Chapter Text
“I thought it was gonna be bigger,” Wooyoung sighs.
Felix and his two best friends, Yeonjun and Wooyoung, are in Central Park on their summer trip to New York City. It’s their last hurrah before their senior year at college and then the soul-crushing boredom of office life.
When deciding where to go, they all got excited about New York. However, it wasn’t until they started planning details that they realized they were excited for different reasons. Felix was interested in all the art museums; Yeonjun, the nightlife and various clubs. And Wooyoung wanted to check off some very cliché, very touristy bucket list items, like getting a photo with Spider-Man in Times Square, which, in Felix’s opinion, was ridiculously overpriced. But it made Woo happy, so he and Yeonjun just smiled and nodded along as Woo and Stinky Spider-Man crouched in the superhero’s classic pose.
When planning the trip, they made a compromise to balance everyone’s interests. Yesterday after Times Square, they went to the Met, checking off one museum from Felix’s list and spending some time taking photos on the “famous Gossip Girl stairs,” according to Yeonjun. This morning, they went to the Statue of Liberty, a Wooyoung item but also something they all wanted to do. And tonight, they are going clubbing.
After getting back from the Statue of Liberty, they got lunch in Hell’s Kitchen and are now walking through Central Park, Wooyoung flipping through the photos they took in front of Lady Liberty. He somehow convinced Felix to take photos with him where they are posing just like the statue, with one hand in the air and one holding an invisible book. Woo was unable to convince Yeonjun, however, who deemed the pose “too cringy”. That was Felix’s first thought too, but after seeing how excited Wooyoung was, he caved right away.
The photos turned out great though, both of them giggling and smiling so wide, still wearing the branded, slightly damp rain ponchos from the boat ride over.
“What? Why?” Felix laughs.
“I don’t know,” Wooyoung huffs slightly, locking his phone and putting it in his back pocket. “Cause it’s the Statue of Liberty, you know. Like The Statue of Liberty. All the movies make it seem really tall. Like Empire State Building tall.”
Felix just smiles, shakes his head fondly, and then wraps his arm around Woo’s shoulders.
The group stops at a concession stand and gets three lemonades, and then they find some shade to stand in while they plan the rest of their day.
“Do you know what club you want to go to tonight?” Felix asks Yeonjun.
Yeonjun, however, is too distracted to answer; too busy eye-fucking a tall, handsome, well-built guy, standing on the other side of the gravel path. To Yeonjun’s credit, the guy is staring right back, seemingly spending a lot of time looking at Yeonjun’s mouth, which is currently playing with his straw – biting it, pushing it against his bottom lip, wrapping his lips around it. Really, Felix is surprised the other guy is still standing.
“Heeellloooo?” Felix singsongs. “Earth to Yeonjun.”
He waves his hand in front of Yeonjun’s face, who startles and then turns to his friends. “Sorry. What’d I miss?”
“I was just asking where you want to go tonight, club-wise?”
“Oh, I’m not sure actually. I didn’t do any research.” Yeonjun smiles apologetically when his two friends groan, and then stretches his hands above his head, raising his ‘Be Gay. Do Crime.’ crop top and showing even more of his mid-drift. “I’m sure it will all work out though.”
Just then, the guy Yeonjun was flirting with earlier steps up to their group with a confident, “Hey there.”
“Oh, hi!” Yeonjun says cheerfully, stepping slightly in front of Felix and Wooyoung to be the closest to this stranger. He runs a hand through his blue-dyed hair and tilts his head a bit, a go-to move of his that Felix has seen him use to get whatever – and whoever – he wants many times throughout the years. “What’s up?”
“Uhh…” the guy sputters, predictably staring at Yeonjun’s now-accentuated neck and then flipping to Yeonjun’s mouth when he bites his lower lip.
When the stranger doesn’t keep talking, Yeonjun jokes, “You weren’t about say ‘I saw you from across the park and liked your vibe’, were you?”
It has the desired effect, because the guy chuckles a little and then shakes his head. “Um, no. I was going to ask if you three party?”
“We do…” Yeonjun trails off, leaving it open for the stranger to take the next step.
“Well, my name is Soobin, and I’m promoting my friends’ club.” He then pulls out a black business card with silver writing from his back pocket and hands it to Yeonjun. “They have good drinks and great music. And it’s exclusive. Invite only. I think you three would have a good time.” He looks at Wooyoung and Felix for the first time, to include them in the invite. But does a double take when he looks at Felix. He looks confused for a second and seems like he takes a deeper breath through his nose, slightly unsettling Felix.
“You think or you know?” Yeonjun flirts, bringing Soobin’s attention back to him.
“Well, I know you’d have a good time.” Soobin winks at him.
Yeonjun giggles and bites his lip again and then looks at the business card. “Ordinary? What type of club is named Ordinary?”
“You gotta stand out however you can in this market, right?” Soobin shrugs and grins. “So, I’ll see you there? Tonight?”
“Maybe,” Yeonjun shrugs, coyly. “We get a lot of invites, so we’ll see.”
“Ok,” Soobin chuckles. “I guess that’s the best I can hope for.” He stares at Yeonjun’s lips again before turning and walking away.
Yeonjun watches him leave for a few seconds, biting his straw again, eyes roaming over Soobin’s shoulders and then down lower, before he turns to his two friends with a huge smile. “See?! I told you everything would work out!”
“You can’t be seriously considering going to this club,” Felix chastises.
“An exclusive, invite-only club with good drinks, great music, and hot promoters?” Yeonjun asks like Felix is crazy. “Yeah, I’m more than just considering it.”
“A random stranger approaches us right after we were talking about having no idea where to go tonight, to invite us to a mysterious club no one has heard of? Sounds like a great way to get kidnapped or something! I bet it’s out in the boonies somewhere. A lone, empty warehouse perfect for organ harvesting.”
“That’s not going to happen. Besides, he’s not a stranger. He’s Soobin!” Yeonjun smiles brightly. “And it’s not in the boonies.”
“Umm,” Wooyoung, who pulled out his phone and looked up the club from the address on the business card he grabbed from Yeonjun, speaks up, “It is kind of in the boonies. Not like actual boonies since that doesn’t exist in New York, but it’s not really near any other clubs or bars. And it’s kinda far away. We would have to take two subways and a bus to get there.”
“See!” Felix lifts his hands exasperatedly.
“But!” Wooyoung continues, “It does have a website that looks pretty official.”
“See!” Yeonjun copies Felix’s movement.
Wooyoung hands Felix his phone to look through the website, which does look very official. It has photos of the front of the club and the inside, both empty and with people. There’s even a page about the owners, three surprisingly young-looking men, with a paragraph about how they became friends through their love of music and started this club so they could share that music with others.
And Felix isn’t sure whether it’s because the two neighboring buildings in one of the photos both look occupied or that one of the owners looks trusting and puts Felix at ease, but he caves. “Fine! We can go to this stupid, Ordinary club.”
“Yay!” Both Yeonjun and Wooyoung celebrate, jumping onto and hugging Felix, all of them laughing.
“But!” Felix continues after the hugging ends and points a finger at Yeonjun. “You can’t abandon us to go have sex with the promoter! And you can’t disappear! I don’t want to have to worry about if you, singularly, were killed.”
“Me? And that promoter?” Yeonjun scoffs, jokingly. “As if. That guy gave total straight vibes.”
“Please,” Woo scoffs. “He wants to fuck you so badly.”
“Hell yeah he does!” Yeonjun high-fives Wooyoung and then shrugs at Felix as if to say ‘What can I do? I can’t help that I’m super fuckable.’
Felix glares at him half-heartedly and then holds out his hand. “Let me look at this business card, anyway.”
Wooyoung hands it to him and then starts talking outfits with Yeonjun. Felix examines the card and notices that it’s not as bland as he originally thought. Yes, the name of the club and address were always written in silver on the front, but there’s also a silver, gleaming compass on the other side. He can only see it when the light hits it just right, but it’s pretty. He turns the card back over and notices another thing.
“Guys, the club isn’t even named Ordinary. It’s Oddinary.”
~ ~ ~
Seungmin just got back from picking up a book at the library and is walking down the stairs to Oddinary’s main floor, the club Chan, Changbin, and Jisung own but the rest of them help run. The club’s main entrance is on the ground floor, but then the club’s dance floor, bar, and other amenities are downstairs. It’s helpful with controlling the noise, having the club in the basement. Jisung also worked his magic, literally, to make it even more sound-proof, so they can keep their neighbors happy.
