Minwoo at Hogwarts Castle
Title: Lost and Found
Character(s) / pairing(s): Mino / Jinwoo, Seunghoon, Taehyun, Seungyoon, some others from YG.
Rating: PG
Word count: +/- 9000
Note: written for the minwoo 2015 fic fest. Prompt: "Harry Potter AU with curious Ravenclaw Jinwoo and teasing Gryffindor Mino." I've always wanted to write a Hogwarts fic, so I'm glad to finally have done so! I've tried my best to recreate the atmosphere of Hogwarts, as well as to write a nice minwoo fic, and I hope I've succeeded in both.
Summary: Mino keeps running into a certain Ravenclaw in the hallways (and doesn't mind in the slightest). Minwoo Hogwarts AU.
Lost and Found
The first time Mino sees Kim Jinwoo it's September.
The trees have lost their vibrant summer hue, but the weather is still warm, the castle's many towers accentuated by a blue sky. None of that matters to the fifth-years of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, however, as all their time is spent studying inside.
(No, Mino isn't complaining. Except for the part where, yes, he totally is).
This very morning Mino isn't studying, though. Instead he's speed-walking towards his Defense Against The Dark Arts class, which he'll be late for if he's not there in thirty seconds. Considering that the classroom is still a dozen corridors and staircases away, that might be too much of a feat, even for him.
As he's about to climb his fourth staircase that morning, he spots another person standing in the hallway. So far all the corridors have been empty, so the sight of a fellow student running late is a welcome one. Sorrow shared is sorrow halved, and all that.
“Better hurry up, pal,” Mino says as he pauses on the first step, “classes are about to start.”
The other guy seems startled by his voice as he abruptly turns around. “Oh,” the guy says - he's wearing the bronze and blue of Ravenclaw, Mino notes - “I'm not late. I have first period off.”
“Lucky you,” Mino says heartfelt. Waking up early is hard, is all. “I'd better get going, or Professor Lee Chaerin is gonna skin me alive.”
The way the guy winces sympathetically at him confirms his ominous prediction. Mino gulps in advance - he's always had a flair for drama - and then bolts up the stairs.
“Wish me luck!” he calls out as way of good-bye.
“Good luck!” comes the dutiful reply, and Mino hopes that will do.
In the end even luck can't save him as Professor Lee assigns him a ten-page essay to be handed in next class.
In her defense: it had been the second time he was late this term. In his own defense: ...well, he doesn't really have one.
Yet, as fortune has it, that is also how he runs into Jinwoo for the second time. He's leaving the library shortly before closing time with what feels like half the section of DADA books underneath his arm. He's never visited the library this late, and doesn't plan to do so again: he could be playing Exploding Snap in the cosy common room instead.
His self-pity quickly makes way for surprise when he spots the guy from a few days back. Once again they're the only ones in the dimly-lit corridor: the Ravenclaw is slowly coming his way, looking up and down as though observing his surroundings. Mino tries to catch his attention by waving, and temporarily forgets that he's carrying ten kilos worth of dusty tomes - which as a result tumble on the floor with a loud crash. Mino curses under his breath.
That is when the other guy finally glances in his direction, however, and even hurries towards him to give him a hand. As he kneels down to help collect all the books, a look of recognition appears on the guy's face. “Ah, you're from a few days back!” the Ravenclaw exclaims, “the late-runner.”
Mino nods in confirmation and smiles a little ruefully at the nickname.
The other student scans the title of the book he is holding. “A Guide To Creatures In The British Isles... did you get detention?”
“Nah, I'm reading these for fun,” Mino jests. Upon the guy's stunned look, Mino laughs and says: “Of course not. Ten-page essay, to be handed in next class. On Ghouls.”
The guy gives him a sympathetic look. “Yeah, Mrs. Lee doesn't go easy on you.”
“Tell me about it. Why are you up this late, library visit as well?”
“No,” the guy replies as he hands him the last couple of books and rises to his feet, “I was just looking around here and there.”
Mino also gets up and looks about him. There's nothing particularly interesting to see - unless you're interested in medieval castle corridors. Which, granted, is interesting at first, but after five years they all start looking the same.
“Okay,” Mino says anyway, “cool.”
He doesn't really know what else to say, which doesn't happen too often. Just now he's really noticing how handsome the other guy is. He has a symmetric face with kind, brown eyes not unlike a deer. Like the ones he'd sometimes feed bread in the park when he was younger, and he didn't know anything yet about wizards and wands and magic.
“...probably have to get back,” he hears and just now Mino realises the other guy had been talking while he'd been busy staring. Mino clears his throat and feels a faint flush creep up his cheeks.
“Okay,” he says, again, and then adds: “I'd also better get back, before Filch turns my ten-page essay into a life sentence.”
It's kind of a lame joke but the other guy laughs anyway, eyes crinkling pleasantly. Mino feels himself mimicking his smile.
“And thanks for the help,” he adds sincerely, “that was nice of you.”
“No problem, of course! Good luck with your essay,” the guy replies. He waves and then walks off in the direction of where the Ravenclaw common room is situated. Mino goes the opposite way.
It's only when he steps through the portrait hole that he realises he didn't even get the guy's name.
The rest of September goes by in a sequence of classes, homework, and more detention (he really couldn't help that third time: Seunghoon had bewitched his alarm to retaliate for the time he'd stolen all his cookies).
The weather continues to be bright and sunny. During the weekends Mino walks around the school grounds with his fellow-year Gryffindors, enjoying the last remnants of summer. Some of his friends are on the Quidditch team, and he likes to watch them train. Their scarlet uniforms shine in the golden autumn sun when they take off, their Nimbusses and Firebolts a mere blur. Sometimes Mino feels envious at their speed - not to mention their awesome Quidditch robes - but then he remembers he's actually scared of heights. (His first and only try-out for the team was disastrous for exactly that reason, though if anyone's asking, it was really the unstable weather that made him flail).
Mino has gotten a few glimpses of the Ravenclaw guy over breakfast and dinner, when he scans the other tables in the Great Hall. He's never had much interest in the House before - Gryffindors and Ravenclaws don't interact much, is all - but for some reason he can't quite put this particular student out of his mind.
But there aren't any further run-ins and he is pretty busy anyway.
October arrives and the trees assume their orange colour. From the windows of their classroom, the Forbidden Forest looks like a bronze, glowing carpet.
They're half-way their Transfiguration class when Seunghoon, as ever seated next to him, casually passes him a note.
what for halloween this year?
Mino pauses for a moment as he ponders this. Every year he and Seunghoon - friends since they sat next to each other on the Gryffindor table after Sorting - have come up with Halloween costumes. They've already been vampires, trolls and evil pumpkins.
