[fic]
Title: Must Be Magic
Fandom: SHINee
Pairing: Onew/Taemin
Rating: G
Word Count: 9,083
Notes: Much thanks to everyone who listened to me lose my mind over this and help out, I ♥ you all.
This was my fic entry for shineeshorts!
(Does the table formatting make it easier for people to read this? just wondering!)
The door wheezed as it opened; the doorbell was tired today, or sulking, and Jinki suspected that the small creature was making as little effort as possible to be a decent door alarm. Maybe feeding it a bit of extra cheese would perk it up, or get it to forgive Jinki for whatever imagined slight he could have done to it.
It was lunchtime, and the quietest time of day for him at the shop which was why he was surprised to hear anyone come in then. And disappointed, because he'd just been about to eat his own lunch, too.
“If you wouldn't mind...” Jinki began, looking up, and stopped. It was a young man who had entered - younger than Jinki, by the look of him - with dark hair and bright eyes.
In the dimness of the room he struggled for a moment to locate Jinki behind the counter. “Oh, excuse me, what were you saying?” the man asked, a small, shy smile on his face.
Jinki, his eyes wide in surprise, didn't know what to say. His mind went black and he had no idea how to react, what to do, anything. This kid, young man, shouldn't even be in the shop. He was just a person, a human. He shouldn't have been able to see the shop, his eyes were meant to just slip past it without noticing anything, from the bookshop on one side and the frozen yoghurt shop on the other. He should have just walked by.
This had never happened before. In his struggle to figure out what to say, and to not look like some sort of madman, Jinki blurted out, “Um, I was just saying to, uh, mind the step, please.”
The guy's face turned to a look of confusion as he briefly glanced down, before looking back at Jinki. He smiled, as if deciding to ignore the fact there was no step there. “Uh, thank you!”
As he started to slowly wander around the shop, Jinki was desperate to try to end this before something went terribly wrong, or terribly awkward. He didn't really deal well with either. “Is there, uh, anything I can help you with?” He asked, trying to sound pleasantly helpful, and pasted a smile onto his face when the guy turned around again.
“Oh, no, I just wanted to have a look around,” he answered, and continued browsing.
Jinki really, really hoped that he wouldn't notice any of the more... unusual wares the shop carried. The shelves on one wall were full of what would look disgusting (and possibly illegal) to the mundane eye, but were all sorts of ingredients for sorcerers spells. There was bats blood, sheep intestines, powdered rooster feet, wyvern eyeballs, particularly vile mushrooms, to name a few. Besides those questionable objects there were trinkets scattered here and there which at first glance might have looked normal, but on closer inspection would have made no sense to a regular person. Bronze looking objects in the shape of chickens feet, a bowl in the shape of a giant bears paw, a long, strange instrument with many points coming out of one end. Jinki prayed that this person would not notice any of these things and ask awkward questions.
He, though, had a few questions he wished he could ask, like: why are you here? How did you even see this place? When are you leaving?
The man seemed to have found his way over to the rather dingy corner of the store where the books were kept, a little bit haphazardly across the bookcases. Jinki did organise them but they always got messed up again; he strongly suspected that doorbell was probably to blame.
Even the book section wasn't exactly a safe place for this guy to be browsing as there were books there for sorcerers, for witches, books about demons, witchcraft, and gardening, amongst others. Oh, god, Jinki had just remembered there was book there on the shelf titled How to Summon Demons and Force Them To Do Your Bidding: A Complete Guide. Not the most imaginative of titles, but a lot of magical writers liked to be upfront about what they were writing.
He was spending a very, very long time perusing the books, Jinki thought, and with every minute that ticked by his nerves shot ever higher. He felt as if his nerves were strung like guitar strings, getting twisted tighter and tighter as time went by. This couldn't be good for his health.
Jinki was just standing there, staring, still unsure how to respond in this situation and just hoping the guy would be gone soon, when he turned around suddenly, his eyes on Jinki. “It's quiet in here, isn't it?” He said, conversationally. He had a pleasant voice, to go with his pleasant little smile, but none of that was soothing Jinki. “Don't you have any music? I'd go crazy sitting in silence all day.”
Surprised that this was, of all things, what the guy wanted to bring up, Jinki blinked and stared for a moment, not sure what to say. The longer he stared the more the smile began to fall from the man's face and a look of confusion start to cross it instead. Eventually, Jinki forced himself to say, “Oh, I know, yeah? Radio's busted.” He made a face and shrugged his shoulders, making a valiant effort to behave like a normal human being, even though he wasn't quite.
The guy seemed a little more at ease once Jinki made the effort to try and not act as freaked out as he actually was, and offered one of his shy smiles again. It was a really nice smile, Jinki noticed.
“Aw, that sucks. Hope you get it fixed soon.” He returned to browsing through the books then, and Jinki shifted nervously behind the counter, not sure what to do. This guy had to leave, but he couldn't be rude about it. That, and he really, really wanted to eat his lunch.
Eventually, although not soon enough for Jinki, the man came over to the counter with an old, beat up book with a red cover in hand. Jinki took one look at the title, and blanched. It was a copy of So You Want to Learn to Pass as Human?
With a smile, the man handed it over to Jinki, although it took Jinki several tries to actually take hold of the book, something that made the man laugh, a shy, warm sound. When Jinki looked up, his eyes still wide and panicked, the man was gazing back at him, eyes bright. “This sounds like an interesting book. You've got a, uh, unusual collection of fiction over there I've never seen before.”
Jinki, attempting to smile, said, “Oh, uh, well we kind of specialise in unusual and hard to find books.” He took the book, rang it up, and placed it in a small paper bag with the shop's logo on it, and held it out for the man to take.
When Jinki finally looked up, he was met by those bright eyes staring up at him.
“Um,” Jinki said, not sure what to say.
Eventually, the man said, “Doesn't it cost anything?” His eyebrows were furrowed together in confusion.
Then, it dawned on Jinki, a vital step of the whole retail, selling to the customer part of his job. “Oh!” He said, eyes widening, his cheeks colouring. “Oh, yes, of course, sorry.” Quickly he read out the price, trying very hard not to meet the man's gaze again. Everything went smoothly after that, with Jinki taking the money and giving change in return, just as it should be; he could hear the smile in the man's “Thanks,” even if he was avoiding looking at him. Hopefully, this would be the end of this strange, awkward experience, and Jinki could eat his lunch and never have this happen, ever again.
“Thank you, bye! Have a nice day,” Jinki said, getting out almost all of his end of sale phrases as the man made his way to the door.
Just before he was out, he turned back to look at Jinki. “Funny, you know, I've never noticed this shop before now, really,” he said, and that shy little smile was back again.
Jinki tried to look only mildly surprised, “Oh, really? Ha, ha. How strange! Well you know how it is, shops come and go very quickly these days.” It didn't really make sense, and there was a slight frown at Jinki's words, before his face smoothed into a smile again.
“True. Well, see you.”
The door wheezed again as it was swung open, and Jinki let out a long, shaky sigh of relief once it was closed. Humans really, really made him nervous when he wasn't expecting them, especially in places they weren't meant to be.
**
Jinki went back to the shop the next day without mentioning the strange event to anyone; he figured it was unlikely to ever happen again. So he started his day off in a good mood, with a smile, and some extra cheese for the doorbell. He really wanted to get the little creature to stop huffing at him, it always seemed happy enough whenever his uncle was running the shop and Jinki stopped by for a visit or a look around. The small, furry creature was perched on the counter top, looking almost longingly at Jinki's lunch.
“Here,” Jinki said, pulling out a slice of cheese, “I brought this for you.” He held it out and in a flash the doorbell had happily demolished the entire slice. It looked up at Jinki then, as if waiting for more. “Oh, I'm sorry, that's all I have.” The creature looked balefully at him, and Jinki felt guilt grip him. “It really is,” he said, sounding apologetic.
The creature ran off in a huff and leapt up onto it's usual perch on the door. Jinki got the distinct sense that it was sulking.
“I'm really sorry,” he tried again, “I didn't know how much you like to eat!”
There was a small wheezing sound, and Jinki made a mental note to bring the damn thing a whole block of cheese tomorrow, just in case. It wasn't his fault though, he was just looking after the shop for the next couple of weeks whilst his uncle was away.
The rest of the day went about as usual. Jinki had a few customers during the morning hours, people he knew were regulars to the shop - and friends of his uncle's. A herb witch came in for her usual weekly order of ingredients, which Jinki had already gathered and set aside for her, and a travel sorcerer who stopped by every few days to check out any new books they might have procured. By lunchtime the shop was empty again, and Jinki pulled his lunch out.
The door went then, with barely even a breath of air, and Jinki's mouth dropped open in shock. He was even more surprised than yesterday, because he never thought he'd see the guy again, especially not the very next day. Jinki couldn't hide his surprise, and the little smile on the man's face as he came in with a cheerful 'hello' started to fall when he noticed this.
Once was unlikely, but to be able to see the shop twice, to come back again, was highly improbable and Jinki just wasn't sure how to cope with this. This was not really covered in-depth at school: what to do if a mundane human walks into a place they shouldn't even be able to see. Still, he felt kind of bad, as a look of uncertainty began to cloud the man's face, and tried to make some sort of effort.
“Oh, hello, again!” he said, feeling quite aware of his awkward smile.
It seemed to be enough, though, because he got a smile in return. “You've got a strange door alarm, there,” the man began, conversationally. “I've never heard one like it before.” Just as he turned, as if to look at the door - and most likely notice the small, very un-mundane creature who acted as the doorbell, Jinki called out.
“Oh yeah, weird, right?” In his haste to get the guy's attention away from the door, Jinki's voice was a little louder than necessary, and the wide eyed stare aimed at him made him tone it down as he continued, “I think it needs new batteries, or something.”
“Probably.”
This time the man wandered with a kind of lazy, not-quite-looking around attitude, and seemed to be working his way towards the counter, and Jinki. This was strange, Jinki decided, very, very strange. Why was he back again? “Are you looking for anything? Did you finish that book already?”
The man laughed, there was a hint of shyness in the sound, and it was sweet to Jinki's ears. “Oh, no, not yet.” He seemed almost, a little embarrassed, Jinki thought. “It's an interesting read so far, though. One of those fictional books that pretends it's not.”
Jinki nodded, hoping he would never realise that it was all entirely non-fiction, and very, very real. Although still quite silly, as the book itself had rather dated ideas about humans and their daily lives. “Yeah, we have quite a few books like that,” he said.
The man then seemed to give up all pretence of looking around and just came right up to the counter. There was a small smile on his face still, it looked like the kind of smile a person didn't realise they were making, and it was aimed right at Jinki. It made him vaguely uncomfortable, to be the focus of that smile and those bright, shining eyes.
The silence of the shop seemed almost oppressive in that moment, and Jinki had never noticed it so strongly before.
“You should really get that busted radio looked at,” the man said, as if he were thinking the same thing.