It’s after lunchtime on a Friday, so Seungmin knows what he is going to see when he gets to the main floor: Jisung setting up the DJ booth; Changbin restocking the bar; Hyunjin distracting Changbin as much as he can; Chan running around, stressed out, trying to get 18 tasks done at once (even though barely half need to get done before opening); Jeongin trying to calm him down; and Minho lounging in one of their VIP booths, shouting encouragements but not lifting a finger to help. It’s the same every day around this time.
However, what he sees is even more chaotic than normal. Jisung is at the DJ booth, shouting questions at Changbin, who is running back and forth between the DJ booth and the bar. Chan is doing too many things at once like normal, but Jeongin is nowhere to be seen, so no one is helping him calm down. In fact, as Seungmin scans the room again, Minho and Hyunjin are also nowhere to be seen.
Seungmin sets his book down on the bar and plans to ask Changbin what’s going on and where is everyone the next time he comes back. But then, Jeongin comes through the back door carrying a box of alcohol, his light ginger hair extra fluffy today. He smiles when he sees Seungmin, setting the box down behind the bar and coming to kiss Seungmin on the cheek.
“What’s going on?” Seungmin asks, after kissing his boyfriend back.
“The delivery truck was a few hours late and there were some issues with the sound equipment so now we are trying to restock while also setting up. Everything will be fine, but it’s like everyone has turned into Chan.” Jeongin rolls his eyes fondly. “How was the library? What book did you get?”
“It was good. Martha says hi,” Seungmin answers, purposefully ignoring the second question, even as Jeongin picks up said book.
“Rosalind Franklin: The Dark Lady of DNA,” Jeongin reads. “Again? Should I be worried?”
“No, you know I like this book. It calms me, reminds me of a simpler time.”
“Yeah, I know. But that’s why you usually get it when you’re stressed. Or when the visions are really bad.”
Jeongin’s look of concern warms Seungmin’s heart, but he hates worrying his boyfriend. Which is why he hasn’t told him yet about what’s been bothering him. It’s nothing really, just the same dream every night for the past week of a dark, empty alleyway, accompanied by stress and dread and terrifying anxiety.
“I know, but not this time. I just felt like rereading it,” Seungmin shrugs, and when Jeongin’s look of concern turns skeptical, he leans in and kisses the ginger again. “It’s nothing, Innie. Trust me.”
Jeongin looks skeptical for another few seconds, before taking a deep breath and nodding. “Ok. I do. I trust you, Minnie.”
They kiss one more time and then lean their foreheads together, just breathing in each other’s presence for a few moments, before they are interrupted by Changbin shouting, “Oh Seungmin! You’re back! Can you restock the bar while I help Jisung? You are the only one who knows how I like it.”
“That’s because you like it wrong!” Jeongin calls out.
“The absolute disrespect!” Changbin glares jokingly.
“You organize it by country of origin, so some vodkas are with the tequilas. That’s just blatantly wrong!”
“Well, some of us are cultured, Innie. That’s not my fault.”
Jeongin huffs and rolls his eyes, giving up on a conversation they have had multiple times already. Seungmin laughs, but nods at Changbin and walks behind the bar.
“I’ll grab the other box from the back,” Jeongin says, Seungmin thanking him.
He starts taking stock of what’s low and opens the box Jeongin dropped off earlier. He’s got a brand-new bottle of Grey Goose in his hands when a very familiar but dreaded feeling washes over him. His body goes cold, and all of his muscles lock up. His vision starts to darken near the edges, and he knows he is going to faint, like he always does for these. All he can get out is a whispered “uh oh,” before he is falling to the floor, dropping the bottle of vodka, and passing out.
Seungmin has been here before. Not truly here here since he doesn’t actually know where he is, but this dark alleyway is familiar. The man in front of him also feels familiar, even though Seungmin knows he has never seen him before. He is facing away from Seungmin so all the psychic can see is the stranger’s bright, blonde hair.
They are walking through the alley – the vision pulling Seungmin down the alley whether he wants to go or not – when he starts to feel a very familiar feeling, a feeling he has gotten very accustomed to over the past week: dread, like someone is behind him, behind them.
He wants to call out to the blonde man, tell him to run, that something bad is going to happen, but that’s not allowed in this vision, and even if it was, it wouldn’t affect anything.
He wants to run himself, to get away from this feeling and whatever is going to happen but that’s also not allowed.
Just then, he sees movement out of the corner of his eye to his right, but the vision doesn’t let him turn to see who or what is there. There’s more movement and then a shuffling noise and then pain blooms along Seungmin’s right temple and the stranger is passing out.
The vision cuts out and Seungmin finds himself in a cottage… or is it a hut? It’s obviously a home since there’s a low, wooden kitchen table with no chairs and two handmade cloth mattresses, one on the ground and the other raised up a little. The floor and walls are made of wood, and it looks like the roof is made of… hay? Small sticks or dried leaves of some kind?
Seungmin spins freely in the single room. The house is empty of occupants currently, but it’s obviously loved by whoever lives here. As he spins, he slowly turns to face the door, and that’s when he is hit with an overwhelming fear of whatever is out there.
It doesn’t look like anyone is standing on the other side of the door and no one is knocking or anything like that. But Seungmin knows in his bones that if he stepped outside, he would be faced with an evil he couldn’t beat.
He knows, logically, that this is a vision, a dream, and that he is not actually here. That he is safe wherever he was last in the real world. But that doesn’t stop the feelings the vision is forcing on him from overtaking him. It doesn’t stop him from whimpering and slowly backing away from the door.
He backs up until he runs into the low bed and trips, falling backwards. But when he lands, it’s not onto the cloth mattress, but instead, onto cold, wet grass.
The vision has shifted again and Seungmin looks around, seeing grass and trees and bushes. A park, maybe? Or the edge of a forest? It’s definitely outside and at night, the scene dark and cold.
He doesn’t see anyone around him, doesn’t hear anyone either, but is again overwhelmed by a feeling. This time, it’s the feeling of being too late, of not being able to get there quick enough or to run fast enough, even though he is still sitting on the ground.
He’s not sure where he needs to go or who he needs to help, but he knows he needs to move faster, or else something bad will happen. He stands up and starts running into the forest, bringing his hands up to protect his face from the branches that seem to be trying to grab him and hold him back.
He notices then that he is crying, his cheeks wet and lips salty. But he keeps running, needing to get there, to get anywhere. And he can hear his family ahead of him, Chan yelling something he can’t understand and Jeongin calling out his name: “Seungmin? Seungmin!”
“Seungmin!” Jeongin shouts and Seungmin opens his eyes. He is lying on the ground, behind the bar, all six of his closest friends, the people he considers his family, standing over him, looking concerned. Jeongin is the closest and is holding his head like he does whenever one of Seungmin’s visions overtakes him, to make sure he doesn’t thrash around and injure himself.
“Oh god,” Seungmin groans and starts to sit up, Jeongin and Chan reaching to help him.
“Are you okay?” Jisung asks.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” he responds, even as he grabs his right temple and winces in pain. “Sorry about the vodka,” he mumbles when he sees the shattered bottle.
“Don’t worry about that for a second,” Chan says. “Now, are you sure you are alright?”
“Yeah, I’m sure. I just maybe need some water. And to get out from behind the bar. You know, this space isn’t really made for 7 people?” Seungmin smiles, trying to put everyone at ease.
Chan and Jeongin help him stand and then they all walk over to a booth, Hyunjin handing him a water bottle and asking, “What was it about this time?”
Seungmin chugs half the water before responding. “Well, it started with a stranger who gets attacked on a street. And then there was a hut, I think. And then I was in the forest, and I was running? I don’t know. It’s always so confusing. And vague. There’s never enough detail and I can’t control-” He starts to ramble, getting frustrated, but Chan steps in.
“It’s okay. It’s fine. You don’t need to know everything. Just…” he takes a deep breath like he wants Seungmin to do it with him, which he does. “Why don’t you take the rest of the day, go upstairs, recover however you need.”
“But, the bar-”
“Don’t worry about that,” Changbin cuts him off. “I can handle it.”
Seungmin nods and drinks more water, feeling better but his temple is still throbbing. Lying down probably would help.
Jeongin helps him to the second floor which they share with Chan, the other four sharing the apartment on the third floor, and then into their room. Seungmin walks over to the comfy reading chair in the corner – that is no longer used to read, but instead to hold Jeongin’s many clothes that can’t fit in the closet – and changes into sweats and a baggy sweatshirt of Jeongin’s, then gets into bed, sitting up rather than lying down for now. Jeongin goes to get him another glass of water and when he comes back, hands the cup to Seungmin and sits on the edge of the bed, looking at his boyfriend. Actually, glaring at him.
“What?” Seungmin asks tentatively, putting the glass down on his bedside table.
“‘It’s nothing, Innie. Trust me.’ You remember saying that not even 5 minutes before fainting and having another vision?” Jeongin says, obviously mad but holding back for Seungmin’s sake.
