Archive of Our Own

“Binnie, I’m home,” Yeonjun called as he walked in. He kicked off his blue Converse at the door, right next to Soobin’s pair of pink ones. They’d originally bought them together kind of as a joke, like a funny sort of matching situation since Yeonjun’s hair was pink and Soobin’s hair was blue. They’d both ended up wearing them a lot, though, so Yeonjun considered them a pretty good investment all things considered.

He dropped his keys on the table in the entryway of their shared apartment, frowning slightly as he made his way into the kitchen to put away the groceries. Soobin usually came to greet him right away when he came home, but maybe he had his headphones on too high to hear him or something. 

Yeonjun smiled to himself as he put away the almond milk in the fridge. Soobin had an almond milk obsession, and had been that way for as long as Yeonjun had known him. It was one of his more adorable traits, in Yeonjun’s opinion– on the list right above his rule about always wearing matching socks, and just below the way his nose crinkled up right before he sneezed. Yeonjun also put the eggs in the fridge, and the dish soap next to the sink. Then, he walked to Soobin’s room to see what the younger boy was doing.

“Binnie?” Yeonjun called again. There was no answer, but his door was slightly cracked. Yeonjun knocked, then peeked his head inside. Soobin’s room was in its usual state of tidiness, with the exception of a sweater and a pair of jeans lying rumpled at the foot of the bed. The desk chair he usually occupied was empty, though, and his bathroom door was standing open.

Yeonjun hummed, confused. He reached for his phone to text the younger, but a voice that sounded suspiciously like Beomgyu reminded him that Soobin was, in fact, a grown adult who could leave the apartment as he pleased, and did not need to keep his roommate constantly updated with his whereabouts. Still, though, Yeonjun was slightly off-put by the fact that Soobin hadn’t told him that he was going somewhere.

He flopped down onto the couch with a huff, trying to figure out what he should make for dinner. Perhaps Soobin had just gone to the convenience store to get a snack; he wasn’t the type to disappear for the night without at least texting Yeonjun, so he figured that Soobin would be back before dinner. They had ingredients for tteokbokki, Soobin’s favorite, so Yeonjun resolved to get started on that right after he finished interpreting whatever unintelligible mix of Molang stickers and keyboard smashes that Kai had sent in their group chat this time.

Yeonjun got up forty minutes later, having inevitably gotten distracted and scrolled Twitter aimlessly for a bit after clicking on a link that Beomgyu had sent at lunch. He was starting to get a bit worried now, since it was nearing seven o’clock. It wasn’t late by any means, but it was unusual for Soobin to be gone so long without having at least given Yeonjun a heads-up that he would be late for dinner.

He got more worried when the tteokbokki was finished, and there was still no sign of Soobin. He sent the blue-haired boy a text, debating whether or not he should wait to eat or just start without him. After ten minutes without a response, he sat down to eat. His message had clearly been delivered, but Soobin hadn’t seen it or responded by the time he’d finished eating and done the dishes. 

After another hour of waiting and an episode of a drama that he’d only been half-paying attention to, Yeonjun decided to call him. He heard several rings, then finally Soobin’s voice.

“Hi.”

Yeonjun held back a sigh of relief. “Hey, Soobin, look–” 

“This is Soobin’s phone, sorry I missed your call! You can leave me a message if you want, or you don’t have to. I’ll call you back, okay? Bye!”

Yeonjun stared at his phone, confused, as it beeped. He wasn’t sure he’d ever heard Soobin’s voicemail before, since the younger boy always picked up his calls. He hung up quickly, a bad feeling stirring in his gut. This was very out of character for the boy he’d known since freshman year of university. He called Beomgyu next.

“Hyung?” The younger boy picked up after a couple rings, sounding tired.

“Hey, Gyu,” Yeonjun said. “Sorry, did I wake you up? You sound like you were sleeping.”
Beomgyu yawned on the other end. “Yeah, but it’s okay. I really should make dinner, or else Kai will order something when he gets home. I can’t have chicken for a fourth day in a row,” he yawned again. “My mom will find out somehow and you’ll mysteriously never see me again.”

Yeonjun chuckled, then continued somewhat hurriedly. “Look, Gyu, have you seen Soobin at all? I got home a couple hours ago and he wasn’t home, and he hasn’t responded to my texts or calls, either.”

Beomgyu snorted. “A couple hours? Hyung, it’s fine. You guys aren’t attached to the hip, I’m sure he’s just out somewhere.”

“No, I know, but it’s just weird that he hasn’t even read–”

“Hyung,” Beomgyu interrupted. “I’m sure he’ll be home soon, he’s allowed to go out places by himself. You guys have terrible co-dependency issues, you know. I swear, it’s like hanging out with an old married couple.”

Yeonjun could feel a blush rising in his cheeks. “We’re not married.”

“I know,” Beomgyu said pointedly. “Fix it.”

Yeonjun made a frustrated noise. “Beomgyu, how many times do I have to tell you that we’re not like that, it’s just–” he gave another groan, cutting himself off. “That’s not the point, you’re distracting me.”

“Maybe he’s finally getting laid,” Beomgyu mused. “Good for him, I think his dick was probably getting dusty. Hey, you too, hyung. You guys should just–”

“Choi Beomgyu, you stop that sentence right there,” Yeonjun warned him. He could hear cackling on the other end. “If you’re going to be unhelpful then I’m going to call Kai.”

“Mmkay,” Beomgyu said noncommittally. “He’s probably still at the school. Group project, I think.”

“Okay. Thanks, Gyu.”

“Bye.”

Beomgyu hung up unceremoniously, and Yeonjun rolled his eyes. He pulled up Kai’s contact, decorated with a plethora of emojis that Kai himself had put there, and hit “call”. Kai picked up almost immediately.

“Hyung! What’s up?” He chirped.

“Hi, Kai,” Yeonjun said. He smiled a little; even over the phone, the maknae’s energy was contagious. “Are you still at the school?”

“Yeah, but I’m walking home right now. Why?”

“I was just wondering if you’ve seen Soobin at all,” Yeonjun asked casually. “He wasn’t home when I got here, and it’s been a few hours and he hasn’t responded to my calls or texts.”

“Oh no, I haven’t seen him,” Kai replied. “That’s kind of weird, though. He ghosts us a lot, but I feel like he always responds to you in like, four seconds.”

Yeonjun chose to ignore the second part, instead saying, “Okay, if you haven’t seen him either then I might just take a lap around the block. Maybe he found another stray cat, or something.”

“Alright,” Kai said. “Text me when you find him, okay? I’m a little worried now, too.”

“I will. Thanks, Kai. You were a lot more helpful than Beomgyu.”

Kai giggled melodically. “That’s a pretty low bar.”

“You’re right,” Yeonjun agreed. “Get home safe.”

“I will. Bye!”

Yeonjun looked at the “call ended” screen for a second, before swiping to his message thread with Soobin. His texts still just said “delivered”, with the “read” mark still showing on Yeonjun’s text about putting towels in the laundry that morning. Soobin had responded with a cute “thanks, hyung ^^” at 9:18 AM, but there had been no messages since.

True to his word, Yeonjun threw his Converse back on and went down the stairs of their apartment building to canvas the neighborhood. He covered the convenience store on the corner, their favorite hangout spot at the nearby park, and Soobin’s entire route home from the train station. There was no familiar blue hair anywhere.

He thought about dialling Soobin’s mom when he got home, wondering if the younger boy had perhaps decided to take an unannounced trip to Ansan to visit. He decided against it in the end, figuring that it might just worry Soobin’s parents. Yeonjun thought that he could probably stand to wait several more hours before the situation called for such drastic measures.

He’d called Soobin several times already, but decided to try again just in case. He paced around the living room, listening to the dial tone, when he picked up another sound. It sounded like something was vibrating. Pulling the phone away from his ear, he followed the noise back to Soobin’s room and pushed open the door. He couldn’t find the source for a minute, but he knew it must be Soobin’s phone when it stopped after his call went to voicemail. He called again; it wasn’t on his desk or the bedside table, nor was it under the quilt when he lifted it. Confused, he turned on his phone flashlight and crouched down to look under the bed.

A pair of large, shining eyes stared back at him. Yeonjun let out a high-pitched, rather undignified scream, falling back on his butt in his rush to get away. He heard the scratching sound of nails on wood as the creature under the bed startled, too, and Yeonjun screamed again. It took him several moments to calm his heart, which was threatening to crawl out of his throat. Once Yeonjun felt like he wasn’t on the verge of blacking out from fright, he cautiously lowered his head to look again.

His flashlight beam fell on Soobin’s phone, lying face down on the floor, and the fluffy  tail of what was unmistakably a rabbit. Stunned, Yeonjun stared at its gray and white fur for a second.

“Rabbit?” He called softly. The rabbit didn’t respond; it was shaking slightly, quivering in the shadows at the far corner of the bed. “Rabbit?” He tried again. This time, it turned around to face him. Its eyes were narrowed slightly from the harsh glare of his flashlight, and Yeonjun made a kissy sound to try to coax it out. Nothing.

He swiped Soobin’s phone from under the bed, and decided to go to the fridge to see if they had anything to lure a rabbit with. He had absolutely no idea how it had gotten there in the first place, but Soobin had a soft spot for animals. Maybe he’d found it on the street, and had gone to the pet store to buy supplies to take care of it. That made sense, Yeonjun thought, although it still didn’t explain why Soobin’s phone had been underneath the bed as well.

