Chapter Text
Jisung wakes up without Chan next to him, and he panics a little, especially when he notices the slight commotion around him. He sits up and looks around, spotting Jeongin’s confused gaze as well. It’s not that light outside yet, but it seems like they are having an early breakfast, if the smell that’s coming in from the kitchen is anything to go by.
He can’t find Chan and Felix, so he wonders if they are making breakfast together. He is both worried and confused as to what is happening and why they are up so early. They don’t have to go anywhere, right? Did something else happen?
“Hey, Changbin! Psst!” Jisung shakes his friend awake, earning a groan and light slap from him as he squeezes his eyes shut. Jisung ignores it and shakes him again. “Bin! Do you know where Channie is?”
Changbin blinks his eyes open at those words, a deep frown settling on his face. “What…? Is Chan missing?” Changbin rubs his eyes and sits up, looking around before giving Jisung a worried look.
“He’s probably in the kitchen with Felix— don’t worry— but I was wondering if you knew why.” Jisung pouts a little, he tries not to worry about Chan, but he can’t help but worry a bit about him. Chan certainly isn’t a morning person, so maybe he couldn’t sleep? He didn’t have a nightmare, right? Minho just re-did the peace-of-mind-while-sleeping spell a couple of days ago.
“Oh. What. Wait… I am still waking up,” Changbin says, blinking and rubbing his face again. Jisung snickers, he can relate. Changbin then looks around and spots Chaeryeong coming from the next house. He frowns at Jisung, seemingly becoming aware of what’s happening around him. “What’s going on? Why is everyone awake already?”
“I woke up from the noise and the smell coming from the kitchen,” Jeongin comments. Minho and Seungmin are awake too and the latter seconds Jeongin’s statement. Hyunjin is still asleep, apparently he can sleep through literally anything . Seungmin softly shakes Hyunjin and whispers for him to wake up.
Hyunjin doesn’t wake up, so Seungmin lets out a sigh and presses his lips together. “I’ll leave him to you guys, I’ll go check what’s happening,” he says as he stands up and walks to the kitchen, still barefoot and in his pajamas.
Jisung can hear him speak to Felix and Chaeryeong in the kitchen, and one by one, the other’s come into the room, too, encouraged by Yuna. With them, oddly enough, comes Chan. He looks slightly nervous, and Jisung feels the same nerves reflect in his stomach. He wants to stand up and talk to him, but Felix, Seungmin, and Chaeryeong come out of the kitchen and announce that breakfast will be done soon.
“Okay, let’s get dressed,” Seungmin announces before he crouches down and helps Jeongin shake Hyunjin awake. “It seems like Yuna is planning to get going with the reverse spell today.”
“What?” Jisung perks up and looks at Seungmin with wide eyes before looking back over his shoulder at Chan, who joins them. He is still in his pajamas, too, so it seems like he wasn’t planning to wake up yet either. Jisung hopes that Yuna didn’t wake him up or something like that. Waking up Chan is a grave sin and should only ever be done when he is having a nightmare.
“Chan, what were you doing?” Changbin asks him with a soft punch in the shoulder. Chan gives them a look as if he isn’t too sure either.
‘I couldn’t really sleep, so I wanted to get some water, but Felix told me that Yuna was awake as well. I was worried about her, because she was practicing alone, but she told me that it was fine, that she felt like she could ‘touch’ the full reverse spell,’ Chan explains. ‘They want to try to cast the full spell today.’
“That’s great, right?” Hyunjin asks sleepily, still rubbing his eyes and trying to wake himself up. Chan presses his lips together, and Jisung wonders what happened to his excitement and relief from yesterday. He said that he couldn’t sleep, so he was probably overthinking things again. Jisung hopes that he can find his excitement and peace of mind back during breakfast.
‘Yes, it’s good. I think,’ Chan admits. ‘I’m just worried because she was practicing all alone so early in the morning.’
“Don’t worry, we’ll keep an eye on her. We’ll stop her if she messes up or her magic is shaky,” Minho assures Chan with a kind but serious look in his eyes. It makes Jisung feel a little better as well.
He doesn’t have much time to reassure Chan, because breakfast is ready, but he makes sure to give Chan a hug before they sit at the table. Yuna tells them that she’s been working on the full spell yesterday and this morning, and that she’s confident that she can do it. Jisung doesn’t really know if he can believe her or not, and he can imagine that Chan doesn’t know either, even though he has been following their practice sessions more closely than he has.
Jisung gets more and more nervous as they finish breakfast and everyone (although a bit hesitantly) agrees to just give the full reverse spell a shot. He approaches Chan and holds his hand, giving him a serious look. He can see that Chan is nervous, his hands are slightly sweaty and his eyes waver as he looks at him. Jisung tries to mask his own nerves by smiling a little.
“It’ll be okay. No one wants this to go badly,” he whispers, signing with one hand and squeezing Chan’s hand with the other. Chan nods, his shoulders slumping a bit, as if to say that he knows but he can’t help but feel nervous. Jisung sneaks in a quick kiss on Chan’s cheek.
“If you didn’t sleep well or something…” he trails off, not sure what to say after all. Chan nods and thanks him anyway, and before Jisung can say or do anything else, Yeji asks him to step away so that they can start casting the spell.
