Chapter Text
Soobin has made many mistakes in his life. There was the time he tripped on a mud pod in front of his primary school crush because he wanted to chase a frog. The time he obviously embarrassed himself in charms class by loudly admiring Kim Seokjin from afar, only for said boy approach him at the hallway two hours later and admitting he was a good boy but that he had a boyfriend and no intention of dating him. Of course, the time after that, literally two seconds of confessing he also found Kim Seokjin's boyfriend, Kim Namjoon, cute. To said man's face. While his boyfriend approached.
Nearly said Soobin has made plenty of these ground shattering, embarrassing mistakes but clearly this one topped all of them. By far.
"You took a what?" Kai decided to yell it at dinner, when everyone was gathered and looking at them. He politely nodded at everyone, smiling at some of their housemates. The Hufflepuff table, polite as always, and very much used to Kai's antics, ignored them.
"It was an honest mistake."
Kai looked at him with pleaded eyes. "Who was the first person you saw? Please, you have to tell me, I have to make fun of you for the rest of my days."
Soobin huffed. "Like I would tell you."
"I will beg. I will beg for it until you crave." Kai repeated, with focused eyes and Soobin just continued to eat his soup. "Soobin, as your best friend, you have to tell me."
"My best friend is Taehyun."
Kai faked a loud gasp, looking at the older with a perplexed expression. "How dare you say that? After everything we have been through? All these years? You break my heart Choi Soobin."
Soobin just reached for Kai's hand, holding it tightly before continue with dinner. "You have to understand this is pretty embarrassing."
"And as your best friend," He continued, accentuating in the word best friend. "I have to know so I can mock you for the rest of your life and use it a speech on your wedding!"
"I'm not going to get married."
"Okay good joke." Kai seemed to dropped the manner fairly quick after this but he knew better. He knew the boy wouldn't do it anytime soon and he shared a common house with him, he knew it was going to haunt him.
He liked to make a little fun of Kai, mostly because he was the only person in the school to know how to do it properly and that had no intention of hurting poor little Kai's feelings. They have been friends since Kai's first year (And Soobin's third) when he found the 11-year-old Hufflepuff cry in his common room because some kids made fun of his backpack. Soobin knew that, regardless of everything, there were still some wizards who believed in the pure blood heritage and made their personality trait making fun of kids who had contact with the muggle world.
At the time he didn't realize the consequences and the gravity of the situation when he helped Kai and made the kids apologize to the boy. 4 years later, and a very loud and happy Huening Kai following him around were proof enough that maybe that wasn't part of his many mistakes.
Something about Kai still intrigued him. There were moments, moments Soobin realized Kai hides from him, where he distances himself and keeps riddles from the other. He thought that after years of being friends and standing up for each other would break the walls the younger has built around himself (probably even had it all this time) but that hadn't happened yet. Soobin knew little about his home life, only that he had a younger sister who didn't study at Hogwarts and his dad was a wizard.
But that couldn't stop him from being friends with him. Being next to Kai everyday was an indescribable joy no one could replace.
The truth was that telling Kai a part of the story helped him release a bit of the anxiety he has been sensing towards the whole situation. To be truthful, he didn't expect to get to that point, to even fall for that ever in his life but of course he should've expected it.
It all started when he met Kang Taehyun.
Kang Taehyun was just a Ravenclaw kid he helped in his first year. He had big round eyes and a big nose but he was so cute. His staring was unbelievably longing and somewhat scary but Soobin say through him, he always saw through people. Kai called it a flaw, he called it an appeal.
Not long after that he became friends with the kid. It was odd to begin with being constantly teased for hanging out with the first year Ravenclaw kid but that one proved himself to be more mature than everyone he has met in his last years. Slowly Kai started to get along with the other boy too and their little group was formed.
The bond with Taehyun strengthen even more after another one of Soobin's incredible disasterous events.
More on that later.
The one disaster that led him to the situation he was facing right now was much worst.
A few days prior, he received a letter from a very familiar owl. It read:
Dear Soobinnie,
I need your skills
Meet me at front of the Hufflepuff common room at midnight tomorrow.