They didn’t have any carrots, but Yeonjun figured that some leftover cabbage might work. He pulled off a couple leaves and ran them under some cold water to try and freshen them up before returning to Soobin’s room. The rabbit was still jammed into the far corner between the bed and the wall, clearly scared. “Hey,” Yeonjun said softly. He extended his hand under the bed slightly, one of the cabbage leaves in his hand. “It’s okay. Sorry I scared you. You can come out now.”

He knew that it was probably useless to try to talk to a rabbit, but he felt like it helped a little when the rabbit inched forward towards the cabbage. Its nose was twitching, whiskers flickering in the light. Yeonjun was affectionately reminded of Soobin. He let it have a few nibbles of the cabbage before pulling it back just a bit, trying to draw it out from under the bed. 

He succeeded in getting the rabbit all the way to the edge of the bed where the striped blue rug was laid, but it didn’t seem to want to actually come out no matter how much Yeonjun waved the cabbage or made little kissy noises. Yeonjun sat back with his legs crossed, lips pushed out in a disappointed frown.

“Bunny,” he pouted. Suddenly, the rabbit zipped out from under the bed and climbed right up into his lap. It looked up at him with large, liquid-black eyes, and began crunching away at the remaining cabbage contentedly. Surprised, Yeonjun brought his other hand to stroke its back gently. It was really very cute, Yeonjun thought, with almost bluish-gray fur mottled with white and a cotton-ball tail. It also had a white ring around both eyes that gave it a sort of permanently doe-eyed look.

“You like the cabbage?” Yeonjun asked softly. “We have more, if you’re still hungry.” It was very large by rabbit standards, taking up Yeonjun’s entire lap with its body. He should probably get more cabbage. He didn’t know how much rabbits normally ate, but one this size might even call for an entire salad bowl.

Once the cabbage in his hand had all disappeared into the rabbit’s stomach, he shifted slightly. It hopped up, and Yeonjun stood. He opened the door to Soobin’s room cautiously, unsure if it would try to dart out. It didn’t move, so he left and closed the door behind him. He cringed, however, when he heard the rabbit’s claws scratching frantically at the wood. He cracked it open again.

“Hey,” he whispered. “It’s okay, it’s okay. You can’t do that, though, or else the landlord will kill me. I know you don’t know what a security deposit is, but I still need it. I’m coming back, okay?”

The rabbit did not seem satisfied with that answer, because it stuck its head in the space between the door and the frame and pushed it open with surprising force. It hopped into the living room ahead of Yeonjun.

“Whoa,” Yeonjun said. “I guess you can come out here if you want, but don’t chew on anything, okay?” He went into the kitchen, and to his surprise the rabbit followed him. He pulled the fridge open. The rabbit put its front feet on the first shelf, standing on its back legs like it was interested to see what was inside.

Yeonjun chuckled. “What do you want, hmm? I don’t think we have a lot, my roommate doesn’t really like vegetables very much… How about this bok choy?” He brought a leaf down for the rabbit to smell, and it gave it a sniff before huffing and stomping its back foot angrily. Yeonjun chuckled again. “Not a bok choy fan? Soobinnie hates it too, you know.” The rabbit’s ears, which normally laid flat against its head, perked up immediately.

“Soobin? Do you know Soobin? I bet he was the one that brought you here,” Yeonjun said conversationally as he dug through the vegetable drawer. “How about a cucumber?” He brought it down for the rabbit to sniff again, and there was no stomp this time so he assumed that it must be alright. He cut off a large chunk and washed it, before sitting on the kitchen tile with his back against the cabinets. Once again, the rabbit climbed right into his lap and ate while Yeonjun stroked its fur.

He pulled out his phone to look at what he would need to look after a rabbit. Soobin must be going to get those things right now, he was sure, although it was now nearly nine PM with no word from him. He scrolled through several websites, stopping to pet the rabbit every now and then.

“A hutch… hmm,” he said. “We definitely need a place for you to sleep, although this says you can free-roam most of the time. You have to promise not to chew on anything, though, or the landlord will scalp me,” he told the rabbit seriously. “And… a litterbox? Huh. Like a cat, I guess.” He read a bit more, scrolling through a list of rabbit-safe foods. “Oh, this says some vegetables but mostly hay. I thought you guys just ate carrots, but I guess not.” He gave the rabbit’s back an affectionate pat. “Water. I’ll give you a bowl of that, too. I hope Soobin’s bringing hay home.” The rabbit’s ears perked up again, and Yeonjun laughed. “You like Soobin, huh? Me too. He’s my favorite.”

Suddenly the rabbit leaped off of his legs, sprinting around the kitchen twice in an energetic circle. It hopped into the air several times, legs coming out and body twisting in sporadic kicks.

“Whoa!” Yeonjun exclaimed, as it settled back in his lap and continued to chew at the cucumber. “What was that?” He quickly searched up rabbit behavior, lips pursing a little while he read. “Binky… Are you happy?” He asked, looking down. “Is the cucumber good?” He laughed when the rabbit nudged at his hand with his nose. Its fur was wet from the cucumber juice. “Gosh, you’re cute. You kind of remind me of Soobinnie, you know.”

The rabbit took off on another lap around the kitchen, leaping into the air with a flying kick that made Yeonjun laugh again. He lifted his phone to take a picture when it skidded to a halt in front of him. It seemed satisfied for now, because the remaining piece of cucumber stayed on the floor untouched. Yeonjun threw it in the sink and stood up, and the rabbit followed him into the living room. When he sat on the couch, the rabbit hopped up beside him.

“Oh, you were definitely someone’s spoiled pet at some point,” he grinned. “I bet you’ll be a spoiled pet here, too. I bet Soobinnie’s already obsessed with you, and… well, I can’t say no to him to save my life.” The rabbit settled with its front feet stretched across his legs. “I like your double chin,” he told it sincerely. “The internet says it’s called a dewlap… hmm. Does that mean you’re a girl? I don’t know, it says girls have really pronounced ones. Is this a pronounced double chin, or just a regular one?” He mused, and patted its butt. “I don’t suppose you’d let me check? I don’t know, you probably wouldn’t like it.” He was quiet for a few moments, thinking. “What should we name you? I don’t know, maybe Binnie already has a name picked out.”

The rabbit jumped, dropping down from the couch and heading quickly back to Soobin’s room. It stopped in front of the open door, turning back to look at Yeonjun. “Oh?” He said, eyebrows raised. “Do you want me to come with you?” The rabbit stood up on its back legs, front feet dangling in a cute little pose with its ears lifted. Yeonjun stood up, stretching, and went to follow it.

In Soobin’s room, the rabbit went to sit in the pile of clothes at the foot of the bed. Yeonjun watched, nonplussed, as it stood up on its back feet again. It kept lifting and lowering its ears, nose twitching like it was trying to ask a question. Yeonjun went back to the website of rabbit behaviors. He frowned.

“I don’t know, I don’t see anything about this. I’m sorry, I don’t know what you want,” he said. The rabbit lowered back down again, and grabbed at the jeans with its mouth. “Oh no, don’t chew on those, Soobin likes those,” he reprimanded quickly. To his surprise, the rabbit dragged them over to lay at his feet. It then picked up the sweater, too, a colorful striped one that Yeonjun secretly thought Soobin looked adorable in. Yeonjun stared downwards as the rabbit laid them both in front of him.

Come to think of it, he was sure that was what Soobin had been wearing this morning. He’d seen his roommate very briefly before leaving for work, and he thought he remembered the striped sweater. The jeans he’d definitely been wearing, because they were the pair that made his legs look really good. Not that Yeonjun was looking, of course.

The rabbit evidently didn’t get the response that it was looking for, because it hopped a pretty impressive distance from the floor onto Soobin’s bed next. It crossed to where Yeonjun had tossed Soobin’s phone onto the pillow earlier, and put its left paw on the screen.

Yeonjun was stumped. Nothing on the internet had prepared him for a rabbit that was surprisingly intelligent, and seemed to be communicating with him through some sort of strange bunny charades. Yeonjun thought he must be losing the game badly, however, since he was still completely lost.

“Water?” He asked. The rabbit remained motionless. “More food? Are you tired?” Again, nothing. Then, the rabbit raised the paw off of the screen to point at Yeonjun. It placed it back on the screen, then raised it and lowered it again in the same motion. There was a weird feeling washing over Yeonjun. The rabbit’s eyes were eerily sentient, and it was definitely trying to speak to him. 

“I– can you understand me?” He blurted. His stomach dropped when the rabbit nodded its head. “No way,” he breathed. “No fucking way. You– you’re…” His sentence trailed away in shock. “I don’t understand. Wait, tap the phone twice if you can understand me.” Sure enough, the rabbit’s paw came down in two rhythmic taps right on the screen.

