The Sound of Magic (Ri Eul x Reader)

A Real Magician

"Are you okay? Who was that?" You ask shakily, refusing to answer his question until he answers a few of yours.

He doesn't say anything. Instead, his shoulders slump and he stumbles backward a little bit, grasping the shelf behind him for support. You move to help him, but freeze with your hand outstretched.

He's still holding the knife.

You don't know why you hesitate, but you're suddenly unsure whether you should approach him. He still doesn't seem like his normal self, and that scares you a little.

Come on. It's Min-ah. You've known him for over 10 years. He'd never hurt you, you tell yourself. But still your body refuses to move closer to him. Fear is taking over, making you freeze up, and you hate yourself for it.

He notices your subtle hesitation, and he finally looks at you. He follows your gaze and seems to realize that he's still holding the shiny weapon. You see a brief flash of confusion in his eyes as he studies the blade, as if he's unsure how it got to be in his hand, and with seemingly great effort, he lets his finger relax. The knife slips from his grip and clatters to the floor with a discordant ringing.

As the knife hits the ground you let out the breath that you didn't realize you'd been holding.

"I'm sorry you had to see all that." He mumbles, refusing to meet your eyes again.

You swallow tightly, and muster the courage to step closer. You rest your hand on his arm again, and hope he can't feel your hand trembling ever so slightly.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on?" You ask, forcing your voice to sound calm.

He brushes a hand down his face in defeat, and the gesture makes him seem years older.

"He was just some low-life I caught trying to steal something of mine." He says vaguely.

"What do you mean?" You ask quietly. "What could he have wanted to steal?"

He simply nods his head, gesturing to a heap of black cloth on the ground a few feet away. As you look at it closer, you realize it's his black top hat and magician's cloak. Interesting. What could the man have wanted with that? Well, whatever the reason, you're sure it wasn't good. 

You look back at Min-hyuk. "He didn't hurt you or anything, did he?" you ask.

Min-hyuk scoffs quietly to himself, then gives a little shake of his head. 

"Then... were you about to hurt him?" you whisper after a moment. 

His eyes seem to get a little darker as he drops his gaze to the knife on the floor. "Part of me wanted to..." he says after a moment. You shiver involuntarily at his words, and you pray that he doesn't notice. "You have no idea what that bastard is capable of."

He steals a glance at you and seems to notice how tense you are. You can practically see him come to the conclusion that he's scaring you right now, and he hurriedly continues. 

"But I wasn't going to hurt him, I promise. I just wanted to scare him. I needed to make sure he didn't come back here." 

You nod slowly as he says this, your anxiety easing slightly. This sounds more like the Min-hyuk you know. He wouldn't hurt anyone. He'd never do that. Of course he was just trying to scare the man. 

"It sounds like he's someone you know," you say after a few moments of tense silence. You'd picked up on what Min-hyuk said about you not knowing what that man is capable of.

"I don't really know him. I've just seen him once before.... when he was trying to take advantage of my friend. I made him disappear a few weeks back, just like that man who was harassing you yesterday."

You pinch the bridge of your nose, trying to process this new information. "This is why we DON'T make people disappear, Min-ah. I don't care what the situation is--just please try to resist the urge to send people to God-knows-where in the future, okay? Can you do that for me?"

He gives you a little sheepish nod, but doesn't say anything. 

"So," you continue, recapping what he just said, "A few weeks ago, this man was harassing one of your friends, so you made him disappear?"

He nods again, then says, "I guess he didn't appreciate that too much seeing as he found where I live and came to steal from me."

"Yeah, my guess would be that he's not exactly happy," you agree a little sarcastically. "But why did he try to steal your hat and cape?"

Min-hyuks eyes darken once again. 

"I have a suspicion," he says quietly, his gaze becoming less focused as he becomes immersed in deeper thoughts. "I just hope it's not right."

You wait for him to elaborate, but after a moment, his eyes become focused again and he's looking at you. You can see a trace of concern in his eyes now. 

"I'm sorry if I frightened you at all," he says. You can detect a trace of worry in his tone. You decide not to pester him about this 'suspicion' he has. You know that if it's really important, he'll tell you. 

And of course he's worried that you're scared of him now. And you have to admit, you definitely were for a few minutes. What just happened was another side to Min-hyuk that you'd never seen before. You notice that you keep discovering things about him lately. 

"I'd be lying if I said you didn't scare me for a couple minutes," you reply honestly. Your voice still sounds a bit shaky. He seems to notice this and he instinctively reaches up a hand to cup your cheeks softly.

"I'm sorry," he says again, quieter this time. You lean into his touch, releasing a breath that seems to eject all your fear with it. You let your eyes flutter closed at the contact, and after a second you feel a feather-light kiss on your forehead. 

"I don't want you to be scared of me. I... I can't lose you... You're all I have..." he sounds so broken as the words leave his mouth, his breath fanning against your face. As always, he's scared that you'll see something that will finally scare you away--that you might discover something about him that will make you leave him. 

He should know better by now.

Nothing he can do will keep you from loving him. And nothing can scare you away.

You open your eyes, meeting his beautiful brown ones. "I'm not going anywhere," you whisper back. 

_____________________

A/N: Thanks for Reading! Be sure to VOTE!! See you very soon for another update! :D