Mino starts sketching an idea, when a voice interrupts him. With a shock he realises it's professor Kwon, standing right in front of his desk. His orange hair - changed to match the season, no doubt - stands out against the black of his Teacher's robes.
“While I'm all for creativity in my classroom, Song,” Kwon drawls, emphasizing his last name, “I suggest you use it for Transfiguring this pillow instead of sketching Halloween costumes.”
“Yes, sir,” Mino hastily says, stuffing his paper underneath his book. He doesn't know how Kwon knows what he was designing. Sometimes he has the sneaking feeling he can read minds.
Professor Kwon gives Seunhoon's white pillow a critical glance and then casually taps it with his wand. It transforms into a red one with ruffles. “See? Creativity.”
Seunghoon and he nod in unison. “Noted, sir.”
Professor Kwon quirks his eyebrow as if in amusement (something that scares Mino more than anything, to be honest) and then adds, before walking on to the next aisle, “By the way, if you're going to design a costume, don't go with zombies. So tacky.”
Mino's mouth falls open. Seunghoon gives him a sideways glance and hisses, “Zombies? Really?”
Mino shrugs, as if to say: I'm not the fashion designer here but then remembers their pillow mission. Right.
Soon Halloween is around the corner and the castle gets decorated with giant pumpkins, floating candles and flying bats. Mino and Seunghoon take it as their cue to finally wear their custom-made ghost costume, created from the finest linen (in reality made from an old rag no-one would miss, but: details).
Seunghoon also takes it as his cue to scare every first-year that crosses his path. His 'BOO!' when sneaking up on them is only trumped by the high-pitched shrieks that follow without fail.
“Oh, but they're cute,” Seunghoon says when Mino points out that maybe he shouldn't traumatise eleven-year-olds, “and they'll get over it - in fact, they'll only become stronger for it.”
They're on their way back to the common room when Mino suddenly spots a familiar face in the crowd. Ravenclaw boy. Mino is spared the need for an excuse when at that exact moment another group of first-years walks by and Seunghoon dashes off to fulfill his ghostly duties.
“Hey!” Mino says, happily walking over to greet his hallway acquaintance.
He is met with a look of mild shock. Not the reaction he was hoping for - before Mino realises he's still wearing his costume.
“Oh,” he says and lifts the mask from his face. “Halloween costume,” he says by way of explanation. Now an expression of recognition appears on the guy's face.
“The late-runner!”
“Hey, I have a name,” he says in protest, though truthfully, he's glad the guy still remembers him at all. “Song Mino.”
“Hello Mino,” the other guy dutifully says, and extends a hand. “Kim Jinwoo.”
Mino carefully files the name away. “Hello Jinwoo,” he greets, shaking his hand.
They smile at one another.
“I think this is the first time I've seen a ghost smile,” Jinwoo remarks and Mino laughs.
“I'm a friendly ghost,” Mino says, “as long as I get my candy.”
“Aah, you're that kind of ghost?” Jinwoo replies, and then rummages through his pockets. He extracts a candy bar. “See? Knew I had something there.”
Mino's eyes light up, before his manners kick in. “I can't take it from you,” he says.
“Of course you can,” Jinwoo replies, lightly waving away his concerns, “we'll share it.”
Jinwoo breaks the candy bar in half and hands him a piece. Mino happily puts it in his mouth. It tastes like raspberry.
“Thanks,” he says.
“No problem,” Jinwoo answers. “I have to keep the ghosts happy.”
Mino laughs again. It's strange how comfortable he feels: it's like they've known each other for weeks rather than minutes.
“Don't tell me you were lost again,” Mino teases, referring to the other times he'd come across Jinwoo, always vaguely wandering around.
“I was never lost!” Jinwoo claims indignantly, “I was just admiring the castle.”
“Yeah?” Mino says, discovering that the other guy's eyes are a pretty effective way of making him forget whatever arguments he has. “Well, I've been lost plenty of times myself. It's a big castle.”
“That's true,” Jinwoo agrees, before quickly adding: “But I wasn't lost. Just, you know, discovering new places.”
“Uh-huh,” Mino says. “By the way, what do you think of my costume? Made it myself.”
“It's awesome,” Jinwoo says.
Halloween hasn't even started yet, but Mino already decides it's the best one yet.
The following days Mino scans the hallways for Jinwoo. Whenever he sees a blue scarf his interest perks, though usually it's followed by a let-down as it turns out to be some other Ravenclaw guy. It's a big House, after all- it's a big school.
Sometimes he does see him, though, and he smiles at him as they cross paths in the hallway or as their eyes meet over breakfast. Jinwoo always smiles back. Somehow Mino's day becomes that much brighter for it.
November brings mist and dark nights. The castle starts feeling even more like the set of a Gothic horror novel, which is impressive, considering it's already filled to the brim with squeaky armours and secret passages as it is.
Going outside isn't fun in these conditions, and sitting two hours in the drafty green house certainly isn't. But yet here they are, grouped together with the fifth-year Slytherins for their Herbology class.
Professor Sandara Park is explaining the characteristics of Puffapods while Mino tries his best to pay attention. Because despite his instincts to find cover at some place warm, he actually likes Professor Park. She's one of the nicer teachers.
Next to him Taehyun is zoning out, and Seungyoon wakes him up with a whack to the head. He receives a murderous glare from his fellow Slytherin that would scare Mino witless (yes, he’s a Gryffindor, House of the brave, what of it) but Seungyoon seems undettered.
“I’m not gonna lend you any of my notes, so this is for your own sake,” Seungyoon says merrily, while Taehyun continues to glare holes in his head. Mino wonders why he became friends with these two - Slytherins, no less - but several years of classes does create a kind of bond.
As Professor Park asks a question, Seungyoon’s hand shoots up. He ignores Taehyun’s pointed whisper of teacher’s pet and instead answers the question perfectly. When Professor Park awards Slytherin five points, Seungyoon turns to his friend with a smug smile.
“See? Those are for you as well.”
“I don’t need your help for that,” Taehyun says indifferently, but Mino notices that he sits up straighter anyway, undoubtedly wanting to get those answers right himself.
Seungyoon hums merrily. Mino has no doubt this was his plan all along, because Seungyoon is weirdly smart like that.
Freaking Slytherins.
Mino is in the habit of sending a letter home every two weeks, if not more. One windy evening he enters the Owlery with that purpose in mind, when he unexpectedly bumps into Jinwoo.
“Hey!” Mino greets happily.
“Hello,” Jinwoo says with some surprise.