“Holy shit,” he said. He felt like he might black out. “I, um…” He was so stunned it felt like he’d forgotten how to speak. “No, I’m dreaming,” he decided out loud. “This is a weird dream, and when I wake up this won’t be real.” He paused, but he didn’t wake up. He pinched his arm for good measure, but still nothing happened. The rabbit made a funny sneezing sound, shaking its head. Its ears flopped about, and it blinked at him a few times before jumping off the bed and going back to stand in the pile of clothes it had dragged to Yeonjun’s feet. It snuffled around, pushing its head through the fabric until it had the collar of the sweater around its neck. A feeling of dread crawled up Yeonjun’s spine when it stood up again, on its hind legs.

“Soobin?” He breathed. The rabbit nodded. “B-Binnie? Is that you?” He crouched down to the rabbit’s eye-level, and it nodded again. It put both front feet on Yeonjun’s hand when he held it out, and pressed a quivering nose to his chin. Its whiskers tickled a little. “Bin, I… I don’t understand,” he said. “What happened to you?” 

The rabbit– Soobin, he reminded himself– raised his shoulders in a fluffy approximation of a shrug. The sweater was still draped over his new gray-and-white body, so Yeonjun reached around to pull it off. Soobin pushed his face into Yeonjun’s hand, and Yeonjun stroked it over the soft ears laid behind his head. “How do I turn you back?” He asked quietly. Soobin didn’t answer, of course, except for another small huffing sound. He was still staring up at Yeonjun with huge, round eyes.

“I– I think I should call the others,” Yeonjun said. He stood up, and went back into the living room. He sat down on the couch and pulled out his phone, looking at Beomgyu’s rather unattractive contact photo for a few moments before deciding fuck it and hitting “call”. Soobin had hopped up on the couch beside him and was once again lounging over his legs.

“Hyung?” Beomgyu asked, as soon as he picked up. “Did you find Soobin hyung?”

“Yeah, I did– or, well, sort of,” Yeonjun hesitated. “Listen, are you and Kai both home?”

“Yeah, he just got back a bit ago. Why?”

“Can you guys come over?”

Beomgyu sighed. “I don’t have time for another Soobin-induced meltdown, hyung. I don’t care how good he looks in your hoodie, I have work in the morning and I can’t spend all night patting you on the back while you cry into a bowl of ice cream and shop online for more hoodies that he can steal.”

Yeonjun was mildly offended by that. “Okay, first of all, I don’t cry over Soo–” He clapped his hand over his mouth in horror, suddenly remembering that his roommate was sitting on his lap and could very much understand him. Soobin’s ears didn’t perk up, though, and he seemed content to lay with his head on Yeonjun’s knee and let him pet the fur behind his head. “Okay, anyways,” he hissed. “You’re distracting me again. Look, I think you guys need to see something, and you’re definitely not going to believe me unless you come see it for yourselves.”

“Oooookaaaaay,” Beomgyu said, sounding thoroughly unconvinced. “Did Soobin hyung get a tattoo, or something?”

“Worse,” Yeonjun replied grimly.

“Is he hurt?” Beomgyu’s voice was suddenly concerned, and Yeonjun heard him yell for Kai.

“Not technically,” Yeonjun said. “But you guys need to see this. Just– come over, okay?”

“Alright,” Beomgyu conceded. “But if this is something stupid like another panic attack over how squishy hyung’s butt is I’m going to kill you.”

“His butt is squishy, though. Like, you have to admit that.”

“Yes, hyung has a nice ass, but that doesn’t warrant a fourth mental breakdown about it. It’s terrible how embarrassing you are, sometimes. As your dongsaeng, I’m mortally ashamed.”

“Alright, whatever,” Yeonjun said. There was a slight flush rising in his cheeks, and he was glad that rabbit-Soobin’s eyes were closed. “Just come over.”

“Be there in ten.” Beomgyu hung up, and Yeonjun pulled the phone away from his ear to frown at the sudden cutoff. Brat, he thought.

Beomgyu and Kai arrived when Beomgyu said they would, and Yeonjun was secretly grateful for them even if he frequently got disrespected in the group chat. He could always count on them when he needed to. He pulled the front door of the apartment open after hearing the knock, and Soobin stood on his back legs to sniff at the air outside.

“Bunny!” Kai squealed. He immediately bent down to pet Soobin, nearly tripping Beomgyu in the doorway. Beomgyu’s mouth was hanging open.

“You got a rabbit?”He asked, looking mildly skeptical. “Soobin hyung brought home a rabbit?”

Yeonjun made sure the door was shut before he let out a sigh. “Kind of,” he said slowly. “That is Soobin.”

Beomgyu let out a cackle, throwing his head back a little as he kicked off his shoes. His dark hair fell into his face, and he pushed back his choppy bangs. “You named a bunny after Soobin hyung? That’s whipped behavior. That’s bad, hyung, even for you.”

“Shush,” Yeonjun snarled. “He can hear you!” He pointed at Soobin, who was still being rather aggressively loved on by Kai. It seemed that Kai was a good enough distraction, however, because Soobin showed no signs of having heard their conversation. Instead, he was turned over on his back so that Kai could pet his snow-white belly.

“Hyung, did you say that this is Soobin hyung?” Kai asked. He said it very casually, the way he might ask about the weather.

“Yes,” Yeonjun replied, a little hesitant. “Soobin wasn’t here when I got home, and I found him under the bed eventually. I was just– well, really confused for the most part, since I figured that Soobin must’ve just brought him home and then gone out to get supplies, or something.” He took a deep breath, and then continued. “But then the rabbit started acting really weird, like bringing me Soobin’s clothes and tapping on his phone.” He crouched down in front of Soobin, and the rabbit turned over to sit up on all fours. Soobin shook out his head, ears flopping about. He then focused on Yeonjun’s face with a single-minded intensity.

“Binnie, if you can hear me nod three times,” Yeonjun said quietly. Soobin nodded; one, two, three. Beomgyu gasped, and Kai’s eyes went wide.

“No fucking shot,” Beomgyu whispered. He, too, crouched down so that he was on eye-level with Soobin. “Hyung?” He said. “Hyung, what day is your birthday? December…” He trailed off, and Soobin stomped with his back foot; one, two, three, four, five.

Kai looked up at Yeonjun, eyebrows raised. “What did you do to him?”

Yeonjun opened and closed his mouth, flabbergasted, and pointed at himself. Kai nodded, and Yeonjun blinked. “I didn’t do anything,” he responded. “I swear, I just came home from work and he was like this. I didn’t even know it was him until like twenty minutes ago.”

Kai frowned, and looked back at Soobin. The rabbit stared up at him, nose twitching, and Kai lowered his hand to pet his head. “Well, someone’s obviously put a spell on him.”

Beomgyu looked as shocked as Yeonjun felt. “What the fuck are you talking about?” Then, once he’d made a gesture at the rabbit on the ground, “How are you so calm about all of this?”

Kai shrugged. “My friend Taehyun is a witch. He goes to Hanyang, too. Maybe we should ask him about this.” He looked at his watch, and then made a disappointed face. “I think he’s probably asleep, though. He has an eight AM exam with Professor Hong  tomorrow.”

Yeonjun instinctively winced at the name of his old economics professor, and Beomgyu’s eyebrows knitted together. “Did you say your friend is a witch?”

“Yeah,” Kai said lightly. “He might know how to turn Soobin hyung back. We’ll have to bring him to Taehyun tomorrow, though, since it’s late already.”

“I– okay.” Yeonjun swallowed. “I don’t really see anything else we can do. I doubt we can take him to the doctor and be like ‘hey, he’s turned into a rabbit, can you prescribe him something?’ Unless,” Yeonjun squinted a little as he thought. “Would we have to take him to a vet?”

“We’ll bring him to see Kai’s friend tomorrow,” Beomgyu said firmly. “I think this is a little beyond the powers of modern medicine.”

“Hyung,” Kai looked at Yeonjun again. “Soobinnie hyung says he has to pee.”

Yeonjun gaped at the younger, who seemed completely unfazed. “How do you know that?”

Kai blinked. “He told me.”

“He told you?” Beomgyu exclaimed, sounding incredulous. “You know what, actually? Never mind. I’m not even going to ask.”

“Come on, hyung,” Kai said to the rabbit. He stood up and went to put his shoes on, then opened the front door. Soobin hopped outside, and stopped in front of the elevator. Yeonjun and Beomgyu locked eyes, both confused beyond words, but put their shoes on and followed Kai outside.

Soobin rode the elevator with them downstairs, then hopped out into the green space in front of their apartment building. He sniffed around a bit before stopping and lifting his tail. Kai turned around politely, and Yeonjun and Beomgyu both stared at him.

“You wouldn’t watch him pee as a human, right?” Kai said.

“Well, no,” Beomgyu answered slowly. “But he’s not a human. He’s a rabbit. He’s got, like, fur and stuff.”

Kai rolled his eyes, and jutted his thumb towards Soobin behind him. “Yeah, but it’s still him in there. Wouldn’t you be weirded out if all your friends were watching you pee?”

Beomgyu snorted. “Honestly, I’d probably be more weirded out by the fact that I just turned into a rabbit.” Kai turned back around once Soobin had finished, and the three of them observed as he started to munch on the grass.

Suddenly, there was a lot of barking echoing through the buildings. One of their neighbors had come out with their overweight Chihuahua, and it had evidently spotted Soobin. It was pulling aggressively on the leash, held by an elderly woman, and making a great deal of noise.