“Are you offering?” Jinki asked. It was a joke, but it came out quite dry.
The man laughed anyway and waved his hands in an emphatic no. “You don't want me anywhere near it, I'd break it even more. It's kind of a habit of mine.” Smiling, he showed Jinki his hands. “I have magic hands.”
Jinki looked closely at the palms on offer to him, for a brief moment forgetting that this guy was mundane, making a mundane joke, and there was nothing actually magical about his hands at all. He forced a laugh then, trying to cover up this moment, and avoided looking into his eyes. “Then I definitely won't give it to you, I'll never have sound in here again.”
The man laughed at this, a little too loudly as it really wasn't that funny, and Jinki felt that slightly uncomfortable feeling again, curling within the pit of his stomach.
“I'm Taemin, by the way,” he said, a smile still on his face as he introduced himself.
Taemin. Jinki rolled the name around his head; it suited him. This was probably going a little too far, he realised, this guy couldn't keep showing up and coming there. But his mouth opened anyway and his own name fell out. “Jinki.” He flushed a little, realising how weirdly abrupt that sounded, and looked away. “I mean, I'm Jinki. That's my name.”
It was painfully awkward, but it seemed to make Taemin's smile even wider. “Do you work here every day?” he asked.
Nodding, Jinki answered, “At the moment. I'm looking after it for someone, it's not my shop though.”
Taemin nodded and opened his mouth, about to say something else, when he seemed to spot Jinki's lunch sitting there uneaten on the counter. A look of guilt crossed his face. “Oh, do I keep interrupting your lunchtime?”
Jinki had actually almost forgotten about his lunch, and realised that he might have been becoming a little bit too engrossed in the situation, and in Taemin, when he was still meant to be outrageously shocked and not encouraging this, at all.
“Oh. Um, not really,” he said, finding himself unable to admit the truth. “It's okay. Lunch is whenever it's quiet enough to eat, really.”
Smiling, Taemin took a couple of steps back. “That's okay, I'll let you eat before you get busy.”
Jinki kind of didn't have the heart to tell Taemin that 'busy' probably wasn't what he was picturing.
“Have a good day! See you around,” he gave a cute little wave and made his way to the door; doorbell wheezed tiredly as Taemin opened it, and then he was gone.
It was exactly what Jinki had wanted when Taemin had first stepped into the shop again, but now that he was gone he was suddenly finding himself a little bit lonely.
**
Jinki still didn't tell anyone about these surprise encounters. He was glad for it, though, as after a couple of days there was no further sign of Taemin showing up. He was, if he was willing to admit it, a little bit disappointed. As shocked as he'd been, as many questions as he had that he couldn't ask, he'd kind of enjoyed the encounters, and Taemin's comments on things he really didn't understand, and his shy smile.
Well, if that was the end of it, it was probably better off that way.
Putting it to the back of his mind, Jinki continued on as usual with the days as they passed by. His uncle would be coming back next week and the full day-to-day running of the shop would go back to him, with Jinki helping out sometimes when needed. He'd quite enjoyed this daily routine of running something almost his own.
He was putting out a new selection of books on the (newly re-organised, he'd been bored) bookcases when the door made a squealing sound; doorbell had perked up, a little, with every extra slice of cheese Jinki brought.
Jinki turned, and was again genuinely surprised to see Taemin there. Surprised, and pleased. He couldn't help the smile that spread across his face, and the cheery, “Hello!” that fell out of his mouth. He'd been too surprised to try and hold back his response.
Taemin's eyes widened - surprised at this greeting? - before he returned the smile. “Hi.”
Jinki quickly finished putting the new books out, before turning properly towards Taemin.
“You know,” Taemin began, stepping further into the shop. “I never see anyone else in here. Do you do much business?” It didn't seem to occur to him that if she shop didn't actually do much business, this question might have been a little rude.
Jinki didn't mind, though. “You just come in during the quietest part of the day.”
“Lunchtime?” he raised an eyebrow, and Jinki nodded, with a laugh. “I'm not,” and Taemin paused, looking a little unsure of himself, “I'm not interrupting again, am I?”
Jinki hadn't eaten yet, it was true. “Oh, no,” he said, walking over towards the counter. He hesitated, an idea niggling at the edges of his brain, wanting to make itself known, but he wasn't sure. He looked over his shoulder at Taemin, who was stood there, eyes bright but unsure, a look of hesitation about him. Jinki made up his mind.
“Do you want to share some?”
At Taemin's uncomprehending look, Jinki pushed his unopened lunch across the counter.
“Oh.” As Jinki watched, a look of understanding crossed Taemin's face, and he began to smile, widely; too widely for the prospect of a shared lunch, Jinki thought. As if catching this thought on Jinki's face, Taemin looked as if he was trying to reign his smile in but couldn't quite manage it. It was kind of sweet, Jinki thought, as he watched all of this on Taemin's face. “Yes,” he answered eventually. “Yes, please.”
After a few moments thought, and a couple of moments action, Jinki had a somewhat wobbly chair for Taemin to sit on whilst perching himself on the counter, which they both used as a makeshift table to eat Jinki's lunch at.
And as they ate Jinki managed to, quite easily, forget that he was meant to be shocked, and awkward, and unknowing how to respond to this strange human who had wondered into his shop.
“I read some more of the book I bought,” Taemin said eventually, swallowing his mouthful. “It's, um, really not what I expected?”
“Oh?” Jinki asked, wiping some sauce from the side of his mouth. Taemin's eyes seemed trained on his face, and Jinki felt suddenly a little awkward. “Why is that?” He prompted, when Taemin seemed in danger of forgetting he'd been talking.
Blinking, the other leaned back in his seat, which wobbled a little. “Oh. Um, well I thought it would be funnier, really, seeing as it's meant to be humorous. But the humour seems a little, outdated? Is it an old book?”
Jinki wondered how he was meant to explain this and still keep up with the pretence, which was starting to get a little tricky with the more Taemin asked, or the more he looked around the shop. “Yeah, it's pretty outdated, I'd say. The author's humour is kind of hit or miss.”
Taemin seemed to consider this for a moment. “It's interesting, though. But I think I'll look for something else to read when I'm finished this one.”
Jinki couldn't help but laugh, because this was kind of ridiculous; of course Taemin had found the book strange. This earned him a slightly puzzled look, as there was no reason that Taemin knew for Jinki to be finding this so funny, he was probably getting a reputation for being a bit of an oddball.
Jinki, waving a hand and calming his laughter, nodded his head. “I'll try and help you find something more to your tastes, when you're done.” He said that without thinking, because it implied Taemin was going to keep coming back. Was he? Did Jinki want him to?
Whatever his words implied, they made Taemin break out into a wide, happy smile. Jinki felt an urge to look away, as if it were blinding him with it's unadulterated joy.
“What's that for?” Taemin asked, leaning forward and gesturing at the extra slices of cheese still wrapped up, on the counter top, amongst the remains of Jinki's lunch. “Is that for the little animal that sits on the door?”
Jinki tried, very very hard, not to show how taken aback he was by this question. He was sure something showed on his face, he was shocked, after all, but he tried not to react to it.
“What?” he said. “There's nothing on the door. Or there shouldn't be, pretty sure my uncle said all the rats were gone.”
Taemin's eyes widened at the mention of rats. “Are you kidding?” he asked, as if he wasn't quite sure.
Jinki laughed, and hoped this was enough to distract Taemin from what he thought he might have seen on the shop door. “I might be.”
Maybe, he mused, as he cleaned the mess up from their shared lunch, it might not be a bad idea if Taemin didn't keep coming back. Because Jinki wasn't sure how he was meant to explain anything, if it came to it, and the longer Taemin seemed to spend in the shop, the more he would eventually notice.
**
“You've been talking to who?” Jonghyun asked, turning to look at Jinki. They were at Jonghyun's place and Jinki had needed to just, talk to someone. Or be around someone, and Jonghyun had an almost magical ability to make one forget their troubles; usually just by being himself.
“He just, walked into the shop one day,” Jinki protested, as if it might be his fault or something. “I didn't think that could happen.”
Jonghyun was seated comfortably on his couch - possibly the most comfortable couch in the world - lounging, unflappable. Jinki, on the other hand, couldn't sit and sometimes paced the room, all of his pent up thoughts finally finding a voice. “I didn't, either. I've not heard of them ever being able to see our places and walk in.”
“Exactly,” Jinki said, letting out a rush of air. “Exactly.”
Jonghyun gave him a look, and laughed. “Still, why are you so freaked out about it? Didn't you say the guy's come in a few times now?”
“Because,” and Jinki waved his hands, as if the words would magically appear out of thin air; that wasn't one of his strengths, though. “Because what am I meant to do? How am I meant to act around him? What do we talk about? How do I avoid him finding out about stuff?”
“Oh, god.” Jonghyun stood up, put his hands on Jinki's shoulders, and firmly walked him over to one of his almost equally comfortable chairs, and pushed until Jinki toppled a little awkwardly into it. “Calm down, will you, or I'll give you a soothing potion.”
The look in his eyes said that Jonghyun would carry that threat through, and Jinki shivered inside. “You're the worst at making potions.”
Jonghyun was not at all bothered by this truth. “Yeah, it'll probably give you crocodile skin for a week. Do you want that?”
“Maybe some other time. It'd be hard to explain that to Taemin, if he comes back again.”
Judging that Jinki wasn't going to get up and start his annoying pacing again, Jonghyun went and sat back down on the couch. “I really don't get why you're so worked up about it though,” he continued, “you're around mundane people all the time. You know how to talk to them, and act around them. It's not that difficult.”
Jinki sighed because he wasn't sure he could put it into words himself, let alone explain it in a way that Jonghyun would understand as well. He tried, though. “Because he came into one of our spaces. And that doesn't happen.”
“It still isn't a big deal, though. Stop over-analysing it.”
Maybe Jonghyun was right, but Jinki had been very flustered. Still, he had to admit to himself, before Taemin had alluded to doorbell, it had been getting a little easier every time to talk to him. Maybe that was freaking Jinki out a little bit, too.
“I just don't get how he even saw the shop. They aren't meant to.”
Clearly losing interest in this conversation, Jonghyun shrugged, and seemed to have half his attention now on the television screen in front of him. “Maybe he has some magical ancestry, way way back.”
“You think that's how he saw it?”
Jonghyun shrugged. “Sure.”
Jinki, frowning, sighed, “You're not even listening to me any more.”
He was spared only a brief glance, and a grin. “I've only so much room for your awkward, flustery ways.”
Without a word, Jinki launched a cushion at Jonghyun's head, and didn't miss his aim. Jonghyun, shouting in surprise, finally turned his full attention on Jinki, as an all out cushion war ensued.
Jinki definitely found his mind had been taken off of Taemin, or he'd at least stopped freaking out about it, even if he did have a couple of new bruises on his arms, thanks to Jonghyun.
