"Noona! Look! Did I get it right this time?" Jimin piped up from the cauldron.
Myriam took a peak at the mush.
"It needs more rosemary and peony licorice," she moved it with a wooden spoon. "You used too much arrowhead violet and the flame is too high. Look, the bottom is burning and turning black."
"Argh!" Jimin pulled his hair.
He had tried making the stupid balm several times now and he just got it wrong every single time. It was even more infuriating to know that little Jungkook got it almost perfect on his first try and Jin's ointment had impressed Myriam the one time that he made it.
His balms always were either short on something or left for too long on the fire or with an excess of certain ingredient. His teacher fixed it in the end, of course. As she put it: she wasn't throwing away good material if there was a way to save it. Now, they had tons of flasks stored in the kitchen cabinets, the bathrooms and even some at Myriam's place.
On the bright side, Mr. Bang PD had been true to his words and found a new apartment for them. They were still a bit tight but at least this place had three bedrooms instead of one. Still the smell of the concoction wasn't that nice when wrongly prepared (which, in Jimin's case, was always) and the flat was filled with the stench constantly.
The sore throat potion though, was Jimin's pride. It was actually super easy to make and didn't require as many ingredients. It was like making tea save for the chant that went along with the stirring. The only downside of this was that Myriam's preservation spell didn't work on it. You had to take it freshly made or it would go to waste.
The boy was now very annoyed with all this potion making but was hell-bent in getting it right at some point.
"Ok, enough," Myriam breathed out as she saved the potion again. "Taetae, Jungkookie, new recipe."
"What?!" Jimin voiced loudly. "I almost got it right this time. Please, give me one last chance."
"Sorry Jimin, that was the last of my caterpillar fungus. I need to put that down on my list to buy later, by the way," the witch responded.
"Oh. Sorry about that."
Tae and Jungkook finally appeared with their pens and papers. Taehyung looked a bit down. He had tried making the balm once and gave up after burning most of it on the first few steps. The throat potion hadn't gone that much better either. Apparently, he had used too much halmi kkot and his voice became squeaky for the rest of the day.
After that disaster he hadn't tried making either recipe again. He even began considering taking a different path. Perhaps magic wasn't his calling. Tae thought of simply skipping the lesson and talk to Myriam later about his feelings. She would understand. Yet, in the end, he went to the common space to continue his training.
"Oki doki. I know I said new recipe but I've changed my mind. I'll teach you a tracking spell instead."
The six pair of eyes sparkled.
"It will require several ingredients though," she began taking the stuff out of her bag again. "Most of the ingredients are easily found anywhere nowadays but I highly suggest you try to buy the products as organic as you can. The results will be better that way. Now, this is the hardest one to get."
She showed them a vial with oil.
"This is sandalwood oil. Expensive as hell let me tell you but what makes it truly rare is that it was blessed by a devoted cloister monk during a full moon. Which is exactly what we need for this ritual. You know how hard it is to come by one of those this days?" Myriam said with a sigh.
"Cloister monks?" Tae wondered.
"Truly devoted monks," she corrected. "Luckily I still know a few so I can always get some consecrated oil. At least for now."
"Will we need someone's belongings or hair or… blood? Like in the movies," Jungkook asked.
"There are indeed some location spells that need such things, but what I like about this particular one is that just by knowing the person you can find them. This spell can tell you not only the where but the when as well. Isn't that cool?" Myriam answered excitedly.
"The… when?" Tae was confused.
"Yup. Even if whomever you are looking for has time traveled, you can find them too. That's just how good this spell is."
"Time travel?" Jimin exclaimed.
"Yup. It's an extremely difficult spell which requires a lot of power. Un… Cas used it a couple of times on the Winchesters to get them to the past, and there was also this other angel… what was his name? Oh, yeah, Zachariah. Well, he sent Dean into the future once. Other than angels, I haven't met any other being strong enough to perform the time traveling spell."
"Y-you never told us that," Jimin said.
"Yeah, you didn't tell us that the Winchesters had time traveled," Tae pouted.
"Oh, sorry. Must have omitted that detail."
"Have you time traveled?" Jungkook asked.
"Nope. No need for me to go back again. Not really interested either," she brushed off. "Anyways, here's how you do the spell."