Jisung should know what to expect, since they’ve cast a mild version of this spell yesterday, but he still feels just as nervous as he did back then. He hides a bit behind Changbin and holds his arm in anticipation, massaging his upper arm muscles to try and get the nerves out of his system. Changbin pries his hands off of his arm to hold one of them instead, just like he did yesterday, and it makes Jisung feel a little calmer.
“Okay, Chan, do you feel okay?” Yuna asks after she has taken a deep breath and shaken her hands to get ready. Chan takes a moment to breathe deeply as well before he gives her a nod. “Good. And do you think you can relax a little for me?”
Chan nods again and Yuna smiles. She claps her hands together and looks at the other witches and her friends for confirmation that she can begin. When everyone has given her the nod of approval, she closes her eyes and starts mumbling unintelligible words. She wiggles her fingers a little, and she opens her eyes again, looking at Chan with concentrated eyes.
“Good, you’ve got the basis set,” Yeji encourages her softly, yet loudly enough for the rest to hear. Jisung lets out a breath in slight relief. He looks to his side and sees Felix with balled fists, watching the scene in utmost concentration. Hyunjin has Jeongin's arm enveloped, and he almost looks more nervous than Jisung feels, his lips pressed together into a thin line while Jeongin is mindlessly rubbing a hand along his back.
Yuna’s eyes harden suddenly, her jaw tensing, and it startles Jisung at first, but then he realizes that she’s probably adding more power to the spell, and that it must be difficult to do so. Jisung looks at Chan to see how he’s doing, and he seems to be doing okay, luckily—
Suddenly Chan’s eyes widen and his eyebrows shoot up, while at the same time Yeji dashes forward to grab Yuna’s arm. Yuna lets out a surprised squeak as Chan’s mouth falls open and his face contorts. Jisung’s stomach drops through the floor at the sight, and his heart starts to beat ten times faster. His first instinct is to sprint towards his friend to hug him, but he doesn’t know if that’ll make it worse.
“Yuna, focus!” Jisu calls out, making Jisung and Changbin flinch. Changbin then steps forward, but Jisung pulls at his hand. It’s probably not a good idea to interfere when they have no idea what’s going on.
“Stop!” Hyunjin calls out in panic, at the same time as Minho tries to tell Yuna to keep her calm.
“Sorry, I’m sorry!” Yuna squeaks out loudly. She isn’t panicking, which is good, but she is startled.
“Just— Pull back a little—” Seungmin warns her, but Chan already relaxes. He is still panting a bit, but whatever happened seems to have been resolved already.
“Sorry, this was my fault,” Yeji says as she ducks her head in apology. “I shouldn’t have interfered.”
“What happened? Why did you interfere?” Changbin asks, his voice a little strained and Jisung can feel his muscles tense. He’s probably angry rather than scared or shocked like Jisung is right now.
“She was losing focus, I was trying to help her get back on track, but it had the opposite effect,” Yeji explains with a sigh and a guilty expression.
“It’s fine, let’s go on,” Yuna waves her friend off, but Jisung protests, they haven’t even asked Chan if he’s okay yet. Even though they can probably tell if he is okay in a magic sense, he might not feel comfortable continuing with the spell. Jeongin protests as well and Jisung turns to see Hyunjin with his face hidden behind his hands, his shoulders up against his ears.
Oh shit, Jisung thinks, he must be really scared .
‘I’m okay. It wasn’t bad. It was over before it could get bad. I just got startled,’ Chan signs to everyone, and Felix translates it for the people who couldn’t understand him or weren’t looking. Jisung is relieved that Chan is seemingly handling this better than he is, but he’s still worried about Hyunjin.
“He’s okay! We fixed it!” Yuna assures everyone, but Seungmin holds his hand up.
“Wait one minute, okay? I’m not ready to go on,” he tells her, and Yuna relents, her eyes growing sad as she finally spots Hyunjin, who’s hiding behind Jeongin despite being taller. Seungmin joins those two, and Jisung wants to do so too, but he doesn’t know if Hyunjin prefers to have some space in times like this or if he prefers more people to comfort him.
Jeongin makes some space for Seungmin, whispering something to the witch as he keeps steadily rubbing his hand along Hyunjin’s back. Seungmin nods and gently places his hand on Hyunjin’s shoulder, moving it up along Hyunjin’s arm until it lands on Hyunjin’s hands that are still covering his face. Seungmin’s fingers curl around Hyunjin’s, and he gently pulls one hand down.
“Hyunjin?” Seungmin whispers his name so softly that Jisung can barely hear it. The way he says it somehow manages to comfort Jisung, too. Hyunjin’s shoulders lower a bit, along with his other hand. Seungmin keeps holding onto his hand, his free hand traveling up to cup his face and drag his thumb along Hyunjin’s cheek soothingly. “This spell is a lot safer than what I was doing. They know what they’re doing. I know what they’re doing. Minho knows what they’re doing. Yuna’s specialty is casting spells that need a lot of power, and we’re helping her with the technique. Chan said it wasn’t bad, but I understand if you're scared. Do you want us to stop?”