“Did you send mail to your family as well? Or were you... hanging again?” The drafty Owlery seems a decidedly unattractive place to do that.
“No, I sent a letter home,” Jinwoo says. He gestures at a couple of owls at the far back who are a few sizes larger than the rest. “I need to use a bigger owl because my family lives so far away. I think it takes at least three days before the letter arrives.”
“Whoa, really?” Mino says. Suddenly he's very thankful for his family living relatively close by. Sure: at first he'd missed them, living alone at the castle, but at least he gets to go home with Christmas and gets speedy replies by mail.
Mino scans the rows of owls and finally decides on a light-brown one. It clicks its beak when he ties the letter to its leg, like it isn't too happy to be sent off. Mino doesn't blame him, with this weather.
They both watch as the owl soars away, its gracious silhouette quickly disappearing in the dark night sky.
“They're beautiful, aren't they?” Jinwoo says after a few seconds, gesturing at the remaining owls. Mino agrees. Secretly he still thinks that the owl service is one of the coolest things about Hogwarts. It certainly beats the mailman, in any case.
“I'm happy to run into you,” Mino then admits, “it's been a while.”
“Yes,” Jinwoo agrees. “Have you been busy with more detention?”
“Oi,” Mino says, “it's not like I get late all the time! You just happened to caught me on a bad day!”
Jinwoo just smiles serenely, which makes it impossible to keep up his act of outrage. Something about the deer-eyes, probably.
“Look,” Mino begins, and he finds himself stumbling, which is absurd, because it's not like he's asking something weird. And he's usually very good at getting friendly with people, too. “Do you wanna hang out some time? I mean, like, not in a hallway.”
Jinwoo looks around.
“And not in the Owlery,” Mino adds before he can say anything. “Someplace warm. Man, it's freezing in here, aren't you?” He rubs his hands.
“Yeah, it is kind of cold,” Jinwoo agrees. He seems to think things over for a while. “The common room would be good right now, but I can't let you in since you're not from Ravenclaw.”
“I've always been curious about the other common rooms,” says Mino hurriedly. “Can't you sneak me in?”
Jinwoo fixes him with a stare that tells the obvious answer.
“Please?” Mino gives him his best pleading face. That always works.
Jinwoo's expression doesn't change, except maybe for a slightly apologetic smile.
Okay, almost always then.
“I know some class rooms are still open in the evening,” Jinwoo then says, “we could sit there?”
Mino gives him a face that clearly says class rooms?
Jinwoo gets the message as he quickly adds, “Not to study! To, you know, talk?”
Mino doesn't need any further reassurance. “Okay, sure,” he readily agrees, “as long as it's not the DADA class room.”
“That one isn't open at night,” Jinwoo points out.
“How do you know all this stuff?”
“I walk around a lot, you know.”
“Get lost, you mean.”
Jinwoo's brows fly up in indignation. “I don't get lost! I just get… immersed in the castle!”
Mino laughs. Jinwoo manages to be very cute when he's not trying. “All right, whatever you say,” he says. “The more important thing is: we’re gonna need food. How about I quickly fetch some and then meet up with you later?”
“Sounds good,” Jinwoo says and holds up his hand for a high-five. Mino grins as he meets it.
“Okay, see you in a bit,” Mino says - and takes as much as three steps before remembering something important. “Wait, which class room were we meeting in again?”
Jinwoo laughs. They don’t seem to be very good at this whole organizing thing.
“The big empty one on the second floor,” he finally says. “You know the one?”
Mino does know, and he hurries off. Seunghoon looks at him oddly when he appears in the common room and then reappears from the dormitory with his arms full of candy, but he just says: “It’s for a friend.”
Seunghoon’s look turns meaningful, and Mino almost wants to correct him by saying not that kind of friend, but then again, the less he knows the better.
When he appears on the second floor, Jinwoo looks almost shocked at the amount of food in his arms, but then gives him two thumbs-up. “ Okay, good, good,” he says.
Mino looks around the empty class room and places the food on the ground with a lack of any alternatives.
“We need something to sit on,” Jinwoo says as though he reads his mind, and flicks his wand. A very warm and cosy-looking rug appears on the floor.
“Nice,” Mino says admiringly. Professor Kwon would have been pleased.
They both sit down and take care of the food. Jinwoo happily munches on a few Chocolate Frogs, saying they’re his favourite. Mino tries to promote his Pepper Imps, insisting they’re really quite nice once you get used to the taste, but Jinwoo just scrunches up his nose.
“Well, that leaves all the more for me then,” Mino grins and stuffs a few in his mouth. For a moment it feels like he's on fire - right, maybe that had been a bit too much.
“I’ve never done something like this,” Jinwoo says.
By this he probably means picnicking in an empty class room that somehow manages to be very cosy. Or maybe he means meeting up with a student from another House when it's past curfew.
Maybe both.
“Me neither,” Mino says, to all two. “It’s nice though.”
“I agree,” Jinwoo says with a smile and Mino’s chest feels warm in a way that can't be entirely explained by the Pepper Imps.
They talk for hours: about classes, their families, fellow students. Mino throws in a joke every once in a while and Jinwoo never fails to laugh. He’s never had such a thankful audience before.
The meetings become something of a habit, as they take refuge every week in what Mino is starting to think of as their class room. Mino learns that Jinwoo has a sister and grew up on an island quite some distance away. His dad is a fisherman, and, like him, he didn’t know anything about wizard schools until the letter from Hogwarts came.
Mino for his turn tells about his family: about his parents, about Dana, and all the things they would get up to in their childhood.
“You sound like you love them a lot,” Jinwoo says with a warm smile.
“I do,” Mino says.
November makes way for December and the castle gets overnight decorated with wreaths and snow that feels warm to the touch. The last Thursday before the holidays, Mino walks in on a decorated classroom.
“I thought I’d decorate it for Christmas like the rest of the castle,” Jinwoo say sheepishly.
“It’s beautiful,” Mino replies, and means it wholeheartedly.
Mino goes home for Christmas. Jinwoo stays at Hogwarts because the two and a half weeks away are hardly worth the trip. Mino offers to let him stay with his family, but Jinwoo declines with a smile, saying he wouldn’t want to impose. And besides: he'll be fine. The Christmas dinners have been getting more amazing each year.
The two weeks at home feel like a warm blanket amidst the cold. His mother cooks elaborate family dinners and Dana and he play a game dubbed “Who Can Eat The Most Dumplings Before Falling Down.” In-between meals they play outside. Mino has to restrain himself not to use magic when they gear up for a snowball fight - instead it's a fair game between him and Dana, one which he loses dramatically.
