r e m e m b e r .

a starter for ↝ @sominmaneo​

money is overrated to someone who could’ve retired before even being eligible to work, but jiyong has never been one to sit at home and waste his time doing nothing of importance. he comes across the sign purely on accident, walking past it on one of his many trips to stock up on ingredients for his salves and potions, and almost continues on his way without so much as a second glance. but something urges him to turn around and note down the phone number, which he completely forgets about until he returns to his apartment later that evening and opens his notes in search of a recipe.

hesitantly, he presses the numbers in the sequence they are written down and his thumb hovers over the call button while he mulls over the idea again. his finger twitches and hits the button before he’s done weighing his options, effectively making the decision for him and causing him to panic. he silently curses the touch sensitivity of smartphones, but freezes when a voice on the other end of the line interrupts him. shit. it’s definitely too late to turn back now, and to make matters worse, he stumbles over his words when he answers his potential new employer. all in all, a great first impression.

despite that the rest of the phone call goes smoothly, he is surprised when somin, as he learns her name is, invites him to an interview, and he finds himself standing in front of a small coffee shop a couple days later. it is the first time he’s heard of the place and it takes him longer to find than he expected, though he still manages to make it with five minutes to spare. when he enters the building, his eyes wander across the shop and a woman seated in the back catches his attention. he hopes she’s the person he’s looking for to avoid yet another disaster as he approaches her table.

“han somin?” jiyong asks, lips quirking into the smallest of smiles before he politely bows. he may have an attitude, but he was raised to mind his manners. “seo jiyong. i hope you haven’t been waiting long.”

she’s spoken to a few applicants already, but none of them seem to fit the way she wants them too. they’re too controlling, thinking that a woman—especially one that’s been laying in a hospital bed for weeks—can’t run a store on her own. one of the men she interviewed even had the audacity to say he should be a co-owner rather than a manager. if she set his bagel on fire in front of his face and burns off his eyebrows then that’s between them. 

when she receives a call from a potential applicant and takes in the deep tone in his voice, though soft, she prays to the goddess that this one works out. she’s tired of coming back and forth to the coffee shop only to be disappointed by the outcome. the witch also feels like she’s running out of time. she wants to feel close to them so she can trust them to take care of her store while she’s away; she doesn’t want to have to worry.

she’s seated in the back corner, hoping for privacy, when he walks in. the man catches her attention immediately. more than the pretty face and chic features, his aura is what makes her head turn toward him. this is the one, somin thinks immediately. when he walks up to her table and speaks, she smiles politely. “i haven’t been waiting long at all,” she replies simply, “please, sit. do you want any coffee? my treat.” the offer is a genuine one, but she hopes he doesn’t feel obligated to take it. “before we chat, i’d like you fill out this questionnaire,” she says, handing a three-page packet over to the man, “it just has a few questions about who you are and what you do. in a way, it’s to see if we’re compatible at all. i’d like us to be friends before co-workers, if that’s all right? i’m not saying you have the job already, but i’d like to trust you first.”

@sominmaneo

The bouquet of flowers rustled as Hyun-Ae paced back and forth. She stood outside the hospital where some of her Amaranthine family had been admitted after the casino attack. She’d been putting off coming here for a while. It’s not that she didn’t try—she came by at the beginning but was told they were in no condition for visitors and she’d trusted that her loved ones were in the care of good doctors. She could have come at any point afterwards, once she was given the ok, but guilt held her back. What right did she have to worry over those she didn’t protect?

Hyun-Ae had one job—protect the family. And she couldn’t even do that. Why did she take that day off? Why? Now her mentor was in a hospital bed, recovering from injuries she’d heard were quite terrible. But there was no amount of guilt that could keep her from checking on them. She needed to see them and talk with them—make sure they were healing alright in every sense of the word.

Now, the young Gumiho was here, gathering the courage to head inside and check on the person she’d been told had finally woken up.

You can do this. You gotta make sure she’s ok.

With that pep talk, Hyun-Ae made her way inside, up the elevator, down the hall, until she stood in front of a room with a name plate hanging on the wall: Han, Somin. Gently, she pushed the door open to reveal a hospital bed—and her mentor and friend.

“….Somin-unni,” she whispered. “Are you awake?”

despite that, she’s been passing her time by watching first time mothers’ youtube channels and buying pdf books on babies. she’s reading one of the twelve she downloaded just that morning when there’s a soft voice at her door and a familiar face peaking into her room. she smiles at the gumiho and wave her into the room, “yeah, hyun-ah, i’m awake,” she says, gesturing to the chair beside her bed, “feel free to sit.”

there’s a rustle from the doorway and somin spots the flowers in the girls hand. she laughs softly even though she appreciates the sentiment. “you didn’t have to bring me anything,” she chides gently, a soft smile on her face, “i would have been fine if you just brought yourself. i thought you might have come yesterday. i was a little disappointed when visiting hours ended and i hadn’t seen you.” it’s a half joke. she had thought about hyun-ae because she knows how hard she can be on herself sometimes. somin knew that she hadn’t been at the guilded siren when the fire happened, but the witch had still been worried. after being in-tune with her plants for so long, she’s gotten much better at reading others’ energy as well. seeing hyun-ae now, she can tell she’s having as much of a hard time handling the guilt as much as somin is herself.

Witches Aesthetic: Fire Witches