Work Text:
A magical potion to help you get out of bed.
They should make something like that.
Maybe Taehyun should pitch the idea to his supervisor.
Taehyun groans at the familiar ripples tone as his alarm continues to ring. Snoozing for the fourth time would be overkill; he’s surprised Yeonjun hasn’t barged into his room yet to complain. He decides to close his eyes for three more seconds before reaching over to grab his phone on his nightstand to turn off his morning alarm. He always thought it was so sneaky how the snooze button is bigger and more colorful than the stop button.
Yawning and stretching his limbs, Taehyun rolls out of bed and into the kitchen. He opens the fridge and considers taking one of the energy potion shots he and Yeonjun have stocked up to help wake him up but ultimately decides against it. These things are pricey, and it’s not like Taehyun has any important plans this weekend. He should wake up the old-fashioned way. Coffee it is.
His roommate would probably want a morning coffee too. Taehyun walks over to Yeonjun’s room to ask if he would like him to make him a cup of coffee. When he reaches the door, he’s surprised to find no sight of Yeonjun in bed or in his room at all. Maybe he had some errands to run this morning.
Taehyun turns on the Keurig and makes a hazelnut latte for himself.
Once he adds a splash of creamer, he brings his coffee mug to the counter, sifting through the mail that Yeonjun probably brought in earlier. Bills, his credit card statement, and a new Costco savings booklet for the month. Taehyun obviously ignores everything in favor of checking out what Costco items will go on sale soon.
He flips through the pages as he sips his latte, his eyes landing and lingering on the box of 32-ct brownies that will be a whole two dollars off soon. The picture of the brownies looks so sweet and delectable, he can almost smell them-
A waft of cocoa catches his attention. Taehyun blinks, his brow furrowing in confusion at the sudden scent of chocolate in the room. Wait, how is that possible? He stares at the picture of the brownies in his hand. Is there a spell cast into the paper where the viewer can smell the contents of the photo? He didn’t realize such a magical spell had been developed yet. Costco is really pouring money into that research for their marketing. That’s incredible-
Taehyun catches sight of a tray of brownies on the counter three feet away from him.
Duh. He mentally slaps himself. It’s too early in the morning for this.
Yeonjun probably brought these brownies home from who knows where. Possibly from a work party. His roommate for sure didn’t bake them this morning, as Yeonjun and baking do not go hand in hand. He probably would’ve ended up baking a burnt rock if he attempted making brownies from scratch. Either way, it’s perfect timing just as Taehyun was craving something sweet.
He unwraps the saran wrap from the tray and takes a brownie, biting into it. The second he tastes it on his tongue, Taehyun melts in complete satisfaction. The brownies are rich and have an intense chocolate flavor, slightly bittersweet and decadent with the fudge and abundance of chocolate chips. Surprisingly, it’s not too sweet or overwhelming - the perfect amount of sweetness to satisfy his sweet tooth. And most importantly, the brownies are fudgy, not cakey. Taehyun has never been a fan of cakey brownies, which are dry, crumbly, and just plain sad. Just eat a regular chocolate cake at that point. The more gooey the brownie, the better. To the point where it’s almost underbaked.
He finishes the brownie and licks his lips. These are definitely homemade. They’re better than any other homemade brownies he’s ever had, and a hundred times better than any brownie box mix, even the Ghirardelli triple chocolate brownie mix, which is saying a lot. Taehyun goes for a second brownie and hums in contentment at the perfect flavor and texture.
He needs to marry the person who made these brownies.
Or at least ask for the recipe. Once Yeonjun gets back, he’ll ask who baked these and propose so he can have these brownies for a lifetime.
As if summoned by Taehyun’s thoughts, the front door opens, signaling his roommate’s arrival home. Taehyun leans over to watch as Yeonjun comes bustling in with a gym bag hanging off his shoulder and a water bottle and keys balanced in each hand.
He drops them both when his eyes land on Taehyun sitting at the counter with the evidently open tray of brownies. The older stands stuck in place, his water bottle now rolling far away and his eyes looking between Taehyun and the baked treats.
“Taehyun,” Yeonjun’s eyes are as wide as saucers. “Don’t tell me you just ate those brownies.”
“Yeah?” Taehyun tilts his head and answers, squinting at Yeonjun’s sudden panicked expression. The older rushes over to grab the tray of brownies, counting and staring at the two missing brownies wide-eyed. His reaction is starting to weird him out. He frowns, “Why? Were these for an occasion?”
“Fuck,” Yeonjun curses, looking up. “These were supposed to be for Soobin!”
“Oh,” Taehyun blinks. It’s a good thing he stopped himself after the second one then when he totally could’ve gone for more. Yeonjun is lucky he came home early. “My bad, I’m sorry-”
“They were laced with love potion!” Yeonjun cries out.
Taehyun freezes and sits still on the barstool as his roommate begins pacing the floor.
First of all.
Why does Yeonjun need to give his boyfriend a love potion?
Second of all.
Where the fuck did he get a love potion?!
“Love potion?!” Taehyun’s voice comes out high-pitched in disbelief when it all finally catches up to him. “Why do you have a love potion?!”
“Okay, okay,” Yeonjun stops to explain himself once he notices Taehyun’s pointed glare and impending wrath. “It’s not like an actual love potion; it’s more like a love...confession potion. Or maybe a love initiation potion? Either way, it’s not as bad as you think.” He says as if that makes the situation any better.
“Yeonjun,” Taehyun hisses. “That’s illegal.” Love potions and any magical potions involved in the manipulation of love have been outlawed by the Magical Ethics Council since the 80s. The first semblance of a love potion was created in the 30s, and it took fifty years for people to recognize how unethical its use was.
“It’s okay,” Yeonjun defends, acting way too casual and nonchalant about why he brought home love potion-laced brownies. “It’s not for anything serious. Soobin and I just wanted to try something new.”
Taehyun is speechless. The situation is literally law-breaking, and his roommate is here telling him not to worry because it’s apparently not that “serious.” Yeonjun has always been more carefree and adventurous between the two of them, willing to break some rules to try out new things. It got them into some really stupid situations back in their university days, but Taehyun can look back and cherish the memories made.
But this is a whole other level.
He sighs and rubs his temples, stress starting to build up underneath. He doesn’t even want to ask what the couple wanted to try. “Where did you get this love...confession or initiation or whatever potion?” There’s no approved love potion being sold legally in the market, so Yeonjun must’ve secured the potion through other means. If Taehyun dies from ingesting a poorly made love potion from a sketchy source, he’s coming back as a ghost to haunt Yeonjun for the rest of his life.
“I asked Beomgyu to make it for me.”
“Beomgyu?” Taehyun furrows his brows. He wasn’t expecting to hear a Beomgyu be brought up in the conversation. It feels childish to say, but Choi Beomgyu, his one and only academic rival since their university days? The two competed for the highest scores in their classes, the best internships, and job positions after they both graduated summa cum laude as potion-making majors. The last one ended up as a draw after they both got offered a position at the biggest and most prestigious potions manufacturing company in Seoul.
Yes, they’re now both senior potion scientists and coworkers in the same research department.
Taehyun is actually offended that his best friend went to ask his rival to make a love potion when he is just as capable of figuring out a formula. “You asked him?” He asks, insulted. “Why didn’t you ask me?”
Yeonjun raises a skeptical eyebrow. “Would you have agreed if I asked you to make me a love potion?”
“No.”
“Exactly.” Yeonjun snaps back. “He even baked the potion into brownies for me instead of just giving it in a vial.” He glances at the tray with the missing two brownies and grins. “He’s an amazing baker. I specifically requested the brownies though, after I had them at that work holiday party you invited me to last year. Good, aren’t they?”
The best he’s ever had. It had him seeing wedding bells. How embarrassing in hindsight now that he knows it was Beomgyu who made them.
Taehyun groans and buries his head in his hands. “So good I considered getting hitched,” he mumbles and reluctantly admits.
Yeonjun laughs. “Wouldn’t say I’d be surprised. I saw it coming-”
His roommate cackles as Taehyun leans over to slap him on the shoulder. The three of them went to the same university, but Yeonjun didn’t get to witness them both at their most competitive selves. Yeonjun was in a different major after all - magical engineering, and is now working at some fancy engineering company innovating cool new models of flying brooms and carpets.
Potion making is one of the most competitive majors to get into across all magical universities. One mistake in mixing a potion could have dire effects, so universities are selective in who they admit. The study of potions focuses on precision and accuracy and requires the utmost attention and knowledge of chemistry. Competition within the major was naturally built in with scores being publicly posted to encourage students to achieve a high standard. Beomgyu has been his rival ever since Taehyun learned of his existence, when his name and score were above his for their first exam in Transformation Organic Chemistry their second year. Until then, Taehyun had always been first. But everything changed once Choi Beomgyu became a recurring character in his life.
