and so we meet again (it must be destiny)
►recipient: for EVERYONE
►title: and so we meet again (it must be destiny)
►pairings: Kyungsoo/Jongin
►rating: PG-13
►word count: 7,500
►warnings: none
►summary: Meeting South Korea's national quidditch team seeker brings back old memories for Kyungsoo that he would rather leave behind, and in desperation, Kyungsoo searches for Jongin's secret in the prophecies.
►author's notes: Happy kaisoo reading!
It’s exactly six o’clock in the morning when Kyungsoo wakes up, as he does every day, to the sound of his alarm clock ringing out another tune from Xenelda, the singing sorceress. Sitting up in bed, he takes a long moment to stretch his bare arms over his head and squints his eyes tightly shut in a yawn before placing bare feet on the warm hardwood floor of his bedchamber and going to take a shower. Kyungsoo lives in a large mansion, converted into flats, near Camden London. He has the whole ground floor to himself, leaving him with far more space than one man and an owl really need, but he likes it better that way. He likes the quiet. It’s probably a good thing he likes quiet, considering he is an Unspeakable for the Ministry of Magic. He ends his shower close to ten minutes after stepping under the hot spray he had enchanted to smell of chamomile and throws on his robes with practiced ease. A small smile lights up his face as he thinks, briefly, about his first day at Hogwarts over ten years ago. He’d been so nervous, he remembers; so worried that his robes would be mussy. Muggleborn, Kyungsoo had often been anxious over being accepted into the wizarding world and he had made tireless efforts to look like he wasn’t completely new to the realm of magic. Now, he thinks, there is no way he could be more familiar with the lives of witches and wizards, and with magic. Unspeakables know everything.
Unspeakables are always a very specific type. Intelligent, an average appearance, excellent grades, devotion (almost to the point of obsession), and absolute secrecy were the characteristics that defined their breed. Kyungsoo had been recruited the day he had received his NEWT scores back, the highest scores out of all the students in his year, and he hadn’t looked back since. People respected him now. Admired him. Were even a little bit afraid of him (which he had to admit he kind of enjoyed). Kyungsoo smiles at his reflection in the large mirror that hangs inside his wardrobe, satisfied, and walks out into his lovely kitchen. He refuses to use magic to cook; it isn’t the same as when he does it by hand, the way his mother had taught him when he was a kid.
“Good morning, Thunder,” He says pleasantly to his large barn owl, who gives a gentle hoot in response, watching the wizard prepare his breakfast with large, affectionate eyes. Kyungsoo enjoys his breakfast at a moderate rate, reading the Daily Prophet as he sips at his coffee, smiling cynically at the trashy, inaccurate articles in the gossip section. If only they knew what he knows about people. Then they would also laugh at their foolishness. He leaves for work at precisely 8 o’clock, apparating out of his flat with a pop after opening up a window for Thunder to use in case he wants to leave at some point during the day. Sometimes the owl comes to visit him at work, to his constant delight and his friends’ horror. His friends, Chanyeol and Baekhyun both worked at the Ministry as well and were more devious and energetic as anyone he had ever met. Thunder hated them, and they were terrified of Thunder. Kyungsoo liked watching the way their eyes widened in fear whenever they saw the large gold and white bird perched on his shoulder.
Kyungsoo materializes again outside of a nondescript muggle public-restroom, where he will be making the rest of his journey into work. He walks with purpose into the men’s room, steps into the bowl of a toilet, no longer surprised by the fact that he remains completely dry, and flushes.
The Ministry is busy as usual, Kyungsoo notes half-heartedly as he strides across the marble floors, flashing the security-wizard his badge and heading towards the elevators. As usual, Kyungsoo is squished into the small space with several other witches and wizards and, as usual, everyone becomes silent in his presence, shuffling about awkwardly and trying to avoid eye-contact. Kyungsoo smiles; it’s his favorite part of the day.
The doors to the lift close after him and begin to descend underground. Kyungsoo gets a quick glimpse of each department floor as they stop at each one. Level 1, Office of the Minister of Magic, is quiet and undisrupted, as usual. On Level 4, Kyungsoo hears the alarm signaling the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures of a level XXXX crisis, and one of the employees runs by yelling something about rabid thestrals. At Level 8, the Atrium, the remaining 3 witches and wizards exit the elevator, silently filing past Kyungsoo and leaving him alone as he descends to Level 9, Department of Mysteries. Just as he exits the elevator, a flying purple paper airplane zooms towards him. Kyungsoo reaches out his hand, and the memo unfolds, dropping into his palm.
yo kyungsoo if ur here early like u always r then come visit me n chanyeol
There’s no signature, but Kyungsoo doesn’t one to know that the messy, almost illegible handwriting belongs to his friend Baekhyun. Checking his watch, Kyungsoo realizes that he is indeed half an hour early, like always. It’s a habit of his, actually. Kyungsoo hates being late.
Instead of ignoring Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s shenanigans like he usually would, Kyungsoo decides that a quick visit at the present moment probably wouldn't hurt. Plus, he can drop off the batch of cupcakes that he had baked, the ones Baekhyun had specifically requested after “accidentally” eating all of the ones Kyungsoo had baked for Junmyeon. He turns around and takes the next elevator back up to Level 3: Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes.
Baekhyun and Chanyeol are probably the only two people at the Ministry who aren’t afraid of Kyungsoo. The three of them had met for the first time at Hogwarts as second years, and they had hit off right away. Or at least, Baekhyun and Chanyeol had hit off right away with each other. Kyungsoo, a quiet but brilliant student of Slytherin house, had been reluctant to associate with the two rowdy Gryffindors, but got dragged into the mix when the crazy duo started charming Kyungsoo’s cupcakes, the ones his mother had diligently baked and sent to him, by levitating them out of Kyungsoo’s reach so they could make fun of him for being short. What they didn’t realize was that even at 14 years old, Kyungsoo knew how to plan revenge. Three weeks after consistent teasing from the pair, he had infused two of the cupcakes with shrinking potion, watching in glee as the two obnoxious pranksters, now both the size of an average six year-old, were sent to the infirmary. A few hours later, when they were normal-sized and released, Kyungsoo had expected the pranks to pick up again. What he did not expect was for Baekhyun to compliment Kyungsoo’s mother’s cupcakes. When Chanyeol, with a manic grin on his face, also told Kyungsoo that he was really impressed all the hard work Kyungsoo put into the shrinking potion prank, Kyungsoo decided he would keep the pair of them around.
Unfortunately, Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s personalities have not matured a single bit since their school years. Kyungsoo still wonders how the two troublemakers ended up working to solve magical accidents rather than cause them.
“Ayo! Kyungsoo!” a booming voice reverberates down the hallway. Kyungsoo turns and spots Chanyeol immediately, the taller man’s head sticking up well above everyone else’s. He’s standing outside his and Baekhyun’s shared office room, waving Kyungsoo over. Just as Kyungsoo gets to the door, another hand reaches out and grabs his arm, pulling him inside.
“Kyungsoo! Guesswhatguesswhatguesswhat?” Baekhyun is jumping up and down in excitement, pulling on Kyungsoo’s sleeve. If there’s anything that Kyungsoo hates more than being late, it’s people who can be so energetic and hyper this early in the morning.
“Calm down, Baekhyun, or else you won’t be getting your cupcakes,” Kyungsoo tells him. When the jumping stops, he sets the box of confectionaries down on Baekhyun’s desk. The other man beams and thanks Kyungsoo for being the bestest friend ever, a statement which causes Chanyeol to make a loud noise of protest. The room is quiet for about ten seconds, then Baekhyun starts talking again.
“Kyungsoo! You’ll never guess who’s coming to the Ministry today!” Baekhyun says enthusiastically. The jumping starts again. Kyungsoo glares as hard as he can, but unfortunately, both of his friends are immune to his death stare by now.
“Who is it?” Kyungsoo finally asks, making his voice sound as bored and sarcastic as possible. “Is it that singer girl from that band you like? The one with, like, 18 girls?”
“You mean Taeyeon? From Girls Generation? There’s only 9 of them, not 18!” Baekhyun says with a frown. “And no, it’s not her. Taeyeon’s pretty cool, but not as cool as KIM JONGIN!”
The name is screamed into Kyungsoo’s face, causing the shorter male to back up as Baekhyun stares at him, waiting for him to be impressed. When Kyungsoo ends up giving him a blank stare instead, Baekhyun looks appalled.
“Chanyeol, Kyungsoo doesn’t know who Jongin is!” Baekhyun wails. “He’s been living in his cave again!” At this statement, Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. His mansion is very modern and nothing like a cave, thank you very much.
“Don’t be stupid, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol interjects, “Kyungsoo knows Jongin. Kim Jongin, two years younger than us, played seeker, won the quidditch cup for Gryffindor when we were in seventh year? Remember?”
Oh, yes. Kyungsoo remembers.
**********************************
It’s a snowy day in late January, and the Slytherin common room is aglow with the greenish light that Kyungsoo finds so comforting and cheerful.
“Hey, Soo,” a bored voice reaches his ears as he steps out of his dorm room.
“Oh hello, Sehun. What are you up to?” Kyungsoo asks politely. He and Sehun have an odd friendship, perhaps more of a companionship, but they understand each other in a way no one else does.
“Not much. I’ll probably go get into trouble later. You?”
“Studying,” Kyungsoo replies.
“So the usual?” Sehun cocks an eyebrow. He’s the only person Kyungsoo considers remotely close to his own level of intelligence. He’s brilliant, but very lazy.
“Yes. The usual.” Kyungsoo waves good-bye and exits the common room, his bag slung over one shoulder, en route to his favorite secluded corner of the library. As he’s walking, a voice suddenly reaches his ears. Familiar. The voice he can pick out among thousands of his petty, ignorant school-mates.
“Thanks! It was a tough game, though. You Slytherins are pretty good.”