“Shit,” Yeonjun said. He strode quickly towards Soobin, who had gone completely still in the middle of the green space. He was still a lot bigger than the dog, even as a rabbit, but there was absolute terror in his black eyes.

“Binnie, it’s okay,” Yeonjun called. “Come here.” Soobin heard him and sprinted towards his legs, standing up and scrabbling his front paws against Yeonjun’s jeans. Yeonjun bent down, and Soobin launched himself into his arms. Yeonjun made an “oof” sound at the rabbit’s considerable weight, but he stood up with Soobin safely cradled to his chest.

“Jesus,” Beomgyu said, once they were back inside and waiting for the elevator. “You’d think that people would learn how to control their dogs.”

“It was a small one,” Kai pointed out. “People just think because they’re small they can be badly behaved and it doesn’t matter ‘cause they can’t kill you, or whatever.”

“Yeah, but it almost made Soobin hyung shit his fluffy pants.” Beomgyu reached out to run his fingers over Soobin’s ears. The rabbit still had his face pressed into Yeonjun’s elbow, and was quivering slightly.

“It’s okay, Bin,” Yeonjun murmured. “You’re okay. I’ve got you.” Soobin looked up, and gently touched his twitching nose to Yeonjun’s jaw. The sound of his sniffing was really cute, Yeonjun thought. He was very cute in general. Not that he hadn’t been before, of course. Yeonjun was very much of the opinion that Choi Soobin was all-around adorable, and according to Beomgyu he wasn’t any good at hiding it.

Yeonjun took a shower after Beomgyu and Kai both left, and stood in the living room looking down at Soobin uncertainly with his pajamas on. Soobin was asking for something repeatedly, but Yeonjun could not for the life of him figure out what it was.

“Do you.. want to sleep in your bed? Or… I’m not sure, honestly,” he said. Soobin seemed to be very clingy ever since the incident with the neighbor’s vicious attack Chihuahua, and had even tried to follow Yeonjun into the bathroom before he’d firmly shut the rabbit out. It might not be weird to watch Soobin pee since he was now technically a lagomorph, but it was definitely weird for him to watch Yeonjun shower– rabbit or not.

Rabbit-Soobin shook his head at the suggestion. Yeonjun stared. “Um, you could sleep on the couch, I guess? I don’t know what you want.” Soobin bumped into Yeonjun's shin with his nose, confusing him even more. “Bunny, I don’t know what you’re asking me for. Do you need to pee again?” He asked. No response. “Water?” He tried. “Food?” Again, nothing. Then, Soobin nipped his ankle.

“Ow!” Yeonjun yelped. “Bin, what the hell was that for?” The rabbit approached him again, and Yeonjun backed up. “Don’t bite me again. I swear, Binnie, you’re conveniently football-shaped right now.” He kept backing up, until he crossed the threshold of his bedroom. Then, Soobin passed right by him and hopped up on the bed. He settled just below Yeonjun’s pillow with a slightly concerning flop, like he might’ve passed out. Yeonjun had read about this online– something about rabbits feeling comfortable, and satisfied.

“You brat,” Yeonjun said affectionately. He reached out to rub Soobin’s little furry face. “You won’t sleep in your own bed, but you’ll sleep in mine? You better not bite me again, or I’m kicking you out.” Soobin seemed to recognize that there was no actual intent behind this threat, because he went for Yeonjun’s finger again with sharp little rabbit incisors. Yeonjun chuckled and threw the blankets over him, leaving him to escape his fabric prison while he went to brush his teeth.

Yeonjun eventually came back and got in bed beside Soobin, who immediately flopped over and nuzzled his head into Yeonjun’s shoulder. Yeonjun was once again struck by how large of a rabbit Soobin was, nearly the length of his torso when he was all laid out like this. He smiled to himself as he ran his hand over Soobin’s soft fur, and set his alarm for work the next morning. He’d have to call out for Soobin, he realized, since he didn’t think rabbits were allowed in a bakery even if they were technically employees. 

With a sigh, he turned over so that Soobin was cradled slightly by his body. “Weird day, huh Binnie?” He whispered. Soobin sniffed, and poked Yeonjun’s arm with his nose gently. “We’ll get you back to normal, okay? I promise.”

Yeonjun came home during his lunch break to let Soobin out to use the bathroom, careful to stay on the lookout for any angry dogs. His lunch break came and went without incident, and he got home a little earlier than normal that afternoon.

“Soobin,” he called, opening the door. “I’m home.”

Rabbit-Soobin hopped right up to the front door, furry feet sliding slightly on the wood floor. It was definitely one of the more memorable after-work greetings Yeonjun had ever gotten from his roommate, but he appreciated it nonetheless. He bent down to pat Soobin’s head as he took his shoes off. He’d bought more vegetables at the grocery store on his way home, and even picked up some hay from the pet supply store during his lunch break. He was hoping they wouldn’t need it for much longer, but he’d also read that rabbits had sensitive digestive systems and needed to be fed the right ratio of foods.

“Soobin,” he said disapprovingly, standing in the kitchen. The hay he’d left at lunchtime was still in the bowl, completely untouched, while the carrot chunk on the plate was gone. The irony of the situation was rather hilarious, the more that Yeonjun thought about it. Soobin, whom he normally had to force to eat any veggies at all, was now standing on his back legs sniffing around for the cabbage that Yeonjun was holding in a grocery bag. He was looking up at Yeonjun with his wide, black eyes, front paws coming up in an adorable begging pose. Yeonjun chewed his lip, staring at him.

“Fine,” he conceded. “But you have to eat your hay first.” Soobin stomped his back foot in annoyance, but Yeonjun shook his head. “I’m just trying to keep you from getting sick, Bin,” Yeonjun told him. “The internet says that rabbits are very delicate, and I don’t want you to die just because you’re cute.” That caused Soobin to tear around the kitchen in another excited lap, leaping and twisting about. Yeonjun laughed, and went to cut up the cabbage.

Taehyun, as it turns out, was rather innocent-looking for a witch. He wore a blue open-front cardigan over a white t-shirt, and a pair of gray jeans. He had bleach-blond hair and big eyes, and was rather handsome. Beomgyu seemed particularly cognizant of that fact.

“Hi, Hyunnie,” Kai said, as soon as Taehyun opened the door. “These are my hyungs. This one’s Beomgyu, and the pink-haired one is Yeonjun. He’s the one with the rabbit problem.”

“Oh, right.” Taehyun waved good-naturedly, eyeing the tote bag over Yeonjun’s shoulder. “It’s nice to meet you both. Here, come in.”

Taehyun’s apartment also looked completely innocuous. It felt very similar to one Yeonjun used to live in, back when he and Soobin were still at school. There was nothing to suggest that he might have supernatural powers, and Yeonjun might not have believed it at all if he wasn’t carrying a much smaller, fluffier version of his roommate in a tote bag.

“Here, sit,” Taehyun said, gesturing to the couch. The apartment was very tidy, and the windows all had books lined up in front of them. There was also a fireplace, which Yeonjun found a bit odd for a college dorm, but decided not to ask about.

“You can let him out, if you want,” Taehyun told Yeonjun. “I imagine it can’t be very comfortable in there.” Yeonjun put the bag on the floor, and Soobin hopped out. He shook his head, and wiped his paws over his face to straighten out his fur. Taehyun got on the floor as well to look at him.

“Taehyunnie, do you think he’ll be stuck like that?” Kai asked after a moment. Taehyun tilted his head slightly, still caught up in observing Soobin. The rabbit was standing stock still, with his ears perked up and his nose twitching.

“Can I have your paw?” Taehyun asked. “Actually, it might be easier if you jump up on the coffee table.” Taehyun flicked his wrist, and the stack of books that had been sitting on the coffee table in front of them rose up and floated to join the line on the nearest windowsill.

“Holy shit,” Beomgyu whispered. His eyes, which hadn’t left Taehyun since they’d walked into the apartment, went wide. “You can do that?”

Taehyun nodded. “Normally I’d have to wipe your memory if you saw it, but… well, since your friend turned into a rabbit, I figured that levitation would probably be pretty mild.” Soobin hopped up into the spot where the books had been, and flopped over onto his side so that Taehyun could look at his paw. After a moment of silence, Taehyun looked back at Kai.

“When did he go to have his palms read?” He asked. Kai shrugged, but Yeonjun answered.

“He went with me, two weeks ago. Why?”

“Can I have your hand, sunbaenim?” Taehyun asked. Yeonjun held it out, palm up, and Taehyun took it to examine. Taehyun’s own hands were rather cold, and Yeonjun had to stop himself from shivering. Finally, Taehyun looked up at Yeonjun again. “Look, palm reading’s not really my forte, but from what I can tell the spell is temporary for now.”

“For now?” Yeonjun asked, eyebrows creasing with concern. “What does that mean?”

“It’s changing,” Taehyun replied. “The longer he’s like this, the stronger it gets. He’ll start to lose pieces of himself, and become more and more rabbit-like until the human part of him is gone.”

Yeonjun’s mouth dropped open in horror. “And then… he’ll be a rabbit forever?”

“Yes,” Taehyun answered gravely.

“How do we turn him back?” Kai’s voice was high, and a little panicky.

Taehyun shook his head. “I don’t know. Like I said, palm reading isn’t really my thing. But if you guys went to get your palms read two weeks ago, then I’ll bet that the person who did the reading was the one who cast the spell.”