And now they’re unspokenly competing for a spot to present their research at the next wizarding conference their company is attending. Taehyun has been researching and developing new sleep potions. For the past couple of months, he’s been trying to create a breakthrough potion that can fit four to six sleep cycles in the timeframe of one. Basically, a sleep potion that allows the user to have a full “good night’s sleep” in 90 minutes. Beomgyu’s research is in nutrition. That’s really all Taehyun knows.
“So what exactly is this potion, and what does it do?” Taehyun is resigned to his fate and decides to get down to business. He ate the brownie and is now subjected to its effects. He deserves to know what he got himself into, even though he’s not exactly sure he wants to hear what Yeonjun and Soobin had planned. He can’t believe he’s now involved in this criminal affair. Those brownies just had to be too damn irresistible.
“Well, you know Soobin and I have been dating for half a year now and how he’s super shy.” Yeonjun begins by giving context. “So we thought a magical potion might help him get over some of his shyness and be more forward in our relationship.”
“Go on.”
“So I asked Beomgyu to make a potion that removes inhibitions when it comes to romantic feelings and desires, if you know what I mean.” Yeonjun grins and wriggles his eyebrows, “To spice some things up.”
“Okay, ew.” Taehyun makes a face. He knew it. He doesn’t want to hear what this couple had planned.
His roommate bursts out in laughter after seeing his scandalized expression. “What I mean is, if we were out on a date and Soobin wanted to hold my hand, normally he would be too shy to do it. But with the potion, it would make him hold my hand when he wanted it.”
Not bad. Taehyun can see how that could be useful.
But Yeonjun winks and continues, “But yeah, I also mean that too.”
“Stop right there-”
“A potion helping Soobin initiate his thoughts and wants towards me,” Yeonjun begins fanning himself, eyes dreamy, and starting to get lost in some fantasy. “God, the new things I would learn about him when we take it to bed-”
“That’s enough. I get it.” Taehyun interrupts before he might need to burn his ears off.
So it doesn’t manipulate people into feelings of love; it just helps people to better express their feelings and desires towards those they already have romantic interest in. He understands why Yeonjun was trying to describe it as a love confession or initiation potion earlier. If they get caught, they can argue that this is not a love potion but a variation of a truth potion.
Yeonjun laughs. “So I would avoid your crush if I were you, unless you want to jump his bones.”
“I guess it’s fine then,” Taehyun sighs, a bit relieved. It seems like the love potion may not have a large effect on him after all. That’s the best outcome. “Since I really don’t have someone like that.”
The older chuckles, “Such a shame, I would leave Soobin in an instant if you confessed to me-” The moment he realizes what he had just said, Yeonjun’s eyes widen, and he slaps a hand over his mouth.
Taehyun’s jaw drops, mirroring Yeonjun’s expression of shock. Even as a joke, Yeonjun would never say that.
“I would never say that!” Yeonjun confirms his exact thoughts and panics. “I have no idea where that came from! Taehyun, I would never date you!”
Pause.
“But I would consider it- wHAT THE FUCK?!” Yeonjun catches himself, looking horrified at his own words.
“What the fuck?” Taehyun repeats, not sure how to process Yeonjun’s sudden confession and declaration. A sinking feeling settles in his stomach at what might be happening here. “Is there something you need to tell me?” He purses his lips, feeling sick. “And Soobin?”
“No!” Yeonjun shrieks, looking mortified and completely lost. “Taehyun, if you think I had a secret crush on you this entire time, you’re out of your mind!”
“Then why are you saying you would consider dating me?!”
“Because I’m in love with you!”
They stare at each other in shocked silence.
Yeonjun immediately turns around and begins pacing the living room again with his hands gripping his hair in distress. “IloveSoobinIloveSoobinIloveSoobin,” he starts chanting, “IloveSoobinIloveSoobinI’mdesperatelyinlovewithTaehyun-” and screams.
“I...” Taehyun doesn’t know how to react or what to think. This is totally out of character for Yeonjun. He gasps, “Wait, is it the potion?” Did the potion make it so people around him lose their inhibitions around him versus the other way around? If so, then Beomgyu switched up the target of the potion when he created the formula. A potion with an internal target would affect the person who ingested the potion, as opposed to an external target where the potion would affect those around the person. But even so, that would mean Yeonjun had a crush on Taehyun all along. Which he claims he doesn’t.
Yeonjun stops pacing at the reminder of the love potion, eyes lighting up and grasping onto any possible explanation. “It has to be! But why-”
The sound of keys outside their front door shifts their attention, both turning to see Yeonjun’s boyfriend open the door with the key Yeonjun gave him a month ago.
Yeonjun probably invited Soobin over today for those damn brownies.
“Hi, guys,” Soobin greets them and smiles warmly, naive and innocent. He walks in with takeout in hand - lunch for Yeonjun after the older most likely complained he was starving after his morning gym session. Soobin places the large brown paper bag on the counter, right by the tray of brownies that is the origin of today’s problems.
Taehyun doesn’t know what to do or say, the situation between him and Yeonjun so fucking bizarre. He glances over at his roommate.
Who looks like he’s debating running into his room and hiding before he says something stupid that would ruin his and Soobin’s relationship forever.
“Oh!” Soobin’s eyes light up in recognition. “Are these the brownies Beomgyu made-”
“Soobin, I’m breaking up with you for Taehyun,” Yeonjun blurts out.
Soobin’s expression drops. A painful silence stretches between all of them. “What?”
Taehyun dies, and his ghost watches in horror. Yeonjun pales and looks seconds away from death himself.
This all feels like a fever dream.
Soobin looks between them, eyes wide in shock and betrayal. Those eyes then begin to water as he makes eye contact with Yeonjun. “You can’t break up with me for Taehyun,” his bottom lip wobbles as he tries to hold back his tears. “Because I’m in love with Taehyun.”
What.
Okay, now Taehyun is completely lost.
“What?!” Yeonjun regains life and voices out loud.
Soobin snaps out of it and gasps, his hands flailing wildly in front of him, “I have no idea why I just said that! That’s not even true!”
“My god, you too?!”
Taehyun watches as the couple both confess their love for him, become mortified with themselves, then confess and reassure their love for each other, only to confess their love to him all over again. A weird cycle to watch, but helpful for Taehyun to slowly start connecting the dots. Yeonjun and Soobin, who have never shown romantic interest in him, are now saying that they love him seemingly out of their own will. Conveniently, right after Taehyun ate brownies baked with a newly made potion.
It all clicks in his head.
Choi fucking Beomgyu.
That fool actually managed to create a real, full-fledged love potion.
***
“You messed up.” Taehyun deadpans. “You just created the most illegal magic potion ever.”
Because creating a potion where one person falls in love with you is bad enough, but creating a potion where everyone falls in love with you? Jail time.
“Ugh, I know.” Beomgyu buries his head in his hands. “But you have to admit, I didn’t have much to go off on.”
Ever since love potions have been banned, all information about their chemistry and how to make them has been removed from the public. It is considered forbidden magic. There are no records available on their formula. Any research about the creation of love potions has been removed from textbooks, the internet, and all magical articles archived.
So truly, Beomgyu had to start from scratch to create a potion involving love and romance.
“I can’t believe I accidentally created a love potion with an unlimited external target.” Beomgyu looks up, a little bit in awe at the outcome of his potion. “That’s actually kind of impressive.”
“No, it isn’t,” Taehyun snaps, “Because it wasn’t your intention.” If Beomgyu had the goal to create a legitimate love potion, then Taehyun would be impressed. But all he did was fail to achieve his actual magic goals, and this was the result of an unfortunate slip-up.
“Geez.” Beomgyu rolls his eyes. “Who put a stick up your ass?”
“Maybe because everyone is in love with me and won’t leave me the fuck alone.” Taehyun glares back. “Because of your botched love potion.”
It’s only been day one, and Taehyun has already had enough. After he told Yeonjun and Soobin about his inkling that Beomgyu messed up the potion, the couple cried tears of joy that they both weren’t betraying each other. His roommate then gave him Beomgyu’s contact, and Taehyun decided to march over to the latter’s house to get this all sorted out as quickly as possible. Since his car is currently at the auto shop, Taehyun decided to use public transportation.