"Noona wait. Can we time travel?" Tae asked, eyes sparkling again.
"I'm not sure but wouldn't really count on it. Angels needed their wings in order to send you to the past and they all lost them," she reasoned.
Tae looked a bit disappointed but allowed their teacher to proceed. She spent the following fifteen minutes explaining how to select and pour the ingredients along with how to draw the sigil they would need to make the spell work.
"Now, for the final touch, we chant the spell," she concluded.
"Chant? Which spell?" Jimin voiced.
"The one I have in this piece of paper," she showed said item. "Only one of you will be able to do the spell this time though. Choose who."
"Rock-paper-scissors!" Jimin exclaimed.
The other two readied their hands.
"One go. The winner gets to do the spell," Tae instructed.
"Deal," Jungkook agreed.
"1-2-3!" they chanted at the same time.
"NO!" Jimin lamented.
It was up to Tae and Jungkook.
"1-2-3!"
"YEY!" the winner celebrated showing off his scissors.
He leaned over the table to take the paper form Myriam's hand.
"Now, listen very carefully before you open that thing. You need to have the person's face in your mind at the same time you read it. I made phonetic guide so you can practice first. Do not say it out loud until you feel ready. We only have the one go. Understood?" the witch instructed.
Tae nodded.
"Go ahead."
The young man opened the piece of paper and prepared himself for a full minute before he slowly chanted the spell out loud.
"Zod ah ma ra la ee est la gu ro sa"
A red flame bursted from the bowl and next thing Taehyung knew, he had a terrible headache and felt real dizzy while tons of images started pouring into his mind. He could see the person he had evoked and, like in Google maps, he was able to zoom in and out, taking in all the surroundings. He was even able to see an address appear in front of his closed eyes.
"What's happening?! Why did he scream?!" Namjoon entered the common area alarmed.
"W-we were doing this new spell… there was a red flame and then…" Jimin tried to explain as both him and Jungkook held Tae.
Myriam watched, apparently unbothered.
"You see your person Tae?"
Was her first question once the youngest opened his eyes and started blinking.
"Y-yeah."
"Address?"
"45 Keunjang-ro 26-gil, Daesin-dongin Daegu. She's grocery shopping at the Seomun Market," he said with a croaky voice.
All the hyungs had gathered around Tae trying to figure out a way to help the poor boy but after his words, all six of them looked very surprised. Taehyung's head began to clear, the pain passed.
"Sorry for not warning you about this but I feared that if I told you, it would have distracted you. That would have made the ritual fail but, hey, you did it. Who did you locate?" Myriam apologized.
"My grandma. It was nice seeing her," he smiled.
"Taehyung-ah, are you ok?" Namjoon asked still concerned.
"Yeah. A bit dizzy but it's passing."
"Does it hurt that much?" Jimin wondered.
"Only in the beginning, then I could only feel the dizziness," he explained.
"Oi, don't teach them this sort of stuff," Hobi scolded Myriam in a serious voice. "It's not nice to hear them scream like that."
"Sorry Hoseok, but most magic comes with a price either physical or of another kind. The little headache is necessary for this specific spell which doesn't require blood or hair or the person's belongings. It's handy, accurate and, all things considered, physically affordable to you," she countered equally serious.
"Why would they ever need to use this?" Hobi kept complaining.
"If anyone goes missing and I'm not around this is the spell to use."
"Nowadays there's a lot of technology to prevent that or, better yet, to solve that kind of mysteries. Authorities are always willing to help."
Everyone else was silent, feeling the tension increase between those two.
"What if it doesn't happen in Korea? What if the disappearance is not caused by humans? You can't be sure authorities will always be helpful. Besides, I'm only providing a last resource tool, I don't expect them to use it on a daily basis. I understand your worries, I worry too but I rather teach them properly than having them dive recklessly into some dark and dangerous magic on their own. Wouldn't you agree?"
Hobi sighed in defeat.
"Just… be careful ok? And at least tell us in advance so that we know what to expect."
"Promise."
Hobi went back to his room and the other members let out a breath they didn't know they were holding.
"I'm really, really sorry guys," Myriam said, head hanging low. "You are my responsibility I should've warned you."
