SPELLBOUND ||TaeJin||

Part 1: Dust

"Namjoon!"

Jin banged on the now closed door of the small restaurant.

"Namjoon, open the door!"

A muffled curse followed the sound of breaking china. The thud of footsteps grew louder and the door opened with a creak.

"I said you could come visit me tomorrow, not at the dead of night!" Namjoon said, exasperated.

"We need help," Taehyung answered.

Namjoon rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He noted the stiff way Jin held himself and Taehyung's tense shoulders.

"You should come inside," Namjoon replied, stepping back to let the pair enter.

He led them to his room at the back of the shop and sat down on his ruffled bed, running a hand through his messy hair. He looked up at the two, still standing, still anxious.

"What happened?" Namjoon asked.

"She's back," Jin replied, eyes trained on the Sprite.

"Your mother?" Namjoon raised a brow.

Jin nodded, eyes hardening at the mention of the witch's relation to him.

"What happened?" Namjoon repeated, all sleep disappearing.

"She took it - our Soul," Taehyung answered.

Namjoon took a sharp intake of breath.

"She also left this," Taehyung held out a piece of paper to him.

Earlier that day, as Jin blacked out, Taehyung fell to his knees, frozen, a victim to the witch's cruelty. He watched helplessly, as she stormed through the old shop, wrecking everything in her path, straight to the kitchen where they kept the music box in one of the cabinets.

She walked back, the music box secure in one hand, threw a piece of paper at Jin's chest, "A gift, my boy," and disappeared in a shower of sparks.

As soon as Jin had gained consciousness, the pair had immediately ran to Namjoon, trusting him to know the answers, trusting him to help them.

Namjoon took the paper, examining the thin, yellowed sheet. He ran his fingers across the beautifully sketched scenery. A cherry blossom bloomed across one side while a mansion loomed at the centre. Namjoon touched the small signature at the bottom of the page.

"Your father drew this," Namjoon said, looking up at Jin.

"My father?" Jin asked, taking the sketch from Namjoon's hands and brushing his fingers across its surface.

"Yes, She must want you to go here - wherever it is," Namjoon said, pointing at the drawing.

"But how do we know where that is?" Taehyung asked, anxious.

"Maybe we should go back to the shop and you can tell me what exactly happened," Namjoon suggested.

On the way back, the two took turns explaining the incident.

"I'm not sure if you know," Taehyung said to Namjoon, "When we cast the spell, the scroll, on which the instructions were given, mentioned that if the Soul broke, everything would go back to normal."

"That would explain a great deal," Namjoon said, thoughtfully, "She wants to lure you in, using your Soul as the bait, but to where?"

"I think that's the house I lived in," Jin answered. He had been quiet, thinking, and there could be no other solution.

"We need to find the information my father gathered," he continued, "That's what she wants, along with my dead body."

Taehyung opened his mouth to protest but Jin was faster, "I need to get my memories back. We can find the house then."