#witch!jin

Snow White, this precious endearing term of affection was given to you by Jin. He said he had a vision of you lying down in the fresh virgin snow, ebony dark hair spread around you like a halo, like the compass’ rose and lips as red as cherry and strawberry in the summer. What he didn’t told you is that no matter how ethereally beautiful you were in his dream, it terrified him. Because there, amidst the snowflakes falling down and decorating your soft black lashes and the blue veins of your pale wrist, carmine blood stained your dress’ lacy ruffles and a wooden arrow found its grave in your chest, its metal head piercing right through your non-beating heart.

Even before he met you, before he knew you, before he was brought to the castle, he had seen your future and his heart ached for the stranger, withering away in the cold like summer blossoms when the first frost came. Then, when his Queen married your father and you first ran into him, that huge, gilded mirror he liked to spend his time in, he knew it was you. The wavy black locks, the fine skin and the innocence in you gave room for a good guess.

“Ouch,” you muttered massaging your sore forehead before looking up. Merely ten years old, so naive and kind you widened your eyes as you saw him.

“Who are you?” you asked in awe, curiosity running in your veins and pressed a palm against the cold surface of transparent glass. Not the kind of reaction most people had when they noticed a man in the mirror instead of their usual reflection.

He smiled at you, but his smile carried sadness unknown to you.

“My name is Seokjin but you can call me Jin. We can be friends,” he replied as he crouched down, his figure coming closer to the edge between the realm of mirrors and your reality.

“Are you a magician?” you blinked again, bright and innocent, tongue poking out from between your lips as you traced his lines through the mirror.

“Kind of yes. I have a few tricks,” he told you determined to earn your trust, to stop his vision from coming true. He flashed one last smile before the mirror around him filled with fog and clouds, then it suddenly showed a forest, a bright spring day with a river flowing, birds chirping and rainbow in the background. Your eyes glimmered, stars adorning your orbs as you clapped your tiny hands together in excitement, pressing closer to the glass and this magical world on the other side. However, a few minutes later the picture became clouded again, until it disappeared into nothing, the same old usual mirror reflecting your pumped up state.

“Ah,” you sighed in disappointment, taking a step back, looking around searching for the magician. Jin looked at you with a soft heart, at this little girl too pure in this evil world.

“Here, Snow White, I’m here,” he waved from the mirror next to the two-winged door and he couldn’t help but smile when you ran to him with the biggest toothy grin of a child.

He has loved you since then. He has always loved you as he has watched you grow up. A girl so delicate, sweet and soft. He was there beside you, a friend in hard times when you lost your father and had to suffer from your stepmother’s rough treatment. He was always there when you needed him... and even when you didn’t.

“Seokjin!” you cried out in horror when you saw his face in your suite’s mirror while dressing. It was just a fading moment though, it went as quickly as it came and later he apologized profoundly.

“You only told me not to come to the bathroom because you dress there. You had never banned me out of your bedroom before,” he was explaining himself hastily as soon as you found him in the reflection of the duchess table of the hallways.

You knew he was right so you just waved it off nonchalantly and you'd rather forget it ever happened. You didn't need to know how many times Seokjin accidently caught a glimpse of your half-naked state while putting on a corset. You fanned yourself with the hand mirror you just grabbed from your room and you knew that Jin will follow, travelling through mirrors until he ended up in yours.

You bowed and smiled at the guards you met on your way to the palace garden. They didn’t protest nor tried to stop you from going alone. They knew you had the habit of wandering alone. Little did they know you were never alone, not really because even in the slightest reflecting surface there was Seokjin following you, always with you. Growing up, locked into this gorgeous palace he was your only connection to the outside world as he showed you the sea, the snow and other magical sights you otherwise didn’t have the chance to marvel at. Sometimes you wondered, fingers itching to act, legs ready to go how it would be to run away but you wouldn’t have gone all by yourself. Sheepishly but you asked the cursed man if he could ever leave the palace and its mirrors and he replied without hesitation: yes, he could go wherever he wanted.