Which in hindsight, was the worst idea ever. It really gave him a sense of the magnitude of Beomgyu’s potion because everyone and their mother couldn’t keep their eyes off him. Taehyun almost felt like some sort of celebrity or an irresistible Adonis. It was fucking inconvenient - tons of people coming up to him to ask for his number and ask him out. He had lines of strangers forming, taking turns to confess to him. Honestly, it was a hazard in such a public area.
He got off the train after one stop to escape the chaos and called for an Uber instead. The driver flirted with him the entire way, the most uncomfortable rideshare experience of Taehyun’s entire life. And when he got out onto Beomgyu’s street, he had to run to the other’s door because strangers on the street began following him.
Everyone who sees him falls in love.
But the first thing Taehyun notices when he enters Beomgyu’s house is that Beomgyu is not in love with him.
He’s acting the same as he’s always been. Maybe the potion doesn’t affect him because he was the one that made it, Taehyun reasons. Good, if his rival was suddenly giving him heart eyes like everyone else, it might make him sick.
And though they’re not exactly friends, Taehyun can’t help but be relieved that he can have a conversation with someone normally without them declaring their undying love and devotion to him, even if it’s Choi Beomgyu.
Taehyun shakes his head in annoyance at his current predicament, “What’s the duration of the potion?” Maybe he could ride it out.
“Each dose has a one-week duration.” Beomgyu answers. “I measured it so that one brownie would equal one dose.”
He ate two brownies. That means two weeks for the effects of the potion to wear off. What kind of potion was Yeonjun commissioning Beomgyu to make? A one-week duration is powerful stuff; the majority of potions on the market have a standard effectiveness of one day.
“I think.” Beomgyu adds on.
Taehyun furrows his brows. “What do you mean you think?”
“Well, I did think I was making a potion that lowers love inhibitions,” Beomgyu explains matter-of-factly. “But as you can see, my calculations were off. So, I don’t really know and can’t exactly predict the properties of this one.”
“Fuck, are you kidding me?” Taehyun curses and runs a hand through his hair. That’s not good news. That means the effects of the potion could last more than a week, a month, or possibly even forever if Beomgyu fucked up that bad. They just don’t know anything about this potion. The uncertainty of the situation is starting to get to him, nervousness making its way into his body.
As if sensing his unease, Beomgyu softens and frowns. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for this to happen. I don’t know what went wrong.” He shakes his head in disappointment, his tone displaying guilt he can’t hide. “I would’ve never given Yeonjun the potion if I wasn’t sure.”
“Show me what you have,” Taehyun says. He wants to see for himself what ingredients went into the love potion so he can assure himself that he’s not going to die from the magical crime Beomgyu made. He glances at Beomgyu, who looks conflicted. Taehyun knows that look well; it’s a feeling he experiences all the time when dealing with his own potion projects. He’s probably beating himself up for his mistake, which, granted, is a pretty serious one. But Beomgyu didn’t have malicious intent, so Taehyun can let it slide. This one time at least. “And don’t worry. Unexpected results happen; I get it. That’s what experimenting is all about. It’s a part of magical science, right?”
Beomgyu blinks. He purses his lips and a small, reassured smile begins to tug at the corners. “I should’ve done more trials, but I guess the model I used wasn’t a good one.” He motions for Taehyun to follow him down a hallway, “I’ll show you my work.”
“So I was your first human trial.” Taehyun points out, trailing after Beomgyu.
Beomgyu opens a door at the end of the hallway and motions him inside.
When he steps into the room and realizes what it is, his jaw drops. The dude has a whole lab setup in his home. “Wow,” Taehyun gasps. Against the side of the wall by the door is a long benchtop with cabinets overhead containing brewing supplies. Sitting on the bench, Taehyun spots a centrifuge, hotplate, vortexer, and other basic brewing equipment. On the other side of the room is a fume hood and two cold storage units. And the wall with the window has floor-to-ceiling metal shelves with all the room temperature chemicals all neatly organized. Taehyun stares in awe. “Are you insane? Why do you have your own lab?”
“To run my illegal potions business, obviously.”
He sends Beomgyu a nasty side eye as the other laughs at his own joke. He looks around the space again and slowly steps closer to get a better look, amazed. “How can you afford all this?”
“We make the same salary, you should know.” Beomgyu snorts.
They started at the company at the same time, so they better have the same salary. If Beomgyu makes more than him, that’s going to be a problem, and Taehyun would have to set up a meeting with his supervisor pronto when they return to work on Monday.
Beomgyu pulls out one of the drawers of the bench, rummaging through it. “In my late twenties, single, no kids, and no more student loans,” he laughs jokingly, “more money for my hobbies.”
Taehyun doesn’t know why he’s so surprised at hearing Beomgyu’s single status. The other has always been popular, from what he noticed when they were in university. Even at work, Beomgyu is charming and well-liked by those around him. A smart, handsome, and successful young man.
On second thought, maybe it’s not all that surprising. Taehyun is also a smart, handsome, and successful young man, and he’s single. “Your hobby is magical science?” Taehyun glances at the thousands of dollars worth of chemicals arranged by the window. “Nerd.” He’s fantasized about having his own lab before, but that’s beside the point.
Beomgyu finds what he’s looking for and hands Taehyun a spiral lab notebook. He takes it and scans it. Beomgyu’s handwriting is nice and neat with small letters with a mix of cursive. Taehyun flips through the many pages of Beomgyu’s process. The potion has ingredients similar to a truth potion. There’s also the same chemistry in the potion that makes a person drunk. Lower inhibitions. Smart. Taehyun has to admit, it’s impressive. Beomgyu’s approach to creating the potion Yeonjun had envisioned is logical and strategic. He always knew the other’s abilities and would expect no less from his rival. “I think you used too much rosehip and red rose essence.” Taehyun points to a page in the notebook where Beomgyu was trying to figure out the formula for the love component.
Beomgyu hums, thinking. “I used a red rose essence because of its effects in displaying profound feelings and wants.” He leans to read over Taehyun’s shoulder. They’re close, faces almost touching. Taehyun doesn’t know why he’s so aware of it, identifying the other’s cologne that he didn’t notice earlier. Versace. Beomgyu should learn about personal space. “Do you think maybe red or pink carnation oil would’ve been better?” Beomgyu backs away and follows up with.
“Carnation could give fascination,” Taehyun replies. That’s the difficult thing about brewing potions. Sometimes certain components can result in different effects depending on how they react with the rest of the mixture. It’s a lot of trial and error and knowing how different chemical structures bond. “I would try red tulip powder. Studies have shown its connection to passion and declaration of love.”
He closes the notebook and hands it back to Beomgyu. “You’re essentially trying to make a truth potion that only targets a person's romantic truths. That’s tricky.”
Beomgyu takes his notebook back, flipping through the pages himself. His brows are furrowed as he looks back at his notes, in deep thought. “Hey,” he starts, eyes flickering up and landing on Taehyun. “Why don’t we work together?”
“What?” Taehyun squints at the suggestion. He didn’t expect Beomgyu to ask for his help. “Me?”
Beomgyu returns the notebook to the drawer where he found it earlier. He leans against the benchtop and lifts a brow. “Yeah, why not? You’re the smartest guy I know.”
He’s heard that plenty of times, but hearing it from Beomgyu is different. They’ve always been competing for the highest marks, so of course they are aware of each other’s skills and abilities. But hearing Beomgyu’s acknowledgement out loud and to his face, it feels like a win and prize of recognition. Especially because Beomgyu’s the smartest guy Taehyun knows too. But he’s not going to tell him that. “At least you think so.” Taehyun coughs, trying not to be affected by the flattery, and lifts an eyebrow back. “Yeonjun should’ve come to me first anyway.”
He’s never met up with Beomgyu outside of school or work. They’ve never crossed that line into their personal lives. And now he’s at Beomgyu’s place, in his freaking home lab, just the two of them. Beomgyu, in comfy sweats and a hoodie instead of the usual business casual attire that Taehyun has grown accustomed to at work.
He guesses he should start getting used to it.
“Okay,” Taehyun accepts and agrees. “It would be more productive if we worked together.” He can't deny that he’s now intrigued by Yeonjun’s potion request, a competitive spark igniting in him now that he knows that his rival wasn’t able to achieve it alone. Taehyun wants to give it his own shot.
Beomgyu grins, “Guess we’re partners then.”
Partners. “Guess so.” Taehyun nods, adjusting to the idea of them combining their intelligence for once. He never would’ve thought he would ever be collaborating with his rival. And all it took was his stupid roommate wanting to try something “new” with his boyfriend to “spice things up.” He narrows his eyes at the reminder, “If Yeonjun is paying you, I deserve a cut. And why did you accept his impossible task anyway?”