“Apparently not good enough, but thanks, Jongin.” The unseen pair round the corner, and Kyungsoo’s heart rate quickens slightly. Two boys are walking towards him, one slightly taller than the other. One of them is Kim Jongin. Fifth year. Gryffindor seeker. Kyungsoo lets out a little squeak of surprise and immediately ducks into an alcove, pretending to search for something in his bag. Jongin is...different...from everyone else. He makes Kyungsoo nervous. No one makes Kyungsoo nervous.
*********************************
“Kim Jongin, you said? The name doesn’t ring any bells.” Kyungsoo lies cheerfully, a tiny smile curling up the corners of his lips. If he’s one thing, it’s a good liar. Part of his job, really.
Baekhyun pouts and seats himself on the edge Chanyeol’s desk, nearly upsetting Chanyeol’s cup of tea, and the latter quickly moves the teacup out of harm’s way.
“Well, Jongin and I knew each other back when we were quidditch teammates at Hogwarts,“ Chanyeol says, “and I’d really love to catch up with the guy, find out what he’s up to nowadays.”
“So,” Baekhyun continues, swinging his feet childishly as he talks, “Jongin is going to stop by later and we’re going to have lunch together, and Chanyeol is going to introduce me to him!” Baekhyun beams. “Kyungsoo, you should come with us! Then you’ll get to meet Jongin, too!”
The thought makes Kyungsoo’s stomach churn unpleasantly. He doesn’t want to meet Kim Jongin again, much less eat lunch in the other man’s presence.
“I’ll think about it,” Kyungsoo finally replies, even though he has absolutely no intention of actually joining the trio for lunch. “I should probably get back to work now,” he says, checking his watch. Nodding goodbye to Baekhyun and Chanyeol, he leaves the office and makes his way back down to his own department.
Exiting the lift, Kyungsoo walks down the long, narrow corridor and makes his way to the Room of Doors, the circular room from which one is able to access every chamber in the Department of Mysteries. The circular room has 12 doors, including the one that Kyungsoo just entered through. As soon as the door shuts behind him, the room spins around--one of the Ministry’s security measures for its top-secret department. Ordinary wizards would be disoriented from the spinning, but Unspeakables like Kyungsoo would still be able to tell which door leads to which chamber. He walks over to the third door from his left and easily pushes it open.
Every Unspeakable is assigned to a specific chamber in which a specific “mystery” is studied. The mystery which Kyungsoo studies is death. Contrary to popular opinion, Kyungsoo finds that studying death all the time is not depressing at all, and can be very enjoyable and intellectually stimulating. At least it’s not as bad as Yixing’s job. Yixing is also an Unspeakable, but he works in the Love Room, occupying himself with a field of research which is impractical and complete waste of time. Love is the worst of all phenomena, in Kyungsoo’s opinion.
As for his own work, Kyungsoo conducts many experiments in the Chamber of Death. Recently, some knucklehead had suggested the idea of communicating with the dead by listening to the voices of those who have passed through the veil, and somehow this area of research was approved by the Ministry and assigned to Kyungsoo, much to his displeasure. Some wizards have quite the imagination. Of all the experiments he has conducted, Kyungsoo finds this one to be the least fascinating and unrealistic of all.
Still, he must do the work to which he was assigned. Kyungsoo lets himself in his office and lights the lamps. He then opens up his desk drawer to take out a few papers, a quill, and a new scroll of parchment. Pushing all remaining thoughts of Kim Jongin out of his head, Kyungsoo sits down and starts to work.
At exactly twelve o’clock, Kyungsoo sets aside the current experimental procedure he’s drafting and leaves his office for lunch. Sometimes, he’ll go join Baekhyun and Chanyeol for his mid-day meal, but this time, that was certainly not an option. Instead, Kyungsoo decides to leave the parameters of the Ministry building to find a bite to eat somewhere nearby.
As soon as he makes his way outside, however, he finds his path blocked by a crowd of people. Kyungsoo takes in the entire scene with surprise. Young and adult wizards alike are standing around everywhere, cheering loudly and waving around. Some of them are even carrying flags and banners.
“I can’t believe it! He’s actually here!” Kyungsoo hears someone say in Korean. Now that he’s noticed, most of the people here are Korean. Kyungsoo didn’t even know that there were so many Korean wizards living in London. Why all of them are currently gathered outside the British Ministry of Magic, however, is unbeknownst to him.
“I want to get his autograph!” the wizard on Kyungsoo’s right says.
“He’s soooo much more handsome in person!” another woman swoons.
Kyungsoo finally gives up trying to see through the crowd and ends up nudging the arm of the man next to him to get his attention. “Why are so many people here?” he asks.
The man looks at him incredulously. “Don’t you know? Korea’s national quidditch team is here for the World Cup, and one of the players is having a fansign!”
Before Kyungsoo can ask more, a mini South Korean flag flies out of nowhere and smacks him in the face. Kyungsoo glares around in irritation. There are so many people here that he can’t even make his way to the nearest restaurant. Who is this famous quidditch player anyway, thinking he can just have a fansign in front of the Ministry of Magic headquarters? Surely it would also catch the attention of muggle passersby. Even over-privileged quidditch players shouldn’t be allowed to cause such a disturbance.
Angrily, Kyungsoo starts to push and shove the people around him. Using his size to his advantage to dodge and squeeze between people, he manages to make his way to the front of the crowd.
Kyungsoo finally sees the young man sitting at a small table, looking down as he signs a gigantic quidditch poster for one of his fans. Ignoring the other fans who are eagerly waiting to get their merchandise signed, Kyungsoo makes his way towards the table.
“Excuse me.”
Kyungsoo’s words are drowned out by the loud screams of the people behind him, and no one pays him any attention.
“Hey, you! quidditch guy!” Kyungsoo shouts, marching right up in front of the other man this time. “What are you doing here? Don’t you realize this is all your fault? Do you even have permission to-”
Suddenly, someone grabs Kyungsoo’s arms from behind. He yelps in surprise, trying to shake the other person off, but the strong hands now have his arms pinned together. “Quick, stun him!” the person holding him yells, and another serious-looking wizard suddenly appears from the right, wand out and pointing at Kyungsoo, glaring at him. Kyungsoo panics, struggling against his captor, and the second man raises his wand, ready to cast the spell.
“Stop it! Stop it!” Out of the corner of his eye, Kyungsoo sees the quidditch player stand up from his seat and frantically rush toward them. “Don’t hurt him!”
At the quidditch player’s words, the wizard in front of Kyungsoo lowers his wand slightly, and relief washes over Kyungsoo. The first man, however, is still holding Kyungsoo’s arms together.
“This man was causing trouble. As your bodyguards, we must take the necessary safety precautions!” he insists.
The quidditch player shakes his head. “It’s okay, he’s just a fan. He didn’t mean any harm, and he came all the way here to see me,” he says.
At those words, Kyungsoo immediately scowls. I came all the way here to see you? Who do you think you are?! The angry feeling returns, and he is no longer thankful that the quidditch player saved him earlier.
At that very moment, a young girl bursts out from the crowd. “Marry me, Kim Jongin!” she screams, forcefully throwing herself forward with a crazed expression on her face. The bodyguards finally let go of Kyungsoo and attempt to restrain the girl instead.
It takes a moment for the name to register in Kyungsoo’s head, and by then, he’s already looking into a pair of warm brown eyes looking at him in concern.
“Are you alright?” The quidditch player says, and Kyungsoo stares at him, horrified. Of all people he had to run into, of course it would be Kim Jongin, the one person whom he had been intending to avoid.
“If you want, I can sign something for you,” Jongin offers. Kyungsoo doesn’t respond. He’s pretty sure his brain has just short-circuited. Jongin continues talking. “Where are you from? Did you come all the way from Korea to watch the match next week?” he asks, smiling brightly. There is not a single spark of recognition in his eyes, and Kyungsoo wants to punch him in the face.
He needs to leave. Turning around, Kyungsoo makes a run for it, desperately shoving people out of his way as he tries to escape. Finally away from the center of the awful crowd, Kyungsoo makes his way back inside the Ministry. Furiously stomping inside, Kyungsoo realizes that he didn’t even get a chance to eat lunch. Unfortunately, he has no choice to go back to his office now and work the rest of the day with nothing but a conglomerated mass of humiliation and rage sitting in the pit of his stomach.
Had it always been like this?
**********************************
Kyungsoo has always noticed Kim Jongin, and it’s moments like this, where he’s sneaking out of an alcove to avoid being seen by the attractive fifth year, that makes him wonder why. Why does such an irritatingly cheerful jock of a Gryffindor make his heart flutter and his face flush? Kyungsoo sighs in irritated resignation and moves on. He has some advanced Runes work that’s calling his name.
The hallways are warm and empty, most students enjoying the comfort of their common rooms, and Kyungsoo lets the seeker with the smiling eyes fall from his mind in favor of pondering the mysteries of magic. Kyungsoo loves magic more than anything in the whole world. His thirst for knowledge is boundless, something that Sehun always teases him for, but he figures that knowledge will do him nothing but good in the long run.
He reaches the library a few minutes later and walks inside with the practiced ease of a many-time visitor. The librarian greets him with friendliness, and Kyungsoo responds with a curt nod before immediately retreating to his favorite spot, a secluded window-seat in the farthest corner of the library, hidden entirely by a book-shelf. Kyungsoo enjoys the freedom that comes without having to speak to anyone he dislikes, and so he spends most of his free time nestled there with books spread over his lap and a quill in his hand. Kyungsoo opens up his work and begins to study, losing himself in the words that dance across the pages. He doesn’t know how long he’s been working when he’s suddenly disturbed by voices coming towards him.
“Here? Are you sure?” It’s the one voice Kyungsoo will always remember.
Jongin’s voice.
**********************************
“Yo, Kyungsoo!” Baekhyun comes charging by just as Kyungsoo is walking towards the lift. “What are you doing here? I thought you were coming to lunch with us!” He grabs Kyungsoo by the arm, preventing him from leaving. Kyungsoo frowns, but before he can speak, Baekhyun is waving to someone behind him. “Chanyeol!”