His old neighourhood is both small and familiar. It may not have the grandeur and mystery of Hogwarts, but it’s home. Over the course of the holidays he runs into some of his old friends. As far as they know, he’s at a boarding school in Scotland learning math and English; it’s not too far from the truth, except that the subjects are a little different.
The day before New Year, Dana and he visit the park. It’s smaller than in his memories, but just as picturesque. The snow covering the trees and park benches gives everything a quiet, ethereal feeling. Dana and he take turns feeding the deer. Just like olden times.
As he looks at the deer munching his bread, he’s reminded of Jinwoo. He wonders what his friend is doing right now.
He wonders if he's thinking about him, too.
When he returns to the castle mid-January, the days are at their most dark. Extra candles are lit in the corridors and cast large shadows on the walls. It gives Mino the creeps when he's on his own, and he quickens his step as he makes his way to the classroom where he's agreed to meet with Jinwoo.
They hug when they see each other. “I missed you,” Mino says candidly.
Jinwoo smiles. “I missed you, too. But the Christmas feast was really good.”
The next thirty minutes are spent exchanging details of the food they've enjoyed over the holidays (Mino insists that his mother's rice cake can't be topped by the one from Hogwarts, no matter how the House Elves try). Jinwoo then proceeds to act out how Professor Kwon started belting out Christmas carols over dessert after too much wine, which makes Mino almost sorry he missed it.
It's good to see Jinwoo again. They talk all evening, and regularly meet up for the rest of the month. Their meetings make the depressing weather, and even the post-holiday onslaught of homework, that much more bearable.
February is quiet and icy. The lake transforms into a mirror, reflecting the blue winter skies above. The snow softens the students' footsteps when they go outside. Hogwarts never looks more like a fairytale than now.
In stark contrast with the cold outside, the attic room of their Divination class resembles an oven. Like every year when Valentine's Day is approaching, Professor Park Bom has gone all out and decorated the tiny room with pink drapes and heart-shaped items. It makes it feel like Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop in Hogsmeade, except with more incense.
“Today we'll have a look at the most important thing in life...” Professor Park announces in a hushed, excited voice.
“Food?” says one student.
“Sleep?” Seunghoon suggests under his breath, as he rests his head on his arms. The humid air makes Mino drowsy, too. He blinks to keep his eyes open.
Professor Park shakes her head and pouts in a way that is decidedly un-Professor like. “Love!” she exclaims. “In honour of the most wonderfully romantic day of the year, we'll see what is on the cards for you. Now, have a look at the tea cups in front of you...”
The next two hours are spent deciphering tea leaves and deciding whether it speaks of love or broken hearts. Most of the girls in his class are ten times as excited as usual, as they giggle and sneak looks at their male fellow students. Mino would like to pretend he's above any of that, but the reality is, he is rather curious. You never know, after all: if someone had told him a few years back that magic was real he'd have had a laughing fit, but yet here he was, studying it at school.
Mino squints at the black leaves in front of him and pokes them with his wand. “I don't know if this is supposed to be a clover or a weirdly-shaped cat...” he says somewhat frustrated as he studies it from different angles.
“Let me have a look, sweetie,” Professor Park announces out of nowhere, and without warning his vision is suddenly blocked by a whole lot of red hair as she bows down to examine his cup. Mino cranes his neck it to have a better look.
“Hmm...” Professor Park murmurs, studying his leaves as though they're a fun book to read. “Love will come to you from an unexpected direction... but at the same time, in hindsight... it will all make sense.”
“Doesn't make much sense now,” Seunghoon mutters next to him. Mino elbows him in the ribs.
“What does it mean?” Mino asks eagerly, turning to his Professor instead.
Professor Park blinks at him with huge eyes. “That is for you to find out, dear. Time will tell all.” She pats him reassuringly on the head in a gesture that feels more maternal than professional, and then shuffles off to the next group of students.
Mino pouts at his teacup, wishing the answer to appear right away.
“You know all of this is bullocks, right?” Seunghoon yawns.
“You're only saying that because your prediction was one of ten broken hearts,” Mino points out, and Seunghoon's look turns sour.
“I'm sure it was a flower, not a dog,” Seunghoon insists, as he prods his tealeaves again.
Mino ignores him and looks at the girls around him, wondering if the prediction could be about any of them. He's ready for love from whatever direction.
But Valentines comes and goes, with more snow and no confessions. To heal his wounds he grabs all the heart-shaped candies he finds lingering in the common room and calls it a day.
The day after he meets with Jinwoo in the courtyard. There are only a few other students about, as most prefer to spend their break inside. Small snowflakes fall from the sky and paint their hair white.
Mino rummages through his coat's pockets and retrieves some of yesterday's candies.
“Here,” he says and hands them over. Jinwoo's hands are cold to the touch. He has forgotten his gloves and insists he doesn't need them - clearly he only befriends idiots.
“Remember you gave me that candy at Halloween? It's my turn now.”
“You were a ghost,” Jinwoo says with a smile as he puts the heart in his mouth.
“I've transformed back to my human self,” Mino announces dramatically, and laughs.
“Your hair is still white though,” Jinwoo points out, extending a hand. Mino is too surprised to shy away as Jinwoo pats some snow from his hair.
Mino ducks his head when Jinwoo removes his hand again, feeling uncharacteristically shy. He stares at the snow beneath his feet before looking up again. Jinwoo's scarf is tucked up to his chin. It looks cute.
“Did you get any roses yesterday?” Mino asks. He's been wondering about it for a while now.
Jinwoo nods in reply. “I got a few. Don't know who they were from, though.”
“Oh, really?” Mino tries his best not to sound disappointed. It's just: he didn't get any himself, is all.
“What about you?”
“Oh, yeah, about the same.” When there are a few seconds of silence he confesses: “No, actually, I didn't get any.” It sounds pitiful even to his own ears; but somehow he can't help but be truthful in front of Jinwoo.
“Aahh, really?” Jinwoo sounds surprised, which, he supposes, makes him feel a little better. But then Jinwoo pats him solemnly on the back as though to reassure him, and Mino swats his hand away.
“Yah, I'm fine!” Mino says, laughing.
“You still look disappointed though,” Jinwoo says, pointing at his face.
Mino shrugs. “It's to be expected you'd get more than me. You're really handsome, after all.”
Jinwoo bashfully shakes his head. “Aah, I don't know,” he says, as ever too modest.
“It's true!” Mino replies vigorously. “I understand why you'd get those roses. I mean, if I were a girl...”
Jinwoo looks up at him, waiting for him to finish. Mino feels his cheeks redden as his words catch up with him.
“I just mean that - well, you're really handsome, like I said,” he finishes somewhat lamely.
