"He did what?"

"He was scratching himself, cutting into the skin," Jooheon repeated to Changkyun, who paced the length of his bedroom several times, his strides growing quicker. "I created a mental barrier that'll wear off pretty soon. But yeah, he was scratching himself."

"But that's- that's impossible, Hyungwon was declawed years ago and his nails never grew back, how could he-"

"I don't know," Jooheon cut in. "I didn't notice it until now, honestly, it just...it looked normal, you know? For him to have fingernails? I didn't even think about it, and I've been making him eat all his meals with me every day. I just-" Jooheon paused to sigh out a breath. "I'm just sick of looking for the next screwed-up thing that we have to fix, you know? Not that- not that Hyungwon is just something to fix, but I mean-"

Changkyun waved a hand to dismiss Jooheon's rambling. "But how?"

"It may have something to do with the curse being altered. Probably when Seungcheol forced Hyungwon between two forms. That, or one of the head coven has some sort of healing attribute." Jooheon paused, a miscellaneous thought scratching at his brain. "Did you ever have Hoseok try to heal Hyungwon's fingers? Before, I mean."

Changkyun paused his pacing momentarily to shake his head before justifying himself and picking back up with his steps. "I talked to him about it at one point, but from what I described, he said it wouldn't work. He can only restore someone to the capacity of their current physical state. Hyungwon's current physical state, at that time, didn't include claws, or fingernails."

"Then maybe someone on the head coven has a time reversal magic," Jooheon said. "The ability to wind back time of a person or an object. In this case, Hyungwon's hands."

"Minghao or Jun might, I can't remember. But why even bother?"

Jooheon sighed, shaking his head. "Seungcheol's motive is always to get back at you, right? Just to show that he can? That he can easily alter a curse you spent hundreds of years attempting and failing to break? That with a snap of his fingers, he can restore what you could not?"

"Why does it even matter who did it or how it happened?" Changkyun snapped, Jooheon's words getting under his skin more than he would have liked to admit. "What matters to me is that he hurt himself." He slowed his steps to a stop, his back to Jooheon and his arms crossed behind his back, fingers interlocked. "I don't know if we can trust him alone anymore."

"I clipped his nails. And besides, it was an isolated event."

"We don't know that."

"He had a panic attack about his collar because he couldn't get it off and he was worried about what it meant," Jooheon argued. "Which, getting back to the main issue here, he's feeling neglected. By you."

Changkyun looked over, his face displaying an almost comical amount of shock. "Neglect?" His laugh was choked off in his throat before it could reach fruition. "I can't stand in the same room with him. I can't even be mentioned in his presence. I'm not a witch, I'm a ghost. A ghost of a ghost. If neglect implies abandonment, then haven't I been neglected too?" He stopped himself, clenching his jaw in frustration at his own words as he shook his head. "I'm sorry, I...I want to be there for him, but how can that be possible?"

"We're witches, Changkyun. We make magic happen."

***

"Hyungwon?" Changkyun whispered, keeping an ear turned toward the closed door. "Can you hear me?"

"Yes," came the answer from the other side.

"Are you in pain?"

"No."

Changkyun sighed in relief, leaning his forehead against Hyungwon's door. This was the only idea he'd had so far, and he'd needed it to work. "Can you come closer? I just...wanted to talk for a bit."

There was a soft rustling as Hyungwon pushed the sheets aside, and then silence. Changkyun had forgotten how quietly Hyungwon moved, the feline instincts not forgotten.

"Are you there?" Changkyun asked.

"I'm here," Hyungwon responded, and a moment later, the end of his tail spilled out from underneath the door.

Changkyun smiled, automatically crouching down to run the back of his hand over the soft fur, but he backed away when he heard a bump on the door. "Hyungwon? Are you all right? What happened?"

"I- I wasn't expecting that, I knocked my head into the door," he mumbled. "Sorry. Can you...can you keep petting? I'm ready now."

Changkyun chuckled before sitting down beside the door, his back against the hard surface as he kept playing with Hyungwon's tail. "I'm sorry, Wonnie. I didn't mean to avoid you. But I didn't want you to feel hurt because of me." He paused, remembering Jooheon's list of things that he had to remember when interacting with Hyungwon. "Um, do you want to say anything?"

"Seungcheol said..."

"Seungcheol?" Changkyun asked quickly before forcing himself to relax. "I'm sorry, go on."

"He said that it was your fault," Hyungwon said quietly. "He said that he didn't want to hurt me but that he had to, because of you. But...he's the one who cursed me, isn't he? Who made me...not human anymore? And you're the one who saved me, aren't you?"

Changkyun sighed, gripping Hyungwon's tail more tightly before he realized what he was doing. He quickly lessened the pressure, stroking once more as he thought of the words he wanted to say. He felt as though no matter what he said, it would never be enough. Hyungwon gave him life, purpose, meaning, and all he could give in return were apologies.

