ONE OF the worst parts of having a heightened sense of smell is that when crowds of people surround you, everyone's scent blurs together into one jumbled mess.

bang chan did not enjoy taking care of the warlock that was locked in the castle. he already had enough on his hands to start with, so this added task was not very welcome. but nobody else in the castle was well-suited for the job: jisung was confined to the fireplace unless hyunjin was there (which, these days, was rare), jeongin was frightened by the warlock, and felix was, quite plainly, the worst person to assign the task to. but hyunjin promised chan that he would pay him a hefty sum just to bring food to prisoner three times a day and make sure he never left his room. easy enough, right?

well, until he escaped.

"what the hell," chan grumbled under his breath as he sprinted around market chipping looking for the warlock. "this is not the time for this! i have to get back and take care of jeongin and clean up the big mess that felix made! and now i have to search for this damned warlock, too? i do too much for everyone, seriously..."

the warlock in question was a man named seo changbin. he made quite the name for himself at a very young age, mastering all sorts of dark magic and committing unspeakable crimes. him and hyunjin's crew had a nasty run-in a while back when the house trespassed into the warlock's forest territory, located next to market chipping, and as revenge, changbin tried to attack them on the plains after they had moved. unfortunately for him, he had sorely underestimated hyunjin's prowess and capabilities and was promptly locked up in the house since none of them had a clue as to what to do with him. hyunjin cast a temporary spell on changbin's room that prevented him from leaving and placed a curse on him that allowed him to use his magic but only under certain conditions: he can only place a spell upon someone, preventing him from casting projectile magic; that person must genuinely wish for it with their heart (hyunjin was kind enough to gift the warlock a crystal ball that would emit a purple glow if the wish was real); and the person must give their consent to let him cast the spell. 

hyunjin was supposed to return after a week to renew the spell over changbin's room that kept him trapped in his room, but he never did, and by then the spell had all but worn off, allowing changbin to escape into the nearby town: market chipping. still, though, it's not like he could do much, chan thought to himself. he has virtually no magic at all. and besides, what kind of idiot would let seo changbin cast a spell on them? it's unthinkable!

needless to say, when chan saw a gigantic bolt of lightning strike down on one spot in the marketplace, he realized that there were, in fact, humongous idiots that existed on the face of the earth.

immediately people started screaming and running away, which was a massive relief to chan since that cleared out a bunch of random scents, and quickly he was able to pinpoint changbin's. rushing over to his location, he found him cackling maniacally next to a boy with brown hair, who chan recognized as one of the people he had shown the warlock's flyer to. what the heck? didn't he recognize changbin from the poster? he thought frustratedly, but his heart softened when he saw the look of genuine fear on the boy's face.

"seo changbin!" he yelled, thunder booming above him. changbin whipped around, shock taking over his previously victorious expression. "if you do not wish to suffer any longer, i suggest you surrender now—" chan's eyes flashed dangerously— "or suffer the consequences."

to his surprise, the warlock laughed hysterically. "go ahead and take me, half-blood!" chan flinched at the nickname. "the damage has already been done. i may not have escaped, but i did something much worse." he glanced at the trembling male beside him. "isn't that right, boy?"

chan's brown orbs fell on him. "what did he do to you?"

"h-he...cursed m-me to an eternity w-with...the w-wizard hyunjin..." he stuttered out, and chan's eyes widened.

he faced changbin and marched over to him. grabbing his wrist in an iron grip (another perk of his bloodline), he spat, "we'll deal with this at the castle. you—" he planted his gaze on the shuddering boy— "what's your name?"

he gulped. "kim seungmin."

"well, kim seungmin, my name is bang chan. now, follow me— i'm gonna see what i can do about that curse of yours."

❂❂❂

at first, seungmin seemed hesitant walking alongside changbin. "can't he just escape again?" he whispered to chan when they were out on the plains. "after all, you're only holding onto him with one hand..."

"i can hear you, you know."

"don't worry about it, kid," chan shrugged. "at this moment, he's currently powerless. he's as weak as he is short. i could snap him like a twig right now."

"hey! i heard that, too!"

"be quiet or i will seriously consider snapping you in half." that shut up the warlock, and the rest of the walk was silent. that is, until they neared hyunjin's castle.

"wait a moment." seungmin stopped walking. "i thought you were going to help me get rid of the curse, not lead me to it!"

chan stopped abruptly causing changbin to trip and shoot him a deadly glare that said "as soon as i get my powers back, you're the first person i'm gonna kill". "i am. i work with him in his castle. what better way to get rid of the curse than go directly to the source himself? he's a very skilled wizard, you know."

"but doesn't he kidnap people and steal their hearts?"

chan snorted. is that what's going around nowadays? "well, i guess you're gonna come with me and find out."

the brunette's eyes widened and he slowly backed away, but before he could get very far, chan started to laugh. "i'm just messing with you. of course, he doesn't kidnap people! if he did, i— along with everyone else in that castle— would already be dead."

seungmin paused. "wait, there are more people in there?"

"but of course. can't have hyunjin getting sad and lonely, now, can we? now come on, or we're not going to make it there before dark."

chan could practically see the gears turning in seungmin's head, contemplating whether or not to go along with it. but in the end, he just sighed and said, "...okay," and trailed after him and changbin hesitantly. 

as they continued their walk, chan couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. how exactly would they rid the boy of his curse? neither he nor jeongin were magic users, changbin was ridiculously stubborn and refused to help, felix was too inexperienced and his spells were unpredictable, and hyunjin was off somewhere doing something secretive like always. so that left only one person that might be able to help them. someone who knew a great deal about curses since he was cursed himself.

chan groaned internally. han jisung, you'd better help us figure this out, or i swear to the queen of ingary that i'm going to dump a bucket of water on you.