“And it was nothing,” Seungmin defends. “You’ve seen me have visions before. It’s routine at this point.”
“Nothing about this one was routine, Seungmin! You were whimpering, like, the whole time. And your head snapped to the side so hard at the beginning, I was genuinely worried for your neck. At one point, your breathing was so fast, I thought you were having a panic attack. I just, I want to believe you, that everything’s okay. But when I see stuff like that-” Jeongin’s voice cracks and his eyes start to tear up.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay. I’m fine.” Seungmin comforts him, scooting forward on the bed to cradle Jeongin’s face in his hands and wipe at the tears that escaped. “I’ve been having some nightmares recently, but nothing like today, I promise. They were just regular nightmares, with zero visions of the past or future. I just, I didn’t want to worry you, so I didn’t tell you.”
“Boyfriends talk about regular nightmares, Seungmin,” Jeongin pouts.
“Yeah, but we aren’t exactly regular boyfriends dealing with regular issues, are we?”
Jeongin sighs and concedes the point. “I guess, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to know what’s going on in your life. The regular and the not-so-regular stuff. Okay? I need you to tell me everything from now on. I mean it. It stresses me out thinking there might be more going on. Stuff I could help you with, but you aren’t talking to me about.”
“Okay. Okay, I promise,” Seungmin nods and then leans in for a kiss which Jeongin gives eagerly, pressing their lips together hard and holding the back of Seungmin’s neck.
“Okay. Good,” Jeongin pouts one more time for emphasis, and then straightens up. “Now, what do you need? More water? Or tea? Some ice for your head?”
“I think I just want to cuddle my boyfriend and pretend to be regular for a bit.”
Jeongin smiles fondly and says, “That can be arranged,” before diving under the covers and wrapping around Seungmin, who holds him right back.
~ ~ ~
2 years ago – New York City, New York, USA
Seungmin stands at a crosswalk and glares at the gray clouds above him. The weather report said rain wasn’t expected until next week, but those clouds look ominous. And Seungmin hates walking in the rain, getting wet, being gross and damp. And considering its freaking April, it will get humid and that’s even worse. So, the weather report better be right. And, if not, Seungmin is sure he can glare the clouds into holding off until he gets back home.
He only has 4 more blocks to go to reach the library where Martha is holding The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Samuel Kuhn for him. He and Martha have been on a first name basis for the past year now, ever since Seungmin started going to this library after moving in with Chan and the rest of the pack – him and Chan sharing the second floor and relegating the two couples to the third floor to try to get some peace and quiet from all the fucking. Martha always smiles when she sees him, saying it’s nice to see “the young folk” use their public library. If only she knew he was actually older than her.
The light finally turns green and, after staring down a driver who obviously wants to turn right before the pedestrians can start moving, he crosses the street, letting his feet take him on the path he has walked hundreds of times.
He loves this walk. He loves the trees and the reliable store fronts and Henry, the homeless man who lives in an alley closer to the library. More than once, he has asked Seungmin about the book he just picked up and Seungmin has stopped to read the first chapter out loud to him.
But recently, Seungmin has been dreading this walk. If it wasn’t for his extreme boredom when he doesn’t have a new book and a bone-deep hatred of e-books, he probably would have stopped going all together.
He knows why he’s been feeling this way. It’s because his visions the past few weeks have all centered around a corner one block ahead.
He recognized it immediately in the first of these visions. The faded spray paint on the sidewalk advertising a new bar that opened two months ago, the busted newspaper box that still has newspapers from three years ago in it, the rhythmic sound of the crosswalk button telling pedestrians to ‘Wait. Wait. Wait.’ It was all so vivid and clear, it was like he was actually there.
Of course, he wasn’t. He was either in his bed, thrashing from the nightmare, or on the ground somewhere.
If the visions were just that, him on the street corner, he would be fine. He wouldn’t let it affect his day-to-day life. But each time, the view of the corner has been accompanied by a feeling of anticipation, that something big is coming.
And Seungmin has learned that anticipation in his visions is never a good thing. The thing that’s coming is never a free sundae truck. Instead, it’s usually life-threatening and Seungmin has to figure out who in his circle of friends is being targeted.
Outside of the anticipation, these visions have been oddly mundane and anticlimactic. He just stands there, frozen in fear, waiting for whatever horrifying scene the angels want to show him to unfold. But every time, it’s just a regular New York intersection, nothing notable happening except for Seungmin waking up with a headache and stiff muscles.
As he approaches the corner today, he slows down and braces himself. Will this finally be the time? He thinks. Will today be the day when whatever terrible event that I’m supposed to know about or stop finally occur?
But nothing happens. He arrives at the crosswalk, waits with the usual crowd of people, and crosses the street without any fanfare or screaming or foreboding feelings.
Seungmin lets out a deep sigh of relief, shakes off the stress and thinks, maybe I should take a different route home.
Seungmin finds himself on the street corner with the busted newspaper box again and knows immediately that this is a vision. One, he doesn’t remember how he got here. And two, everything is a little too bright – the sky is too blue, the road markings are too white, even the street lamps are too pristinely clean. But even though this is like a polished version of reality, it is still eerily detailed and realistic. Just like the ten other times he’s seen it.
Oh great, Seungmin thinks. This again.
Maybe it’s how many times he’s experienced this by now, or maybe he’s just finally lost his mind, but Seungmin doesn’t tense up this time. Instead, as the feeling of anticipation builds, he just waits calmly for something to happen, literally anything new or noteworthy, something to make these visions worth sending to him.
Nothing happens, again, which is concerning. Seungmin has never had purposeless visions before.
He spins in a circle slowly and sees nothing out of the ordinary. No creepy looking creatures, or newly spray-painted symbols that might mean something. Not even an out-of-control car that might hit Seungmin the next time he crosses the road.
Fuck it, Seungmin thinks. If I’m here, I might as well go to the library.
He waits until the crosswalk sign changes and then walks across the street, enjoying his freedom and the relatively peaceful vision for once. He is extra vigilant about the people crossing towards him. But they are all nameless, faceless people, none of them growing horns or pulling out a knife.
Just as Seungmin gets across the road and steps foot on the sidewalk, he is transported back to where he originally started, the same busted newspaper box to his right.
“Well, that was weird,” he whispers to no one in particular, and, as usual, no one reacts.
He spins again to check his surroundings and then, since he always needs to replicate results to validate his conclusions, he crosses the street again. And again, he is brought back to the original street corner the second his feet touch the sidewalk on the other side.
“Interesting. So, you don’t want me going in that direction,” he points north towards the library. “But what about this direction?” And then turns to his left and crosses the other road making up this intersection.
And just like before, he is poofed back to his original corner.
After testing it again and getting the same results, he tries walking south, away from the intersection, going back towards his home and the club. When that fails as well, him getting half a block away before blinking back to his starting position, he says to the (hopefully benevolent) force controlling this vision, “Ok, east it is! I hope this is what you want because if not, I have no idea what is happening!”
He waits a second for a response, but gets nothing, predictably.
Seungmin huffs and starts walking. He gets halfway down the block and starts walking slower, to allow the vision enough time to reset or to brace himself for being pulled back, even though nothing about this vision has been painful.
But nothing happens. He gets all the way down the block and actually across a street without being interrupted.
He’s feeling good about this, having finally figured out this weird vision, when he suddenly runs right into a wall of air. A very hard wall of air.
Scratch that about nothing about this vision being painful. Because, damn, he might have broken his nose, which is bleeding profusely. Hopefully, this isn’t one of those visions where the injures in the visions appear on his real body, too. Those ones suck.
But a second later, his nose feels better and the blood on his face and hands disappears.
“Thank you!” he shouts to the sky and to whichever angel is in the driver’s seat. Hopefully, they will be in charge of all his visions from now on since this has been delightful! Well, as delightful as his visions can probably get.
Seungmin looks around and again spots nothing weird. Where he was stopped, there’s a self-service laundromat and a pizza place. Across the street, there’s a bar that’s not open yet and a 24-hour bodega. There’s gum hardened to the sidewalk and cigarette butts in the gutter and cars honking for no reason in the road. It’s all very normal.
The weirdest thing (even though it’s fairly normal nowadays, much to Seungmin’s dismay) is the empty used book store with a FOR SALE sign in the window in between the laundromat and the pizza place. All the lights are off and the windows are barred. And there’s graffiti on the glass door in a font Seungmin can’t read.
“Is this it?” Seungmin asks. “Is this what you wanted me to see? The crumbling market for physical books?”
He rolls his eyes when he gets no response, not that he is shocked. But something would have been nice. Maybe a boom of thunder or a flash of lightning that spells out ‘Yes’.
