Chapter Text
Taehyun couldn’t remember how he got caught up in the occult world. It sort of always was around in the form of his grandfather’s antiques shop. It was first opened by one ghost hunting ancestor named Jeon who lived during the time of the Salem Witch Trials, with whom he allegedly shares his looks and obsessiveness with ghosts. Contact with the paranormal runs in his family.
Closing the shop on Fridays was special now.
It was the day a little meeting would be taking place upstairs at the stroke of midnight. A meeting known as a séance. It was a new thing they’d started in the apartment he shares with his best friend Kai, which was right above the shop on the 2nd floor.
Kai was a seer in a League of mediums who are each hired to conduct séances for people, relaying messages from the great beyond. The League has existed for hundreds of years, it was just the location it was being held at that was new.
Taehyun hasn’t honed his psychic abilities enough to join the League but he makes his contribution in his own small way by guarding the door.
Every Friday night Taehyun shuts down the shop at midnight and the group gathers in their apartment to contact the other side. They called it the Communicatively United League of Tellers. The C.U.L.T. or League for short.
Some Fridays this guy walks into the shop, a guy that wasn’t a total stranger to Taehyun but not someone he knew by name. He rode the same bus at Taehyun in the afternoons when Taehyun got his lunch. He’d always climbed on a minute after him and sat in the seat beside him. He could never bring himself to steal more than a glance at his face. Just catching the burning embers of his eyes that matched the smell of smoke that clung to his body.
He wore a golden pendant on his chest that glowed like his eyes. Tiger’s eye, Taehyun thought it was.
There was something weighted about his presence. And he always vanished as soon as he stepped off the bus, only to reappear in the shop later, browsing aisles of trinkets and books.
Taehyun almost looked forward to seeing him again, until he stopped showing up.
“And does your dreamy stranger have a favourite aisle?” HueningKai asks one Friday, 10 minutes to midnight.
He’s leaning against the counter where Taehyun is on the other side, reading into his crystal ball. He looks up at Kai quickly.
“I never said he was dreamy!” He says. “I said there’s something mysterious about him. And no, he doesn’t have a favourite. Vampyric Infestation kits on the top shelf, paranormal studies library, witches/ghouls. Even once saw him looking at a How to Speak to the Undead, a Practical Manual once. The weirdest part is, he never bought anything.”
“Weird. Mundanes hardly ever take that much of an interest in our stuff for no reason at all.” Kai yawns. Mundanes were what they called mortals who were unaffiliated with the spirit world.
“I don’t think he's mundane.”
Kai shrugs.
“Maybe he’ll come back when you least expect and actually buy something.”
Kai swiftly moves on, losing interest in the conversation.
“Did you hear about that shopkeeper guy in Seoul who disappeared?”
Taehyun had. It wasn’t a shop like theirs but a regular gift shop close by. Family and friends had come forward on the news, asking the public if they had any information at all to contact police.
It was pretty random, Taehyun passed by it on the newsfeed that came through in his crystal ball.
“Yeah. Poor guy.”
“Name’s Byeon. Weird coincidence though. We just contacted a Byeon not even a week ago.”
Kai says that last part more to himself.
“Stranger things have happened around here.” Taehyun tells him, then he goes back to his reading material.
His crystal ball was his way into the spirit world. It told him everything he needed to know in both spiritual dimensions and mundane society.
It was just about time to close the shop.
Kai tells Taehyun he’ll see him later tonight and heads upstairs as Taehyun gets the last customer to leave finally, reminding him to activate the locks.
Taehyun does the usual routine of locking the doors like his grandfather showed him.
There was no way in or out, not even through a window after that. It falls deathly silently after the doors lock but something within stops him from turning around when he’s all done. He falls still for a few seconds, unsure of what this hot feeling is stealing over him. He looked down at his hand still on the door as his brows came together slowly. The hotness moves suddenly, right behind him and instinct kicks in immediately.
He turns around like a whip and draws his gun from his waistband, pointing it at the perpetrator. A man with his hands up now stands before him, dressed down in a black cloak with a hood over his head.
“Whoa!” He yips in English. “Don’t shoot me!”
“Who the hell are you and what are you doing here?!” Taehyun demands in English as well.
His gaze was fixed on the back of Taehyun's hand.
On the protective sigil inked there. Thin lines etched into his skin in a quiet constellation. A containment mark. A boundary. Protection against being flooded by other people's emotions, memories, and grief.
It was his way to shield himself in a city loud with spirits.