"Why don't you go then? Far away so she can't find you?” you asked unable to understand why anybody so powerful like him would ever bow to your heartless stepmother who treated him like dirt.

Seokjin flashed you a sad smile, one that was soothing like fingers threading in your hair or hands stroking your back to calm you down.

"I wouldn't live for long without her magic. It bounds us together. She keeps me alive but caged," he said and you didn’t ask more, nor you told him about your runaway plan. You locked that secret in your heart and throw the keys away because without him, you realised, you didn’t wanted to go.

But oh how you wished both of you could!

“Happy 18th birthday, princess!” Jin exclaimed clapping joyfully after you had blown the candle’s flickering flame out. Hearing his cheering, you set the colourful cupcake the palace’s chef made just for you in front of you with a satisfied smile.

You spent your birthday on a picnic with a small mirror and the most handsome man you knew in it. You wouldn’t have had it any other way because you didn’t need grand gestures and celebrations across the seven kingdoms. You were as happy as you could be because you could spend the day with Jin and didn’t have to worry about horse riding or politics classes. The Queen didn’t want to have a big celebration for your day and blamed it on the failure of crop that she forbid her men to do the same as well but it didn’t stop your teachers from giving you a day-off as a gift.

“Did you wish for anything?” Seokjin asked as he curiously settled close to the gilded frame. If you squirted hard enough you could imagine it being merely a glass of a window that separated you and him with the mirror in-between, the threshold of two dimensions.

“I wished for you to be free,” you admitted bashfully, playing with your fingers in your lap.

He has told you his story a few times, how his ability to see things that others didn’t made the Queen curious in him and how she cursed him to be locked in mirrors for fifty years. For a witch like her aging slowly it wasn’t even that much, so it could have been worse, Seokjin said and he liked to joke that this way, at least he stayed as handsome as ever.

He has told you already before, but it looked like he could never tell you enough or you would never give up.

“Oh, dear, you shouldn't have wasted your wish on me. I have served the Queen for a long long time now, I can take a few more years,” he shrugged and it sounded like he was convincing both you and himself. Will his serving time ever be over? Will your stepmother ever let him go?

“But I can’t!” you snapped out of the blue but Seokjin remained just as kind and patient as he ever was when he raised an elegant brow in question.

“Why is that, princess?”

Because I love you, you wanted to shout to the sky but you didn’t. It was too embarrassing. Too mundane and pitiful to think of such facts that you will age and lose your beauty by the time he gets out of his prison that keeps him ageless and immortal.

And last but not least, it was selfish so you shrugged like the spoiled princess you were.

“Just because,” you said teeth sinking into the delicious flesh of peach, breaking its skin just to avert your thoughts about this topic. Yet, Seokjin’s laugh was way too fond for your liking and it rang in your ears for too long.

That evil witch had some kind of twisted way and power to summon Jin whenever the hell she wanted and even though the magic-bearer hated it - his vulnerability and being kept on a too short leash -, he was grateful because this granted him the knowledge of what the Queen was planning. She made him foresee the future’s mysteries before she made all the important steps so she could make sure everything went according to the plan. But sometimes, the scenario he predicted ran into a dead end as the future constantly changed.

Now that you turned eighteen and came of age, the kingdom’s subjects rebelled because they didn’t want the Queen to rule anymore. They wanted the princess, you. So you were a threat to your stepmother’s throne and power, she realized quite quickly, throwing a tantrum in her suite.

There was only one thing left to question.

“Mirror, mirror on the wall, tell me who is the fairest of them all?” she asked because to her, Seokjin wasn’t more than a genie trapped in a bottle, a psychic locked into a crystal ball. She made sure to have him as a partner in crime whether he liked it or not because he learned the hard way he couldn’t lie to her. He could choose to remain silent but he had to tell her the truth behind his visions and insights.

