Jonghyun felt a little discomfort in his nose, a slight irritation of a sneeze that was trapped inside and was on the verge of bursting out but just wasn’t. He had attended two classes with that discomfort and now was nursing a headache as well. He would’ve ruled it out as something in the air or the stress of his upcoming project deadlines but the itch in his throat confirmed it was something more.

As he waited in line for his turn at the Starbucks kiosk in the University library, he slowly pulled up his sleeve and found the sigil he usually drew there, gone. He sighed, stepping forward towards one of the vacant kiosks and entered his order. He took a seat at one of the empty desks in the library and soon his smartwatch alerted him that his drink was ready. He headed towards the pickup area where his drink was waiting in one of the insulated glass boxes, his name scrawled in bubbly and small cursive. He swiped his ID and the box opened enough for him to grab his drink. He returned to his desk, worrying on his lip about what he would do now. 

Finals were next week, most of his schoolwork was due in two days and he had caught a ing cold. 

It was not a common cold. It was a witch’s cold. Yes, Kim Jonghyun, yours truly, was a witch through and through and due to a silly mistake of not protecting himself with a simple health sigil… probably all hell was about to break loose.

The only other person who knew Jonghyun was a witch was Kibum, his cousin, who was also a witch but had taken no interest in the family tradition of learning magic. It was always a choice in his family and for Jonghyun, it was easy because he was far more interested in learning how to cast spells than learning Trigonometry. But the witches’ society was a bit secretive and every witch also had to lead a mundane life which, obviously, required the mundane formal education. So here Jonghyun was, trying his best at Management Science. 

Jonghyun had downed his hot chocolate quickly, hoping the warmth of the liquid could heal his throat but all it had done was soothe and the itch was back by the time he had finished drafting his first assignment. 

It was snowing out and though the walkway connecting the library and the dorms was sheltered and insulated, Jonghyun put on his coat and switched on the insulation function in his coat as well. He had messaged Kibum, bluntly breaking the news that he’d caught a cold and seeing how his phone was pinging continuously, Kibum’s class was over and he had finally seen the message.

Did you sneeze yet?

Jonghyun was confused at the message that followed Kibum’s nagging and chiding. 

Not yet.

How long until you get to your apartment?

I’m on the walkway. Ten minutes maybe?

Hold it. Do whatever you have to but hold the sneezing.

Why?

M coming over to your dorm. Will explain when I'm there. JUST HOLD IT TILL THEN. JUST FOR 10 MORE MINS THAT’S ALL M ASKING FOR KIM JONGHYUN.

Okay, okay.

Jonghyun sighed, watching snow pile on the transparent, domed roof sheltering. It slid down due to the slope, unable to settle on any place but the little steady surface of the arc above him. He looked ahead and found two students turning into the walkway, towards the library. They were his classmates– Lee Jinki and Choi Minho– and he prepared himself to avoid them as he habitually always greeted people he knew. And these two usually always struck a conversation with him, especially Minho, who was always trying to extend it goodnaturedly and honestly, Jonghyun didn’t mind at all. Both the guys were nice to talk to, he always got a good suggestion or an interesting piece of news from them. But right now Jonghyun could neither spare the time nor take any risk of staying out since Kibum’s messages had him worried terribly. So, he thanked heavens that he had his headphones on and looked away, humming to some random song, feigning total engrossment in the billboards that were advising all air traffic to descend and use ground transport in lieu of the snowfall. But he had forgotten to play any music and their conversation had faded into his senses.

“I hate the snow. How can you even like it?”

“Every season has its charms, Minho. There is beauty even in the chill of winter.”

“Man, seriously you…”

Their conversation faded out and Jonghyun sighed in relief as they had left him undisturbed. He turned around at the loud laughter coming from those two– at how odd and loud, yet pleasing Jinki’s was and the utterly ridiculous one that belonged to Minho. 

