LIKE MAGIC, the town slowly came to life before the tailor's eyes. seungmin passed yawning townspeople groggily setting their stalls up in the streets, waving at a few that he knew and greeting them with a quiet "good morning". after a quick walk (the town was rather small, after all), seungmin arrived at his destination: the package delivery service, which was the largest building in market chipping.

entering through the massive wooden doors, seungmin immediately spotted the person he was looking for. "wonpil!"

the brunette turned at the sound of his name being called and broke out into a grin when he saw who summoned him. "why, if it isn't my most frequent customer. here to pick up another book for your friend?"

seungmin nodded. "it's another one by kim namjoon. apparently, he's really popular with the ladies nowadays."

"and the gentlemen as well, it seems."

the tailor chuckled as wonpil handed him the package. "so it seems."

seungmin bid his friend farewell as he left the building, heavy box in hand. minho was a huge fan of the author, kim namjoon, who was a wizard who steadily grew in power over the past few years and was now one of the most revered magic wielders in the world. with the help of his guild, bangtan sonyeondan, he was able to create many new spells and incantations, gaining them immense popularity and many, many fans.

seungmin only knew this because minho never stopped talking about them. ever.

speaking of minho, where is he? the tailor thought when he arrived at the quaint little bakery. the older boy was nowhere to be found. shrugging, seungmin opened the doors to the small building and let himself in, not minding the large "closed" sign that stood in front. minho would be reprimanded, not him if he got in trouble, so he didn't really care.

almost immediately, the tailor heard a frenzied yell and glimpsed a glob of dough flying at his head. with the grace and expertise of someone who had done this a thousand times, seungmin took a step to the left, just narrowly missing the sticky substance that collided with the door behind him. there stood his best friend, lee minho, covered from head to toe in flour and heaving like a madman. his expression would've been terrifying to anyone else, but seungmin recognized it as minho's "i'm-trying-to-intimidate-you-so-you-can-go-away" face. he quickly dropped it, though, once he saw who was at the door.

"ah! seungminnie!" the baker chirped gleefully, skipping over to his friend. "i'm so glad you're here! i thought you were a stranger coming to steal my bread!"

"minho, everyone in town knows that you are capable of beheading someone with your toast. nobody in their right mind would try to break in here."

"well, still, you can never be too careful." minho dug around in his apron and pulled out a tiny crostini. popping it into his mouth, he asked, "so, you got my book?"

seungmin handed him the box with a nod and minho began to squeal. "just came in today. you got my payment?"

minho stop squealing and sighed before walking behind a large marble counter. "seungmin, seriously, you should ask for more than just breakfast in return for always doing this for me. you always ask for too little! be selfish for once!"

seungmin followed him to the counter where minho had set out plates of eggs and bacon alongside baskets filled with different kinds of bread. "i suppose. i don't need that much, though. just knowing that i can be of assistance to someone makes me happy."

"that is a complete and utter lie and you know it."

the two continued their light banter back and forth as they ate, the conversation switching from seungmin's newest clothing order to minho's recent quiche disaster to park jihyo's brand new hat.

"have you heard? wizard hyunjin's castle moved again," minho commented, popping a piece of bacon into his mouth. "now it's closer than ever to market chipping."

seungmin nearly dropped his fork in shock. hwang hyunjin was a mighty wizard who was infamous for his notorious deeds, his most prominent one kidnapping handsome young men and sucking out their souls. he resided in a large, lopsided stone castle that could move wherever it liked, typically alternating between the vast plain, the distant hills, or a spot next to the river. it never went into the forest or too close to the town, but now, according to minho, it was a little less than a mile away from the outskirts of market chipping. this was alarming to seungmin— he'd heard tales of people setting out to confront or defeat the wizard, but none ever came back. who knew what hyunjin had done to them?

"well, i don't think i have anything to worry about," seungmin joked nervously in an attempt to mask his worry. "i'm not nearly as handsome as other people in town. you, on the other hand, might not want to go out at night alone."

minho slapped him on the shoulder. "be quiet. you're stunning. give yourself more credit."

seungmin laughed and shook his head before switching topics once more, this time to a faerie that was new in town named lee sunmi. but as hard as he tried, the tailor couldn't stop thinking about hyunjin. what if he came into the town? what if he tried to kidnap him or minho? these worries plagued his mind until he had stopped listening to his friend entirely, only realizing that he had zoned out when the baker snapped his fingers in front of his face.

"seungmin? are you all right?"

seungmin blinked twice. "sorry, what was that?"

"i said, isn't it time for you to go? you have to get new materials before they're all sold out, correct?"

seungmin gasped before whipping around to look at the turquoise clock on the wall behind him (why it was such a random colour in the predominantly grey and white shop, he didn't know). the clock read that it was half-past eight. "you're right! i'm fifteen minutes behind schedule!" he jumped up and began shoving breadsticks into his satchel for later. "thank you for the breakfast, minho! it was lovely!" after giving a quick wave to his friend, the tailor bolted out the door, his destination the fabric store in the market square.

seungmin thanked his lucky stars when he managed to get his hands on lace and chiffon, two things he desperately lacked in his shop. after picking up a few threads and a small pouch filled with buttons, the boy returned home, his coin pouch significantly lighter. there he stayed for the remainder of the day, stitching and sewing without rest in order to catch up on his orders: two silk dresses for the wealthy maidens that lived up the road, one woolen sweater for a man that worked in the package delivery building, and a baby blue suit for a little boy who was going to be the ring bearer in his mother's wedding. personally, seungmin felt that baby blue was a horrid colour on the lad, but he didn't say anything in fear of upsetting the boy's mother— it was her wedding after all, not seungmin's— but that didn't stop him from cringing every time he saw the bright material. he was satisfied, though, when at the end of the day he had not only completed the suit but one of the dresses as well.

seungmin felt his muscles ache as he stood up and stretched, his bones creaking with his every move. blowing out the few candles that remained flickering in the moonlight, the boy wearily decided that he would bathe when he awoke at dawn since he was too exhausted to even think. he then shuffled from the living room (which doubled as his workspace) into his bedroom and collapsed onto his small bed, the springs creaking beneath his weight. he sluggishly wrapped his blanket around his frame and, in his last moment of consciousness, reminded himself to mend it in the morning before falling into a deep, peaceful slumber.

in the distance, the castle of stone moved ever closer to market chipping.