Jinwoo accepts the compliment with a smile.
part two
Character(s) / pairing(s): Mino / Jinwoo, Seunghoon, Taehyun, Seungyoon, some others from YG.
Rating: PG
Word count: +/- 9000
Note: written for the minwoo 2015 fic fest. Prompt: "Harry Potter AU with curious Ravenclaw Jinwoo and teasing Gryffindor Mino." I've always wanted to write a Hogwarts fic, so I'm glad to finally have done so! I've tried my best to recreate the atmosphere of Hogwarts, as well as to write a nice minwoo fic, and I hope I've succeeded in both.
Summary: Mino keeps running into a certain Ravenclaw in the hallways (and doesn't mind in the slightest). Minwoo Hogwarts AU.
Lost and Found
The first time Mino sees Kim Jinwoo it's September.
The trees have lost their vibrant summer hue, but the weather is still warm, the castle's many towers accentuated by a blue sky. None of that matters to the fifth-years of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, however, as all their time is spent studying inside.
(No, Mino isn't complaining. Except for the part where, yes, he totally is).
This very morning Mino isn't studying, though. Instead he's speed-walking towards his Defense Against The Dark Arts class, which he'll be late for if he's not there in thirty seconds. Considering that the classroom is still a dozen corridors and staircases away, that might be too much of a feat, even for him.
As he's about to climb his fourth staircase that morning, he spots another person standing in the hallway. So far all the corridors have been empty, so the sight of a fellow student running late is a welcome one. Sorrow shared is sorrow halved, and all that.
“Better hurry up, pal,” Mino says as he pauses on the first step, “classes are about to start.”
The other guy seems startled by his voice as he abruptly turns around. “Oh,” the guy says - he's wearing the bronze and blue of Ravenclaw, Mino notes - “I'm not late. I have first period off.”
“Lucky you,” Mino says heartfelt. Waking up early is hard, is all. “I'd better get going, or Professor Lee Chaerin is gonna skin me alive.”
The way the guy winces sympathetically at him confirms his ominous prediction. Mino gulps in advance - he's always had a flair for drama - and then bolts up the stairs.
“Wish me luck!” he calls out as way of good-bye.
“Good luck!” comes the dutiful reply, and Mino hopes that will do.
In the end even luck can't save him as Professor Lee assigns him a ten-page essay to be handed in next class.
In her defense: it had been the second time he was late this term. In his own defense: ...well, he doesn't really have one.
Yet, as fortune has it, that is also how he runs into Jinwoo for the second time. He's leaving the library shortly before closing time with what feels like half the section of DADA books underneath his arm. He's never visited the library this late, and doesn't plan to do so again: he could be playing Exploding Snap in the cosy common room instead.
His self-pity quickly makes way for surprise when he spots the guy from a few days back. Once again they're the only ones in the dimly-lit corridor: the Ravenclaw is slowly coming his way, looking up and down as though observing his surroundings. Mino tries to catch his attention by waving, and temporarily forgets that he's carrying ten kilos worth of dusty tomes - which as a result tumble on the floor with a loud crash. Mino curses under his breath.
That is when the other guy finally glances in his direction, however, and even hurries towards him to give him a hand. As he kneels down to help collect all the books, a look of recognition appears on the guy's face. “Ah, you're from a few days back!” the Ravenclaw exclaims, “the late-runner.”
Mino nods in confirmation and smiles a little ruefully at the nickname.
The other student scans the title of the book he is holding. “A Guide To Creatures In The British Isles... did you get detention?”
“Nah, I'm reading these for fun,” Mino jests. Upon the guy's stunned look, Mino laughs and says: “Of course not. Ten-page essay, to be handed in next class. On Ghouls.”
The guy gives him a sympathetic look. “Yeah, Mrs. Lee doesn't go easy on you.”
“Tell me about it. Why are you up this late, library visit as well?”
“No,” the guy replies as he hands him the last couple of books and rises to his feet, “I was just looking around here and there.”
Mino also gets up and looks about him. There's nothing particularly interesting to see - unless you're interested in medieval castle corridors. Which, granted, is interesting at first, but after five years they all start looking the same.
“Okay,” Mino says anyway, “cool.”
He doesn't really know what else to say, which doesn't happen too often. Just now he's really noticing how handsome the other guy is. He has a symmetric face with kind, brown eyes not unlike a deer. Like the ones he'd sometimes feed bread in the park when he was younger, and he didn't know anything yet about wizards and wands and magic.
“...probably have to get back,” he hears and just now Mino realises the other guy had been talking while he'd been busy staring. Mino clears his throat and feels a faint flush creep up his cheeks.
“Okay,” he says, again, and then adds: “I'd also better get back, before Filch turns my ten-page essay into a life sentence.”
It's kind of a lame joke but the other guy laughs anyway, eyes crinkling pleasantly. Mino feels himself mimicking his smile.
“And thanks for the help,” he adds sincerely, “that was nice of you.”
“No problem, of course! Good luck with your essay,” the guy replies. He waves and then walks off in the direction of where the Ravenclaw common room is situated. Mino goes the opposite way.
It's only when he steps through the portrait hole that he realises he didn't even get the guy's name.
The rest of September goes by in a sequence of classes, homework, and more detention (he really couldn't help that third time: Seunghoon had bewitched his alarm to retaliate for the time he'd stolen all his cookies).
The weather continues to be bright and sunny. During the weekends Mino walks around the school grounds with his fellow-year Gryffindors, enjoying the last remnants of summer. Some of his friends are on the Quidditch team, and he likes to watch them train. Their scarlet uniforms shine in the golden autumn sun when they take off, their Nimbusses and Firebolts a mere blur. Sometimes Mino feels envious at their speed - not to mention their awesome Quidditch robes - but then he remembers he's actually scared of heights. (His first and only try-out for the team was disastrous for exactly that reason, though if anyone's asking, it was really the unstable weather that made him flail).
Mino has gotten a few glimpses of the Ravenclaw guy over breakfast and dinner, when he scans the other tables in the Great Hall. He's never had much interest in the House before - Gryffindors and Ravenclaws don't interact much, is all - but for some reason he can't quite put this particular student out of his mind.
But there aren't any further run-ins and he is pretty busy anyway.
October arrives and the trees assume their orange colour. From the windows of their classroom, the Forbidden Forest looks like a bronze, glowing carpet.
They're half-way their Transfiguration class when Seunghoon, as ever seated next to him, casually passes him a note.
what for halloween this year?
Mino pauses for a moment as he ponders this. Every year he and Seunghoon - friends since they sat next to each other on the Gryffindor table after Sorting - have come up with Halloween costumes. They've already been vampires, trolls and evil pumpkins.
