LEE FELIX was an amateur wizard from a foreign kingdom who had moved to ingary four years ago in search of a powerful wizard that would be able to help him harness his magical powers. but, since he wasn't familiar with the land, he hadn't a clue where to start looking. luckily for him, he found a castle in the middle of nowhere, and discovered that a very powerful wizard inhabited it! he was nearly killed on the spot (which was how he met chan), but after determining that he wasn't a threat and hearing his story, they agreed that he could stay and learn magic under hyunjin. in hindsight, entering a mysterious castle wasn't the smartest thing to do, but felix always used the excuse "i was only seventeen!" to back up the actions of his past self (not realizing that normal seventeen-year-olds still wouldn't have done what he did).

but the problem was that hyunjin left the castle often and for long periods at a time, especially as of recent: he had been gone for about two weeks now, which was why changbin was able to escape. he hadn't returned in time to renew the spell on his room. it had been ages since felix had gotten a proper lesson, so he resorted to teaching himself, which usually led to a mess of gigantic proportions (much to chan's annoyance, as he was the caretaker of the house). but that never deterred him. all felix wanted was to be able to make his friends proud of him, and if that meant going through dozens of failed attempts before finally getting a potion right, he would do it. although, it would be much easier if hyunjin were around to give him a proper lesson.

i hope he comes back soon, felix thought dismally. as much as he loved the other people— er, sort-of people— in the house, hyunjin was desperately needed for certain things. chan took care of jeongin the best out of anyone, but if hyunjin wasn't back soon, things could get deadly. and jisung was lots of fun to be around, but if hyunjin wasn't there, he couldn't shift into his human form. and without hyunjin's presence, changbin would escape—

holy lamingtons, where is changbin? felix thought, looking around the foyer in a panic. one moment he was sleeping, and now he was gone! chan is going to kill me for real this time! he thought, sprinting around the castle yelling, "changbin! changbin!"

he checked their sad excuse for a kitchen first before running upstairs to where a hallway of rooms was located. he threw open different doors— his bedroom, the bathroom, chan's room— while making sure to not touch hyunjin's door, before stopping in front of their old storage room. it was where they threw all of their old junk or trinkets that they had collected over the years. it was also changbin's temporary room.

there's no way he would just get up and return to his room, felix thought with a shake of his head. it's practically an admittance of defeat, and if i've learned anything the week he's been here, it's that he does not admit defeat. but i guess it doesn't hurt to check. and with that, he slowly pushed the door open and poked his head inside of the pitch-black room. "changbin?"

he was surprised to hear some shuffling and a voice growl, "what the fuck do you want?"

"oh! i just... um... didn't know where you went." he stood there in silence for a few moments longer before asking, "can i come in?"

"no."

"okay." felix shifted uncomfortably. he wasn't used to people rejecting his offers of companionship. changbin may be a dangerous warlock, but even dangerous warlocks needed friends. "i'll be right outside if you need me. don't hesitate to holler if you need anything!"

after getting no response, felix sighed and shut the door quietly. he's so cold. too bad jisung is stuck in his fire form, or else we could surely make him warm up to us. he stood outside the door for a bit longer, wondering how chan was able to take care of him all this time, when he suddenly remembered chan's request.

"i need you to watch changbin. keep an eye on him and try to get close to him. we need as much information as we can get on seungmin's curse."

oh, yeah! felix thought. i promised him i wouldn't let him down! with newfound resolution, felix dramatically kicked the door open and marched straight into changbin's room.

"what the hell are you doing?" changbin exclaimed, clearly shocked. "i thought i told you not to come in!" felix heard more rustling, but due to the darkness, he was unable to see what the warlock was doing.

felix shrugged and felt around for the bed. "well, you seem pretty lonely here, so i figured that i'd keep you company!" he grinned when he found the mattress and collapsed onto it, but was surprised to find that it was somewhat lumpy and hard. "what is this bed made out of? it feels like i'm laying on iron poles!"

"those are my legs," changbin seethed out between his teeth, and felix hurriedly stood up.

"oh. my bad."

felix didn't need to use magic to feel the annoyance seeping out of the older boy, and quickly tried to diffuse the situation. "so, um, why's your room so dark?"

"i like dark. it matches my soul and the essence of my being."

whoa. calm down, edgelord. "well, i can't see a thing in here."

