i'm an action figure

“Try me,”  you replied, putting your hands on your hips.

“I’m a wizard, so I make potions. We put love potions in the cafe food so that people will love our cafe.” Jisung noticed your confused face. “If you don’t believe me you can try for yourself.”

You walked over to where Jisung was standing. He quickly grabbed another bottle from under the table and placed it on the table.

“Experience the potion yourself. When it’s effects wear off, I’ll tell you exactly what happened to you without you even telling me anything.” 

You grabbed the potion from the table and drank it. Before you could place the bottle back down, you were transported to another world. You were in a forest and it was snowing. There were 7 little boys running around, screaming in joy as they played a game of tag. Your heart warmed at the precious sight of the dreamies when they were young. You were about to take a step closer, but everything began to fade. You found yourself back in the room with Jisung. 

“You saw your childhood, right? The most precious memory that you’ve ever experienced.” Jisung said. You nodded, not having the heart to say that you saw otherwise.

“It’s an original potion that I made. It took months to develop perfectly,” Jisung said as he returned the bottle to it’s original place. 

Jisung worked on the potion for months, but it seemed like he only tested it on himself. The potion wasn’t the user’s most precious memory, it was Jisung’s. Even though you didn’t see the right image, you were convinced Jisung was telling the truth about magic.  

“What about the other guys?”

“So Mark and Jaemin, they’re normal people. Kind of like you, but more magically aware. Haechan, he hasn’t gained his powers yet. And then Jeno, he’s a water spirit.”

“Makes sense,” you replied. 

“And then Chenle, well, uh,” Jisung began to stutter again. “He’s like super rich and his family is like a super big deal, so he’s not really allowed to tell his powers. Not even to me,” he said, pretending to be disappointed.

“Of course he wouldn’t tell you! You’d blabber it all out!” you joked.

“I don’t blabber any secrets!” Jisung said, trying to defend himself. “And Renjun trusted me with his vision about you so ha!”

“Renjun had a vision about me?” you said raising your eyebrow.

“Shoot,” Jisung said, slapping his forehead. “I’ll just let him explain it.”

Jisung walked back into the front of the cafe and you followed behind him. Renjun was standing behind the counter with the other boys, trying to put up a poster on the wall.

“So Renjun, what’s this about a vision you had?” you asked with your arms crossed.

“Dude, I told you Jisung wouldn’t be able to keep a secret,” Jeno said, laughing. Renjun shook his head in disappointment before looking at you. 

“y/n, do you believe in magic?” Renjun asked.

“You can skip the explanation. I saw everything Jisung had in the back.”

“Okay, so I’m an oracle, so I can see into the future. And I saw your future, and it’s not looking too good. You’re probably going to get attacked,” Renjun said casually, as if it were nothing.  

“Before you get worried y/n, it’s really no big deal. Renjun’s never had an accurate vision before. It’s not like this one’s going to come true,” Chenle said.

“And he was on the floor of a frat house when it came to him, so I wouldn’t worry too much,” Mark added. Renjun slapped Mark on the arm for adding that detail.

“Oh wow, for a second I thought I was going to be special,” you said sarcastically, pretending to be disappointed.

“Don’t worry y/n, I’ll protect you,” Jisung said, joining in on your sarcasm. He threw his arm around your shoulder, rubbed your head, and said, “you’re all safe now y/n.”

The boys laughed and then went back to work. Jisung walked back into the back room, and you followed him, since you had nothing better to do. 

“Hey Jisung, why don’t you give me so potions lessons?” you said. You found a stool in the corner of the room and pulled it up to the table. “It would be good practice for you, too.”

“Who said I needed practice?” Jisung replied. You turned around and got up from the stool, ready to walk out the door. “Hey, wait! I’ll do it!”

You sat back down on the stool and watched Jisung. He started pulling out liquids and dried plants from under the table. There were far too many thing coming out from under the small table, but you figured that magical storage was very efficient.

 “The first lesson is an antidote potion,” Jisung said. He placed in front of you various dried plants, seeds, and a dark green liquid.

“Can’t we start with the love potion,” you complained.

“If you’re trying to seduce someone, you won’t be learning it here,” Jisung said with a smile. “And the antidote potion is the best place to start anyways. If you mess up any other potion, it could kill you. It’s always important to know how to make an antidote.” Jisung handed you a mortar and pestle.

“I have to grind this by hand?” you groaned.

“Unless you have magical abilities, you’d better get used to grinding everything in there. Any questions so far?”

“What is all this stuff?” you asked as you grinded all the dry ingredients.

“Actually, I’m not really sure. I kind of just know the stuff I need. I use my intuition.”

“Oh that’s just great,” you said, rolling your eyes.

“It’s not like it matters anyways. You’re doing a great job,” Jisung said with a smile. “Now it’s time to add the blue liquid. Don’t ask me what it is, I wasn’t paying attention when I learned it.”

You poured the blue liquid in and began to mix it. 

“So what else do you do Jisung? There’s more to being a wizard than just potions, right?”

“Well, potions are my specialty. I can make them back here when I’m alone. There’s nobody yelling at me or telling me to hurry up when I make potions, so it’s pretty therapeutic. I can do spells too, but those take a lot of patience to learn, especially if you try to do them mentally. Spells are so much more pressure.”

“Oh,” you said, looking down at what you had made. “I’m sorry I disturbed your private time.” 

“Nah, it’s no big deal. I like you y/n. I mean, uh, I like being around you.” Jisung quickly went under the desk to get a bottle for you potion, but he was really just trying to avoid eye contact with you. His face was burning up. After Jisung got up, he poured your potion into a bottle and sealed it. He grabbed a permanent marker and wrote on the bottle.

“y/n’s antidote potion,” Jisung said with a smile. “I’ll be sure to make good use out of this.”

“I think the cafe is closing up right now,” you told Jisung. The commotion you could hear between Renjun and Haechan was an obvious sign that it was time for you to leave. 

“Well then, I’ll see you tomorrow y/n,” Jisung replied, waving you off as you walked towards the door. “Or do you prefer apprentice?” 

“I’d go by any name if it meant I could spend time with you,” you said. You were shocked at your own words. You had no idea where that came from. You hurried out before Jisung could question you on your reply.

You spent all your shifts with Jisung. Every day, Jisung had a new set of herbs for you to grind and bottle. You were worried the Chenle might be upset that you weren’t working, but he just smiled and pushed you into the back with Jisung.

“So what are we learning today, Jisung?” you asked as you pulled up the stool.

“Love potions,” Jisung said with a smile.

“You’re finally teaching me how you drug the people in the cafe,” you said teasingly.

“I don’t drug people, y/n. It’s magic. There’s a difference,” Jisung explained. “And were just doing a basic love potion today. Nothing complicated like falling in love with a building.” 

You chucked at Jisung’s response.

“Hey, you have no idea how hard that was for me! You try making people love the cafe when the employees are moody magical beings!” Jisung complained as he grabbed the ingredients for the love potions. He placed an assortment of dried herbs and seeds on the table.

“So what’s the plan here?” you asked.

“You can just take whatever you like. Love potions are based on personal preference. There’s really no wrong answer,” Jisung said as he handed you the mortar and pestle. “Oh wait! I forgot the most important ingredient!”

You watched as Jisung pulled out a bottle with a red liquid inside.

“You can taste it, it’s nothing weird, I promise,” Jisung said as he handed the bottle over to you.

You dipped your finger inside and tasted the mysterious liquid.

“This is tomato juice!” you said with wide eyes. “Your secret ingredient is tomato juice?”

“It’s for the aesthetics. It gives the potion a nice color. And my secret ingredient isn’t tomato juice. I use hot sauce. Tomato juice is a beginner’s ingredient.”

“Hot sauce is not aesthetic Jisung,” you said with a laugh.

“It’s more aesthetic than blood.” Jisung noticed the confused look on your face. “It’s an old practice,” he explained.

You spent the rest of your shift putting together a love potion. Jisung had been right about how difficult it was. Selecting your own ingredients took careful deliberation. You wanted your first love potion to be perfect. After a while, you had put together your first love potion.

“Wow, that looks really good, y/n,” Jisung said with admiration. “Can I try it? You can try mine too.”

“What’s going to happen when we taste it?” you asked. 

“These are pretty weak potions anyways. We’re probably just going to see our crush. It’ll be a basic sensation. It’ll be something you already know.” 

“Let’s do it then,” you said. 

You and Jisung exchanged bottles and took a sip from the potions. You closed your eyes and waited for the potion to settle in. When you opened your eyes again, you were in the same place.

“Nothing happened, Jisung. Did we make them wrong or what?” you asked.

“No y/n. We made them perfectly,” Jisung replied. 

You watched as Jisung crinkled up his nose at what he had just said. You took a second to process what he meant. 

“So that means we, uh,” you started to say. You couldn’t verbalize the next part. 

“Yep,” Jisung said while looking down. Despite liking each other, you and Jisung were highly embarassed by the situation.

“So, um, uh,” you stuttered, trying to find something to say to Jisung.

“Do you want to date me?” Jisung babbled.  

“Yes.” You kept your hands busy with all the ingredients on the table. You still felt too awkward to make eye contact with Jisung. He felt the same way about you. 

“We should head out now,” Jisung said. You followed him out towards the front of the cafe.