Kyungsoo glances back. Indeed, Chanyeol is walking towards them, and at his side is none other than Kim Jongin. How did he even get here so fast? Wasn’t he just outside signing autographs? Kyungsoo immediately turns on his heels and runs for the lift. Luckily, it arrives just as he reaches it. Unluckily, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Jongin are also taking the lift, and end up piling in after him. Kyungsoo thinks about stepping back out and pretending he needs to go somewhere else, but the doors close before he can do anything, trapping him inside.
Meanwhile, Chanyeol is making introductions. “Jongin, these are Baekhyun and Kyungsoo, the two friends I told you about! Guys, this is Kim Jongin, seeker of the South Korean national quidditch team!” Chanyeol says, smiling proudly.
Kyungsoo can feel Jongin’s eyes on him, recognizing him as the man who had gotten held up by security earlier. He feels his face getting warm with embarrassment, and he turns away. Baekhyun manages to catch Jongin’s attention and start a conversation, and Kyungsoo simply stares at the ground.
When the reach Level 3, Baekhyun grabs Kyungsoo and makes to pull him out of the elevator. Kyungsoo resists, but Chanyeol shoves him forward, and all four of them end up stumbling out. He tries to glare at his friends, saying something about how he needs to get back to work, but Baekhyun and Chanyeol simply drag him along anyway. Kyungsoo wonders why he ever decided to make friends with people who clearly bring no benefits to the relationship.
Ten minutes later, Kyungsoo is sitting in Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s shared office, listening as the trio discusses nothing else but quidditch, a subject which Kyungsoo has neither interest nor understanding in. He silently chomps on the sandwich Chanyeol had given him and wonders if he should just leave.
Baekhyun starts to tell Jongin how he had known about Jongin at Hogwarts when they went to school together, even though Jongin probably doesn’t remember him. To his surprise, Jongin tells Baekhyun that he actually does remember the latter.
“I knew you were best friends with Chanyeol,” Jongin says, “and I’m pretty sure everybody at school knew your names. You guys got pretty infamous from your pranks. I think the two of you left a pretty big legacy, you know.”
“Really?” Baekhyun grins proudly. “Do you remember Kyungsoo, too?”
“No, I don’t believe so,” Jongin says.
Kyungsoo bristles in annoyance. Of course Baekhyun would be more memorable than him. Constantly hiding in the library may also have something to do with it, he supposes.
“I do know that Kyungsoo is a big fan of mine, though,” Jongin says, and Kyungsoo looks up, startled and mildly horrified.
Baekhyun and Chanyeol both look at each other, confused. “What are you talking about?” Chanyeol asks with a frown.
Jongin smiles and leans back in his chair. “I ran into Kyungsoo just before Chanyeol came to get me for lunch,” he begins, “and he was right at the front of the crowd!”
Baekhyun’s eyes widen as he looks at Kyungsoo. “You were trying to get Jongin’s autograph?”
Kyungsoo glares at them. He opens his mouth, ready to defend himself, but Chanyeol jumps right in.
“Even Kyungsoo can’t resist the charismatic charms of Kim Jongin! Aw, poor Kyungsoo! Are you embarrassed now we know about your secret life as a Jongin fanboy?” Chanyeol cackles, “I never knew you actually do have feelings inside that cold heart of yours!”
Baekhyun and Chanyeol start laughing their heads off, and Jongin watches them, amused. He glances over at Kyungsoo with a smile, but Kyungsoo is already standing to leave.
“Don’t go, Kyungsoo! You haven’t gotten Jongin’s autograph yet!” Baekhyun calls out after him, and Kyungsoo quickly scampers away. He heads straight for the elevator and quickly makes his way back to the basement of the Ministry where he will finally be alone.
Only one other wizard happens to taking the lift at the same time Kyungsoo does, and he makes sure to stand as far away as possible from Kyungsoo and the frighteningly mad look on his face. Kyungsoo’s hands clench into fists as he thinks of the terrible way Jongin had embarrassed Kyungsoo in front of his friends.
The other man in the lift leaves on level five, glancing at Kyungsoo one more time before quickly walking away. Kyungsoo barely notices, too busy seething.
Jongin doesn’t deserve to be famous and successful, Kyungsoo thinks bitterly. Jongin doesn’t even deserve to be in Kyungsoo’s presence. Not after everything Kyungsoo had been subjected to back then. Back then, when…Kyungsoo closes his eyes. He tries not to think about the old memories, but suddenly, they it all comes rushing back.
***********************************
Kyungsoo freezes at the sound of Jongin’s voice coming closer through the stacks of books, fear coursing through his veins at the thought of his most private haven being intruded upon by the one person in the world who unsettles him. A thud resounds on the other side of the bookshelf that conceals him, and Kyungsoo jumps at the noise. His heartbeat quickens, and he quickly sinks down in his seat, hoping he won’t be noticed.
“Well, I guess it’s private,” Jongin whispers, voice honey-thick with seduction. Kyungsoo hears the rustling of robes, and the sound of lips meeting, and he cringes. Jongin is kissing someone. Jongin is kissing someone near his alcove. Jongin is kissing someone who is not Kyungsoo. For some reason, this thought embeds itself in Kyungsoo’s brain, worming through the soft tissue that he had always valued so highly to settle at his core.
“You know, you’re not half bad at this for a good boy,” a voice, breathless, whispers, pausing the sound of mouths dancing. It’s not Jongin, but Kyungsoo recognizes it. Recognizes it as the voice of the one friend he has that actually understands him. Sehun. Somehow, the fact that his Sehun is kissing his Jongin makes everything worse, and Kyungsoo screws his eyes tightly shut and covers his ears in an attempt to shut out the pain.
************************************
The lift doors open on Level 9, and Kyungsoo slowly walks back to his office. Unlike this morning, however, he isn’t able to push away his thoughts. Kyungsoo rarely has trouble focusing on his work, but for the first time in years, he finds that he cannot stop thinking about Kim Jongin.
By evening, when it is time for Kyungsoo to leave his office, his anger still has not receded the slightest bit, resulting in half of a work day gone to waste. He packs up his belongings and prepares to go home.
The idea doesn’t form in Kyungsoo’s head until he’s already out of his office, walking along the furthest bench in the Death Chamber on his way to the circular room. Abruptly, Kyungsoo stops in his tracks, then turns around and starts walking in the opposite direction. He keeps walking across the gigantic chamber until he finally makes it to the other side. Pushing open one of the many doors, Kyungsoo enters the neighboring room.
There are only two rooms in the Department of Mysteries that Kyungsoo has never been in before. One of them is the Love Room, for obvious reasons. The second one, which is the room he is currently standing in, is the Hall of Prophecies.
The door shuts behind Kyungsoo. He looks around, checking for other Unspeakables, but from where he is standing, he sees no one.
In front of Kyungsoo, as far as he can see, are rows and rows of shelves, each one glittering with hundreds of glass orbs. He starts walking towards one shelf, glancing at the dates written on the labels underneath each orb. Too old, he thinks, noting that the dates were from back in the 1890s. Kyungsoo continues to make his way through the room. The air around him is cold, even colder than that of the Death Chamber.
At the far corner of the room, Kyungsoo finally sees the book. He scurries over and picks it up off of the dusty pedestal which it had been laying on. It’s heavy, and it looks much more worn out than Kyungsoo had expected. Across the cover, in faded golden script, are the words “The Book of Prophecies. ”
The Book of Prophecies is actually a catalogue of all prophecies ever made after the Second Wizarding War, when the Ministry had decided it was a good idea to start keeping track of these things. Normally, Kyungsoo would never take risks, especially ones suggested by impulse. Today, however, he feels strangely emboldened. Opening up the book, Kyungsoo flips his way through until he reaches the “K” section. Then he scrolls through each of the names scrawled upon the pages until the reaches the one he is looking for: Kim Jongin.
Written next to the name is the exact location of the prophecy. Kyungsoo quickly memorizes the details, then closes the book and returns it back to its original location. Walking quickly with purpose this time, he makes his way to the shelves again, searching.
Only five minutes later, Kyungsoo finds himself standing in the middle of row 105, staring at one specific orb. Underneath it lies a piece of paper with the same name he had searched for in the catalogue.
This is his chance. The chance for Kyungsoo to find out what terrible misfortune would define Jongin’s life. Would it be a tragic accident? Perhaps Jongin will fall from a broomstick and break his neck. Or maybe he’ll get hit in the head with a bludger and develop amnesia. Then he’ll never be able to remember the encounter Kyungsoo had with him earlier today. The possibilities are endless, and the thoughts fill Kyungsoo’s heart with glee.
The softly glowing sphere draws Kyungsoo in. He reaches up to grab it, only to stop himself right before his fingers touch the glass. If the myths were true, then only the person whom the prophecy was made for is allowed to actually pick it up off of the shelf. Kyungsoo lowers his arm, but he continues to stare at the mysterious orb. Maybe if he looked into it, then he would still be able to see Jongin’s prophecy.
Standing on his tiptoes, Kyungsoo leans forward and peers into the sphere. At first, all he sees is his own reflection. Then the silhouette of person appears and sharpens into view. Two people, actually. As Kyungsoo focuses in on the prophecy, the rest of his field of vision slowly fades away until the entire scene inside the glass orb unfolds right in front of his eyes.
*********************************
The two men Kyungsoo sees are sitting side by side on the ground at the base of a large elm tree. One of them, the one with brown hair, is Jongin. The other man has dark black hair, and when Kyungsoo zooms in on his face, he is shocked to find that the man appears to be himself.
Kyungsoo keeps watching to see what happens next. Prophecy-Jongin leans to his right and wraps an arm around prophecy-Kyungsoo, and real Kyungsoo recoils. How dare Jongin do such a thing? He expects Jongin to get punched or slapped, which is what usually happens to people who try to touch Kyungsoo in any affectionate way. Instead, however, real Kyungsoo is shocked when prophecy-Kyungsoo leans into the touch. Things were starting to get progressively worse.