Beomgyu looks off to the side and shrugs. “Scientific magical curiosity, I guess. And I enjoy the challenge.”
That’s it? He took on this potion request for mere magical exploration? That sounds fucking pretentious. Does he not get that same satisfaction from his research projects at work? Scientific magical inquiry is literally built into their jobs.
“So, back to the current problem with the love potion.” Beomgyu changes the subject and brings them back to what Taehyun was initially here for. “Do you want to try to ride it out? Or should I try to make an antidote?”
An antidote is just another potion made to reverse the effects, and although it’s not as hard as creating a whole new independent potion, it is still difficult to figure out and make. “No need.” Taehyun eventually decides. He doubts Beomgyu can make it fast enough anyway. It would just be a waste of resources.
Two weeks. Taehyun will have to grit his teeth and deal with everyone falling in love with him for another thirteen days. He can do it.
His resolution falters when he remembers there’s no guarantee that the messed-up potion’s effects will be gone in two weeks.
Once again, Yeonjun should’ve asked the better potion maker first.
***
“Make the fucking antidote, I can’t live like this anymore.”
It’s been two weeks, and the effects have not worn off. And Taehyun is not going to wait to find out when it does. He’s going to strangle Beomgyu for giving him hope and thinking he could ride out the duration of this incredibly fucked-up love potion he made.
The past two weeks have been pure hell. No one has been able to leave him alone, be it coworkers, friends, or random passerbyers. Taehyun swore he almost caused over fifty car accidents from people on the road not being able to take their eyes off him. He can’t take it anymore, from the constant flirting attempts to the cheesy confessions. If Heeseung from the IT department emails him another poorly written love poem, he’s going to crash out.
“It really didn’t wear off today?” Beomgyu frowns, closing the door behind him after letting him into his place.
“Didn’t you see what happened at work today?” Taehyun scoffs. Yunseo from HR tried to kiss him smack on the lips. How ridiculous. Who is he supposed to report this inappropriate action to? Yunseo, the head of HR herself? “If you don’t create an antidote soon, I’m going to ask for a 25% raise at work. I don’t think our boss can deny me,” he threatens as he slips off his shoes and throws his jacket on one of the chairs in Beomgyu’s kitchen.
If Taehyun has to live with this love potion for the rest of his life, he’s going to start becoming evil and taking advantage of everyone’s feelings and affection towards him.
“Okay, but before I give you the antidote, can you ask them to give me a raise too?” Beomgyu laughs, mischievous. He gestures towards the fridge in the kitchen, “Do you want something to drink?”
“Just water is fine,” Taehyun easily answers, leaning against the island counter and watching Beomgyu cross the kitchen to grab him a water bottle.
For the past two weeks, he has been coming over to work on the potion with Beomgyu every day. After work, Taehyun would go home, change into something more comfortable, and have dinner before heading over to the other’s place. He and Yeonjun have worked out a schedule to avoid running into each other as much as possible at home. Even though Taehyun knows it’s due to the love potion, it still felt weird seeing his best friend make heart eyes at him. Yeonjun agreed and felt uncomfortable because he already has a boyfriend he’s 100% devoted to.
His roommate also stated that Taehyun didn’t deserve his amazing “rizz.” Taehyun really wonders how Yeonjun bagged someone as charming and nice as Soobin, judging from the questionable pickup lines he’s heard these past two weeks.
“Thanks,” he says when Beomgyu hands him a cold plastic water bottle. They both make their way towards the lab. It's become their routine.
When they enter the lab, they both throw on their lab coats, safety glasses, and gloves because lab safety is always important, even when you’re doing magical science at home for fun. Taehyun can’t believe he’s really doing this on his own time outside of work and academia.
Beomgyu takes a seat on one of the lab stools at the bench and groans. “I have to figure out how to make an antidote and Yeonjun’s potion? If the stress doesn’t kill me within two weeks, please do the honor.”
“Gladly.” Taehyun pulls out the stool to Beomgyu’s right. It’s become their unspoken spot at the lab bench. He doubted Beomgyu’s ability to make an antidote within fourteen days before, but now he’s expecting nothing less. Having people fall at his feet for two more weeks will drive him crazy. “I’m giving you two weeks before I commit murder.”
“You don’t want me to sleep, do you?”
“And whose fault is that? I haven’t had a single moment of peace since your illegal love potion brownies.” Taehyun reminds, taking out his lab notebook from a drawer he now claimed in Beomgyu’s lab.
“Right.” Beomgyu rolls his eyes after hearing it for the hundredth time. Taehyun doesn’t let him forget it.
Taehyun flips through the pages of his notebook, looking at all the scribbles and notes he’s made these last two weeks. They have made some progress on Yeonjun’s potion. Not considerable progress; they’re still quite far away from their goal, but enough to have created a potion with an internal target rather than an unlimited external target.
Beomgyu has secured a bunch of mures to use as their model for trials. After it was discovered that mice and fruit flies weren’t ideal models for studying magic, the Magical Ethics Council approved of a new magically engineered creature, mures, for research. Mures models have led to many breakthrough discoveries within the last decade as they are more genetically similar to humans. They resemble mice but are more freaky and gremlin-looking in Taehyun’s opinion.
The most recent potion that he and Beomgyu developed causes the user to fall in love with everyone they see. The mures that they injected the potion into started displaying increased affection behaviors to other mures in its colony. All of them. Even to those where it didn’t show affection before. That’s the next problem they have to tackle.
“Mures B has chosen Mures E as its potential mate,” Beomgyu notes, referring to the Mures Colony 3 they’ve been observing. “It’s displaying all the mating and affection behaviors.”
Taehyun nods and peers into one of the other small bins with the creatures. “And Mures A with B in Colony 4,” he reports, writing down all the observable behavior in his notebook.
Mures A initiates mating rituals with Mures B. Courtship displays: grooming behavior to maintain appearance in the presence of Mures B, presenting gifts, close proximity to Mures B in comparison to other mures in the colony, chasing, and vocalizations.
“And it looks like Mures B is engaging back with A.” Taehyun hums. He jots down on the page Mures B accepting the food delivery and flowers from Mures A, and the vocalizations used to signal receptivity in courting.
“No way,” Beomgyu gasps and comes closer to see Taehyun’s view of Colony 4. Mures A has been courting B for the last few days, longer than typical court times. “That fucker, he finally did it.”
“Yeah, it’s nice.” Taehyun admits. Mures A was a persistent bastard, bringing and presenting food to its potential mate for days.
Beomgyu smirks, nudging him for attention. “Are we shipping Frankenstein mice?”
Taehyun rolls his eyes and continues taking notes, ignoring Beomgyu laughing.
“We can’t mess up our next potion trial; B is going to be devastated when A starts courting other Mures.” Beomgyu jokes.
There are better reasons why they shouldn’t have another failed potion trial than avoiding causing drama in their Mures Colony 4. They have been observing six colonies of the model creatures for their trials ever since they started collaborating on creating Yeonjun’s potion. Taking note of mate pairs, which are monogamous, and administering potion to see its effects.
The logic and approach are quite simple: establish which mures were courting through observable courtship displays, inject one of the mures with the potion, and see if the mures increases its courting behavior with only its mate.
It sounds so easy. So simple.
But somehow they keep on accidentally making love potions.
“It should be concerning how easy love potions are to brew,” Taehyun mutters, flipping past the page of their latest formula, which turned out to be a bust, and onto a fresh blank page. “How do we keep on making potions where the Mures fall in love with everyone?”
“It’s because we’re still basing everything off of my original formula, and I figured out the secret to a love potion,” Beomgyu states proudly. “and babe, that shit was not easy; it took me forever to get to this point.”
Taehyun raises an eyebrow at the pet name. His rival looks smug at his discovery, as if it wasn’t a total fluke. Taehyun squints, “How did you mess up so badly with Yeonjun’s potion in the first place? It’s unlike you to make a mistake like that.”
Beomgyu’s eyes widen before they begin to crinkle at the corners. A pleased expression forming on his face. “Didn’t know you were paying that close attention to me.”
This guy is insufferable. It’s been two weeks since they’ve been working together, and Taehyun still doesn’t know what to make of it when Beomgyu gets this way. Challenging, almost. Teasing. Taehyun coughs, feeling his cheeks starting to warm as if he’s been caught. But it’s normal; how could he not notice the one other person that has been keeping up with him? “It’s usual to keep tabs on your peers.”
Beomgyu tilts his head, eye contact unwavering. “Is it?”
Isn’t it? Taehyun realizes he doesn’t remember who ever came in third or fourth in scores back in their university days. Well, whatever. Must’ve been no threat. “Stop trying to change the subject,” he retorts. “You can’t get out of explaining this one.”