“So we go find them,” Beomgyu said. He had gone pale, but his face was determined.

“That would be my first suggestion,” Taehyun responded. “Only the caster will be able to reverse a spell like this, because otherwise we’d have to find a way to break it. That would be a lot more time-consuming, and potentially dangerous.”

“How much time does he have left?” Yeonjun asked, feeling a little sick.

“I’m not exactly sure. Palms are tricky, but rabbit feet are especially difficult. He probably has three days total, so if he turned yesterday, then…” Taehyun trailed off, and his eyes went back to Soobin, who had now stood up and was looking at the four of them from his spot on the coffee table. Yeonjun’s stomach lurched when they made eye contact. He didn’t even want to consider the possibility of Soobin being stuck like this forever.

Suddenly, Kai stood up. “Soobin hyung says he needs to pee,” he announced. “Hyunnie, do you think I can let him go in the quad?”

Taehyun shrugged. “Probably. You might want to take him in the bag, though, since you’re not technically supposed to have pets in this building.” Taehyun leaned down to pick up the tote bag from the floor, and handed it to Kai. Soobin hopped inside after a little coaxing, and Kai disappeared out the door. The second he was gone, Taehyun’s gaze went to Yeonjun.

“You asked her for something,” he said. It was not a question. His eyes were almost disconcertingly large, Yeonjun realized. He kind of felt like Taehyun was staring into his soul.

“W-what?” Yeonjun whispered, nonplussed.

“The witch,” Taehyun clarified. “The girl who read your palms. The magic is in your hands, too. You asked her for a spell.”

“No!” Yeonjun said quickly, as Beomgyu sat up to glare at him. “No, no, I didn’t do anything like that.”

“Then what was it?” Taehyun asked. His gaze hadn’t moved at all, and Yeonjun could feel himself shrinking a little under it. “You asked her for something specific.”

“I…” He trailed off, feeling a blush heating up his cheeks. “I did ask her if– well, I asked her if she thought maybe me and Soobin’s relationship could change. I thought…”

He didn’t finish the sentence, but Taehyun raised his eyebrows. “I’m not sure that master and pet was what you had in mind, but who knows. Maybe you guys are into that sort of stuff.”

Yeonjun let out a mortified shriek, his hands coming up to cover his face. Beomgyu burst into laughter, body bending in half from the weight of his cackles. Taehyun was fighting a grin.

“That’s not– I mean, we’re not–” Yeonjun’s feeble attempts at defending himself went unheard, drowned out by Beomgyu. There were tears of mirth shining in the corner of the younger’s eyes, and he reached out to high-five Taehyun.

“Hyung,” Beomgyu said, still gasping for breath. He was holding his sides, like he was in pain. “Only you could accidentally curse the love of your life by turning him into a rabbit.”

“He’s not the love of my life!” Yeonjun cried. “I just– we’re roommates–”

“Oh?” Taehyun cut him off, with an innocent expression. “Then what did you mean when you told the witch that you wanted your relationship to change? If you wanted a pet that badly, there are websites for that kind of thing.”

Yeonjun covered his face once more, letting out a groan. Beomgyu dissolved into laughter again, and Yeonjun heard another smack as he and Taehyun high-fived. He thought that his cheeks might never return to their normal color.

Thankfully, they had finished teasing Yeonjun by the time Kai returned with Soobin in the tote bag. Taehyun had just asked Yeonjun about the location of the palm reader they’d gone to together, trying to figure out if it was someone he knew.
“No, I don’t think I know anyone in that area of Myeongdong,” Taehyun mused. His lips were pouting a little as he was thinking, and Beomgyu’s expression was strangely glazed over. “Unless Lia moved over there recently? I doubt she’d want to move far from Chaeryeong, though…”

“We didn’t run into any dogs this time,” Kai said cheerfully as he released Soobin from the bag. “Soobin hyung did meet a squirrel, though.”

“That’s good,” Yeonjun responded. “We should go soon, if we want to try to catch that fortune-teller. We’ll have to take the train.”

Beomgyu frowned. “We shouldn’t take Soobin hyung on the train. What if he starts freaking out? He’ll start to get more and more like an actual bunny, remember? We can’t have him escape in the subway.”

“We have to, though.” Yeonjun pointed out. “We need to take him to see her again, so that she can change him back.”

“I’ll come with you,” Taehyun said lightly. “If he gets out, I can catch him.”

“Okay, great,” Kai chirped. “He says he wants some fruit, though. Taehyunnie, do you have an apple?”

“No, Soobin, no more fruit,” Yeonjun scolded. “You had some grapes earlier, and there’s hay in the bag. Eat that, instead.” Soobin stomped, and ran towards Yeonjun’s ankles. He pulled them up onto the couch with a yelp.

Kai giggled. “Soobin hyung, that’s not a very nice word.”

The fortune-teller’s lights were off, and the door was locked when they got there. There was a note on the inside of the glass, saying that the business would be closed while the owner was on vacation for a week.

“A week!?” Beomgyu cried. “It’ll be too late!” The light-up “closed” sign blinked at them mockingly, and Yeonjun swore. Taehyun, though, looked unbothered.

“Kai, hide me,” he said. Kai dutifully stepped in front of him, blocking him from the view of the street with his long, gangly limbs. There was a quiet “pop”, and the lock clicked. Taehyun pushed the door open.

“Isn’t this illegal?” Kai asked nervously as the door swung shut behind them. Beomgyu flipped the lightswitch, but nothing happened.

“It’s only illegal if they don’t want you to break in,” Taehyun informed Kai. “She locked the door physically, but not magically. She must’ve known we would come.” He looked at Beomgyu, who was still flipping the lightswitch back and forth. “There’s no point in doing that, it’s just for decoration. She lights it by magic.” He leaned over Beomgyu to tap the switch himself, and suddenly the entire shop was bathed in soft, pinkish light from a single bulb in the ceiling. Beomgyu looked a little starstruck at the way Taehyun’s arm had crossed over his chest.

The shop was just as small as Yeonjun remembered, only a few plush velvet armchairs seated beside a window with a round table in between them. The blinds were shut, meaning that only a few thin strips of light filtered in from the street. There was another door at the back of the room, but other than that the room was completely empty.

“There’s nothing here,” Yeonjun said. He watched Kai try the door at the back of the room, but it just opened to reveal a closet with an extra table cloth and cleaning supplies stacked neatly inside.

“That’s what she wants you to think,” Taehyun replied. “Kai, try that door one more time but turn the handle the other way.”

Kai did, and when the door opened this time it revealed another, much more spacious room. He went in first after a short moment of hesitation, and everyone else followed him inside. It was dark in here, too, the only light coming from a glowing crystal ball on a shelf. Every wall was lined with shelves, stacked with a myriad of jars, books, and things that Yeonjun couldn’t even name. He shivered when he saw a bowl of teeth, and Kai yelped and jumped backwards onto Beomgyu’s foot when something in a small box screeched at him.

“That’s what we want,” Taehyun said, pointing at the crystal ball. “Yeonjun sunbaenim, pick it up.”

Yeonjun walked towards it, feeling Soobin start to shift around inside the bag at his side. He put his fingers on it; the glass was almost hot, as if the smoke and light swirling around inside were warming it from the inside. As soon as he lifted it off the shelf, it exploded in his hands. The glass vanished, and the smoke rose upwards to form the face of the witch who’d read his and Soobin’s palms that day.

“Shin Yuna?” Taehyun exclaimed, a surprised expression on his face.

“Do you know her?” Beomgyu asked, raising his eyebrows.

Taehyun nodded. “We went to school together for a bit.”

The ghostly face of Yuna smiled. Soobin was struggling inside the bag now, like he was afraid of her. Yeonjun held it tightly, stroking Soobin from the outside as Yuna began to speak.

“Hello! You must be that pink-haired boy again, right? The one who’s in love with his roommate?” Yeonjun cringed and looked at the bag, but it seemed like Soobin was scrabbling at the fabric with his claws too much to notice. Yuna apparently sensed Yeonjun’s emotional distress, because she let out a tinkling laugh. “Don’t worry, your friend can’t hear you right now. I’m afraid he’s not himself at the moment.”

“W-what do you mean?” Yeonjun asked, freaking out a little as he tightened his grip on the tote bag’s handles. Yuna ignored him, and steamrollered on.

“I thought you might come back, which is why I left this for you! Actually, I knew you were coming back. You and your blue-haired friend have very detailed palms, you know.” She tossed her hair, and then continued. “About that spell– I’m going to be out of town when you get this, but don’t worry. It’s only temporary! As long as you break it, he’ll turn back into himself. You might want to do it quick, though. If you don’t, he’ll be stuck that way forever!” She said it way too cheerfully for Yeonjun’s taste.

“Soobin,” he hissed. “Soobin, stop, I need to listen to this.” Soobin ignored him, fighting against the confines of the bag. Suddenly it burst at the seams, and Soobin landed with all four feet on the floor. He started to sprint around the room in a panic, crashing into shelves and knocking things to the ground. Glass jars shattered everywhere, spilling their contents, and books bounced off the wood and landed open as pages scattered through the air. Metal instruments and small objects made loud clattering sounds when they fell.