**
Jinki was giving the cabinet of unusual treasures a nice dusting when doorbell singsonged open, and turned to see who had entered. He turned right into the wall of dust he'd unsettled, and began to cough. He was in such an awkward position that the coughing unsettled his balance, but there was a hand on his arm, keeping him steady, and a look of concern peering into his dust-hazed eyes.
Jinki felt himself pulled away from the dusty air, and soon settled. He blinked into Taemin's wide-eyed face, and felt his heart leap into his throat; he nearly started coughing again. The hand was warm, fingers wrapped around his forearm, but when he glanced down at it that warmth quickly pulled away. When Jinki looked back up, there was slight colour staining Taemin's cheeks.
“Are you okay?” he asked, still peering at Jinki, clearly concerned.
Feeling quite embarrassed by such a poor greeting, Jinki waved a hand, tried to appear cool, nonchalant, and as if nothing had happened. “Fine, fine. Another battle won against the dust beasts of the shelves.”
Taemin laughed, probably more than he should have, as it wasn't very funny. Jinki's stomach was doing strange things.
“Um. I was wondering,” Taemin began, and there was a note of hesitant uncertainty in his voice. It matched the shy look suddenly clouding his face, and Jinki was curious. He waited for the other man to continue, and it seemed to take him a moment to gather himself. “I was wondering, if you can take a proper lunch break. And leave the shop, just for a bit?”
That wasn't what Jinki had expected to be asked, and when he looked down he noticed there was a bag clutched tightly in Taemin's hand. His conversation with Jonghyun from the other night came back to the forefront of Jinki's mind then. How he'd been too busy being flustered and shocked to actually consider this in a reasonable manner. That Taemin wasn't doing any harm, that he seemed to keep coming back for a reason.
Jinki felt a lump forming in his throat, as that reason seemed to stare out at him through bright, hopeful eyes. Now this, he thought, this, he was even less able to cope with.
The answer came almost of it's own accord, and Jinki wondered momentarily if a brain could betray it's owner. “Sure, I can take some time for lunch.” The smile that spread across Taemin's face was enough to set Jinki's stomach flip-flopping. Something seemed to alert Taemin to his too-wide smile, and Jinki could almost see the effort to try and manually reign his joy in.
Yeah, he definitely didn't feel equipped to cope with what he suspected this was. But he couldn't help smiling back, despite this.
“Are you, are you free now?” Taemin asked, looking a little shy again.
Jinki, gesturing around them, said a little sadly, “I'm a little busy right now, as you can see.”
Taemin's eyes scanned the shop, briefly, before looking back at Jinki. He opened his mouth, started to speak, and then stopped. “You're just joking, aren't you?” A hesitant little smile.
Jinki couldn't keep a laugh back. “Of course. Where did you want to go?”
Taemin took him to a spot he claimed as one of his favourites, in one of the park areas not too far from the shop. There was a sweet little shaded spot beneath some trees, with a nice view of a pond nearby, and all the people who were walking through or taking a nice stroll through the park. It was a good spot, Jinki decided, as he settled next to Taemin.
As Taemin started to pull food out of the bag, giving a running commentary as he did so, Jinki felt something constrict within him. Taemin had clearly gone to quite a lot of effort in putting this together, in bringing enough food for them both, in trying to make this a nice time. A nice time they could spend together. Jinki was no Casanova, but he was pretty sure he was reading these signs right; he couldn't miss the effort put into this, the little glances and smiles Taemin would send his way.
Jinki's gut reaction was to wonder why. Why on earth was Taemin, who seemed nice, sweet and silly, going to all of this trouble for Jinki. But another part of him, the part that was trying to relax and not over-think things, was telling Jinki to just enjoy the company and see what happened. He couldn't know everything that was going to come around the corner, and he'd have to learn to deal with that.
So, trying to let go of a part of himself, Jinki leaned forward, interested in the food Taemin had brought, stomach already eager to start eating. “Did you make all this?” He asked in wonder as he looked at the spread Taemin had laid out between them.
Taemin's shy smile was enough of an answer for Jinki, but his quiet, “Not exactly,” only made him smile.
“It looks good!”
They began to eat, like eager children, talking in between mouthfuls about inconsequential things, and Jinki telling Taemin how delicious some of the food was. Eventually, underneath some empty wrappers, Jinki spied something he couldn't quite identify.
“What's this?” He asked, curious, leaning in to inspect the round, brown lump of unidentifiable food.
Taemin really did blush this time. “It's a cake.”
Jinki's eyes widened as he stared again at the misshapen lump. “Did you bake it yourself?” As much as he'd appreciated Taemin either getting someone to cook the rest of the food, or buying it, the idea of him spending his own time to bake something warmed him inside. Even if had come out looking nothing like a cake.
Mind made up, Jinki unwrapped the small cake, and eagerly tried it. Just because it looked a bit wrong didn't mean it couldn't taste good.
As soon as a few seconds had passed with a piece of the cake in his mouth, Jinki knew he was very, very wrong. He tried not to show it, though, as Taemin was looking up at him with hopeful eyes. Oh god, what was he supposed to do? This was possibly the worst thing he had ever put into his mouth, but Jinki didn't want to spit it out when Taemin was looking at him like that.
There was so much wrong with this cake, though. Jinki didn't even know where to start, so he tried to force it down - and keep it down - and smiled at Taemin when he was done.
“That's an, interesting, flavour,” he said, unable to exactly lie about it. “Did you come up with this yourself?”
Taemin shook his head. “I followed a recipe, but there were some things I added because I thought it would taste better.” His face showed that he was clearly eager to hear how his cake tasted. This was probably the biggest trial Jinki had ever gone through.
“Was there...is there mayonnaise in there?”
Taemin nodded. “Do you like it?”
Jinki decided there was only one way to answer this question. He took a piece of the cake, and held it out towards Taemin. It was only as his arm was in motion, as Taemin stared at Jinki's hand, that he realised what he was actually doing and how it might look. How it didlook, he thought, as he saw the look on Taemin's face as their eyes met. But it was too late to pull back, or it would look weird. Maybe even hurt Taemin's feelings.
“Try some,” Jinki said, encouragingly. Maybe it was a little bit mean, because the cake was terrible, but Taemin leaned forward, looked hesitantly at Jinki, before taking a bite of the offered cake. Jinki could feel that flip-flopping start in his stomach again as Taemin's lips brushed against his fingers. Jinki pulled back, trying to swallow past the lump in his throat as he watched Taemin's face for a reaction.
It came almost instantly, a little crease between his eyebrows as he cringed, but continued to chew.
“Oh,” Taemin said, once he had swallowed his mouthful. “Oh, that. That wasn't very good at all, was it?”
Jinki shook his head, “No, it really wasn't.” But he was laughing, so Taemin smiled, and they enjoyed a good laugh together over Taemin's spectacularly poor efforts. Before they packed up to leave, though, Jinki did manage to assert a promise from Taemin to never try to cook or bake anything himself ever again.
**
The next time they went out for lunch, again at Taemin's favourite spot, Jinki brought the food. It really was getting easier and easier to spend time with Taemin; the more they spoke, the less he was worrying about things. Something about Taemin's easy nature and ready smile eased things within Jinki.
Of course, he should have known this easy feeling wasn't going to last. As Taemin chewed thoughtfully on some rice, he said, “Your shop, it's not a normal shop, is it?”
Like the last time, Jinki tried to act a bit cool, as if he didn't quite get what Taemin meant, laugh it off. “I'm not sure my uncle would appreciate that,” he joked. He was avoiding looking at Taemin, though. He could feel the weight of his gaze on him.
“You know what I mean, though,” Taemin said, quietly. “I've noticed things about it. The animal that sits on the door. Some of the seriously creepy things on the shelves. The weird books.” When Taemin paused, Jinki finally found the courage to look over at him. “And,” Taemin said, eventually, “the fact that I'd never even seen that shop before I saw you walk inside it, even though I walk down that street almost every day.”
“It's funny that, isn't it, when you don't spot something that's always been there?”
“My friends can't see the shop. Only me. I don't know how to explain it.” After waiting for a moment, Taemin stared down into his rice bowl, seemingly accepting that he wasn't going to get any answers.
Jinki felt his heart thump heavily inside his chest. Taemin had only noticed the shop after he'd seen Jinki walk inside it? That alone had him wanting to ask questions, but how could he ask any, without giving any answers himself. And Taemin was increasingly growing on him, the more Jinki saw him. He liked the other man, liked his company, his laugh, his bright eyes and smile, his curiosity. And he liked the way Taemin looked at him, when he thought Jinki wasn't looking.
Taking a deep breath, Jinki decided to tell Taemin the truth. It was tricky to explain, as Jinki didn't often find himself having to do so with people who didn't grow up knowing about it all already, and it was harder to explain in a way that didn't make it look like he was crazy, or trying to pull Taemin's leg.
He could see the look on Taemin's face, the more Jinki explained, like he was hesitant to believe him, like he might be about to laugh at any moment, as if he was maybe waiting for the punchline to follow. Jinki wasn't sure how else to convince Taemin.
“You said you'd never seen the shop before?” Jinki asked, flailing internally for what else to say.
Taemin nodded. “Never, and I walk past it almost every day.”
Frowning, Jinki leaned forward. “Then, um, how did you see it that first day, and walk in?”
Here, Taemin started to look a little embarrassed, and dropped his gaze from Jinki's. He mumbled something that was a terrible mumble of words that weren't really words.
“I beg your pardon?” Jinki said, “I didn't catch that.”
Clearing his throat, Taemin repeated himself. “I saw you walking down the street a few times, and you always seemed to vanish at one point. So, I-I-I kind of. Followed you, and finally saw the shop you kept going into.”
Jinki looked over at the words followed you and saw the colour staining Taemin's cheeks at this admittance. There was more than flip-flopping going on inside of him, at that. He really didn't know what to say about it.
“So, then you finally saw the shop?”
Taemin nodded.
Jinki wondered if maybe Jonghyun's theory was right, because he couldn't think of any other kind of explanation for it. Taemin still didn't look quite convinced though, even if he had been the one to bring up the oddities of the shop.
He mused on this for a moment, before looking up and meeting Taemin's eyes. “Stay still, and watch, okay?” At Taemin's nod, Jinki briefly closed his eyes, and found the gift that sat inside him, that simmered always just beneath the surface, waiting for a call. Weather manipulation wasn't one of his strong suits, but he could summon enough to work the little he wanted to work.
Opening his eyes, Jinki watched as the little breeze he was creating made the grass sway around them. Stronger, and some fallen leaves at the foot of a tree stumbled past them. And then, as if he were plucking it from the grass with his hand, the wind lifted one of the leaves until it fluttered up, hovered on the wind in front of Taemin's face for a moment, and settled itself in his dark hair, just behind his ear.
Jinki released the power then, and the little breeze disappeared; he smiled at Taemin, at the look on his face as he touched the leaf in his hair.