Yours truly,
Taehyun
Soobin was having breakfast this time around. He looked to the Ravenclaw table to find Taehyun looking at him with sharp eyes. He pointed at him and smiled, indicating that yes, he had sent that letter. Then he looked at Kai and pointed his finger to his neck, an attempt to scare the other. Kai just rose his eyebrows and threw him a middle finger.
"Language Kai!"
"I didn't even say anything!" Kai replied but the mischievous smile said otherwise.
He couldn't stop thinking about it all day and the next day. Taehyun has always been one to break the rules, no doubt about that. Soobin, on the other hand, had a record of keeping himself on the clear side of the Hogwarts castle and its teachers. Last year he became the person who gave most points to his house, even managing to earn Hufflepuff the first place in house cup.
Kai called it luck. He knew Soobin defied the rules more often than admitted, especially with the amount of time they both spend with Taehyun: it was either breaking into each other common rooms, wandering around the castle at night, sneaking into the forbidden forest, being in the kitchens together and many more. Taehyun was a curious kid by nature, Kai didn't know how to say no to people and Soobin was prone to disaster. Maybe that's why their little group got along so well.
Somewhat two years ago, another student started to get along with them in their adventures. Soobin knew Taehyun was bound to have friends outside of them as the boy was quite popular for his incredible wit and smarts. And he was okay with it for the most part. But he should've known that Choi Beomgyu would be a problem to him, and maybe, to some extent, this whole embarrassing situation only happened because of Taehyun's connections with Beomgyu and his associates.
Back to the day of the infamous incident, Soobin stood in front of the Hufflepuff common room. Although inside it had been warm, lit up by the fireplace that was always running, outside was cold and dark, to be expected from the dungeon location of the common room. He heard a few steps coming from the side and when he looked carefully he saw Taehyun's blue robes coming into view.
"Hi." The boy whispered, taking Soobin's hand and guiding him through the hallways of the castle.
"We have to be careful with Miss Norris." Soobin whispered back when they started to walk even further from the common room and into the stairs.
"Already got rid of that inconvenience."
Soobin's eyes broadened. "Did you do something to Miss Noris?"
"Who do you think I am? I just saw both of them sleeping in his office and locked the door."
They kept walking in direction of the empty classrooms on the second floor, Soobin seemingly more nervous than the other boy. He kept looking back, afraid someone might have followed them.
"Tae, where are you taking me?"
They entered an empty classroom where Soobin could see another boy sat next to a small cauldron, reading a book, while a bunch of other books flew next to him and a quill wrote on a parchment paper as the boy talked. Soobin has met many experienced charms masters but he had never seen something as imperturbable as that.
"That's Beomgyu. He is helping me."
Said boy lifted his head and waved. Recalling the incident that happened, he should've stayed quiet, possibly kick him out of that room.
"So, Binnie… you're a seventh year." Taehyun started, mixing the potion in the cauldron a bit and smiling at himself. "And you take advanced potions since last year so I expect you to know what this little fella is. If you don't, then I failed." He finished dramatically, earning a smile from the boy sat on the ground.
"First I have to know what's happening with charm boy over there."
Beomgyu just spoke without taking his eyes off the book. "I am studying."
"At midnight in an empty classroom with Taehyun?"
"He needed company." He just shrugged. Taehyun and Soobin locked eyes in that moment and he could see a faint tinted red on the Ravenclaw's cheeks. Interesting.
Soobin started to walk to the caldron spot where Taehyun was still stirring the mixture. He looked inside and noticed a sheen pearl potion color, some spiraling steam coming out of it. Soobin locked eyes with Taehyun again, not believing what he was seeing. The confirmation that this option was indeed what he expected to be was the strawberry shampoo smell that came out of it.
"You boiled amortentia?" Soobin asked incredulous. Taehyun cheered loud.
"Did you hear that Gyu? I did it!"
The other boy snorted.
"Taehyun… why did you boiled amortentia?" Soobin asked, his eyes still wide. He would recognize that potion everywhere, he remembers making it last year in his advanced potions class and remembers the mess that was when someone stole a small portion of it and tried to use it with their crush. "Did you do it for him?" He whispered the last part, pointing his head at Beomgyu.