He doesn’t know why this would be it though, why this would be important enough to show him in a vision. Multiple times.
Maybe there’s a hidden book in there that he needs to get? But he’s not really the breaking-and-entering type. Or maybe this is a sign that he should open his own used book store? But he’s definitely not the dealing-with-customers type.
He shakes his head and goes to investigate. He walks up to the store front, grabs the door handle, and-
Seungmin wakes up in his bed, not sweaty for once after a vision. It’s still dark outside so he checks his phone and sees that it’s 2 am. Pretty early for a vision to end, at least one not ending dramatically with the obvious purpose of the vision playing out in front of him.
Weird, Seungmin thinks. Just walking a few blocks and then almost entering a closed book store?
He thinks about what this could mean for about 3 minutes before he falls to sleep again, thankfully, a dreamless, visionless sleep.
The next day, Seungmin is walking to the library again. He finished The Structure of Scientific Revolutions in two days and wants to see if Martha has anything else by the same author. As he waits at The Corner, as Seungmin has started to refer to it as, he looks to his right, down the road the vision is pushing him to go.
He thinks about walking that way now, but really doesn’t want to. His visions have never led anywhere good. Well, expect for the time they led him to Oddinary and his family (not that he calls them that to their faces), but Seungmin would argue that those visions increased his headaches, so not 100% painless.
He decides not to go, looks forward again, and notices the light has turned to the walk sign. As he is about to step forward, a wave of people from the left and right walk in front of him, stopping his movement and bumping into him more than regular, New York City walking requires. When they finally part, the red hand is bright from across the street and the repetitive ‘wait’ is droning on.
Seungmin grumbles and sends a quick glare above him. That had angel interference written all over it. Well, they may control him in his visions but not right now. He steps to the very edge of the sidewalk where no one could possibly cut him off and waits.
And waits. And waits.
The walk sign doesn’t change for one minute. Then, two. When it starts approaching 4 minutes, other people are noticing and getting agitated, stepping into oncoming traffic with the confidence only living in New York can build.
He glares at the sky again and huffs. He would feel absolutely terrible if someone got hit because a higher power wanted him to turn right and he was too stubborn to listen. And he is not someone who would ever cross a street illegally, too much of a rule-follower.
With another huff, he spins to the right, conveying as much sass above him as possible, and starts walking, the crosswalk sign going back to normal immediately after.
He arrives at the exact spot he was stopped in his vision last night and sees the laundromat and the pizza place and the bodega across the street. But instead of the empty book store, he is standing in front of a coffee shop.
The coffee shop’s exterior is a dark, forest green and there’s a matching green and white stripped awning shading the door and front tables. ‘Mountain Organic Coffee’ is painted in pretty cursive on the large glass panel in the door and the A-frame chalkboard out front boasts of the various milk alternatives offered inside. There’s a large banner hanging from the awning that reads ‘GRAND OPENING!’ and a line out the front door of what seems to be mainly influencers, based off the amount of people talking to their phones and asking “Is this new coffee shop worth it? Let’s find out!”.
Seungmin is confused. Why would the vision show him a used book store if it’s not even here anymore? If he was supposed to find something in there, it’s not there anymore. For a second, Seungmin worries he messed up by ignoring the visions for so long, but then he figures it would have taken at least a few weeks to transform what he saw to what’s in front of him now. And actually, that lines up with about when these visions started, which means he never had the chance to go to the closed bookstore.
He huffs for the third time in 10 minutes and is about to walk away when the line in front of the main window parts for a just second and Seungmin sees something that stops him in his tracks.
Sees someone.
Behind the counter is a cute, ginger-haired barista. His hands are flying around, making drinks at a speed that makes Seungmin dizzy, laughing with his coworkers and smiling at customers while handing them their drinks. His hair is a light orange and frames his face in small, fluffy waves that Seungmin is dying to feel, to test how soft they are. When he smiles, his eyes disappear and make cute slants across his face.
Seungmin’s knees feel a little weak.
He stares for a few minutes, probably creeping out a few of the people in line, before shaking his head and walking away.
This is crazy, Seungmin thinks. I don’t even drink coffee!
Despite this, he finds himself walking to the coffee shop after the library every day over the next week. He never goes in, which he understands is weird. Instead, he just stands on the sidewalk, holding his book to his chest, and watches the cute barista interact with customers and clean cups and do other coffee-shop-employee tasks. One time, the barista looks out the window and they almost make eye contact, but Seungmin quickly looks up and around, like he is lost, and then runs home.
Finally, after seven days of this, the barista comes outside. He tricks Seungmin by making it look like he is going to clear the table closest to the door and then changes directions after it is too late for Seungmin to make his escape.
“Hi, I’m Jeongin,” the barista says, his smile even more adorable and devastating up close.
“Um, hi.”
Jeongin laughs a little. “Do you want to come inside? I promise I don’t bite. I’ve just seen you out here a few times now.” When Seungmin doesn’t say anything, he continues, “I can make you a coffee.”
“I don’t like coffee,” Seungmin blurts out.
“Oh, well, that’s okay. We have other drinks, like teas or hot chocolate.”
“I don’t like caffeine.” Which is true. It messes with his visions. He learned this a few years back when he tried to stave off going to sleep by drinking energy drink after energy drink, which only ended in more daytime blackouts, caffeine headaches, and waking up with intense, magic-induced body aches.
“Ok, so caffeine free tea,” Jeongin offers. Seungmin hesitates again so Jeongin tries a different tactic. “You should come inside even if you don’t get a drink. It’s going to rain soon and you don’t want to get your library book wet, do you?”
Almost as if on cue, lightning flashes across the sky, thunder following it soon after. Seungmin looks at the sky confused slightly. Forecast called for rain, not thunderstorms.
He looks back at Jeongin and sees a hopeful look that does weird things to Seungmin’s stomach. Maybe a calming tea would be helpful, he thinks and then nods his head. Jeongin’s smile goes from hopeful to ecstatic and leads him inside.
“Alright,” Jeongin says behind the counter, rubbing his hands together. “Caffeine free tea. Let’s see. We have decaffeinated black tea, decaffeinated green tea, chamomile, peppermint, and ginger honey.” He looks back to Seungmin. “Do any of those sound good?”
“Um, yeah, the ginger honey, actually.”
“Great!” Jeongin claps, rings up Seungmin’s order, and then smirks. “Now, the last thing I’ll need is a name for the order.”
Seungmin looks around. There is only one other customer in here right now. And the shop doesn’t use plastic cups when it’s not a to-go order. So, it’s not like Jeongin will need to write his name down or call it out. But Jeongin’s smirk has turned into an open and encouraging look and before he can even think about it, he’s stammering out, “Oh, um, it’s Seungmin.”
Jeongin smiles softly. “Hi, Seungmin.”
Seungmin’s heart stops. And then flutters rapidly.
His daily routine of standing outside the coffee shop turns into going into the coffee shop, ordering a ginger honey tea, and reading at the table closest to the counter. Jeongin always offers to bring his tea to the table and then sits with him for a few minutes depending on the number of customers. And, even if it’s busy, he always manages to chat with Seungmin over the counter.
They talk about Seungmin’s books and Jeongin’s hobbies and their lives outside the coffee shop. They talk about all the places Jeongin has been, since, even at such a young age, he has traveled almost everywhere. When Jeongin asks him about his childhood, Seungmin gives vague answers and tries to pivot the topic smoothly with varying degrees of success.
“Do you ever read fiction books?” Jeongin asks one day from behind the counter, drying recently washed cups on the drying rack to make room for the sink full of dirty cups to his left.
“Not really,” Seungmin shrugs, looking up from the biography of Carl Sagan, an astrophysicist who was a leading figure in many of NASA’s expeditions. “Sometimes, when I’m in the mood to be entertained instead of learning, I guess. But that’s not often.”
“Well, if you want entertaining and educational, you could always get a folklore book.”
“Folklore? You mean, like legends and myths? How are those educational?”
“You can learn plenty through folklore. Each fable comes with a moral lesson. And each myth is just the people of the time trying to understand the world around them. They teach us about the past, about what was happening back then, what people were dealing with. That type of stuff.”
“Not really. Like, there wasn’t actually a colossal lumberjack that created the Grand Canyon with his giant blue ox.”
Jeongin chuckles. “Maybe. Maybe not. But the tale of Paul Bunyan teaches us about westward expansion and the amazing natural phenomena Americans were being enchanted by.”
“Ok, ok. I concede the point. Folklore can teach us some things,” Seungmin smiles.
“It’s interesting you brought up Paul Bunyan.”
“What? Why?”
“Well, you’re Korean, right?”