“I don't,” he began, eyes wide, “I don't imagine that could have been a fluke?”
Jinki shook his head. “I did it.”
Taemin's eyes were wide with fascination, and Jinki thought that now he might actually believe him.
**
It was raining the next time Taemin came by, but Jinki still wanted to go somewhere with him and eat, so he took him to a quiet café just down the road, a mundane café, but Jinki liked it there. It was muted and peaceful. They sat in comfortable chairs in the corner, Taemin sipping at his hot chocolate, and Jinki drinking a coffee.
“So, what's your special skill?” Taemin asked, leaning forward, eyes eager. Everything Jinki had told him since revealing the truth to him had only served to fascinate Taemin and make him ask more questions, curious to learn about everything and anything, it seemed. It was kind of adorable, Jinki thought, feeling warm all over as Taemin leaned in close.
Jinki looked embarrassed at the question. “You'll laugh if I tell you.”
Taemin shook his head, his face shining and curious. “I won't,” he promised.
In a quiet, embarrassed voice, Jinki said, “I'm...I'm a mathemagician.”
Taemin leant back, his eyes wide with surprise. “What?” He exclaimed, a little too loudly, and leaned forward again, not wanting to attract any attention. “What,” he said, quieter this time, “maths is magic?”
Jinki couldn't hold back then, at the complete earnestness with which Taemin asked this, how readily he seemed to accept that. It was ridiculously cute, Jinki thought. His laugh bubbled up, loud and amused and stupid, and he shook his head. “No, no, I'm joking. Maths is completely mundane.”
It took Taemin a moment of consideration, and then he began to laugh as well. Whether it was at himself for believing it, at Jinki for making a bad pun, or because Taemin genuinely thought it was funny, Jinki couldn't work out. But he did know that that laughter did things to Jinki that he couldn't find the words to explain.
**
Jinki had decided it was easier to show Taemin his own particular magical gift. Whilst he could do many things, there were usually one or two areas where anyone was exceptionally skilled, and felt a strong affinity with. Tonight, Jinki was displaying one of his skills.
Taemin sat at Jinki's little table - slightly wobbly - and stared with wide, eager eyes. Before him looked to be the most delicious meal he had ever seen.
“This is my special skill,” Jinki said quietly, sitting down opposite Taemin, smiling. Then he gestured at the food, “Eat up.”
Taemin did, with glee, and his face at the first mouthful was enough to make Jinki laugh. He looked so enthused, like he was really enjoying himself.
“It's good, right?” Jinki said, knowing that there was no way it could be anything other than amazing.
“The most delicious thing I've ever eaten!” Taemin exclaimed, helping himself to more food. And he said the same thing about every bite he took of something else, so much so that Jinki almost felt too full on feelings and happiness alone, to even eat himself. Almost, because it really was great food and so worth eating.
When the hunger had been sated and they were just eating for the sake of it, Taemin looked over at Jinki, wonder in his eyes. “Did you cook this all with magic?”
“Um. Well...” Jinki shifted a little, not sure how to explain. “I guess, in a way? I still have to cook it all, like normal, but the magic makes sure it always comes out delicious.”
Taemin seemed curious. “So...would even something that would normally taste disgusting, still come out delicious with your magic?”
“I...guess so?” Jinki said, not sure where this was going.
Taemin sat up, looking excited. “So would, uh, snake brains be delicious if you cooked them with your magic?”
Jinki let out a loud, surprised guffaw, before answering in a more normal manner. “I, um, I've never tried to cook snake brains before. I'm not sure.”
Taemin considered the table, or the distance between them, thoughtfully. “We'll have to experiment with your skill then and find out,” he said, beaming up at Jinki.
Jinki could feel his face warming up; Taemin was already making plans for more time to spend together?
And the way he was looking at Jinki, hopeful, excited, eager, it seemed that whatever was going on inside Jinki (thumping heart, fluttery stomach, warmth beneath his skin) was going on inside Taemin as well. Jinki wondered if the look on his own face in that moment was equally stupid, and equally happy.
“I guess we will,” he agreed, trying not to beam like an idiot.
**
Jonghyun had noted, the next time they'd seen each other, that Jinki seemed much more relaxed compared to the last time. Jinki thought that this was most definitely true, and he felt much less flustered. Well, there was still fluster, but it wasn't the same kind. He and Taemin had fallen into this easy friendship. Even though Jinki's uncle was back and running the shop as usual, they were still spending time together, hanging out, eating lunch (or dinners sometimes, now) and sometimes experimenting with what kind of things Jinki's magic could make taste delicious.
And still, Jinki caught Taemin looking at him in such a way, with almost blatant fascination in his eyes, that every time Jinki wanted to just blush and hide within himself. He still couldn't really understand why Taemin seemed so obviously drawn to him, but even Jinki couldn't deny what he kept seeing with his own eyes. Even he wasn't quite that oblivious.
The more time they spent together, the harder Jinki found it to deny that he liked it, and Taemin.
It was an easy, fun, friendship. During the warmer days they would go out and about together, Taemin wanting to show Jinki something, or take him somewhere, or do something with him. It warmed Jinki's soul to realise that he was becoming that person to Taemin, someone to share experiences with.
And Jinki wanted to show Taemin things, too. Mostly silly, little tricks he'd learnt as a child, but with every new piece of magic that Jinki showed him, Taemin was fascinated and ask to see it again. Taemin's favourite trick, though, was one Jinki had done accidentally. They'd been in the shop, and Taemin had been wondering around, looking at the odd trinkets and had picked up an unusual one to take a closer look at. And then he'd dropped it.
But Jinki had been watching, and had summoned up the power of air, and kept the trinket from falling to the ground and smashing. Taemin had been amazed.
After that, he'd taken almost to playing a little game with Jinki, it seemed and continued to drop things every now and then, just to see Jinki stop it from happening. Taemin's little game had ended shortly after that though, when he'd dropped something and Jinki hadn't been paying attention - had, in fact, been dozing, his head against Taemin's shoulder, as they lounged on Jinki's couch. The resulting smash had woken Jinki sharply, and he'd been greeted by Taemin's sheepish smile and a small, “sorry?”
That look on Taemin's face though had been enough to wipe any annoyance from Jinki, and he begrudgingly tried to accept the fact that he'd probably never be able to get angry at Taemin, if he looked at Jinki like that.
“Maybe you really do have magic hands,” Jinki had said, only half-joking. “It's not a skill I've ever seen, but who knows what could happen with magic diluted through generations?”
Jinki might not have realised just how easy it had all become, until an evening where Taemin accidentally stayed the night. They'd watched ridiculous movies that had made them laugh too loud and too hard, and somehow ended up falling asleep on each other as the night wore on. Jinki had woken up, at some ungodly hour to find Taemin's head nestled comfortably in his lap. There was a furious pounding in his chest, and Jinki didn't want to wake Taemin up. There was no point, anyway, it was too late for him to go home. So Jinki let himself slip back into the warmth of sleep, enjoying the way Taemin felt, pressed up against him.
So by the time it happened, it hardly came as a surprise to Jinki. Not an unpleasant surprise, anyway.
It was a peaceful, rainy day, and Jinki had insisted that the rain shouldn't ruin their planned lunch date. So he'd tried to set his living room up into a make-shift park. There was a blanket spread across the carpet in a corner of the room, and every plant and green thing that Jinki owned surrounded this. And Jinki might have tried to dress up and make himself look a little bit nicer than usual, but there was nothing wrong with that.
It looked ridiculous, he knew it was ridiculous, but he also knew that Taemin would laugh at it, and that alone was enough reason for Jinki to do ridiculous things.
When he showed Taemin their little picnic spot, he laughed and laughed. “This is great,” he said, as they settled on the blanket to eat some food.
After they'd eaten a little bit, Jinki said, “Lay down.”
Taemin looked at him, quizzically, but did so anyway, shifting until he was laying down across the blanket, staring up at the ceiling. A moment later and Taemin burst into laughter again. On the ceiling above them Jinki had stuck a circle of yellow paper. He strongly suspected that he was doing such ridiculous things because he wanted Taemin's laughter, his smiles, wanted to hoard them up and keep them for himself.
“You're funny.”
Jinki wasn't sure if this meant funny strange or funny haha, but the way Taemin looked at him as he said it had Jinki feeling warmth spread under his skin all the same.
Taemin didn't hide his feelings. Or couldn't hide them, Jinki wasn't sure which. But the more time they spent together, the more Taemin was affecting him, in turn.
Smiling, Jinki said, “Now, close your eyes.” He received another curious look, before Taemin obeyed. Then Jinki settled himself until he was laying next to Taemin, not quite touching, and focused his attention on his silly little paper sun.
Jinki focused on pretending that it was the real sun, with it's warmth beating down on them, covering them. He imagined a soft breeze, making the leaves around them rustle gently together. Imagined a warm, peaceful day outside in the park, with Taemin at his side.
Keeping all of this in his mind, Jinki turned his face, looking at Taemin; his eyes were still closed and a small smile lingered on his lips. Jinki's chest swelled.
“It feels as if we're really outside,” Taemin said, his voice soft. “I can feel the sun on my skin.”
Jinki smiled, and without even considering it, reached down to twine their hands together. He could see Taemin's little jump of surprise at the gesture but he kept his eyes closed, and his smile spread wider across his face. His fingers squeezed lightly around Jinki's.
It was when Taemin opened his eyes, found Jinki's face, that he felt the compulsion within him. Steadily, they'd been getting to know each other over time. And that look on Taemin's face, the one that shined so brightly in his eyes whenever they were looking at Jinki, never seemed to fade.
Swallowing thickly, Jinki leaned over Taemin, his hand reaching out, curling, almost of it's own accord, between strands of Taemin's dark hair; it fell softly between his fingers. He looked into Taemin's face, into those bright, smiling eyes, and felt his heart clench. The way Taemin was looking back at him made Jinki's breath catch in his throat. Then, he leaned in, capturing Taemin's lips with his own. His lips felt soft and plump beneath his own, and Jinki almost revelled in being able to kiss them. He leaned in closer and they shared a long, lingering kiss that sent warmth shivering the length of Jinki's body, filling him with it, and wanting more of this sweetness, more of Taemin, and many, many more kisses.
He pulled away slowly with a sigh and opened his eyes. Taemin's were still closed, and he could feel as a shiver seemed to run through Taemin's body, leaving a pleased smile on his face.
Jinki, unable to help himself, murmured, “It must be magic.”
Taemin, eyes opening but with the look of the not very aware - had Jinki's kiss really affected him that much? - mumbled, “Hmm?”
“My kiss,” Jinki said. “My kiss must be magic.”
It took a moment, as he seemed to climb from the happy haze that was filling his head after that kiss, but when it clicked, Taemin laughed. And laughed. And laughed.
Then he leant forward, and kissed Jinki again. As much to keep him quiet as to actually kiss him.