"Seungcheol cursed you, a long time ago," Changkyun agreed. "And I...I found you, recognized what- who - you were, and I took you in. But I didn't save you, Hyungwon. Saving you would have meant stopping nyayana before it happened, before he ruined your life. I-" Changkyun's throat felt thick as he struggled to swallow back the guilt. "I had planned on stopping nyayana this year. I'd thought that this was the year I'd finally stop being a coward, that I'd do what I should have done back then and save the humans before their lives were taken or irreparably damaged. And...I failed. You were taken and I abandoned my mission, and when nyayana actually happened, I sat by and watched all the humans suffer. Because I'm selfish, because my only thought was to get you back, even if every other human died. And they probably did. And I..." Changkyun felt his gut clench. "I don't care. I thought I would, but...I have you, and that's all that matters to me. Not the witches, not the human race."

Changkyun paused, dropping his hand from Hyungwon's tail. If Hyungwon hated him, that would be best for both of them. And he wasn't speaking anything but the truth. "I'm a horrible person, a horrible witch. And I'm sorry that he hurt you, sorry that he did it in my name, sorry that you got dragged into this because of me." He paused, swallowing, waiting for more confessions to bubble up, but he didn't feel any others scraping at his throat. "You can...you can say something."

"You never hit me," Hyungwon said. "Even now, you're sitting on the other side of a door because you're afraid of hurting me. I don't think that you're a bad witch, or a bad person. You've only ever been good to me. As for humans..." His pause was longer this time, more noticeable, and as he thought, his tail bumped into Changkyun's hand insistently until he resumed petting. "I'm not...I'm not human. I guess I used to be, but that's just not true anymore. And even if I wanted to be human, I don't think they would take me," he said with a small, sad laugh.

"What do you mean? Why would you even think that?"

"Well, just...when I was there, they would have all of us in the same room sometimes, and the other boys, they didn't like me. Probably because of...well...the ears. The tail. All that. I think they didn't trust me. I wasn't...one of them."

"They were probably just scared," Changkyun said, fumbling for any excuse. He didn't want to hear Hyungwon sounding hurt over not being accepted. The only acceptance Hyungwon needed, in Changkyun's opinion, was his own. But if Hyungwon cared about what humans thought of him, then Changkyun would console him. "They were taken from their families, and they saw that you were different. People are always looking for someone to blame, Hyungwon. It just happened to be you. It doesn't mean that you're any less human." He blew out a breath. "Hyungwon, do you want to say anything?"

"Of course I'm less human," Hyungwon choked out. "I'm half cat. I've been cursed. Twice, sort of. I'm...I don't even know how old. I had a family a long time ago but that's all gone. Just what part of me is human?"

"You're human to me," Changkyun said tersely before sighing. "And you have a family. Me, Jooheon. We're your family. What's so important about being human, anyway?" he mumbled. "I'm not human. Does that bother you, Hyungwon?"

"No," he answered back. "But it bothers me that I'm not, anymore. I don't know why. But...I just feel like I don't belong to any group. I'm not a human, and I'm not a witch. So what am I?"

"I told you," Changkyun said in a low voice. "You're my family. Isn't that enough?"

There was a pause. Then, "Yeah, I guess that is."

"Besides," Changkyun continued. "Even if the other humans don't accept you, Taehyung does. Is that why you like him?"

"I guess," Hyungwon said. "He makes me feel more human, more...normal. I like feeling normal. Forgetting that I'm not."

"You...you remember what he did to you, right?" Changkyun began, not wanting to bring it up, but he had to know where Hyungwon stood.

"Seungcheol told me that you were to blame for everything and that Taehyung betrayed me. But you're not bad. So I don't think Taehyung is either. Everyone is trying to confuse me. But I like you, and I like Taehyung. That's all I can think right now."

So maybe Hyungwon wasn't entirely clear on the matter, but Changkyun decided to stand by Hyungwon's answer. He liked Taehyung, so Taehyung would stay, even if he'd betrayed Hyungwon's trust and safety. If Hyungwon was happy, then Changkyun would try to support that. "All right. Is there anything else I can do to help you feel more at home here?"

There was a moment of silence during which Hyungwon's tail brushed against Changkyun's knee. "We could keep having these talks."

"Done," Changkyun said, a smile on his face, one that no one else would see. "Every night, okay?"

"Okay," Hyungwon said, and Changkyun could hear the smile in his voice. "This will all be okay eventually, right?"

Changkyun's smile melted off his face as he recalled what Jooheon had told him about Hyungwon scratching at his own neck. He wondered when he'd be breaking it to Hyungwon that they could no longer close the door to his room at night because Jooheon was scared of Hyungwon harming himself. He wondered when he'd be forced to tell Hyungwon that he didn't know if they'd ever be able to get the collar off. He wondered when he'd have to tell Hyungwon that he didn't know how they'd get out of this one.

"Changkyun?"