“Korean American, but yes,” Seungmin nods.
“So, you know your American folklore. But, do you know any Korean legends?”
“Umm,” Seungmin racks his brain and comes up with surprisingly little. “There’s one about the four mountains and a dragon, right?”
Jeongin raises one eyebrow, hums disapprovingly, and turns back to the sink.
The next day, Seungmin borrows Tales from Korea: An In-Depth Guide of Korean Myths, Legends, and Heroes from the library and heads directly to the coffee shop to show Jeongin.
“What’s this?” Jeongin asks, picking up the book Seungmin just unceremoniously plopped on the counter. “Oh cool! You’re reading about Korean myths?”
“Yes,” Seungmin snarks. “I didn’t appreciate the sassy eyebrow yesterday.”
Jeongin pouts. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to pressure you or make you feel bad.”
Seungmin immediately deflates, unable to stand up to that look. “It’s ok. You were right anyways. I know a lot of American fables since I grew up with them. But I’ve never really delved into my Korean heritage. And a quick scan of the chapter titles definitely piqued my interest.”
“Well. Then, yay! I’m excited for you.” Jeongin’s smile takes over his whole face and Seungmin’s knees wobble a little. “Do you want your regular? I can bring it to your table.”
Seungmin spends the rest of his time at the coffee shop reading and sipping his tea. When there are no other customers, he reads aloud and Jeongin chimes in occasionally about how this publication differs slightly from how he tells the stories. Or, sometimes, he pipes up saying how totally incorrect one myth or character is written. “That absolutely did not happen like that.”
Seungmin responds with a sassy “Maybe. Maybe not,” parroting Jeongin’s words back at him.
Over the course of the next few days, they cover the story of the Four Guardian Mountains of Seoul, Imugi (giant, benevolent serpents that ascend into dragons after 1,000 years), and Dokkaebi (Korean goblins that are born from inanimate objects stained with human blood and often play pranks, drink, and challenge humans to wrestling matches).
One day, Jeongin whines impatiently, “When is the chapter on gumihos? Can we just skip to it now?”
“It’s an In-Depth Guide, Jeongin. You can’t be mad that it was accurately advertised,” Seungmin laughs. “Besides, why are you so eager to read about fox deities?”
Jeongin doesn’t respond. Instead, he just crosses his arms, leans back against the counter and looks at Seungmin. For longer than the question calls for.
Seungmin’s heart rate starts to pick up and his palms get a little sweaty. His oncoming panic must show on his face, since Jeongin shrugs then. “No reason.”
That night, while in bed, Seungmin skips to the fox spirit chapter himself and reads:
Gumihos are nine-tailed fox spirits, similar to the Japanese kitsune. However, unlike the gentle, protective kitsune, gumihos are portrayed in Korean myths as deceptive and malevolent tricksters. They are sometimes depicted as monsters that torment and threaten dragons, which are considered sacred in Korean mythology.
Gumihos can transform at will and, in myth, often appear as dazzlingly beautiful women to seduce or trick humans. Despite their disguises, they often retain subtle foxlike traits, such as pointed ears, hidden fangs, or orange hair or clothes.
Seungmin slams the book shut, unable to read another word, his stomach a mess of vines. He has had a growing suspicion, but that last paragraph hits a little too close. And the drawing of the gumiho’s smile is a little too familiar.
He doesn’t stop by the coffee shop the next day, or the next. The only reason he goes on what would have been the third day of not visiting is that Jisung is trying to learn the violin for some reason and it is not going well.
“Seungmin! You’re back. I missed you,” Jeongin smiles at him, leaning over the counter.
“Huh? Oh yeah, umm, I was a little busy these last few days,” Seungmin stammers, rubbing the back of his head.
“So busy you couldn’t make time for me?” Jeongin smirks jokingly.
Seungmin chuckles awkwardly. “Umm, could I get a ginger honey tea, please?”
“Oh. Yeah.” Jeongin’s face falls at Seungmin’s distant demeanor. “Sure.”
Seungmin pays and then waits at the pick-up counter this time, instead of going to sit down. Jeongin doesn’t deliver drinks to any other customers. Maybe it’s weird that he does it for Seungmin. Or maybe Seungmin has been rude this whole time assuming Jeongin would keep doing it.
Gosh, why am I being so weird today? Seungmin thinks.
When Jeongin turns around with Seungmin’s tea and sees him standing at the counter, he frowns slightly and then hands Seungmin his drink. When their fingers touch, Seungmin feels a zap of static electricity and lets out a shocked yelp. He looks up at Jeongin, but he seems unaffected. Maybe he didn’t feel it.
Seungmin sits at his usual table and pulls out the Korean folklore book. But he doesn’t open it. And he doesn’t drink his tea. He just sits there and looks at the illustration on the front cover – a blue dragon circling the peak of a mountain and a white tiger lounging at the base.
He can feel Jeongin’s eyes on him occasionally, the barista looking at him in between tasks and customers. Eventually, his concern must win out over the awkwardness, because he asks Seungmin, “Not reading today?”
“Why did you want to skip to the chapter on gumihos so badly?” Seungmin blurts out. He does a quick scan of the coffee shop after the fact, and breathes out a sigh of relief when he sees that it’s relatively empty, the only other customer adding sugar to their to-go cup and then walking out the front door.
Jeongin sighs deeply, leans against the back counter, and crosses his arms. “Come on, Seungmin. You know. We both know you know.”
And Jeongin is right. If Seungmin really allows himself to think about it, he thinks he’s known from the moment he saw the ginger through the coffee shop window. Jeongin’s features are too foxlike and some of his mannerisms speak to years and years of life. Ever since meeting him, Seungmin has been having the most pleasant dreams of an energetic fox running around what he assumes is very early Korea; jumping from mountain to mountain, sometimes playing small tricks on the humans it comes across but most of the times, protecting them from mean-spirited deities or each other. The fox is a very beautiful shade of soft orange, matching Jeongin’s hair, and has a smile Seungmin could recognize a million miles away.
“You’re… you’re a fox deity, aren’t you?” Seungmin whispers.
“‘Deity’ is a little strong. I don’t reach that status until I get all my tails. But yes,” Jeongin nods. “I am a fox spirit.”
Seungmin should be scared. From what he’s read, gumihos are dangerous and evil. But he just can’t convince himself to be frightened of Jeongin. Jeongin is kind and funny and always welcomes Seungmin with the biggest, most adorable smile. Instead of feeling scared, he is just intrigued.
“How many tails do you have?” Seungmin asks, his mind running a mile a minute, coming up with a million questions. About his life, and early Korea, and fox spirits in general.
“I have seven.” And when Seungmin cranes his neck slightly to peer behind the counter, Jeongin chuckles, “They aren’t visible in this form, dummy.”
“How do you get a tail? Nine of them, right? You only need two more?”
Jeongin nods. “We have to complete a divine task, something the higher gods set out for us a long time ago. It’s similar to what you would call destiny. And after we successfully complete it, boom, tail.”
“Tasks like what? Filing your taxes?”
Jeongin laughs and Seungmin’s heart flutters a bit. “No, stuff like saving the right person, or killing the right person. Ending a war or stopping a natural disaster.”
“Wow,” Seungmin breathes in awe. “You can do that?”
Jeongin shrugs sheepishly, a little embarrassed by Seungmin’s obvious admiration.
“So, what’s your next task?”
“I don’t know. We never do,” Jeongin explains. “But some of us try to force it, try to speed destiny up and that never goes well. I, on the other hand, choose to go with the flow. Destiny will find me when it’s time. In the meantime, I go where I want or where I feel a pull. It’s worked out for me so far.”
“And you felt pulled to work in a coffee shop?” Seungmin asks disbelievingly.
“Well, yeah. Have you seen the number of milk alternatives we have?” Jeongin jokes.
Seungmin laughs and then something dawns on him. “Wait! I just realized. How old are you?”
Jeongin waves his hand as if that’s not really an important question. “Bah! Age is just a number.” And then looks at Seungmin conspiratorially. “But just between you and me? Old. Like, really old.”
They spend the next hour talking and laughing; Seungmin reading from the folklore book, Jeongin answering all of his questions and helping the few customers that come in.
“Gumiho’s powers vary from legend to legend,” Seungmin reads aloud, “but usually include shape-shifting, electrokinesis, and- wait, what?! Life-force absorption!?” He looks to Jeongin with wide eyes.
“No! That’s not true,” Jeongin sighs deeply and mumbles, “I swear, you piss off one Korean scholar and then you’re remembered forever as sinister and vindictive.”
Seungmin raises one eyebrow and continues reading, “Gumihos use their powers to charm humans – usually men – in order to feast upon their life force, hearts, or livers in their quest to become fully human. They possess the ability to drain the vital energy, blood, or flesh of their victims.”