“I love you,” prophecy-Jongin says to the man in his arms, and real Kyungsoo feels a sense of hopeless dread when his prophecy-self gazes upward and meets Jongin’s eyes, mirroring the soft gaze and gentle smile on the taller man’s face.
“I love you, too,” prophecy-Kyungsoo replies. Real Kyungsoo watches in horror as the distance between prophecy-Jongin and prophecy-Kyungsoo become closer, the two of them tilting their heads and leaning towards each other until their lips meet in the middle.
The thoughts echo dizzyingly inside Kyungsoo’s head. No. Never. Impossible.
Real Kyungsoo squeezes his eyes, shut, unable to stand it anymore.
**********************************
When he finally opens his eyes again, Kyungsoo is staring at nothing but a sphere of glass again, sitting on a towering shelf among millions of others just like it.
Turning around, he quickly makes his way out of the aisle. His legs feel weak underneath him as he walks out of the hall and heads for the exit. Kyungsoo feels absolutely appalled and disgusted and a little bit of something else, something that makes him shiver despite having left the coldest room behind him. Out of all of the prophecies in the world, the one that had to be bestowed upon Jongin was falling in love with Kyungsoo.
Maybe, Kyungsoo admits, he feels a little bit afraid.
**********************************
After that afternoon in the library and that excruciating hour of disillusionment and embarrassment, Kyungsoo doesn’t speak to Sehun anymore. Not once. With surgical coldness and precision, he cuts the boy out of his life. He doesn’t want to, really. Kyungsoo wishes that he doesn’t feel deeply betrayed every time he looks at his friend, but he does, and that’s what hurts the most. Knowing that he can never tell his only real confidant why he’s angry at him, and can never see him in the same way, despite his innocence in the situation, makes Kyungsoo both sad and angry.
This is all Jongin’s fault. All Jongin’s fault. His fault that Kyungsoo fell in love and his fault that Kyungsoo’s heart was broken. His fault that Kyungsoo has lost his closest friend and his fault that Kyungsoo will never, ever, let himself want another person, for any reason, ever again.
**********************************
The next day when he walks into the lift, he’s still in a trance. All last night he had tossed and turned, unable to put his racing mind to rest.
Jongin was going to fall in love with him.
He doesn’t even notice when he gets off on Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s floor out of sheer habit, and finds himself at Baekhyun’s desk almost before he realizes where the lift had stopped. Instantly annoyed with himself, he turns to go, and suddenly finds his nose buried in the front of someone else’s robes.
“Pardon me,” He auto-responds in his usual emotionless way.
“That’s okay! My fans should never apologize to me, I love them too much!” It was Jongin.
“Oh shit.” Kyungsoo mumbles before he can stop the words from exiting his mouth.
“What was that?” Jongin asks as he places his hands on Kyungsoo’s shoulders and takes a step back in order to actually see the shorter boy’s face. His eyes are the exact color that Kyungsoo remembers.
“Nothing. Stop touching me,” Kyungsoo squeaks, darting away from Jongin’s touch and racing towards the lift, almost taking out Baekhyun along his way.
“Hey, Kyungsoo! What’s the rush?” Yells out Baekhyun, ruffled by the encounter, but Kyungsoo’s brain isn’t working well enough to respond at the moment. He’s never been so embarrassed. Knowing that Kim Jongin is supposed to fall in love with him is the culmination of all his worst nightmares. There’s nothing to be done but avoid him.
The lift dings and the doors slide open, revealing the comforting sight of the Department of Mysteries. Here at least, stupid quidditch players held no importance and wouldn’t steal his oxygen.
Twelve o’ clock arrives, and per his routine, Kyungsoo stands up from his workstation and walks to the lift, hitting the button for the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. Jongin must be gone by now; quidditch players must have better things to do than hang around with insane puppy-wizards all day. Come to think of it, Unspeakables probably had better things to do than hang around with insane puppy-wizards, but at least Kyungsoo lets everyone know that he’s evil instead of pretending to be nice and then crushing people’s souls like Jongin.
“Kyungsoo! Feel like going out for lunch?” Chanyeol asks brightly the moment Kyungsoo’s within earshot, which for Chanyeol, is a much larger distance than for the average person. Kyungsoo thinks over the offer. One one hand, watching Chanyeol and Baekhyun make fools of themselves could be a nice distraction, on the other hand, he kind of just wanted to wallow in self-pity.
“I think not, but I’ll go up to the lobby with you. I have to check and see if my package for work that I ordered a few weeks ago arrived anyways.”
“Oh, okay!” Chanyeol grins, leaping out of his chair and calling to Baekhyun that they’re leaving. When Baekhyun appears at their sides, Kyungsoo notices that both of the other men have singed robes and what looks like green slime on their shoes. He knows better than to ask, so the ride to the lobby takes place in relative peace.
“Hey Baek, Yeol, you guys ready?” Jongin’s wide smile greeting the trio in the atrium indicates that he stuck around. Could this day get any worse? Kyungsoo immediately turns on his heel and tries to hide behind a pillar, but he’s too late. “Kyungsoo! Come with us!” Jongin shouts with sincere enthusiasm. Kyungsoo cringes.
“No thank you. I have work to do.”
“Don’t be boring!” The younger man cocks an eyebrow with an expression akin to suggestiveness.
“I actually revel in my boringness, so that is far from being an incentive to join you. Good bye.” Kyungsoo manages to say with complete coolness, even though his insides have turned to jelly. As he walks away as quickly as possible, he hears Jongin say,
“He’s pretty cute. Is he single?” Oh, this was only going to get worse.
Over the next several months, Kyungsoo’s interactions with Jongin are pretty much the same, with two key differences. For one thing, Jongin had become far more insistent in his invitations for Kyungsoo to join him, Baekhyun, and Chanyeol. Insistent enough for Kyungsoo to occasionally accept. And for the second, Kyungsoo finds himself looking forward to seeing that crinkly smile that had made him shake at Hogwarts, but now only makes him feel peaceful and happy. Perhaps his interactions with Jongin are much different now than they were before, different enough for Kyungsoo to accept Jongin’s invitation to come watch the South Korea vs. Russia quidditch match, and even agreeing to go to the after-party once Korea’s team emerged victorious. The venue was a noisy pub that the team had reserved. Baekhyun and Chanyeol were halfway to drunk within minutes, bringing most of the elated Korean team with them into intoxication. As usual, Kyungsoo doesn’t drink. It was part of his Unspeakable’s contract not to take any substances that might make them lose control and reveal secrets. Across the room, he sees Jongin laughing with one of his teammates, his eyes scrunching beautifully in a way that makes Kyungsoo feel as close to ‘warm and fuzzy’ as he is capable of. His stare must have lasted a little too long, however, because Jongin seems to feel his gaze and looks up, meeting Kyungsoo’s eyes through the crowd. He starts towards Kyungsoo, dodging his tipsy and jolly teammates with a suddenly anxious look on his face. Kyungsoo feels panic rising in his chest, and he reaches for his handkerchief to blot his face, managing to knock half a glass of water onto himself with his elbow. He growls to himself in frustration and begins blotting at his robes, momentarily forgetting about the beautiful man approaching him.
“Are you okay? What happened?” Jongin asks, materializing at Kyungsoo’s side.
“Nothing!” He jolts at the question. Clearing his throat, he continues, “I just spilled some water on myself.”
“Oh, want some help?” And suddenly the only things separating Jongin’s hand from his thigh are his robes and a cloth napkin. Kyungsoo freezes, intensely nervous, but Jongin continues to wipe him off, seemingly unaware that the shorter man is staring at him in shock. When he feels that Kyungsoo is as dry as possible under the circumstances, Jongin stands back up and smiles.
“That’s better. Now, Kyungsoo, would you come talk with me for a minute?” The worried smile is back, and Kyungsoo half longs for, and half dreads the conversation he anticipates to take place, but he nods anyway. Jongin leads him across the pub and through the kitchen doors. Kyungsoo suspects that this is distinctly not allowed, but Jongin is already pushing him into a pantry and closing the door before anyone stops them. They’re alone together for the first time, Kyungsoo thinks to himself as he looks around at the walls of cans and boxes, eyes trained on anything except Jongin.
“Kyungsoo, there’s...I don’t even know how to do this, but...I want to talk to you about something.” Jongin laughs nervously as he speaks, running one hand through his hair.
“What is it?” Kyungsoo asks, almost sharply. Not because he’s irritated by what he suspects this conversation to be about, but rather because he doesn’t know what else to do. Jongin looks even more agitated now.
“Well, it’s just that...I like you. I like you a lot, and I’d like to ask you out.” A blush is creeping over the Seeker’s cheeks in a way that Kyungsoo finds very endearing. Emotions crash against each other inside of him, and he struggles to come up with an answer. After all the pain that Jongin unknowingly caused him, Kyungsoo’s not sure he’s ready to trust again. Kyungsoo has been struggling with the prophecy for weeks now, but the way Jongin makes his heart light up makes him think that it just might be okay. That maybe he doesn’t need to be ready, he just needs to want to be.
“Okay,” he almost whispers.
“What?” Jongin looks confused.
“I said okay, you dumb jock.” Kyungsoo repeats louder, the tiny smile curling up his mouth taking all the sting out of his words.
“Really? Oh, wow.” Jongin steps closer and smothers him in an embrace. After far too short of a minute, he pulls away. “Just one more thing, Kyungsoo: Why didn’t I ever notice you? At Hogwarts, I mean.”
“Because you’re a dumbass,” Kyungsoo huffs irritably, “and because--” he stops short, catching himself before he finishes the sentence.
“Because what?” Jongin looks at him curiously, and Kyungsoo turns away.
“Nothing,” he says quickly, trying to hide the smile blooming across his face.
Maybe, Kyungsoo thinks, maybe, because it was destiny.