The other boys immediately noticed that Jisung was blushing when you two walked out. Neither you nor Jisung were making eye contact with any of them.

“What’s up with you two? Did you two make out in the back or what?” Jaemin said with a smirk.

“No way, Jisung’s too much of a wimp to do that,” Mark replied.

“The probably kissed by accident or something,” Jeno said.

“How do you accidentally kiss someone?” Chenle asked.

“It’s a classic trick Chenle. y/n probably fell on Jisung and-” Renjun started.

“That’s not what happened!” Everyone was shocked by Jisung’s sudden confidence, even Jisung himself. “We’re, uh, dating each other now. That’s all,” Jisung said in a quiet voice.

The dreamies erupted in screams. Haechan started slapping Jisung on the back.

“Look at you, all grown up,” Haechan said with awe. “Be careful back there. The two of you alone in that dark room, it could get wild, Jisung.”

After dating for a while, the teasing subdued from the dreamies. There was always the occasional joke about your potions mixing, but it was expected from the boys. You and Jisung became much more comfortable with one another.

The day of the cafe event had finally rolled around. You didn’t pay much attention to it after Renjun had mentioned it to you, but apparently it was a very big deal to the dreamies. They would be in the presence of a lot more magic than they were used to, so they spending a lot of extra time at the cafe. You tagged along, hoping to help them in any way possible. It had been a long time since you actually contributed to the cafe and not just sit in the back with your boyfriend.

“Hey y/n, can you help me and Jisung in the back right now?” Haechan said.

You followed Haechan into the back room. He locked the door behind you, which was odd. Jisung never did that before. Before you could ask him why he did that, Haechan lunged towards you. He pinned you to the ground and you started to scream.

“Don’t scream y/n, or you’ll end up like your boyfriend over there,” Haechan said with a menacing grin. Haechan turned your head to the side so you could see Jisung. He was sitting in the corner tied up with rope. His mouth was covered with tape.

“What are you doing?” you cried.

“Good question, y/n. You’re just so smart, aren’t you?” Haechan said as he tied up your arms. “You skip lectures so you can go take little potion lessons from your boyfriend. How cute.”

“This is about the lectures? Oh my gosh Haechan, I promise I-” Haechan placed his hand over your mouth.

“Don’t make me tape that beautiful mouth up.” Haechan got to work on tying up your feet. “And it’s something much more different, dear. You see with this high magical energy in the air, I’m at an urge to awaken my powers.”

Haechan stood up and grabbed a knife from the table.

“And there happens to be one potion that’ll do the trick. Your precious boyfriend already started making it. Now I just need the final ingredient,” Haechan said as he leaned over you. “Your blood.”

Haechan pulled the blade through your arms. Blood started to leak out onto your shirt, but you had already passed out. Haechan collected the blood and placed it into the bottle with the other ingredients. He started to take a sip when the bottle shattered. Haechan was enraged. He turned around to see Jisung, who had broken free. 

“You think you can stop me?” Haechan screamed.

Haechan tried to take a step forward, but he had become paralyzed. Jisung was mumbling a spell to himself. Even though he was focusing all his energy on restraining Haechan, Jisung could only think of you. He hurried over to the shelves and grabbed the first healing potion he could find. He opened the bottle and poured the whole thing down your throat. 

“Jisung!” was the first thing you said when you woke up. Jisung was too busy mumbling spells to reply to you. You looked over at the bottle Jisung had given you. It was the first potion you had made. You picked up the bottle and at the same time, Jisung stopped mumbling and pulled you into a hug. You felt warm in his embrace, but you became worried.

“What about Haechan?” you asked as you pulled away from the hug.

“He’s in paralysis. His body is transforming right now, so he’s especially dangerous. I put a spell on him so he won’t hurt us right now.”

You had no words for how grateful you were. You pulled him into a hug again.

“y/n, I’m really sorry I couldn’t protect you. You got hurt because of me. I should have never even started making that-”

You put your finger over his lips. You didn’t want the moment to be ruined. There would be a lot of explaining and apologizing to be done, but at that moment you just wanted to be in the arms of your boyfriend. 

Chenle’s room was much more modestly decorated compared to the rest of the house. Despite all the luxury of his home, Chenle had mastered the art of the broke, messy college student look. You sat on his bed and looked around the room. Chenle grabbed a bottle from under his desk and handed it to you.

“You should try this, it’s really good.” You accepted the bottle and started to drink it. “I’ll go get some snacks for us,” Chenle said, walking out his room.

The drink Chenle gave you tasted like orange soda, but was a bit more bitter. You weren’t sure if it was your lack of sleep or the drink, but you began to feel sleepy. You were too tired to sit up, so you laid down on Chenle’s bed. You tried fighting your sleep, but it was just too strong. 

In your dreams, you saw yourself as a child. You watched your first day of school, your graduations, and your birthday parties. These memories made you feel cheerful and warm. The memories of your past slowly started to fade away. You body felt cold and empty. Darkness surrounded you. You felt lost, until a light grew around you. You saw yourself again, but this time it wasn’t a memory. You watched yourself on the floor, covered in blood. You were crying for help, but nobody was there to save you. Your body jolted and you woke up.

“y/n is everything okay?” Chenle asked. He rushed to your side and began to stroke the side of your face.

“I was just dreaming and I saw something really weird,” you said, sitting up on the bed. “I kind of saw myself being attacked.”

“Ah shoot.” Chenle placed his hand on his forehead and shook his head. “I knew this would have never worked.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Come on y/n.” Chenle gestured with his hand for you to follow him.

Chenle took you into the library of his home. The room was huge and you were sure there were thousands of books in it. You had never seen anything like it before. Chenle pulled out a book from the shelf and handed it to you.

“Read the cover.”

“‘Spells of the Mind, a Complete Encyclopedia.’ What is this?” you asked. 

“Magic books. The place is full of them. You can read all the titles and you’ll see.”

You listened to Chenle and checked out the other books on the shelves. You found ‘The Guidebook to Forest Spirits: Volume 1’, ‘The History of Warlocks’, and ‘Dried Grass Potions’. Every book you picked up had a strange name and you simply could not understand it all.

“What does this mean Chenle?” you asked, as you poked around the bookshelf.

“I’m not a normal person, y/n. My family has magical abilities,” Chenle started to explain.

“Yeah right,” you replied, rolling your eyes.

“Do you have a better explanation for all these books then?” Chenle snapped. You were silent and let him continue.

“Like I was saying, my family has magic abilities so do some of the guys. You see, Jisung’s actually a wizard. He made a love potion and put it in the cafe’s food. That’s why we get so many customers. And Jeno, he’s a water spirit. Then there’s Haechan. He hasn’t really gotten his powers yet, but they should come in any day now.”

“What about Jaemin? Is he some kind of coffee spirit?” you asked.

“Nah, Jaemin’s just a regular human. He’s just a little weird. Mark’s human too.”

You laughed and said, “Go figure. A group filled with magical beings and Jaemin’s the normal person.” Chenle laughed long with you. “What about Renjun?”

“Ah, Renjun,” Chenle became quiet. “Renjun’s kind of an oracle. He sees into the future and stuff. Most of his visions have never really happened, so his powers are kind of a joke. But he had one vision where you were attacked, so I got worried, and I gave you that thing to drink. It was a potion to protect you, but then you saw the vision yourself, and um, yeah,” Chenle rambled.

“His visions, they’re not accurate?” you said with a raised eyebrow.

“They’ve never really happened, so I think so. And what you saw,” Chenle paused for a second. “It was probably just a manifestation of my own fears, since I was the one who gave you the potion. It doesn’t really mean anything.”

“Okay, cool,” you said, brushing away the topic. “So tell me more about you Chenle! What are your powers like?”

“Well I’ve been trained in practically everything, but my specialty is a secret.” You pouted at his answer. “It’s because my parents are kind of big deals in the magic world, so we can’t be open about our abilities. It’s for our safety.”

“When can I meet your parents? I am in their house, after all.”

“At the cafe event. They’re launching a campaign about the implementation of magic in the real world, and the cafe is the first place on the list. They’ll be there and a whole bunch of magical beings in the business world will be there too.”

You and Chenle sat on the floor of the library and talked for hours. You were amazed by all the books, and pulled out each from the shelves to have Chenle explain it to you. By the end of the night, you were engulfed by the world of magic. You wanted to learn more, so you asked Chenle if it was okay to stay over. He was delighted and showed you to a room near his own.

The next day at the cafe, you wanted to see the magic in action. You sneaked behind Jisung as he went into the back room. The room looked like the lab of a mad scientist. There were shelves filled with potions on all the walls. Your cover was blown when Jisung turned around.

“Ah y/n! What are you, um, doing, uh, here?” Jisung stuttered. He took a step closer to you, trying to make you leave the room.

“Chill out, Jisung. Chenle told me all about your little love potion,” you said with a smirk. “I know you guys have magic.” 

Jisung blushed at your words and replied, “Well since you’re here, want to see what I’ve been up to?”

You nodded and Jisung started to explain all the potions he had made. Most of them were just variations of the love potion, which was his specialty. You grabbed a bottle to examine. 

“Be careful y/n! That one’s still a little messed up. Chenle drank it before and he confessed that he like y-” Jisung stopped speaking when he realized what he had done.

“He likes me?” you said with wide eyes. 

