“I told you not to do that teleportation thingamjig. What if I was changing? Also… the others could be around.” At that, Jungkook goes still for second, eyes widening at the realisation. It wasn’t a surprise he had mastered yet another ability again, and according to him he was one of the few witches in his level to be able to execute the spell, but as much as you shared his joy, you needed to remind him not to get overexcited for his own sake. After all, you were the only one who knew his secret after walking in on him eating cereal with a levitating spoon while both hands were occupied with the Switch in his hands as he tried to catch Gigantamax. It was rather comical seeing him freezing mid-crunch on cornflakes, the spoon forgotten but still floating next to his mouth. To his surprise (and relief), you weren’t all over him with questions, and you pretended as if nothing happened at all. But to cut short the story, Jungkook was simply a transfer student from a very distant and secluded community – which explains how he is not very familair to social norms. The community being the witch and wizardry world, except no one knows that. Except you.

You still remember his panicked look when his secret was discovered, as if he wasn’t the one who could perform spells like erasing your memory or casting you into a dark universe or something along those lines. You wonder if those were possible, but you remember you’re curious about something else now.  

“Jungkook. What party?”

“The umm… Taehyung mentioned something about it.” He plops onto your bed, looking a little too big for the single, pink bed.

“Jungkook, Taehyung goes to like… every party. Everyone asks him and he asks everyone along.” Which was how you met Jungkook in the first place. Taehyung had asked (dragged) him along to Jisoo’s birthday party, and you wanted to wince imagining how awkward it must’ve been for the poor junior. Even though you were quite acquainted with all the 2nd years there, it was easy to feel out of place in that huge apartment. Taehyung got whisked away by a bunch of seniors promptly after introducing him to you, and it was only after 10 minutes of Awkward Fruit Punch Silence when you caught sight a Tsukishima keychain dangling with his keys that a conversation started. You could still vividly recall the way his eyes widened in excitement when you pointed it out.

Jungkook juts out his lower lip. “Oh. You’re right. Ah! The one with Satan?”

You twist in your chair to face him, eyebrows shooting up.  “The WHAT?”

“The big and red man… with the white beard.”

“…You mean Santa?”

“Ah, yes! Santa!” Jungkook quickly points in your direction, as if catching onto the word and pinning it to his memory.

“Ah – Hobi’s Christmas party! Right!I already told them I can’t make it because I have this  final assignment due –”you trail off, looking up. “Wait. What do you mean, if I’m ‘going as a  zombie’?”

“I thought people dressed up for the year-end parties… and you –”

“That’s Halloween.. which was back in October… and I’m not going today so I’m not dressed as anything,” you purse your lips and give him a pointed look. “Are you saying I look like a zombie right now?”

“Ehm…” Jungkook eyes widen slightly as the awareness of what he’d just implied sets in. “No,” is all he says, scratching his jaw and suddenly he is very interested in your floor tiles. You huff, trudging past him with your cup of ice cream and throwing yourself backwards on the couch in your small living room with a loud smoosh. Jungkook was probably right. Your eyebags were probably heavier than the entirety of cushions on the couch, and you couldn’t even remember the last meal you had that wasn’t ice cream or those dry, square biscuits. At least you were 98% done with the assignment.

“_________.”

Not bothering to turn your head, you let your eyes flicker to where he was standing in the doorway of your room. He grimaced, and you fought the urge to groan. You’re not trying to give him a death stare, but you could admit that with the way you look right now anyone would think you need to be exorcised.

“I want to show you something.”

You waited, silence urging him to go on. Another magic spell? Or a new ability he picked up? Maybe he can magically finish your essay.

“I mean, some place.”

At this, you loll your head to one side almost lifelessly and shut your eyes. “Now? Jungkooook. You know I can’t go out,” you whined.

“I know, I know, but you don’t really have to go out. I can bring you there,” he says earnestly. You don’t have to look at him to know that he’s probably leaning forward, anticipating and all doe-eyed like he always does whenever he’s asking for something. It works well with Jimin, Hoseok too but not as effective with you. As long as you keep your eyes closed, that is.

“How do you ‘bring me there’, without me going out?” you knit your brows together. You want to be confused, but you’re too tired to.  

“Same way as when I came here?” he replies, nonchalantly.

You lift your head up and look at him from your sprawled position on the couch. “You’re kidding me.”

