the sea, and back again, looking for magical creatures to sell in various places. They come to our town once a year and always have interesting things to sell.”
“Magical creatures?”
The barkeeper nodded. “You know, little gnomes, bottled fairies, talking animals. One year I remember someone brought a baby dragon-nearly singed the whole town before someone was able to kill it.”
Jinki tried to hide his shock and disgust at the nonchalance in the other’s voice as he spoke. That something like this was allowed to happen, capturing and selling magical creatures, was disgusting to him. “And people can afford these things? I can’t believe that they come cheap.”
“Oh no. I mean, obviously not everyone can afford a flying horse or a tree sprite, but lucky toads and talking cats? Not really a problem you know? Since they’re so common and all.”
Jinki shrugged indifferently, trying not to show how affected he was. “And when is this auction?”
“Midday,” he said. “So get that pouch of coins ready if you don’t want to miss out.”
Jinki was about to ask where the auction was going to be held but before he could another voice called out, “Jonghyun-ah?! I need you to clean up the kitchen for me!”
“I’m going!” He turned to look at Jinki, rising to his feet with a nod of his head. “Good luck today,” he said before walking away, leaving Jinki to his own thoughts. What a noisy barkeep, Jinki thought to himself, finishing his meal.
He needn’t have worried about not finding the ‘beast auction’ because it was the talk of the whole town. He was easily enough able to follow behind a group of people as they made their way to the center of the town, the courtyard where the auction would be held.
“And here we have you folks a young water nymph-isn’t she a beauty? She’ll clean your water for you and keep your families entertained with her song and dance! Let’s start the bidding at, oh say, 10 gold pieces? Do I hear 10? 15? Anyone for fifteen? How about-”
Jinki tuned the auctioneer out, looking around him. Everywhere he looked were men and women and even children all digging around in their pockets and talking animatedly to each other. A raised platform had been set in the courtyard where the auctioneer stood, calling out bids and giving information on each creature that was brought to the front. A large covered tent stood erected behind him, no doubt hosting the ‘merchandise’ the hunters who’d caught.
The whole place was chaotic and crowded. Jinki elbowed his way to the front, ignoring the angry calls behind him.
He could do nothing but stare as small, large, furry, scaly, hairless-all manner of creatures, were paraded one by one up the step to the platform, held there by the collar and rope around their necks. The auctioneer continued to call out names for each one and as he watched them be handed off to their new owners, Jinki felt sick to his stomach. This is-this is completely wrong; how can they do this?
Hours could have passed but still Jinki remained, watching. So many times he wanted to call out, to tell them to stop, but something held him back.
It seemed, after some time, the auction was coming to a close. The afternoon sun still hung heavy and bright in the sky but the chill of the wind kept everyone in attendance on their toes. Jinki thought it was over but was proven otherwise as one final creature was brought up.
“And now, my friends, I bring you the best of the best of this lot this year! Finding this one was a hard thing indeed, yessir, but my hunters are nothing if not resourceful!” He cast his gaze around the crowd whose noise had come down to a hush, anticipation prevalent in the air as they waited to be told just what the new creature was.
Jinki watched as a small, makeshift cage was brought up and set down. He had to squint to see properly what it was but from the looks of it-
“This here, good people, is a spirit.” His voice carried over all other movement-even the wind itself seemed to have quieted its howl for him to be heard. “It’s said magicians and witches use these beasts in their work-familiars, as they’re called. Beautiful, strong but! Dangerous, dangerous to the untrained hand. Now, bidding at-”
“It’s a fox!” someone in the crowd yelled and suddenly the simmering reverence that had fallen over them all was broken as cries of disbelief rang out.
The auctioneer, rather than look nonplussed, instead adopted a demeanor of excited glee, eyes twinkling as he licked his mouth and smacked his lips obscenely to quiet the anxious people. “A fox, yes it is indeed a fox. But this-” he gestured to the cage, “is not some teasing little fox your mutts run after! Oh no, this here is familiar, as I mentioned earlier. Fox now, he is, but he has another form, a human form and anyone who sees him shift is lucky for sure!”
“Let’s see him change then!” There was a murmur of agreement, everyone suddenly insisting on seeing the little animal inside its cage turn into a human.
