Chapter Text
Jongho was hungry. Really hungry.
His paws were curled towards his stomach in an attempt to soothe the painful knot. The pain was so strong it felt difficult to move, but he knew he had to in order to find something to eat.
Yesterday, he had spent all day looking for wild berries to eat, but without any luck. The arrival of winter meant that the majority of edible plants were frozen or dead. The bins and dumpsters in the city would probably be a better option, but the sight of a bear roaming the streets freely wasn’t tolerated for obvious reasons. That’s why he was living in the forest situated at the edge of the city.
Even though he was a bear shifter, Jongho didn’t know how to hunt, and trapping small animals wasn’t nearly enough to quell his hunger. Of course, Jongho wasn’t even supposed to live in the forest on his own in the first place.
In principle, every shifter was chosen by a witch to be his familiar. A familiar was an extension of the witch himself. It served as an additional source of magic to tap into and helped stabilize the capricious nature of magic itself. The worth of a familiar resided in the amount of magic he held inside of him.
As it turned out, Jongho had slim to none.
He had discovered this when he had gone through the mandatory examination when he turned eighteen, which explained why his bear form was stuck at the size of a cub. His parents, who took pride in their long lineage of powerful familiars, couldn’t handle the humiliation of having such a weak shifter as their son and disowned him.
Jongho was forced to leave his home with nothing but the clothes on his back and a meagre travel bag with his necessities.
With no one to turn to, he had to live on the streets. His attempts at getting a job ended up fruitless, because no one wanted to hire a homeless person. It was hard to enter any shop or restaurant really, and often ended up being asked to leave because of his unkept appearance which bothered the customers. That’s why he made the decision to remain in his bear form, hoping he would have a better life this way. He was wrong.
He now was laying on his side on the ground, close to an isolated house in the forest. A nice garden was in the backyard, and he had sneak in there every now and then to steal some vegetables or fruits to sustain himself. He tried not to go often because he felt guilty for stealing from the people who lived there.
They appeared to be nice people, from what he had seen. Four witches appeared to live there with their familiars. A couple of times, he caught himself watching them through the window. Seeing them laugh and share warm meals together always brought a pang of longing inside his heart. He sometimes wondered if his life would have been the same if he had been a powerful shifter like his parents had expected.
Jongho let his thoughts wander, his mind almost delirious with hunger. He wondered if this was how he would die. Alone in the woods, slowly consumed by the void in his stomach and the terrible loneliness that plagued him every day.
Suddenly, his ears twitched as he heard some rustling. Less than a meter away, a mouse emerged in his line of sight. Before he even knew what he was doing, Jongho used the last of his strength to launch himself forward.
The mouse squeaked as it was caught beneath his clawed paw. Saliva pooled into his mouth as he lifted the mouse and brought it closer. The small rodent squirmed and squeaked relentlessly in an attempt to get away from his doomed fate. Just as Jongho opened his jaw to eat it, he felt something slam into his side.
He stumbled and released his grip on the mouse, which quickly scurried away. However, he didn’t have time to think about his lost prey because he was being attacked by an orange blur.
He whimpered and cried, unable to defend himself because he was so weak already. All he could do was cover his head with his paws and hope the assault would stop. He thought he heard some shouts in the distance, but that was the last thing he registered as he lost consciousness.
Jongho’s eyes slowly blinked open. He felt sore all over, and as soon as he tried to move a stabbing pain came from his stomach. He groaned in pain as he clutched at his stomach. Confused, he looked down to see he had turned back into his human form, and he was lying in a bed. He also noticed he had been dressed. The thought of a stranger putting clothes on his naked body while he had been unconscious made him very uneasy.
Before he could mull over this new discovery, a knock made him jerk up. A man stepped into the room with a bowl in his hand. He instantly knew he was a witch by the amount of magic he exuded, which scared him even more.
Jongho gasped and pressed himself against the wall as much as he could despite his body protesting against the movement. He trembled as he raised his arms to shield himself. He heard some hushing sounds and a soft thud.
“You don’t have to be scared. My name is Seonghwa, and I’m not here to hurt you.”
The words did nothing to reassure Jongho. He was in an unfamiliar place, and the last thing he remembered was being attacked, so he was very reluctant to let his guard down.
“You must be hungry. I brought some soup for you.”
A delicious aroma was caught by his nose, so at least Jongho assumed he was telling the truth about food. The enticing smell renewed his hunger, and he whimpered in pain once again.
“Aigoo poor baby. Come and fill your poor tummy with warm food, it will make you feel better.”