“Damn, it was worth a try.” Beomgyu snorts and swivels back in his chair. He leans back and crosses his arms. “I’m not really sure what happened. Like I mentioned before, it could be the model I used. I used pretty young mures to test the potion on. It did give me the result I was looking for; the injected mures increased its courting displays with its chosen mate.”
The estrous cycle of the mures is definitely an important factor in studying the effects of magic and potions on reproductive functions. Age is linked with the cycle, so Taehyun can see how it could affect the results of this specific potion they’re trying to create.
“My other guess is,” Beomogyu continues, his brow furrowing in thought and reflection. “is that the potion I created wasn’t stable. While it did give the desired effect when I first injected the mures, over time the components could have interacted differently and changed composition to give a different potion effect.”
The thing about mixing potions is that it could be dynamic. A potion with low stability could be a completely different potion within 48 hours. It doesn’t happen often, only with complicated mixtures, but it is potentially dangerous if not caught before human trials. “Ugh,” Taehyun groans, placing a hand on his forehead from the impending stress of figuring out this stupid potion tonight. “Why are we in this line of work?”
“Gotta say, the pay and status are a great incentive.”
“You’re lucky I didn’t die or something,” Taehyun narrows his eyes. “You should’ve done more trials.”
“I know, I know.” Beomgyu waves a hand, ignoring him glaring daggers. “I’m making my amends now.”
It’s 11:00PM when they finish brewing a new batch of potion. It was a frustrating couple of hours trying to identify the weak points in their latest potion and figuring out how to solve it. Their point of focus right now is the love component of the potion, trying to limit it so the user doesn’t fall in love with new people (dangerous love potion territory). Taehyun’s lab notebook is now filled with new pages of calculations, trying to figure out the right ratio with less rose in the mixture and increasing rooibos berry.
He places the 50mL conical tube with their new potion in the minus 20 freezer to store for the night. Tomorrow he and Beomgyu will administer the potion to the mures with selected mates in Colony 2.
Taehyun takes off his gloves and throws them in the trash bin by the freezers and begins taking off his lab coat, expecting Beomgyu to do the same. He stops when he sees the other sitting at the bench still working.
Weird. They’re finished for the day. Beomgyu has never stayed and done extra work after Taehyun leaves.
Taehyun frowns and walks over, peering over Beomgyu’s shoulder. “Aren’t we done? What else are you working on?”
“The antidote,” Beomgyu answers, a concentrated look on his face as he studies the page in his notebook with the original messed-up potion’s formula and taps his pen on the tabletop.
“Wait, you’re working on that now?” Taehyun blinks and glances at his watch, “It’s late.”
“When else did you expect me to work on it?” Beomgyu breaks away from his mental calculations and laughs lightly. “And you gave me a deadline, didn’t you? Can’t have Heeseung hitting on you for two more weeks.”
Taehyun didn’t think about that, when the other would find the time to work on the antidote in addition to working on Yeonjun’s potion. He also didn’t think Beomgyu would take him seriously about the deadline. Maybe he still feels guilty for inconveniencing him by making him the object of everyone’s affection.
It’s Monday and they have work tomorrow. Taehyun frowns at Beongyu’s possible schedule for the next couple of weeks: 8-hour work shift, work on Yeonjun’s potion, work on the antidote, sleep, repeat. Even if Beomgyu is a nerd who apparently enjoys doing magical science in his free time and is completely capable of doing so, this is too much. “But isn’t that a lot? Don’t overwork yourself.”
Beomgyu smiles and places a hand on his chest. “Awww, are you concerned about me? Do you actually care, Kang Taehyun? That’s so cute.”
Taehyun feels himself heating up again. Probably out of annoyance. “Shut up, I’m just saying that you’re not gonna have time to do anything else.”
His rival shrugs, “What can I do about it? If we want to finish everything in a timely manner, I don’t really have a choice.”
That’s true. Taehyun can’t argue with that. He purses his lips, still not liking the idea of Beomgyu staying up late every night trying to make the antidote in time. He should be thrilled; the quicker the antidote is made, the quicker he can escape this hell of everyone being in love with him. But he’s not such a monster to let his coworker stress out and lose sleep over it. Even though this was all his fault in the first place. “How about this?” he begins. “I work on Yeonjun’s potion, and you focus on the antidote.”
Beomgyu furrows his brows. “We were supposed to figure out Yeonjun’s potion together.”
“I know,” Taehyun replies, trying to make his case. “But this would probably be a better use of our time. If I need anything, I can still consult with you, and you can ask me for input on the antidote too.”
The other takes a minute to mull over it and consider the suggestion. Taehyun understands Beomgyu’s possible conflict of feeling like he’s dropping out of Yeonjun’s potion project. But he eventually nods and tilts his head, sending him a shit-eating grin. “Sure. And that does make me feel good, seeing you ask me for help.”
“Shut up,” Taehyun rolls his eyes. “You’re the one who asked me for help first.”
***
The new project arrangement works out smoothly. As usual, Taehyun comes over to Beomgyu’s place after dinner at home; they spend a couple of hours in the lab and then wrap up the day around the same time. Working alongside each other in the same space on different projects, it almost feels like an extension of work.
“This kind of feels like we’re doing overtime,” Taehyun mentions while measuring elderflower powder out on the scale. He transfers the 50mg of powder into a 5ml tube and begins agitating it with tonic water.
Beomgyu hums in response, focusing on pipetting and measuring the 50% glycerol with a pipette controller. “Probably not as interesting as your sleep research, huh?”
Taehyun didn’t expect his own research to be brought up in the conversation. Although they are in the same research department and use the same lab area, there’s not much overlap in their day-to-day work. Each research team works independently on their own projects. Taehyun wasn’t even sure Beomgyu knew what he was researching to develop. The implication of Beomgyu paying attention to him and his research is making him more shy than he thought. “Not so bad,” he responds, trying to sound casual. “Truth potions are always interesting to work with.” The typical, classic truth potion is one of the first ones they had to learn how to brew in university. The fun part is all the different variations that could be created.
Taehyun glances to his left, at Beomgyu using the vortexer to mix his liquid sample. He always knew Beomgyu was handsome, from the first time he put a name to a face in university. The name who ranked above him on that second exam in their shared class. When Taehyun saw who Choi Beomgyu was, he was surprised he didn’t notice him in lecture sooner. He was slightly taller than Taehyun, with a small face with delicate features that held large, bright eyes. A black shoulder-length wolf cut, with soft, wispy ends. He was handsome in a pretty way. Now, Beomgyu’s hair is much shorter, his face less round and soft compared to years ago.
Smart and good-looking. The only one able to match Taehyun’s level in all aspects. He needs to ask Yeonjun who he thinks is more handsome after Beomgyu finishes the antidote.
“How does this compare to your own research at work?” Taehyun coughs and brings up, phrasing it in a way that doesn’t reveal that he has no idea what Beomgyu actually does.
Beomgyu places a tube in the centrifuge. “It’s refreshing in a way, doing something different and outside of my area of expertise.” He chuckles and raises an eyebrow. “Do you even know what my research is on?”
Ah, caught. “Something relating to nutrition.”
“Ouch,” Beomgyu dramatically pretends to be shot in the heart. “After all this time.”
Taehyun actually does feel a little bad for not knowing. What was Beomgyu’s thesis in university? What is he currently developing at their company? But how would he know all that unless he asked Beomgyu or the people around him directly? He wonders how Beomgyu knows what he’s been up to. It's not too far-fetched to think Beomgyu has overheard conversations amongst their coworkers.
“Well, you’re right about it being related to nutrition,” Beomgyu confirms and easily moves on. “I’m researching and trying to develop a potion that alters the taste of food. Or more specifically, to make the taste more mild.”
Taehyun can’t lie and say he’s not intrigued. He can’t believe it's the first he’s heard of his rival’s project.
“It’s for the picky eaters. Good for parents to get their kids to eat their vegetables. And for adults trying to get used to new foods.” Beomgyu explains the application and target demographic. “Also just helpful in general to help people eat things with an unpleasant taste. For example, helping children take medicine that tastes bad.”
“That’s pretty interesting.” Taehyun can see the demand and use of the magic potion. It’s practical. “How did you get into this?”
“Let’s just say I was a difficult child.” Beomgyu says, stopping and taking the tube out of the centrifuge. He shrugs, “And I’m quite the picky eater myself.”
“Oh, really?” Taehyun leans towards the other. He didn’t know Beomgyu was the type to pick onions and green peppers out of his food. “What kind of foods don’t you like to eat?”