“He, uh, just pretend like you didn’t hear anything, okay?” Jisung said before shooing you out the room. “Chenle’s going to kill me for this,” he muttered to himself. 

After the cafe had closed, Chenle invited you to his house again. The two of you were sitting in the library when Chenle opened up to you.

“y/n, I think you’re so perfect and beautiful and amazing and, uh, can I be your boyfriend?” Chenle blabbered.

You laughed at his confession, thinking back to what Jisung had told you earlier.

Chenle looked down and said, “I get it. I’m sorry I-”

“Don’t apologize,” you said, grabbing his hand. “I like you too! I was just laughing because Jisung spilled your secret earlier today.”

“Ugh, I’m going to get him for this!”

You and Chenle laughed and cuddled in the library. Chenle offered for you to spend the night again, and you happily accepted. Every day after work, Chenle offered to take you to his home, and you always said yes. You practically lived at his house. 

One night, while you were sleeping, Chenle was discussing the cafe event with his mother.

“It’ll be shameful if Haechan doesn’t have his powers. People from all over the world are going to coming to the cafe. What are they going to think when they see a boy with unawakened powers? We have to maintain our reputation.”

“But mom-”

“No buts. If the only way to bring out the magic in him is through a ritual, then so be it. You’ve got a sleeping human upstairs, ready to be sacrificed. I expect you to do what’s right for this family.”

Chenle couldn’t bring himself to hurt you. His family’s success was nothing compared to your life. You were his number one priority, or at least that’s what he tried to convince himself. 

It was the day of the cafe event and Chenle still hadn’t followed his mother orders. Chenle knew there would be dire consequences if he didn’t do as he was told.

“Hey y/n, Haechan, can you help me in the back?” Chenle said. His voiced quivered slightly as he thought about what he was going to do. 

When you were all in the back room, Chenle told you to count how many potions were on the walls. With your back wide open, Chenle whispered “I’m sorry,” and slashed you. 

You woke up in a hospital bed. Chenle was sitting next to you.

“Chenle, baby, what happened?” you said innocently. 

“y/n! I was threated by my mother to use your blood for a sacrifice and give it to Haechan so it would awaken his powers and I really didn’t want to do it I swear, but my mother forced me so I had no choice and y/n I know this makes me a horrible person, I just didn’t know what to do so-” Chenle rambled before breaking down into tears.

“The vision. Renjun’s vision was true. The reason I had the vision when you gave me the protection potion was because you were the one I needed protection from,” you said in a monotone voice. 

“I’m so sorry, just please, please, just forgive me, I really didn’t want for it to turn out this way, please,” Chenle pleaded.

“You know so much about magic. You knew what my vision meant, didn’t you? You lied to me.”

“I truly didn’t mean, oh just please, I didn’t want to do it, it was all a mistake, I just wanted to help you, I didn’t know it would be like this,” Chenle continued. 

As betrayed as you felt, you knew Chenle was genuine. You loved him with your whole heart and you knew he felt the same way about you. You couldn’t let him torture himself over something he had no choice over. 

“I’ll forgive you one day, but not today.”

The next day, you were late to class once again. You rushed over to your seat, but this time you didn’t pull out your books. You knew Jaemin had you covered, so you plopped your head down on the desk for some rest. 

“y/n, I need you to start taking this class seriously,” Haechan said. “I need to pass, you know.” 

You knew that replying to Haechan was just provoke him into arguing with you, so let his comment slide. 

“You’re super late this time, y/n. I was almost certain that Renjun’s vision about your death had finally happened,” Jisung said.

Jisung’s remark was just too strange to ignore. Your head shot up and you gave Jisung a raised eyebrow.

“What the hell does that mean?” 

A look of realization took over Jisung’s face before he looked down at the floor. “Sorry about that guys,” he whispered. 

The other boys all exchanged uncomfortable glances as if they were trying to figure out who would explain what had been said about you. Finally, Jaemin broke the silence.

“We can talk at the cafe.” The boys had slightly less uncomfortable looks on their faces, but they still appeared to be worried about something. You decided to not stress over it. Your priority was catching up on your sleep. 

After class, you and the dreamies headed out to the cafe and started preparing before customers arrived.

You were wiping down tables when you asked, “so is anyone going to explain to me what happened this morning?” You knew you were going to be working with Jaemin, and that boy was like a rock when got to work.  This was your only opportunity to get answers.

“Look, you’re not going to believe us at all,” Mark started.

“We’ve got magic powers,” Haechan said. 

“You see y/n, Jisung’s a wizard. He makes love potions so people will fall in love with our cafe,” Jaemin explained. While he was talking, Jisung pulled out a pink liquid from under the counter and waved it at you. You had no energy to question them so you just let Jaemin continue.

“And Jeno, he’s a water spirit. Do a little trick for us Jeno,” Jaemin said. Jeno formed a ball of water in his hand and shifted it into different shapes.

“What the-” was all you could muster up. “That water just came out of thin air! And you’re controlling it!”

“Like I was saying, y/n, it’s all magic.” Jaemin smiled at the look of wonder on your face. “Next up we have Renjun. Care to explain yourself Renjun?”

Renjun groaned before saying, “I’m an oracle. I see the future. And your future has an attack in it. I didn’t see you die like Jisung said, but since you’re a human, you’re probably going to-”

“Alright that’s enough,” Jaemin said, cutting Renjun off before he could tell you more about your fate. You were so amazed by Jeno’s abilites that you weren’t even fazed by what Renjun had said.

“What about you Jaemin?” you said with a smile.

“I’m human and so is Mark. We know our way around magic pretty well though,” Jaemin said with a self-satisfied grin.

“And Chenle and Haechan?” you asked, eager to learn more.

“None of your business,” Chenle replied harshly. Chenle’s tone snapped you out of your amazement and made you serious about your work again. Jaemin, like usual, didn’t talk much during his shift, so you would have to wait until the cafe was closed to get more answers.

“Hey Jaemin,” you said as you were heading out the cafe. “Does tonight work for you?”

The boys all looked at each other with wide eyes. They had no idea about your study plans with Jaemin.

“Any night works for me,” Jaemin replied as he followed you out the cafe. You could hear the giggles of the boys even when you were standing outside. Jaemin looked at you with an embarrassed smile before holding your hand and following you home.  

At your apartment, Jaemin got to lecturing you once again. He made sure you understood every topic covered in class in full detail. You were still amazed by how good of a teacher Jaemin turned out to be. 

After he finished talked Jaemin said, “well that’s everything we learned today. Got any questions, y/n?”

“About the coursework, no. About magic, yes.”

“Magic happens to be my strong suit, so ask away,” he replied with a smile. 

“Well Chenle and Haechan didn’t really explain their powers. Do you know what they are?”

“Nope,” Jaemin said, shaking his head. “Chenle’s family is pretty influential in the magic world, so revealing their powers is kind of a security risk for them. Whatever Chenle does, I bet he’s pretty strong at it though.” Jaemin paused for a second. “As for Haechan, he hasn’t really gotten his powers yet. He’s kind of touchy about it since most people get their powers by this age.”

You nodded your head in agreement, though you had no idea how it all worked.

“So what about you Jaemin?” you said in playful tone as you poked his shoulder.

“What about me?” Jaemin replied, mimicking your voice and poking you back.

“What’s your relation with magic?” you said with a smile.

Jaemin’s face became serious. He took a minute to think before replying to you.

“It’s a family thing,” was all he said. You decided to not press him any further about magic. 

“You know, Jaemin, it’s really not that late. If you’re down, you could stay and watch some Netflix. I’ve got some leftover pizza in the fridge too.”

“That’s a great idea! I know so many good dramas that are on Netflix!”

You microwaved a few slices of pizza while Jaemin picked out a show to watch on Netflix. It turned out, alongside having a coffee obsession, Jaemin was also obsessed with period dramas. He talked nonstop about the characters and kept on playing episode after episode. It wasn’t until you two had finished the first season at 1 am did Jaemin say, “it might be getting a little late now.”

He looked over to you for a response, but you had already passed out on the sofa. Jaemin stared at your sleeping figure and admired your beauty.

“Since you’re sleeping I might as well tell you this now. I don’t know if I’ll ever have the confidence to tell you this when you’re awake. I really like you, y/n. I think you’re the most amazing person in the world. I’d give anything to be with you.”

Jaemin sighed and went to sleep on your floor. Unknown to him, you had actually been listening the entire time. 

It became a habit for you and Jaemin to study at your place after work. Jaemin would lecture you for a while, and then you would order delivery food to thank him for helping you. After watching Netflix, Jaemin would sometimes even sleep over at your place. 

One night, you and Jaemin were cuddling on the sofa while watching a drama. Jaemin looked over a you and said, “There’s some things I should tell you, y/n.”

You smiled, expecting Jaemin to confess to you. What you heard was not a confession of love.

“You wanted to know about my connection with magic, so here it is. My mom used to sell plants, mushrooms, stuff you would use in potions. I would go foraging with her in the forest so we could find things to sell. Our customers were kind to us, they would even give us part of the potions they made. One day, this fire demon came into the store and gave my mother a potion to drink. She collapsed on the floor. The fire demon killed her and used her blood for a sacrifice.”

Jaemin began to cry as he thought about what had happened to his mother. You pulled him into a tight hug and rubbed his head.  You felt sorry for Jaemin, who had to live his life in so much pain. 