Mino starts sketching an idea, when a voice interrupts him. With a shock he realises it's professor Kwon, standing right in front of his desk. His orange hair - changed to match the season, no doubt - stands out against the black of his Teacher's robes.
“While I'm all for creativity in my classroom, Song,” Kwon drawls, emphasizing his last name, “I suggest you use it for Transfiguring this pillow instead of sketching Halloween costumes.”
“Yes, sir,” Mino hastily says, stuffing his paper underneath his book. He doesn't know how Kwon knows what he was designing. Sometimes he has the sneaking feeling he can read minds.
Professor Kwon gives Seunhoon's white pillow a critical glance and then casually taps it with his wand. It transforms into a red one with ruffles. “See? Creativity.”
Seunghoon and he nod in unison. “Noted, sir.”
Professor Kwon quirks his eyebrow as if in amusement (something that scares Mino more than anything, to be honest) and then adds, before walking on to the next aisle, “By the way, if you're going to design a costume, don't go with zombies. So tacky.”
Mino's mouth falls open. Seunghoon gives him a sideways glance and hisses, “Zombies? Really?”
Mino shrugs, as if to say: I'm not the fashion designer here but then remembers their pillow mission. Right.
Soon Halloween is around the corner and the castle gets decorated with giant pumpkins, floating candles and flying bats. Mino and Seunghoon take it as their cue to finally wear their custom-made ghost costume, created from the finest linen (in reality made from an old rag no-one would miss, but: details).
Seunghoon also takes it as his cue to scare every first-year that crosses his path. His 'BOO!' when sneaking up on them is only trumped by the high-pitched shrieks that follow without fail.
“Oh, but they're cute,” Seunghoon says when Mino points out that maybe he shouldn't traumatise eleven-year-olds, “and they'll get over it - in fact, they'll only become stronger for it.”
They're on their way back to the common room when Mino suddenly spots a familiar face in the crowd. Ravenclaw boy. Mino is spared the need for an excuse when at that exact moment another group of first-years walks by and Seunghoon dashes off to fulfill his ghostly duties.
“Hey!” Mino says, happily walking over to greet his hallway acquaintance.
He is met with a look of mild shock. Not the reaction he was hoping for - before Mino realises he's still wearing his costume.
“Oh,” he says and lifts the mask from his face. “Halloween costume,” he says by way of explanation. Now an expression of recognition appears on the guy's face.
“The late-runner!”
“Hey, I have a name,” he says in protest, though truthfully, he's glad the guy still remembers him at all. “Song Mino.”
“Hello Mino,” the other guy dutifully says, and extends a hand. “Kim Jinwoo.”
Mino carefully files the name away. “Hello Jinwoo,” he greets, shaking his hand.
They smile at one another.
“I think this is the first time I've seen a ghost smile,” Jinwoo remarks and Mino laughs.
“I'm a friendly ghost,” Mino says, “as long as I get my candy.”
“Aah, you're that kind of ghost?” Jinwoo replies, and then rummages through his pockets. He extracts a candy bar. “See? Knew I had something there.”
Mino's eyes light up, before his manners kick in. “I can't take it from you,” he says.
“Of course you can,” Jinwoo replies, lightly waving away his concerns, “we'll share it.”
Jinwoo breaks the candy bar in half and hands him a piece. Mino happily puts it in his mouth. It tastes like raspberry.
“Thanks,” he says.
“No problem,” Jinwoo answers. “I have to keep the ghosts happy.”
Mino laughs again. It's strange how comfortable he feels: it's like they've known each other for weeks rather than minutes.
“Don't tell me you were lost again,” Mino teases, referring to the other times he'd come across Jinwoo, always vaguely wandering around.
“I was never lost!” Jinwoo claims indignantly, “I was just admiring the castle.”
“Yeah?” Mino says, discovering that the other guy's eyes are a pretty effective way of making him forget whatever arguments he has. “Well, I've been lost plenty of times myself. It's a big castle.”
“That's true,” Jinwoo agrees, before quickly adding: “But I wasn't lost. Just, you know, discovering new places.”
“Uh-huh,” Mino says. “By the way, what do you think of my costume? Made it myself.”
“It's awesome,” Jinwoo says.
Halloween hasn't even started yet, but Mino already decides it's the best one yet.
The following days Mino scans the hallways for Jinwoo. Whenever he sees a blue scarf his interest perks, though usually it's followed by a let-down as it turns out to be some other Ravenclaw guy. It's a big House, after all- it's a big school.
Sometimes he does see him, though, and he smiles at him as they cross paths in the hallway or as their eyes meet over breakfast. Jinwoo always smiles back. Somehow Mino's day becomes that much brighter for it.
November brings mist and dark nights. The castle starts feeling even more like the set of a Gothic horror novel, which is impressive, considering it's already filled to the brim with squeaky armours and secret passages as it is.
Going outside isn't fun in these conditions, and sitting two hours in the drafty green house certainly isn't. But yet here they are, grouped together with the fifth-year Slytherins for their Herbology class.
Professor Sandara Park is explaining the characteristics of Puffapods while Mino tries his best to pay attention. Because despite his instincts to find cover at some place warm, he actually likes Professor Park. She's one of the nicer teachers.
Next to him Taehyun is zoning out, and Seungyoon wakes him up with a whack to the head. He receives a murderous glare from his fellow Slytherin that would scare Mino witless (yes, he’s a Gryffindor, House of the brave, what of it) but Seungyoon seems undettered.
“I’m not gonna lend you any of my notes, so this is for your own sake,” Seungyoon says merrily, while Taehyun continues to glare holes in his head. Mino wonders why he became friends with these two - Slytherins, no less - but several years of classes does create a kind of bond.
As Professor Park asks a question, Seungyoon’s hand shoots up. He ignores Taehyun’s pointed whisper of teacher’s pet and instead answers the question perfectly. When Professor Park awards Slytherin five points, Seungyoon turns to his friend with a smug smile.
“See? Those are for you as well.”
“I don’t need your help for that,” Taehyun says indifferently, but Mino notices that he sits up straighter anyway, undoubtedly wanting to get those answers right himself.
Seungyoon hums merrily. Mino has no doubt this was his plan all along, because Seungyoon is weirdly smart like that.
Freaking Slytherins.
Mino is in the habit of sending a letter home every two weeks, if not more. One windy evening he enters the Owlery with that purpose in mind, when he unexpectedly bumps into Jinwoo.
“Hey!” Mino greets happily.
“Hello,” Jinwoo says with some surprise.
“Did you send mail to your family as well? Or were you... hanging again?” The drafty Owlery seems a decidedly unattractive place to do that.