Their cheer was contagious, especially Jinki’s. His smile was the brightest Jonghyun had ever seen and he smiled at how he was laughing without a care, his eyes crinkling handsomely. He smiled to himself before turning back to his path, thinking about the last words he had heard from them-Jinki’s somehow lingered in his mind. There is beauty even in the chill of winter.

Jonghyun sighed. Jinki always gave off that caring and thoughtful aura and it reflected in everything he did, everything he was good at, in his thoughts and in his words. 

Witches were supposed to be the gifted ones, but Jonghyun often thought Jinki’s mundane traits were incomparable to his own magical gifts.

Jonghyun’s trail of thoughts was disrupted right after that thought. He had sneezed; the impact of it had shaken his whole body and he almost stumbled but regained his footing the next moment. Blinking as he gathered himself, he looked around discreetly as Kibum’s warning message, caps lock included, flashed before his eyes.

“.” Jonghyun muttered to himself as he ran the rest of the way towards the dorms, sniffling, “, , .”

“YOU SNEEZED?!”

Jonghyun flinched at Kibum’s volume as he sat in his revolving chair, cross-legged, wiping his runny nose with a tissue. 

“How the am I supposed to hold in a sneeze?” Jonghyun argued, his voice now a clear indication of his cold, “And will you even tell me why sneezing is such a big deal?”

“We are witches,” Kibum began, folding his arms, “Gifted beings, but also flawed beings.”

Jonghyun raised a brow, “And?”

Kibum huffed at Jonghyun’s expression, “You may be studying witchcraft but I still got my magic when I was nine, unlike you, who got it at the age of seventeen. I’ve been a witch longer than you.”

“And?” Jonghyun asked, feeling a sneeze coming but the sensation somehow faded and he just sniffled until it was gone.

“Witches are more perceptive and sensitive than humans, which is our power but also our kryptonite. We fall sick easily and when we do it's a hassle as our magic tends to run a bit wild as we are not in full health. Stuff… happens. Especially when we sneeze.” Kibum explained, “That is why we use sigils to protect ourselves from illnesses.”

“Okay, I do admit it’s my fault...” Jonghyun sighed, “I forgot to redraw it because I had a project report due that day.”

“Well, nothing can be done now. The sigil won’t work on an ill body so all you can do is redraw it when you recover.”

“And…” Jonghyun sniffled, blowing his nose to rid himself of that annoying irritation and fullness in his nose, “...when will that be?”

“Mom said witch colds can be as short as 2 days and as long as two weeks.”

“What?!” Jonghyun exclaimed, “Two weeks?”

Kibum shrugged, “I’ll message you my mom’s recipe of a potion. It soothes the symptoms and builds strength.”

“I don’t have time to brew a potion, Bum. It’s finals week!”

“I know.” Kibum furrowed his brows, sighing, “Okay. So let’s analyze how bad the situation is. Did anything happen when you sneezed in the walkway?”

“I didn’t notice anything happening…” Jonghyun answered slowly, thinking back, trying to remember his surroundings from when after he had sneezed, “Everything was fine.”

“Okay, maybe it’s not that bad–”

Jonghyun sneezed right then and the thick, glass sliding window cracked, making both of them turn to it. The room suddenly got chilly with the wind leaking from the huge crack and Jonghyun grabbed his hoodie, sniffling as he put it on hurriedly, “You were saying?”

Kibum walked to the window and mended the crack, whispering a short spell while tracing the damage on the glass. He sighed when he was done, “Let’s just hope it’s nothing worse than a few cracked windows.”

Jonghyun had sneezed a few more times since then and each time had caused a little accident. One sneeze had sent his pillows and bedding floating up in the air, the next had his alarm clock ringing at 10 PM in the night. The next one had his music blaring at 100% from his speakers and when he had finally got it down, a humanoid was at his door, warning him of his violation. He had sneezed while the humanoid was leaving and the poor robot had short-circuited and was floating in the hallway until the warden came and got it.