►title: and so we meet again (it must be destiny)
►pairings: Kyungsoo/Jongin
►rating: PG-13
►word count: 7,500
►warnings: none
►summary: Meeting South Korea's national quidditch team seeker brings back old memories for Kyungsoo that he would rather leave behind, and in desperation, Kyungsoo searches for Jongin's secret in the prophecies.
►author's notes: Happy kaisoo reading!
It’s exactly six o’clock in the morning when Kyungsoo wakes up, as he does every day, to the sound of his alarm clock ringing out another tune from Xenelda, the singing sorceress. Sitting up in bed, he takes a long moment to stretch his bare arms over his head and squints his eyes tightly shut in a yawn before placing bare feet on the warm hardwood floor of his bedchamber and going to take a shower. Kyungsoo lives in a large mansion, converted into flats, near Camden London. He has the whole ground floor to himself, leaving him with far more space than one man and an owl really need, but he likes it better that way. He likes the quiet. It’s probably a good thing he likes quiet, considering he is an Unspeakable for the Ministry of Magic. He ends his shower close to ten minutes after stepping under the hot spray he had enchanted to smell of chamomile and throws on his robes with practiced ease. A small smile lights up his face as he thinks, briefly, about his first day at Hogwarts over ten years ago. He’d been so nervous, he remembers; so worried that his robes would be mussy. Muggleborn, Kyungsoo had often been anxious over being accepted into the wizarding world and he had made tireless efforts to look like he wasn’t completely new to the realm of magic. Now, he thinks, there is no way he could be more familiar with the lives of witches and wizards, and with magic. Unspeakables know everything.
Unspeakables are always a very specific type. Intelligent, an average appearance, excellent grades, devotion (almost to the point of obsession), and absolute secrecy were the characteristics that defined their breed. Kyungsoo had been recruited the day he had received his NEWT scores back, the highest scores out of all the students in his year, and he hadn’t looked back since. People respected him now. Admired him. Were even a little bit afraid of him (which he had to admit he kind of enjoyed). Kyungsoo smiles at his reflection in the large mirror that hangs inside his wardrobe, satisfied, and walks out into his lovely kitchen. He refuses to use magic to cook; it isn’t the same as when he does it by hand, the way his mother had taught him when he was a kid.
“Good morning, Thunder,” He says pleasantly to his large barn owl, who gives a gentle hoot in response, watching the wizard prepare his breakfast with large, affectionate eyes. Kyungsoo enjoys his breakfast at a moderate rate, reading the Daily Prophet as he sips at his coffee, smiling cynically at the trashy, inaccurate articles in the gossip section. If only they knew what he knows about people. Then they would also laugh at their foolishness. He leaves for work at precisely 8 o’clock, apparating out of his flat with a pop after opening up a window for Thunder to use in case he wants to leave at some point during the day. Sometimes the owl comes to visit him at work, to his constant delight and his friends’ horror. His friends, Chanyeol and Baekhyun both worked at the Ministry as well and were more devious and energetic as anyone he had ever met. Thunder hated them, and they were terrified of Thunder. Kyungsoo liked watching the way their eyes widened in fear whenever they saw the large gold and white bird perched on his shoulder.
Kyungsoo materializes again outside of a nondescript muggle public-restroom, where he will be making the rest of his journey into work. He walks with purpose into the men’s room, steps into the bowl of a toilet, no longer surprised by the fact that he remains completely dry, and flushes.
The Ministry is busy as usual, Kyungsoo notes half-heartedly as he strides across the marble floors, flashing the security-wizard his badge and heading towards the elevators. As usual, Kyungsoo is squished into the small space with several other witches and wizards and, as usual, everyone becomes silent in his presence, shuffling about awkwardly and trying to avoid eye-contact. Kyungsoo smiles; it’s his favorite part of the day.
The doors to the lift close after him and begin to descend underground. Kyungsoo gets a quick glimpse of each department floor as they stop at each one. Level 1, Office of the Minister of Magic, is quiet and undisrupted, as usual. On Level 4, Kyungsoo hears the alarm signaling the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures of a level XXXX crisis, and one of the employees runs by yelling something about rabid thestrals. At Level 8, the Atrium, the remaining 3 witches and wizards exit the elevator, silently filing past Kyungsoo and leaving him alone as he descends to Level 9, Department of Mysteries. Just as he exits the elevator, a flying purple paper airplane zooms towards him. Kyungsoo reaches out his hand, and the memo unfolds, dropping into his palm.
yo kyungsoo if ur here early like u always r then come visit me n chanyeol
There’s no signature, but Kyungsoo doesn’t one to know that the messy, almost illegible handwriting belongs to his friend Baekhyun. Checking his watch, Kyungsoo realizes that he is indeed half an hour early, like always. It’s a habit of his, actually. Kyungsoo hates being late.
Instead of ignoring Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s shenanigans like he usually would, Kyungsoo decides that a quick visit at the present moment probably wouldn't hurt. Plus, he can drop off the batch of cupcakes that he had baked, the ones Baekhyun had specifically requested after “accidentally” eating all of the ones Kyungsoo had baked for Junmyeon. He turns around and takes the next elevator back up to Level 3: Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes.
Baekhyun and Chanyeol are probably the only two people at the Ministry who aren’t afraid of Kyungsoo. The three of them had met for the first time at Hogwarts as second years, and they had hit off right away. Or at least, Baekhyun and Chanyeol had hit off right away with each other. Kyungsoo, a quiet but brilliant student of Slytherin house, had been reluctant to associate with the two rowdy Gryffindors, but got dragged into the mix when the crazy duo started charming Kyungsoo’s cupcakes, the ones his mother had diligently baked and sent to him, by levitating them out of Kyungsoo’s reach so they could make fun of him for being short. What they didn’t realize was that even at 14 years old, Kyungsoo knew how to plan revenge. Three weeks after consistent teasing from the pair, he had infused two of the cupcakes with shrinking potion, watching in glee as the two obnoxious pranksters, now both the size of an average six year-old, were sent to the infirmary. A few hours later, when they were normal-sized and released, Kyungsoo had expected the pranks to pick up again. What he did not expect was for Baekhyun to compliment Kyungsoo’s mother’s cupcakes. When Chanyeol, with a manic grin on his face, also told Kyungsoo that he was really impressed all the hard work Kyungsoo put into the shrinking potion prank, Kyungsoo decided he would keep the pair of them around.
Unfortunately, Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s personalities have not matured a single bit since their school years. Kyungsoo still wonders how the two troublemakers ended up working to solve magical accidents rather than cause them.
“Ayo! Kyungsoo!” a booming voice reverberates down the hallway. Kyungsoo turns and spots Chanyeol immediately, the taller man’s head sticking up well above everyone else’s. He’s standing outside his and Baekhyun’s shared office room, waving Kyungsoo over. Just as Kyungsoo gets to the door, another hand reaches out and grabs his arm, pulling him inside.
“Kyungsoo! Guesswhatguesswhatguesswhat?” Baekhyun is jumping up and down in excitement, pulling on Kyungsoo’s sleeve. If there’s anything that Kyungsoo hates more than being late, it’s people who can be so energetic and hyper this early in the morning.
“Calm down, Baekhyun, or else you won’t be getting your cupcakes,” Kyungsoo tells him. When the jumping stops, he sets the box of confectionaries down on Baekhyun’s desk. The other man beams and thanks Kyungsoo for being the bestest friend ever, a statement which causes Chanyeol to make a loud noise of protest. The room is quiet for about ten seconds, then Baekhyun starts talking again.
“Kyungsoo! You’ll never guess who’s coming to the Ministry today!” Baekhyun says enthusiastically. The jumping starts again. Kyungsoo glares as hard as he can, but unfortunately, both of his friends are immune to his death stare by now.
“Who is it?” Kyungsoo finally asks, making his voice sound as bored and sarcastic as possible. “Is it that singer girl from that band you like? The one with, like, 18 girls?”
“You mean Taeyeon? From Girls Generation? There’s only 9 of them, not 18!” Baekhyun says with a frown. “And no, it’s not her. Taeyeon’s pretty cool, but not as cool as KIM JONGIN!”
The name is screamed into Kyungsoo’s face, causing the shorter male to back up as Baekhyun stares at him, waiting for him to be impressed. When Kyungsoo ends up giving him a blank stare instead, Baekhyun looks appalled.
“Chanyeol, Kyungsoo doesn’t know who Jongin is!” Baekhyun wails. “He’s been living in his cave again!” At this statement, Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. His mansion is very modern and nothing like a cave, thank you very much.
“Don’t be stupid, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol interjects, “Kyungsoo knows Jongin. Kim Jongin, two years younger than us, played seeker, won the quidditch cup for Gryffindor when we were in seventh year? Remember?”
Oh, yes. Kyungsoo remembers.
**********************************
It’s a snowy day in late January, and the Slytherin common room is aglow with the greenish light that Kyungsoo finds so comforting and cheerful.
“Hey, Soo,” a bored voice reaches his ears as he steps out of his dorm room.
“Oh hello, Sehun. What are you up to?” Kyungsoo asks politely. He and Sehun have an odd friendship, perhaps more of a companionship, but they understand each other in a way no one else does.
“Not much. I’ll probably go get into trouble later. You?”
“Studying,” Kyungsoo replies.
“So the usual?” Sehun cocks an eyebrow. He’s the only person Kyungsoo considers remotely close to his own level of intelligence. He’s brilliant, but very lazy.
“Yes. The usual.” Kyungsoo waves good-bye and exits the common room, his bag slung over one shoulder, en route to his favorite secluded corner of the library. As he’s walking, a voice suddenly reaches his ears. Familiar. The voice he can pick out among thousands of his petty, ignorant school-mates.
“Thanks! It was a tough game, though. You Slytherins are pretty good.”