“No, sorry, I got startled,” Hyunjin mumbles softly, swallowing thickly as he takes a shaky breath. “I’m okay if you guys want to continue.” Seungmin shakes his head and keeps his hand on Hyunjin’s jaw.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to watch, you know?” Hyunjin lets out a breathy chuckle at that statement and leans into Seungmin’s touch. He then pulls the witch into a hug, pulling Jeongin into his arms as well, running his hands through both of their hair.
“Thanks,” he breathes out. When they pull out of the hug, Jisung can’t help but run to Hyunjin to give him a big hug as well. The taller lets out a laugh in surprise, but hugs Jisung back tightly. “Sorry for holding everyone up. You can continue.”
“No worries, sorry for scaring you,” Yuna says, giving Hyunjin a sincere look.
Everyone gets back to their spots, and Yuna takes another deep breath, getting ready to start casting again. She begins, slowly getting more and more concentrated as Yeji, Chaeryeong, and Ryujin softly give her tips and encouragement. Chan seems to be doing fine again, and Jisung watches him in concentration, having to remind himself to not hold his breath in anticipation the whole time.
“Just a little more power, Yuna,” Yeji says, putting her hand on Yuna’s shoulder in encouragement and whispering some more words. Yuna groans, her forehead already shining with a sheen of sweat, some strands of her hair sticking to it. “You’ve almost got it.”
“Come on…” Yuna clenches her jaw and concentrates.
“Do you need to take a quick break?” Minho asks her, but she shakes her head stubbornly.
“No, the curse will only settle back in, I need to finish it now.” She clenches and unclenches her fists a couple of times. Jisung is slightly worried for her, because Yeji and Chaeryeong are basically holding her up by now, but Yuna keeps going. Her resolve is admirable, but Jisung hopes that she won’t break in the process.
“Almost there,” Seungmin comments. “You’ve got the most difficult part done. There’s a little left in his vocal cords.”
“I’m getting it…!” Yuna pants a little and wipes her forehead quickly before getting back into it. A tense silence falls and Ryujin subtly dashes out of the room and comes back with a handkerchief to help Yuna wipe some sweat. The only sound in the living room is Yuna’s heavy breathing, and if it wasn’t for that sound, Jisung would wonder if time froze in the house.
“Yes!” Yeji suddenly exclaims excitedly, cutting through the heavy silence and startling Jisung. “That’s it! You got it! Remove the magic.”
Jisung’s eyes go wide. Did she do it? Did she succeed? He shares a look with Changbin as Yuna makes a wide gesture with her arms as if she’s pulling a big blanket off a bed.
“Agh, come on ! Come here,” Yuna sighs and makes the gesture again.
“Be calm, you’ve got it. No rush,” Jisu tells her calmly. Yuna slows down her movements and tries again. She does some more subtle movements with her fingers and mumbles something before fully relaxing.
Chan lets out an audible gasp and everyone whips their head towards him. Jisung's heart feels like it's about to bounce right out of his chest. Did it work? The silence that falls over the room is heavy and frustrating , making it seem like actual minutes before someone finally speaks up.
“Is it gone? I removed it all, right? Do you feel okay, Chan?” Yuna asks, sounding out of breath as if she just ran a lap around town. Chan nods and even lets out a noise of approval as he gives her a thumbs up. He looks fine, good, almost. Seungmin and Yeji step closer to him, examining him for a moment. Jisung holds his breath, squeezing Changbin’s hand.
“I don't detect any of Park's magic anymore,” Yeji comments, a smile tugging at her lips. Seungmin nods.
“Me neither,” he adds, and immediately Yuna lets out a victorious shout, pumping her fist into the air.
“Yes! Thank goodness!” She turns to Chaeryeong and falls into her arms. Chaeryeong laughs as she holds Yuna up. Jisu, Ryujin, and Yeji eagerly join the hug and praise her for her effort. Jisung feels a whole weight fall off his shoulders and he lets himself breathe again. He doesn’t know how long it eventually took Yuna, but it felt like an eternity.
Yuna then runs to Chan and hugs him, motioning Seungmin and Minho to join them. “Thank you thank you!” she chants. “That was great. I feel awesome! This is why I am a witch, alright! Everyone come join the hug!”
Jisung snickers and pulls Changbin with him to join a big group hug. He swears he hears Chan chuckle and his heart swells in admiration and anticipation as he realizes that he will be able to hear the sound of his laughter from now on. He thinks that might be the sound he's looking forward to hearing most.
“Well, Chan?” Minho asks as they slowly pull out of the hug. He has a big grin on his face. “How are you feeling? Do you feel different?”
‘I feel different, yes,’ he admits. ‘I feel like my chest has opened up or something. Like I can freely breathe and make sounds again. As if a thick blanket was covering my insides before and everything was damped, but now it’s open and light.’
“What are you waiting for, then?” Changbin softly punches Chan’s shoulder. Chan pouts at his friend and rubs his shoulder, but Changbin just raises his eyebrows at him.
“Yeah! Speak your secret first words!” Jeongin smiles widely and Chan lets out another laugh, startling himself because of the sound. Jisung can't help but smile widely, because the sound adds even more beauty to Chan's pretty laughter.