Jinki’s hands balled into a pair of fists at his side. The poor, defenseless animal, caged like it was some monstrous beast-one look at him and Jinki knew he could not let it be tortured any longer.
“I’ll give you 50 gold pieces for it!” he shouted above the raucous. His voice pierced through the other voices and the auctioneer faced snapped to look at him.
“You boy, you said that? Fifty pieces?”
Jinki nodded. His right hand dug into the pocket of his trousers, pulling one coin out discreetly and slipping it into the little pouch tied by a string of twine to his pants. He stepped forward with his face set, and even before he’d reached the auctioneer, he already knew his coin purse was full of the gold currency.
He pulled it away and held it out to the man, biting back a look of disgust at the greed on his pudgy face as he took the purse from Jinki’s hand with a flourish bow. “Well then, the familiar is yours, my boy.”
Cries of protest shouted out at the unfairness of Jinki’s purchase, as no real bidding had taken place. He ignored them all though, climbing onto the platform and picking up the small cage in his arms. Inside, the fox pressed itself to the farthest corner away from him and hissed, baring its tiny, pointed teeth at him.
He couldn’t go back to the tavern, not with the fox at least. So heated and angry had he been that Jinki hadn’t thought of anything beyond rescuing the creature. Now he had a whole new problem on-or rather, in, his hands.
“What am I going to do with you?” he asked, more to himself than the fox as he walked with the cage in his arms. He was careful to weave between homes and roads that were deserted, making his way out of the town and back into the forest he’d come through.
He stopped at the forest’s edge, finding a sizeable tree to hide behind before kneeling down and putting the cage on the ground carefully. The fox no longer looked angry but defeated, body slumped at the side of the cage. Jinki felt his heart go out to it.
“Shh, easy there,” he whispered, struggling to unlatch the cage door. It had been slotted in a complex design by wood and rope knots and Jinki, in a fit of frustration, opened his palm and held it against the bar, thinking of and waiting for a lick of fire to emerge from his open hand. When a small flame came out and burned through the cage, leaving it easy to pull apart, he closed his hand, effectively extinguishing the fire.
The fox looked suddenly more alert, standing on its feet again. Jinki held his hand out, careful not to appear harmful to the scared animal.
It was much smaller than a normal fox, Jinki realized. Its length was the size of his forearm and it wasn’t very tall. The fur looked soft, painted a vibrant orange from its nose to its tail with a white, downy underbelly and chest. Each leg was black and Jinki realized, appraising the fox admiringly, that it was a gorgeous creature indeed.
“You can stay in there if you want, but I think you’d be better coming out and stretching your legs,” he said, speaking lowly so as not to startle him. He pulled his arm back and rocked back on his heels away from the cage, giving the fox room to come out. He waited a beat, but the fox didn’t move.
Jinki settled down and crossed his legs. He had nothing better to do; he may as well wait to see what the fox would do once it no longer felt threatened.
His wait, thankfully, was not long.
The little fox moved hesitantly after a minute. He watched Jinki warily as he stepped to the opening the human had created for him. His feet fell with precision around the bars and out of the cage until he was finally in the open wilderness again.
As though suddenly realizing his newfound freedom, he spun around and took off, leaving Jinki behind.
Great, he thought to himself. Of course the fox is just a fox.
He watched the fox dart away but was shocked when he suddenly stopped, one foot still hanging in midair. Before Jinki knew what was happening, the fox turned again and ran back toward him.
When he was several arm lengths away, the fox surprised Jinki again by suddenly leaping into the air, front legs stretched in front of him. Midway to Jinki, the fox transformed and Jinki ended up on his back, a very thin, very naked, boy on top of him.
There were many things in his life that had shocked Jinki, but this was perhaps his greatest surprise. A fox, any animal really, was not supposed to turn into people. Though he himself had heard the tales of witches and their cat familiars, or dangerous magic users who employed equally dangerous creatures to help them with their work, Jinki himself had never thought he’d have the pleasure of meeting an animal shifter himself.
“Well-hello,” he said, feeling very awkward.