In the end, hunger won over fear. Jongho slowly brought his arms down and tentatively glanced at the man.
Seonghwa was smiling at him and holding the bowl his hands towards him. His ear-length black hair curled gently over his oval-shaped face.
With trembling hands, the bear shifter took the bowl and brought it towards his mouth.
“Careful, it’s still quite hot.” Just as the witch said that, Jongho took a first sip and jerked back when the liquid burned his tongue. The man chuckled fondly as he steadied the bowl with one hand. He sent another encouraging smile when the younger man looked up wearily at him.
“Blow on it before you take a sip.” Jongho followed his instructions, and he started taking slow sips. Soon enough, he was gulping down the delicious soup, and he licked the bowl clean to make sure he didn’t waste a single drop. The witch giggled at the sight, but he felt a twinge of sadness at how hungry the poor boy was.
“Do you remember what happened before you fainted?” Jongho’s eyes remained on his lap as he nodded.
“The mouse you caught is actually a shifter, and one of our coven’s familiars. Wooyoung, another one of our familiars saw you were about to eat Mingi and attacked you too free him.” The bear shifter’s eyes widened in shock as he looked up at the man. He felt overcome by guilt. If he hadn’t been stopped, he would’ve killed an actual person.
“Please don’t feel guilty about it. Mingi is safe and sound now, he just had a bit of a scare. Actually, I’m hoping this incident will deter him from wandering off in his mouse form.”
Jongho didn’t understand why Seonghwa wasn’t angry. He had almost killed one of his familiars, an act which would have been punished severely by any other witches.
“Ah, you must be wondering where you are. We brought you back to our house to tend to your wounds. Our Wooyoungie can be quite protective when he wants to be. I apologize on his behalf.” He bowed his head slightly, which prompted Jongho to do the same. As he got the time to take a better look at the man, Jongho realized he was one of the witches who lived in the house he stayed close by. This discovery made him feel worse about himself, because he almost caused harm to the people he had grown fond of.
Seonghwa got up from the seat he had taken on the bed and brushed down the robe he was wearing.
“Well, I’ll let you get some more rest. Don’t hesitate to shout if you need anything else. I’ll come get you once it’s time for dinner. The others are eager to see you.” He offered another warm smile before leaving the room. Once the door closed behind him, Jongho heard other voices speaking franticly.
The bear shifter got up from the bed on wobbly legs and got closer to the door, pressing his ear against it.
“- Can’t believe you’re letting him stay here! What if he tried to eat Mingi again?! We should’ve left him in the woods!”
“Aish Wooyoung-ah. He was hurt and all alone, we couldn’t leave him there.” Jongho recognized Seonghwa’s calm voice.
“And I’m sure there’s a good reason why he was out there alone! Have you ever seen a shifter without a coven? He’s probably dangerous!”
Jongho retreated back to the bed. He had heard enough. What Wooyoung had said brought back his old insecurities. He was oddity, and most importantly, he wasn’t good enough to be a familiar.
Despite what Seonghwa had said, it appeared his presence here wasn’t welcomed. Not wanting to trouble them anymore than he already had, Jongho decided he would leave tomorrow. He could leave now, but his selfish self wanted to at least eat the dinner he had been promised.
Jongho climbed beneath the covers and closed his eyes. Despite feeling sore and uneasy, the stress of the event had taken its toll and he was out like a light in a matter of moments.
Jongho was currently sitting at a table along with four other people. On the other side of the table, two of them were glaring at him. Another man who sat in the middle of them seemed to be curious of him, but looked away every time Jongho tried to meet his gaze. He could sense from their magic that all three of them were shifters as well. The last person was sitting on the same side and a chair away from him. He appeared to be a witch, and he wasn’t paying any attention to them. Instead, he was looking outside the window of the dining room.
Seonghwa’s arrival broke the tension lingering in the room. He was bringing several dishes with him which were levitating beside him. The curious man’s attention settled on the food and his mouth opened slightly.
“It smells so good hyung!” Seonghwa chuckled at this. Once he had set the dishes on the table and settled at one end of the table, everyone started to fill their plates. Jongho followed suit after a moment of hesitation. He noticed that they all put pieces of food in each other’s plates at some point. The two hostile men especially seemed eager to feed the others, excluding Jongho of course.
“Here, why don’t you try this meat.” Jongho turned to see Seonghwa holding a piece of meat with his chopsticks towards him. Taken aback, Jongho automatically took the bite. He heard a scoff, and looked at the man in front of him. The man threw him a glare before continuing to eat.