'I need to practice the sounds first, otherwise I will embarrass myself,' Chan signs, a slight pink tint on his cheeks. He tries to move through the group that is still surrounding him, but no one moves. Chan sighs (audibly!) and when Felix asks where he's going, he says, 'I don't want you guys to listen or look at me when I'm practicing the sounds! That’s embarrassing.'
“If you practice, will those special words even be the first ones, still?” Hyunjin points out as the group dissipates a bit to let Chan through. Chan pauses and turns to Hyunjin before he nods.
'I'm not going to say words, I'm just going to try if I can get the right sounds out. I haven't spoken in fifteen or even sixteen years and I don't want to sound like I'm still eight years old,' Chan explains with a sheepish smile. Jisung wants to tell him to just try without practicing, because he’s curious, but he won’t push Chan.
Chan quickly hurries to a corner of the room, his back turned to the group. Jisung can hear him practice sounds softly, ‘ah’, ‘oh’, ‘ng’, ‘mmmh’, ‘juh’, ‘chi’, ‘buh’, ‘suh’, ‘ee’, etc. It’s cute, but he forces himself to stop listening. Instead, he turns to Changbin to hug his oh so huggable friend.
He wraps his arms around Changbin’s chest and hugs him tightly, tucking his head into his shoulder. Changbin’s hugs are the best, they make everything better. He was so worried that things wouldn’t work out, so worried that he had sent his friends on an impossible journey and that people would only end up getting hurt, that Chan would only end up getting more insecure. Now, those worries fade away. He still has Chan and Changbin, and he has made good friends along the way, too. It was difficult, but perhaps it was all worth it.
“I’m so relieved,” he whispers and Changbin hugs him tighter, whispering ‘me too’ into Jisung’s ear. Changbin’s hug is warm and cozy and makes waiting for Chan nice, and when Changbin gets a bit fidgety, Jisung pulls out of the hug to see Chan coming back to them, his ears colouring red again when he sees that everyone’s waiting for them, and he lets out a strangled sound.
‘You guys… If you’re all watching me, I’m going to stutter,’ Chan signs bashfully.
“You’re probably going to stutter anyways! We don’t mind, we understand,” Jisung assures him and Chan gives him an unamused look, making Jisung laugh. “Come on, it’s okay.”
Chan relents and takes a deep breath, looking at his feet before slowly raising his head to look at Jisung and Changbin specifically. At first Jisung doesn’t really think much of it, but he realizes that he might have planned to say something to them as his first words. It would make sense, because he already decided what he would say years ago. Chan opens and closes his mouth a couple of times, obviously nervous about speaking again after more than fifteen years.
“S-Seo Changb-bin, Han J-Jisung,” Chan stutters determinedly, still signing their names along with his words, and although their names are a bit awkwardly pronounced, Jisung feels himself tear up already. He sounds both nothing like Jisung imagined, and everything like Jisung still vaguely remembers from when they were young, but then in a lower tone.
Chan continues, looking into their eyes with a little more confidence now, although his eyes are a bit watery. “Jisungie, Changbinnie. Binnie. 'Sungie. I lo-love you. Th-Th-Ta— Ugh — Thank you.”
Immediately after those words, Jisung bursts into tears. Their sign language never allowed Chan to really say their names, and especially not nicknames. Chan had to do with adding his own cute little signs after the placeholders for their names to convey the same feeling as a nickname, and when he was angry, he would spell out their names rather than using squirrel and pig-bunny , but Jisung always had to look at his face rather than his hands to see what emotions where behind the use of their names. Now, even though Chan was struggling with the pronunciation, Jisung can feel and hear the relief and love in his voice, in the way he says their names. Chan said that it wouldn't be special to them, but Jisung thinks this is a very special moment.
He feels long arms enveloping him, curls tickling the side of his face, a chin on his shoulder, and a forehead from Changbin on his back, just below Chan’s chin. He tries to hold back sobs, but he has always been a messy crier, and he has never been good at holding back tears when he feels touched by something.
He hears Changbin’s slightly heavy breathing behind him and what he thinks are Chan’s shaky breaths right next to him. He is so happy to have them next to him, to have them in his life and to be able to hug them and experience these types of precious moments with them.
“We love you too, Channie. So much,” Changbin whispers, and Jisung is thankful for him, because he probably wouldn't be able to get the words out coherently through his sobbing and sniffing.
They hug for a while longer, just enjoying each other's warmth and company, listening to each other's breathing and the new sound of Chan’s soft sniffles and breaths. When they finally let go of each other, Jisung can tell that both of his friends are almost just as emotional as he is, so he softly kisses their cheeks. Changbin returns the gesture, and when he and Jisung make eye contact, they silently communicate their next move, which is giving Chan a kiss on either cheek at the same time, trapping Chan between them.
Chan laughs heartily, and Jisung falls in love with him all over again, this new part of Chan only solidifying the adoration he has for his best friend, half of his anything and everything. He can’t believe he can finally hear Chan laugh. It still feels a bit unreal.