After a few more study sessions, Jaemin finally pulled himself together and asked you out.

“I really like you, y/n. I think you’re the most amazing person in the world. I’d give anything to be with you.”

“That’s the same thing you said when I was sleeping. You’re so cute,” you said, kissing him on the forehead. 

Jaemin stared at you with wide eyes and said, “wait you heard that? You knew I liked you and you didn’t even say anything?” 

You laughed at Jaemin before turning on his favorite show and cuddling with him. 

The next day at the cafe, you were supposed to be working with Jisung, but he had gotten sick. You and Haechan were taking over for him. 

“Hey y/n, you’ve never seen the potions room before, right?” Haechan said. You nodded in reply. “It’s crazy in there. You totally have to check it out.”

You followed Haechan into the back of the cafe where all the potions were. You were amazed at the amount of potions there was in the back room. Haechan grabbed a vial off a rack and handed it to you. 

“You should try this one y/n! It’ll make you feel so energized!” Haechan said.

You opened the vial and drunk all of the strange liquid inside. Unlike what Haechan had said, you began to feel sleepy and collapsed on the floor. When you looked at Haechan for help, you noticed that he had a knife in his hand. 

“Be good for me and don’t make any noise, okay?” Haechan said before slashing your skin with the knife. You couldn’t help but cry with all the pain you were feeling. You slowly became more tired until you passed out. 

When you woke up, you found yourself in a hospital bed. Jaemin was standing beside you and held onto your hand.

“Oh my gosh! y/n, baby, you’re alive!” Jaemin said before tearing up.

“What happened?” you asked.

“Haechan poisoned you. He cut you for your blood. He used it for a ritual to summon his powers. He had already transformed before we could even help you. Haechan’s a fire demon.”

You wanted to say something, but you had no idea what to do. The whole situation was just like what had happened to his mother. You and Jaemin were both thinking the same thing, but neither of you wanted to say it. 

A few days later, you were discharged from the hospital. Although you felt fine after your rest, Jaemin was the one who was truly hurting. Jaemin stopped going to class and the cafe because of Haechan. He just stayed at your apartment. 

“Jaemin, you need to forgive him. I’m not hurt. I’m completely fine!” you argued. 

“I can’t forgive him! That bastard nearly killed you!” Jaemin yelled at you. 

“Whether you like it or not, you’ve got to start living like a normal person again! You can’t just run away from your problems!”

Jaemin began to laugh.

“You’re right, y/n. I’m going to make that scumbag pay for what he did.”

You continued your shift with a smile, thinking about what Mark had told you. Maybe Haechan was a sweet guy after all, you just had to give him a chance. After all the customers were gone and cleanup was over, you made your way out the cafe door.

“Hey! Wait y/n!” Haechan screamed, running after you. “You weren’t trying to get away from me before our date, were you?”

“We’re going on the date now?” you said with a shocked expression.

“Yeah, didn’t I tell yo-” Haechan’s voice became quiet after he realized he had never told you the details of the date. “Well anyways, let’s get going.”

Haechan took you to an Italian restaurant. It wasn’t the most luxurious place, but it was definitely fancy for two broke college students. After a short wait, the two of you took your seats by the window.

“This place is beautiful, Haechan,” you said, trying to break the ice between you too.

“If you think water stains and ketchup is beautiful, then sure.”

“I was just trying to be friendly,” you replied with a laugh. “What’s beautiful to you Haechan?”

“Well besides, you?” Haechan gave you a smirk. “I think magic is the most wonderful thing in the world.”

“Like, card tricks?” you raised an eyebrow at him. 

“No, not like card tricks. Actual magic. Powers, potions, stuff like that. It’s all just crazy to me, yet so perfect.” Haechan had a look of wonder in his eyes. 

“You don’t actually believe in magic, right? You know those are just fairytales,” you said with a smile.

“Magic is real, y/n. The cafe is literally run by magic. How do you think we get so many customers? There’s a love potion in our food to get people to come back. That’s Jisung’s specialty, by the way. He’s a wizard. And Jeno, he’s a water spirit. And Renjun’s an oracle.”

“Oh yeah, right. And this place is controlled by magic too,” you said rolling your eyes.

“It is. Do not eat the mushrooms here. I had to learn that the hard way,” Haechan said with a dead serious expression.

“What, do people with magic abilities just naturally gravitate towards food service?”

“Well Chenle’s parents are like, super big deals in the magic world, so what they do is what’s popular.” 

“And what powers does Chenle have?” you asked.

“I don’t really know. It’s kind of a safety concern for his family to just share what abilities they have. They only use them when they’re in serious danger.”

“What about Mark and Jaemin?” You didn’t know why you were so curious, since you didn’t even believe the things he was saying.

“Regular people. Just like you. Well, actually they’ve been exposed to magic for their whole lives, so I suppose they’ve got an advantage over you.”

“And what about you? Since you know so much about magic, why don’t you show me some?”

Haechan paused before answering your question. “I don’t exactly have my powers yet. But if you still don’t believe me, I’ll have Jisung show you some magic tomorrow.” 

“Great.” You didn’t really believe what he was saying, but you didn’t want to argue with him either. Like Mark had said, Haechan was a weird guy. You figured that this whole magic thing was just something he did to calm his nerves. After all, he did have a crush on you for a while. 

The rest of the date went wonderfully. You and Haechan discussed everything from movies to your childhoods. You enjoyed Haechan’s wit that kept the conversation alive. There was never a dull moment between you two. At the end of the night, Haechan took you home to your apartment.

“I had a wonderful time with you tonight,” you said with a smile.

“Me too, baby, me too,” was all Haechan said before he pulled you in for the most passionate kiss you had ever hand. It felt as if time had stopped. Haechan only let go after he saw you struggling for air. With that over, Haechan left as if nothing had happened. 

The next day at the cafe, the boys were begging to hear about your date with Haechan.

“How’d it go?” Jaemin said.

“Did he make a fool out of you? Is that why you’re not saying anything?” Chenle asked.

“Come on Chenle, you know better than that. He probably made a fool out of himself first,” Renjun replied. The dreamies erupted into laughter.

“Well the first thing we discussed was magic. y/n doesn’t believe in it,” Haechan finally piped up. The boys became silent and exchanged concerned glances. “Guys, I told her about your powers. It’s not like we could have kept it a secret with her working here all the time.”

“I’ll show you some magic, y/n. Haechan told you what I do right?” Jisung said, breaking the silence. 

“Yeah, you’ve got a thing for potions,” you answered.

“I prefer wizard, but you’re still right.” Jisung grabbed a bottle with a blue liquid from under the counter. “This is liquid joy. It’ll instantly take you to the happiest moment in your life.” 

Jisung poured you a cup and handed it to you. You took a sip and were instantly transported to a wedding. You didn’t remember having the happiest moment of your life at some stranger’s wedding until you looked at the couple getting married. It was you and Haechan. Before you could take a closer look, you were back at the cafe.

“Wow. That’s actually crazy.”

“So you believe in magic now, right?” Haechan asked. You couldn’t muster up the strength to reply. You were still trying to process what you had seen. 

“So what’d you see, y/n?” Mark asked.

“I, um, uh-” was all you could come up with.

“Probably just some stuff from childhood. You guys know how strong that stuff is,” Jeno said. You smiled at him for saving you from an awkward situation. 

You spent your shift working with Haechan, which was exhausting to say the least. Nothing you did was up to his standards.

“It’s okay if you suck at baking, y/n. I still love you,” Haechan said before planting a kiss on your forehead. A chorus of ‘oohs’ and ‘disgusting’ came from the dreamies.

It became a habit for you and Haechan to go on dates after work. He showed you around all the restaurants owned by magical beings. One night, this list included his own apartment. 

“You said we were going somewhere fancy tonight,” you said as you sat down on his sofa. “Your apartment is a dump.”

“Well your idea of fancy is a goblin-owned Italian restaurant, so you shouldn’t be talking,” Haechan replied. Within a matter of minutes, he whipped up a small dinner for the two of you. He sat down next to you and pulled you into his arms.

“You know, you asked me about my powers on our first date,” he said in a soft tone. 

“Yeah,” you replied. You didn’t know where the conversation was going, but you were interested in hearing more. 

“There is one way for me to get my abilities immediately, but I’d need your help.”

“Sure!” you replied. 

“There’s this ritual that will help awaken my powers. I need the blood of a human to do it, though.” Haechan paused to examine your face. 

“And I’ve got plenty of blood! What are you waiting for?” you said. Haechan was shocked at your enthusiasm to offer your blood. As weird as the situation was, you wanted to help your boyfriend in any way you could.

“Okay baby. I need you to lie down on the floor and I’ll get things started, alright?” Haechan got up from the sofa and went into the kitchen.

“I feel like I’m in one of those stories. I’ve got a hot, vampire boyfriend who needs my blood,” you said with a laugh before you laid down on the ground.

“I’m not a vampire y/n. Those guys give me creeps,” Haechan replied. He stood in front of you with a knife in his hand. “I promise I’ll make it as quick as possible.” 

Haechan leaned down and pierced your skin with the knife. You screamed as the cold, metal blade dug into your leg. Your screams frightened Haechan, causing him to push deeper. His terrified face was the last thing you saw before you passed out. 