Hence, Jonghyun decided to brew the potion Kibum had sent instead of sleeping as he couldn’t be a walking disaster and wreak havoc whenever he sneezed. It was finally done by dawn and Jonghyun had his first dose before sleeping in for a couple of hours and then another dose after breakfast. It seemed to be helping as he hadn’t sneezed ever since and felt the stuffiness in his nose lessen. 

He walked towards the library to work on his assignments and with every sneeze-free step, he grew confident that it had worked. He yawned as he saw the screens flash the ad for the upcoming Wintertide Fest. It was to be held on the weekend after finals week. The stadium was going to be converted into an ice rink for skating. Indoor games were to be organized in the student union and stalls would sell comfort food. Everything wrapped up later next afternoon to prepare for Winter Formal on Sunday night. Tickets were on sale for skating and the dance but the only way Jonghyun was planning to participate in the fest was by picking up some of the warm and sugary delicacies at the student union before catching up with all the movies and shows he had missed.

Thankfully, he didn’t have classes that day and after turning in the few assignments he had done, he decided to break for lunch. It was a little late for lunch but most kiosks in the food court were still open. Jonghyun grabbed pizza for both Kibum and him as Kibum would be seeking him out now since his class would have ended by 3. As expected, his cousin walked into the food court and headed towards him, dropping his bag on one of the vacant chairs. 

“You look better.” He commented, taking one pizza slice and biting right into it.

“I brewed the potion. I didn’t want to be a ing walking disaster on campus.”

“You don’t sound better.” Kibum sighed, “Haven’t sneezed, have you?”

“Not since I had the potion.”

“Well, if it's any consolation, it’s not just you having a bad time.” Kibum unsealed the dips Jonghyun had bought for the crust, “That guy from our major, short dark brown hair, little eyes-- I forgot his name– wait, he’s the one who carried a pineapple bag to the class excursion last semester–”

“Jinki?” Jonghyun asked, curious.

“Yeah, Jinki.” Kibum nodded, “He was playing soccer with his friends from the team and he embarrassed himself big time. He scored the winning goal.”

“Wait,” Jonghyun stopped chewing, confused, “How does that count as a big-time embarrassment?”

“He scored in the wrong goal,” Kibum answered, almost bursting into laughter the next moment as he remembered the scene, “It was epic, watching him lead the ball in the opposite direction, the opposition cleared the way for him and his teammates– especially that guy, um, Choi Minho– the horror on his face. Priceless. And even Choi’s boyfriend, Taemin… he was laughing his head off. I don’t know how I walked away with a straight face.”

Kibum continued, “Later in the computer lab, Jinki also rammed into one of those preserved old tech prototypes. The professor was mad– not because he broke it– but his voice kept breaking and he couldn’t say a proper word in response to anything asked. I think he was misheard… and when I saw him in the walkway just a few minutes back, he was tying his shoelaces but still ended up tripping over them–” Kibum paused, noticing how Jonghyun’s face had paled in dread, his gaze shifting to something behind him. He turned as well and found Jinki walking through the cafeteria and his backpack got stuck in one of the tables and his attempt in freeing it had both him and the table and chairs around him crashing down. Kibum looked back to Jonghyun, “What’s wrong?”

“He was there when I sneezed yesterday.” Jonghyun dropped his pizza back into the box. “A few steps away– but he was there.”

“Who?” Kibum asked but it clicked the very next moment, “Jinki?!”

Jonghyun nodded slowly, biting his lip in perplexion.

“.”

“This is just ing too much,” Jonghyun whispered dismally as he walked back to the dorms with Kibum, “I can’t with this right now, I have a ing project due tomorrow. I have studied nothing for my finals next week… and I haven’t even perfected the spells I promised I would before the Winter Solstice… I have a witch’s cold that could make me wreak havoc with just a sneeze and…” He sighed, “And I just might’ve cursed my classmate with one of my sneezes.”