“You guys are so cute! That was really so touching. And special.” Hyunjin sighs in exasperation, and Jisung whips his head towards him, and he spots Hyunjin’s watery eyes. He totally forgot that there were other people in the room and he feels a little embarrassed about it. Yeji and her group have already left the room, and Felix comes rushing to them to give them another hug. It turns into another group hug, everyone congratulating Chan, and Chan thanking everyone for staying with him throughout the journey, and for supporting him and being so kind to him. He doesn't tell them with spoken words yet, because he claims that he's too emotional for that right now.
“Thank you for bringing us a new family, Chan,” Jeongin tells him sincerely. His eyes are a little watery and his voice shakes a bit. “As Felix said, and I think we all feel the same, we’re grateful to have met you.”
Chan lets out a shaky breath and hugs Jeongin again. He then looks around the group and shakes his head. ‘Okay, enough crying for me! Let’s be happy,’ he signs. “Th-Thank you all.” ‘Please continue with whatever you want to do.’
Jisung can’t help but smile widely, as does the rest. They’re all glad that the stress and anxiety is over for now, and that the spell is done without anyone else getting hurt.
Felix and Minho then leave the room to go to the kitchen. Jisung looks over to the doorway to the kitchen and sees that Yeji and her group have already gathered there. They’re probably all going to prepare lunch together. How cozy , Jisung thinks with a snicker as he sees the seven of them move through the small kitchen.
“How did you decide to say their names as your first words after reversing the curse?” Jeongin asks curiously when the ones who are left in the living room have seated themselves, Chan pressed between Jisung and Changbin on the couch, Seungmin and Hyunjin together on the mattresses, and Jeongin on the chair next to the couch.
‘Well… I can’t really — ’ Chan begins, but he cuts himself off when Seungmin and Changbin tell him that he can try to speak instead of signing. Chan nods, his ears going red again, and it’s so endearing that Jisung can’t help but tug at the lobe fondly. Chan clears his throat. “I… I will be s-slow,” he says, speaking about half as fast as he signs the words.
“We don’t mind. You can practice speaking or just sign, whatever feels comfortable,” Jisung assures him. Chan nods.
“Their names is someth-thing I can’t co-convey in one sign,” he explains slowly. Jisung thinks Chan’s voice is soothing. It still sounds a bit raw and raspy and uneven because of disuse, but Jisung can hear the soothing tone behind it. It’ll take a while for everyone to get used to him speaking, but Jisung is already enjoying it. “I can only call them s-sq-sqw— hng —” ‘squirrel,’ Chan just signs instead of saying it, “that, and pig bunny, or I can spell out their names.”
Chan demonstrates spelling their names. ‘As you can see — ’ He stops himself and chuckles awkwardly before starting over, now speaking while he signs. “I mean— As you can see, that does-doesn’t have the same feel as calling them a nick-nick...name.”
“That is so sweet, oh my goodness.” Hyunjin pouts a little as he leans against Seungmin and looks at Chan with sparkling eyes. He then lets out a deep and long sigh. “You guys are so sweet.” Changbin laughs at him.
“Ignore him, he is just a big fat sap,” Jeongin says as he shakes his head in fake disapproval. Hyunjin ignores the comment and makes a kissy face at his friend, who gives him a disgusted look in return before he turns back to face Chan. “Your speaking is going pretty okay, by the way!”
‘It costs me a lot of concentration to make sure that I don’t majorly mess up the sounds.’ Chan is back to signing. ‘And I can already feel my throat getting dry. Using my hands is a lot easier and faster right now. But yeah, I need to practice.’
“I get it.” Jeongin nods with an understanding smile. He then raises his eyebrows at the rest and claps his hands on his thighs before standing. “Anyways, I think I'm going to draw because I think lunch is going to take a while, since the others are preparing something grand in the kitchen or something. Do you want to join me?”
“I think I'll read something, but I'll join you,” Seungmin says as Hyunjin nods as well. Jeongin looks at the three on the couch and raises an inquisitive eyebrow. Jisung wants to agree, but he hears Chan softly clear his throat.
'Actually…' “Jisung?” Chan asks softly. Jisung turns to face him, looking into his eyes and flicking his eyes down to his hands out of habit. Chan's ears are still red, and he looks a little shy. 'Can I talk to you for a moment?'
“Sure.” A smile grows on Jisung’s face in anticipation, which Chan mirrors. If Chan wants to talk about what he thinks that he wants to talk about, then he is certainly looking forward to this conversation. (And the things they might do aside from conversing.)
“I'll join you guys, then.” Changbin hops off the couch and gives Chan and Jisung a smug smile and a teasing wink. “Good luck, you two. Don’t be too naughty.”
“Ugh, shut it!” Jisung shivers and his ears heat up. He pushes a grinning Changbin away in fake annoyance before he resits himself, turning to face Chan properly. Chan crosses his legs and faces him as well. Jisung mirrors the position and shuffles closer, so that his and Chan’s knees are touching. “What did you want to talk about?” he asks, giving Chan a curious smile, and admiring his pink cheeks.
“I want… I want to a-apolo— say s-sorry,” Chan stutters, getting a bit frustrated with speaking, if the way his fingers tense while signing is anything to go by. He continues, anyway. “For making you w-wait so long.”
