They were in the apartment one moment, and the next, they were in a small hut. Taehyung immediately bent over, feeling sick, but Jooheon and Changkyun appeared fine.

"Who-" Taehyung paused, focusing his energy on not throwing up. "Who are we supposed to be meeting?"

"A friend of mine," Changkyun said before revising. "I don't know if you would say friend. Acquaintance, maybe. He's a healer who travels around to small, uncivilized villages of humans and offers his powers in place of the advanced medical treatment that they don't have access to."

"He sounds nice," Taehyung said cautiously, expecting disagreement, but to his surprise, Changkyun just said, "He is."

A man entered the hut a few minutes later, and if he were surprised to see them, he didn't give any indication. Instead, he nodded respectfully to both Changkyun and Jooheon before looking over at Taehyung with curious eyes.

"A human," he commented before looking back at Changkyun, assuming (rightfully) him to be in charge. "Is he sick? Injured?"

"No, just annoying, but I don't think you can fix that," Changkyun said, and Taehyung glared at him (and quickly stopped glaring when he remembered A, how scary Changkyun could be and B, that he'd basically ruined all of their lives). "I'm here for a favor."

"Ooh," the man said, clapping his hands and grinning. "The mighty Im Changkyun needs my help. What an occasion this has become indeed."

Changkyun just sighed, massaging his forehead. "Yes, yes, it's very amusing, isn't it."

"Why is it amusing?" Taehyung asked, pushing his head forward.

The new witch looked over at him, seemingly entertained by the fact that Taehyung was brave enough to speak in their presence, or at least entertained enough to grant him an answer. "Because Changkyun is one of the most powerful witches alive," he said. "He was given a very special type of magic-"

"Enough," Changkyun cut off, giving the witch a warning glance. "This isn't about me."

"Then what is it about?"

Changkyun was quiet, and Taehyung took that as his difficulty to express the whole situation.

"So, Changkyun has this cat, only it isn't really a cat, it's actually this boy that was cursed a long time ago," Taehyung began, and the witch watched him with amused eyes. "Basically how it happened is that he was taken when he was eleven, which was a really long time ago because he only ages one day a month, and a lot of stuff happened after that and he was wandering around when Changkyun found him and took him in. Since then, he's been living in Changkyun's apartment, and one day a month, on Amavasya, he turns back into a human." Taehyung paused, trying to figure out what to say next, when the witch gave a small laugh before looking over at Changkyun.

"This is about Hyungwon?" he asked, his eyes bright. "You should have just said so, Changkyun."

Taehyung's jaw dropped before he shut it, his face flushing red out of embarrassment. "You already knew?"

The witch looked over at him, smiling apologetically. "Sorry. You were really into the story and I didn't want to interrupt...But in answer to your question, I've known about Hyungwon for a while. Ever since the camera was invented, Changkyun has been showing me photos of his precious little kitty. Isn't that right, Changkyun?"

Changkyun just crossed his arms, unruffled. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you do!" the witch insisted, going over to a trunk and ruffling through it. "I've still got them around here somewhere. Here, look," he said, standing up straight and holding up a small stack of Polaroid photos, which Changkyun swiped out of his hands before Taehyung could see any of them. "Hey, give them back," the witch argued. "They're mine, fair and square."

Changkyun grumbled incomprehensibly before handing over the photos, not without glaring at the other.

The witch just laughed, taking the photos back and moving towards Taehyung, letting him see. "This one is from last year," the witch said, and Taehyung was surprised to see a picture of Hyungwon in his cat form, looking exactly the same as before. "And this one is from Changkyun's birthday one year," the witch continued, flipping to a photo of Hyungwon wearing a pointed birthday hat, his expression more than reluctant. "And this one is from a hundred years or so after Changkyun took him in."

The last photo caught Taehyung's attention the most. It was Hyungwon as an adolescent, his eyes shadowed and his frame unhealthily thin. He wasn't smiling; in fact, he looked like he'd never been taught how to. He couldn't have been older than fifteen, but his eyes were much older despite his frail body.

Taehyung's eyes jumped as the photo was whisked away before it was replaced with one of Hyungwon as a cat curled up in Changkyun's arms.

"I took that one," Jooheon said proudly, leaning over Taehyung's shoulder to see.