“No, I sent a letter home,” Jinwoo says. He gestures at a couple of owls at the far back who are a few sizes larger than the rest. “I need to use a bigger owl because my family lives so far away. I think it takes at least three days before the letter arrives.”
“Whoa, really?” Mino says. Suddenly he's very thankful for his family living relatively close by. Sure: at first he'd missed them, living alone at the castle, but at least he gets to go home with Christmas and gets speedy replies by mail.
Mino scans the rows of owls and finally decides on a light-brown one. It clicks its beak when he ties the letter to its leg, like it isn't too happy to be sent off. Mino doesn't blame him, with this weather.
They both watch as the owl soars away, its gracious silhouette quickly disappearing in the dark night sky.
“They're beautiful, aren't they?” Jinwoo says after a few seconds, gesturing at the remaining owls. Mino agrees. Secretly he still thinks that the owl service is one of the coolest things about Hogwarts. It certainly beats the mailman, in any case.
“I'm happy to run into you,” Mino then admits, “it's been a while.”
“Yes,” Jinwoo agrees. “Have you been busy with more detention?”
“Oi,” Mino says, “it's not like I get late all the time! You just happened to caught me on a bad day!”
Jinwoo just smiles serenely, which makes it impossible to keep up his act of outrage. Something about the deer-eyes, probably.
“Look,” Mino begins, and he finds himself stumbling, which is absurd, because it's not like he's asking something weird. And he's usually very good at getting friendly with people, too. “Do you wanna hang out some time? I mean, like, not in a hallway.”
Jinwoo looks around.
“And not in the Owlery,” Mino adds before he can say anything. “Someplace warm. Man, it's freezing in here, aren't you?” He rubs his hands.
“Yeah, it is kind of cold,” Jinwoo agrees. He seems to think things over for a while. “The common room would be good right now, but I can't let you in since you're not from Ravenclaw.”
“I've always been curious about the other common rooms,” says Mino hurriedly. “Can't you sneak me in?”
Jinwoo fixes him with a stare that tells the obvious answer.
“Please?” Mino gives him his best pleading face. That always works.
Jinwoo's expression doesn't change, except maybe for a slightly apologetic smile.
Okay, almost always then.
“I know some class rooms are still open in the evening,” Jinwoo then says, “we could sit there?”
Mino gives him a face that clearly says class rooms?
Jinwoo gets the message as he quickly adds, “Not to study! To, you know, talk?”
Mino doesn't need any further reassurance. “Okay, sure,” he readily agrees, “as long as it's not the DADA class room.”
“That one isn't open at night,” Jinwoo points out.
“How do you know all this stuff?”
“I walk around a lot, you know.”
“Get lost, you mean.”
Jinwoo's brows fly up in indignation. “I don't get lost! I just get… immersed in the castle!”
Mino laughs. Jinwoo manages to be very cute when he's not trying. “All right, whatever you say,” he says. “The more important thing is: we’re gonna need food. How about I quickly fetch some and then meet up with you later?”
“Sounds good,” Jinwoo says and holds up his hand for a high-five. Mino grins as he meets it.
“Okay, see you in a bit,” Mino says - and takes as much as three steps before remembering something important. “Wait, which class room were we meeting in again?”
Jinwoo laughs. They don’t seem to be very good at this whole organizing thing.
“The big empty one on the second floor,” he finally says. “You know the one?”
Mino does know, and he hurries off. Seunghoon looks at him oddly when he appears in the common room and then reappears from the dormitory with his arms full of candy, but he just says: “It’s for a friend.”
Seunghoon’s look turns meaningful, and Mino almost wants to correct him by saying not that kind of friend, but then again, the less he knows the better.
When he appears on the second floor, Jinwoo looks almost shocked at the amount of food in his arms, but then gives him two thumbs-up. “ Okay, good, good,” he says.
Mino looks around the empty class room and places the food on the ground with a lack of any alternatives.
“We need something to sit on,” Jinwoo says as though he reads his mind, and flicks his wand. A very warm and cosy-looking rug appears on the floor.
“Nice,” Mino says admiringly. Professor Kwon would have been pleased.
They both sit down and take care of the food. Jinwoo happily munches on a few Chocolate Frogs, saying they’re his favourite. Mino tries to promote his Pepper Imps, insisting they’re really quite nice once you get used to the taste, but Jinwoo just scrunches up his nose.
“Well, that leaves all the more for me then,” Mino grins and stuffs a few in his mouth. For a moment it feels like he's on fire - right, maybe that had been a bit too much.
“I’ve never done something like this,” Jinwoo says.
By this he probably means picnicking in an empty class room that somehow manages to be very cosy. Or maybe he means meeting up with a student from another House when it's past curfew.
Maybe both.
“Me neither,” Mino says, to all two. “It’s nice though.”
“I agree,” Jinwoo says with a smile and Mino’s chest feels warm in a way that can't be entirely explained by the Pepper Imps.
They talk for hours: about classes, their families, fellow students. Mino throws in a joke every once in a while and Jinwoo never fails to laugh. He’s never had such a thankful audience before.
The meetings become something of a habit, as they take refuge every week in what Mino is starting to think of as their class room. Mino learns that Jinwoo has a sister and grew up on an island quite some distance away. His dad is a fisherman, and, like him, he didn’t know anything about wizard schools until the letter from Hogwarts came.
Mino for his turn tells about his family: about his parents, about Dana, and all the things they would get up to in their childhood.
“You sound like you love them a lot,” Jinwoo says with a warm smile.
“I do,” Mino says.
November makes way for December and the castle gets overnight decorated with wreaths and snow that feels warm to the touch. The last Thursday before the holidays, Mino walks in on a decorated classroom.
“I thought I’d decorate it for Christmas like the rest of the castle,” Jinwoo say sheepishly.
“It’s beautiful,” Mino replies, and means it wholeheartedly.
Mino goes home for Christmas. Jinwoo stays at Hogwarts because the two and a half weeks away are hardly worth the trip. Mino offers to let him stay with his family, but Jinwoo declines with a smile, saying he wouldn’t want to impose. And besides: he'll be fine. The Christmas dinners have been getting more amazing each year.
The two weeks at home feel like a warm blanket amidst the cold. His mother cooks elaborate family dinners and Dana and he play a game dubbed “Who Can Eat The Most Dumplings Before Falling Down.” In-between meals they play outside. Mino has to restrain himself not to use magic when they gear up for a snowball fight - instead it's a fair game between him and Dana, one which he loses dramatically.
