cat got your tongue? -- chapter 2 (read on ao3)
in which wheein meets zico
Firmly sat upon her broom, Wheein rides above the tall skyscrappers of Seoul. Her eyes focus on the streets below that crisscross with each other to create a grid of the city.
She was diligent in studying her grandmothers map before leaving to find this mysterious Zico her friend recommended her. But just incase, she added an extra charm that would glow bright if she became lost.
So far it only barely twinkled when she started heading west when she should have continued north. Luckily, once she noticed the flare up and the unfamiliar streets, she righted herself and continued on the correct path.
If shes correct, and the odds seem to be favoring her tonight, shes nearing her destination.
When shes sure the street down below is the one that is still scrawled on her arm, she begins her descent towards the ground. It takes far shorter than she had hoped because, soon enough, she was on W. Front Street hovering barely two inches above the sidewalk.
It wasn't legal to ride brooms so close to sidewalks, where others were walking, but Wheein thought that her safety was more important than abiding by the rules this one time.
W. Front Street was more of an alley than it was a street really, Wheein assesses as her eyes drift from store front to store front. It was one of many backstreets that diverged off of Main Street, it seemed. One that held anything from the occasional herb shop to the more accessible backdoor magic dealers.
Wheein doesn't like the area, she decides as she floats down the sidewalk on her broom. Not many people occupy the small street or walkway, but the ones that do are burly and tall, sending her glares or the occasional winks. She glances down at her charm thats looped around her finger, silently hoping that it was glowing red as to alert her that this sketchy ally wasn't the right direction and that she should turn back immediately.
The ring on her middle finger of her right hand didn't even give a flicker of light.
A sigh is heaved somewhere deep within her lungs, she hopes she'll find the numbers 1409 on one of the storefronts quickly.
"Hey, girly!" She hears someone call out from across the street, which immediately has her perking up and looking for the owner of the voice that called out to her.
She finds the man with a smile on his face and a glint in his eyes directed at her, and it doesn't take a second glance for Wheein to send her broom into a quicker pace.
"Where you going, girly?" The voice is boisterous and loud, a small pull of the last vocable upwards makes Wheein think he's still smiling that goose-bump inducing smile.
Wheein looks from the store fronts (1403, 1405...), down to her ring, and then back at the man who shes hoping kept his place on the opposite side of the street.
Her eyes barely locked onto the large form following behind her before she quickly faces forward again, now hyper aware of the thwack thwack thwacking of his shoes against pavement.
Her heart was beating loudly in her chest, when her eyes locked onto the rusted letters 1407 on the storefront to her right.
She jumps off her broom, ungraceful as ever. Her feet meet the sidewalk before her knees quickly follow. Wheein barely registers the sting before she's grabbing her broom and running the few feet to the storefront with the golden 1409 on the door.
Wheein throws the door open, closing it before it has the chance to shut on its own. She locks it behind her, instinct kicking in.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" She hears a voice from within the shop ask her in a harsh bite. It's a man, she notes, also noticing the harsh glare she's receiving from him propped up against his workbench.
He's long and lean, his sandy hair cropped above his eyebrows in jagged bangs. His glare could probably kill her if she wasn't still thinking about the man that was following her.
Her hands start flailing, pointing outside and gesturing what she's trying to express while taking big gulps of cigarette stained air.
The man heaves himself from his relaxed slump, slowly making his way to the front of the store where Wheein still stands, now tightly gripping her broom with both hands. He's tall, Wheein notes when she scuttles out of his way once he approaches the door.
He unlocks it before pulling it open, the top of the door banging against a bell to create a jarring chime that makes Wheein flinch.
"What do you want?" The storeowners voice asks, his shoulder now pressed against the frame.
"Looking for a little witch that just floated her way in here. Not looking for any trouble. Me and she had some plans," the voice sends a chill down Wheein's spine. She grips her broom tighter and tries to peek at the man on the other side of the threshold through the shop owners arm, he uses his foot to push her behind the door before she can even get a glance.
"Haven't seen any witches. Get lost," he says with a tone of finality before closing the door with a loud slam that rattles the whole shop.
Wheein jumps back when he briskly turns on his heel and heads back towards his workbench. Wheeins eyes take in the cluttered area. Jars and bottles filled with liquids and half alive creature parts preserved in asbestos litter surfaces and shelves. Books upon books are piled where ever they fit. On the mans work bench there is a plethora of papers strewn upon it haphazardly. Some pencils are animated, dancing around on paper held up by invincible hands carved by magic. Ivy and herbs climb high up the walls.
Wheein is surprised to see a space messier than hers.
"You get lost too, little witch," the man says, plopping himself down on the chair in front of the workbench, plucking one of the moving pencils from the air. He continues the work the pencil was previously doing.
Wheein jolts again, eyes widening. Her arms start crossing and waving, making a big 'X'. Her lips gape, no sound falling from them. A whine comes from somewhere in her throat, desperate to communicate.
"Cat got your tongue, little witch?" he asks, head angling toward her to look at her over his shoulder.
Wheein nods her head enthusiastically, finally moving into the shop instead of standing by the closed door.
"I'm not looking for any apprentices. And I'm not taking on any more clients. So you can save your breath," he states in that tone that doesn't allow any room for argument. Wheein frowns.
She makes her way to his workbench, trying to peek at what he was scribbling so diligently. With a flick of his wrist she has one of the papers from his desk pressed against her face, covering her view and making her let out another whine.
"Mind your own business, little witch," the man says when Wheein finally removes the paper from her face. She looks down at it, the paper tragically blank.
She grabs the pencil from the mans hand, earning herself a angry growl from him, before she starts scrawling on the paper.
'Looking for ZICO' she writes and shoves it in his face where he grabs it from her hand.
He reads it quickly, a scowl smeared across his lips.
"You're speakin' to him," Zico says with a roll of his eyes. "Now, what do you want? I already told you I'm not looking for an apprentice."
She takes the scrap back from him.
'curse put on me. can't speak'
He chortles, crumpling the paper up and throwing it behind him. The paper falls into the mess; it barely looks out of place.
"Make an elixir, or eat some monster guts. I'm sure a half-rate witch like yourself could manage that, right?" He looks over at her with a cocked brow, the corner of his mouth pulled up in a mocking smirk.
Wheein stomps her foot, anger boiling her blood and turning her face red.
'I DID ALL THAT ALREADY!!' She writes across whatever Zico had been so diligently scribbling on instead of helping a fellow magic user in need.
"Do you wanna die, little witch? You should know better than to dirty a sigil," Wheein blanches at his words, he lets out a dry chortle. "That's what I thought. Find someone else, little witch."
With the tainted sigil in his hand, he walks to a trashcan Wheein couldn't even distinguish from all the clutter. He snaps his fingers, a small flame appearing from his thumb.
He sets the sigil ablaze and lets the ashes fall into the trashcan.










