Put A Spell On Me - Taegyu

Yeonjun's Not Yet Boyfriend + A Patch For A Witch

Chapter summary

Taehyun finds out his fortune.

"So what does the Two of Swords card mean?" "Repressed emotions."

"Wow, I hate these cards."

Taehyun smirked and moved the card to its position in the spread. Yeonjun continued to stroke Kiki, who was laying across his lap, but only a bit grumpier this time.

"Are you just mad because these cards point out the things you don't want to?" Taehyun asked pointedly.

"No." Yeonjun paused. "Yeah." "It's alright, you know."

"I get that," Yeonjun said, sighing. "But like, you're sitting right there finding out about all the miserable things happening in my life."

"You asked me to give you a reading," Taehyun said. "I can't really help finding out these things. Why don't you learn to give yourself readings?"

"You know I couldn't. There's like a thousand cards to memorize."

"Not even close to a thousand," Taehyun said, "but I don't see your point. There's really no harm in trying." Taehyun collected all the cards into a pile. "Why don't you try giving me a reading?"

"Me? Give you a reading?" Yeonjun asked and overdramatically added a gasp. "What if I pull out a death card on you?"

"The cards have meanings, you know. And just because you're doing it doesn't mean all the cards are going to be bad."

Yeonjun looked down at Kiki. "What do you think, Kikimora? Should I tell Taehyunie his future?"

Kiki purred back.

"Okay fine, I'll give you a reading. But you have to help me okay? I don't know anything about the cards."

"Of course I'll help," Taehyun said. "Just don't annoy Kiki too much while you arrange the spread."

Yeonjun nodded and reached over Kiki for the cards. Taehyun picked up his mug of white tea and sipped.

"Did I hit a sore spot with the Two of Swords card?" Taehyun asked. "Just wondering. I don't want these readings to be uncomfortable."

"They're not uncomfortable," Yeonjun said, shuffling the cards. "It's like what you said earlier, the cards point out the things I don't want to. It's just a tiny bit embarrassing."

"Does this have anything to do with your not-yet-boyfriend?" Taehyun asked.

"Sort of, yeah. We can talk about it later. Right now I have to give you the reading."

He put down the first card to represent Taehyun's past, The Page of Pentacles, and looked up at him. "So what does that mean?"

Taehyun smiled. "You're doing the reading here, you tell me."

"Aish, why are so you annoying?" Yeonjun groaned and picked up the card to observe it closely. "I know pentacles represent luck and money and business crap. So I guess this has something to do with your business? Like it represents you opening up your shop or whatever."

"Nice," Taehyun smiled. "You aren't that far off from the original meaning." "Fuck, okay. Can I do the next card?"

Taehyun nodded. Yeonjun picked out the second card to represent Taehyun's present, the Wheel of Fortune.

"So I guess this represents good luck?" Yeonjun asked, staring at the wheel. "Or maybe you'll go on the game show."

"Unlikely," Taehyun laughed. "And what does my future hold?" Yeonjun picked out the last card, took one look at it and frowned.

"Okay I have no clue what the hell this means." He flipped it around to show Taehyun. "What the fuck is the Knight of Cups?"

"You tell me."

"I don't know dude! So, like, he's on a horse. Does a horse mean adventure? What's the cup for? What's in the cup? And why is he holding it while riding a horse? Who even does that?!"

Yeonjun tried his best to put on an annoyed face but it was hard while Taehyun was laughing hysterically at his attempt to read the card.

"Hey! I tried my best, okay?" Yeonjun said, the sides of his lips perking up at Taehyun's laughter. "I'm sure you know what it means anyway." He paused. "You mind telling me what it means?"

"That's for you to figure out," Taehyun said.

"Fine, whatever. You got your reading, I got my practice. Good enough for today. Did you restock on those opals?"

Taehyun put the last touches on the drawing before pushing it aside and pulling out his sewing basket. After Yeonjun had raided Taehyun's crystals for whatever interesting ones he could find, Taehyun tried to make progress on the sigil for the long haired witch.

Planning the sigil was the hardest part of the process. It took him hours, days, sometimes even weeks, for the right design to appear in his mind. He would then sketch it out multiple times, fixing it wherever necessary.

The most enjoyable part was making a physical version of the sigil. Some witches liked their sigils as keychains or pins to carry around with them. Some liked large cross-stitch circles that they could hang on their bedroom door.

As the witch requested, Taehyun was expected to sew a patch, maybe so the witch could iron it onto a jacket or a bag. He lay out a couple of squares of cloth, tracing lines, cutting and sewing. Patches took about an afternoon if he wasn't busy, and there weren't many customers around that day anyway.

Sewing was another one of the skills his mother left him behind with. She was skilled in multiple forms of witchcraft, and had tried to give him as much of it as possible before she left.

"I'm going to teach you to sew," she had said one afternoon. Taehyun might have been around twelve years old at the time.

"I don't want to learn to sew." Taehyun could put up a fuss sometimes. "You'll like it. It's relaxing, and you can do so much with it."

Taehyun did find it relaxing. After she made sure he was familiar with it, he liked to sew little designs onto scraps of fabric he'd find lying around. Sometimes he'd sew hearts, or stars, or maybe even a small cat if he had enough time. Though he loved it, he knew it wasn't his special ability. It was fun, but he knew his ability was supposed to be special, and this didn't feel like it.

Taehyun pulled the needle through in a wave like pattern, adding intricate designs to the sigil. A small flourish here, a quick symbol there.

Four hours and twenty minutes later, Taehyun picked up the patch with a satisfied smile.

A moment after, the door swung open and the long haired witch stepped in. Taehyun stared in disbelief as the witch waved casually.

"You're done with the sigil?" the witch asked. Taehyun nodded and picked it up to show him.

"HOLY SHIT," the witch screamed, grabbing the patch out of Taehyun's hands to take a closer look. "HOW DID YOU DESIGN THIS?! THE SYMBOLS LINE UP PERFECTLY AND I'VE NEVER SEEN THIS COMBINATION BEFORE!"

"It wasn't that hard," Taehyun said, knowing perfectly well that designing a sigil was hard.

"Thank you so much!" he exclaimed, leaning over the counter to give Taehyun a sort of half hug. "The next time you see me, I'll be wearing a jacket with the patch on it."

"I'll be looking forward to it," Taehyun laughed. The witch pulled out of his pocket a few notes, a polished blue crystal, and a bottle with what appeared to be a sparkly liquid inside.

"I hope this is alright for payment. The bottle is a special made potion. My friend's a brewer."

"This is fine," Taehyun said, picking up the stone and rolling it around in his palm. Kai might have liked it. "Thanks for coming by."

"No, thank you, again for the sigil," the witch said, blowing an exaggerated kiss - sort of how Kai would, Taehyun noticed - and waved before leaving.

Taehyun followed him to the door and turned over the Open sign so it now read Closed.