Fandom: SHINee
Pairing: Onew/Taemin
Rating: G
Word Count: 9,083
Notes: Much thanks to everyone who listened to me lose my mind over this and help out, I ♥ you all.
This was my fic entry for shineeshorts!
(Does the table formatting make it easier for people to read this? just wondering!)
The door wheezed as it opened; the doorbell was tired today, or sulking, and Jinki suspected that the small creature was making as little effort as possible to be a decent door alarm. Maybe feeding it a bit of extra cheese would perk it up, or get it to forgive Jinki for whatever imagined slight he could have done to it.
It was lunchtime, and the quietest time of day for him at the shop which was why he was surprised to hear anyone come in then. And disappointed, because he'd just been about to eat his own lunch, too.
“If you wouldn't mind...” Jinki began, looking up, and stopped. It was a young man who had entered - younger than Jinki, by the look of him - with dark hair and bright eyes.
In the dimness of the room he struggled for a moment to locate Jinki behind the counter. “Oh, excuse me, what were you saying?” the man asked, a small, shy smile on his face.
Jinki, his eyes wide in surprise, didn't know what to say. His mind went black and he had no idea how to react, what to do, anything. This kid, young man, shouldn't even be in the shop. He was just a person, a human. He shouldn't have been able to see the shop, his eyes were meant to just slip past it without noticing anything, from the bookshop on one side and the frozen yoghurt shop on the other. He should have just walked by.
This had never happened before. In his struggle to figure out what to say, and to not look like some sort of madman, Jinki blurted out, “Um, I was just saying to, uh, mind the step, please.”
The guy's face turned to a look of confusion as he briefly glanced down, before looking back at Jinki. He smiled, as if deciding to ignore the fact there was no step there. “Uh, thank you!”
As he started to slowly wander around the shop, Jinki was desperate to try to end this before something went terribly wrong, or terribly awkward. He didn't really deal well with either. “Is there, uh, anything I can help you with?” He asked, trying to sound pleasantly helpful, and pasted a smile onto his face when the guy turned around again.
“Oh, no, I just wanted to have a look around,” he answered, and continued browsing.
Jinki really, really hoped that he wouldn't notice any of the more... unusual wares the shop carried. The shelves on one wall were full of what would look disgusting (and possibly illegal) to the mundane eye, but were all sorts of ingredients for sorcerers spells. There was bats blood, sheep intestines, powdered rooster feet, wyvern eyeballs, particularly vile mushrooms, to name a few. Besides those questionable objects there were trinkets scattered here and there which at first glance might have looked normal, but on closer inspection would have made no sense to a regular person. Bronze looking objects in the shape of chickens feet, a bowl in the shape of a giant bears paw, a long, strange instrument with many points coming out of one end. Jinki prayed that this person would not notice any of these things and ask awkward questions.
He, though, had a few questions he wished he could ask, like: why are you here? How did you even see this place? When are you leaving?
The man seemed to have found his way over to the rather dingy corner of the store where the books were kept, a little bit haphazardly across the bookcases. Jinki did organise them but they always got messed up again; he strongly suspected that doorbell was probably to blame.
Even the book section wasn't exactly a safe place for this guy to be browsing as there were books there for sorcerers, for witches, books about demons, witchcraft, and gardening, amongst others. Oh, god, Jinki had just remembered there was book there on the shelf titled How to Summon Demons and Force Them To Do Your Bidding: A Complete Guide. Not the most imaginative of titles, but a lot of magical writers liked to be upfront about what they were writing.
He was spending a very, very long time perusing the books, Jinki thought, and with every minute that ticked by his nerves shot ever higher. He felt as if his nerves were strung like guitar strings, getting twisted tighter and tighter as time went by. This couldn't be good for his health.
Jinki was just standing there, staring, still unsure how to respond in this situation and just hoping the guy would be gone soon, when he turned around suddenly, his eyes on Jinki. “It's quiet in here, isn't it?” He said, conversationally. He had a pleasant voice, to go with his pleasant little smile, but none of that was soothing Jinki. “Don't you have any music? I'd go crazy sitting in silence all day.”
Surprised that this was, of all things, what the guy wanted to bring up, Jinki blinked and stared for a moment, not sure what to say. The longer he stared the more the smile began to fall from the man's face and a look of confusion start to cross it instead. Eventually, Jinki forced himself to say, “Oh, I know, yeah? Radio's busted.” He made a face and shrugged his shoulders, making a valiant effort to behave like a normal human being, even though he wasn't quite.
The guy seemed a little more at ease once Jinki made the effort to try and not act as freaked out as he actually was, and offered one of his shy smiles again. It was a really nice smile, Jinki noticed.
“Aw, that sucks. Hope you get it fixed soon.” He returned to browsing through the books then, and Jinki shifted nervously behind the counter, not sure what to do. This guy had to leave, but he couldn't be rude about it. That, and he really, really wanted to eat his lunch.
Eventually, although not soon enough for Jinki, the man came over to the counter with an old, beat up book with a red cover in hand. Jinki took one look at the title, and blanched. It was a copy of So You Want to Learn to Pass as Human?
With a smile, the man handed it over to Jinki, although it took Jinki several tries to actually take hold of the book, something that made the man laugh, a shy, warm sound. When Jinki looked up, his eyes still wide and panicked, the man was gazing back at him, eyes bright. “This sounds like an interesting book. You've got a, uh, unusual collection of fiction over there I've never seen before.”
Jinki, attempting to smile, said, “Oh, uh, well we kind of specialise in unusual and hard to find books.” He took the book, rang it up, and placed it in a small paper bag with the shop's logo on it, and held it out for the man to take.
When Jinki finally looked up, he was met by those bright eyes staring up at him.
“Um,” Jinki said, not sure what to say.
Eventually, the man said, “Doesn't it cost anything?” His eyebrows were furrowed together in confusion.
Then, it dawned on Jinki, a vital step of the whole retail, selling to the customer part of his job. “Oh!” He said, eyes widening, his cheeks colouring. “Oh, yes, of course, sorry.” Quickly he read out the price, trying very hard not to meet the man's gaze again. Everything went smoothly after that, with Jinki taking the money and giving change in return, just as it should be; he could hear the smile in the man's “Thanks,” even if he was avoiding looking at him. Hopefully, this would be the end of this strange, awkward experience, and Jinki could eat his lunch and never have this happen, ever again.
“Thank you, bye! Have a nice day,” Jinki said, getting out almost all of his end of sale phrases as the man made his way to the door.
Just before he was out, he turned back to look at Jinki. “Funny, you know, I've never noticed this shop before now, really,” he said, and that shy little smile was back again.
Jinki tried to look only mildly surprised, “Oh, really? Ha, ha. How strange! Well you know how it is, shops come and go very quickly these days.” It didn't really make sense, and there was a slight frown at Jinki's words, before his face smoothed into a smile again.
“True. Well, see you.”
The door wheezed again as it was swung open, and Jinki let out a long, shaky sigh of relief once it was closed. Humans really, really made him nervous when he wasn't expecting them, especially in places they weren't meant to be.
**
Jinki went back to the shop the next day without mentioning the strange event to anyone; he figured it was unlikely to ever happen again. So he started his day off in a good mood, with a smile, and some extra cheese for the doorbell. He really wanted to get the little creature to stop huffing at him, it always seemed happy enough whenever his uncle was running the shop and Jinki stopped by for a visit or a look around. The small, furry creature was perched on the counter top, looking almost longingly at Jinki's lunch.
“Here,” Jinki said, pulling out a slice of cheese, “I brought this for you.” He held it out and in a flash the doorbell had happily demolished the entire slice. It looked up at Jinki then, as if waiting for more. “Oh, I'm sorry, that's all I have.” The creature looked balefully at him, and Jinki felt guilt grip him. “It really is,” he said, sounding apologetic.
The creature ran off in a huff and leapt up onto it's usual perch on the door. Jinki got the distinct sense that it was sulking.
“I'm really sorry,” he tried again, “I didn't know how much you like to eat!”
There was a small wheezing sound, and Jinki made a mental note to bring the damn thing a whole block of cheese tomorrow, just in case. It wasn't his fault though, he was just looking after the shop for the next couple of weeks whilst his uncle was away.
The rest of the day went about as usual. Jinki had a few customers during the morning hours, people he knew were regulars to the shop - and friends of his uncle's. A herb witch came in for her usual weekly order of ingredients, which Jinki had already gathered and set aside for her, and a travel sorcerer who stopped by every few days to check out any new books they might have procured. By lunchtime the shop was empty again, and Jinki pulled his lunch out.
The door went then, with barely even a breath of air, and Jinki's mouth dropped open in shock. He was even more surprised than yesterday, because he never thought he'd see the guy again, especially not the very next day. Jinki couldn't hide his surprise, and the little smile on the man's face as he came in with a cheerful 'hello' started to fall when he noticed this.
Once was unlikely, but to be able to see the shop twice, to come back again, was highly improbable and Jinki just wasn't sure how to cope with this. This was not really covered in-depth at school: what to do if a mundane human walks into a place they shouldn't even be able to see. Still, he felt kind of bad, as a look of uncertainty began to cloud the man's face, and tried to make some sort of effort.
“Oh, hello, again!” he said, feeling quite aware of his awkward smile.
It seemed to be enough, though, because he got a smile in return. “You've got a strange door alarm, there,” the man began, conversationally. “I've never heard one like it before.” Just as he turned, as if to look at the door - and most likely notice the small, very un-mundane creature who acted as the doorbell, Jinki called out.
“Oh yeah, weird, right?” In his haste to get the guy's attention away from the door, Jinki's voice was a little louder than necessary, and the wide eyed stare aimed at him made him tone it down as he continued, “I think it needs new batteries, or something.”
“Probably.”
This time the man wandered with a kind of lazy, not-quite-looking around attitude, and seemed to be working his way towards the counter, and Jinki. This was strange, Jinki decided, very, very strange. Why was he back again? “Are you looking for anything? Did you finish that book already?”
The man laughed, there was a hint of shyness in the sound, and it was sweet to Jinki's ears. “Oh, no, not yet.” He seemed almost, a little embarrassed, Jinki thought. “It's an interesting read so far, though. One of those fictional books that pretends it's not.”
Jinki nodded, hoping he would never realise that it was all entirely non-fiction, and very, very real. Although still quite silly, as the book itself had rather dated ideas about humans and their daily lives. “Yeah, we have quite a few books like that,” he said.
The man then seemed to give up all pretence of looking around and just came right up to the counter. There was a small smile on his face still, it looked like the kind of smile a person didn't realise they were making, and it was aimed right at Jinki. It made him vaguely uncomfortable, to be the focus of that smile and those bright, shining eyes.
The silence of the shop seemed almost oppressive in that moment, and Jinki had never noticed it so strongly before.
“You should really get that busted radio looked at,” the man said, as if he were thinking the same thing.