She began collecting her stuff.
"But…" JK started.
"Class dismissed," she cut him off.
Next day things were still a bit tense. The young ones were not sure if their noona was going to come to the apartment or not. They had been busy filming some stuff for future release and the hair and make up time, which would usually be pretty fun and loud, was clearly diminished due to the tension between those two. Even Mrs. Park and Mrs. Lim, two of the other stylists noticed. Therefore, it was unsure whether or not Myriam was teaching them something that evening or not.
To their surprise, they all heard the doorbell near 9 o'clock.
Tae ran to open up.
"Hey, may I come in?" Myriam greeted awkwardly.
"Yeah, yeah. Please come in."
"Uhm… is Hoseok in his bedroom?"
"Y-yeah. Want me to call him out?" he offered.
"Sure," she paused. "A-actually, can you call everyone out please?"
After a minute or so everyone was gathered around the dining room's table. The girl waited patiently before she started speaking again.
"I owe you an apology. Like I said to Taehyung yesterday, I should have warned him instead of worrying about the ingredients. As long as you are my pupils you are my responsibility," she said to the young ones and then turned to the four hyungs. "I understand your worries and I don't diminish them in any way. Believe me, I've considered so many scenarios in my head about what could potentially go wrong with this lessons that I've been tempted to simply wipe all your memories away and just make it easier. To make you forget about all the monsters and the magic and Dean and Sam and Cas and…
"What I'm trying to say is that among all the bad and evil of this revelations, I truly believe there is some good that we can all take advantage of but I will stop if you ask it of me. You seven are way more important to me than you might possibly ever imagine and I value each friendship more than anything I have. You guys are family to me and I was taught that family always comes first. I want you all to think about it, real hard. Discuss it as a group, emotions aside. I'll stop if you tell me to."
There was a pause.
"I'll wait outside."
The guys looked perplexed as they saw their friend leave the apartment. The soft click of the door was the only indicative that she was gone.
"Is she serious?" Jin wondered, breaking the silence. "Has she really been considering wiping away our memory? Just like that?"
"Ignorance is bliss, I suppose," Namjoon answered.
"Nah ah, she is not going to take all of it back. Took her years to finally tell us something. There are tons of things I want to know now," Jin countered. "Can you believe this girl?"
"Yeah, I don't want to forget either. Even if she stopped with her lessons I still want her to be comfortable with us. The real her, no secrets," Tae shared.
"I think, for some reason, that even now, she is holding something back," Yoongi commented in a low voice.
"Well yeah, there is a lot she still hasn't told us but aside from her married life, she has been very open about pretty much anything we ask her," Jin countered. "We don't even know half of her story yet but we will get there. I'm sure."
"I agree with Jin-hyung. There is so much I would like to ask her myself but I do see her point. I don't think she means it could be easier for us to simply forget about it, I think she really means it would be safer. But what if anything like what happened to Jin-hyung ever happens again? We might not be so lucky next time. I guess it's good to be prepared but we also need to be very careful if we decide to go on," Namjoon reasoned.
Yoongi and Jin nodded with serious faces. The three younger members listened intently somehow feeling this was their fault but didn't argue. Hobi was completely silent.
"I think," Yoongi began and everyone turned their attention to him, "that we should put some limits. Maybe this way it would be easier for everyone."
"What kind of limits?" Tae asked quietly.
"Maybe, I don't know, wait for her to take the initiative. Stop asking her for lessons and be contempt with what she wants to share. After all, we don't need all her knowledge. It's not like we are hunters or anything," Yoongi offered.
"But…" Jungkook cut himself straight away.
"Jungkookie," Jin said softly but with no place for the young one to reply, "we are not hunters. We are performers, artists, idols. There are too many eyes on us to be playing around with such dangerous stuff."
Jungkook had to sit that down. He knew that Jin's argument was completely true.
"So, do we all agree?" Namjoon tried to wrap up.
They all nodded.
"Can you call Myriam back in Jungkookie?" the leader asked.
Jungkook got up and called in their friend.
"I'm guessing you made up your minds."
"We decided to keep our memories intact, thank you very much," Jin answered. "Don't you ever dare to take that away from us without having our permission."