“Don’t worry!” Yuna said brightly. The other boys were chasing Soobin around the room, but Taehyun had waved Yeonjun off with the instructions to focus on Yuna’s strangely translucent floating head. “I knew that he was going to do that, too. I’ve enchanted everything in the room so that it will return to normal after you leave. There’s even another tote bag on the hook on your way out! Aren’t I so kind?” She laughed again.

“What about the spell?” Yeonjun asked. “How do I break the spell?” Once more, Yuna ignored him entirely.

“Just don’t let him eat anything and he’ll be fine. His palms didn’t say anything about a trip to the vet, but you never know with rabbits!” She paused, smoky face folded in an expression like she was thinking. “Hmm… Oh right, the spell! You’ll want to know about that. Well, you asked me if you could change your relationship, right? The good news is, you can! It’s totally up to you. It’s all in your hands, if you will,” she said, with a giggle at her own joke. “You guys have overlapping love lines, which is great! So if you guys work it out, I think it’ll be really beautiful,” she sighed, with a dreamy look on her face. “Anyways, I have to go. Ryujin unnie will kill me if we miss this flight!”

“No, wait!” Yeonjun cried. “How do I break the spell?”

“–Enjoy the bunny while you can. I just adore rabbits, you know. Toodles!” Yuna’s face disappeared with a “poof”, the crystal ball reforming in its spot on the shelf. Yeonjun grabbed it again, desperate to know if she’d left any more information he could use to save Soobin.

“Hello!” She said again, once she’d re-formed from the smoke. “You must be–”

“No!” Yeonjun wailed. “No, I need you to tell me more!”

“Hyung!” Kai interrupted. “Soobin hyung is really freaking out.” Yeonjun turned around, tuning out Yuna’s voice as her message started all over again. Soobin was cowering in a back corner, trembling against the wall. Yeonjun walked towards him, getting down so that he was level with the rabbit. His ears were pressed back against his head.

“Soobin,” Yeonjun said softly. “Binnie, it’s okay.” Soobin showed no signs of having heard him. Yeonjun frowned; there was something off about him, the usual intelligence gone from his dark eyes. Yeonjun’s stomach dropped.

“Soobin,” he said again. “If you can hear me, stomp twice.” There was no stomp. Kai gasped in horror, and Yeonjun blanched. He reached out to pet the rabbit’s head. “Binnie,” he whispered. “Binnie, I’m sorry. Come back, please.”

Soobin looked up suddenly when he felt Yeonjun’s fingers, making eye contact. The light was back in his pupils, like he’d just woken up. He stood on his hind legs to reach out to him, and Yeonjun sighed with relief as he picked him up out of the dusty corner. Soobin nuzzled into the crook of his neck as Yeonjun hugged him to his chest.

“Come on,” Beomgyu murmured. “Let’s get out of here.” He pulled the new tote bag off of the hook near the doorway, and Yeonjun carefully placed Soobin inside it. Kai closed the closet door behind them, and when he opened it again to check, everything had returned to the way it was when they’d entered. The crystal ball was gone.

Taehyun pulled an apple out of his pocket on the train ride home, and Soobin jumped straight out of the bag and into his lap to start chewing on it happily. Kai and Taehyun had both laughed, and Kai leaned down to place a kiss on Soobin’s furry forehead. The rabbit looked up to give one back, leaving Kai’s cheek damp with apple juice.

“Binnie, you’re making a mess,” Yeonjun scolded, but there was no bite behind his words. The apple was gone by the time they arrived at their stop, and there was juice all over the front of Taehyun’s shirt.

“I’m going this way,” Taehyun said once they’d gotten out of the station. He pointed towards the school, and waved. 

“Bye, Hyunnie! See you in class tomorrow!” Kai chirped.

“Bye Taehyun, it was nice meeting you,” Beomgyu followed.

Yeonjun waved, too. “Thank you for your help, Taehyun.”

“I’ll think about the spell some more,” Taehyun promised. “He won’t be stuck as a rabbit forever, okay?”

Yeonjun nodded, and swallowed. The incident at the fortune-teller’s shop had scared him badly. For a second, he’d gotten a taste of what it would be like if Soobin was really gone.

As soon as Taehyun turned the corner and was out of sight, Beomgyu sighed. “I think I might be in love with him,” he said, sounding completely enamored. Yeonjun stared at him, speechless.

“Oh, good!” Kai exclaimed. “I hoped you would be.”

Beomgyu turned to look at him. “What does that mean?”

Kai giggled. “You guys just have really good auras! Your colors match well with each other.”

“Kai,” Yeonjun said slowly. “Are you also a witch?”

Kai’s eyes widened, but he shook his head quickly. “Oh, no. Just observant!”

“But you can talk to rabbits,” Beomgyu pointed out. 

Kai shrugged, his expression the picture of innocence. “I’m also an extrovert.”

Yeonjun climbed into bed beside Soobin again that night, and the rabbit curled up in the dip of his waist. He turned over to press his lips to Soobin’s ears. “Binnie,” he whispered. Soobin blinked, and he looked up. “Binnie, that really scared me today,” Yeonjun continued. “You have to– you have to stay with me, okay? I’ll find a way to fix this. I’m sorry.” 

Soobin nodded. His eyes were so round, so trusting, and it made Yeonjun’s heart ache. Yeonjun missed him, somehow, even though Soobin was right there in his arms.

Yeonjun called out of work the next morning. He wanted to stay with Soobin, to make sure that he was alright. If Taehyun’s prediction was correct, his condition was likely to go downhill quickly. By the next day, he might never be himself again. He’d already found Soobin hiding in his closet when he woke up, and it took the rabbit too long to recognize him for Yeonjun’s comfort.

“Hello?” Yeonjun said, answering his phone just after breakfast. The caller had been an unknown number, but he had a suspicion that he would recognize the voice on the other end.

“Hi.” Yeonjun had been correct– it was Taehyun. “Sorry to call you out of the blue like this, Kai gave me your number.”

“That’s not a problem at all,” Yeonjun responded. “I’m glad you have my number now, I forgot to give it to you yesterday.”

“Can you bring Soobin over again today? I have a few things I can try. I’ve been reading all night,” Taehyun told him.

“Oh, that’s– yeah. Yes, I’ll bring him over right now. Thank you, Taehyun,” Yeonjun said sincerely.

“Of course, no problem,” Taehyun replied. “I’ll see you soon.”

Taehyun did look more tired than he had the day before, but he smiled when Yeonjun arrived. Beomgyu and Kai had also come when Yeonjun texted them in the group chat, and Taehyun stood aside to let the three of them into his apartment. It was in much more of a state of disarray than before, with books open all over every surface. Some of them were flipping pages by themselves, and Yeonjun heard the distinct sound of something bubbling on the stove in the kitchen.

“Okay, so I was doing some reading on Yuna’s particular brand of magic,” Taehyun announced. He cleared the sofa for them, books floating away back to their shelves. “She’s much more future-oriented, from what I remember. That’s why she can read palms so well, because her magic lets her predict the future.” 

Beomgyu sat down, and one of the throw pillows yowled and turned into an orange-and-white cat. Beomgyu shouted an expletive in shock, and the cat scampered around a bit before perching itself in Taehyun’s lap.

“Hobak,” he said disapprovingly. “I thought I said not to scare the guests.” The cat looked up at him and meowed with glowing yellow eyes, but Taehyun put his hand on its back to pet it. The cat’s eyes then turned to Soobin, who was settled against Yeonjun’s chest, and it stared at the rabbit with unnerving focus as it licked its lips. 

“Sorry about that. I love him, but he’s not very smart. Orange cats,” Taehyun said with an eyeroll, like that somehow explained everything. “Anyways,” he continued. “I’m much better at past-oriented stuff. Erasing memories, reversing enchantments, that kind of thing.” Kai sat up straight, suddenly excited, but Taehyun put up a hand. “Unfortunately, that means that Yuna and I are at odds with each other. I can’t change her spells, but I can see how she cast them. In other words, I can find out the components of the spell and try to figure out how to break it.”

“She said it was up to me to… change him,” Yeonjun pointed out. “Do you think we might have a better shot if we just try to figure out what she meant? I’m really afraid we won’t have enough time. Soobin went rogue again twice this morning, I found him chewing on the corner of his desk,” he said soberly.

“She said that you could change your relationship, which is a little different,” Taehyun corrected. “Obviously I’d hope that you could change your relationship at this point, considering that you signed your lease with your roommate and not your pet.”

Beomgyu straightened up with a shit-eating grin on his face, but Yeonjun cut him off. “Don’t you even think about it. Whatever cursed thing you’re about to say, don’t, or your ass is grass,” he warned. 

“That’s a little too kinky for me, hyung. Maybe ask Soo–”

Yeonjun pinched his thigh, making him shriek. Kai leaned forward curiously.

“Tell you later,” Beomgyu grumbled.

“Anyways,” Taehyun said, doing a bad job of hiding his smile. “I’ll take him for a bit, if you don’t mind. You’re all welcome to hang around, since I doubt Yeonjun sunbaenim will want to leave his precious friend.” 

Beomgyu cackled, and Yeonjun groaned. “How is it that I’ve known you for two days, and you’re already dunking on me like these guys?”