“I’d rather fucking die than eat raw tomato.”
***
They continue to fall into an easy, predictable routine. Every day after work, researching and running experiments side by side. The progress and results of the experiments, however, are not as predictable and easy.
“I think...” Taehyun stares at the mures in Colony 5 mating. It’s been going on for quite a while now. “I think I accidentally made an aphrodisiac.”
Beomgyu peers over, sees the behavior he’s been observing, and nods. “Let’s just give Yeonjun this. Close enough.”
“No.”
“Would he complain-
“No.”
“Exactly, I think it’s fin-”
“Beomgyu, I mean no.”
***
“Taehyun, quick question.”
“Hm?” Taehyun finishes his pipetting and looks up at Beomgyu.
“Would you rather have everyone in love with you or everyone hate you?”
“What kind of question is that?”
Beomgyu motions him over to Colony 1. Taehyun stands up and looks into the bin of mures. All the mures are playing and chasing each other, except for one that is clearly isolated and ignored.
“Um, I think I made an ‘everyone hates you’ potion,” Beomgyu clears his throat. “So yeah, if you’re tired of everyone being in love with you, we can take care of that right now. In a very extreme way.”
“Just when I started using my powers for evil?” Taehyun has discovered that every single cafe and restaurant he goes to offers him free drinks and food on the house. The barista at the coffee shop by their company today gave him a caramel frappuccino for free and with extra whipped cream. He’d rather have that than have the barista spit into his drink after he takes this stupid new potion that makes everyone hate him. “Hell no.”
***
“You’re out of it today. Bad day?”
Taehyun sighs, burying his head in his hands in frustration. Nothing has been working out for him today. The results in his experiment at work didn’t show what he and his team had expected. They ran their sample under the fragment analyzer, and the resulting graph looked horrible. And he hasn’t been able to figure out the latest problem in his formula for Yeonjun’s potion. The mures have only been mating like crazy with its mate and not showing any other typical affectionate behaviors. They might have to deal with a bunch of baby mures in the next month. It feels like he’s hit a plateau in progress.
“Take a break,” Beomgyu says, standing by him.
That would throw their whole timeline off. He can’t after they’ve been working so hard every night. “It’s okay, I-”
“Hey,” Beomgyu cuts him off, stern but oddly gentle. “There’s no deadline for Yeonjun’s potion. He and Soobin can wait. I’m sure they understand that this potion is not something that can be created overnight.”
Taehyun tries hard not to let it get to him, disappointment filling up every crevice of his mind. He feels lacking, not quite there. Yeonjun always said he had a habit of beating himself up too much when they were in school. He closes his eyes and lets out a tense exhale. “I know. I just wished everything worked.”
“Why don’t we call it a day?” Beomgyu takes off his gloves. “We can order food and just chill?”
Taehyun could just go home. He’s already had dinner before coming over and could just fall into bed to rest. But something in him tells him to agree. “Yeah, sounds good.”
***
Taehyun begins staying longer to hang out. There’s something so nice and calming about spending time at Beomgyu’s place; Taehyun knows it’s because he’s the only one not affected by the love potion. Work has been awful. Too many people at their company, meaning too many people trying to shoot their shot with him. He’s never been more glad to see Beomgyu at work, a breath of fresh air compared to everyone’s suffocating affection and attention.
And being at home with Yeonjun has been chaotic. They’re kind of used to the dynamic now, less mortified than before, but it’s still an odd feeling. His roommate has forbidden him and Soobin from seeing each other because he’s easily jealous. Seeing your boyfriend being attracted to your best friend is “not hot” according to a whiny and pouty Yeonjun.
Before, Taehyun would go home first, but now he just goes with Beomgyu to his place right after work to have dinner together. After he told Beomgyu about the free food he gets from staff flirting, the other wanted in. It’s become Taehyun’s job to secure them both free takeout.
But his conscience can only take advantage of other people’s love for him so many times.
Beomgyu not only can bake but can cook too. “Husband material,” he smirked and bragged.
Taehyun’s competitive side didn’t let that slide and also offered to cook some nights. It somehow led to a cooking competition. Taehyun has to admit, Beomgyu’s pasta is pretty good. But he has him beat in steak and garlic mashed potatoes.
***
“What movie do you want to watch?” Taehyun lounges on the couch in Beomgyu’s living room and uses the remote to click through Netflix. They wrapped up early tonight, and since it’s Friday, it’s okay to stay a little later with no work the next morning.
“Pull up Bratz: The Movie,” Beomgyu calls out from the kitchen. He reappears with sodas and a pack of gummies in hand.
“Bratz?”
“Or The Cheetah Girls 2, that’s the best one.” Beomgyu plops down beside him and hands him a can of ginger ale. “I want to visit Barcelona just so I can live out my dreams and recreate ‘Strut.’”
Taehyun wants to visit whatever field Troy Bolton was in when he was dealing with his inner conflict in High School Musical 2 and recreate ‘Bet On It,’ but that’s just him. He goes with Beomgyu’s questionable first choice for the movie and selects the Bratz title.
They're halfway through what Taehyun considers the worst movie he’s ever seen in his life when the doorbell rings.
“Ah, my friend Hueningkai,” Beomgyu shoots up like he forgot, “He was gonna drop something off.”
Taehyun grabs the remote and pauses the god awful movie, watching Beomgyu walk to the entryway to open the front door. Maybe he should use the opportunity to change the movie before the other gets a say.
He sees Beomgyu letting in his friend, both heading and standing in the kitchen. His friend, Hueningkai, is holding a tote bag and hands it over to Beomgyu.
“I went to my mom’s house the other day and she told me to give you some banchan that she made,” he laughs, big and bright. “She made way too much; it’ll last you forever. She even made the green onion kimchi you like.”
“Thanks, I love how I told her I liked her green onion kimchi once, and now she always makes you deliver some to me whenever she makes it.” Beomgyu takes the bag and begins taking out the tupperwares of banchan.
“Yeah, she’s been making it more often ever since you told her-” Hueningkai stops in his tracks, eyes widening when they make eye contact. Taehyun sends a little wave.
“Oh, damn. You..Y-you didn’t tell me your cool coworker was still here,” Hueningkai stutters, still staring at him with a flush slowly rising to his cheeks.
Beomgyu pauses in the middle of putting the banchan into the refrigerator.
Taehyun laughs, standing up and heading to the kitchen where they are. It’s a reaction he’s expected and been getting used to from strangers since the love potion. They always seem to be in awe of him. The look of love at first sight.
“Dude, why didn’t you introduce us?!” Hueningkai hisses towards Beomgyu. He blushes and extends a hand, “Hi, I’m Kai. And I think you’re the love of my life; can I have your number?” And begins waxing poetic about how Taehyun must’ve been blessed by the heavens and how the goddess Aphrodite can only stew in jealousy over his grace and beauty.
It’s way better than Heeseung’s love poems. Maybe Kai is a lyrical genius with the way he’s making these effortless rhymes. “Taehyun,” he answers, trying to conceal a smile because this guy’s metaphors are pretty clever. He just called him a cold glass of water at 2am.
“Okay, that’s enough,” Beomgyu scoffs and interrupts Kai in the middle of his line about how the chicken crossed the road because it saw Taehyun on the other side.
But his friend ignores him and continues his advances. Taehyun has never seen anyone else try to serenade him with Iyaz’s Replay before. And his singing is actually good. He was right; he knew Kai had to have some kind of music background.
Kai points at him with all the flair of some big-time artist pointing to someone special in a crowd. “Shawty’s like a melody in my head-”
“Okay, okay, what the fuck?” Beomgyu interrupts, looking horrified and disgusted by his friend’s choice of song. “I’m not even gonna - whatever, nevermind, Kai, thanks for the banchan. It was good to see you.” He initiates and hints that it’s time for him to go after dropping off what he came for.
“What? No, I didn't even get Taehyun’s number!” Hueningkai whines, devastated. “My love from the star, I'm crash landing on you-”
“Stop it. You’re bothering him.” Beomgyu hands him back the tote bag and leads him to the foyer.
“But I have found my muse!” Hueningkai dramatically calls out while putting on his shoes, trying to still take a peek at Taehyun from the front door. “Taehyun, thou art mine own muse. At which hour we shalt meeteth again, I shall present to thee a song based on thy charm to declare mine own loveth!”
“Why are you talking like that,” Beomgyu rolls his eyes. “English and theater double majors, I swear. I'll text you later,” he says, seeing his friend off.
“Why’d you kick him out?” Taehyun questions when Beomgyu returns to the living room, the two of them alone again. The house is now starkly quiet without Kai’s singing and Shakespearean love declarations. “He could’ve stayed to watch the bratz movie.” Poor guy came all the way here; might as well let him join them.