"He doesn't need to boil that potion to get me." Beomgyu said, looking still completely focused on his work. Taehyun blushed and hit the Hufflepuff on the arm.
"Someone said it would pay me good grand for it…"
"And you did it? Taehyun! That's so irresponsible!" Soobin started, getting heated up.
"...And that's why I said no. I still wanted to know if I could successfully boil it though and I am glad I did. Look at that, doesn't it look amazing?"
Soobin sent him a dead state. "So… you did this for your ego?"
Taehyun started pouring the potion into some thermos bottles and Soobin even managed to hide a smile. Taehyun was a Muggle born child, so he always managed to mix their devices in the magic world. He could find it endearing even if he was a bit startled by how badly this could've turned out.
"C'mon aren't you even a little impressed he managed to do it so perfectly? Some people in your year can barely boil one." Beomgyu started, his books back to normal on the ground as he started to help Taehyun store the potion safely.
Soobin sat in the chair next to the table where the thermos bottles rested. He was getting sleepy and it didn't help that he had Divination class first thing in the morning tomorrow.
"Hey Tae, do you have any water to drink here?" Soobin yelled, trying to reach the other two boys that were in the back of the classroom.
"Hm... I think the blue thermos has some tea."
Tea, fantastic. Soobin thought, grabbing the blue thermos next to him and drinking a bit. Before he could finish drinking, the door to the classroom opened and a boy shyly entered the classroom.
"Beom? Are you here?" He whispered, straightening has he noticed the boy sat at the table. Beomgyu waved at him from the front of the classroom and he stepped inside, still confused as why Choi Soobin was sitting in the table in front of him.
"Hi." He started. He has known Choi Soobin for years, even if he hasn’t pay much attention to the boy, if he was being honest. He knew he was friends with Taehyun, the big-eyed boy Beomgyu was hanging out with so he quickly pieced it together.
The boy seemed to be looking at him strangely. His eyes were all dilated and wide, and he looked at Yeonjun like he was the most precious thing he has ever seen.
"Are you...okay?" He tentatively asked, not expecting his night to end like this when Beomgyu asked him to come pick him up at one of the empty classrooms in the second floor.
"Have you always been this pretty?" Soobin asked, getting up and standing in front of Yeonjun. The latter immediately blushed, taken aback from the comment shot so suddenly. He quirked his eyebrows, trying to form a coherent sentence in his head but all that came out of his mouth was:
"Eh?"
Soobin kept the distance despite his whole body seemingly leaning towards the Slytherin. He looked at him like he was analyzing his soul, smiling a bit when he noticed the pajamas bottoms Yeonjun was wearing. He wasn't expecting anyone else but Beomgyu today.
"You look so adorable." Soobin said, smiling slightly and Yeonjun hadn't pay attention to this boy before but now he couldn't not too. He knew a lot of people on the school has crushes on him, both girls and boys, but he never had someone being this direct (and cute) about it.
"Hey, have you met Soobin right? You guys are from the same year. He is friends with Taehyun." Beomgyu said, while the two boys approached them. Taehyun bowed slightly to him, acknowledging his presence.
"I... have. He's acting different today though." Yeonjun said nervously, as the other boy still stared at him.
"Hey Binnie we can go now." Taehyun said, his arms full with thermos bottles. "Help me carry these."
"I don't wanna…." Soobin whined, pouting slightly and earning a surprised look from his Ravenclaw friend. "I want to hang with Yeonjunnie! He is so pretty!"
Beomgyu and Taehyun traded a worried look.
"What's happening?" Yeonjun asked, suddenly sensing a shift in the attitude.
"Soobin, did you drink from this thermos?" Beomgyu asked, grabbing a small thermos from Taehyun's arms and holding frantically in front of him.
"Yes, that tea was really good." Soobin asked, looking at Yeonjun from the corner of his eye and blinking slowly at him.
"Oh, dear Merlin he drank the amortentia…" Taehyun started.
"And Yeonjun was the first person he saw." Beomgyu finished, both of them looking at Yeonjun with widespread eyes.