“Instinct,” Taehyun shrugged. “You just seem like an easy target, especially since you managed to inadvertently transform the guy you lov–”

“Alright,” Yeonjun interrupted. “I get it, bully me all you want, but please just fix him,” he begged. Taehyun took Soobin from him gently, and cradled the rabbit to his chest.

Kai came up to Yeonjun on the couch while Taehyun was working, holding an iced coffee. He handed it to Yeonjun who took it gratefully, and Kai plopped down beside him with his own vanilla latte.

“Beomgyu hyung told me about the pet joke,” he said casually.

“Great,” Yeonjun replied sarcastically. “I’d move him further up on my hit list if he wasn’t already in the top spot.” Kai chuckled, and there was a short pause before he spoke again.

“I think you should tell him.”

“Oh, believe me,” Yeonjun said with feeling. “Beomgyu already knows that I want to kill him.”

“No, hyung,” Kai rolled his eyes. “I meant that you should tell Soobin hyung how you feel.”

Yeonjun looked down, and stirred his coffee with the straw. “Yeah, now’s the perfect time to tell him that I’ve been in love with him since the day we met. He’s a rabbit, in case you didn’t notice.”

Kai looked at Yeonjun with a soft, sincere expression on his face. There was a strangely melancholy smile turning up the corners of his lips. “I still think you should tell him. Just– you know, just in case.”

“Just in case we don’t get him back, you mean.” Yeonjun said quietly. He was afraid to make eye contact with Kai, because there was a lump rising in his throat. Kai put his hand on top of Yeonjun’s.

“You love him, hyung,” Kai murmured. “And I know he loves you, too. He’ll find his way back.”

“I can’t help feeling like– I can’t help thinking that it was selfish of me to ask Yuna at all,” Yeonjun said. His voice was trembling. “It’s my fault that he’s stuck like this. If I hadn’t said anything that day, this would’ve never happened.”

Kai squeezed his hand. “Yuna can see the future. I believe in her– I’m choosing to believe in her,” he said earnestly. “Taehyunnie trusts her, too. She must’ve known that this would work out, or she wouldn’t have done it.” Kai flipped Yeonjun’s hand in his own, so that Yeonjun’s palm was face up. “Your love lines, remember?”

Yeonjun nodded, and swallowed. There was another brief silence, and he ruffled Kai’s dark hair. “When did you get so wise, hmm?” He asked. 

The maknae gave him a sweet, beaming smile, and nudged him with his shoulder. “I learned from the best, hyung.”

“You mean Soobin,” Yeonjun said. “I’m mediocre most of the time, and I know Beomgyu has taught you nothing but bad habits.”

Kai giggled. “Yeah, you’re right. Soobin hyung really is the best.”

Taehyun came back after a few hours looking a little discouraged. He was holding Soobin in his arms, and handed him back to a very apprehensive Yeonjun. He, Kai, and Beomgyu were all sitting on the couch waiting to hear what the blond had to say.

“Okay, so the good news is that it’s not a magical break, meaning that I won’t have to endanger him by trying a bunch of spells,” Taehyun began. Yeonjun was secretly glad for this; as much as he trusted Taehyun, he didn’t want the object of his undying affections to have to live out the rest of his days as a toad, or something. Living as a rabbit probably wouldn’t be much fun either, but a lot easier to explain to the landlord.

“The bad news is that she cast the spell when she was reading his palm. Essentially, she warped his future,” Taehyun explained. Yeonjun felt ill.

“So he can’t come back?” Kai asked, sounding devastated.

Taehyun shook his head. “He still can, she didn’t lie about that. Basically, she put a second life path in his hands: one where he lives as a rabbit, and one where he lives as a human. Right now, he’s on the rabbit path. We have to find a way to pull him back onto the other one.”

“Uh, that sounds a hell of a lot like magic to me,” Beomgyu interjected. “I don’t remember taking ‘turning your bro back into a human’ as a subject in school.”

“Wait a minute!” Kai exclaimed. “We’re turning him back into a human, right? True love’s kiss!”

Every face in the room turned to Yeonjun expectantly, even Hobak who was standing on the fireplace mantle. Yeonjun could feel his cheeks lighting up. “I really don’t think that’s it, guys,” he said. “True love, I mean– haha…”

“Try it,” Taehyun murmured. “It won’t hurt him.”

“I gave him a kiss last night in bed,” Yeonjun stated, knowing that everyone was watching him and attempting to avoid their eyes. “Nothing happened.”

Beomgyu’s eyebrows rose. “You’re sleeping with him?”

“He’s a bunny,” Yeonjun replied, exasperated.

“Yeah but it’s like Kai said, it’s still Soobin hyung in there,” Beomgyu pointed out. “He’s just a little… furrier than normal.”

“Have you never slept with your friends?” Kai asked, looking at Beomgyu curiously. His tone was completely sincere.

Beomgyu stared at him. “Not since I was like ten, no.”

Kai hummed, shrugging. “Me and Taehyunnie have slept together before.”

Beomgyu looked between the two of them, aghast. “Wait a second, when you say sleeping with your frien–”

“Beomgyu,” Yeonjun interrupted. “We’re getting off-topic. Three days, remember? By tomorrow it might be too late.”

“Right,” Beomgyu muttered. He still had Kai fixed with a very suspicious glare.

“Yeonjun sunbaenim,” Taehyun said. “Kiss the rabbit, please. I just want to check, because it would be very typical of Yuna to do something like that.”

Yeonjun looked down at Soobin in his lap. The rabbit was looking back at him, whiskers flicking. He raised a hand to run it over Soobin’s long, soft ears.

“You heard them, Bin,” Yeonjun said quietly. “Is it okay if I give you a kiss?”

Soobin nodded, and after a deep breath Yeonjun placed a quick peck on the end of his nose. Nothing happened for a moment, and then Soobin leaped from the couch to zoom in circles around the living room and kick his legs out. Yeonjun started to laugh.

“What is that?” Kai asked, afraid. “Is he okay?”

“He’s fine,” Yeonjun answered. “It’s called a binky. It means he’s really happy.”

Beomgyu snorted. “Of course he is. Hyung, you’re embarrassing,” he shouted, and the rabbit went for his ankles at speed. He screeched when Soobin bit him, and Yeonjun laughed again when Beomgyu cursed and jumped up to chase the rabbit through the apartment. In the end, Soobin hid himself in Kai’s arms while the maknae giggled and peppered his little face with kisses.

“Okay,” Taehyun said slowly. “So that didn’t work, but we’ll keep trying. I’ll do some more reading, and I’ll call you if I get anything good.”

“Taehyunnie,” Kai called as he was slipping his sneakers on. “Soobin hyung says thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Taehyun replied sincerely. “We’ll figure this out, sunbaenim.”

“I’ll bring you lunch as a thank-you while you read,” Beomgyu said. “Do you want anything in particular?”

Taehyun’s cheeks flushed a little, and Yeonjun shared a look with Kai. “Ah, you don’t have to do that.”

“Don’t be silly,” Beomgyu told him firmly. “You’ve done so much for us already.”

“Ah, um… bibimbap, if that’s okay?” Taehyun said hopefully.

“You got it.” Beomgyu grinned at him, eyes crinkling. “I’ll be right back.”

“Let me guess,” Kai sighed, once the three of them were outside of Taehyun’s apartment building. He had Soobin safely stored in the tote bag on his shoulder, and looked at Beomgyu. “You’re about to say that you’ve got a massive crush on Taehyun.”

“Yep,” Beomgyu replied shamelessly. “Absolutely debilitating. Embarrassing, at this point. Almost as bad as Yeo–”

“Choi Beomgyu,” Yeonjun growled. He put the younger boy in a headlock, and the street was filled with Kai’s cheers and squealing laughter.

Yeonjun spent the day with Soobin in their apartment. It felt strange to sit and eat lunch at their dining room table without him, or to watch a drama without Soobin’s running commentary. Soobin wasn’t a loud roommate by any means, but there was something suffocating about the silence. Yeonjun was anxiously waiting for a call from Taehyun as the hours whittled away, but his message thread with the blond witch remained empty. 

Soobin got a lot worse by late afternoon. He forgot who Yeonjun was on multiple occasions, not responding to his name at all when the older called him or asked a question. He would come back after a while with a shake of his head that made his ears flop around or several blinks of his round eyes, but Yeonjun could tell that the moments where he was gone were getting longer and longer. He kept the group chat updated whenever Kai asked about him, but he had no idea how to tell them his hope for Soobin was dying with every passing minute.

The rabbit even chewed through the hay in the bowl without complaint, which actually sent Yeonjun into tears. He couldn’t stand the thought of never finding his roommate drinking almond milk out of the carton ever again, or never hearing Soobin’s soft singing from the living room when he thought Yeonjun wasn’t listening. He’d even put Soobin’s phone on to charge at one point, so hopeful that he’d get to see Soobin’s cute messages pop up in his inbox soon.

“Binnie,” he whispered, tears making his vision blurry. The rabbit stood on his hind legs to reach him when Yeonjun crouched down. “Binnie, I’m so sorry. Hyung is so sorry.”