“If I might be honest with you, your Majesty, your step daughter came to be a beautiful young woman,” he answered slowly, carefully wording the sentence. He didn’t want to upset the Queen but it had been a long time since you had caught his eye and not only his, but the whole kingdom admired you. No wonder why the Queen hid you between four walls.

“That stupid girl, she ruins everything. She would be better off dead,” the woman screamed and swept everything off her table out of anger.

Then she stilled for a moment, pondering over an idea that seemed to take her liking and her mouth curled into the cruellest smile of all. It had him trembling in fear and he disappeared from the huge, overall mirror on the Queen’s wall right into the one on your night table.

You looked so peaceful and innocent as you lied there in your bed lost in dreamland that his heart soured. He remembered his vision way too vividly. How could anybody want to hurt you?

“Snow White!” he shouted at you wishing he could grab and shake you awake. But no, he was doomed to stuck in mirrors from where despite all his magical powers, he couldn’t help you. “Princess, wake up! You have to go!”

It was his frantic voice that stirred you awake and you blinked at him drowsily.

“What? Jin... I don't understand,” you squinted at the man’s panicked expression in your hand mirror, your voice still rough with sleep. He had never woken you up before, especially not so desperate, so you couldn’t even imagine what happened. Refusing to fall back asleep, you sat up in your baldachin bed. Your grown fell off one of your shoulders but you couldn’t care about being bashful.

“Just trust me. Take a mirror and run,” or you will be dead by the morning, the witch said and hearing the fear in his voice you didn’t have to think twice. You have never grabbed your horse riding trousers and travel coat so fast before. Without washing your face or brushing your hair, you took a bag full of your needed supplies and with your makeup mirror in hand, you complied.

Seokjin guided you through secret passages and hidden hallways you have never ever been to. The palace became a labyrinth in a second and there was nothing else left but the dark and the witch’s gentle voice telling you where to turn. The cold air hit you hard as soon as you stepped out of the place you had known as your home all your life. Still, you didn’t think twice to leave it behind just because Jin said so.

“Come on, find a place you can stay and I will tell you everything,” he promised and you pulled the hood onto your head.

Luckily you had a place in mind right away. The hunting house of your once beloved father stood vacant deep in the forest. So you took a horse from the royal stall and made a run for it.

You were too confused to cry about leaving your life behind as you rode farther and farther away from the palace. You knew Jin only wanted the best for you so it never eve occurred to you to doubt him. You trusted him with your life but since you knew his obligations to the Queen, you hid the mirror in your coat’s dark pocket. When you got off the horse a mile away from the small house, you patted its back to send him forward alone out of precaution. You knew the men after you would follow hooves’ traces but the Queen never cared about your father enough to escort him to his hunts, she probably didn’t even know about this little house. On the other hand, you loved watching your father get immersed in his hobby even if you despised the thought of innocent animals falling as prays. The paradox of love, right?

When you settled down in the house, lit up the fireplace and cherished the thought of being safe, you could almost feel your father’s loving presence around you.

“Don’t!” Seokjin warned you when you wanted to take the mirror out of your pocket, so you dropped it back carefully. “It’s better if I don’t know where you are.”

“What’s going on, Jin?” you asked but didn’t question his methods, you had no reason to.

“The Queen. She decided to get rid of you,” he told you and for some reason, you weren’t surprised. You had already guessed she would marry you off abroad because she had never cared about you… but killing you? Did she really care for power so much?

“And what now?” you asked curiously but didn’t get an answer. “Jin?”

Alarmed, you opened the makeup mirror but just when you least wanted to be alone, you couldn’t find him there, merely your own, scared reflection.

The Queen was furious when she found out you ran away. She ordered Seokjin back into the palace and demanded him to tell her where you were. Since he asked you to never tell or show him where you were, thankfully, he could tell her honestly that he didn't know. Your stepmother failed to ask if he knew anything about situation and the witch was glad that she didn't ask the right question. She never did.