The boy was about his age, maybe a bit younger. His hair was dark brown like Jinki’s, sharp, angular eyes held above high cheek bones and a defined jaw. As Jinki stared, he couldn’t help but think that the creature lying on top of him as a boy was just a strikingly beautiful as the creature as a fox.
The boy’s hands wrapped around Jinki’s neck but not menacingly, simply holding him still. “Why did you buy me?” he asked Jinki and his first words alone had Jinki nearly trembling, so smooth and melodic were they.
“I-I-Uhm, well I-” He had no idea what he was trying to say and so he stopped, choosing his words carefully. “You looked scared-I couldn’t just let you be sold to some careless worker.”
The boy’s eyes narrowed, lips thinning to a straight line. “What’s your name?”
“Jinki,” he answered, “Lee Jinki.”
“Lee Jinki.” The boy said his name as though tasting the words for himself, looking thoughtful. “My name is Kibum. I’ve lived 17 summers.”
It was only then, as Kibum’s hands tightened around Jinki’s neck, that Jinki realized his hands were holding Kibum’s form securely to him, arms around his waist. He blushed and willed his embarrassment to go away, too scared to move his hands now lest Kibum suddenly realize just where his hands were resting on him.
“Okay, uhm well…” he trailed off again. Kibum licked his lips and Jinki’s eyes were drawn to the action.
“I’ve only been in this form a few times,” Kibum revealed. “It’s a bit…strange.”
“You spend most of your time as a fox?”
Kibum nodded. “It’s easier to move around that way. When it’s not your hunting season, that is.”
“And what exactly do you do in this form? Just like like a normal fox?”
The young fox spirit smiled down at him, face moving closer to Jinki’s and looking as though he was about to reveal a very important secret to Jinki. “I’ve been looking for someone,” he said simply.
“Who?”
“Someone who has magic. Someone who can do good things with what he has. I’m a familiar, remember?”
Jinki realized then that he didn’t really know what a familiar was. He knew they often helped witches. He also knew they were protective, strong, and possessed a large amount of magic themselves, the kind of magic only they knew the extent of. “So what does that mean exactly? For us, at least?”
Kibum shifted his bottom and Jinki really wished he wouldn’t move around quite so much. The way his body moved over Jinki’s was doing strange things to the young magic holder. “Well, I choose one person to attach myself to, to serve. And I suppose you’ll do.”
At this, Jinki froze.
“Wait, wait.” He finally sat up, pushing Kibum more into his lap with his arms still slung over his shoulders. “You’re going to ‘attach’ yourself to me? Why on earth would you do that? I’m not even that good at magic-I’ve just been doing whatever I can to get by-and I’ve never even had a pet before, let alone another person to look after and I just gave away all my money to some shady auctioneer so I can’t even pay you and I think you should-”
“Stop.” Jinki immediately fell silent. “It’s pretty obvious you don’t know anything about familiars, Lee Jinki, otherwise you’d have turned me back into my human shape a while ago. And judging by the way you summoned the fire just now to open that stupid cage rather than just will it away or something, I can tell you have no training whatsoever in matters of magic.
“That’s okay though. I’ve chosen you and I,” he unexpectedly wiggled in Jinki’s lap, causing another rush of heat to flush his face, “am very adept at magic, barring certain useless magic repelling devices like that cage over there that I couldn’t get out of. Consider this my thank you for freeing me.”
“Thank you?”
Kibum nodded. “Yes. I’ll help you learn to control your magic, and in return?”
Jinki swallowed, fighting to keep his eyes open and remain sitting up when all he wanted to do was push Kibum off of him and collapse onto his back before he did something they’d both regret. “In return?”
“In return-you protect me from evil hunters. Alright?”
Jinki couldn’t do anything else but nod at Kibum, who looked very pleased indeed. “Good,” he said, and before Jinki could stop him, Kibum pressed his lips to his and held their mouths unmoving against each other for several long seconds before finally pulling away. “Oh and Lee Jinki?”
“Yeah?” Even Jinki heard how breathless and stunned he sounded.
“This partnership is permanent-”
“So I’m…?”
The familiar looked overtly pleased with himself as he nodded to Jinki’s unfinished question. “Yes, you’re stuck with me.” With that, he pressed another gentle kiss to Jinki’s cheek, before shifting back into his fox form.