“See? That’s obviously not true!” Jeongin’s tone is petulant. “We don’t need to – or want to! – become human. We are all-powerful, unkillable spirits as close to deities as can be without, you know, actually being one. The Japanese legends are much closer to the truth. Don’t listen to anything from the Korean myths.”
“I don’t know,” Seungmin smiles, “This book says you have a magical fox marble that holds your life force and all of your knowledge. And if someone manages to steal it, you are at their beck and call until you get it back.” He pauses, his eyes bright with humor and wonder. “Is that true? Can I see it? Can I have it?” He smirks.
Jeongin somehow manages to glare and roll his eyes at the same time. “No, it’s not true. I do not have a magic marble or orb or whatever.”
“Oh, come on,” Seungmin pouts. “That’s no fun.”
“But,” Jeongin offers, obviously trying to move on from the stupid orb conversation, “The other powers are true. I can shape-shift and create illusions. Control electricity and a little bit of lightning. Oh! And, here’s a fun one that’s always left out.” He looks around quickly, confirming the shop is empty and no one is looking in through the front window, and then reaches behind his back over his shoulder and pulls a sword out of thin air.
“Whoa!” Seungmin walks to the counter to examine the sword, abandoning his book and tea at his table. The blade is long and slightly curved, with a beautiful black stone handle wrapped in white cloth. It’s a single-edged sword and ends in a sharp, dangerous point. “It’s beautiful. Is it a katana?”
“Sort of. This is a hwando, the Korean version of a katana.”
Seungmin nods and starts slowly reaching his hand out, maybe to just run his fingers along the flat side of the blade. It’s just so beautiful. And strong. And fierce, somehow. He is mesmerized.
“Fun fact: this is actually a manifestation of my tails.”
At that, Seungmin’s head snaps up to meet Jeongin’s eyes, his mouth dropping open and his hand freezing just a few inches from the blade.
“My tails are meant to protect me. So, this is how they do it in this form. The more tails I have, the stronger the blade becomes.”
“That’s so cool,” Seungmin breathes out in awe, watching as the blade gleams in the soft light of the coffee shop.
“Do you want to hold it?”
“What? No. I couldn’t. It’s your tail. Or your tails, I mean. I shouldn’t-” Seungmin babbles, pulling his hand back to his chest.
“You’ll be fine,” Jeongin interrupts him, walking around the counter.
“But,” Seungmin whispers, “what if I drop it?”
Jeongin snorts. “It’s been through much worse. Don’t worry about that.” And then holds the sword out for Seungmin, both palms up, one hand on the handle, the other on the blade.
Seungmin takes a deep breath and then wraps one hand around the hilt, tentatively, slowly lifting it. He brings his other hand up to grip the sword with both and holds the blade out stiffly. He is so scared he will break it somehow – break Jeongin – that he doesn’t move for a few seconds. What if he scratches it and that hurts Jeongin? Or what if he hits it against something and it’s like hitting Jeongin? Or worst, what if he accidently stabs Jeongin, like non-magically? This is a literal sword after all.
But he gets more comfortable with it as he holds it. And as he gets comfortable, he starts to think about how he is truly holding a piece of Jeongin in his hands right now, a literal piece of him. An important piece, too. And he thinks about how Jeongin happily handed it over, almost eager for Seungmin to wield the hwando.
He smiles and his muscles start to loosen. He takes a few steps and moves the blade in a few slow swipes, carefully far away from any furniture or person. As he does, the light catches on the blade again and he notices that a pattern of mountains and smiling foxes are etched into it. The foxes almost look to be literally running across the mountains, but it must be a trick of the light. He giggles when one of the foxes does a back flip, and then he looks up at Jeongin, who is smiling so openly at Seungmin, his eyes fond and bright.
Seungmin’s heart does something similar to what the fox on the sword did.
~ ~ ~
They do indeed have to take two subways and a bus to get to the club, which Felix worries about the whole way there. What place in New York can’t be reached with just a subway? Some place weird, that’s where! Some place a club shouldn’t be!
Another red flag for Felix is that it doesn’t look like anyone else is going to this club. The three friends stand out like a bright, slutty spotlight in their party clothes on the bus amongst the everyday New Yorkers and suit-clad office workers who stayed late on a Friday. Yeonjun is in an unbuttoned, black leather vest, no shirt, and a red and black plaid, schoolgirl skirt with a dangly, silver chain looped around his hips and chunky, black boots reaching mid-calf. Wooyoung is wearing a silk, cheetah print button-down, unbuttoned to reveal a generous amount of chest, tucked into tight, dark blue jeans, his hair styled to show off his layered, two-toned hair. And Felix is dressed in an entirely see-through, black lace shirt showing the six pack he works hard on, a leather jacket for some sense of decorum, and shiny, black pants with laced-up, knee-high black boots, his bleach blonde hair and bright blue contacts standing out against the all-black outfit.
Good thing about New York, though, is that no one bats an eye.
The bus reaches their stop, and few other passengers also get off, obviously going home after a long week of work. In no time though, Felix and his friends find themselves alone, standing on the side of the road, the bus having rumbled past, taking the rest of the passengers with it.
“So…” Felix trails off, looking around, “where is it?”
“It should be right here,” Wooyoung says, looking at the map on his phone.
“Well, something is obviously wrong, Woo. This is just apartments and shops that closed hours ago!” Yeonjun responds, sounding a little bit stressed. “What’s the address again? Which side of the street is it on? Just show me the phone."
As those two start squabbling, frustrations rising, Felix peers across the road at a closed storefront. There’s something about it that seems off, catching his attention. Maybe it’s that through the glass double doors, the store looks empty, no merchandise to sell or chairs for customers to eat at. Or maybe it’s that it looks closed, no lights on inside, but the crisscross bars protecting all the other closed storefronts aren’t pulled down. Maybe it’s the graffiti next to the doors of the rabbit from Alice in Wonderland, but instead of a pocket watch, it’s holding a compass. A silver, glittering compass.
Just then, the neon sign above the door glitches, pulling Felix’s attention. That’s when he notices that it reads ‘ODDINARY’.
“Guys,” Felix calls out, pulling the other two from their small but growing argument, pointing across the street. “It’s right there.”
“Oh, wow, look at that.” Yeonjun looks shocked at first, then relieved. “Sorry for doubting you, Woo.” He pats his friend on the back and then crosses the two lanes.
“How did we miss that?” Wooyoung mumbles, following after him. “It’s literally a bright, red sign flashing ‘ORDINARY’.”
“That’s not what…” Felix starts and then gives up, sighing and jogging to catch up to his friends.
They walk through the doors and enter a sparsely decorated room with a person – Felix assumes the bouncer – sitting at a podium or lectern thing. A weird thing for a club to have in Felix’s opinion.
The bouncer is looking at an iPad, wearing wire-rimmed glasses and is one of the shorter bouncers Felix has seen. Honestly, the only bouncer-y thing about him is his tight black t-shirt straining over well-muscled arms.
As they approach, Yeonjun practically skipping, Felix recognizes the guy from the website. He is one of the owners, the one that put Felix at ease. And he is giving them a weird look.
“Umm, hi?” he asks, sounding confused.
“Hi,” Yeonjun says brightly. “We are here for the club. The exclusive, invite-only club.” Then, he winks, like he and this guy are in on the same secret.
“There isn’t an exclusive club here,” the bouncer denies, looking at Yeonjun like he is crazy.
“Oh, come on, yes there is. We got invited. I swear. One of your promoters invited us.”
“Promoters? We don’t have promoters. There’s nothing to promote.”
“Yes, you do!” Yeonjun’s voice is light, like he and the bouncer are joking with each other, building rapport. “You must know him. His name was Soo… Soo-something.” He turns to Felix and Wooyoung for help.
“Soojin!” Wooyoung fills in, helpfully.
“That’s right! Soojin! Super tall. Super hot.”
“I don’t know any Soojins,” the bouncer interjects.
But Yeonjun keeps talking, like he didn’t hear him, “Anyway, he came up to us at the park today and gave us your business card. Wooyoung, where’s the business card?”
“What?” Wooyoung’s eyes widen as he checks his pants pockets. “I don’t have it. I thought you had it.”
“What, no. You took it from me at the park!”
“And then gave it back to you!”
“No, you didn’t!”
“Look!” The bouncer/owner guy speaks up, cutting off their bickering before it gets too out of hand. “It doesn’t matter anyway. We don’t have business cards.”
“Yes, you do!” Yeonjun’s tone turns pleading, and a little fed up with the back and forth he had been having fun with earlier. “Come on! It was all-black and matte and had the club’s name and address in silver.”