“Apparently not good enough, but thanks, Jongin.” The unseen pair round the corner, and Kyungsoo’s heart rate quickens slightly. Two boys are walking towards him, one slightly taller than the other. One of them is Kim Jongin. Fifth year. Gryffindor seeker. Kyungsoo lets out a little squeak of surprise and immediately ducks into an alcove, pretending to search for something in his bag. Jongin is...different...from everyone else. He makes Kyungsoo nervous. No one makes Kyungsoo nervous.
*********************************
“Kim Jongin, you said? The name doesn’t ring any bells.” Kyungsoo lies cheerfully, a tiny smile curling up the corners of his lips. If he’s one thing, it’s a good liar. Part of his job, really.
Baekhyun pouts and seats himself on the edge Chanyeol’s desk, nearly upsetting Chanyeol’s cup of tea, and the latter quickly moves the teacup out of harm’s way.
“Well, Jongin and I knew each other back when we were quidditch teammates at Hogwarts,“ Chanyeol says, “and I’d really love to catch up with the guy, find out what he’s up to nowadays.”
“So,” Baekhyun continues, swinging his feet childishly as he talks, “Jongin is going to stop by later and we’re going to have lunch together, and Chanyeol is going to introduce me to him!” Baekhyun beams. “Kyungsoo, you should come with us! Then you’ll get to meet Jongin, too!”
The thought makes Kyungsoo’s stomach churn unpleasantly. He doesn’t want to meet Kim Jongin again, much less eat lunch in the other man’s presence.
“I’ll think about it,” Kyungsoo finally replies, even though he has absolutely no intention of actually joining the trio for lunch. “I should probably get back to work now,” he says, checking his watch. Nodding goodbye to Baekhyun and Chanyeol, he leaves the office and makes his way back down to his own department.
Exiting the lift, Kyungsoo walks down the long, narrow corridor and makes his way to the Room of Doors, the circular room from which one is able to access every chamber in the Department of Mysteries. The circular room has 12 doors, including the one that Kyungsoo just entered through. As soon as the door shuts behind him, the room spins around--one of the Ministry’s security measures for its top-secret department. Ordinary wizards would be disoriented from the spinning, but Unspeakables like Kyungsoo would still be able to tell which door leads to which chamber. He walks over to the third door from his left and easily pushes it open.
Every Unspeakable is assigned to a specific chamber in which a specific “mystery” is studied. The mystery which Kyungsoo studies is death. Contrary to popular opinion, Kyungsoo finds that studying death all the time is not depressing at all, and can be very enjoyable and intellectually stimulating. At least it’s not as bad as Yixing’s job. Yixing is also an Unspeakable, but he works in the Love Room, occupying himself with a field of research which is impractical and complete waste of time. Love is the worst of all phenomena, in Kyungsoo’s opinion.
As for his own work, Kyungsoo conducts many experiments in the Chamber of Death. Recently, some knucklehead had suggested the idea of communicating with the dead by listening to the voices of those who have passed through the veil, and somehow this area of research was approved by the Ministry and assigned to Kyungsoo, much to his displeasure. Some wizards have quite the imagination. Of all the experiments he has conducted, Kyungsoo finds this one to be the least fascinating and unrealistic of all.
Still, he must do the work to which he was assigned. Kyungsoo lets himself in his office and lights the lamps. He then opens up his desk drawer to take out a few papers, a quill, and a new scroll of parchment. Pushing all remaining thoughts of Kim Jongin out of his head, Kyungsoo sits down and starts to work.
At exactly twelve o’clock, Kyungsoo sets aside the current experimental procedure he’s drafting and leaves his office for lunch. Sometimes, he’ll go join Baekhyun and Chanyeol for his mid-day meal, but this time, that was certainly not an option. Instead, Kyungsoo decides to leave the parameters of the Ministry building to find a bite to eat somewhere nearby.
As soon as he makes his way outside, however, he finds his path blocked by a crowd of people. Kyungsoo takes in the entire scene with surprise. Young and adult wizards alike are standing around everywhere, cheering loudly and waving around. Some of them are even carrying flags and banners.
“I can’t believe it! He’s actually here!” Kyungsoo hears someone say in Korean. Now that he’s noticed, most of the people here are Korean. Kyungsoo didn’t even know that there were so many Korean wizards living in London. Why all of them are currently gathered outside the British Ministry of Magic, however, is unbeknownst to him.
“I want to get his autograph!” the wizard on Kyungsoo’s right says.
“He’s soooo much more handsome in person!” another woman swoons.
Kyungsoo finally gives up trying to see through the crowd and ends up nudging the arm of the man next to him to get his attention. “Why are so many people here?” he asks.
The man looks at him incredulously. “Don’t you know? Korea’s national quidditch team is here for the World Cup, and one of the players is having a fansign!”
Before Kyungsoo can ask more, a mini South Korean flag flies out of nowhere and smacks him in the face. Kyungsoo glares around in irritation. There are so many people here that he can’t even make his way to the nearest restaurant. Who is this famous quidditch player anyway, thinking he can just have a fansign in front of the Ministry of Magic headquarters? Surely it would also catch the attention of muggle passersby. Even over-privileged quidditch players shouldn’t be allowed to cause such a disturbance.
Angrily, Kyungsoo starts to push and shove the people around him. Using his size to his advantage to dodge and squeeze between people, he manages to make his way to the front of the crowd.
Kyungsoo finally sees the young man sitting at a small table, looking down as he signs a gigantic quidditch poster for one of his fans. Ignoring the other fans who are eagerly waiting to get their merchandise signed, Kyungsoo makes his way towards the table.
“Excuse me.”
Kyungsoo’s words are drowned out by the loud screams of the people behind him, and no one pays him any attention.
“Hey, you! quidditch guy!” Kyungsoo shouts, marching right up in front of the other man this time. “What are you doing here? Don’t you realize this is all your fault? Do you even have permission to-”
Suddenly, someone grabs Kyungsoo’s arms from behind. He yelps in surprise, trying to shake the other person off, but the strong hands now have his arms pinned together. “Quick, stun him!” the person holding him yells, and another serious-looking wizard suddenly appears from the right, wand out and pointing at Kyungsoo, glaring at him. Kyungsoo panics, struggling against his captor, and the second man raises his wand, ready to cast the spell.
“Stop it! Stop it!” Out of the corner of his eye, Kyungsoo sees the quidditch player stand up from his seat and frantically rush toward them. “Don’t hurt him!”
At the quidditch player’s words, the wizard in front of Kyungsoo lowers his wand slightly, and relief washes over Kyungsoo. The first man, however, is still holding Kyungsoo’s arms together.
“This man was causing trouble. As your bodyguards, we must take the necessary safety precautions!” he insists.
The quidditch player shakes his head. “It’s okay, he’s just a fan. He didn’t mean any harm, and he came all the way here to see me,” he says.
At those words, Kyungsoo immediately scowls. I came all the way here to see you? Who do you think you are?! The angry feeling returns, and he is no longer thankful that the quidditch player saved him earlier.
At that very moment, a young girl bursts out from the crowd. “Marry me, Kim Jongin!” she screams, forcefully throwing herself forward with a crazed expression on her face. The bodyguards finally let go of Kyungsoo and attempt to restrain the girl instead.
It takes a moment for the name to register in Kyungsoo’s head, and by then, he’s already looking into a pair of warm brown eyes looking at him in concern.
“Are you alright?” The quidditch player says, and Kyungsoo stares at him, horrified. Of all people he had to run into, of course it would be Kim Jongin, the one person whom he had been intending to avoid.
“If you want, I can sign something for you,” Jongin offers. Kyungsoo doesn’t respond. He’s pretty sure his brain has just short-circuited. Jongin continues talking. “Where are you from? Did you come all the way from Korea to watch the match next week?” he asks, smiling brightly. There is not a single spark of recognition in his eyes, and Kyungsoo wants to punch him in the face.
He needs to leave. Turning around, Kyungsoo makes a run for it, desperately shoving people out of his way as he tries to escape. Finally away from the center of the awful crowd, Kyungsoo makes his way back inside the Ministry. Furiously stomping inside, Kyungsoo realizes that he didn’t even get a chance to eat lunch. Unfortunately, he has no choice to go back to his office now and work the rest of the day with nothing but a conglomerated mass of humiliation and rage sitting in the pit of his stomach.
Had it always been like this?
**********************************
Kyungsoo has always noticed Kim Jongin, and it’s moments like this, where he’s sneaking out of an alcove to avoid being seen by the attractive fifth year, that makes him wonder why. Why does such an irritatingly cheerful jock of a Gryffindor make his heart flutter and his face flush? Kyungsoo sighs in irritated resignation and moves on. He has some advanced Runes work that’s calling his name.
The hallways are warm and empty, most students enjoying the comfort of their common rooms, and Kyungsoo lets the seeker with the smiling eyes fall from his mind in favor of pondering the mysteries of magic. Kyungsoo loves magic more than anything in the whole world. His thirst for knowledge is boundless, something that Sehun always teases him for, but he figures that knowledge will do him nothing but good in the long run.
He reaches the library a few minutes later and walks inside with the practiced ease of a many-time visitor. The librarian greets him with friendliness, and Kyungsoo responds with a curt nod before immediately retreating to his favorite spot, a secluded window-seat in the farthest corner of the library, hidden entirely by a book-shelf. Kyungsoo enjoys the freedom that comes without having to speak to anyone he dislikes, and so he spends most of his free time nestled there with books spread over his lap and a quill in his hand. Kyungsoo opens up his work and begins to study, losing himself in the words that dance across the pages. He doesn’t know how long he’s been working when he’s suddenly disturbed by voices coming towards him.
“Here? Are you sure?” It’s the one voice Kyungsoo will always remember.
Jongin’s voice.
**********************************
“Yo, Kyungsoo!” Baekhyun comes charging by just as Kyungsoo is walking towards the lift. “What are you doing here? I thought you were coming to lunch with us!” He grabs Kyungsoo by the arm, preventing him from leaving. Kyungsoo frowns, but before he can speak, Baekhyun is waving to someone behind him. “Chanyeol!”