His old neighourhood is both small and familiar. It may not have the grandeur and mystery of Hogwarts, but it’s home. Over the course of the holidays he runs into some of his old friends. As far as they know, he’s at a boarding school in Scotland learning math and English; it’s not too far from the truth, except that the subjects are a little different.
The day before New Year, Dana and he visit the park. It’s smaller than in his memories, but just as picturesque. The snow covering the trees and park benches gives everything a quiet, ethereal feeling. Dana and he take turns feeding the deer. Just like olden times.
As he looks at the deer munching his bread, he’s reminded of Jinwoo. He wonders what his friend is doing right now.
He wonders if he's thinking about him, too.
When he returns to the castle mid-January, the days are at their most dark. Extra candles are lit in the corridors and cast large shadows on the walls. It gives Mino the creeps when he's on his own, and he quickens his step as he makes his way to the classroom where he's agreed to meet with Jinwoo.
They hug when they see each other. “I missed you,” Mino says candidly.
Jinwoo smiles. “I missed you, too. But the Christmas feast was really good.”
The next thirty minutes are spent exchanging details of the food they've enjoyed over the holidays (Mino insists that his mother's rice cake can't be topped by the one from Hogwarts, no matter how the House Elves try). Jinwoo then proceeds to act out how Professor Kwon started belting out Christmas carols over dessert after too much wine, which makes Mino almost sorry he missed it.
It's good to see Jinwoo again. They talk all evening, and regularly meet up for the rest of the month. Their meetings make the depressing weather, and even the post-holiday onslaught of homework, that much more bearable.
February is quiet and icy. The lake transforms into a mirror, reflecting the blue winter skies above. The snow softens the students' footsteps when they go outside. Hogwarts never looks more like a fairytale than now.
In stark contrast with the cold outside, the attic room of their Divination class resembles an oven. Like every year when Valentine's Day is approaching, Professor Park Bom has gone all out and decorated the tiny room with pink drapes and heart-shaped items. It makes it feel like Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop in Hogsmeade, except with more incense.
“Today we'll have a look at the most important thing in life...” Professor Park announces in a hushed, excited voice.
“Food?” says one student.
“Sleep?” Seunghoon suggests under his breath, as he rests his head on his arms. The humid air makes Mino drowsy, too. He blinks to keep his eyes open.
Professor Park shakes her head and pouts in a way that is decidedly un-Professor like. “Love!” she exclaims. “In honour of the most wonderfully romantic day of the year, we'll see what is on the cards for you. Now, have a look at the tea cups in front of you...”
The next two hours are spent deciphering tea leaves and deciding whether it speaks of love or broken hearts. Most of the girls in his class are ten times as excited as usual, as they giggle and sneak looks at their male fellow students. Mino would like to pretend he's above any of that, but the reality is, he is rather curious. You never know, after all: if someone had told him a few years back that magic was real he'd have had a laughing fit, but yet here he was, studying it at school.
Mino squints at the black leaves in front of him and pokes them with his wand. “I don't know if this is supposed to be a clover or a weirdly-shaped cat...” he says somewhat frustrated as he studies it from different angles.
“Let me have a look, sweetie,” Professor Park announces out of nowhere, and without warning his vision is suddenly blocked by a whole lot of red hair as she bows down to examine his cup. Mino cranes his neck it to have a better look.
“Hmm...” Professor Park murmurs, studying his leaves as though they're a fun book to read. “Love will come to you from an unexpected direction... but at the same time, in hindsight... it will all make sense.”
“Doesn't make much sense now,” Seunghoon mutters next to him. Mino elbows him in the ribs.
“What does it mean?” Mino asks eagerly, turning to his Professor instead.
Professor Park blinks at him with huge eyes. “That is for you to find out, dear. Time will tell all.” She pats him reassuringly on the head in a gesture that feels more maternal than professional, and then shuffles off to the next group of students.
Mino pouts at his teacup, wishing the answer to appear right away.
“You know all of this is bullocks, right?” Seunghoon yawns.
“You're only saying that because your prediction was one of ten broken hearts,” Mino points out, and Seunghoon's look turns sour.
“I'm sure it was a flower, not a dog,” Seunghoon insists, as he prods his tealeaves again.
Mino ignores him and looks at the girls around him, wondering if the prediction could be about any of them. He's ready for love from whatever direction.
But Valentines comes and goes, with more snow and no confessions. To heal his wounds he grabs all the heart-shaped candies he finds lingering in the common room and calls it a day.
The day after he meets with Jinwoo in the courtyard. There are only a few other students about, as most prefer to spend their break inside. Small snowflakes fall from the sky and paint their hair white.
Mino rummages through his coat's pockets and retrieves some of yesterday's candies.
“Here,” he says and hands them over. Jinwoo's hands are cold to the touch. He has forgotten his gloves and insists he doesn't need them - clearly he only befriends idiots.
“Remember you gave me that candy at Halloween? It's my turn now.”
“You were a ghost,” Jinwoo says with a smile as he puts the heart in his mouth.
“I've transformed back to my human self,” Mino announces dramatically, and laughs.
“Your hair is still white though,” Jinwoo points out, extending a hand. Mino is too surprised to shy away as Jinwoo pats some snow from his hair.
Mino ducks his head when Jinwoo removes his hand again, feeling uncharacteristically shy. He stares at the snow beneath his feet before looking up again. Jinwoo's scarf is tucked up to his chin. It looks cute.
“Did you get any roses yesterday?” Mino asks. He's been wondering about it for a while now.
Jinwoo nods in reply. “I got a few. Don't know who they were from, though.”
“Oh, really?” Mino tries his best not to sound disappointed. It's just: he didn't get any himself, is all.
“What about you?”
“Oh, yeah, about the same.” When there are a few seconds of silence he confesses: “No, actually, I didn't get any.” It sounds pitiful even to his own ears; but somehow he can't help but be truthful in front of Jinwoo.
“Aahh, really?” Jinwoo sounds surprised, which, he supposes, makes him feel a little better. But then Jinwoo pats him solemnly on the back as though to reassure him, and Mino swats his hand away.
“Yah, I'm fine!” Mino says, laughing.
“You still look disappointed though,” Jinwoo says, pointing at his face.
Mino shrugs. “It's to be expected you'd get more than me. You're really handsome, after all.”
Jinwoo bashfully shakes his head. “Aah, I don't know,” he says, as ever too modest.
“It's true!” Mino replies vigorously. “I understand why you'd get those roses. I mean, if I were a girl...”
Jinwoo looks up at him, waiting for him to finish. Mino feels his cheeks redden as his words catch up with him.
“I just mean that - well, you're really handsome, like I said,” he finishes somewhat lamely.
Jinwoo accepts the compliment with a smile.
part two