candy colored eyes

if there’s anything to be known about iseul, it’s that he’s a stickler for rules. it’s in his nature to be obedient. although, there have been several cases where he’s been willing to bend them. those occasions usually ( if not always ) involve jiyi, and they revolved around three topics: sneaking out with her friends ( she had asked for the prefects’ routine so that they could time it perfectly ), sneaking him out of the house so that they could go crash at their older brother’s apartment, and basically anything she asked him to do. he’s always been a good little brother.

and now, he’s pretty sure serin is going to make him break a couple of rules for her, too.

iseul hums absentmindedly, watching as the older girl darts her eyes around and barely catches the end of his question. his eyes narrow in suspicion, but he replies pleasantly nevertheless, “i just finished. i was heading back to the common room so i could do some homework.”

“your pet…” iseul repeats slowly, eyebrows knitting in confusion before he realizes exactly what pet she’s talking about. he had caught a glimpse of her billywig when she was in the process of sneaking it into her room, and she had sworn him to utter secrecy to never breathe a word about the ( possibly ) illegal insect she was harboring. it’s how they started talking in the first place, serin cajoling him into joining the magical creatures club because he had been fascinated by the ones she had come across while in australia. including the sapphire insect they were currently talking about. the one that would be nearly impossible to track down. “sorry noona, i don’t think i saw it anywhere.” 

he frowns a bit, raising a hand to rub at the back of his neck in worry. subconsciously, his voice drops to a whisper ( as if his normal speaking voice wasn’t quiet already ), and he shuffles closer to serin. “um… isn’t it dangerous for it- your pet- to be out in the world? if it’s not a native species, won’t it mess up the ecosystem?”

she wears chaos too well. though not entirely intended to be of her nature or objective, ryu serin seems to (almost always and without fail) find herself in the eye of the storm. one conscious step (that she’ll inevitably take) away from pandemonium—and taking the rest of the world with her as well. when her world started to involve so many people, however, totally different question. not one that serin supposes she need answered. life works, mysteriously. fate, unyielding to her wants and needs.

similarly, even the likes of iseul, failed to escape it. (poor thing. to be drawn under her path of mayhem.)

“oh, homework. you’re so diligent, seul.” compliments easily, perfectly disarming smile armed to boot. showcasing (to what serin believes) a case of innocence the best she can. but she’s almost certain iseul doesn’t buy it. she’s as intuitive as he is sharp, at least. 

she figured he wouldn’t. asked on a whim and yet, appropriately felt disappointment seep in regardless despite knowing the wing speed of this particular creature. almost too quick to see in motion till it stilled. “it’s okay, don’t worry about it, i’ll find it.” serin has the decency to sound (what was it?) confident, lips pulled into a sheepish grin. that’s the goal here right? to act like the competent older one between the two. even if all things line up to be otherwise. well, fake it till you make it.

serin simply watches when he leans in, brows raised in slight surprise and quiet anticipation for what iseul had to say. hopefully not something like that’s detention or whatever. can first year prefects even give detention? there’s gotta be an age limit or something. ‘—mess up the ecosystem...’ wait. “huh?” the older of the two replies dumbly, expression equivalent to a sheet of blank till the mind buffers, pieces two and two together.

“oh! no, no. you don’t have to worry about that. my pet’s very tame, doesn’t make a mess or eat anything out of the ordinary. though i guess the only thing is if it bite.........s.” serin trails off, lips parted to show rows of ivory, clenched in realization. “butihighlydoubtthat’llhappen!” she continues in a rush, datives pushing against each other while she reaches out, ruffling his hair assuringly. 

starter for @mmserin

it’s nearly 2am – it’s not necessarily late for chahee, but she had agreed to meet with another classmate to train with them early the next morning. there were instant regrets, but maybe this will help her regulate a normal sleeping schedule. or maybe she should decrease the amount of sleepovers she has with serin within a week. 

“serin, i mean it. your ass better not start talking. i have to sleep.” speaking with a mouth full of toothpaste from the bathroom before resuming to brush her teeth. she rinses out her mouth, proceeding to do her skincare. “if you start talking, i’m making you come with me to training tomorrow.” she threatens, knowing how much serin hates exercising ( unless if it has to do with sex ). 

would it be too cruel if she were to change the code on her door? in serin’s mind, yes. she sighs, dismissing the thought. not wanting to deal with a sad, pleading eyes serin. 