Jungkook shakes his head. “I’m serious.”

“And you’ve tried this before…?”

“I’m sure it will work,” is all he answers.

You give him a pained look.

“No, I’m sure sure.” He’s seen how other witches did it before. The upperclassmen lurking and snacking in the corridors in groups winking out of existence the moment a councillor walks down the hallway – it’s said in the books he’d found too – as long as the caster’s hands were snug around the other person’s wrist, thumb touching the cord of vein found, you could easily transport another person other than yourself. In the older literature, the term vena amoris –vein of love –  appeared often, since it was said that the vein would lead directly to the heart, (read: soul) of the person. The term actually appeared a lot and it wasn’t so suprising because many spells, from trivial to dangerous would involve this.

Silence. A weight settled itself on the tiny bit of space left on the couch before you hear Jungkook’s voice flitter to you, soft and small, like a faint tinkle. “Please? Trust me.”

You felt your jaw tick at that. Of course you trusted him. But…

“Pleaseee.”

A quiet sigh and you sat up. “Fine.”

Jungkook’s eyes lit up, and it’s bright and merry and might as well rival the ornaments at Hoseok’s party. And Hoseok has a lot of them.

He extended his hand towards you, latching onto your wrist and thumb gently brushing the inner side. “Stand up for a bit,” he makes to tug on your hand, and you acquiesce.

His other arms wraps around you, pulling you close. You don’t question anything but Jungkook can tell you’re tense by the way you stiffen slightly. “Trust me,” his voice is soft when he says it again. You nod, a little too sharply and you feel the hand on your wrist brush the circumference of it again. Jungkook is unsure if the staccatoed beats came from your pulse or his as he attunes his energy with yours for the spell. Either way, he never noticed the faint fragrance of strawberry mint in your hair that tickles his nose pleasantly when you lean in closer.

You don’t see much more than feel the process – there wasn’t a sudden whoosh or any falling sensation – just a brief shift of surroundings as if a jigsaw puzzle was taken apart briefly before other pieces are slotted in to make up a brand new picture. A slight movement from both your feet creates a delicious crunch of dead leaves under your heel and you slowly turn, trying to figure out your surroundings. It’s dark, but all it takes is a lift of his fingers and fairy lights come to life, almost winking at you as they prettily line the roof of a lone gazebo sitting at the end of a short bridge. Even the reflection of the gazebo glitters picturesquely on the surface of the pond.

“Whoa,” the word escapes in whisper, as if you’re scared any kind of volume would shatter the spell.

“Wanna go sit?” Jungkook asks, earning a nod from you.

“How did you find this place? Wait, is that the city behind the trees?” You see the peak of tall buildings, the familiar red LOTTE sign in the distance.

“Yup,” he answers, popping the ‘p’ in the word. “I was making deliveries the other day to some building and took the wrong turn. It’s in some kind of park but not many of them come here too often so I thought I’d show you.”

“You got lost? Can’t you just teleport yourself or magically drive your bike…?” You notice Jungkook lightly brushing off the bench before you sat, but he stops halfway to give you a look. He means it to be a disapproving frown, but it turns out to be a cute pout.

“But it’s more fun without magic. I get to see many things and people,” he explains offhandedly, before taking a seat next to you. He rests his back on the railing, stretching his legs out in front of him while you lean back on your palms to look out at the water. Your fingers touch softly, and Jungkook resists the urge to curl his fingers around your hand. “Although I did use it for the fairy lights,” he bares his bottom teeth in a squarish sort-of smile.

“Really? Wow, talent,” you say, lolling your head lazily towards him and side eyeing him from under your lashes. “Next thing you know you’ll come up with some charm spell or whatever.”

Jungkook raises his brows in surprise. “Actually, I am working on it,” he says, turning to you and tilting his head to one side.

You regard him carefully, eyes narrowing into slits and bursting out into laughter when he waggles his brows. “Is it working?”

Your peals of laughter bubble down with a sigh, coloured with content, tainted with exhaustion from the past few days’ worth of working. Nevertheless, your lips are upturned prettily and Jungkook lets a small smile settle on his lips. “Pretty sure our Jungkookie doesn’t really need to come up with a spell to charm people,” you reply. His eyebrows shoot up and disappear under his chestnut brown bangs, giving you a exaggeratingly shocked expression.

