"A...witch?"

Hyungwon ignored Taehyung's question, having answered enough at this point, and dragged himself off the armchair. "It's nap time," he said with a yawn, not bothering to stifle it before giving his body a small shake. He headed over to Changkyun's room, stepping lightly on the balls of his feet, and Taehyung waited until he was out of sight before picking up his phone.

"Changkyun?"

"Taehyung, I'm sorry, now isn't really a good-"

"Your cat turned into a human," Taehyung blurted out.

There was silence on the other end of the phone accompanied by a quiet curse. "Sorry, Taehyung, I was supposed to be back in time. My b."

"He said you're a witch," Taehyung stated, listening closely for Changkyun to dispute the fact as ridiculous.

Instead, all he got was a sigh. "He doesn't really have a filter. I guess that's also my fault, he hasn't been around other humans in a long time."

"He said witches did this," Taehyung continued, desperate for answers. "He said you were there. Did you...were you the one who cursed him?"

Another sigh, less exasperated and more self-loathing. "No. But I didn't stop it." Changkyun's voice got smaller as though he were cradling the phone close to his face. "I didn't know what happened to him after. Or more likely, at that point, I probably didn't care much. Humans were no friends to me. But I found him wandering the streets years later as a cat, and I sensed a strange energy about him, so I took him in as a familiar. It wasn't until later that I realized...who he was. What he was a product of."

"Someone declawed him," Taehyung recounted, shuddering as he recalled the image of Hyungwon's nail beds.

"Yes," Changkyun said, agreeing sadly, and if Taehyung wasn't imagining it, there was anger underneath his words. "He was taken in by a family, and they had kids, so...They thought he was just a cat. They didn't know." Changkyun sounded like he didn't want to fault them for it, but Taehyung could tell by the tension in his voice that it was a battle he'd been fighting against himself for many years.

"So...you just took him in? And now what? He said he ages really slowly. What is he supposed to do for the rest of his life?"

"I'm working on that," Changkyun said, sounding annoyed, although Taehyung couldn't tell who he was annoyed at. "But in the meantime, I just take care of him. Make sure he's comfortable. And sometimes, he helps me with magic. He was cursed, technically, so he's got a source of magic on his own. Like a well I can tap into. When I need a little boost with my own magic, I can sort of...siphon from his, I guess. Or use him as an amplifier."

"So...you're really a witch then?" Taehyung asked, setting his free hand down so it wouldn't shake in the air.

"Guilty as charged," Changkyun said, but there was no humor in his voice. "Is Wonnie there? Is he upset with me? Can I talk to him?"

"He went to take a nap," Taehyung said, looking over at the occupied bedroom.

"Can you have him call me later?" Changkyun asked, sounding...well, almost as needy as Hyungwon. But Taehyung guessed that when two people had spent such a long time together with only each other for company, that created bonds that stretched across distances.

"When he wakes up, yeah," Taehyung said. "Sorry about interrupting you."

"It's fine, I just-" Changkyun cut off for a second before his voice came on again, rushed and soft. "Tell him to call me."

He hung up.

Taehyung sighed, setting down the phone.

He knew he never should have taken this job.