When you woke up, you found yourself in a hospital bed. You were surrounded by the dreamies. Haechan was sitting by your foot side, crying.

“Did it work? For Haechan?” you asked the boys.

“It did. He’s a fire demon,” Jeno answered.

“But that’s not important right now. He put you in danger!” Jaemin screamed.

“I wanted him to gain his powers,” you said quietly.

“Those rituals are so risky! Summoning your powers like that, you might go haywire!” Chenle yelled.

“But he’s okay, right?” you asked.

“Will you stop worrying about Haechan for one second! He used you! He put you life in jeopardy for his own benefit!” Renjun shouted at you. 

“y/n, I didn’t mean it. I just thought maybe I could try not to hurt you, and I didn’t even think you were going to agree with it anyways, and I should have known better, oh my gosh. Renjun even had a vision where I hurt you and I didn’t even listen to him, I just though maybe-” Haechan babbled between tears. 

“Renjun had a vision? You knew this was going to happen and you still did it? You knew I was going to get hurt and you didn’t even try to protect me?” you screamed. 

“I’m so sorry, please just forgive me, I really tried to not hurt you, I was wrong, I didn’t mean for it to be this way,” Haechan cried.

You couldn’t stand to see your boyfriend in pain. You thought back to what Mark had told you about Haechan. His feelings were genuine. 

“I forgive you.”

“What? Oh my gosh, y/n, I’ll never let you get hurt again, oh please, I’ll never leave your side, I’ll protect you for the rest of my life, I’ll-” Haechan threw himself into your lap.

“It’s alright, Haechan. I know baby, I know,” you said as you hugged him and patted his head. 

“Well what you say earlier was magic. I’m a water spirit so I can do those sorts of things.” Jeno paused to see if you were following along. You nodded as if it was no big deal. “And Jisung’s a wizard. He fed you a love potion by the way, so you’d come back to the cafe.”

You shrugged and said, “Jisung makes one fine love potion. I’m addicted to this place.” 

The dreamies were suprised by how casually you were taking in all this information.

“Chenle and Haechan also aren’t human.” You nodded along again. “Jaemin and Mark are regular people though. They’ve pretty much been exposed to magic their whole lives though, so it’s not really a big deal for them.” 

“What about Renjun?” you asked. 

Jeno stayed quiet, and all the boys looked down at the floor. Mark didn’t pick up on the signal.

“Renjun’s an oracle. How cool is that! He can see into the future and stuff and he even saw you, except you were being attacked so that kind of sucks, so-” Mark paused when he saw the stern looks the boys were giving him.

“Were you guys just going to keep this a secret from me?” you asked with your mouth agape.

“Renjun was, like, black out drunk at 1 am when he had that vision. He’s also never had a vision that’s come true, so we figured that it would only worry you if we told you about it,” Jeno explained.

You laughed at his explanation. 

“Black out drunk at 1 am and all you can think of is me, huh, Renjun?” you said in a teasing tone. The boys began to laugh at Renjun.

“Hey! Jeno’s the one that started crying at the party when he heard it!” Renjun said trying to defend himself.

You glanced over at Jeno and raised an eyebrow.

“Look at you y/n, you’ve got drunk guys swooning all over you at parties you don’t even attend!” Haechan said in a teasing tone.

“Ooh, I’m so lucky! What ever shall I do?” you replied, matching Haechan’s playful energy. 

After all the jokes were over, you all got back to work on cleaning up the cafe. You were heading out towards your apartment when you heard Jeno call your name.

“Hey y/n, wait up for me!” he said as he ran over to catch up with you.

“What’s up, Jeno?”

“I know you were joking earlier, but if you are going to pick one, I really hope it’s me.”

“Are you trying to ask me out, Jeno Lee?” you giggled.

“Is it working?” he said with an expectant look. 

“Yes. One hundred percent yes.” 

Jeno laughed at your response. He gently held on to your hand and listened to you talk all the way to your apartment. 

“So, uh, a date after class tomorrow?” Jeno asked. 

“Sure thing,” you said, laughing at how shy Jeno was.

The next day, you and Jeno headed out immediately after the lecture.

“We’re heading out the cafe now, not going to stick around and chat guys,” was all Jeno said before he whisked you away on a date.

Indeed, you both did go to a cafe, just not Cafe 7 Dream. It felt nice to be the ones ordering drinks and not the ones making them. After you had gotten your orders, you and Jeno began to talk.

“You didn’t tell me everything yesterday,” you said.

“What do you mean?” Jeno tilted his head in confusion. 

“About Chenle and Haechan. Isn’t there more to them?”

“Well Chenle, he’s got magic and that’s all I know. And Haechan, he hasn’t really gotten his powers yet.”

“Why not?” you asked.

“Well most kids learn how to use their powers from their parents, but his dad was just a regular human. And his mom, she died when he was really young. He hasn’t really got any guidance on how to summon his powers naturally, so he’s just been waiting for it come out one day.”

“And there’s nothing you can do to help?” 

“I mean, there’s this really old practice that requires the blood of a human, so I suppose you could offer yourself up for sacrifice. That’ll definitely awaken his powers,” Jeno chuckled. 

You and Jeno continue on your date, talking about everything from your childhoods to ice cream flavors. There was never a dull moment between you two. 

The next day, you walked into your 8 am lecture late as usual. You slipped into you seat and pulled out your books for class.

“Why so late y/n? Jeno keep you up too long?” Haechan teased.

“He told us everything about your little date,” Jaemin said.

“I’m offended y/n! I really thought you would choose me over Jeno!” Renjun said, pretending to be upset.

“I had to make all the drinks yesterday with Jisung! y/n please never go on dates during cafe hours. It was like hell,” Chenle complained.

“Hey! I’m not that bad! I only spilled half of the drinks!” Jisung said, trying to defend himself. 

You and Jeno never skipped a shift at the cafe after that, as the teasing was too much to handle. Even though the boys still joked about you and Jeno when you two worked together, it was still better than all the comments you had gotten after the date. Instead, you and Jeno had decided to have movie nights at your place after work. You never really paid attention to the movies. You were always more interested in your boyfriend’s warm snuggles and kisses. 

It was finally the day before the cafe event. Chenle asked you all to stay back late and help set up for the next day, since it was going to be even more busy than usual.

“Hey y/n, you’ve never seen the potions right? You should come help me in the back! I’ve got so much stuff prepared for the event tomorrow!” Jisung said. You followed Jisung into the back room, which looked like a labratory. There were tons of vials lined up with colorful liquids, all stacked up on shelves. 

“Woah, this is crazy. How did you guys pass the health inspection will all this stuff back here?”

“It’s simple. Magic,” Jisung said with a smile. Jisung grabbed a vial with a yellow liquid and popped the cap off. “This one is actually a-”

Jisung swung his hand as he was speaking and accidentally spilled the liquid on your hand. You screamed in pain as you felt your hand burning. Jisung stepped back in fear of what he had done. Haechan, who had been packing boxes by the back door, heard your scream and rushed to help you. 

You were lying on the floor in pain and Haechan dropped down to inspect your hand. The rest of the boys had now walked into the back room to see Haechan holding your bloody hand. 

Jeno immediately though the worst and assumed that Haechan had been crazy enough to try the sacrifice with your blood. Jeno pulled Haechan away from you and punched him in the face. You watched as Jeno blasted Haechan with water until Haechan collapsed onto the floor.

“y/n, thank goodness you’re safe,” Jeno said was he pulled you into a hug.

You pushed him away and began to scream.

“What the hell! Haechan was trying to help me! Jisung spilled some potion on me and Haechan came to help! Help, Jeno! He was just trying to help!”

Jeno stepped back from you as he took in what you had said. He felt horrible for attacking his innocent friend instead of helping his girlfriend. Jisung rushed to your side and gave you a potion to drink.

“This one is going to heal you, y/n. Don’t drink too much though, Haechan still needs it,” Jisung said.

“I don’t need it,” Haechan said. Everyone’s head turned to look at Haechan. He was manipulating two fireballs in his hand. “Jeno’s attack kind of summoned my powers. Looks like I’m a fire demon.” 

“Congrats dude,” Mark said.

“That’s really cool,” Jisung added. 

“I’m really proud of you,” Jaemin said.

“I always knew that there was more to your fiery attitude,” Renjun said with a smile. Everyone turned to Jeno to hear what he had to say.

“I’m really sorry for attacking you, but at least you’ve got powers now,” Jeno said with a laugh. 

“Look at you two! Fire and water! An unbeatable combination in battle! Let’s hope you two are an unbeatable combination at cleaning up too,” Chenle said.

Jeno helped you up and held you in a tight hug.

“I’m so happy I didn’t lose you.”

You froze at the sight before you. There was a wolf in the cafe, a wolf made of water. You screamed and it disappeared. All that was left of the animal was a puddle on the floor.

Renjun put his arm around your shoulder and said, “like I was saying, magic powers. That’s Jeno’s powers. He’s a water spirit. Are you following along so far?” 

You were still trying to process what had just happened so you were unable to respond to Renjun.

“Just sit and we’ll explain everything,” Renjun said in a soft tone. You sat down since your body felt too weak to move further.

“Next up we have Jisung. He’s a wizard. His specialty, well, why don’t you tell y/n your specialty, Jisung?” Renjun said with a smirk. 