“Call the huntsman!” she yelled at her guards who got startled and hurried to fulfil her order out of dread.

It didn’t take long for the kingdom-wide famous hunter to show up at her door, black hair too long, getting into his eyes.

“You!” The Queen shouted at him out of control. “I want you to find and kill the princess discreetly and bring her heart to me. Understood?”

The huntsman didn’t even bat an eyelash while Seokjin’s breath stuck in his throat.

“Yeah,” the man shrugged and left the room as quickly and quietly as he came. Jin followed him in the hallways from one mirror to another.

“What had the princess ever done to her? That crazy bitch,” the hunter muttered under his breath and the witch had to suppress the urge to smirk. At least, he wasn’t the only one who thought this way.

A night and half a day later, Min Yoongi returned, carrying a bag of bloody organs, face impassive as always and took the gold the Queen threw at him. Nobody but him and the prying Seokjin knew of the dead doe buried six feet under the oak tree next to the palace walls.

However, it was definitely too early to celebrate because the Queen might have been evil but she wasn’t stupid. Before she announced the sad, sad news she turned to her mirror with a devilish smile.

“Am I finally the fairest of them all now?”

Her question got Seokjin off guard and he widened his eyes, letting his mouth fall agape. Maybe he should have made up some half-truth, some excuse, anything to make the Queen believe this earlier theatrical act. But it was too late anyway, the Queen caught onto his strange behaviour quickly.

“What? Is she still alive? Did that stupid huntsman lie to me?” Her eyes burned red, nails scratching the surface of her throne. “Then I go myself and burn down the forest if I have to.”

Even though you felt bad for your people, Seokjin suggested that running away would be the best solution. Out of the kingdom, so your stepmother couldn’t find you. A rule like hers, founded on fear and intimidation, wouldn’t last long, he reasoned but you couldn’t leave. First, because you had a feeling you would betray your father and the country and second, because of Jin. You would have never told him this, because as selfless as he was, he wouldn’t let you stay behind for him. You knew he couldn’t get hurt in that parallel universe of his but still, the possibility of never seeing him again scared the hell out of you.

Just like his arrival a few days after your breakout of the castle.

“She's coming,” he warned you, a faded cry from your tiny mirror with its reflecting side on the table and you hurried to turn it over. As soon as the witch’s eyes scanned the room, he left his current position and reappeared in the tall mirror beside the dining table.

“You have nowhere to run. She has her men everywhere. Lock the door and hi...” he advised quickly but time wasn’t in your favour as the front door slammed open with a loud thud echoing in the wooden house.

“Hello-hello, Snow White. So this is where you have been hiding?” the Queen asked in a faux worrying voice as she stepped in all her evil glory.

“Just leave me alone!” you retreated into the back of the room, shoving the makeup mirror into your pocket and clenching a butter knife you just grabbed from the kitchen counter in your hand. However, against all that black magic your stepmother had, it was useless.

“Oh but how could I? Those peasants want you as their queen, they are threatening me so I just have to tell them that you, poor thing, got killed in the woods while wandering off like the stupid girl you are,” she laughed shutting all the windows and the backdoor behind you with a simple flick of her wrist. Her eyes were dark like blackberries or poisoned, fake love. “Don’t you think it’s perfect? The kingdom will grieve and dress in black, I can’t wait!”

You wanted to gag looking at this woman and remembering how much your father loved her. It wasn’t the first time you believed she used a love potion to persuade him for marriage.

“Had you ever loved father or was it true what they said? That you just wanted to be a queen?” you asked just to prolong the moment and gain a little more time to find a mouse hole to run away. It was your first instinct because you were never taught to fight back but you realized you couldn’t run forever, your stepmother would always find you wherever you go.

“You are so naive. I wanted power no matter what I have to do to get it,” she shrugged and levitated the knife easily out of your hand to hers leaving you defenceless and alone.

Or so you thought.

