AFFINITY.

thirty-three

Yoongi sighed, dragging himself through the door to the storage room. He wasn't in the mood for Hoseok or Namjoon's teasing. He never really understood why he bothered to come to the agency meetings. It wasn't like they ever really needed him for much and their pride was to great for them to ever ask him for help unless they truly were lost.

Never stopped them from asking him to join them full time though.

Yoongi sighed as he peeled off his blue cape, draping it over his arm. He remembered how proud his grandfather had looked when Yoongi graduated, but he had looked even prouder when Yoongi was offered a job at the agency barely two days after passing his exams.

Yoongi had always just wanted to work at the shop, never using his power for anything but potions and tending the garden. He was happy just being himself within the secure wall, never having to fear other people of fear hurting others. The plants were forgiving, and unlike people they never judged him. But his grandfather always wanted him to be more. Much like Yoongi's grandmother he seemed to see more than a monster when he looked at Yoongi.

In truth, it was only his grandparents who had ever looked at him like he was normal.

And his brother.

But his brother had been a kid as well. Too young to understand anything and too young to ever fully realize what their mother had been doing. He had been a victim just like Yoongi. But he really wished his brother hadn't had to see their mother almost strangle Yoongi.

Sometimes in his nightmares Yoongi could still see the blurry memory of his brother staring in shock as their dad had yelled, trying to pull Yoongi out of his mother's hands.

He wondered if his brother had kids of his own yet. He knew from his uncle that his brother had been married a few years ago. Apparently, the bride was from a good family, rich and important and her Fire magic suited his brothers elemental earth. It had been all lovely and romantic.

Yoongi had thrown the invitation out without even noticing. He never really understood why they kept inviting him to all the big family gatherings. Nobody wanted him there anyway,

With a sigh, Yoongi shook his head. There was no point thinking about his brother. Not when Yoongi's head was still buzzing from the agency dinner. Of course, that horrid woman from the A had been there. Again. And of course, she had spent the whole time pestering Yoongi about her newest idea about letting a selected few use the garden for their master projects. Yoongi kept trying to refuse, but she wouldn't even let him get a word in.

The worst was that the head of the agency had gotten involved and was trying to get Yoongi to allow it. His reasoning was that more students in the garden would mean that Yoongi would finally be able to return to the agency full time and use his magic "for the good of the people". Whatever the man meant by that.

Yoongi was half convinced they only wanted him to work at the agency so they could show him off and use him to make the politicians listen.

It had been when the head of the Wild Witch department had begun to bring up Taehyung that Yoongi had gotten really annoyed. She hadn't mentioned him before, but suddenly she was talking about how Taehyung was just like Yoongi, an asset to his magic. She had boasted about how Taehyung might be the most powerful wild witch in ages and then she had gone on and on about who it was poetic how he and Yoongi was born at the same time and how lovely it was they were friends.

Yoongi had wanted to hit her over the head with an ice sculpture.

What was worse was how everyone had suddenly begun to ask about Taehyung, wanting to know about this talented Wild Witch they'd never heard of before. Yoongi had listened to her talk for hours about Taehyung, rattling off little detail after little detail about the man who had so wholly concurred Yoongi heart.