“We can take care of everything. All we need is a plan–” Kibum took out his phone to glance at his calendar, “–I am free tonight so I’ll brew the potion for you. I’ll brew a large quantity so it can last you a few days. But I can't cast the spell to activate it so I’ll need you there.”

“And I’ll finish all my submissions by hook or crook tonight.”

“Good. We’ll meet for breakfast and see what we can do about Jinki.”

Jonghyun sighed, “Just what did I curse him with?”

“What were you thinking about when you sneezed?” Kibum asked, “I mean, it’s obvious it was Jinki since it’s him who seems affected. But…exactly what about Jinki?”

Jonghyun thought back and he knew exactly what he was thinking about Jinki because he’d had that thought quite a few times before too. He was slightly flustered at the notion of wording his thoughts and he dodged the question instead, “I… I don’t really remember. I just remember that I was trying to avoid him because– because I had the cold and all.”

“Okay…” Kibum noticed the shift in Jonghyun’s expression and tone but didn’t poke any further, “Well, there is a way to find out. We’ll need something from him and another recipe from Mom.” Kibum paused, brows constricted in thought, “Go on, I’ll meet you in a bit.”

“Okay.” Jonghyun watched Kibum hurry back towards campus and sighed, knowing exactly what Kibum had in mind.

Kibum hadn’t chosen to study witchcraft but because his parents’ home hosted their coven for every occasion, it was no wonder Kibum was far more exposed to magic than Jonghyun was. He knew quite a lot of things which he wished he hadn’t caught on or learned, like knowing which potion cured what and which spell did what… and it was all because of his Mom. Mrs. Kim taught witchcraft to young witches in their coven’s base during mundane holidays, which also happened to be the Kims’ basement– an enchanted basement– a regular basement to the mundane eye but a full-fledged, three-story academy and safehouse to a witch’s eye. Jonghyun had been there most of the holidays and he had all his basic knowledge down. He was now dwelling into complex magic and the process of learning was more independent which required him to master spells on his own by the next major holiday.

“Prentice spell,” Jonghyun read it out from the spell book. It was a bit hard following something that didn’t float around with him, like most augmented e-books did. Witches hadn’t adapted too well to the growing tech, some were completely against it– which Jonghyun understood, because the tech nowadays could easily replace the need of magic. But Jonghyun believed that tech was still mundane and there were limits that it could never cross, limits that magic could. 

After having a good read of the description and the warnings, Jonghyun slowly began reciting it. The ladle levitated into the air before it began stirring the potion and a few seconds later, the shakers levitated and ingredients were being added slowly in turns, in a proper flow with the stirring. “Phew,” Jonghyun closed his book. He had started on the potion since Kibum wasn’t back yet and to save his time in stirring and continuously adding the crushed ingredients in the proper order and bursts, he had used the prentice spell. It was one of the complex spells in his syllabus and looking at how the potion was brewing, it seemed like he could cross one spell out of the ones he had to learn before solstice.

It was right then that Kibum entered and he passed by Jonghyun in the kitchen towards the dining area, noticing the brewing in action. “Prentice spell? I thought you didn’t know how to cast it. Anyways, smart.”

“So…” Jonghyun took a seat beside Kibum, “Found what you were looking for?”

Kibum emptied his coat pockets of a few vials, “Picked up a few detector potions from Mom’s pantry. And…” He rummaged into his bag and took out a wristband, “Jinki’s.” He then plucked out one of Jonghyun’s hair and Jonghyun flinched in pain.

“At least warn me before you do that!”

“Sorry.” Kibum was not sorry at all from the smirk he was wearing. He immediately placed Jonghyun’s hair on the wristband and dropped some liquid on them from the first vial. “Hmm.”

“Nothing happened…” Jonghyun was rubbing his head, the little spot still stinging with the loss of hair, “Is the potion activated?”