"good."

felix frowned. he wasn't the biggest fan of the darkness and couldn't for the life of him fathom why changbin would like it. "staying in darkness all the time will make you feel even lonelier. hold on, i'll turn on a lamp." changbin protested against this, threatening to curse him beyond belief, but felix knew that they were empty. he was powerless, after all. he let out a noise of satisfaction when he found several oil lamps in the heaps of garbage in the room and turned them all on at once, causing a soft glow to fill the room. "there we go!" he turned around with a smile that was brighter than the light and faced changbin, whose facial expression was nothing short of sour. "see? isn't that much better?"

"i'm going to slit your throat unless you leave," changbin hissed, and felix jumped slightly. he's so scary! "turn off those godforsaken lights and get the hell out of my room!"

the male immediately complied and tripped over his own feet trying to exit. heart pounding, he shut the door with a sigh. so much for trying to get close to him.

he trudged down the stairs and let out a yelp when he noticed jisung's sorry state in the fireplace: the poor demon was reduced to the smallest of flames, and he was clinging to life on a tiny piece of wood surrounded by a sea of ash.

"about time!" he complained. "i've been calling you for ages! i'm going to die if you don't hurry up and give me more kindling!"

"sorry!" felix said, and rushed to grab the extra logs they kept in the castle for when jisung ran out of wood. "i was talking to changbin."

jisung's flame instantly shot up— from interest or the fresh wood, felix couldn't tell. "you were talking with changbin?"

the foreign boy nodded. "well, i tried to. he's not really a conversationalist. or a people person."

jisung snorted. "i noticed. why would you try to strike up a conversation with him anyway? he's the exact opposite of you!"

felix slumped onto the maroon chair. "chan wants me to get close to him so i can gather more information about seungmin's curse. but it's just so hard!" he groaned and pulled his face downward. "how am i supposed to befriend someone like him?"

"give it some time. i'm sure he'll come around."

"how can you be so sure?" felix asked, hopelessness trickling into his voice, but before jisung could answer, the door burst open. felix whipped around, immediately taking on an offensive stance as a cloaked figure stepped into the castle. nobody should know about the castle's secret entrance, he thought, except for the residents! so who is that?

the figure chuckled, and felix's muscles tensed. "what's so funny?" he barked.

"felix, didn't i teach you to go straight into a defensive position when there's an intruder?" the man removed his hood, and felix gasped. "you're terrible at controlling your magic, so it's best to save your attacks until you get better at it."

"hyunjin!" felix cried, and leaped into his friend's arms. "you're finally back! i can't believe it! so much has happened that i need to tell you about!" he broke away with a pout. "and the only reason i can't control my powers is that you're never around to teach me! please tell me you're staying longer than a few days this time."

hyunjin smiled, a sight that his friend had dearly missed. "i won't be leaving for quite a while."

felix cheered happily as jisung's flame shot up with excitement. "hyunjin? oh, thank heavens! i can finally transform!" felix watched as jisung wiggled around in the fireplace, his flame growing larger and larger, morphing into the shape of a body. the room grew unbearably hot for a split second and heat waves clouded felix's vision before the temperature suddenly dropped and a puff of smoke drifted out of the fireplace. the two wizards coughed and hyunjin blew the cloud away with a spell, and once it had cleared, there was jisung standing there in all his glory.

felix laughed. "go put on some clothes, you fool!" a side effect of jisung switching forms was that his clothing would disintegrate due to him turning into a literal ball of fire, so when he would turn back into a human, nothing would be on him. jisung never seemed to have a problem with that, though— he didn't have much shame to begin with, which often led to his friends' embarrassment.

jisung put his hands on his hips and jutted out his chin in defiance. "give me one good reason why i should do that."

"felix, open the door!" came a voice from outside, and felix shuddered. it was chan's voice, and he sounded quite irritated, which was never good. but before he could answer, hyunjin had already run to the door, clearly eager to see his friend again.

"wait, hyunjin!" jisung panicked, knowing that chan wasn't the only one out there. "let me get dressed first!"

but it was too late. hyunjin pushed the stone door open with glee to find chan standing there with two other people behind him. as the silver-haired male's eyes widened in shock, felix tried his very best to contain his laughter. what a sight he must be seeing now! hyunjin, who had suddenly shown up again; jisung, who was butt-naked; and the house, which was as clean as when he left. felix was ninety-nine percent sure that that last fact was the most shocking of all, and so he wasn't surprised at all when chan blurted out:

"what the hell?"