“Love potions,” Jisung admitted. His cheeks were burning at the revelation of his skills. The other boys noticed and laughed quietly. 

“Yeah, Jisung puts the love potion in the food so people come back to the cafe. The first batch actually gave our customers food poisoning, but they still came back for more.” Renjun noticed the shocked look on your face. “You’ve had the love potion too. Surprisingly though, you’re in love with working at the cafe more than eating here.” 

“Hurry up and explain your powers already Renjun. I want to go home,” Jaemin grumbled.

“I’m an oracle. I have visions about the future. And I kind of had one where you were attacked,” Renjun said, his voice becoming quiet at the last word. The tension in the air grew again. “I’m sorry y/n.”

“What? What the hell? When is it? When am I going to be attacked?” you said. You had grabbed onto Renjun’s collar and began to shake him.

“y/n, y/n. Just listen okay?” Renjun said with his hands up in surrender. “Visions don’t come with times and action plans. But you’ve got us here. We’re going to protect you no matter what okay?” 

You let go of Renjun and looked at the other boys. They seemed genuine in their concern. 

“Well how am I supposed to just go home knowing I’m about to be attacked at any second?”

“From now on, we’re going to escort you everywhere you go. If you need to go somewhere, just call one of us and we’ll take you there.” Renjun stood up. “It’s time to get you home now y/n.”

The other boys all had other plans, so they didn’t walk home with you and Renjun. As soon as you guys left the cafe, Renjun held onto your hand. Your head snapped towards Renjun. 

“What? I’m doing this for your protection,” he said with a smile.

“What about the other guys?” you asked.

“What about them?”

“Mark, Jaemin, Haechan, and Chenle. You didn’t explain their powers to me.”

“Well Mark and Jaemin are just humans. They’ve pretty much been connected to the magic world their whole lives though, so they’ve got an advantage over you. Chenle’s family happens to be one of the most powerful magic families in the world. They’ve got a lot of enemies too, so disclosing their abilities is a safety concern for them. You know, in case they get attacked one day.”

“Like me.” 

“Haechan, well, Haechan doesn’t really have his powers yet. They usually awaken by puberty, but he’s a late bloomer I suppose,” Renjun said with a chuckle. “If he ever seems like an ass, it’s probably because all the magic inside him is being turbulent.”

“Magical puberty sounds like it sucks,” you said with a smile.

“You have no idea.” 

You and Renjun continued on to your apartment, discussing your classes instead of magic. You had enough of that for one night. 

When you reached outside your apartment building, you hugged Renjun. 

“It’s probably not easy on you. You know, having those visions and all. Seeing what happens.” You took a long pause before speaking again. “But I’m grateful for you Renjun. I grateful that you care about me.”

That morning, you got a call from Renjun.

“Rise and shine, sleepyhead. The cafe opens at 6 am on Saturdays and I’m letting you leave my sight,” Renjun said.

“Okay, okay. Knock the door when you get here and I’ll you in,” you said, still groggy. 

You heard a tap on the door.

“I’m already here.”

You opened the door and let Renjun inside. He took a seat on your sofa and said, “just get your clothes on. You can eat breakfast at the cafe.” He took a second to inspect your clothes. “Hey, you’re still wearing the same clothes from earlier! Come on, let’s go!” 

Renjun jumped up and dragged you out the door. You wondered how someone could be so upbeat in the morning, but you didn’t have the energy to ask him any questions.

At the cafe, you took a seat with Renjun in his usual corner. He was still working on the poster for the cafe event.

“So, the event, it’s next week Saturday right?” you asked. Renjun nodded. “The people that are coming, what are they?”

“Magical beings. Diplomats, businesspeople, those sorts of people. Chenle’s parents are showing off the implementation of magic in the regular world and the cafe happens to be one of the sights. That’s why I have to make sure we get a bunch of customers in here. Real, paying ones.”

“Won’t that be dangerous for me, then?” you said quietly.

“Nope. Nobody with status is going to attack a regular person at such a busy event. You’ll probably be safer, actually,” Renjun said with a smile. “I know it’s making you worried, but you’ve got the best guys protecting you here.”

After spending the day at the cafe, Renjun walked you home again. You invited him in again.

“It’s getting pretty late, you know. I wouldn’t want the guy who’s boasting about his protection to get jumped on the street,” you said. You knew Renjun was more than capable of taking care of himself, but you couldn’t bear to see him go.

“Good looking out, y/n. Mind if I sleep here tonight?” he said, pointing to the couch. Renjun wanted to keep you by his side, but he knew there were limits. 

You nodded and went to go find a blanket for him. It just so happened that you had been putting off your laundry for weeks.

“Um, Renjun? I kind of don’t have any clean blankets, unless you’re okay with some food stains so-”

You stopped mid-sentence but you and Renjun both knew where this was going. You couldn’t bring yourself to offer your bed, so you just pointed your head towards the bedroom. Renjun, who’s mind was speeding through scenarios a mile a minute, mustered up a quick nod.

The two of you got in bed together and kept a distance, though you both wanted hold each other tightly. 

“Good night, Renjun.”

“Good night, y/n.”

You woke up to find an arm around you. You pulled it in closer until you remembered what had happened last night. You shoved Renjun’s arm away, wondering what he would think of this situation.

“What’s wrong, baby?” Renjun said with his raspy morning voice. 

You turned around and Renjun quickly pulled away when he realized it was you.

“y/n, ah, oh my gosh! I’m so sorry! I, uh-” Renjun blabbered.

“I like you,” you said with a hopeful smile.

“What?” Renjun said with wide eyes. He noticed the look on your faced and continued, “I mean, uh, I do too.”

You got out of bed and started saying, “I’ve liked you for a long time Renjun. I couldn’t hold it in any longer, since you’re protecting me and all.”

“You seriously like me? Oh my gosh! Jeno told me to ask you out, like, weeks ago when I told him I had crush on you! You mean I’ve been nervous this whole time when you actually like me back? The guys are going to have a field day over this one,” Renjun said as he slapped his forehead. 

“The guys don’t have t-” you started.

“Well of course they have to know! I’m dating the most beautiful person in the world and they’re all single! Come on, get dressed quickly! We’ve got to get to the cafe!”

Renjun practically dragged you to the cafe to show you off to the boys. You were too tired to fight his energy. Once you were inside the cafe, Renjun called everyone to gather around.

“This better be good,” Chenle said.

“What happened Renjun? Did you get another vision?” Haechan asked.

“Even better,” Renjun said before planting a kiss on your lips. It was soft and loving. 

The dreamies erupted in screams upon seeing this.

“Oh my gosh, there are children here you know!” Jisung said teasingly.

“Ah, how can I work after seeing that?” Mark said.

“You finally got the guts to ask y/n out?” Jeno said with a smile.

“Actually, I’m the one who confessed first,” you said before kissing Renjun again.

The boys screamed again and laughed at Renjun.

“Okay guys, let’s get to work. Renjun’s not the only one who’s getting busy. We’ve got the event this Saturday,” Chenle said. 

You and Renjun spent the day talking to customers and handing out flyers for the event. The two of you walked over to the campus and taped a poster on nearly every wall in the lecture halls. 

After a long day of work, you and Renjun walked back to your apartment and watched a movie. This became a routine for you and Renjun. You two would go to the cafe, class, the cafe again, and then home. You and Renjun were never separated for even a second.

That’s why you were confused when you woke up on Saturday morning with Renjun gone. He never left when you were still asleep, he always stayed in bed until you woke up. 

You walked into your living room to find Renjun and Haechan in the living room. Renjun was tied up with rope and was sitting on sofa. His mouth was taped up. Before you could even react, Haechan began to speak.

“Your sweet little boyfriend is okay. You’re the one that should be worried, y/n,” Haechan said as he stepped closer to you. “Your boyfriend has been lying to you, y/n. He saw more than just you being attack in his vision. He saw exactly who did it, but he didn’t even tell you.” Haechan pinned you to the wall.

“You’ve got a bad boyfriend, y/n. And even worse friends,” Haechan said with a laugh. “They were never going to protect you, y/n. And now you’re all mine.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m sure Renjun told you about my powers. They’re not awaken yet. But today’s the the of the cafe event, and all those magical beings are going to be there. I’d be shameful if I didn’t have my powers,” Haechan said with a mocking pout. “But there is one way for me to get my abilities. A human sacrifice.”

Haechan pulled out a knife and slashed your arms and legs. You had no energy to scream. You collapsed on the floor and passed out. 

You woke up and found yourself on your living room couch. All of the dreames were surrounding you, except for Haechan.

“y/n, I heard what Haechan told you. It’s not true. I never meant to put you in danger. I didn’t know it was Haechan, I never knew-” Renjun broke down crying before he could finish.

“What happened to him?” you asked.

“The ceremony worked. Your blood was enough for him to complete the rutual and gain his powers. He’s a fire demon,” Mark explained.

“He’s run off and we have no idea where he is right now. But don’t worry y/n, we’re still be by your side,” Jeno said.

“I made a healing potion for you. You’ve got some pretty bad burns,”Jisung said. He handed you the liquid to drink, which happened to be in one of the cafe’s cups.

“What happened the cafe event? Who’s handling that if you’re all here?” you asked.