The guy pulls his hood down slightly so Taehyun can see more of his face and puts his hands up again. His eyes were wide with fear, but they burned bright as if giving off their own light. He’s wearing a tiger’s eye pendant, giving off the same light in his eyes.
Recognition instantly dawns on Taehyun.
“It’s you…!” Taehyun keeps his pistol aimed right at his head but his guard lowers a bit now.
It’s dreamy stranger guy who never buys anything.
“I’m Beomgyu! I work for the League, I’m here for the séance!” He quickly supplies, in Korean this time.
Here for the séance?!
Beomgyu quickly takes out a document from his cloak to show Taehyun.
“Choi Beomgyu, OI.”
He’s an Occult Investigator. They are a governmental organisation that monitors and regulates paranormal activity without civilians finding out about it. So not mundane.
Taehyun finally lowers his weapon.
“This is the place right?”
Taehyun nods slowly.
“How’d you get in here?”
“I fell asleep in the back. I’ve been waiting for you to close.”
That explained a lot. But it still rubbed Taehyun the wrong way. He didn’t fancy being snuck up on.
“You’re late. The meeting started exactly at midnight.”
Taehyun puts his gun away finally, back in his waistband.
“Come with me.” He moves past Beomgyu, putting his paranoia away in another room temporarily. Beomgyu is still on edge when he speaks as he follows him.
“Sorry, it’s my first meeting.” Then under his breath murmurs, “Didn’t realise the door had a guard dog.”
That made Taehyun scoff through a smirk. Smart-mouth , he thought .
After leading Beomgyu through a secret stairwell, they made their way to his apartment where the meeting was currently taking place in the day room. He’s never interrupted before so he’s kind of nervous about entering the room without warning. But thankfully, they were just starting to gather around the table.
"Annyeonghaseyo." Taehyun murmurs as he enters the room. He motions for Beomgyu to go inside like he did for everyone else.
The whole room looks up in response, some smiling while others look indifferent. The de facto leader of the group stands, opening his arms in a warm welcome.
“ There’s our 7th.” He says. His name was Yeonjun, a 25-year-old spiritualist with a calm voice and vibrant aura. He gestures to an open seat next to him.
“We were waiting for you an extra 5 minutes to start Mr. Choi.”
That was unexpected. The League had strict rules. Taehyun figured punctuality was one of them. Nevertheless, Beomgyu sat down and Taehyun silently backed out of the room, letting them do their work.
When he came back to the shop, he checked the lock again, stood at the door and basically recreated the scene from a new perspective. How hadn’t he seen him? How annoying he was to get the drop on Taehyun that way.
The meetings only took about 20 minutes. By the time they were done, Taehyun had figured it out.
Behind the library was a stack of emergency werewolf hunting equipment stacked on the ground like a little cot. That must’ve been where Beomgyu rested. The mediums were all coming downstairs as Taehyun rearranged the area back to order.
You’d think they’d be discussing the messages they received and sent out into the world but they never did outside of that room.
No, they were discussing going to a rave happening next week in Itaewon.
“Be there or be square.” Kai smiled, dabbing up Yeonjun and the rest of the League as they exited the shop.
Taehyun did a head count. There were only 5 leaving.
“Where’s Beomgyu?”
“Oh, the little pendant on his necklace started glowing at the end. He had to answer it on our fire escape.”
Taehyun privately wondered if he’d be coming to the rave with the rest. He couldn’t get the intel from Kai, who couldn’t stop raving about another new member as they’re both leaning against the counter again like before.
“What’s his name?” Taehyun asks him as they’re waiting for Beomgyu.
“Soobin. Choi Soobin.” Kai beams. “He’s into really deep shit… like me, you know?”
“Oh and what’s that? Astrology, cryptids and stuffed animals?”
“No.” Kai says defensively. “The occult. Soobin’s been trying to get into the League for 5 years now. He’s like, really passionate about his mediumship. He told us his family has this long generational chain of it that he wants to live up to. His eyes light up when he talks about it, all brown and earnest. It’s fucking adorable Tyun.”
“That’s lovely Kai. Have you tried to ask him out yet?”
“I don’t even know if he likes guys yet.”
“Oh my God , why don’t you invite him to your birthday?”
“No way! I can’t just tell him to come to a gay bar, have some class. He barely even knows I exist yet and you want my first real impression to be that I’m a degenerate who spends my time gargling the balls of strangers?”
“But you are a degenerate who spends his time gargling balls…”
“Okay? That doesn’t mean I want Soobin to know that straight off the bat. I have to ease him into it.”