“also – i better not hear you trying to sneak off to see some dude thinking i’m asleep.” serin is on a self-declared boy ban, and as her best friend, it’s her duty to make sure she is resilient and does not stray away from said ban. she’s keeping her in check and accountable for her actions. “no boy is worth fucking this late. the dick isn’t that good around here.”

once completing her skincare routine, she settles into her bed. waving her wand to turn the lights off. “good night.” closing her eyes as she waits to fall asleep.

she’s busy preening. it’s—not new. vanity comes sparingly. and serin feels it’s only increased since her last relationship. ugh. over that. god, please. a new one soon. but for now, she’s staying busy, running her brush through her hair for the fifteenth time. not a necessity, but she’s more or less keeping chahee company by now. having done her own routine earlier.

“what’s the point of a sleepover if you’re just going to SILENCE me?!” she whines, pouting obviously enough in the mirror. “what about MY rights?” of course she’d mention training. whatever the hell is there to even train for? they’re witches. still, she keeps her mouth shut, pout evident despite all that.

“why—” a sigh. vague grumbling while she settles into the bed beside her, mockingly mouthing the words that come out of her best friend’s lips. make sense. the usual spiel. but just because she has plans tomorrow doesn’t mean she does. though it isn’t as if serin can blame her. if anything, this sleep over was her idea. the boy ban? also her idea.

(and the regret? it’s hitting hard now.)

she lays in silence once the lights shut, teeth raking over her lower lip in quiet (torturous) contemplation. it’s impossible. she simply can’t sleep. 

quirking a brow, jaehyun gives her a curious look. “you probably already know this,” some laughter. “but even if there really is a nest nearby, it’ll undoubtedly be protected under the law. and you know, hypothetically, if we were to break the law and try to see it anyway, they could kill us.” then, a cough. “isn’t it also laying season or something? yeah, so never mind what i said earlier. they will kill us.”

“i’m thinking more of like, uh, visiting that herbology shop so i can get more stuff to brew some more psychoactive potions, and getting some new books, and drinking butterbeer, and sitting by the lake when the sun sets. you know, normal stuff.” jaehyun’s been trying to leave all the lawlessness and the rule-breaking and the reckless endangerment that defined his years at yosul behind him. that kind of energy was just too chaotic: he’s too old for that now.

when she proffers, he bites. the licorice, of course. because he knows exactly what she’s up to, jaehyun lets it rest on his lips for a moment, staring dead straight ahead at her, before deciding not to make a fuss and parting his lips for a bite. “finish it serin. i got it for you.”

when the train comes to a stop and the conductor announces their arrival, he flashes her a playful smile, stuffing the rest of the snacks into his backpack and standing quickly.

when they’re off the train, he slows his steps, swivels around on his heels and looks down at her face. it’s sunny outside; there’s a modest breeze. “so… where do you wanna go first?” he slips his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “if you say the occamy nest, i’m going to have to take a massive shit out of sheer disbelief and defeat first.”

“that’s only if we get too close.” she’s quick to retort, eyes bright in determination. “we’re not allowed to approach because of poaching laws but it doesn’t say we can’t observe from afar.” decidedly frowns, well aware of the way today was lining up to be. not that she particularly minded or hated anything, it’s just a minor letdown and serin is sure to let him know. 

“hey, why did you ask to come if you were just going to shoot down my ideas?” it’s partially accusatory at the best, but nothing that held too much hostility. at the most, serin can acknowledge that they’re different people now. jaehyun, who’ve long left behind youth’s recklessness and her, stuck in the wild. at the very least? he bought her candy. 

“fine,” so, she’ll relent. admittedly pouty with the way she does. “we can skip the occamy viewing...” she’ll just have to come back next time. “how long are we staying? for dinner too? did you look up what’s good around here?” serin traverses through viable topics with practiced ease, more or less a master at conversation. or well, maybe she’s just chatty.

she can’t help the look of triumph nonetheless when he bites, apples of her cheeks rising with the curve of her eyes. “i will, i will.” pulls away shortly after, biting on the bitten end with a happy hum. 5 calories. totally doable. and he knew exactly which sweets she couldn’t resist. either way, wholly pleased, she’s compliant in following him off the train; taking a couple seconds to readjust her backpack.

the living room – a complete mess. take out boxes, various utensils, plates and cups everywhere. she takes her shoes off, sliding into her slippers before approaching serin and heejin. “serin, i thought you were on a diet.” she rolls her eyes, kicking her leg before sitting on the couch next to her daughter. “let’s look–” she pokes at heejin’s belly and she whines. 

