Flamym matz fanfic ch1

A short boy with bright red hair entered the old witch's shop with a spring in his step and a big smile plastered on his face.
"Good morning, Missus Kim!"
The smell of herbs hit his nose quicker than usual and he scrunched it, trying not to sneeze in the witch's face.



"Hum! Almost nood, Hongjoong! What were you doing all this time?" The old Mrs Kim scolded and furrowed her eyebrows while resuming to do what she was doing before the young one almost came in with the door, which was gathering what she needed for today's potion. "Oh, no! What should I do? Hongjoong go to the witch's hut in the forest and fetch me slips of yew! Say that I need them immediately and I'll pay it back later. That witch is so weird. Tsk. Takes no monry for payment. Now go. And don't talk too much with the witch."



"Oh, wow, sounds like you don't like the little witch much, huh?" The boy giggled and grabbed the door handle again, ready to go but Mrs Kim had something else to say.



"That witch was exiled from human society for being too cruel. Don't let what you hear tempt you. And come back quickly, the customer will come to get their potion in 3 hours." At first Hongjoong thought what would be worse than his Mistress but now it was starting to scare him.



"Yes, yes." With that he opened the door and with his usual happy step made his way to the forest.
While walking he was thinking about the witch. Not Mrs Kim, not exactly.



'Mrs Kim goes to drink tea with the forest witch every now and then. They seem like best buddies. What does she mean to not believe what the witch says? That's dumb. I know enough from her stories about the witch that I shan't be scared of her.'
With that he plastered a cheesy smile on his face and entered the forest.



"The deeper you go, the closer you are. The deeper you go… The closer you are…" He remembered those words his Mistress once said about the witch's hut and just when he thought he was lost, Hongjoong saw a little hut… No, it was a very pretty cottage with a giant and pretty garden in the front. 'I see why that old witch would come here to drink tea every so often.'



Hongjoong stood in front of the gate and was pondering on how to go into the property without being a nuisance but just when he decided to yell the gate opened by itself widely as if inviting him in. He nodded a few times and quietly walked to the front door. Again, when he was about to knock on it a gentle voice called from inside. "You can come in."



Hongjoong was surprised for a second, expecting an old granny's voice, but what he heard instead was a low man's voice. The boy slowly opened the door and stood there, scanning the cottage with his eyes.
It was pretty small compared to Mrs Kim's house, full of drying herbs attached… basically everywhere, and very lovely and cozy furnishings.



"Greetings, young man." The witch giggled when the boy turned to him a little startled.



The witch was indeed a man. A very pretty one at it too. Hongjoong had never seen someone as beautiful and delicate as the forest witch. His black hair, almost too long for a guy, was parted at the side and a bit curly. One strand behind his ear, while on the other side, he just let it down, framing his face. If you judged him by appearance and clothes alone, you'd say he was not a witch but fae prince.



"Do not be scared. I am not in the mood to eat people these days." The witch giggled again to his own joke and motioned to the boy to come in. "What brings you here, young one?"



Hongjoong cautiously went further in and bowed to the other man. "Good day. My name is Hongjoong and Mrs Kim sent me."



The witch smiled widely and clapped his hands "Oh, I bet she forgot an ingredient or two for her potion!" He chuckled and stood up from his seat on a big, very fluffy looking armchair.



"Ah, yes, actually. She said she needed a few slips of yew. Do you have some by any chance?"



"Hmm. Yes, I do have indeed, but what would I receive in return?" Hongjoong didn't like the small smile forming on the witch's face. It not so scared him, as it just made him uncomfortable.
"Mrs Kim said she'll pay you back later."



The witch looked around his drawers and took out a little envelope. "Here, that's what you need. Though, I would much rather prefer the payment from you."



"Um.. Yes? How can I pay you back then?"
Now that's when Hongjoong got scared. Realistically, the witch wouldn't want much from him, since it's just a few slips of yew but for some reason it really scared him, what would the witch want from him.



"You agreed much faster than I thought." The other guy smiled softly "Come over to drink tea with me. You see, I get pretty lonely out here. I could use some company. What do you think?"



After hearing that Hongjoong realized he'd been holding his breath and now felt like he could breathe again. "Yes. Yes. That sounds great! Then, I'll be back tomorrow?"



"Sounds perfect! Do you need help with getting back to the city?"



"No. Nope. I'm fine. I'll just retrace back my steps." He smiled nervously and put the paper envelope in his leather bag, that was hanging from one of his shoulders all the way down to his hips.



"Okay. Good luck with the old hag. Good bye and I will be waiting for you."



Hongjoong almost didn't hear that, since he was halfway out the door at this time. But he heard it. And it made him think.
'He called Mrs Kim a hag. Does that mean they're close enough to joke like that towards each other? Or do they actually hate each other?'
Whatever it was, didn't matter since he was already out of the forest and walking down the cobblestone path to the witch's shop.