“Since Haechan summoned his powers illegally, everyone’s on the lookout for him. Most magic practices are out of service until he’s found,” Chenle answered.

Weeks went by after the attack, but there was no sign of Haechan. Renjun continued to stay by your apartment and never let you out of his sight. The cafe continued serving customers, but business was slow since they weren’t using any potions. Jisung hated being the delivery boy. 

On the day of your exam, you headed into the lecture hall and took your seat with the boys. You looked over to the seat near yours and thought of Haechan. You knew deep down that he was a good guy, things had just gotten out of hand. You wanted to talk to him and check up on how he was doing. 

“y/n, will you please stop staring at my desk? I’m supposed to cheat off of you, remember?”

“Haechan! What are you doing here?” you said with your mouth agape.

“It’s finals. I’m here to take the test,” Haechan said. “I’ll explain everything when we get to the cafe.”

On your walk over to the cafe, the boys all stared at Haechan intensely, trying to figure out why he had come back. Renjun gripped your hand tightly. 

“I know I’ve got a lot of explaining to do, but can you guys just come down for one second?” Haechan said as he pushed open the cafe doors.

Once everyone sat down, Haechan began to talk.

“After the ceremony, I was in intense pain. I ran into the forest to meet with the elder spirits. They calmed me down and healed me. They trained me on how to manage my powers. I’m a changed person now. I’m really sorry for what I did y/n.”

“You’d better be,” Renjun said. You stroked Renjun’s hand so he would calm down.

“I’m glad you’re back Haechan. Now let’s get to work!” you said. 

It took a while, but everyone slowly became more comfortable with Haechan around. You and Renjun had a thriving relationship, much to the group’s dissatisfaction. All was well and you were safe. 

“Jisung, he’s from a family of wizards. Jeno is a water spirit. Renjun is an oracle. Chenle’s family are some of the most magically talented people in the world. Haechan, well, Haechan hasn’t had his powers come out yet.”

“And you and Jaemin?” you asked.

“We’re just normal people, but we’ve been around magic for our whole lives.”

“So why are you telling me this now?” you said anxiously.

“Well, um,” Mark said as he looked down. “You know since Renjun’s an oracle, he can kind of see into the future. And when he was sleeping last night, he saw you being attacked.”

“What?” you screamed as you stood up. “What do you mean I get attacked? Who? What happens to me? Can’t you guys stop it?” 

“y/n, you’re safe with us. Renjun didn’t exactly see all the details, but that’s not important anyways. What’s important is keeping you safe,” Mark said with his hand on your shoulder.

“How? How?” 

“We’re working on a plan right now. You have to go on with life like usual and stay out of risky situations,” Mark said.

“I know it sounds scary but we’re all here to protect you. We’re going to walk you to class so you’ll stay safe,” Haechan added. All of the boys looked scared, but they changed their expressions into happy ones when they noticed that you were getting more worried.

“It’s the y/n protection squad! Come on! We’ve got a class to get to!” Mark said, trying to lighten up the mood. 

The boys walked you over to the lecture hall, and Mark had his arm around your shoulder the entire time. You all got into your seats at the back of the class as usual, but you couldn’t help but feel worried.

“You’ve got nothing to worry about, you know,” Haechan leaned over to tell you. “You’ve got some of the strongest dudes in the world ready to protect you. We’re going to tell you more about our powers after class. Just focus on the lecture so I can pass this class too.”

You laughed and punched his arm playfully.

“What? Bachelor degrees pretty useful in the magic world too, you know.”

After class, the boys didn’t stop to talk in the hallway like they typically did. They escorted you right back to the cafe, and Mark made sure to keep his arm around your shoulders again. The boys didn’t open the cafe for customers so they could finish talking to you.

“So, powers, right? How do they work?” you asked.

“Well I don’t really have powers. Wizards have a natural way with magic, but most skills still have to be learned. It takes years for a wizard to practice magic with just their mind alone,” Jisung said.

“Is that why you’re in the back most of the time? You’re practicing skills?” you asked.

“And he’s gotten pretty good at some of them too,” Jaemin said with a smirk. “Tell y/n the one you’ve been working on.”

“It’s a love potion. I kind of put it in our food so that our customers come back to buy more,” Jisung said as he blushed.

“That’s why I love coming to the cafe! I didn’t understand why I wanted to help you guys out all the time, but it turns out that was all Jisung’s work!” you said with your mouth agape. “Okay, who’s next?”

“I’m a water spirit. If you’re looking for someone to manipulate water or just make drinks, I’m your guy,” Jeno explained. 

“I’m an oracle,” Renjun said shyly. He felt guilty that he had been the one to see your perilous future. “I have visions about the future in my sleep. They’re usually accurate. I’m sorry.”

“This isn’t your fault, Renjun. I’m glad I have you to protect me,” you said with a smile. “That leaves Chenle and Haechan.” The two of them stayed silent. 

“Anyways y/n,” Mark started, hoping to ease tensions in the room, “don’t you feel safer with all these cool guys ready to protect you?”

“Yeah, I do,” you said with a smile. You were almost happy that you were going to be attacked. Jisung’s love potion must have clouded your thinking since you were at the cafe. 

“Then let’s get to work!” Mark said. They boys put on their aprons and got the cafe ready for opening. When the customers started piling in, you went over to Mark to help him.

“You’re probably thinking about Haechan and Chenle, aren’t you?” Mark said quietly.

“Yeah, I am,” you admitted.

“They’re great guys. Chenle’s family happens to be one of the most powerful families in the magic world, and they can’t reveal what their powers are for their own protection. Haechan is just annoyed because his powers haven’t awaken by now.” 

The rest of the shift went on like a regular day at the cafe. During cleanup, you stayed by Mark because he made you feel safe.

“I know I don’t have powers like the other guys, but I still want to protect you. If you want someone to walk you home, stay over if you’re feeling scared, I’m free,” Mark offered. You figured you could use all the protection you could get, so you agreed to have Mark stay over at your place. 

You had gotten into a new routine with Mark. He slept on your sofa and only left you alone when he was going to the cafe in the mornings. He would finish his shift early in order to go back to your apartment and take you over to the college campus. After class, all the boys would escort you, but Mark always had his arm around your shoulders. Mark’s presence was just so comforting for you. You spent all of your time in the cafe decorating cakes with Mark. You had gotten so good that some of your cakes were even up to Haechan’s tough standards. Mark was always by your side, and you didn’t want it any other way. 

You two even had movie nights on Fridays. You had gotten tired halfway through the movie, and rested your head on Mark’s shoulders.

“y/n, you look so beautiful right now,” Mark whispered in your ears. Your heart pounded upon hearing his words. “I want you to be mine, y/n. I want to protect you for the rest of my life if it mean I get to be with the most wonderful person in the world all the time.” 

“I want you too Ma-” Before you could even finish your sentence, Mark pulled you in for a kiss. 

“Just rest now baby,” Mark said. He kissed your forehead and carried you into your bed. 

The next morning, you suggested that you and Mark should go to the cafe together in the morning. Mark was surprised to see you this eager to leave the house in the morning, but didn’t question it at all. 

When you reached the cafe, all the boys were shocked to see you there. 

“What’s the big news? The last time you came to the cafe early, things weren’t looking too good for you y/n,” Haechan said jokingly.

“Oh, nothing big,” you said before giving Mark a peck on the lips. The dreamies erupted in screams.

“Hear that Mark? You’re ‘nothing big’ according to y/n,” Jaemin teased as he slapped Mark on the back.

“You said you were staying with y/n for protection, not to make out,” Renjun said.

“You’d better use protection,” Jeno added.

“All this time you said you were sleeping on the couch!” Jisung exclaimed.

“I was!” Mark said, finally trying to defend himself from the dreamies.

“He probably got sick of the couch and wanted to try out the bed instead,” Haechan said with a smirk.

“Okay guys that’s enough,” you said, hoping the teasing wouldn’t go any further. 

“y/n’s right. Mark’s not the only one with important business to get done. We’ve got an event coming up next week,” Chenle started to say.

You zoned out at the talk of business and planning. You just knew that it was your job to wear a nice outfit and help out wherever Chenle needed you. After today’s revelation, you were sure he’d keep you near Mark just to tease you two. 

The day of the cafe event had finally arrived and you were excited to go to the cafe with Mark. But when you looked over at his pillow, he was gone. You were confused. You and Mark had agreed to go to the cafe together. You checked your phone and noticed that you had one unread message from Mark. 

Mark: had to go to the cafe early, stay safe love

You figured that there was probably some extra preparations to be made and that it was nothing to worry about. You walked out to your living room to find youself face to face with Haechan.

“Woah, Haechan! You scared me! Did Mark send you here?” you asked.

Haechan smiled and said, “that’s right, y/n. Get ready and we’ll head out to the cafe.”

You got ready quickly, with the one thought of reuniting with Mark. You and Haechan headed out of your apartment and walked towards the cafe.

“Do you know why Mark left so early today? Was there an emergency or something?” you asked. 

“Yeah, you know how the guys are. They didn’t realize their preparations weren’t enough until this morning!”

When you two reached in front of the cafe, Haechan grabbed you hand and pulled you around the side of the cafe outside.

“It’s busy today. We’re going to use the back entrance,” Haechan explained.

When the two of you were at the back of the cafe, Haechan pushed you to the ground. 