Halfway through the meal, Seonghwa addressed Jongho.
“I should probably introduce you to everyone while we’re here. This is Wooyoung, Mingi and San.” He pointed each man respectively, starting from the closest to him. Jongho’s gaze immediately went to Mingi when he realized he was the one he had hurt. “And the one sitting close to you is Yeosang.”
Yeosang sent him a soft smile before he continued to eat.
“Two members of our coven, Hongjoong and Yunho are absent. They’re working for the ministry of magic and they are working on an important case right now. They often have to stay late. You’ll be able to meet them eventually.”
“I don’t know why you bother saying that hyung. It’s not like he will stay long enough to do so. He’s already overstaying his welcome-“
“Wooyoung! That’s enough!”
“It’s alright Seonghwa-ssi.” Jongho stood up and went around the table. Both Wooyoung and San got up from their seat, thinking he would attack Mingi again, but they remained baffled as he kneeled on the ground in a deep bow towards Mingi.
“Mingi-ssi, I sincerely apologize for my actions. There are no excuses for what I’ve done.” The mouse shifter was speechless for a moment before he stood to help Jongho up.
“You don’t need to kneel, it’s all in the past now! Besides, I shouldn’t have wandered so far away knowing the risks.” Jongho’s cheeks dusted with pink once he realized Mingi was still holding his hands. Once the other shifter noticed, he released his hands with a quick ‘sorry’, looking similarly embarrassed.
Jongho didn’t linger and went back to his seat. Soon, everyone settled at the table again. He was about to resume eating when he was addressed.
“Actually, you never told us your name.” Mingi inquired. Seonghwa and Yeosang also seemed curious to know.
“It’s Jongho.” Seonghwa smiled.
“It’s a nice name, it suits you.” Jongho stayed silent but bowed his head. He was feeling shy among all those people he didn’t really know.
When they were all done eating, the bear shifter thanked Seonghwa for the food.
“Would you show me the way to the door please? I won’t take much more of your time.” Seonghwa made a noise of disbelief.
“Surely you will stay at least for the night?” Jongho rubbed his arm, refusing to meet his gaze. He already felt like he was imposing, but he found it hard to say no to the witch.
“Well, I…”
“Please, I would feel much better knowing you are sleeping somewhere safe, and your bed is already made.” As soon as he met Seonghwa’s earnest gaze, he knew he had lost this battle.
“Just for this night, then.” Seonghwa clasped his hands together and beamed.
“Come, I will show you where the bathroom is so you can take a nice shower.” The witch placed a hand on the small of his back to lead him. As he turned, Jongho didn’t miss the distrustful looks San and Wooyoung sent him.
A couple of hours later, Jongho laid in bed with the cover pulled to his neck. The room was dark, and everyone was probably sleeping by now, but he couldn’t fall asleep. He kept overthinking about the dinner earlier, if he should’ve done anything differently.
He got up to go to the bathroom, hoping it would also distract him from his thoughts. Just as he walked down the corridor, someone exited the bathroom. Jongho squinted his eyes and realized with dread that it was Wooyoung. The other shifter noticed him and stalked towards him. Even in the darkness, Jongho could tell he was mad.
“What are you still doing here?!” Wooyoung whispered venomously in his face. Jongho flinched back.
“I… Seonghwa-ssi said I could-“
“It doesn’t matter! If you really feel guilty about what you did, you should leave our home at once! A shifter like you, who’s more animal than human is a danger to others! Seonghwa is too good of a person to send you away, so I’ll do it in his place. Leave, now!”
Jongho’s heart pounded inside his chest as he hesitantly took some steps back.
“And stay away from our house!” Jongho turned and left in a hurry. Once he had closed the front door behind him, he ran into the forest. He struggled to catch his breath as he sobbed uncontrollably. Warm tears were running down his cheeks as he went further into the woods without a purpose. His heart felt like it had been teared into and stomped on.
At some point, his foot caught on a root sticking out of the ground and he fell to the ground. Jongho even didn’t bother getting up. He simply laid there and grasped at the dirt with his hands, sobbing and gasping for air.
Jongho had just been reminded how unwanted and how much of a failure he was. This wasn’t news to him, but it hurt just the same.
He could’ve a spent a couple of minutes there, or an hour. Jongho didn’t keep track of time, but eventually he shakily got up to his feet and started walking.
That night, Jongho promised to himself he would avoid people at all costs. He didn't want to become a burden again.