Taehyun couldn’t lie. That might be a good call. Kai was… a lot outside of being psychic. Kai’s whole aesthetic was black hoodies, crop circles under his eyes, eerie music, lots of static, subliminal messages and the mothman.
Don’t even get him started on the mothman. He was also a slut for Greek myth. A slut… in general .
“Yeah… easing into it is a good idea.” Taehyun ends up agreeing.
“Ease into what?” A new voice comes down the stairs in the form of Beomgyu.
He’s got his cloak up again but Taehyun can see his smile. He wonders how much of the conversation he heard.
He stops in front of them.
“I wanna know the tea.” He says. “What are we talking about?”
“Oh you know, ghosts and the like.” Kai quickly lies.
“Ghosts?” Beomgyu’s voice carries a heavy tone. “Yeah, I know about ghosts.”
Taehyun moves away from the subject. The last thing Kai needed was gossip swirling about him and his obsession with another member.
Taehyun shows Beomgyu the door.
“How about we focus on not hanging about past the drop of midnight next time.”
“If it means I won’t have my life on the line again, sure!”
As Beomgyu is leaving, Kai calls behind him.
“Don’t forget to stop by Evolve next week. Paranormal night. Whole gang’s gonna be there!”
Beomgyu looks back at them before leaving.
“Will you and your gun be there?”
Taehyun shrugs.
“Depends on the weather.”
“Then I’ll be there.” Beomgyu smiles again. Then he’s gone.
“Great.” Taehyun rolls his eyes back to Kai.
“Now I have to do double rounds in the shop for stowaways.”
As he and Kai both retreat to their apartment upstairs, Taehyun tells him about the alleged mundane man that turned out to be Beomgyu. About how he slept in the shop and made Taehyun whip out his piece.
“You know, you were right.” Kai says, going to his room.
“Something is strange about that guy. Even for a medium.”
When he’s in his room, Taehyun wonders about what Beomgyu said to the group to make Kai say that. He didn’t know shit about the guy and already, he didn’t like how the night went at all. He likes to be prepared, has to be in his line of work. So he requests a closer peek into Choi Beomgyu, IO through his crystal ball. He was clairvoyant.
The clear crystal swirls into a kaleidoscope of bright colours, first green then purple, blue and white, ending with gold and Beomgyu’s job description materialises.
Rookie paranormal investigator. 22-years-old. Specialised in ghosts and the little haunts. Been in the field 4 years. His record is pretty clean. Solved 8 cases of hauntings so far. One interesting thing is an article about an incident a year ago when Beomgyu found himself pursuing a class-5 poltergeist, accidentally activating a ghost portal from the outside, which should’ve killed any human that made contact. Yet he survived to tell about it.
So Beomgyu is kind of a badass. Taehyun finds himself staying up all night reading as much about him that was available. Before he knew it, the sun was coming up.
Kai trudged into the living room in his pyjamas at dawn, rubbing his eyes sleepily as he observed Taehyun still on the couch.
“Jesus. Have you been up all night?”
Taehyun nodded, eyes glued to his crystal ball.
He knew he should stop now, put this away before it became a fixation. But anything with ghosts fascinated him to the point of obsession. And it seemed Beomgyu was the same way.
He’d never opened a ghost portal before, let alone gone inside of one. He wanted to know what it was like. What Beomgyu saw and what he felt.
He put it all away for the time being, going to brunch with Kai who talked his ear off about the latest sighting of the mothman in the States. Kai wanted to take a trip to West Virginia and sight him for himself. Taehyun says what he always did.
“Your obsession is gonna get you yeeted into the 12th dimension.”
There was nothing more in the entire galaxy that Kai wanted. Except maybe to get to know Soobin more intimately. Like in a one-on-one setting.
In the week’s time it took for the rave to come around, Taehyun spent in the shop organising shelves and answering the phone for people calling about how to care for any artefacts they bought. There was a paranormal hotline for questions and concerns. One day, Taehyun got a call about a haunted old mirror he sold but there was no record of it ever being in the store so he had to go over to their house to investigate. It turned out to be a hoax.
It was an exhausting week as per usual. No interesting haunts. No news except for a missing botanist in Gangnam.
“I swear there’s a murderer in Seoul dude.” Kai says on another Friday, one week after they talked about the missing shopkeeper. They were in the shop again, waiting for the mediums to arrive.
Taehyun didn’t think the people were dying but he keeps that to himself.
“I doubt the cases are connected.”
“I don’t. We just contacted a botanist a week ago. Coincidence?”
“Yes. You see, in order to contact someone, they already have to be dead”
Kai smacks his lips but he can’t deny Taehyun’s logic.
