AFFINITY.

five

Taehyung walked up the stairs to the top floor, the old worn floorboard creaking under his feet. Sugar Cube was hanging from his arms, the cat's eyes half-closed as he purred contently. Taehyung pushed the half sleeping cat a little closer to his chest as he stepped around a small tissue tree, trying not to make any of the small budding handkerchiefs fall off. Jihyo would just yell at him again.

He sighed as he finally managed to work his way up the last steps. He sighed as he looked up at the big overhead windows, feeling the sun touch his face. He looked at the stairwell, it was always filled with the trees and plants that were too big for the students to fit into their own rooms so the place was always filled up with bushes and trees, the whole hall smelling like a greenhouse. Bogum hummed in happiness from the top of Taehyung's hat.

Bogum needed to be trimmed, he had been so happy to be around both Jimin and Yoongi that he had grown way too much. Taehyung wasn't looking forward to it. Every time he tried to trim Bogum the ivy got all grumpy and refused to talk to Taehyung for a whole night. But Taehyung couldn't go around with Bogum on his hat when he was this big. Taehyung felt like he was going around inside a cave, with the longest of Bogum's strands dragging behind Taehyung like a weird veil.

The ivy sighed, its long branches trying to reach for the sunlight. The only problem with being in Yoongi's shop was that it was so dark. It wasn't that Bogum couldn't handle the darkness, it was just that he liked the sunshine more.

"Wait a second, Bogum, I promise you get to sit in Kookie's windowsill. You know I can't leave you out here without people trying to steal you," Taehyung mumbled to his hat, hating how a place that should have been filled with friends had turned into a house filled envious idiots who tried to steal his stuff in hopes to share some of his magic. If Jungkook hadn't moved in here a few months ago Taehyung would have gone crazy. He already had three locks and six warding spells on his door to keep people out. After he lost Momo, his magical silver peach tree, to Choi Hwanhee last spring, Taehyung had learned to take his precautions.

The many pots and cauldrons filled with plants continued down the hallway leading past the little kitchen and down to the bedrooms. The potion kitchen was pretty much abandoned and was only used for the few trees and plants that liked being high up. None of the other witches in the building liked being this high up, it was too far away from the ground to feel completely comfortable. Taehyung didn't mind it, but the others went completely mental if they had to stay up there so it was pretty much just a floor of empty rooms. Jungkook had the whole floor to himself, and yet he had chosen a room in the far corner. Not that Taehyung could blame him. The room had the best view of the Academy's botanical garden.

"Let's hope Jieun wants to play with you," Taehyung muttered to the huge cat in his arms as he stepped up to Jungkook's closed door, and knocked softly.

The only thing he got in response was a groan.

Taehyung knocked on the door - three quick raps and two slow. When the glowing insignia of the ward appeared, Taehyung allowed his finger to follow the messy overlay of lines, drawing a pattern of star. The lock clicked open and Taehyung stepped in.

Jungkook's room was vastly different from all the others in the building, in the way that he only had a few plants in his room - all of them for Jieun. While Taehyung's own room looked like a small greenhouse, Jungkook's looked like a workshop. Small pieces of clockwork and electronics were scattered all over his desk and odd contraptions – like his not-yet-successful self-buttering toaster - was all over the floor. There were scorch marks on the walls and about three different fire extinguishers scattered about the room.

Jungkook himself was lying face down on his bed, spread all over the place like he had just flung himself onto the bed. His hat was on the night table, the oregano looking a little lifeless from Jungkook's clear despair. Taehyung was just happy to see that Jungkook at least hadn't been so distracted that he had forgotten to be careful when taking it off. If Jungkook was careless with his hat, then things would have been really bad.