The bouncer just shakes his head. “I think you three should leave. It might not feel like it, but it’s the smarter decision, believe me.”
Yeonjun groans in sad frustration and Wooyoung looks like he is worried he ruined the whole night, possibly the whole trip.
And Felix feels bad, that feeling growing to outweigh his nervousness about this place, so he steps in. “Ok, fine. It wasn’t Soojin. The promotor’s name was Soobin. And the business card wasn’t all black. It has a silver, shining compass on the back. And on the front, it said ‘ODDINARY’ with this address. Just like your sign out front.” He raises one eyebrow, hopefully conveying, How are you going to deny that, muscle man?
It’s quiet for a few seconds, the bouncer looking at Felix very confused and very surprised. Then, Yeonjun sighs, like he is deeply tired, “No, it didn’t, Felix. We’ve been over this already. The business card was just plain black. And the club’s name is Ordinary.”
“No, it’s not. Just, shhh,” Felix whispers out the side of his mouth, even though they are all close enough to hear him.
Something about what Felix said must have been what bouncer guy was looking for – maybe he said the correct phrase or a code word, who knows – because he gives them all another confused-but-intrigued once over and then sighs, “Ok, yeah. You guys can go in.”
“Really? Yay!” Yeonjun celebrates, clapping and bouncing on his toes.
“But, just…” he hesitates and then sighs again, “never mind. It’s through there and down the stairs.” He points to a back door with a ‘Staff Only’ sign on it.
“Ooo, mysterious,” Wooyoung breathes, looping arms with Yeonjun and walking down the stairs.
Felix goes to follow but then stops, glancing back at the owner. He is looking at Felix with an intrigued expression on his face. But not the normal, how-do-I-get-you-out-of-your-clothes intrigued look Felix gets all the time. More like Felix is a puzzle to him, one he wants to spend time figuring out.
And Felix wants him to, overwhelmed with how comfortable he feels around this complete stranger, how he wants to stay up here with him for whatever reason. But he can’t, he can’t abandon his friends like that, especially since he doesn’t think Yeonjun will keep his promise to not disappear, leaving Woo all alone if he isn’t there.
He turns away and heads down the stairs, catching up with his friends at the bottom.
“Whoa!” he says, looking out at the packed dance floor, lit-up bar, and tables and booths along the walls, raised a few feet to see over the crowd.
“That’s what we said,” Wooyoung agrees. “How on Earth do they keep all this hidden?”
Woo is right; how do they keep this hidden? One, the DJ is playing music so loud and bass-heavy that it rattles Felix’s brain around his head. But they didn’t hear anything upstairs. Two, this place looks so awesome and fun that Felix doesn’t understand how it isn’t on every Top 10 Clubs in New York list with a line out the front. The lights are timed with the music, the sound system is great, Felix can tell from here that the bar is well stocked, and everyone on the dance floor is vibing with the DJ and having such a great time, he wants to jump right in the middle of it all.
“Let’s go to the bar!” Yeonjun yells to be heard over the music. “You know, scope it out, get a feel for everything.”
Felix and Wooyoung nod and they all head for the bar, walking single file but holding hands to not get separated. The bar is manned by an impressively muscled bartender wearing such a tight black workout shirt, Felix is surprised he can breathe. He could probably see the outline of this guy’s nipples if he stared long enough. The bartender is busy with another customer when they arrive, so they lean against the bar and turn to the dance floor, Yeonjun scanning for-
“Oh, there he is!” Yeonjun sequels. “Bye, guys. See you tomorrow!” And he’s off, squeezing his way through the dance floor towards Soobin who was standing near one of the booths with the bouncer from earlier and is now working his way to Yeonjun as well.
“Two minutes!” Felix groans, outraged. “He lasted two minutes before leaving us to get his dick wet!”
“Come on,” Wooyoung defends. “He knows what he is doing. He’s got those stabby cat ears on his belt and you and I have each other.” He smiles and nudges Felix with his shoulder, Felix rolling his eyes but nudging back good-naturedly. “Come on! Let’s order a drink. This bartender is super hot.” Woo winks and then turns to face to the bar.
Chan follows the three humans he just let into the club – at least he thinks they are human, one of them was able to see things he shouldn’t be able to – and slips past them at the bottom of the stairs. He turns to the right, going towards the booths, and finds just the vampire he was looking for sitting with his usual group of friends.
“Really, Soobin?” He asks disapprovingly, knowing he doesn’t need to raise his voice to be heard. “You invited three humans?”
“They’re here? They came?” Soobin immediately perks up, standing up to scan the crowd. “Was the blue-haired guy with them?”
“I gave you those cards to invite other stray magicals who need a safe place to go. Not to invite every twink in all of Brooklyn." Chan crosses his arms.
“Oh, come on, Channie,” Soobin smiles, having spotted the trio and is now watching as they make their way to the bar. “It’s not every twink. You don’t have enough space for that. And besides, I’ve been on such a dry spell recently. I need someone I can sink my teeth into and the blue-haired guy seemed very eager.” He winks and Chan rolls his eyes.
Hyunjin walks up then, his recently dyed hair bright red, and turns to face the same direction the other two are looking. “Whoa, who invited the humans?” he asks after spotting them at the bar.
“Soobin did. He’s looking to end his dry spell,” Chan grumbles and Soobin flashes a smile. “And they aren’t all human. One of them, the blonde, I’m not sure what he is but he could see the compass on the business cards.”
“Now that you mention it,” Soobin chimes in, “he did smell weird when I was talking with them in the park. Like, sweeter? I don’t know and honestly guys, I don’t really care. My night just booked up.” He eyes Yeonjun making his way through the dance floor towards them, winks one last time, and then heads down to meet him.
“Over/under on that human being alive at the end of the night?”
Chan groans. “Don’t say that. We don’t need that heat.”
“Don’t stress, Channie. I’ll keep an eye on him.” Hyunjin pats him on the shoulder. “And I’ll go talk to the sweet-smelling one, see if I can smell what Soobin was talking about, alright?”
Chan sighs deeply. “Yeah, thanks, Hyunjin. That would be great.” And then heads back up to the front, having already been gone for too long.
“Hi there!” the bartender calls cheerily, putting two coasters down in front of Felix and Wooyoung. “I haven’t seen you here before, have I?”
“Nope, it’s our first time!” Wooyoung smiles. “I’m Wooyoung. This is Felix. And you are scrumptious.” And then adds a wink.
The bartender lets out a deep laugh. “I usually go by Changbin, but I’ll add that to my list of nicknames. Now, what can I getcha?”
“What’s your most popular drink?”
“Well, we’ve got a deal going on right now on shots,” Changbin answers, pointing to a small whiteboard on the bar a few feet away, reading ‘$5 SHOTS! (well liquor only)’.
“Five dollars?” Felix clicks his tongue. “That’s a freaking deal. I’ll take a shot of tequila and a water.”
Changbin nods and goes about grabbing the glasses, flicking his unstyled black curls out of his eyes.
Wooyoung pouts flirtatiously, pushing his bottom lip out distractingly and leaning over the bar so his shirt opens a bit more, “Oh, but Scrumptious, what about for me…” he trails off and reaches to grab the whiteboard and the marker under that stand, erasing something and writing something else. “You do this!” Wooyoung smiles and then reveals the whiteboard, edited now to read ‘FREE SHOTS! ( liquor only)’.
Changbin chuckles again and shakes his head, placing Felix’s drinks and a lime wedge in front of him. “Nice try, but even as a part owner, I can’t authorize that.”
Woo pouts dramatically and hands the whiteboard back to Changbin.
“Giving out free shots now, Binne?” comes from behind them, and then the most gorgeous man Felix has ever seen walks up next to him. This man – scratch that – this Greek god has bright red hair and contacts making his eyes a striking teal. His lips are shiny with gloss, and his eye makeup sparkles in the club lights. He is wearing a tight, teal and white patterned shirt under a black, cropped jacket with straps that crisscross over his torso enough times that Felix almost gets dizzy.
Felix has seen his fair share of hot men. Heck, Felix is a Hot Man™ himself. But this red-haired beauty is on another level. It’s like he has this aura around him, this pull that makes Felix want to go to him and just bare his throat. He’s not entirely sure what that’s about since he isn’t Felix’s normal type.
“No,” Changbin responds, “but for you, I am giving out…” he trails off and grabs the marker from Wooyoung, making some more edits and then turning it around with a wide smile. The whiteboard now reads ‘FREE HUGS! (Hyunjin only)’.
“Very clever,” Hyunjin chuckles, rolling his eyes fondly before walking away, Changbin watching him go.
Wooyoung leans over the bar again. “I’ll take a free hug.”