“I suppose that’s a good point… but I’m still suspicious.”
Taehyun bops his head with a magazine playfully.
“Silly boy.”
The League starts to pour in, Soobin and Yeonjun, dressed in their usual black talking about some spooky doings at a Historical Society Museum in the neighbourhood of Hongdae.
“There were closing doors, lights turning on and off and this swaying chandelier. Not to mention the pipe smoke.”
Taehyun nods once when Yeonjun waves at him upon seeing each other.
“It’s just going to be 6 of us today so feel free to lockdown soon.” Yeonjun tells him. Taehyun does a count.
No Beomgyu sleeping in the library this time. Where was he?
Taehyun didn’t want to seem interested, so he didn’t question anyone about it. He could only hope he would show up to the rave.
One hour later, they were all on their way downtown to the club and Taehyun had only one thing on his mind. B E O M G Y U.
The club was bumping with electric music that felt like seeped into your veins. There was a disco ball, dancers shaking their tail feathers on platforms and fake paper ghosts hanging from the ceiling, staying true to form for the paranormal theme.
The group stayed together when they first entered the dark and sparkly room but Taehyun’s eyes were everywhere. He wanted to find the person he’d been stuck thinking about all week.
“What are you looking for?” Kai’s voice came from beside him, shouting over the loud beat that thumped against their rib cages.
“No one… nothing-”
“Why don’t you try to find a cutie to grind on?”
Taehyun nodded his head to the music and tried to relax but his heart was thumping wildly.
“Will do.”
They danced together in the club, until Kai shouts that he’s gonna order everyone a round of drinks. Soobin offers to help, going along with him. Taehyun gives him wiggly eyebrows as they pass by, which makes Kai blush.
Their presence here barely stirred a ripple. They had only been there 10 minutes and there was no sign of their 7th member yet. After a while, Taehyun lost himself to the music. He could feel something was coming, he just couldn't figure out what.
Like magic, the moment arrived when it happened. At the centre of the dance floor, the crowd parted as if Moses was coming through. And there stood Beomgyu, dancing the night away with some guy.
He didn’t have on his cloak this time but instead a sheer sparkly crop top and leather pants. So Taehyun could actually see his full face finally.
He had a crazy jawline and shaggy black hair with platinum blonde highlights throughout. And his eyes were bright and brown as ever.
He was beautiful.
The sight of him caused a wild feeling in Taehyun’s chest to blossom like a firework that wouldn’t fade. He needed to talk to him privately but this moment definitely wasn’t it. He was preoccupied.
It wasn’t until Kai came back with two shots of Soju that he realised he stopped moving.
“Hey, what’s wrong?” Kai asked him, concern all over his tone.
Kai followed his gaze and landed right on Beomgyu and his hot stranger, dancing and grinding like there was no tomorrow.
“Nothing.” Taehyun tore his eyes away, taking both shots to the head, making a sour face, then deciding he needed more alcohol.
When he looked at Kai, he seemed defeated in the face, like he’d just had all his dreams crushed.
“What happened with Soobin?” Taehyun asked immediately.
“Come with me to the bar.” He pulled Taehyun away with him.
When they get there, Kai orders them more drinks and Taehyun sneaks a glance back over at Beomgyu, grinding away.
“I’m hopeless!” Kai cries, bringing Taehyun’s attention back over to the Soobin problem.
“Don’t say that!”
“But it’s true. I’m hopeless, awkward and desperate for love and attention. I suck at this! All I know how to do is fuck it up.”
Kai puts his forehead down on the counter.
“He likes Yeonjun.” He tells Taehyun. “I can just feel it. Hyung is a massive boulder. I’m just a pebble.”
“Kai. Stop this! You’re not a pebble!”
As Taehyun is trying to talk Kai off his ledge, about two stools down Beomgyu approaches the bar and orders 4 shots, along with some anju. Taehyun tries not to let it distract him this time.
“Stop talking yourself down. No other boy is like you. Yeonjun may be cute and the leader and all but he’s not you. You could be a pebble thrown into an ocean of twinks but you’re an all-seeing psycho pebble. Maybe you can wait for time to turn the ripples you create into massive riptides or you can go show Soobin who the fuck you are right now. Dating isn’t easy. I wish I could tell you there’s some secret for how to do it or that it gets better but the bottomline is, none of that will matter if you don’t put yourself out there. I’ll never lie to you, Huening. So when I tell you it doesn’t get better, I don’t mean to discourage you from pursuing a real relationship with someone you genuinely like. Dating doesn’t get better. You get better.”
