Chapter Text
“Yeesh—he didn’t have to hit me and kick me out.”
Back at a time before he was a he, a young man rubbed his arms in the cold, blinking against the fog of his own words. He glared back at his uncle’s shop over his shoulder, lifting his chin. “That’s abuse, you know that? This isn’t Korea!”
No response, of course. Typical.
The cold rubbed at his nose and ears, and sniffling, he glanced left then right on the poorly lit street. All this because he forgot to set out some incense? So what? It wasn’t even the Lunar holiday. Everything was closed for New Year’s, so where was he even supposed to go? His uncle hadn’t even given him his phone.
Minkyu, before he was called Minkyu, sat down with a huff on the stoop, cupping his hands over his face and breathing out. It was so cold his hair felt wet against his cheeks even though it wasn’t.
“Grumpy old geezer.”
There would come a time when this young man would succeed his uncle in the magical shop, inheriting power and title—but this is a scene before Apfel was called Apfel.
He wouldn’t be called that for many years to come.