His voice was almost threatening but Myriam knew that tone all too well. It meant he was serious but didn't want to sound too stern. The irony.
"Yeah. What hyung said, basically," Namjoon continued. "We want you to feel comfortable around us. To let you, be you. We can take it. We aren't as fragile as you might think. Trust us."
"Magic lessons are ok too," Yoongi followed up. "Don't push yourself too much. No need to have a schedule or a syllabus. Just teach what you want whenever you feel like it. We promise to respect what you want to share but a heads up would be nice so we don't repeat anything like what happened with Taehyung."
"Mm-hmm. Please keep teaching us," Jimin and Tae said almost at the same time, bowing their heads.
Jungkook bowed as well.
"Are you really sure? It would be easier to just…"
"Nop! No! Na-ah!" Jin interrupted her. "No way."
"But, are you really ok with me being a… a…"
"A witch?" Tae tried. "Sure."
"A monster," she corrected.
"Noona!" Jimin exclaimed. "You are NOT a monster. What gave you that idea?"
"How can you know I'm not a monster? It's not like you have seen me outside of work," she lowered her head.
"And what would you call this reunion then? Overtime?" Yoongi replied sarcastically.
"You know what I mean. You have never seen me hunting, not really," she insisted. "It's not too late to turn around."
"Why are you being like this all of a sudden? It's not like you to insist this much on anything," Yoongi noted narrowing his eyes and crossing his arm over his chest. "What is it? Really."
"Because…" she cut short.
How could she tell them? It hadn't come to pass yet. It could always be wrong or a mistake. So why did she feel so restless?
"Because?" Tae pushed a little.
Everyone's attention was on her. Their hearts beat a little faster and they couldn't help being extremely curious. Judging by her body language, these weren't great news but they just couldn't help it. She sighed in defeat and sat down, next to Taehyung.
"Something is coming. Something big. Not sure what it is but I'm quite positive my family is involved."
"How can you be so sure?" Namjoon wondered.
Myriam shuffled around her bag for a second and retrieved a small, rectangular box. She placed it on the table and opened it. The guys were a bit surprised to see an old tarot deck in it.
"I made a question today," she paused, not willing to touch the cards again. "I got scared to be honest. I wasn't even able to finish the last reading."
Everyone was silent, not really certain where to look.
"I tried different card formations and asking in different ways. The readings all ended up saying pretty much the same thing," she looked up at them. "Something big is coming."
"Didn't know you believe in cards," Jimin tried to ease the tension.
"Sure do. Learned back in the early 1600's. Been doing it ever since whenever I feel like I need some guidance."
"You learned all on your own?" Tae caught on to Jimin's idea.
"No. Carmen taught me. Actually, this deck is all I have left of her. She was a gypsy, you know? Met her in Granada. Sad story," Myriam shared.
For a second, the guys thought they had managed to make her stop focusing on the previous conversation. They were wrong.
"Considering this reading and my family's history, all I can say is that I'm scared of what is to come. Like I told you before, usually when we are involved, we are talking about problems of apocalyptic proportions. So if you want to back down, now is the time to do it. It'll be as if I never existed for you. I'll fade away and, probably, go back to the US. No need to say goodbye, no need to suffer or worry about a fight that isn't even yours," she encouraged.
"No!" Jungkook was unable to hold back any longer. "Noona, please, just… stay."
It was uncommon for him to speak up like that to someone older than him, let alone a female. Yet, everyone else agreed with him and spoke up almost at the same time.
"It's not fair!" Jin exclaimed. "Don't make that choice for us!"
"I don't want to forget you!" Tae pleaded as he clung to her sleeve.
"We want to be your pupils!" Jimin said energetically.
"You're part of our family too. You can't give up on us without giving us a chance first," Namjoon retorted.
"You're stuck with us now," Yoongi let out.
Myriam's heart felt warm as the loud words filled her ears. Everyone's except for one. Hobi kept silent all through the raucous. Something wasn't right. She felt it, he felt it but none dared to take the next step.
That night, Myriam left the apartment with mixed feelings. She was happy for sure to have this much support but dreaded the day the boys would be more like Hobi and see her for what she really was: a monster.