“Are you offering?” Jinki asked. It was a joke, but it came out quite dry.
The man laughed anyway and waved his hands in an emphatic no. “You don't want me anywhere near it, I'd break it even more. It's kind of a habit of mine.” Smiling, he showed Jinki his hands. “I have magic hands.”
Jinki looked closely at the palms on offer to him, for a brief moment forgetting that this guy was mundane, making a mundane joke, and there was nothing actually magical about his hands at all. He forced a laugh then, trying to cover up this moment, and avoided looking into his eyes. “Then I definitely won't give it to you, I'll never have sound in here again.”
The man laughed at this, a little too loudly as it really wasn't that funny, and Jinki felt that slightly uncomfortable feeling again, curling within the pit of his stomach.
“I'm Taemin, by the way,” he said, a smile still on his face as he introduced himself.
Taemin. Jinki rolled the name around his head; it suited him. This was probably going a little too far, he realised, this guy couldn't keep showing up and coming there. But his mouth opened anyway and his own name fell out. “Jinki.” He flushed a little, realising how weirdly abrupt that sounded, and looked away. “I mean, I'm Jinki. That's my name.”
It was painfully awkward, but it seemed to make Taemin's smile even wider. “Do you work here every day?” he asked.
Nodding, Jinki answered, “At the moment. I'm looking after it for someone, it's not my shop though.”
Taemin nodded and opened his mouth, about to say something else, when he seemed to spot Jinki's lunch sitting there uneaten on the counter. A look of guilt crossed his face. “Oh, do I keep interrupting your lunchtime?”
Jinki had actually almost forgotten about his lunch, and realised that he might have been becoming a little bit too engrossed in the situation, and in Taemin, when he was still meant to be outrageously shocked and not encouraging this, at all.
“Oh. Um, not really,” he said, finding himself unable to admit the truth. “It's okay. Lunch is whenever it's quiet enough to eat, really.”
Smiling, Taemin took a couple of steps back. “That's okay, I'll let you eat before you get busy.”
Jinki kind of didn't have the heart to tell Taemin that 'busy' probably wasn't what he was picturing.
“Have a good day! See you around,” he gave a cute little wave and made his way to the door; doorbell wheezed tiredly as Taemin opened it, and then he was gone.
It was exactly what Jinki had wanted when Taemin had first stepped into the shop again, but now that he was gone he was suddenly finding himself a little bit lonely.
**
Jinki still didn't tell anyone about these surprise encounters. He was glad for it, though, as after a couple of days there was no further sign of Taemin showing up. He was, if he was willing to admit it, a little bit disappointed. As shocked as he'd been, as many questions as he had that he couldn't ask, he'd kind of enjoyed the encounters, and Taemin's comments on things he really didn't understand, and his shy smile.
Well, if that was the end of it, it was probably better off that way.
Putting it to the back of his mind, Jinki continued on as usual with the days as they passed by. His uncle would be coming back next week and the full day-to-day running of the shop would go back to him, with Jinki helping out sometimes when needed. He'd quite enjoyed this daily routine of running something almost his own.
He was putting out a new selection of books on the (newly re-organised, he'd been bored) bookcases when the door made a squealing sound; doorbell had perked up, a little, with every extra slice of cheese Jinki brought.
Jinki turned, and was again genuinely surprised to see Taemin there. Surprised, and pleased. He couldn't help the smile that spread across his face, and the cheery, “Hello!” that fell out of his mouth. He'd been too surprised to try and hold back his response.
Taemin's eyes widened - surprised at this greeting? - before he returned the smile. “Hi.”
Jinki quickly finished putting the new books out, before turning properly towards Taemin.
“You know,” Taemin began, stepping further into the shop. “I never see anyone else in here. Do you do much business?” It didn't seem to occur to him that if she shop didn't actually do much business, this question might have been a little rude.
Jinki didn't mind, though. “You just come in during the quietest part of the day.”
“Lunchtime?” he raised an eyebrow, and Jinki nodded, with a laugh. “I'm not,” and Taemin paused, looking a little unsure of himself, “I'm not interrupting again, am I?”
Jinki hadn't eaten yet, it was true. “Oh, no,” he said, walking over towards the counter. He hesitated, an idea niggling at the edges of his brain, wanting to make itself known, but he wasn't sure. He looked over his shoulder at Taemin, who was stood there, eyes bright but unsure, a look of hesitation about him. Jinki made up his mind.
“Do you want to share some?”
At Taemin's uncomprehending look, Jinki pushed his unopened lunch across the counter.
“Oh.” As Jinki watched, a look of understanding crossed Taemin's face, and he began to smile, widely; too widely for the prospect of a shared lunch, Jinki thought. As if catching this thought on Jinki's face, Taemin looked as if he was trying to reign his smile in but couldn't quite manage it. It was kind of sweet, Jinki thought, as he watched all of this on Taemin's face. “Yes,” he answered eventually. “Yes, please.”
After a few moments thought, and a couple of moments action, Jinki had a somewhat wobbly chair for Taemin to sit on whilst perching himself on the counter, which they both used as a makeshift table to eat Jinki's lunch at.
And as they ate Jinki managed to, quite easily, forget that he was meant to be shocked, and awkward, and unknowing how to respond to this strange human who had wondered into his shop.
“I read some more of the book I bought,” Taemin said eventually, swallowing his mouthful. “It's, um, really not what I expected?”
“Oh?” Jinki asked, wiping some sauce from the side of his mouth. Taemin's eyes seemed trained on his face, and Jinki felt suddenly a little awkward. “Why is that?” He prompted, when Taemin seemed in danger of forgetting he'd been talking.
Blinking, the other leaned back in his seat, which wobbled a little. “Oh. Um, well I thought it would be funnier, really, seeing as it's meant to be humorous. But the humour seems a little, outdated? Is it an old book?”
Jinki wondered how he was meant to explain this and still keep up with the pretence, which was starting to get a little tricky with the more Taemin asked, or the more he looked around the shop. “Yeah, it's pretty outdated, I'd say. The author's humour is kind of hit or miss.”
Taemin seemed to consider this for a moment. “It's interesting, though. But I think I'll look for something else to read when I'm finished this one.”
Jinki couldn't help but laugh, because this was kind of ridiculous; of course Taemin had found the book strange. This earned him a slightly puzzled look, as there was no reason that Taemin knew for Jinki to be finding this so funny, he was probably getting a reputation for being a bit of an oddball.
Jinki, waving a hand and calming his laughter, nodded his head. “I'll try and help you find something more to your tastes, when you're done.” He said that without thinking, because it implied Taemin was going to keep coming back. Was he? Did Jinki want him to?
Whatever his words implied, they made Taemin break out into a wide, happy smile. Jinki felt an urge to look away, as if it were blinding him with it's unadulterated joy.
“What's that for?” Taemin asked, leaning forward and gesturing at the extra slices of cheese still wrapped up, on the counter top, amongst the remains of Jinki's lunch. “Is that for the little animal that sits on the door?”
Jinki tried, very very hard, not to show how taken aback he was by this question. He was sure something showed on his face, he was shocked, after all, but he tried not to react to it.
“What?” he said. “There's nothing on the door. Or there shouldn't be, pretty sure my uncle said all the rats were gone.”
Taemin's eyes widened at the mention of rats. “Are you kidding?” he asked, as if he wasn't quite sure.
Jinki laughed, and hoped this was enough to distract Taemin from what he thought he might have seen on the shop door. “I might be.”
Maybe, he mused, as he cleaned the mess up from their shared lunch, it might not be a bad idea if Taemin didn't keep coming back. Because Jinki wasn't sure how he was meant to explain anything, if it came to it, and the longer Taemin seemed to spend in the shop, the more he would eventually notice.
**
“You've been talking to who?” Jonghyun asked, turning to look at Jinki. They were at Jonghyun's place and Jinki had needed to just, talk to someone. Or be around someone, and Jonghyun had an almost magical ability to make one forget their troubles; usually just by being himself.
“He just, walked into the shop one day,” Jinki protested, as if it might be his fault or something. “I didn't think that could happen.”
Jonghyun was seated comfortably on his couch - possibly the most comfortable couch in the world - lounging, unflappable. Jinki, on the other hand, couldn't sit and sometimes paced the room, all of his pent up thoughts finally finding a voice. “I didn't, either. I've not heard of them ever being able to see our places and walk in.”
“Exactly,” Jinki said, letting out a rush of air. “Exactly.”
Jonghyun gave him a look, and laughed. “Still, why are you so freaked out about it? Didn't you say the guy's come in a few times now?”
“Because,” and Jinki waved his hands, as if the words would magically appear out of thin air; that wasn't one of his strengths, though. “Because what am I meant to do? How am I meant to act around him? What do we talk about? How do I avoid him finding out about stuff?”
“Oh, god.” Jonghyun stood up, put his hands on Jinki's shoulders, and firmly walked him over to one of his almost equally comfortable chairs, and pushed until Jinki toppled a little awkwardly into it. “Calm down, will you, or I'll give you a soothing potion.”
The look in his eyes said that Jonghyun would carry that threat through, and Jinki shivered inside. “You're the worst at making potions.”
Jonghyun was not at all bothered by this truth. “Yeah, it'll probably give you crocodile skin for a week. Do you want that?”
“Maybe some other time. It'd be hard to explain that to Taemin, if he comes back again.”
Judging that Jinki wasn't going to get up and start his annoying pacing again, Jonghyun went and sat back down on the couch. “I really don't get why you're so worked up about it though,” he continued, “you're around mundane people all the time. You know how to talk to them, and act around them. It's not that difficult.”
Jinki sighed because he wasn't sure he could put it into words himself, let alone explain it in a way that Jonghyun would understand as well. He tried, though. “Because he came into one of our spaces. And that doesn't happen.”
“It still isn't a big deal, though. Stop over-analysing it.”
Maybe Jonghyun was right, but Jinki had been very flustered. Still, he had to admit to himself, before Taemin had alluded to doorbell, it had been getting a little easier every time to talk to him. Maybe that was freaking Jinki out a little bit, too.
“I just don't get how he even saw the shop. They aren't meant to.”
Clearly losing interest in this conversation, Jonghyun shrugged, and seemed to have half his attention now on the television screen in front of him. “Maybe he has some magical ancestry, way way back.”
“You think that's how he saw it?”
Jonghyun shrugged. “Sure.”
Jinki, frowning, sighed, “You're not even listening to me any more.”
He was spared only a brief glance, and a grin. “I've only so much room for your awkward, flustery ways.”
Without a word, Jinki launched a cushion at Jonghyun's head, and didn't miss his aim. Jonghyun, shouting in surprise, finally turned his full attention on Jinki, as an all out cushion war ensued.
Jinki definitely found his mind had been taken off of Taemin, or he'd at least stopped freaking out about it, even if he did have a couple of new bruises on his arms, thanks to Jonghyun.