Beomgyu looks at him, “Did you like him being all over you? I thought you said you hated it.”
“It was entertaining; he was funny.” His range should be applauded. At one point, Hueningkai was quoting Twilight to win him over, and honestly, Taehyun was impressed. Hueningkai trying to hit on him wasn’t bad and annoying compared to other experiences. It’s much more uncomfortable being flirted with by people he knows and random strangers. “He’s your friend, isn't he?”
Beomgyu opens his mouth to speak, pauses, then closes it again. He breaks eye contact, looking off to the side, and mutters, “I just didn’t want to be reminded of my failed potion.”
He sees it every day at work. With all their coworkers in love with him. Taehyun wonders how this time is any different and why Beomgyu is having a problem with it now. Maybe because it’s Hueningkai, his close friend? Similar to Yeonjun, who didn’t like seeing Soobin give him heart eyes despite knowing it’s under the love potion’s influence.
A teasing smile spreads on Taehyun’s face. “Don’t tell me you’re jealous?”
Beomgyu’s jaw slightly drops, freezing like a deer in headlights. “I-I..No-”
“That Kai is all over me?” Taehyun continues to tease, enjoying the other’s reddening and flustered face. He’s never seen Beomgyu so caught off guard and tongue-tied before. “Instead of you?”
Taehyun laughs at Beomgyu’s completely shocked expression. That’s cute. He must like Kai a lot.
***
Beomgyu finishes the antidote first.
He holds the vial with the potion up like it’s the most valuable thing in the world and his greatest accomplishment. “My precious-”
“It took over two weeks,” Taehyun points out. In fact, it took nearly a damn month. It’s insane he had to deal with the love potion in his body for that long. Taehyun hasn't had a normal conversation and interaction with anyone besides Beomgyu in six weeks. A part of him is a little wounded that his rival finished before him, but the prospect of his current nightmare ending curbs all his competitiveness.
“Had to run many trials.” Beomgyu states and hands the potion over. He winks, “Gotta make sure my client is satisfied with the product.”
“This won’t kill me?” Taehyun takes the small plastic vial, the antidote a deep, dark red color. He holds it up in the light to inspect, the liquid swirling. “Or your secret plan to make everyone hate me?” There’s a promotion at work on the line.
“100% foolproof.” Beomgyu finger guns, puffing up his chest proudly. “I injected the mures with the love potion I initially made, then injected this bad boy, and all the interactions and behaviors turned back to how they were before.”
“Really-”
“I also did time trials to test the stability.”
Taehyun tries to hide his smile. He’s messing around - he knows how hard Beomgyu has worked these past weeks on formulating an antidote and how careful he’s been. “Well,” Taehyun uncaps the vial and pours it into a cup of water, “First human trial.” He lifts up the cup in a cheers gesture and drinks it. Even diluting it with water, the antidote tastes gross. Like nyquil medicine. He should've asked Beomgyu to bake the antidote into something sweet to make the experience more pleasant. “Your taste-minimizing potion would’ve been great for moments like these.” Taehyun makes a face from the slight bitterness and licorice medicinal taste. “That tasted bad.”
He sets the glass down on the kitchen counter. “Also, congrats on the conference.” Beomgyu was chosen to present his research at the wizarding conference their company is attending in Busan at the end of the month. It’s an amazing opportunity with many big magical companies in attendance and experts in the field.
Beomgyu smiles, a soft expression falling on his features. “Thanks.” His gaze travels down to the empty cup, then back up to Taehyun’s face. “So, how do you feel? Did the antidote work?”
Taehyun begins putting on his jacket and grabs his bag. He can’t tell with only Beomgyu around, the one person that wasn’t affected by the love potion. He slips on his shoes, almost excited to go out in public for the first time in what feels like forever. “We’ll see.”
When a stranger lets a door slam in his face, Taehyun knows all is right in the world again. He decided to stop by a cafe on the way home, and on the way there, some man with road rage sped past him to flip him off after Taehyun accidentally cut him off in traffic. It should be concerning how thrilled Taehyun was to be treated so rudely. But that only goes to show how fake and creepily nice everyone was to him these past few weeks.
It worked.
And when Taehyun gets home and Yeonjun doesn’t immediately use his bad pickup lines on him, he nearly cries with tears of joy. Thank god no more engineering pickup lines. He was scarred after the last one:
Hey baby, why don’t you come back to my place and see the exponential growth of my natural log?
They decided to never speak of that again. Not only is it a fucking bad line because they already live together, but in what world is using math references supposed to be sexy? Taehyun was tempted to call Soobin up to question what he saw in Yeonjun and if the latter was blackmailing him into a relationship, but Yeonjun begged him not to in order to save face.
“So, you’ve been going over to Beomgyu’s a lot lately, huh?” Yeonjun brings up, eating the chocolate croissant that Taehyun paid for at the cafe earlier. Taehyun has never felt more glad to support the local economy.
“Yeah,” he shrugs. He’s been over at his house five days a week.
“Finally realizing you have a crush on him?”
Taehyun spits out the mocha he was drinking. “W-what?” He splutters and wipes his mouth with the back of his sleeve, feeling the heat rise up to his cheeks. “Crush? I don’t have a crush on Beomgyu.”
“Please. You paid so much attention to him when we were in school.” His roommate rolls his eyes. “You’re obsessed with him.”
“He’s my rival,” Taehyun clarifies, feeling oddly defensive. They have always competed for first and second place in exams. There’s nothing more to it.
“No, you’re gay.” Yeonjun points an accusing finger at him. “He’s what? Your equivalent? Your partner? The one that pushes you to be better? Your motivation?”
Taehyun opens his mouth to defend himself, only to stop when he finds that he can’t exactly deny the accusations. Yeonjun’s not wrong. Beomgyu did motivate him and pushed him to do better academically. There was never anyone else. He always considered Beomgyu his match. Oh god, that does sound gay.
“Having a rival is naturally homoerotic.” Yeonjun presents like it’s common knowledge. He finishes the chocolate croissant, waving casually with his hand, “Literally everyone shipped you two together in university. When results were posted, everyone would be like, who would top this time? Taehyun or Beomgyu?”
Taehyun chokes. “T-top the list?”
“Yeah, sure.”
Taehyun is mortified, his face and ears now feeling like they’re on fire. He didn’t know everyone saw them that way.
Yeonjun crosses his arm. “How did you feel when Beomgyu confessed to you?”
“I..” Taehyun shakes his head. “He wasn’t affected by the love potion.”
“What? He wasn’t?” Yeonjun squints, skeptical. “That’s weird. Okay, imagine if he was.”
Imagine if the potion worked on Beomgyu. Imagine if he was in love with him.
Taehyun gulps. “I would feel like I won.”
Yeonjun groans and runs a hand over his face. “Again with your competitiveness. Seriously, how would you feel? Would it be different compared to everyone else?”
A month ago it would’ve made him feel sick, maybe annoyed. But now? He would be lying if he didn’t find Beomgyu attractive. He’s good-looking, and Taehyun has always found intelligence a quality he admired. He likes being the only one able to keep up with each other. He never spared a glance at who placed third.
Seeing Beomgyu work so hard on creating an antidote for him gave him a whole new appreciation for the other. Taehyun found himself glancing at Beomgyu in their lab, seeing his focused face. The way he furrowed his brows in concentration and pouted his lips, tuning everything out. It was cool. It was cute. Those times outside of the lab were enjoyable, having dinner together and watching Beomgyu laugh at the poor acting in cringy movies. The other wasn’t kidding when he said he was a picky eater. Beomgyu doesn’t like tomatoes, onions, or green peppers. Somehow they always ended up on Taehyun’s plate, and somehow he would eat them every time.
Taehyun blushes so hard it resembles the color of the antidote earlier.
Maybe Yeonjun is right after all.
***
Taehyun finishes Yeonjun’s potion shortly after. With Beomgyu free from the antidote, both of them combining intellectual forces on the love potion accelerated the process. Taehyun measures and pipettes the final product into a vial, the potion a bright pink shade that sparkles when sunlight hits it.
It’s done. It’s been a grueling and tiresome few weeks, but they have found their desired results, and now it’s over. Once he hands this to Yeonjun, life can go back to the way it was before. He won’t have a reason to come over to Beomgyu’s anymore. Taehyun doesn’t like that, a sense of bittersweetness filling his chest. The whole experience of working and spending time with Beomgyu was enjoyable; things can’t go back to the way they were before when they were merely rivals and acquaintances.