“Nice try but that super hot, insanely gorgeous supermodel that just walked away? He’s my mate.”
“Mate? What are you, like, from Australia?”
Changbin gives them a weird look. “Are you two sure you are supposed to be here?”
“Yep! Cheap shots and good music? I’m there!” Wooyoung smiles, finally done with trying to flirt his way to free drinks and orders three shots of vodka and a chaser.
Minho is sitting in the VIP area next to the DJ booth in his purple silk kimono robe, joggers, and slippers. He had planned to stay home tonight, maybe watch a movie with Seungmin while Jeongin napped. But when Jisung asked him to come since he is debuting a few original songs, Minho agreed immediately, willing to do anything for his boyfriend. However, what he wasn’t willing to do, when Changbin asked, was change. It’s okay though. He is pulling it off with his matching purple hair and pretty face (or so he’s told).
The VIP area isn’t anything fancy. It’s just a slightly larger, corner booth with direct access to the DJ area. It’s right next to all the other booths with no walls or glass around it, so Minho has been able to listen in on the neighboring booth gossiping about the “sweet-smelling human with unknown magical origins” all night. It doesn’t even have any ropes or security. So, Minho is not shocked when someone he doesn’t recognize walks up and slides into the booth with him.
“Hi, Minho,” the man greets him. “Long time, no see.”
Minho looks at the stranger again, peers at his face more closely, cursing the club’s low light. “Doyun?” he asks, shocked. “Is that you?”
The man across from him nods sheepishly.
“Oh my gosh! You have changed so much! Well, not physically,” Minho corrects, because of course he and Doyun both don’t age anymore, “but your whole demeanor, the way you carry yourself. I almost didn’t even recognize you.”
“Yeah, well,” he shrugs, “I’ve had a long time to think about what I’ve done, how I’ve acted, the consequences and all that. I mean, you know what I’ve been dealing with.”
“Yeah,” Minho winces slightly at the memory. “Has it gotten any better? Did you figure out how to stop it?”
“Actually, yes. I spent some time in Japan with a very helpful witch who taught me how to control it,” Doyun smiles brightly. “I’m all better now.”
“I’m glad.” Minho raises his beer and taps it against Doyun’s water cup. “So, what else have you been up to?”
“Oh, you know. Just random things, this and that. You, however, have been doing pretty well for yourself,” Doyun smiles conspiratorially and Minho blushes. “Brought into the Stray Kids pack?”
“Ugh,” Minho groans. “Don’t let Chan hear you say that. It will go to his already inflated alpha ego.” But he is smiling and shaking his head fondly.
“Helping to run one of the most well-known clubs in the magical community?”
“I don’t do much.”
“And, have you heard about the humans that are here tonight?”
Minho huffs and rolls his eyes. “Yes, it’s all anyone is talking about.”
“The one with the weird blood? What’s that about?”
“I have no idea. And I have zero guesses about what he might be.”
Doyun leans in and whispers, “I’ve heard some people think he might be a-” He cuts himself off with a grunt, jerking a leg under the table. “Actually,” his voice strained, “I have to go. Sorry. We’ll catch up later.” And then he slides out of the booth and leaves the club, limping a bit.
Weird, Minho thinks and is about to follow him. But then, Jisung’s new song starts playing, him mashing it with the previous song before fading that song out, leaving just Jisung’s recorded vocals and rap over the speakers. The crowd goes crazy, absolutely loving the new beat. And Jisung smiles, relieved, looking over at Minho, who promptly forgets whatever he was about to do and gives his boyfriend two thumbs up.
Felix and Wooyoung are on the dance floor, having an absolute blast. This DJ is fucking awesome, playing bangers and rearranging radio hits to blend with the vibe of the club. He throws in a few songs Felix doesn’t recognize but loves immediately, picking up on the beat quickly and moving his hips seductively.
Not that he is trying to attract anyone tonight. Both he and Woo turn away anyone who approaches them, dancing with each other instead if anyone doesn’t take the hint. They don’t want to leave with strangers tonight.
Maybe an hour of dancing later, the duo goes back to the bar. Felix gives his leather jacket to Changbin, asking if he can hold it behind the bar for him, and orders a water. Woo orders two more vodka shots and a chaser himself.
“WOO!” Wooyoung exclaims after downing both shots. “Alright, I am officially pleasantly buzzed.” He smiles and hugs Felix, who laughs.
“I would assume so with 5 shots of vodka in your system!” Felix yells over the music and hugs his friend back. “Nevertheless, I’m happy for you. Dance floor again?”
“Abso-freaking-lutely!”
Felix chuckles again and follows his best friend into the crowd. He has plenty of experience drinking with Wooyoung and he knows Woo has a crazy high tolerance. The five shots this far apart probably won’t affect him that much. But he has also seen how quickly Wooyoung can go from completely fine to blacked out.
They dance some more, feeling the bass in their bones and working up a sweat. Felix is so happy he isn’t wearing that jacket anymore. There’s just so much more breathing room with just the lace. He is so happy, period. He feels blissful, euphoric. He feels like he is right where he is supposed to be, and that emotion is heavenly. Zero worries, zero stress.
He leans his head back and basks in this feeling, smiling towards the ceiling. The lights flash blues and purples across his face. The speaker system keeps thumping loudly, turning out hit after hit and he can feel in the bass in his chest, in his bones, in his blood. Felix circles his hips, moves his shoulders, runs his hands through his hair. God, he wishes he could stay here, live in this feeling forever, pure euphoria on the dance floor.
Wooyoung leans in then, putting his hands on Felix’s waist and his mouth to Felix’s ear. “I have to go to the bathroom. Can you get me a water?”
Felix nods when Woo leans back and then heads for the bar, Woo going to the left.
“Hi, Felix,” Changbin grins. “Another shot?”
He shakes his head. “No, I think we are done for the night. Can I just get two waters?”
“Coming right up.” Changbin grabs two plastic cups, adds ice and starts filling them with water from the soda gun behind the bar. “You looked good out there. You had more than one set of eyes on you.”
Felix smiles and then shrugs. “It’s not the first time that’s happened.”
Changbin chuckles, setting the two full cups on the bar. “I bet.” And then he goes to help another customer.
Felix sips his water and stands on his tip toes to see if he can spot Wooyoung coming back. But then, he hears from his right, “Are you Felix?”
He turns to see an insanely gorgeous woman next to him at the bar. She has black hair with blonde highlights and bangs. She is wearing a pinstriped vest and suit pants, a white button-down underneath, buttons undone at the top and sleeves rolled to her elbows, and silver, dangling pins attached to the vest. And she has the same insane beauty, the same unworldly pull around her that Hyunjin had.
“Who’s asking?” he responds warily. He does not want to come across like he is flirting, and he has heard worse pick-up lines.
“Your friend, I think. He is throwing up in the bathroom.”
“God damn it, Wooyoung,” Felix huffs to himself, and then, to her, says, “Yeah, that’s me. Do you know where the bathrooms are?”
“Yeah, I can show you.” She nods her head and then leads him to the right.
They snake through the crowd and around the bar until they get to a dark, fairly empty back hallway, it teeing off to the left and right. “It’s just back here,” she calls over her shoulder, pointing to the left.
Wow, this is far for a bathroom, Felix thinks but is mainly focused on his concern for Wooyoung.
Then, out of the corner of his eye, he sees a flash of familiar blue hair. “Yeonjun?” he asks, turning to look down the right hallway. He looks just in time to see Yeonjun, obviously out of it, stumble through a door with an ‘Employees Only’ sign on it, Soobin grinning and gripping his upper arm.
“Oh, absolutely not!” he shouts and storms down the hallway. He slams open the door, completely ignoring the sign, and barges into the room, yelling, “Yeonjun? Are you alright? Did he slip you something?! What- What?”
His yelling peters out as he takes in the room. There are ten or so recliners, four of them occupied. Those four people are connected to machines, tubes sticking out of their arms, red fluid – blood! – flowing out of them. And they all look completely out of it, grinning stupidly up at the ceiling.
“What… What the fuck!” Felix starts freaking out.
“Damn it,” Hyunjin whispers from the corner and gets up from a low-lying couch, setting a box of cereal down. He walks up to Felix, who is too shocked to move or run away. “Damn it, Felix. You just had to walk through the wrong door, huh? Didn’t you see the sign!” The model shakes his head and then grabs Felix’s shoulders, making direct eye contact. “Don’t worry,” he says melodically, and Felix’s entire body relaxes. “You’re going to fall asleep now, and when you wake up, everything will be okay, and you’ll have forgotten all about this.”
“Wha…?” Felix tries but can’t finish his question. He can’t move any of his muscles actually, all of them sluggish and limp. And he feels like he is falling.