“A compliment from you? I’m honored,” he bends in a small bow, a hand on his heart. He ignores the tha-thumps he feel under the sweatshirt that are skipping faster than normal and he curses himself for the fairy light stunt. Maybe he’d just say it was cold if you noticed and asked why his ears were pink under the lights.

“Oh. Why do you have to put your hand on my wrist for the spell? That was such a specific location.”

“It helps with the process. I read it in a book. Give me your hand.”

Without questioning it, you offer him your other hand.

“See here,” he traces your down your fourth finger, in a straight line downwards and stops at your wrist. “It’s called vena amoris – the vein of love. It’s believed to run directly to your heart, so some spells especially binding ones mention it.” He continues to trail his finger down, sweeping about halfway down your arm before he pulls away.

“Oh,” you say. “I learned something new. Is that why most of us wear rings on our fourth finger on our left hand?”

Jungkook makes a clicking sound, pointing finger guns at you. “Bingo.”

“And mind-reading?”

“That’s…kinda… Eh. It’s fairly more complicated.”

“But! You know those carnivals where they take your hand and do fortune telling or mind reading.”

“Nah. They’re fakes.” He wrinkles his nose, as if taking offence for their existence.

“Well. I guess we’ll have to stick with the old penny for your thoughts method. Penny for your thoughts?”

“What does that mean?” Jungkook raises his brows, eyes wide.

“Like… usually people say that when they see people zoning out or something to ask what they’re thinking of.”

“Yo-“ You. “You-ghurt. I mean… yoghurt.”

“That’s… random. What flavour? I might have some in the fridge back home…”

“Strawberry.” The scent of your shampoo.

“Pretty sure there’s still a few left. You can have them when we get back.”

He makes a small hum of acknowledgement, the sound soft like his eyes as they gaze out to pond. 

“Thank you for bringing me here.”

Another soft hum. “Do you feel better?”

You almost ask what he means, you weren’t feeling particularly down – but you do feel much better now that you think about it. Jungkook instantly smiles when you nod, looking very accomplished as if he just figured out how to cast another spell. Speaking of...

“Whoa,” he hears you gasp. The flowers nearby start to illuminate, pretty hues of pink, blue and maroon that look like faeries above the water. “That’s... enchanting.”

The dark haired witch scoffs, almost says not enchanting as you, but manages to stop himself just before you shove at his shoulder. To you he might just sound like he was showing off, but if you asked he would gladly show you the world if he could. 

Jungkook sighs. You weren’t a witch, but how is it that you’ve charmed him so much? He should really head to the library and see if he can find some answers. Maybe half-witches existed. 

“You still up for Hobi’s party?” you ask. You’re not sure what time it is but knowing Hobi, he always has an After Party. And knowing the other boys, you could arrive at 3am and it would be like the party has just started.

Jungkook shrugs. “Only if you are.” The silence stretches as you contemplate on your choice. Hm. Surely a little fun wouldn’t hurt.

“We can go maybe a little later. But let’s stay a bit longer, together?”

Jungkook nods and smiles. He liked that word.

“Because Jimin wants to go with Namjoon, and I want to go with Hobi,” Yoongi says with a shrug of his shoulder. The blatant indifference in his answer makes you want to pick up one of the plastic pumpkins and hurl it at his head, but even you think it’s too early into the night to get into an argument with any of them. 

“But I don't want to go with Jungkook.” 

“Then go alone,” Yoongi replies shortly. You bite out a ‘fine’, crossing your arms for a good measure. Hoseok frowns over his (Yoongi’s) scarf wrapped around his neck, a worry wrinkle creasing the space between his brows. 

“That’s not safe, go with Jungkook,” concern etched in his tone. Yoongi is lucky you love Hoseok enough to not have clocked his boyfriend in the face by now, but this time you are adamant to stand by your words. 

“I’ll be fine, I’ll text you if anything,” you insist, softer this time. “Besides. He’s not even -”

“Here.” The actual demon of the carnival emerges through the gates, clad in a tight black shirt and jeans, his loyal red beanie the only colour striking out from the dark outfit. It’s a simple look, but enough to make heads turn and people gawk with cotton candy stuffed in their mouth.

“So that’s settled. See you all back here in an hour or so!” Namjoon announces, and suddenly everyone is gone. 