“serin unnie turned you into the cutest little piggy, but if serin unnie keeps feeding you like this, she’s going to have to pay with her own card.” heejin crawls onto hyena’s lap, hugging her. “umma, i can’t go poo poo.”  burying her small head against her chest. “you’re probably constipated.” patting her back lightly.

she picks up a piece of leftover shrimp, eating it. “i thought you guys were going to go biking today.” then again, did they ever do anything that requires movement other than amusement parks and walking for street food? 

“unnie–” heejin calls out. “unnie, did you die?” the child crawls off hyena’s lap to lie on top of serin. hyena sighs, looking at the mess they created. “what’s the point of having wands if you can’t use it to clean up after yourselves.” heejin faces her mom, shushing her. “umma, shhhhhhh.” hyena stare at her child and then looks to serin. “did you teach her that?” 

so she let things get a little too out of hand. not the first time. right now, even with the waves of pain from eating far too much, in the furtherest corners of her head, serin knows it also won’t be the last. again, very lucky that a) hyena unnie was forgiving and b) heejin loves her. not many would look to the likes of ryu serin as a proper babysitter otherwise.

“i was—unnie!” whines uselessly at the kick, head lulling to the side while her fingers smooth over her belly; absently wondering about dessert. whether or not they still had ice cream in the fridge. at this point, diet be damned right? 

“i can start tomorrow.” her diet. yeah. that’ll work somehow. she’s eaten enough for the whole week anyway. or maybe enough till dinner tomorrow. maybe she should start intermittent fasting again. one of those has to work. 

her mind absently wanders while the two speaks amongst themselves, briefly considering canceling tonight’s 👀appointment. feeling way too bloated for that.

“oof–” her mouth forms a laugh, arms slipping around the small body with ease. “i’m not dead—just hibernating...” ends her sentence with a quiet (fake) snore. pausing only when heejin speaks again, cracking an eye open to look at her “employer”. “uhhhhh, no.” no, she certainly did not. but it’s not to say she can’t have picked it up when she was on the phone with her mom.

“where did you learn that, huh heejin? i didn’t teach you that.” serin shifts, lifting the smaller enough to give her a playful glare. the younger blinks, dollish eyes carrying an innocent shine that serin can’t deny, even when her mouth parts to form words that would ultimately be her undoing.

haram gives her a cursory shrug, lips pursed to the side as he gives her the look of ‘i tried.’ but the notable deed here is the sheer act of him pulling his wand out to help someone, regardless of his success or failure. ‘help.’ he hates the standardized terminology of words. most of them, actually. his hand isn’t there for forbearance. haram swats the definition away with the fact that serin isn’t exactly an ‘anyone’ like most. she’s not buttoned-down and afraid like others, quite the unorthodox. she’s so predictable and honest to a point where she gives no more leeway for him to pry and make vulnerable– because she already is. she sees the world through a kaleidoscope without blurring out the reality.

and quite honestly, haram has no idea how to categorize nor deal with someone like that.

“descendo.” picking himself up from the crouch, he drags the point of his wand downwards to trail the pixies back into the cage. it’s not exactly unlike serin to have been caught up in such a mess; not really in relevance to her skills as a witch, but in relevance to her character. he snorts out a hushed laughter as he puts her flustered look on a reel of imagination, all through the mild chaos that he unfortunately missed out on.

“collorportus.” with the cage now firmly sealed and pixies back to their rowdy squeaks, he glances back at her gentle prodding. time? all he lacks in his world is time. serin out of all people would know, though haram also knows that it’s a rhetorical question on her end. more like a timid appeal in a query, because she knows that he out of all people won’t carry sympathy around in his pocket. on the safe guess side of things, she’s exactly right. he crouches back down in front of her, his wand on his shoulder and in queue of his decision. today, however, he just might have a spare minute or two on his hands.

“what, are you asking me to carry you?”

it isn’t as if she doesn’t know him. because she does. because if anything the multitudes of boyfriends over the years has shed light on the capability of the male ego. how to read every little quirk, every dryly spoken dative. still, haram is—decidedly a special case. one that took time, gentle prodding, quiet observation over the years. at least. to reach the stage of friendship they are now.

which, tentatively, is as much of a something as it can be nothing.

“no.” she speaks decisively, chagrin setting in her jaw. “i can handle myself,” she can’t. serin knows it well. but you aren’t exactly the person to ask anyway. “you just need to carry the cage.” just so there isn’t a repeat of before. but she won’t tell him that. save him the joy of having something else to tease her about. as it is, serin is already certain this wouldn’t be the last she heard of it.