Soobin didn’t answer, of course, but he put one of his paws on Yeonjun’s cheek in a clumsy attempt to brush his tears away. Yeonjun pressed his lips together, holding back a sob. He laid down on the tile in the kitchen, on his back, with his head in front of the empty hay bowl. Soobin climbed up onto his chest, pressing his own face against Yeonjun’s. Yeonjun’s breath was shaking in his throat, and he reached up to run a hand over Soobin’s ears. The sunset was just beginning to dye the sky orange through the kitchen window.

Yeonjun pulled out his phone, and called Beomgyu without really being able to see the screen through the tears.

“Hyung?” Beomgyu answered.

“Gyu,” Yeonjun choked out. He knew that his voice was rough from crying, and that Beomgyu would know right away. “He ate all the hay just now. I don’t know what to do.” He had to stop speaking because the lump in his throat was so painful.

“I’m still at Taehyun’s. He’s trying as hard as he can,” Beomgyu said quietly. “He called two of Yuna’s friends just now, but they said they haven’t been able to reach her.”

“It’s my fault,” Yeonjun whispered. His whole body was shaking now, and Soobin was pushing his face into Yeonjun’s shoulder comfortingly. “I shouldn’t have– it was wrong of me, Gyu. I was happy with him, I don’t know why I did it. I’d do anything to have him back right now, even if it meant that everything stayed the same.”

“I know, hyung,” Beomgyu murmured. “I also know that he loves you. He adores you more than anyone else in the world. He forgives you.”

There was a long pause, and Yeonjun sniffled. “Should I call his parents? I don’t even know what I would tell them.”

“I think if he really is… I don’t know,” Beomgyu said. It sounded like he was getting choked up too, on the other end of the line. “If he’s really going to go, then his family deserves a chance to say goodbye. I’m just not sure they’ll even believe it– believe any of this. He’s a rabbit.”

Yeonjun heard someone else speaking to Beomgyu, and recognized Taehyun’s voice. The two had a short conversation that Yeonjun could only half-hear, and then there was a rustling noise as Beomgyu raised the phone back to his ear.

“Taehyun says… Taehyun says that it will be easier and safer for him to just change everyone’s memories. His parents, and his sister… They’re not supposed to know about magic, none of us are. He says it might be too dangerous to try to explain everything and convince them, in case they go to the police, or something.”

“All of us?” Yeonjun asked in a shuddering whisper.

“I don’t know,” Beomgyu replied. Yeonjun could definitely hear that he was crying now. “I don’t know. I don’t want to forget him.”

Kai’s words came back to Yeonjun. I think you should tell him. Just in case.

“Gyu, I gotta– I gotta go,” Yeonjun said. “I’ll keep you updated, okay? You and Kai should come over tonight. Bring Taehyun, too. For dinner, and–” he stopped, but he knew that Beomgyu understood.

“Okay,” Beomgyu answered. “I’ll see you later.”

Yeonjun nodded, and clicked the screen. Soobin, sensing that something was up, hopped down and allowed Yeonjun to sit upright. The sun was setting in earnest, washing the room in a soft glow. It made Soobin’s eyes look warm, and Yeonjun could almost pretend for a moment that he was just sitting in the kitchen with his roommate on any other normal evening.

“Soobin,” Yeonjun began. The rabbit was gazing up at him, completely still, his ears raised. “Binnie, I– there’s something I didn’t tell you. I’ve been selfish, and I–” He swallowed, forcing himself to stay coherent. Even if it meant that Soobin spent his last few hours angry with him, he deserved to know the truth. “I lied. I kept something from you.”

He waited for a reaction, but Soobin didn’t move aside from a single twitch of his nose. Yeonjun forged on. 

“When we went to Yuna’s that day, I… I asked her a question, on the way out. I asked her if she thought there was any way that I could change our relationship. I wanted–” Yeonjun wiped away some of the tears on his cheeks with his sleeves, giving himself time to word this properly. He wanted Soobin to have everything.

“I’m not telling you this for me, Bin,” he said. He hoped that Soobin could feel the honesty in his voice. “I’m not– I don’t expect anything from you. After what I did, I can’t blame you if you never want to see me again. But I think… I think you’re perfect, and I think I asked for too much.” He sniffed and wiped at his tears again. “I wanted you as my boyfriend. I asked her if there was any way that I could change our relationship because I love you. I’ve been in love with you since that very first day, when you sat next to me in English and asked me why my shoe was untied.”

He laughed wetly at the memory of Soobin’s freshman year, and the rabbit took one step closer to him to bump his nose into Yeonjun’s arm. “I just–” he paused again, taking a deep breath. “I didn’t know that this is what she would do, but I never should’ve asked her in the first place. I love you, and even if you just stayed my roommate forever I’d be happy. I wish I could take it back. I’d do anything just to make tteokbokki for you and see you smile.”

Soobin bumped his arm again, more insistently this time. Yeonjun lifted his hand to pet the rabbit’s ears, but Soobin stopped him. Instead, he nudged Yeonjun’s hand until it was open, palm facing the ceiling.

You guys have overlapping love lines.

We have to find a way to pull him back.

Suddenly, Yeonjun could feel it. There was some sort of invisible thread running over his palm, ending in a loop around his pinky. The way Soobin’s paw was raised made Yeonjun think he knew where the other end was tied. He closed his hand, making a fist, and pulled it as hard as he could.

There was a flash, and Yeonjun was blinded for a second. When he opened his eyes, Soobin was sitting in front of him. His Soobin, with blue hair and warm brown eyes and plush pink lips and adorable dimples. He was smiling.

“Binnie,” Yeonjun breathed. He crawled forwards, barely believing what he was seeing, and Soobin caught him in an embrace.

“Hyung,” Soobin murmured, right into his ear. His voice was gentle and smooth, just like Yeonjun remembered. It felt like an eternity since he’d last heard it. Tears soaked into his hoodie– Yeonjun’s hoodie, he realized. Soobin was wearing his hoodie from the time that Yeonjun had been on their university’s dance team.

“Soobin,” he said, sitting back a little to look at him. He brought his hands up to cradle Soobin’s face, thumb running over his soft cheeks in awe. He went to pull away suddenly, flinching at the realization that Soobin might not want this.

“Sorry, Bin, I–”

Soobin stopped him by bringing his own hands up to lay over Yeonjun’s, and turning his head to press a kiss to the older’s palm.

Yeonjun forgot how to breathe. He forgot how to speak, he forgot how to do anything; it was as if Taehyun really had erased his memory. All he could do was stare at the way the sun beams looked on Soobin’s irises.

“Hyung,” Soobin said again. “Don’t be sorry. Please don’t be sorry, I forgive you.” Then, “I love you, too.”

It was like everything was lighter. Every tear, every sob, every moment of stress from the last two days that Yeonjun didn’t even know he was carrying was lifted. Every longing glance, every secret smile, every single wish he’d made alone in the dark of his room weighed nothing to him anymore. The unique and immutable pain of love suddenly felt like silk against his skin.

It was impossible to tell, Yeonjun thought, who leaned in first. All Yeonjun cared about was that Soobin, his Soobin, was here. His Soobin was here and kissing him like he’d wanted Yeonjun back since that very first day in English class.

Soobin stood at the doorway of Yeonjun’s bedroom that evening, after dinner, once they’d both showered and brushed their teeth. Beomgyu and Kai had had a rather tearful reunion with Soobin, and Taehyun had blushed as Soobin thanked him profusely for all his help. It was a much less somber meal than it could’ve been, which Yeonjun was extremely grateful for. Plus, Soobin had eaten all of his vegetables without having to be asked.

“Bin?” Yeonjun asked curiously. “Why are you standing there?”

“Oh,” Soobin said, eyes widening for a second. “Sorry, I think I just got used to– you know, when I was… We, um…” He trailed off, and then turned around like he was going to leave.

Yeonjun crossed the room in two strides, and caught his wrist. “Soobin,” he said. “You are always welcome in my bed, rabbit or not.”

“Really?” Soobin breathed. He looked overjoyed, and Yeonjun couldn’t help but smile at the sight of him. “I thought– well, Beomgyu and Kai were teasing you, so…”

“We were making out in the kitchen instead of doing dishes about twenty minutes ago,” Yeonjun pointed out. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t make out with my friends. Also, I literally could not care less about what Beomgyu thinks, considering he’s about two seconds from reciting a sonnet about Taehyun’s ass at all times.”

“That’s fair,” Soobin said evenly. “He told me about the pet joke, by the way.”

Yeonjun accidentally knocked his phone off the bedside table, and swore when it landed on his toe. “He what?!”

“I’m flattered, hyung.” There was a grin spreading over Soobin’s face. “If you really wanted to sleep with me, you could’ve just asked.”

Yeonjun put his head in his hands, mortified, as Soobin’s giggles floated through his bedroom. He was definitely going to text Taehyun something embarrassing and obscene from Beomgyu’s phone the next time he saw him, and told Soobin as much.

“Hmm,” the younger said, still grinning. “I had no idea you were into dirty talk like that.”

Yeonjun shrieked and tackled Soobin onto the bed. Soobin’s laughs were vibrating through his whole body, and the sound made Yeonjun feel warm.

“It’s a good thing you’re cute, Bin,” he said.

“Aw, but I was way cuter before,” Soobin sighed. “Rabbits are adorable.”

“Nah,” Yeonjun said, placing a peck on his nose. “I like you just like this.”