There were more of Changkyun and Hyungwon together, Taehyung saw as the witch quickly flipped through, photos of Hyungwon in both his cat and in his human form. One with Changkyun lying down on the ground, Hyungwon as a cat lying on his stomach. A recent photo with Hyungwon giving a small smile down at Changkyun and the three inch gap between their heights.

And then came Taehyung's favorite picture, one with Hyungwon resting his head on Changkyun's shoulder, a warm smile on his face as he looked down, whereas Changkyun was smiling too, only he was looking at Hyungwon.

"Stop," Changkyun said quietly, and the witch hesitated before nodding and putting the photos away.

"Why? What's wrong, Changkyun?" the witch asked. "How is Hyungwon doing, by the way?"

"He's missing," Changkyun said. "Or gone, to be more accurate."

The witch frowned. "What happened? He stays in your apartment, right?" The witch looked over to Jooheon. "Didn't you put up a barrier?"

"Of course," Jooheon said, indignant. "There was nothing wrong with the barrier."

"He left the apartment," Changkyun said, and Taehyung put his head down, grateful that Changkyun hadn't mentioned his name but feeling guilty nonetheless. "And Seungcheol took him."

The witch blanched, dropping his smile for the first time since entering the hut. "Seungcheol? Changkyun, that's not good. That's really not good."

"You don't think I don't know?" Changkyun snapped before taking a deep breath. "Sorry. I've been...a bit tense lately."

The witch just nodded, accepting the apology. "But Seungcheol? Maybe...Maybe it's better if you just stay out of this, Changkyun. You may be powerful, but between you and Seungcheol, I'm not sure who would win. Not to mention that he has his own coven, you know. You may be able to take him on, but not all of them."

Changkyun glared at him for the mere idea of abandoning Hyungwon. "I'm getting him back. That's why I'm here. I need my own coven."

The witch blinked, once, twice. "You? A coven?"

Changkyun raised his chin. "Yes," he said tersely. "It's necessary. I can't-" He exhaled through his teeth. "I can't take on Seungcheol's entire coven by myself," he admitted, and then, as if it pained him to his very core, he said, "I need you to join my coven."

The witch raised a brow uncertainly. "I assume Jooheon's part of it?"

Changkyun gave a single nod.

"Who else?"

"I'm working on that," Changkyun said before adding in a calmer voice, "You are the first I've visited."

The witch still seemed hesitant, shifting his balance to his other foot. "We've known each other for a long time, Changkyun, and I've always respected you and your power, but..."

"Please." Changkyun's voice was low, and the word came out slightly off as though his tongue weren't used to forming it. "Please," he tried again, his mouth still twisting in discomfort of the word. "He is all I have," he whispered.

The witch bit his lips before swallowing. "If I agree to join your coven, I will be made an enemy of our kind, will I not?"

"You will," Changkun acknowledged.

"And if we do not succeed, Seungcheol will destroy us both."

"He will," Changkyun said, but his eyes didn't waver.

Everyone in the hut held their breath, waiting for the witch's response.

"What the hell," the witch said, a shaky smile forming on his lips. "I'd like to see Hyungwon in person just once," he said, scratching the back of his neck.

Changkyun paled at the realization. "You'll join, then?"

The witched bobbed his head forward. "I have nothing to lose, and if I die, well, I figure I've lived long enough."

Changkyun released a long breath before nodding, his eyes closed as he sent up a brief prayer of thanks. He opened his eyes and nodded toward the witch. "You know the ritual, correct?"

The witch nodded, kneeling on the ground. His left hand lit up, and he traced his index finger along his wrist. A thin line of red appeared, blood soon swelling out of the cut as he raised his wrist out to Changkyun, who dipped two fingers in the blood before drawing a character on the back of his opposite hand. Then he repeated the process in reverse, only he remained standing as he created a small cut on his own wrist and traced the same symbol onto the other witch's forehead.

They waited until the symbols glowed, the first witch's in white and Changkyun's in black, before they disappeared along with the cuts on their wrists.

Changkyun extended a hand to the witch, helping him stand. "Shin Hoseok, I welcome you to my coven."

Hoseok gave a sheepish smile at the theatrics. "You know, it's usually custom to take me out on a date first."