“it won’t take long.” she promises with her best grin (quarters forced, stiff, her left cheek twitches with every ache and serin is just as sure that it’s visible). but even she knows it’s a lie. can tell with the way her ankle screams in protest when she straightens, jaw tightening around the pained sound that threatens to slip out. it’s undoubtedly a very human thing to do. the odd need to seem tougher than she is, even if it is playing up a facade she knows haram sees through. 

(she, if anything, had always been honest, transparent.)

You are so so so

so so so so so so so

she steps out of her office, bag in hand. her phone buzzing with notifications. half of them were most likely from serin and the other half… from the ministry and her employees. she’ll check later, nothing is that important to acquire her attention immediately. plus, all she wants is to see her daughter and hope her house isn’t a complete mess knowing serin is currently babysitting heejin. 

“if the minister calls… tell me him to email me or something. i’ll get back to him tomorrow morning – or when i feel like it.” she walks out of the building, apparating as soon as she steps out onto the pavement. she continues walking upon reaching her destination, pausing once reaching the front step. she taps her wand against the door twice and then twice again. the door unlocks and opens itself. without skipping a beat, she walks in, waving her wand, the door closes. 

“heejin – serin?” she calls out, tying her hair up. “did you guys eat yet?” is that even a question? of course they ate. they’re always eating. “what are–” she pauses, seeing them both on the couch. heejin’s lips jutting out into a pout, hair in pigtails as she looks down at her belly that’s spilling out of her shirt. “umma, i’m a little piggy…”  

and when it came to her weakness toward heejin’s puppy eyes (paired with her own sense of chaos and not knowing when to stop) things always seem to lead to chaos. point in case? 

right here, right now. 

it started off normal, i mean, a pair of cute girls gotta eat right? but whereas serin craved seafood, heejin wanted something soupy and/or crunchy. so, what was the verdict then? compromise, of course. they’ll have it all! (diet be damned. no one @ her)

fun? fun. till they’re halfway through. 2/3rds through. then, instant regret. followed by shame. followed by an unsettling sense of fullness that has them both rendered immobile. 

“that’s so dumb,” he blurts the syllables out without much care or thought. in the several seconds of silence that ensue, jaehyun regrets being that harsh. for some reason, the thought of serin, who looks literally perfect the way she is, wanting to conform to a different standard for merlin knows what reason is irritating to him. a deep breath, then he opens his mouth once more: “what i mean is, like, your motivation for losing weight or whatever seems incredibly extrinsically motivated—”

ugh, he’s getting preachy again. jaehyun cuts himself short, shakes his head.

okay. third try. “so… what i actually mean is you have complete autonomy over your body. i just want to make sure you’re giving this—” he palms her forehead, playfully pushes it back. “—as much attention as you do your weight.” please don’t hit me.

“and so what if i’m laughing at you?” a flirtatious kick is returned. “you’re a funny person.” he smiles his impish smile and it lights up his face. then, jaehyun leans his elbow on the table, rests his chin in his palm in some strange, sudden bout of lethargy. honest eyes examine serin’s face: the curve of her nose, the color of her lips. he hasn’t really looked at her in a long time.

a cough. he clears his throat. “anyway, we’re almost there. anything in particular you’re looking forward to?”

“okay.” what else was she supposed to say to that? screw you. you’re dumb? not how she operates. not even the level of closeness they’re at at the moment. instead, serin allows silence to hang between them, doesn’t hide the frown on her lips. absently wondering what her body needed his opinion for. but it’s better to shut up, at least, she knows jaehyun well enough to let this ride through. interrupting him wouldn’t change anything but escalate things.

“i am—i—” she squeaks at the push, nose crinkling in distaste. “i’m just trying to get my original weight back, it’s not that big of a deal.” it is actually. but let’s not comment too much on it. for the sake of well—not getting lectured again.

“that’s very rude.” she huffs, shifting to trap his foot between her ankles. “i don’t think i like your definition of funny.” whatever it may be. she’s not sure. the thought process skips from one beat to another entirely. notes the sudden lack of distance between them, the stir in her chest, and promptly dismisses it for what it is. wistful thinking. 

“uh, yes, i’m hoping to see an occamy! i hear there’s a nest nearby...” her fingers work with unwrapping the licorice wand, rambling off the top of her head. “but then we’ll have to be super careful since they’re territorial but that’s the fun part—oh, and then shopping, of course—i wanna see what kind of books they have on erklings,” serin shifts in her seat, eyes shining and lips wide with excitement already, "what about you?”

her hand lifts then, pressing the wand against his lower lip. “eat it.” a pause. lips puckering slightly in contemplation. then, a tiny nod. as if finally coming to an agreement with herself. “just half.” 

HEEJIN’S INSTAGRAM