Kai sniffs and nods after lifting back upright.
“You’re right. I need to put myself out there. I’m gonna do it!”
“What are you gonna do?”
“I’m gonna dance with him.”
Kai turns to Taehyun then.
“And when are you gonna put yourself out there?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean with Beomgyu.”
A hazy feeling quickly dropped over his head, like the alcohol heard the conversation and decided to kick his ass at that moment.
“ What?” Taehyun wheezed.
“I saw how you were looking at him. And I saw your history in the crystal ball. I know you have a crush on him. You just like to bury your emotions even worse than I do.”
He didn’t know what to say. Instinct said to deny it but he couldn’t. His mind flashed back to Beomgyu grinding on that other guy and that feeling in his chest came back. It was jealousy.
Taehyun did have a crush.
“Listen,” Kai looked into the crowd again, over to where Beomgyu had gone back over to his friend on the dance floor with a few drinks.
“I’ll make my move if you do.”
“What do you expect me to do? Steal him away?”
“Exactly!” Kai shook Taehyun’s shoulders.
“Steal away!”
“I pointed a gun in the guy's face a week ago. Why would he want anything to do with me?”
“Something tells me you’ve got a pretty good shot. Trust me, I’m psychic. I know these things. And besides, like you told me. Stranger things have happened around here.”
Kai had a wide smile on his beautiful face, full of confidence.
“Go Kang Taehyun. We’ll both make ourselves proud.”
And with that being said, Kai makes his way over to the group again, where Soobin and Yeonjun and the rest of the League are dancing on the other side of the club. Taehyun sets his sights on Beomgyu and swallows Tells himself, what the hell, right? and goes for it.
He dances over, methodical, nervous but above all determined to make something out of nothing.
They were dancing back to front, the strangers back to Beomgyu’s front. So Taehyun joins them. Beomgyu makes eye contact with him instantly and his already smiling face gets even wider.
“Room for one more?” He tries to make it fun, like a threesome. And it works.
They let him seamlessly join their dancing, and it’s all good and well until the guy in the middle tells them he’s gotta take a whiz, leaving Beomgyu all to Taehyun.
“I’m surprised.” Beomgyu says, low in Taehyun’s ear.
“Why?” Taehyun replies. “Didn’t take me for too much of a dancer?”
“Well. It’s just… for a guy who tried to kill me, I didn’t think I had a chance.”
“Calm down, Trotsky. I just wanted to talk to you about something. Give me a break. You caught me off guard.”
“I’m dying to know what that could be. Get it? Dying. ”
“You’re not gonna let that go are you?”
Beomgyu shook his head no with a cute grin.
“I wanted to ask you something too.”
“Oh?”
Taehyun was listening.
“Did you really mean what you said to HueningKai?”
So he heard. Taehyun laughs and they both look over to the guys on the other side. Sure enough, Kai was indeed dancing with Soobin, looking exuberant. Taehyun looks back at Beomgyu.
“Not completely. Yeonjun is a boulder. And Kai’s a schmuck. I thought he would choke in 2 minutes. But at least he’s gone over and made an impression.”
“You’re a really good friend.”
“Thanks.”
“You must have a lot of experience.”
Taehyun laughs again, this time to himself.
“Is that funny?”
“I’m not mature enough to be experienced. Boys don’t like me and I don’t like them. I’d rather run across the beach into my own arms. Less drama.”
Beomgyu had a sweet laugh. It sounded like a jingle that tickles Taehyun into laughing as well.
“You never told me your name.”
He didn’t. That makes them both laugh even more.
“Kang Taehyun.”
“It’s very nice to meet you Taehyun. I’m gonna pretend like we met here, in the club.”
“Likewise.”
Beomgyu shakes his head with that smile again. It was a smile Taehyun was starting to wonder what it felt like against his own mouth. That thought sends a shiver down his spine.
Taehyun turned around so his back pressed against Beomgyu’s front and they danced the night away like there was no time left for anything else. That weighted feeling on Beomgyu felt 10 times as strong now.
Against his back, Taehyun felt a buzz. It was Beomgyu’s Tiger’s Eye.
“Oh, I gotta take this.” Beomgyu said, backing away. Taehyun nods, finding his own way back to the group.
He felt light in the head and heavy in his body. Something shifted just now.
Beomgyu left a trail of smoke from the fire he’d just so casually ignited in Taehyun’s body.
It was settled. Taehyun wasn’t resting until he fucked that guy tonight. It was definitely the alcohol thinking for him and he didn’t even care. He didn’t just want more of him.
He wanted everything he had.