Jisung shakes his head quickly, leaning forward and placing his hands onto Chan’s knees. “No, don’t apologize,” Jisung says, giving Chan a serious look. If Chan thinks that he needs to apologize for this , then Jisung has a long list of apologies to tick off himself. He raises his hands again unconsciously so that he can sign along with his words. “I have waited too long myself. If I only could have given you more confidence—”
“No.” Chan shushes him, holding a finger up to Jisung’s lips. He then chuckles awkwardly. “Y-You know w-w…” He lets out a sigh. ‘You know what? Let’s not get into this. My confidence has nothing to do with you not giving me enough,’ he signs. ‘And let’s not ruin the mood before I can tell you my good news. I’m sorry for starting with an apology. Let me try again and start on a happier note this time.’
“Good idea,” Jisung says with a smile. Chan takes a deep breath, taking a moment to prepare himself to start speaking again.
“I th-think that now,” ‘now that my curse is reversed , ’ “I can pro-prop—properly give myself to you,” Chan tells him. His slow speaking is a big contrast to how quickly he signs, and it keeps Jisung from being too impatient, but he does still have to wait for Chan to finish talking. “I s-still have to p-prac—” ‘practice. A lot. Obviously,’ “But I hope that you’ll be pa-patient with me. And that you’ll laugh at my—” Chan clears his throat, “—att-attempts at not st-stut-stuttering.”
Chan lets out a long and deep sigh that comes all the way from his toes, when he finishes speaking and Jisung laughs at his friend’s exhausted expression. He’s really trying his best to speak, and Jisung can tell that he’d rather go back to signing, but he probably realizes more than anyone that if he wants to speak easily— and he wants to , Jisung knows it although Chan won’t admit it too often— he needs to get used to it first.
“Don’t worry, I like the combination of sign language and speaking, too. It’s creative, and it keeps me on my toes,” Jisung says with a chuckle. He then gives Chan a reassuring look. “And I’ll be patient. If I get tired of your slow speaking, I’ll shut you up with a kiss.”
Chan’s eyes go wide and Jisung suddenly feels like he’s jumped ahead too much and that he’s misinterpreting and/or ruining Chan’s moment. “I— I mean— That’s what you meant by, uhm, give yourself to me, right? No wait— I mean, like— We can— I was partly joking— Actually, not really— You know what? I’ll shut up. You can finish,” Jisung sputters, trying to save himself, but Chan only adds to his embarrassment by laughing at him. The loveliness of his laugh soothes Jisung’s awkwardness, but doesn’t completely heal him.
‘You were right. What I meant is that now that I can try to audibly tell you sweet words while giving you proper physical affection as well, I want to do that,’ Chan clarifies with a fond smile. He belatedly realizes that he wasn’t speaking and presses his lips together in a sheepish smile. “W-Would you like to— to be with me? Can I off-offi— ugh… officially call you… mine?”
Jisung feels a face-splitting smile spreading his lips, a blush heating up his cheeks at the statement. He knew this was coming, but to hear it from Chan— to actually hear the words coming from his friend, who he has been silently pining for for so long— it makes Jisung feel like the happiest he’s been in a long while.
He nods enthusiastically, leaning forward a bit. “Of course you can, Channie,” he says. “Will you allow me to return the favour and love you with all I can?”
Chan’s eyes flick away from him and he smiles as well, before looking back into his eyes and nodding. Jisung is glad that Chan gathered the courage to tell him this so soon already, and that he seems ready to accept Jisung’s feelings now, which means that he might believe that he’s worth it— that he’s worth it to be loved. And he is worth Jisung’s love. He’s worth his love and so much more.
He tries to convey exactly those feelings while looking into Chan’s eyes, but he doesn’t expect Chan to be looking back at him with an equally intense gaze, his eyes shining with love and adoration. It makes Jisung’s stomach contract involuntarily, trying to contain the storm of butterflies arising there.
Suddenly, the two of them are a lot closer than before— When did that happen? —their noses only a centimeter away from brushing. Jisung’s gaze falters first, his eyes flicking down to Chan’s pretty pink lips. They are slightly parted and Jisung almost can’t hold himself back from leaning in anymore, but he realizes in time that he should ask , because he doesn’t want a repeat of what happened last time when he mindlessly kissed Chan.
“Kiss me?” he asks in a breathy whisper. It comes out shakier than planned, but Chan doesn’t seem to pay it any mind as lets out a hum while he cups Jisung’s warm cheeks with his cold hands. Chan takes his time, and even though Jisung is eager to kiss him, he doesn’t really mind. He enjoys Chan’s fingers which softly caress his cheeks, their noses lightly brushing together. Chan’s eyes flutter close as he closes the small gap left between them, pressing his lips against Jisung’s as he guides Jisung’s head so that he tilts into the kiss.
Jisung leans into the touch, reveling in how gently Chan handles him, even though he certainly wouldn't mind it if Chan would kiss him a little rougher, but that's for another day. For now, he kisses Chan back with urgency, but he keeps it soft, taking the time to enjoy the warm feeling spreading throughout his body.