Great. You grumble a little under your breath, briefly sending Jungkook an annoyed glance before walking off, heading towards the haunted house entrance. You carefully avoid the zombies and masked characters on the way - you weren’t scared, but they tended to chase carnival visitors for fun and you definitely did not want to be sweaty and panting in front of Jungkook. 

You walk past the merry-go-round, then the huge twinkling Ferris wheel, loopy whimsical carnival music playing in the background, almost as loud as the colours adorning the carnival tents and rides around you. The rest of the boys are ahead of you, and you can already see Yoongi tugging a paling Hoseok inside. You watch as Yoongi catches Hoseok’s wrist before their linked hands disappear inside his pocket just as they do behind the flap of the Haunted House tent. 

“You scared?”

You don’t realise you’re standing in front of the rust-coloured tent already until Jungkook asks you with a smug grin. You scoff, nose upturned in a snobby, childish fashion and made your way inside haughtily, the lights behind fading in one swooping motion of the tent flap -

and almost fall over when Jungkook walks right into you. 

“...Why are you just standing in the middle of nowhere?” 

In a flurry of awkward movements, you crab-walked away from where you think he is standing. It’s not that you were scared, you just... couldn't see all that well in the darkness.  A manic-looking clown jumps from your right with a shriek, earning a blank look from you and Jungkook. You both carry on past the huge cobwebs, dusty side tables and a bloody banshee perching on what looks like a broken chair without even flinching, and it would've been perfectly fine if—

“Ow!” You yell and grab on to your nose where it bumps into Jungkook’s hard back. 

“What the hell... again?!” You hear more than see him whip around, squinting at the blurry form in front of you. “I knew it. You’re trailing right behind me ‘cuz you’re a. Scaredy. Cat.” 

“I am NOT,” you cross your arms, then put it back down because it looked more defensive than you intended to. “Fine. I’ll walk in front to prove it to you.” You took two steps and step into a tangle of torn clothes and gracefully fall into a rusty vanity, the fake mirror wobbling precariously. You think you can see Namjoon instead of you in the reflection with the way you have been clumsily bumping into everything (read: Jungkook)  the past ten minutes. 

 “_____? You dead?”

...Maybe you should just admit it so he would stop asking. “I can't see well in the darkness.” 

“...What?”

“I can't see well in the darkness.” 

“I heard you. That was a rhetorical question.” You purse your lips to keep a sigh from escaping it. 

“Wait, so how did you navigate so far?” 

You point to the red beanie glowing on top of his head like a cherry on ice cream. And somehow, in this darkness, you can see the twinkle of glee in his eye upon realising what you just said. 

“Shut up,” you warn. 

“I didn't say anything... But I have an idea.”

“Ugh,” you groan. “Keep it. We’re almost near the exit anyway. Look,” you point to large, wooden door with some light emanating from it. 

“That’s a cupboard, and next to it is our dear Sir Freddy Krueger.” You can imagine Jungkook’s polite smile and the word ‘fool’ contained behind it.

“Oh... I thought that was you. Don't you have a similar red and black sweatshirt?” You think you hear a stifled chuckle from Freddy Krueger himself.

Jungkook narrows his eyes at you before you feel something grabbing your hand. 

“Wh- what the hell are you doing?!” 

“Saving your pretty face from bumping into anything else.”

“Excuse me?! I can walk fine on my own,” you huff.

Pretty?

Jungkook jumps when Pennywise appears and does his creepily goofy dance, making you jerk up in a reverse domino effect. You don’t say anything about the way Jungkook squeezes your hand in surprise, and he doesn't say anything about the way you hold on tighter as you hurry past it.

Thankfully, Pennywise was the last thing you encountered before you escape the haunted room. You’re greeted with flashing lights from the swing ride opposite you and also the carnival staff who hands you free candy and a B-rated ghost mask which looked like what kids would get from gas station stores. It was also a chance to let go of your linked hands and pretend it never happened in the first place. 

“Wait, wait,” you call out to Jungkook who was fixing his lopsided beanie. “How do ghosts confess to one another?”

“Huh?”

You plaster the mask to your face. “Will you be my boo?” Typically, you'd get some sort of laugh from the other boys even if it was out of pity (Yoongi, Namjoon) but Jungkook just looks at you blankly before turning on his heel like he didn't hear anything. 

Out here, it’s bright enough to notice it. “Your ears are-”

Jungkook yanks his beanie further down until it almost reaches the back of his neck.