—
Jimin did end up being late.
Twenty minutes late, actually, and since he was the one booked to open the store that morning, their opening hours were postponed. He was sure it wasn't that big of a deal, it was an old fashion book shop in rural Busan, they didn't exactly have a heavy flow of customers on a daily basis. They didn't have their store hours posted on the front door of the store, there was no way anybody had even noticed.
He quickly took out the key he had to the store, unlocking the door and stepping inside. He was immediately hit with the wonderful smell of old paper and dusty books, a small smile finding its way onto his lips as he took in the familiar scent. Though many found it boring, Jimin absolutely love his job.
Burying his nose in books when the store was quiet, recommending novels and biographies to customers when it was busy. It was nice, to be able to transport himself into a completely different world when he allowed himself to sink into a book, even nicer to watch the joy on somebody's face when they found a story they truly enjoyed.
Jimin made his way over to the cash desk, after flipping the 'closed' sign to 'open', turning all of the store lights on as well. He sat down in the chair at the front, opening the first drawer in the desk to see which book the midnight workers had left that time. They always left one for Jimin to read on his morning shifts, knowing how boring the morning could be.
The book had a simple black cover, the title scrawled onto it in a silver font.
'Busan's Rich History of Witchcraft: A Complete Recount"
Jimin raised an eyebrow, not able to hold back the slightly disappointed sigh that left his lips. The hype that surrounded witches was just not something that Jimin could get behind, not when there weren't even any left in Busan anymore. People only became interested in them after they had villainized them, and that was what bothered Jimin about them the most.
People wrote and treated witches like animals, like they were a whole other species. In Gwangju they were treated as circus acts, in Seoul they were performers, but never were they once seen as equal. It was hard to read about them, because of all of the false speculation and prejudice that was laced between each author's words.
Jimin really did hate it. He hated it so much. Still though, he found himself picking up the book.
He ran his thumb across the hardcover, then opening the book and looking across the table of contents. The contents ranged from 'ranks and hierarchy' to 'variants of witches' all the way to 'potions and spells'. It sickened Jimin to know that they only reason they had this information was due to the fact that they had ransacked innocent households and stolen all of their spell books and recounts of their history.
'Variants of witches' sounded the most interesting, Jimin decided, flipping to page one hundred where such topic could be found. It started with a preface, explaining that not every witch dealt the same kind of magic and that each fell into a category of specialty.
It was extremely easy to fall into the words of the encyclopedia, the book being the only one Jimin had ever read that didn't speak of witches as if they were dangerous monsters. It simply told their information without prejudice.
That, was a nice change.
Jimin learned that some witches could harness energy from crystals and that some could draw power from the moon. Even that a rare form of witch could harness all four elements, however, there was one little snippet that caught Jimin's full attention.
'Green witches are the witchcraft community's lifeline. They are healers and protectors, communicating with the natural world in a way that we could never even imagine.' It was definitely intriguing, Jimin adjusting his glasses and reading further. 'This variant treats each plant as if it was a family member, so in tune with plants and animals that they seem to be able to speak to them. They usually dwell in forests or swamps, needing to be within their element to thrive.'
Jimin furrowed his eyebrows, closing the book there as his mind floated back to early that morning to the encounter with the strange male. Jungkook, his name was. It was just the way he knelt down so carefully in the dirt, how he kissed each flower before setting it into his basket, looking near apologetic as he plucked them from the ground.
It was how he was dressed in non traditional attire, and the genuine fear he seemed to face as Jimin merely spoke a morning greeting to him. Jimin's suspicions grew and grew until they reached their peak, where he promptly shot them down.
Witches just didn't live in Busan anymore.
They were terrified of the city, and for good reason too. Many of the civilians there were still scared out of their minds of witches, and would definitely report one on the spot if they ever seen one.
His thoughts were promptly cut through but the sound of the doorbell chiming, Jimin looking over and immediately smiling at the customer.
His hair was the colour of cherries, golden piercings adorning both his ears and his nose. He didn't dress strangely, just a bit more on the eccentric side with his near knee high boots and scarf in the summer.
"Good morning!" Jimin greeted, the redhead looking over to him and hesitating before flashing a smile in his direction.
"Morning." He nodded, his amber coloured eyes catching Jimin off guard for a moment. They were obviously contacts (it was the only logical explanation), but it wasn't that someone would pick such a peculiar shade. "Do you have a section on witchcraft?" He asked, regret flashing over his features for just a split second. Jimin would have missed t if he blinked. "I'm doing a report on it in school."
"Its right down that isle." Jimin pointed to the closet isle to the front desk. "The whole left hand side shelf is packed to the brim on that topic. It's definitely something people like to read about."
"Can you really blame them?" The redhead asked, smiling at Jimin once again before disappearing down the isle. Immediately, Jimin turned straight back to his book. 'Green witches are so powerful, because they have almost the entire world at their disposal.'
It was interesting to think that somebody could make sense of how the trees swayed in the wind, or what the chirping of the birds in the morning meant. This wasn't something to be afraid of, it was something to be mesmerized by, to be celebrated.
It wasn't long before the redhead was back with an armful of books, the majority being leather bound spell and potion books that definitely were old enough to have come from the witch raids all those years back. They all had something in common though, each directed towards 'fire witches and manipulators'.
"Your report is on fire witches, I'm guessing?" Jimin asked, chuckling softly as he rang each book through. "Definitely an interesting topic, I'll give you that."
"I was hoping that it would be." The customer chuckled, an unreadable expression on his face.
"Well, have a good one." Jimin beamed, piling all of the books into a bag before handing it to the customer. "Come back soon."
The redhead laughed to himself, shaking his head.
"No promises."
—