Whenever they part for air, it doesn’t take long for one of them to dive back in, both of them never getting enough of kissing the other. Chan's fingers caress Jisung’s cheeks, moving to his jaw and neck every once in a while, while Jisung has his hands rested on Chan's chest, steadying himself so that he doesn't fall face first into Chan's lap. He can feel Chan's rapid heartbeat through his shirt, matching the rhythm of Jisung’s own heart.
As they part for the nth time, Jisung takes a deep breath and leans his forehead against Chan's forehead before he pokes his right pointer finger into Chan's left breast and draws a circle there. “I love you,” he adds, a little redundantly.
Chan takes a sharp breath and lets out a whimper. Jisung lets out a breath, suddenly feeling a bit nervous. Maybe he went too far by already admitting his romantic feelings to him, but he’s sure about them. He has known Chan for too long to not be certain about this, but he wouldn’t mind it if Chan would need some more time before he’d return the words.
“I love you, too,” Chan answers surprisingly smoothly, drawing a circle on the left side of Jisung’s chest, signifying the romantic meaning of the words, just like Jisung did. His heart jumps up into his throat in surprise, but also in happiness, happy to hear the words and happy that Chan is confident enough to return the words. Jisung kisses him again, because he really wants to. The more he kisses Chan, the more he gets addicted to it, but Chan doesn’t seem to mind it at all.
Only when lunch is ready, the two of them are forced to part for longer than a couple of seconds. Jisung feels a little shy when the others look at them with meaningful eyes, probably noticing his and Chan’s rosy cheeks. They don’t ask them about it, luckily, they’ll tell the rest when they’ve come down from the high of a confession.
“So, what are you going to do now?” Yeji asks them, and Jisung realizes that they never talked about what comes after , about what they’re going to do after they’ve succeeded in reversing Chan’s curse. At first Jisung thought it would only take them a couple of days, maybe two weeks, to find a witch and get Chan’s curse reversed, but as their journey continued, he began to believe that it might take them months, perhaps even more than a year to get this curse reversed.
When they met Yeji and her group, however, things began moving a lot quicker, and overall, Jisung thinks it’s only been a little more than three months in total. It both seems so long yet so short. It seems ages ago that they met Minho and Seungmin in the forest, but it seems like they’ve only spent such a short amount of time together in total. If he’s honest with himself, he isn’t ready to say goodbye to his newly made friends— no, family—yet. They’ve been through so much together—mostly difficult times but also happy times in between—it would be a shame to part ways so soon, before they can really spend time together without any other obligations.
He looks around the table, and feels like his feelings about the situation are reflected in everyone else’s eyes. That makes him feel a little better, but the question Yeji asked still remains, what are they going to do now? Where will they go?
“I’m not sure what we’ll do next, but I’d like for the eight of us to stay together.” Jisung speaks up first of the group, but the rest all nod, some voicing their agreement as well. A satisfied smile grows on Jisung’s face, happy to have confirmation that everyone feels the same as he does. “If anyone has suggestions on where we could go next, I’d love to hear it. I’m not particularly eager to go home, my home is with Chan and Changbin, so I’m fine to be anywhere as long as I’m with them. And with you guys, perhaps.”
“I feel the same,” Jeongin says. “I’d prefer it not to go home even. I feel way more at home with you guys, if I’m honest.”
“You guys could stay here, if you want. People here are welcoming, and I think witches like you guys, Seungmin, Minho, will fit in here particularly well.” Chaeryeong suggests. Jisung wouldn’t mind that, but when he looks around the table, he sees that Felix feels different about that. Minho notices it as well and softly nudges the forest spirit, silently encouraging him to speak up.
“I… However much I loved travelling and exploring new places, I’d like to go back to my forest—or at least somewhere close to it—someday. I have to admit that I miss the forest, and the forest might miss me , too…” Felix admits, fidgeting a bit with his antler. “I’d love to stay with you guys, too, though. And we don’t have to go back right away, I’d like to explore some more, but I would also like to go back there someday.”
“Of course,” Hyunjin assures Felix with a gentle touch to his shoulder. “We’ll find something.”
“We could travel a little further east, I’ve heard that there’s a big library there, which I’ve always wanted to see,” Seungmin suggests. “I’m sure we’ll be able to find maps of the country there, so that we can find an easy way back to the forest. If we haven’t decided what to do by then, we could all stay at Minho and my house in the forest until we figure it out, or until we stumble upon another adventure.”
“That means we’ll pass through the forest east of here, right? Sounds good to me.” Felix agrees all too easily, smiling when Seungmin nods in confirmation of there being a possible forest in their near future.
“I thin-think that sounds good,” Chan says, and Jisung is happily surprised to hear him speak up in a conversation with so many people, while everyone is listening to him. He reaches out to Chan’s hand that is folded onto his lap under the table, squeezing it fondly, and he feels Changbin doing the same.
“If you guys happen to pass by here while on your way back, swing by us to say hello! We’d love to hear your stories,” Jisu tells them sincerely. She then seems to realize something and she holds her hand up. “Wait— You know what? If you want, we’ll give you a beacon stone, we’ll be able to find each other more easily that way. It’s like this magic based on—”
“Forest beacons?” Felix interrupts her, standing up and placing his hands on the table, leaning forward while he looks at Jisu with big and sparkling eyes. Jisu nods and Yuna gasps, muttering something like ‘He’s a forest spirit, of course!’ . Jisung perks up.