Kyungsoo glances back. Indeed, Chanyeol is walking towards them, and at his side is none other than Kim Jongin. How did he even get here so fast? Wasn’t he just outside signing autographs? Kyungsoo immediately turns on his heels and runs for the lift. Luckily, it arrives just as he reaches it. Unluckily, Baekhyun, Chanyeol, and Jongin are also taking the lift, and end up piling in after him. Kyungsoo thinks about stepping back out and pretending he needs to go somewhere else, but the doors close before he can do anything, trapping him inside.
Meanwhile, Chanyeol is making introductions. “Jongin, these are Baekhyun and Kyungsoo, the two friends I told you about! Guys, this is Kim Jongin, seeker of the South Korean national quidditch team!” Chanyeol says, smiling proudly.
Kyungsoo can feel Jongin’s eyes on him, recognizing him as the man who had gotten held up by security earlier. He feels his face getting warm with embarrassment, and he turns away. Baekhyun manages to catch Jongin’s attention and start a conversation, and Kyungsoo simply stares at the ground.
When the reach Level 3, Baekhyun grabs Kyungsoo and makes to pull him out of the elevator. Kyungsoo resists, but Chanyeol shoves him forward, and all four of them end up stumbling out. He tries to glare at his friends, saying something about how he needs to get back to work, but Baekhyun and Chanyeol simply drag him along anyway. Kyungsoo wonders why he ever decided to make friends with people who clearly bring no benefits to the relationship.
Ten minutes later, Kyungsoo is sitting in Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s shared office, listening as the trio discusses nothing else but quidditch, a subject which Kyungsoo has neither interest nor understanding in. He silently chomps on the sandwich Chanyeol had given him and wonders if he should just leave.
Baekhyun starts to tell Jongin how he had known about Jongin at Hogwarts when they went to school together, even though Jongin probably doesn’t remember him. To his surprise, Jongin tells Baekhyun that he actually does remember the latter.
“I knew you were best friends with Chanyeol,” Jongin says, “and I’m pretty sure everybody at school knew your names. You guys got pretty infamous from your pranks. I think the two of you left a pretty big legacy, you know.”
“Really?” Baekhyun grins proudly. “Do you remember Kyungsoo, too?”
“No, I don’t believe so,” Jongin says.
Kyungsoo bristles in annoyance. Of course Baekhyun would be more memorable than him. Constantly hiding in the library may also have something to do with it, he supposes.
“I do know that Kyungsoo is a big fan of mine, though,” Jongin says, and Kyungsoo looks up, startled and mildly horrified.
Baekhyun and Chanyeol both look at each other, confused. “What are you talking about?” Chanyeol asks with a frown.
Jongin smiles and leans back in his chair. “I ran into Kyungsoo just before Chanyeol came to get me for lunch,” he begins, “and he was right at the front of the crowd!”
Baekhyun’s eyes widen as he looks at Kyungsoo. “You were trying to get Jongin’s autograph?”
Kyungsoo glares at them. He opens his mouth, ready to defend himself, but Chanyeol jumps right in.
“Even Kyungsoo can’t resist the charismatic charms of Kim Jongin! Aw, poor Kyungsoo! Are you embarrassed now we know about your secret life as a Jongin fanboy?” Chanyeol cackles, “I never knew you actually do have feelings inside that cold heart of yours!”
Baekhyun and Chanyeol start laughing their heads off, and Jongin watches them, amused. He glances over at Kyungsoo with a smile, but Kyungsoo is already standing to leave.
“Don’t go, Kyungsoo! You haven’t gotten Jongin’s autograph yet!” Baekhyun calls out after him, and Kyungsoo quickly scampers away. He heads straight for the elevator and quickly makes his way back to the basement of the Ministry where he will finally be alone.
Only one other wizard happens to taking the lift at the same time Kyungsoo does, and he makes sure to stand as far away as possible from Kyungsoo and the frighteningly mad look on his face. Kyungsoo’s hands clench into fists as he thinks of the terrible way Jongin had embarrassed Kyungsoo in front of his friends.
The other man in the lift leaves on level five, glancing at Kyungsoo one more time before quickly walking away. Kyungsoo barely notices, too busy seething.
Jongin doesn’t deserve to be famous and successful, Kyungsoo thinks bitterly. Jongin doesn’t even deserve to be in Kyungsoo’s presence. Not after everything Kyungsoo had been subjected to back then. Back then, when…Kyungsoo closes his eyes. He tries not to think about the old memories, but suddenly, they it all comes rushing back.
***********************************
Kyungsoo freezes at the sound of Jongin’s voice coming closer through the stacks of books, fear coursing through his veins at the thought of his most private haven being intruded upon by the one person in the world who unsettles him. A thud resounds on the other side of the bookshelf that conceals him, and Kyungsoo jumps at the noise. His heartbeat quickens, and he quickly sinks down in his seat, hoping he won’t be noticed.
“Well, I guess it’s private,” Jongin whispers, voice honey-thick with seduction. Kyungsoo hears the rustling of robes, and the sound of lips meeting, and he cringes. Jongin is kissing someone. Jongin is kissing someone near his alcove. Jongin is kissing someone who is not Kyungsoo. For some reason, this thought embeds itself in Kyungsoo’s brain, worming through the soft tissue that he had always valued so highly to settle at his core.
“You know, you’re not half bad at this for a good boy,” a voice, breathless, whispers, pausing the sound of mouths dancing. It’s not Jongin, but Kyungsoo recognizes it. Recognizes it as the voice of the one friend he has that actually understands him. Sehun. Somehow, the fact that his Sehun is kissing his Jongin makes everything worse, and Kyungsoo screws his eyes tightly shut and covers his ears in an attempt to shut out the pain.
************************************
The lift doors open on Level 9, and Kyungsoo slowly walks back to his office. Unlike this morning, however, he isn’t able to push away his thoughts. Kyungsoo rarely has trouble focusing on his work, but for the first time in years, he finds that he cannot stop thinking about Kim Jongin.
By evening, when it is time for Kyungsoo to leave his office, his anger still has not receded the slightest bit, resulting in half of a work day gone to waste. He packs up his belongings and prepares to go home.
The idea doesn’t form in Kyungsoo’s head until he’s already out of his office, walking along the furthest bench in the Death Chamber on his way to the circular room. Abruptly, Kyungsoo stops in his tracks, then turns around and starts walking in the opposite direction. He keeps walking across the gigantic chamber until he finally makes it to the other side. Pushing open one of the many doors, Kyungsoo enters the neighboring room.
There are only two rooms in the Department of Mysteries that Kyungsoo has never been in before. One of them is the Love Room, for obvious reasons. The second one, which is the room he is currently standing in, is the Hall of Prophecies.
The door shuts behind Kyungsoo. He looks around, checking for other Unspeakables, but from where he is standing, he sees no one.
In front of Kyungsoo, as far as he can see, are rows and rows of shelves, each one glittering with hundreds of glass orbs. He starts walking towards one shelf, glancing at the dates written on the labels underneath each orb. Too old, he thinks, noting that the dates were from back in the 1890s. Kyungsoo continues to make his way through the room. The air around him is cold, even colder than that of the Death Chamber.
At the far corner of the room, Kyungsoo finally sees the book. He scurries over and picks it up off of the dusty pedestal which it had been laying on. It’s heavy, and it looks much more worn out than Kyungsoo had expected. Across the cover, in faded golden script, are the words “The Book of Prophecies. ”
The Book of Prophecies is actually a catalogue of all prophecies ever made after the Second Wizarding War, when the Ministry had decided it was a good idea to start keeping track of these things. Normally, Kyungsoo would never take risks, especially ones suggested by impulse. Today, however, he feels strangely emboldened. Opening up the book, Kyungsoo flips his way through until he reaches the “K” section. Then he scrolls through each of the names scrawled upon the pages until the reaches the one he is looking for: Kim Jongin.
Written next to the name is the exact location of the prophecy. Kyungsoo quickly memorizes the details, then closes the book and returns it back to its original location. Walking quickly with purpose this time, he makes his way to the shelves again, searching.
Only five minutes later, Kyungsoo finds himself standing in the middle of row 105, staring at one specific orb. Underneath it lies a piece of paper with the same name he had searched for in the catalogue.
This is his chance. The chance for Kyungsoo to find out what terrible misfortune would define Jongin’s life. Would it be a tragic accident? Perhaps Jongin will fall from a broomstick and break his neck. Or maybe he’ll get hit in the head with a bludger and develop amnesia. Then he’ll never be able to remember the encounter Kyungsoo had with him earlier today. The possibilities are endless, and the thoughts fill Kyungsoo’s heart with glee.
The softly glowing sphere draws Kyungsoo in. He reaches up to grab it, only to stop himself right before his fingers touch the glass. If the myths were true, then only the person whom the prophecy was made for is allowed to actually pick it up off of the shelf. Kyungsoo lowers his arm, but he continues to stare at the mysterious orb. Maybe if he looked into it, then he would still be able to see Jongin’s prophecy.
Standing on his tiptoes, Kyungsoo leans forward and peers into the sphere. At first, all he sees is his own reflection. Then the silhouette of person appears and sharpens into view. Two people, actually. As Kyungsoo focuses in on the prophecy, the rest of his field of vision slowly fades away until the entire scene inside the glass orb unfolds right in front of his eyes.
*********************************
The two men Kyungsoo sees are sitting side by side on the ground at the base of a large elm tree. One of them, the one with brown hair, is Jongin. The other man has dark black hair, and when Kyungsoo zooms in on his face, he is shocked to find that the man appears to be himself.
Kyungsoo keeps watching to see what happens next. Prophecy-Jongin leans to his right and wraps an arm around prophecy-Kyungsoo, and real Kyungsoo recoils. How dare Jongin do such a thing? He expects Jongin to get punched or slapped, which is what usually happens to people who try to touch Kyungsoo in any affectionate way. Instead, however, real Kyungsoo is shocked when prophecy-Kyungsoo leans into the touch. Things were starting to get progressively worse.