**
Jinki was giving the cabinet of unusual treasures a nice dusting when doorbell singsonged open, and turned to see who had entered. He turned right into the wall of dust he'd unsettled, and began to cough. He was in such an awkward position that the coughing unsettled his balance, but there was a hand on his arm, keeping him steady, and a look of concern peering into his dust-hazed eyes.
Jinki felt himself pulled away from the dusty air, and soon settled. He blinked into Taemin's wide-eyed face, and felt his heart leap into his throat; he nearly started coughing again. The hand was warm, fingers wrapped around his forearm, but when he glanced down at it that warmth quickly pulled away. When Jinki looked back up, there was slight colour staining Taemin's cheeks.
“Are you okay?” he asked, still peering at Jinki, clearly concerned.
Feeling quite embarrassed by such a poor greeting, Jinki waved a hand, tried to appear cool, nonchalant, and as if nothing had happened. “Fine, fine. Another battle won against the dust beasts of the shelves.”
Taemin laughed, probably more than he should have, as it wasn't very funny. Jinki's stomach was doing strange things.
“Um. I was wondering,” Taemin began, and there was a note of hesitant uncertainty in his voice. It matched the shy look suddenly clouding his face, and Jinki was curious. He waited for the other man to continue, and it seemed to take him a moment to gather himself. “I was wondering, if you can take a proper lunch break. And leave the shop, just for a bit?”
That wasn't what Jinki had expected to be asked, and when he looked down he noticed there was a bag clutched tightly in Taemin's hand. His conversation with Jonghyun from the other night came back to the forefront of Jinki's mind then. How he'd been too busy being flustered and shocked to actually consider this in a reasonable manner. That Taemin wasn't doing any harm, that he seemed to keep coming back for a reason.
Jinki felt a lump forming in his throat, as that reason seemed to stare out at him through bright, hopeful eyes. Now this, he thought, this, he was even less able to cope with.
The answer came almost of it's own accord, and Jinki wondered momentarily if a brain could betray it's owner. “Sure, I can take some time for lunch.” The smile that spread across Taemin's face was enough to set Jinki's stomach flip-flopping. Something seemed to alert Taemin to his too-wide smile, and Jinki could almost see the effort to try and manually reign his joy in.
Yeah, he definitely didn't feel equipped to cope with what he suspected this was. But he couldn't help smiling back, despite this.
“Are you, are you free now?” Taemin asked, looking a little shy again.
Jinki, gesturing around them, said a little sadly, “I'm a little busy right now, as you can see.”
Taemin's eyes scanned the shop, briefly, before looking back at Jinki. He opened his mouth, started to speak, and then stopped. “You're just joking, aren't you?” A hesitant little smile.
Jinki couldn't keep a laugh back. “Of course. Where did you want to go?”
Taemin took him to a spot he claimed as one of his favourites, in one of the park areas not too far from the shop. There was a sweet little shaded spot beneath some trees, with a nice view of a pond nearby, and all the people who were walking through or taking a nice stroll through the park. It was a good spot, Jinki decided, as he settled next to Taemin.
As Taemin started to pull food out of the bag, giving a running commentary as he did so, Jinki felt something constrict within him. Taemin had clearly gone to quite a lot of effort in putting this together, in bringing enough food for them both, in trying to make this a nice time. A nice time they could spend together. Jinki was no Casanova, but he was pretty sure he was reading these signs right; he couldn't miss the effort put into this, the little glances and smiles Taemin would send his way.
Jinki's gut reaction was to wonder why. Why on earth was Taemin, who seemed nice, sweet and silly, going to all of this trouble for Jinki. But another part of him, the part that was trying to relax and not over-think things, was telling Jinki to just enjoy the company and see what happened. He couldn't know everything that was going to come around the corner, and he'd have to learn to deal with that.
So, trying to let go of a part of himself, Jinki leaned forward, interested in the food Taemin had brought, stomach already eager to start eating. “Did you make all this?” He asked in wonder as he looked at the spread Taemin had laid out between them.
Taemin's shy smile was enough of an answer for Jinki, but his quiet, “Not exactly,” only made him smile.
“It looks good!”
They began to eat, like eager children, talking in between mouthfuls about inconsequential things, and Jinki telling Taemin how delicious some of the food was. Eventually, underneath some empty wrappers, Jinki spied something he couldn't quite identify.
“What's this?” He asked, curious, leaning in to inspect the round, brown lump of unidentifiable food.
Taemin really did blush this time. “It's a cake.”
Jinki's eyes widened as he stared again at the misshapen lump. “Did you bake it yourself?” As much as he'd appreciated Taemin either getting someone to cook the rest of the food, or buying it, the idea of him spending his own time to bake something warmed him inside. Even if had come out looking nothing like a cake.
Mind made up, Jinki unwrapped the small cake, and eagerly tried it. Just because it looked a bit wrong didn't mean it couldn't taste good.
As soon as a few seconds had passed with a piece of the cake in his mouth, Jinki knew he was very, very wrong. He tried not to show it, though, as Taemin was looking up at him with hopeful eyes. Oh god, what was he supposed to do? This was possibly the worst thing he had ever put into his mouth, but Jinki didn't want to spit it out when Taemin was looking at him like that.
There was so much wrong with this cake, though. Jinki didn't even know where to start, so he tried to force it down - and keep it down - and smiled at Taemin when he was done.
“That's an, interesting, flavour,” he said, unable to exactly lie about it. “Did you come up with this yourself?”
Taemin shook his head. “I followed a recipe, but there were some things I added because I thought it would taste better.” His face showed that he was clearly eager to hear how his cake tasted. This was probably the biggest trial Jinki had ever gone through.
“Was there...is there mayonnaise in there?”
Taemin nodded. “Do you like it?”
Jinki decided there was only one way to answer this question. He took a piece of the cake, and held it out towards Taemin. It was only as his arm was in motion, as Taemin stared at Jinki's hand, that he realised what he was actually doing and how it might look. How it didlook, he thought, as he saw the look on Taemin's face as their eyes met. But it was too late to pull back, or it would look weird. Maybe even hurt Taemin's feelings.
“Try some,” Jinki said, encouragingly. Maybe it was a little bit mean, because the cake was terrible, but Taemin leaned forward, looked hesitantly at Jinki, before taking a bite of the offered cake. Jinki could feel that flip-flopping start in his stomach again as Taemin's lips brushed against his fingers. Jinki pulled back, trying to swallow past the lump in his throat as he watched Taemin's face for a reaction.
It came almost instantly, a little crease between his eyebrows as he cringed, but continued to chew.
“Oh,” Taemin said, once he had swallowed his mouthful. “Oh, that. That wasn't very good at all, was it?”
Jinki shook his head, “No, it really wasn't.” But he was laughing, so Taemin smiled, and they enjoyed a good laugh together over Taemin's spectacularly poor efforts. Before they packed up to leave, though, Jinki did manage to assert a promise from Taemin to never try to cook or bake anything himself ever again.
**
The next time they went out for lunch, again at Taemin's favourite spot, Jinki brought the food. It really was getting easier and easier to spend time with Taemin; the more they spoke, the less he was worrying about things. Something about Taemin's easy nature and ready smile eased things within Jinki.
Of course, he should have known this easy feeling wasn't going to last. As Taemin chewed thoughtfully on some rice, he said, “Your shop, it's not a normal shop, is it?”
Like the last time, Jinki tried to act a bit cool, as if he didn't quite get what Taemin meant, laugh it off. “I'm not sure my uncle would appreciate that,” he joked. He was avoiding looking at Taemin, though. He could feel the weight of his gaze on him.
“You know what I mean, though,” Taemin said, quietly. “I've noticed things about it. The animal that sits on the door. Some of the seriously creepy things on the shelves. The weird books.” When Taemin paused, Jinki finally found the courage to look over at him. “And,” Taemin said, eventually, “the fact that I'd never even seen that shop before I saw you walk inside it, even though I walk down that street almost every day.”
“It's funny that, isn't it, when you don't spot something that's always been there?”
“My friends can't see the shop. Only me. I don't know how to explain it.” After waiting for a moment, Taemin stared down into his rice bowl, seemingly accepting that he wasn't going to get any answers.
Jinki felt his heart thump heavily inside his chest. Taemin had only noticed the shop after he'd seen Jinki walk inside it? That alone had him wanting to ask questions, but how could he ask any, without giving any answers himself. And Taemin was increasingly growing on him, the more Jinki saw him. He liked the other man, liked his company, his laugh, his bright eyes and smile, his curiosity. And he liked the way Taemin looked at him, when he thought Jinki wasn't looking.
Taking a deep breath, Jinki decided to tell Taemin the truth. It was tricky to explain, as Jinki didn't often find himself having to do so with people who didn't grow up knowing about it all already, and it was harder to explain in a way that didn't make it look like he was crazy, or trying to pull Taemin's leg.
He could see the look on Taemin's face, the more Jinki explained, like he was hesitant to believe him, like he might be about to laugh at any moment, as if he was maybe waiting for the punchline to follow. Jinki wasn't sure how else to convince Taemin.
“You said you'd never seen the shop before?” Jinki asked, flailing internally for what else to say.
Taemin nodded. “Never, and I walk past it almost every day.”
Frowning, Jinki leaned forward. “Then, um, how did you see it that first day, and walk in?”
Here, Taemin started to look a little embarrassed, and dropped his gaze from Jinki's. He mumbled something that was a terrible mumble of words that weren't really words.
“I beg your pardon?” Jinki said, “I didn't catch that.”
Clearing his throat, Taemin repeated himself. “I saw you walking down the street a few times, and you always seemed to vanish at one point. So, I-I-I kind of. Followed you, and finally saw the shop you kept going into.”
Jinki looked over at the words followed you and saw the colour staining Taemin's cheeks at this admittance. There was more than flip-flopping going on inside of him, at that. He really didn't know what to say about it.
“So, then you finally saw the shop?”
Taemin nodded.
Jinki wondered if maybe Jonghyun's theory was right, because he couldn't think of any other kind of explanation for it. Taemin still didn't look quite convinced though, even if he had been the one to bring up the oddities of the shop.
He mused on this for a moment, before looking up and meeting Taemin's eyes. “Stay still, and watch, okay?” At Taemin's nod, Jinki briefly closed his eyes, and found the gift that sat inside him, that simmered always just beneath the surface, waiting for a call. Weather manipulation wasn't one of his strong suits, but he could summon enough to work the little he wanted to work.
Opening his eyes, Jinki watched as the little breeze he was creating made the grass sway around them. Stronger, and some fallen leaves at the foot of a tree stumbled past them. And then, as if he were plucking it from the grass with his hand, the wind lifted one of the leaves until it fluttered up, hovered on the wind in front of Taemin's face for a moment, and settled itself in his dark hair, just behind his ear.
Jinki released the power then, and the little breeze disappeared; he smiled at Taemin, at the look on his face as he touched the leaf in his hair.