“Like that time we went looking for Chan in the forest and you gave us a pinecone?” He remembers it all too well, as well as the confusion as to how a pinecone could help Felix locate them. It was magic, of course, but it was forest spirit magic, apparently.
“Yes!” Felix nods happily.
“Anyway, I wouldn’t mind that, I guess… You guys have kind of grown on me after all of those days squished in your small back room,” Minho says with a shrug. Jisung agrees as well. He was wary of Yeji and the rest at first, but during the days they spent together, they’ve only been kind to them, and they’ve shared nice conversations during meals together.
With that, they’ve decided what to do, and they get to packing, planning to leave tomorrow morning, after a big celebratory dinner which Ryujin insisted they’d have, even after they’ve already had a big lunch. Their last night at the house is spent festively, thanks to the enthusiasm of Yeji and her friends, and they spend it eating and talking and even singing a little. Chan doesn’t want to try singing yet, because he bit his tongue earlier and he’s too embarrassed to speak for a while.
When they turn in for the night, for the last time on the ‘borrowed’ mattresses on the floor, Changbin gives Chan and Jisung a pressing look.
“So,” he begins, clearing his throat. The action brings the attention and curiosity of the rest of the group with it, especially Hyunjin eyeing the two with big eyes. “Did you guys talk ?”
Jisung smiles and shares a look with Chan. When their eyes meet, Jisung decides that the best way to answer that question is to press a soft and gentle kiss to Chan’s lips. Chan’s eyes close automatically when Jisung leans in, and so he confidently presses their lips together. That earns him a few gasps, but he tries not to feel shy about it. Before he can turn around to check everyone’s expressions, Changbin jumps at them to give them a big hug.
“Yes! Finally,” Changbin breathes out. Jisung laughs as he supports Changbin’s weight and hugs him back tightly. “That is really the best present after reaching this milestone of reversing Channie’s curse. You have no idea how happy it makes me that you guys finally got over your insecurities and can share this lovely feeling together.”
Jisung almost tears up at the words, but he promised himself not to cry so often anymore. He instead shows how touched he is by the words by giving Changbin a wet smooch on the side of his head. Changbin backs up a little and pulls an exaggeratedly sour face, before giving Jisung a smooch right back, on the centre of his forehead.
“Did you use the romantic I love you sign already?” Hyunjin asks then, drawing a circle on the side of his chest, and Jisung is surprised that he actually remembered the sign. Jeongin slaps Hyunjin, hissing at him to not be so nosy, but Jisung only laughs at the cute question.
“I’m not going to ask you and Seungmin the same question, am I?” Jeongin scolds Hyunjin. Seungmin sputters a little, and Hyunjin blushes, but Jisung tells Jeongin that it’s okay.
“We did, actually,” he mumbles, a little shy to admit it, but he has loved Chan for so long that he shouldn’t be afraid to tell everyone. Chan blushes adorably and Jisung bumps their shoulders together.
When he looks around the room, he sees everyone smiling for once, and he is happy to see that his love can bring not only Chan, but also the others a smile on their faces.
“Congratulations,” Minho tells them sincerely, and after he has said that, Chan disentangles himself from Changbin and Jisung to crawl forward, motioning Jisung to come with him. Jisung is a little confused about what his plan is, but he follows him either way. Minho gives them a curious look as well, and his eyes widen when Chan wraps his arms around the witch, giving him a hug.
Jisung now understands what’s going on and eagerly joins the hug. Minho sputters in confusion, but he returns the hug nonetheless, wrapping his arms around Chan and Jisung’s waists. “What— What is this for?”
“Th-Thank you,” Chan tells him, his words full of gratefulness despite his inexperienced way of speaking. Jisung waits for him to say something else, but when he doesn’t, he feels like he can clarify their impromptu hugging session a bit.
“You were there for us when we were insecure about our feelings, Minho, that’s what it is for.” Minho was there to support Changbin in dealing with Jisung and Chan at their most insecure, despite everyone being tired and kind of stressed out, Minho forced them to talk when even Changbin couldn’t. Minho has been cooking for them a lot, and generally he has really proven to be a kind person despite his awful first impression. Everyone has really outdone themselves compared to their first impression (except for Felix, Jisung already saw from the first second that he would be kind), but Minho deserves a hug for especially helping him and Chan out with their feelings when they were at their most insecure.
“You guys are exaggerating,” Minho murmurs shyly. Jisung snickers and pulls out of the hug, seeing Chan pat Minho on the head fondly. Chan then thanks everyone else for supporting him one more time before they all go to sleep.
Tomorrow will be the start of another long couple of days of travelling and sleeping outside. Jisung certainly didn’t miss sleeping outside, but he has to admit that he’s looking forward to travelling without a time limit, without any obligations or added worries, finally having time to actually explore and appreciate the places they’ll go. Most importantly, he is looking forward to spending more time with everyone, having more late night conversations and getting to know everyone even better.
He is sure that once they get used to not having a common goal anymore, they’ll find new goals together, and that eventually, they’ll find a place to settle down near the forest, together , perhaps even finding a real home in each other.
The End.