To take his mind off it, Taehyun decides to bake the potion into banana nut muffins. If this potion tastes anything like the antidote, he’s doing Yeonjun and Soobin a huge favor. Beomgyu went out to pick up takeout for their celebratory dinner five minutes ago, so it’s a good way to pass the time alone.
He’s taking the muffins out of the oven when he hears the front door open and close. Beomgyu enters the kitchen with a big brown paper bag in hand, shoving his keys in his pockets and huffing. “Sorry, the food wasn’t ready yet when I arrived, and there was traffic.”
Taehyun takes the bag to take out the food while Beomgyu goes to hang up his jacket. An extra spicy pad see ew with beef for him, and a chicken pad thai with no onions and bean sprouts for Beomgyu.
Beomgyu returns; Taehyun can hear him walking behind him while setting the table with the disposable wooden chopsticks. “Oh, did you bake muffins? They’re still warm. Can I have one?”
Taehyun halts, turning around to stop Beomgyu from eating the muffins laced with potion. Only to find out that the latter is the annoying type to ask merely for appearances. The same type of people who knock and barge in anyways.
“God, these are so good,” Beomgyu melts with a half-eaten muffin in hand, “Just marry me already; I’m so in love with you.”
Beomgyu freezes, eyes turning wide. The muffin dropping on the table.
Similarly, Taehyun’s stomach drops.
He messed up on the potion. How did they accidentally create a love potion again? It brings them all back to square one. “Fuck,” he runs a hand through his hair, face contorted in frustration. “How did we mess up again and make a love potion?” Is it possibly the step of baking it that is altering the stability of the potion?
“Taehyun,” Beomgyu blurts out, “You looked really sexy just now with your hair pushed back.” He slaps his hand over his mouth in mortification, the tips of his ears now a burning red.
“Yeah, yeah.” Taehyun waves off dismissively. He’s used to the ingenuine compliments from the effects of a love potion. At least this potion has an internal target, a step better than Beomgyu’s initial mess-up. Now it’s back to the lab. This is out of character for the Kang Taehyun. He clicks his tongue, disappointed. “I can’t believe the potion didn’t work.”
“No, it worked,” Beomgyu squeaks.
“What?” Taehyun scrunches up his face. “Then why are you saying you’re in love with me?”
“It’s not the potion; it’s you.”
“What is that supposed to mean?” That almost sounds like an insult. Is he implying that it’s his fault-
“What I’m saying is,” Beomgyu sighs almost impatient when he sees Taehyun’s confused and slightly offended expression. His skin is flushed, and Taehyun has never seen him look so embarrassed. “The potion worked. I like you a lot, for a long time now. Since we were in school.”
Taehyun blinks, mind blanking and only letting Beomgyu’s words settle in. The potion worked. The potion that they made to reveal a person’s romantic truths.
It dawns on him now why Beomgyu didn’t seem affected by the love potion before and was acting the same. It was because he was already in love with him.
Oh.
“You…” Taehyun is speechless. “are a loser.”
Beomgyu groans and covers his blushing face with his hands as Taehyun begins to grill him.
“You’ve liked me for this long?” Since their university days? They graduated years ago at this point. “Beomgyu, it’s been years, and you haven’t said anything or made any moves on me? God, you needed this potion more than Yeonjun and Soobin.” He thinks back to Yeonjun’s hypothetical scenario of Beomgyu confessing to him and laughs. Hearing the real Beomgyu confess to him, he feels lighter, flattered. Relieved. A lot less annoyed than he thought.
Beomgyu must’ve thought he was laughing at his confession because he refuses to make eye contact and curls away to hide his face. “Stop,” he mutters. “Shut up.”
“No, I’m not-” Taehyun laughs again. Everything is so ridiculous considering he’s not much better. So much for being the smartest people in the room. “I guess I was a loser for not noticing.”
Beomgyu peeks between his fingers when he realizes that Taehyun isn’t put off by his confession. “I admired you back in university before you even knew who I was. You were so smart and always scored the highest on exams. It inspired me, so I studied and worked hard to get to where you were,” he confesses. They make brief eye contact, Beomgyu blushing hard and looking away. “I also went for the same internships as you because I wanted to see you.”
Taehyun blinks at the revelation. “You bastard! You were stressing me out because I was trying to compete with you the entire time!” During their junior year, when there were two spots left to work in Dr. Kim’s lab, Taehyun lost sleep worrying about whether he would secure a spot after he heard Beomgyu and seniors were applying too. Turns out the jerk just wanted to stare at him from afar while they made western blots?
“I wasn’t necessarily trying to compete with you!” Beomgyu defends himself, the truth now coming out. “Seeing you made me want to work harder. And over time you became a rival that I strived for.”
Wow. Look at him inspiring others. He hates that this also confirms Yeonjun’s statement about how rivalries have homoerotic undertones because what Beomgyu said sounded straight out of a sports anime gay fanfic. Taehyun crosses his arms and nods sagely. “I see. So you just wanted to be in my league. That’s respectable.”
“You’re...something else.” Beomgyu lets out a breath and purses his lips tentatively now that all his secrets are out in the open. “So, yeah. I like you. And this feeling isn’t from some love potion.”
Taehyun can’t help the tiny bit of flutters alighting inside of him; this is all new but feels like a long time coming. He mentally thanks Yeonjun for finally getting him to see and admit his own feelings. “I think I like you too.”
“Think?” Beomgyu repeats, a little surprised and hopeful at the possible reciprocation. He steps closer so they’re standing face to face, his arm coming up to gently hold Taehyun’s. “I think I need more to work with than just ‘think,’” he says, voice low and questioning, seeking confirmation.
Taehyun’s eyes glance down at where their arms are touching, then back up into Beomgyu’s dark brown eyes. “We can test it out.”
“Stop with the science talk,” Beomgyu mumbles, the space between them shrinking and electrifying. His face is even closer. “I really want to kiss you right now,” he admits softly, the effects of the potion working.
Taehyun’s breath hitches, staring back into Beomgyu’s eyes, nose, then down to his lips. “You can,” he says.
In a split second, Beomgyu places a hand on his cheek and leans forward. He kisses Taehyun like he’s been waiting forever, soft and gentle with a hint of hunger. “I’ve always wanted to do that,” he whispers when they separate for air, “I don’t think I can’t stop myself now.”
And all Taehyun can think of is hell yeah my potion is a success I’m a genius
He can see how much Beomgyu wants him.
Taehyun can’t believe he now understands the appeal of what Yeonjun and Soobin wanted. Yeonjun is going to have a blast when his shy boyfriend takes this potion.
Beomgyu kisses him again, pulling him away from his thoughts - the kiss much deeper this time. He continues kissing up his neck, unable to help himself and hold back due to the potion.
“I agreed to help Yeonjun make the potion,” Beomgyu reveals in the middle of kissing every surface of Taehyun he can reach. “because he said he’d agree to help set me up with you.”
Yeonjun knew all along. That bastard, he knew all along and was instigating. Feeling slightly betrayed by his own best friend, Taehyun pulls back to flick Beomgyu on the forehead. “Are you serious? Do that on your own, idiot.”
Beomgyu ignores him, too occupied with bringing them chest to chest again, pressing their bodies closer together, his hands roaming.
“Apparently having a rival is gay.” Taehyun states when he feels Beomgyu’s hand caressing his waist and lower back.
“It is pretty fucking gay,” Beomgyu chuckles. “But I liked it. Being paired with you.”
A realization hits him when Beomgyu gets particularly handsy: “Oh god, when I give these muffins to Yeonjun and Soobin, I’m probably gonna be sexiled.”
“Stay over at my place.” Beomgyu easily suggests. “What's the duration of the potion?”
“A week.”
Beomgyu groans. “We can’t see each other at work; I won't be able to help myself.”
Taehyun flushes when he remembers that he didn’t make an aphrodisiac. That these are things that Beomgyu wants to do with him, things he has been thinking about. It makes his body warm all over to be desired this way. The potion is making everything go from 0 to 100 real fast.
“Time out.” Taehyun stops mid-makeout. “Are we dating now?”
“I sure hope so,” Beomgyu hums, licking his lips and eager to continue. The years of pining evident.
“What’s in it for me?”
“Freshly baked brownies whenever you want.”
He likes the sound of that, thinking of when he had a taste of those brownies that snowballed to where they are now. Beomgyu as his boyfriend. It’s not so bad.
From rivals to lab partners to boyfriends. Taehyun cannot imagine anyone else. And because Beomgyu's been doing all the initiation so far, he smiles and pulls Beomgyu in for a searing kiss.
He’s his perfect match after all.