“I don't,” he began, eyes wide, “I don't imagine that could have been a fluke?”
Jinki shook his head. “I did it.”
Taemin's eyes were wide with fascination, and Jinki thought that now he might actually believe him.
**
It was raining the next time Taemin came by, but Jinki still wanted to go somewhere with him and eat, so he took him to a quiet café just down the road, a mundane café, but Jinki liked it there. It was muted and peaceful. They sat in comfortable chairs in the corner, Taemin sipping at his hot chocolate, and Jinki drinking a coffee.
“So, what's your special skill?” Taemin asked, leaning forward, eyes eager. Everything Jinki had told him since revealing the truth to him had only served to fascinate Taemin and make him ask more questions, curious to learn about everything and anything, it seemed. It was kind of adorable, Jinki thought, feeling warm all over as Taemin leaned in close.
Jinki looked embarrassed at the question. “You'll laugh if I tell you.”
Taemin shook his head, his face shining and curious. “I won't,” he promised.
In a quiet, embarrassed voice, Jinki said, “I'm...I'm a mathemagician.”
Taemin leant back, his eyes wide with surprise. “What?” He exclaimed, a little too loudly, and leaned forward again, not wanting to attract any attention. “What,” he said, quieter this time, “maths is magic?”
Jinki couldn't hold back then, at the complete earnestness with which Taemin asked this, how readily he seemed to accept that. It was ridiculously cute, Jinki thought. His laugh bubbled up, loud and amused and stupid, and he shook his head. “No, no, I'm joking. Maths is completely mundane.”
It took Taemin a moment of consideration, and then he began to laugh as well. Whether it was at himself for believing it, at Jinki for making a bad pun, or because Taemin genuinely thought it was funny, Jinki couldn't work out. But he did know that that laughter did things to Jinki that he couldn't find the words to explain.
**
Jinki had decided it was easier to show Taemin his own particular magical gift. Whilst he could do many things, there were usually one or two areas where anyone was exceptionally skilled, and felt a strong affinity with. Tonight, Jinki was displaying one of his skills.
Taemin sat at Jinki's little table - slightly wobbly - and stared with wide, eager eyes. Before him looked to be the most delicious meal he had ever seen.
“This is my special skill,” Jinki said quietly, sitting down opposite Taemin, smiling. Then he gestured at the food, “Eat up.”
Taemin did, with glee, and his face at the first mouthful was enough to make Jinki laugh. He looked so enthused, like he was really enjoying himself.
“It's good, right?” Jinki said, knowing that there was no way it could be anything other than amazing.
“The most delicious thing I've ever eaten!” Taemin exclaimed, helping himself to more food. And he said the same thing about every bite he took of something else, so much so that Jinki almost felt too full on feelings and happiness alone, to even eat himself. Almost, because it really was great food and so worth eating.
When the hunger had been sated and they were just eating for the sake of it, Taemin looked over at Jinki, wonder in his eyes. “Did you cook this all with magic?”
“Um. Well...” Jinki shifted a little, not sure how to explain. “I guess, in a way? I still have to cook it all, like normal, but the magic makes sure it always comes out delicious.”
Taemin seemed curious. “So...would even something that would normally taste disgusting, still come out delicious with your magic?”
“I...guess so?” Jinki said, not sure where this was going.
Taemin sat up, looking excited. “So would, uh, snake brains be delicious if you cooked them with your magic?”
Jinki let out a loud, surprised guffaw, before answering in a more normal manner. “I, um, I've never tried to cook snake brains before. I'm not sure.”
Taemin considered the table, or the distance between them, thoughtfully. “We'll have to experiment with your skill then and find out,” he said, beaming up at Jinki.
Jinki could feel his face warming up; Taemin was already making plans for more time to spend together?
And the way he was looking at Jinki, hopeful, excited, eager, it seemed that whatever was going on inside Jinki (thumping heart, fluttery stomach, warmth beneath his skin) was going on inside Taemin as well. Jinki wondered if the look on his own face in that moment was equally stupid, and equally happy.
“I guess we will,” he agreed, trying not to beam like an idiot.
**
Jonghyun had noted, the next time they'd seen each other, that Jinki seemed much more relaxed compared to the last time. Jinki thought that this was most definitely true, and he felt much less flustered. Well, there was still fluster, but it wasn't the same kind. He and Taemin had fallen into this easy friendship. Even though Jinki's uncle was back and running the shop as usual, they were still spending time together, hanging out, eating lunch (or dinners sometimes, now) and sometimes experimenting with what kind of things Jinki's magic could make taste delicious.
And still, Jinki caught Taemin looking at him in such a way, with almost blatant fascination in his eyes, that every time Jinki wanted to just blush and hide within himself. He still couldn't really understand why Taemin seemed so obviously drawn to him, but even Jinki couldn't deny what he kept seeing with his own eyes. Even he wasn't quite that oblivious.
The more time they spent together, the harder Jinki found it to deny that he liked it, and Taemin.
It was an easy, fun, friendship. During the warmer days they would go out and about together, Taemin wanting to show Jinki something, or take him somewhere, or do something with him. It warmed Jinki's soul to realise that he was becoming that person to Taemin, someone to share experiences with.
And Jinki wanted to show Taemin things, too. Mostly silly, little tricks he'd learnt as a child, but with every new piece of magic that Jinki showed him, Taemin was fascinated and ask to see it again. Taemin's favourite trick, though, was one Jinki had done accidentally. They'd been in the shop, and Taemin had been wondering around, looking at the odd trinkets and had picked up an unusual one to take a closer look at. And then he'd dropped it.
But Jinki had been watching, and had summoned up the power of air, and kept the trinket from falling to the ground and smashing. Taemin had been amazed.
After that, he'd taken almost to playing a little game with Jinki, it seemed and continued to drop things every now and then, just to see Jinki stop it from happening. Taemin's little game had ended shortly after that though, when he'd dropped something and Jinki hadn't been paying attention - had, in fact, been dozing, his head against Taemin's shoulder, as they lounged on Jinki's couch. The resulting smash had woken Jinki sharply, and he'd been greeted by Taemin's sheepish smile and a small, “sorry?”
That look on Taemin's face though had been enough to wipe any annoyance from Jinki, and he begrudgingly tried to accept the fact that he'd probably never be able to get angry at Taemin, if he looked at Jinki like that.
“Maybe you really do have magic hands,” Jinki had said, only half-joking. “It's not a skill I've ever seen, but who knows what could happen with magic diluted through generations?”
Jinki might not have realised just how easy it had all become, until an evening where Taemin accidentally stayed the night. They'd watched ridiculous movies that had made them laugh too loud and too hard, and somehow ended up falling asleep on each other as the night wore on. Jinki had woken up, at some ungodly hour to find Taemin's head nestled comfortably in his lap. There was a furious pounding in his chest, and Jinki didn't want to wake Taemin up. There was no point, anyway, it was too late for him to go home. So Jinki let himself slip back into the warmth of sleep, enjoying the way Taemin felt, pressed up against him.
So by the time it happened, it hardly came as a surprise to Jinki. Not an unpleasant surprise, anyway.
It was a peaceful, rainy day, and Jinki had insisted that the rain shouldn't ruin their planned lunch date. So he'd tried to set his living room up into a make-shift park. There was a blanket spread across the carpet in a corner of the room, and every plant and green thing that Jinki owned surrounded this. And Jinki might have tried to dress up and make himself look a little bit nicer than usual, but there was nothing wrong with that.
It looked ridiculous, he knew it was ridiculous, but he also knew that Taemin would laugh at it, and that alone was enough reason for Jinki to do ridiculous things.
When he showed Taemin their little picnic spot, he laughed and laughed. “This is great,” he said, as they settled on the blanket to eat some food.
After they'd eaten a little bit, Jinki said, “Lay down.”
Taemin looked at him, quizzically, but did so anyway, shifting until he was laying down across the blanket, staring up at the ceiling. A moment later and Taemin burst into laughter again. On the ceiling above them Jinki had stuck a circle of yellow paper. He strongly suspected that he was doing such ridiculous things because he wanted Taemin's laughter, his smiles, wanted to hoard them up and keep them for himself.
“You're funny.”
Jinki wasn't sure if this meant funny strange or funny haha, but the way Taemin looked at him as he said it had Jinki feeling warmth spread under his skin all the same.
Taemin didn't hide his feelings. Or couldn't hide them, Jinki wasn't sure which. But the more time they spent together, the more Taemin was affecting him, in turn.
Smiling, Jinki said, “Now, close your eyes.” He received another curious look, before Taemin obeyed. Then Jinki settled himself until he was laying next to Taemin, not quite touching, and focused his attention on his silly little paper sun.
Jinki focused on pretending that it was the real sun, with it's warmth beating down on them, covering them. He imagined a soft breeze, making the leaves around them rustle gently together. Imagined a warm, peaceful day outside in the park, with Taemin at his side.
Keeping all of this in his mind, Jinki turned his face, looking at Taemin; his eyes were still closed and a small smile lingered on his lips. Jinki's chest swelled.
“It feels as if we're really outside,” Taemin said, his voice soft. “I can feel the sun on my skin.”
Jinki smiled, and without even considering it, reached down to twine their hands together. He could see Taemin's little jump of surprise at the gesture but he kept his eyes closed, and his smile spread wider across his face. His fingers squeezed lightly around Jinki's.
It was when Taemin opened his eyes, found Jinki's face, that he felt the compulsion within him. Steadily, they'd been getting to know each other over time. And that look on Taemin's face, the one that shined so brightly in his eyes whenever they were looking at Jinki, never seemed to fade.
Swallowing thickly, Jinki leaned over Taemin, his hand reaching out, curling, almost of it's own accord, between strands of Taemin's dark hair; it fell softly between his fingers. He looked into Taemin's face, into those bright, smiling eyes, and felt his heart clench. The way Taemin was looking back at him made Jinki's breath catch in his throat. Then, he leaned in, capturing Taemin's lips with his own. His lips felt soft and plump beneath his own, and Jinki almost revelled in being able to kiss them. He leaned in closer and they shared a long, lingering kiss that sent warmth shivering the length of Jinki's body, filling him with it, and wanting more of this sweetness, more of Taemin, and many, many more kisses.
He pulled away slowly with a sigh and opened his eyes. Taemin's were still closed, and he could feel as a shiver seemed to run through Taemin's body, leaving a pleased smile on his face.
Jinki, unable to help himself, murmured, “It must be magic.”
Taemin, eyes opening but with the look of the not very aware - had Jinki's kiss really affected him that much? - mumbled, “Hmm?”
“My kiss,” Jinki said. “My kiss must be magic.”
It took a moment, as he seemed to climb from the happy haze that was filling his head after that kiss, but when it clicked, Taemin laughed. And laughed. And laughed.
Then he leant forward, and kissed Jinki again. As much to keep him quiet as to actually kiss him.