Chapter Text
There's always that awkward split second, when Taehyung unconsciously reaches for the inner pocket of his jacket where he'd normally keep his wand and pauses when he remember it's not there. Minho and Seungchan don't bat an eye though— Taehyung has always been an odd one— and he sheepishly runs back to the park bench where he'd left his sunglasses.
He never brings his wand out with him when he's out for a normal day with friends. On an ordinary August day in Busan, there's no need for magic, even if he might have to run a few extra feet instead of using a Summoning Spell. Especially not when all they have planned is to hunt down the new coffee shop that supposedly opened by that Seungchan's not-a-crush works at and waste time.
"Bro, you know the names of Jieun's three dogs and who her favorite member of Big Bang is— you even have her number!"
"That doesn't mean anything. I could tell you those same things about Taehyung!"
"I feel blessed that you put me on the same level as her. Does that mean you wanna hold my hand and sing me cheesy acoustic songs too?" Taehyung chimes in, as Seungchan sputters.
On an ordinary August day in Busan, Taehyung relishes in being a part of the teenage rabble. He's just another nameless kid, a bit stir-crazy from the humidity— not Taehyung, recent graduate of Hogwarts Seoul; not Taehyung, unemployed ex-healer who realized four months in how psychologically draining it was to work in hospitals all day; not Taehyung, who looks at Seoul skyscrapers and sometimes wouldn't mind them swallowing him up. Whenever he comes back home though, it's like the stress melts away with the tourist-filled beaches and blazing sun. Busan streets always feel the same whenever Taehyung comes back, even if they don't look it. The movie theater to his left is recognizable, but he doesn't really remember whether the cosmetic store plastered with idol faces at the corner is new or not. It doesn't really matter. Busan dialect swirls around him and Taehyung feels himself grinning at everything and nothing.
A small crowd streams out of the theater— a movie probably just ended, Taehyung thinks— joining the throngs of passersby ahead. With the crowd is a guy with a snapback and familiar face that catches Taehyung's attention as he turns around. It's hard to forget the face of the Seeker who had narrowly plucked the Snitch out of Mark's closing fingers during the Hufflepuff-Slytherin match last year and won Slytherin the Quidditch Cup. He doesn't quite have a name for the face yet, but he runs forward anyway and taps his shoulder. After all, it's pretty rare to run into another Hogwarts kid in the wild, in Busan no less.
"Hi.. Jonghyun? Jeongmin?"
"Do I know you?" The guy stares at him coldly, like Taehyung's turned his arms into a couple tentacles, which he doesn't think he's done accidentally again since he left his wand at home.
"I'm Kim Taehyung. I was in your Care for Magical Creatures class? Hufflepuff keeper?" The guy's expression is still stuff and impassive, and Taehyung falters just a bit under his gaze. "I also just graduated last year, so it's understandable if you don't recognize me."
An awkward silence grows between them, and Taehyung begins to plot various ways he can escape in case his memory is worse than he thought.
"Jeongguk. Jeon Jeongguk.You almost crashed your broom into the goal twice in that final game."
Jeongguk's voice is disdainful, like anyone else would be better to talk to than Taehyung. Granted, it's not like Jeongguk's wrong. The adrenaline and pressure in the last half of the game had made him overeager, but he did save both quaffles from making it past the goal. Up-close, Jeongguk's a lot taller than he looked from across the Quidditch pitch. He's also good-looking enough to justify the legions of first-year fangirls after winning the Cup, Taehyung supposes, but his face could do with much fewer glare-induced wrinkles.
"Anyway, I just figured I'd say hello to a fellow Busan kid, since there aren't many of us, and all." Taehyung says. He laughs awkwardly, running his fingers through his hair. "I didn't really expect to see you out here actually! Aren't you from a wizarding family?"
"I don't see how that's any of your business." If looks could kill, Taehyung wouldn't have to worry about Floo-ing back to Seoul.
I was just trying to make conversation, Taehyung replies scathingly in his mind, but suit yourself. I know where I'm not wanted.
Thankfully, Minho and Seungchan catch up just then and Taehyung finds enough charitable Hufflepuff goodness in him to wish Jeongguk a good term in school and let him know how he's oh-so-sorry to cut their meeting short, but he's actually out with friends— friends like Jeongguk might have if he was capable of having a better attitude— and how Hufflepuff will crush Slytherin so hard this year that not even Jeongguk catching the snitch will be enough to save them. Okay, maybe he only actually said the first part of all, but he hopes the rest was implied in his tone. The guy could benefit from being taken down a couple notches. For all the fawning over how impressive and attractive the star Slytherin seeker was last year, Jeongguk is duly unimpressed.
"Who was that?" Seungchan asks, as he fumbles through a map app on his phone.
"Just a kid from school. No one important."