“I love you,” prophecy-Jongin says to the man in his arms, and real Kyungsoo feels a sense of hopeless dread when his prophecy-self gazes upward and meets Jongin’s eyes, mirroring the soft gaze and gentle smile on the taller man’s face.
“I love you, too,” prophecy-Kyungsoo replies. Real Kyungsoo watches in horror as the distance between prophecy-Jongin and prophecy-Kyungsoo become closer, the two of them tilting their heads and leaning towards each other until their lips meet in the middle.
The thoughts echo dizzyingly inside Kyungsoo’s head. No. Never. Impossible.
Real Kyungsoo squeezes his eyes, shut, unable to stand it anymore.
**********************************
When he finally opens his eyes again, Kyungsoo is staring at nothing but a sphere of glass again, sitting on a towering shelf among millions of others just like it.
Turning around, he quickly makes his way out of the aisle. His legs feel weak underneath him as he walks out of the hall and heads for the exit. Kyungsoo feels absolutely appalled and disgusted and a little bit of something else, something that makes him shiver despite having left the coldest room behind him. Out of all of the prophecies in the world, the one that had to be bestowed upon Jongin was falling in love with Kyungsoo.
Maybe, Kyungsoo admits, he feels a little bit afraid.
**********************************
After that afternoon in the library and that excruciating hour of disillusionment and embarrassment, Kyungsoo doesn’t speak to Sehun anymore. Not once. With surgical coldness and precision, he cuts the boy out of his life. He doesn’t want to, really. Kyungsoo wishes that he doesn’t feel deeply betrayed every time he looks at his friend, but he does, and that’s what hurts the most. Knowing that he can never tell his only real confidant why he’s angry at him, and can never see him in the same way, despite his innocence in the situation, makes Kyungsoo both sad and angry.
This is all Jongin’s fault. All Jongin’s fault. His fault that Kyungsoo fell in love and his fault that Kyungsoo’s heart was broken. His fault that Kyungsoo has lost his closest friend and his fault that Kyungsoo will never, ever, let himself want another person, for any reason, ever again.
**********************************
The next day when he walks into the lift, he’s still in a trance. All last night he had tossed and turned, unable to put his racing mind to rest.
Jongin was going to fall in love with him.
He doesn’t even notice when he gets off on Baekhyun and Chanyeol’s floor out of sheer habit, and finds himself at Baekhyun’s desk almost before he realizes where the lift had stopped. Instantly annoyed with himself, he turns to go, and suddenly finds his nose buried in the front of someone else’s robes.
“Pardon me,” He auto-responds in his usual emotionless way.
“That’s okay! My fans should never apologize to me, I love them too much!” It was Jongin.
“Oh shit.” Kyungsoo mumbles before he can stop the words from exiting his mouth.
“What was that?” Jongin asks as he places his hands on Kyungsoo’s shoulders and takes a step back in order to actually see the shorter boy’s face. His eyes are the exact color that Kyungsoo remembers.
“Nothing. Stop touching me,” Kyungsoo squeaks, darting away from Jongin’s touch and racing towards the lift, almost taking out Baekhyun along his way.
“Hey, Kyungsoo! What’s the rush?” Yells out Baekhyun, ruffled by the encounter, but Kyungsoo’s brain isn’t working well enough to respond at the moment. He’s never been so embarrassed. Knowing that Kim Jongin is supposed to fall in love with him is the culmination of all his worst nightmares. There’s nothing to be done but avoid him.
The lift dings and the doors slide open, revealing the comforting sight of the Department of Mysteries. Here at least, stupid quidditch players held no importance and wouldn’t steal his oxygen.
Twelve o’ clock arrives, and per his routine, Kyungsoo stands up from his workstation and walks to the lift, hitting the button for the Department of Magical Accidents and Catastrophes. Jongin must be gone by now; quidditch players must have better things to do than hang around with insane puppy-wizards all day. Come to think of it, Unspeakables probably had better things to do than hang around with insane puppy-wizards, but at least Kyungsoo lets everyone know that he’s evil instead of pretending to be nice and then crushing people’s souls like Jongin.
“Kyungsoo! Feel like going out for lunch?” Chanyeol asks brightly the moment Kyungsoo’s within earshot, which for Chanyeol, is a much larger distance than for the average person. Kyungsoo thinks over the offer. One one hand, watching Chanyeol and Baekhyun make fools of themselves could be a nice distraction, on the other hand, he kind of just wanted to wallow in self-pity.
“I think not, but I’ll go up to the lobby with you. I have to check and see if my package for work that I ordered a few weeks ago arrived anyways.”
“Oh, okay!” Chanyeol grins, leaping out of his chair and calling to Baekhyun that they’re leaving. When Baekhyun appears at their sides, Kyungsoo notices that both of the other men have singed robes and what looks like green slime on their shoes. He knows better than to ask, so the ride to the lobby takes place in relative peace.
“Hey Baek, Yeol, you guys ready?” Jongin’s wide smile greeting the trio in the atrium indicates that he stuck around. Could this day get any worse? Kyungsoo immediately turns on his heel and tries to hide behind a pillar, but he’s too late. “Kyungsoo! Come with us!” Jongin shouts with sincere enthusiasm. Kyungsoo cringes.
“No thank you. I have work to do.”
“Don’t be boring!” The younger man cocks an eyebrow with an expression akin to suggestiveness.
“I actually revel in my boringness, so that is far from being an incentive to join you. Good bye.” Kyungsoo manages to say with complete coolness, even though his insides have turned to jelly. As he walks away as quickly as possible, he hears Jongin say,
“He’s pretty cute. Is he single?” Oh, this was only going to get worse.
Over the next several months, Kyungsoo’s interactions with Jongin are pretty much the same, with two key differences. For one thing, Jongin had become far more insistent in his invitations for Kyungsoo to join him, Baekhyun, and Chanyeol. Insistent enough for Kyungsoo to occasionally accept. And for the second, Kyungsoo finds himself looking forward to seeing that crinkly smile that had made him shake at Hogwarts, but now only makes him feel peaceful and happy. Perhaps his interactions with Jongin are much different now than they were before, different enough for Kyungsoo to accept Jongin’s invitation to come watch the South Korea vs. Russia quidditch match, and even agreeing to go to the after-party once Korea’s team emerged victorious. The venue was a noisy pub that the team had reserved. Baekhyun and Chanyeol were halfway to drunk within minutes, bringing most of the elated Korean team with them into intoxication. As usual, Kyungsoo doesn’t drink. It was part of his Unspeakable’s contract not to take any substances that might make them lose control and reveal secrets. Across the room, he sees Jongin laughing with one of his teammates, his eyes scrunching beautifully in a way that makes Kyungsoo feel as close to ‘warm and fuzzy’ as he is capable of. His stare must have lasted a little too long, however, because Jongin seems to feel his gaze and looks up, meeting Kyungsoo’s eyes through the crowd. He starts towards Kyungsoo, dodging his tipsy and jolly teammates with a suddenly anxious look on his face. Kyungsoo feels panic rising in his chest, and he reaches for his handkerchief to blot his face, managing to knock half a glass of water onto himself with his elbow. He growls to himself in frustration and begins blotting at his robes, momentarily forgetting about the beautiful man approaching him.
“Are you okay? What happened?” Jongin asks, materializing at Kyungsoo’s side.
“Nothing!” He jolts at the question. Clearing his throat, he continues, “I just spilled some water on myself.”
“Oh, want some help?” And suddenly the only things separating Jongin’s hand from his thigh are his robes and a cloth napkin. Kyungsoo freezes, intensely nervous, but Jongin continues to wipe him off, seemingly unaware that the shorter man is staring at him in shock. When he feels that Kyungsoo is as dry as possible under the circumstances, Jongin stands back up and smiles.
“That’s better. Now, Kyungsoo, would you come talk with me for a minute?” The worried smile is back, and Kyungsoo half longs for, and half dreads the conversation he anticipates to take place, but he nods anyway. Jongin leads him across the pub and through the kitchen doors. Kyungsoo suspects that this is distinctly not allowed, but Jongin is already pushing him into a pantry and closing the door before anyone stops them. They’re alone together for the first time, Kyungsoo thinks to himself as he looks around at the walls of cans and boxes, eyes trained on anything except Jongin.
“Kyungsoo, there’s...I don’t even know how to do this, but...I want to talk to you about something.” Jongin laughs nervously as he speaks, running one hand through his hair.
“What is it?” Kyungsoo asks, almost sharply. Not because he’s irritated by what he suspects this conversation to be about, but rather because he doesn’t know what else to do. Jongin looks even more agitated now.
“Well, it’s just that...I like you. I like you a lot, and I’d like to ask you out.” A blush is creeping over the Seeker’s cheeks in a way that Kyungsoo finds very endearing. Emotions crash against each other inside of him, and he struggles to come up with an answer. After all the pain that Jongin unknowingly caused him, Kyungsoo’s not sure he’s ready to trust again. Kyungsoo has been struggling with the prophecy for weeks now, but the way Jongin makes his heart light up makes him think that it just might be okay. That maybe he doesn’t need to be ready, he just needs to want to be.
“Okay,” he almost whispers.
“What?” Jongin looks confused.
“I said okay, you dumb jock.” Kyungsoo repeats louder, the tiny smile curling up his mouth taking all the sting out of his words.
“Really? Oh, wow.” Jongin steps closer and smothers him in an embrace. After far too short of a minute, he pulls away. “Just one more thing, Kyungsoo: Why didn’t I ever notice you? At Hogwarts, I mean.”
“Because you’re a dumbass,” Kyungsoo huffs irritably, “and because--” he stops short, catching himself before he finishes the sentence.
“Because what?” Jongin looks at him curiously, and Kyungsoo turns away.
“Nothing,” he says quickly, trying to hide the smile blooming across his face.
Maybe, Kyungsoo thinks, maybe, because it was destiny.