“You pathetic, little human. I’ve been waiting for my powers to awaken for years. When I set my eyes on you, I knew you were exactly the type of sacrifice. A person with no connection to magic having magical beings surround them. I’ve read about your type. Your presence is too strong. You’re perfect kind for sacrifices.”

You began to cry as Haechan pulled out a knife. 

“If you’re string enough to draw in the guys, you’re sure as hell going to draw in my powers,” Haechan said with a menacing laugh. You screamed as the cold metal pierced your skin.

Haechan stabbed you in the leg and arm multiple times, and you could no longer keep your eyes open. 

When you woke up, you saw Mark and the other boys, except for Haechan, standing around you. You looked around and realized that you were in a hospital bed.

“What happened?” you screamed at them.

“Haechan, he wrecked the cafe last night. All of our ingredients were gone. He left saying that he was going to buy ingredients for the cakes and then he broke into the apartment, and he got you, and oh y/n-” Mark said before he broke down crying.

“Mark heard your screaming and we all rushed out back. When we got there, the ceremony had been completed and you were both passed out. I’m really sorry y/n. We promised to protect you and-”

You cut Jisung off to laugh. The boys were visibly confused at your sudden mood change

“What are Haechan’s powers?” you asked.

“He’s a healer,” Mark said.

“A real good one too. I’m completely fine,” you said with a smile.

“Oh my gosh, y/n! I was so scared I was going to lose you!” Mark said as he hugged you.

“When Haechan sacrificed me, he said my presence was too strong for me to just be a normal person. He was right. The sacrifice awakened some of my powers too,” you said.

“You’ve got magic in you?” Mark said as his jaw dropped. 

“Yeah, I had a vision of my own when I was knocked out.”

“Well, what did you see?” Mark asked eagerly.

“I saw us, Mark. I don’t really want to go into details with the other guys around.” The dreamies burst into laughter upon hearing your vision. 

“You were right Renjun, your first vision is your most memorable,” Jaemin said with a huge smile on his face.

After you were discharged from the hospital, you and Haechan made amends and became friends again. You were both getting trainings on how to use your newfound powers. Your relationship with Mark was now stronger than ever now that there was nothing for you two to fear. The dreamies made sure to tease Mark about making your vision come true. You were happy with your new life, and you were especially happy to share it with Mark.

“y/n, y/n,” Haechan said as he nudged your shoulder. “You’re zoning out again. You have to focus so I can cheat off of you.”

“But I was going to cheat off of you,” you replied as you pulled his hand off your shoulder. 

After the class had finished, you and the dreamies were the first ones out. You were all standing around in the hallway outside the lecture hall.

“I should be getting back to the cafe now,” Mark said.

“Man, you’re so lucky you’re a senior. You’ve only got one class today,” Jisung said with envy. 

“Honestly, I don’t really need Calculus right? I’ve never had to find a derivative while making an americano. I think I’ll head to the cafe with Mark,” Jaemin said.

“Literature is boring anyways. I’m going to the cafe too,” Renjun added.

“I’m down to go to the cafe too. Why don’t we all just skip today?” Jeno asked.

The boys were quick to agree with him.

“Why don’t you come along too, y/n?” Haechan asked. “It’ll be fun and you look like you could use a coffee right now.”

“Sounds great. I’ve been meaning to come around to your cafe too. I think the Starbucks employees have gotten sick of me,” you said with a laugh.

The cafe was just a short walk away from the campus, which explained why the boys managed to work before class started.

“You guys mainly serve college students though, right? How are you going to make money now while everyone’s in class?” you asked Chenle.

“You underestimate how many kids skip class y/n,” Chenle said with a smirk.

Chenle unlocked the cafe and the boys quickly put on their uniforms and got to work in setting up the cafe.

“Jisung! Ugh, I told you to clean this up before!” Haechan screamed at the young boy. There was a huge pile of spilt coffee and flour behind the counter.

“I swear I cleaned this up though,” Jisung said with a shocked face.

Haechan was clearly irritated, so you decided to step in before he took out his anger on Jisung.

“I’ll clean it up. I should help out since I’m not buying anything from you guys.” 

“Don’t worry y/n, anything you have is on the house,” Chenle said with a smile. He too was trying to diffuse the situation, probably after seeing it get out of hand countless times before. “But we could for sure use the help right now.”

You turned around to see a long line of students piling into the cafe. You realized why the boys skipped class to work at the cafe. The sales from one hour during lectures was probably more than other cafes saw for the whole day.

“After you clean up that mess, why don’t you help make drinks with me, y/n?” Jeno offered. His face was a lot more serious than usual. The boys definitely took their jobs seriously at the cafe. Jisung grabbed some tissues from the back of the store and handed them to you. The two of you worked quickly and cleared out the mess so the other boys could work better. After it was cleaned up, Jisung walked towards the back door again.

“Hey Jisung, where are you going? Don’t you help serve customers?” you said with a confused face. The dreamies always made jokes about Jisung’s serving skills in class, so you assumed it was his job at the cafe.

“Actually, I, uh, I keep stock of our ingredients in the back. It takes a long time and I prefer to work alone, so, uh,” Jisung said.

“Oh, no problem Jisung, I’m working with Jeno and Jaemin anyways,” you said with a smile. You knew the boy could be awkward so you decided to just give him his space. 

“Good luck with that,” Jisung replied as he went into the back.

You shifted your attention to Jeno and Jaemin, who were making drinks at the speed of light.

“Wow, this looks like a lot of work,” you exclaimed.

“It’s no big deal y/n. Just grind, tamp, and pull your shots,” Jaemin said.

You followed along with Jaemin, who seemed to work like a robot. His movements were so routine, you wondered if he was one with the expresso machine. You on the other hand, were very much out of place. You worked slowly and forgot the steps in the middle of the process.

“This is exhausting, Jaemin. How do you do it?” you asked as you wiped the sweat off your forehead. Jaemin didn’t respond or even break out of his shots cycle. 

“He’s in a whole different world right now. There’s no use in even talking to him right now,” Jeno said. “If you’re looking for something easier, you can help me out.”

Jeno explained to you the process of mixing the fruit drinks, which was much easier as he had promised. Eventually, the two of you got into a routine. He did the blending and you pumped in the flavoring syrup. 

“Wow, you two work perfectly together,” Chenle said as he walked over to you and Jeno. “But mixing drinks is kind of easy anyways, so Jeno doesn’t really need the help. Mark and Haechan are kind of in a situation though.”

“What’s going on with them?” you asked.

“They’re arguing over sprinkles. This morning, it was flour. I don’t know what it is, but Haechan has kind of been on the edge recently, so I’d really appreciate it if you saved the cafe from being destroyed right now.”

“Sure thing,” you said as you walked over to where Mark and Haechan were standing.

“y/n! Mark wants to put pink sprinkles on a yellow cake. Like, how horrendous would that be? Are you trying to put us out of business Mark?” Haechan said as swung an icing knife in his hand.

“I’ll finish up the cake with Mark, okay? Why don’t you go and check up on some of the customers?” you said, hoping he would take the bait and get away from you and Mark.

“You’re right y/n, those kids better pay up. I don’t care if they’re broke. I need my paycheck,” Haechan said as he walked over to the tables.

“Thank you so much y/n. I just suggested pink and he totally blew up and-”

“Yeah Mark, don’t worry about it. Let’s just make this cake the way Haechan wants it and hopefully it’ll calm him down a bit.”

You and Mark worked together to decorate the cakes. Some of them were messy, but you and Mark had fun working together regardless. You put all the messy cakes in boxes so Haechan wouldn’t see how “horrendous” they looked.

When Haechan had finished talking to all the customers, he walked over to you and Mark again.

“Wow, you guys even boxed up nearly all the cakes! Thanks for working with Mark y/n, you really helped speed things up! I’ll take over from here. You can go over where Renjun is sitting and relax,” Haechan said.

Not wanting to irritate him, you listened to Haechan and walked over to the table where Renjun was sitting.

“What are you up to, Renjun?” you said with a smile before you sat down across from him. 

“I’m designing a poster for an upcoming event at the cafe. Chenle’s parents invited a whole bunch of people to come, and I’m in charge of getting some actual paying customers to come.”

“Need any help?” you asked. You secretly hoped that Renjun didn’t need any help, as you were exhausted with working with the other boys. 

“Nope, I’m fine. Your company is really nice though,” Renjun said without looking up from his laptop. You spent the rest of the shift with Renjun, occasionally telling him stories to ease any akwardness between you two.

After the boys had gotten the last of their customers out the store, they started cleaning up the cafe. “Cleaning” was mainly just the other boys telling Jisung what to do and Jisung frantically trying to keep up with all the commands. After that was over, the boys cut a cake to celebrate another sucessful day at the cafe. You ate the cake with them and told them about all the fun you had while working with them. 

It became a habit of yours to go the cafe with the boys after class. You had starting skipping you classes every day just to go to the cafe. Some days you just sat with Renjun and talked. Other days you were making drinks with Jeno. You had even learned how to work the expresso machine almost as well as Jaemin. Whatever you were doing, you were just happy to be at the cafe with the dreamies. 

Read the Mark route here

Read the Renjun route here 

Read the Jeno route here

Read the Haechan route here

Read the Jaemin route here 

Read the Chenle route here