“The fireplace!” Seokjin reminded you and concentrated all his energy on the weapon in the Queen’s hand. She resisted his magic too easily like it was nothing more than a child trick.

“You will pay for it, traitor,” she spit at him but this moment lack of her attention was enough for you to run to the pile of wood in the fireplace and grab a handful of them. The burn didn’t hurt at first. Not until adrenaline boiled high in your blood as you threw the burning wooden pieces at the rug that caught fire immediately. The smell of coal and smoke filled the air and it made you cough, the lack of oxygen scratching your throat, suffocating you.

“Stupid girl,” the Queen clicked her tongue picking up a fire iron near the fireplace and aimed its burning tip towards your heart.

“No!” Jin shouted, banging on the mirror’s surface in vain.

“Wait for your turn, loverboy. You are on next.”

By then, you have almost fainted because of the pain in your burnt skin of your hands. But before darkness took over, you put your hands into your pockets and broke the hand mirror to pieces. You felt warm blood running down your palm as you clenched onto the biggest, sharpest piece and lodged it into the Queen’s chest when she was ready to strike down with the fire iron. Using her loss of balance and moments of weakness to your advantage, you ran to the door, yanking it open and ran out, right into the arms of a man.

You started screaming and fell onto your bottom, afraid of the huntsman who however, didn’t pay attention to you at all. He pulled the string of his bow back and aimed at the entrance of the hunting house. You watched stunned when your stepmother stepped out of there angered and bleeding and the hunter shot an arrow right into her cold, black heart.

Rattling she fell onto the ground and her death wasn’t any graceful as she withered away, leaving only bones and blood behind.

“Are you okay, Princess?” the huntsman croaked out offering a hand but you were too caught up in what happened to answer. All the emotions bottling up, overshadowed by adrenaline were ready to break out.

“Jin… Jin!” you screamed as struggled to your feet and crawled back to the wooden house. But you couldn’t even step inside because fire broke out of the open door.

“Careful, Princess,” the stranger pulled you back into safety but you didn’t care, tears kept rolling on your cheeks and Seokjin’s name sounded like a mantra on your tongue.

As your last ray of hope, you took out the bloody pieces of mirror from your pocket but all of them were blank, only showing your broken reflections.

“Are you looking for me?” an ever so gentle voice asked, one that you would have recognized anywhere, anytime. You gaped at the unharmed, tall, wide shouldered man walking to you on his two feet realer than ever in your dimension.

“Seokjin,” you cried out running straight into his embrace. He welcomed you like a home never known and enveloped into his arms like you always belonged there.

“Shh… you have to be more careful from now, Snow White,” he scolded you endeared as he put his warm hand onto your wounded, hurt ones and a moment later they were scatheless, healed by the magic he often told you about. Powers like theirs could be used for lots of purposes not only selfish, immoral ones like your stepmother has done.

“But how?” you blinked up at him almost not believing your eyes. Maybe you really fainted and daydreamed about him coming back to you but his touch was too real, even if a bit too fading just like light reflected on a broken mirror… “Wait… No! Please tell me that’s now happening.”

Could it be? Could fate really be this cruel? Giving you one sweet memory just to take him away from you once for all?

“Would you love a liar?” he cupped your cheek, his touch ever so light and you leaned into him, bathing in his warmth.

“It’s not fair,” you sobbed, grabbing his collar, not ready to let go. Seokjin wiped your away gently and loving but they kept on falling. He told you, didn’t he? It was the Queen’s magic that kept him caged but also alive.

“But it is, dear, it is. At least I can finally touch you and do what I wanted for a long long time.”

“What is it?” it piqued your interest as you relished in the witch’s closeness.

When he answered, Seokjin was uncharacteristically embarrassed, his ears turning red.

“A kiss, Princess… Can I have it?”

“You can have everything,” you stepped onto your tiptoes yearning for his touch, afraid of losing him any moment. When he pressed his lips to yours, you wanted to believe in the miracle of true love’s kiss so badly, to hope it would make everything better.