Jin-kyu jogged down the street with Patricia's apartment on it. The air was crackingly cold and Jin-kyu was biting at his lips as he blew on his hands to warm them from numbness. He had forgotten gloves, again.
He was sure that Patricia must know what had happened, or at least be able to fix it or explain it. After all, she had been the one talking about moon goddesses and stars granting wishes.
Jin-kyu should have realised from all the pentagrams and herbs that she was clearly some kind of witch.
Then again, who the hell would think that a viable possibility? Certainly not Jin-kyu before his ceramic sculpture had come to life and started eating instant noodles in his kitchen.
"This definitely needs to be fixed." Jin-kyu muttered as he drew up to the red front door and pressed the doorbell. It didn't look promising – there were no lights on inside, despite the fact that it was already dark out.
"Come on, come on." Jin-kyu groaned as he knocked on the wood panelling and peered through the front window into the motionless gloom.
"Shit," he bit out as he pressed the bell again, "don't tell me she's already left for Rio."
Jin-kyu felt like crying with frustration, he was totally not equipped to deal with this situation. He could barely feed himself, let alone deal with being cursed for Christmas.
"You looking for Ms. Pereira, sweetheart?"
Jin-kyu wheeled round to see a different elderly lady stood at the bottom of the steps.
"Yes!" Jin-kyu shouted, slightly too animatedly judging by the expression on her face.
"I mean yes, sorry - I'm a friend of Patricia's, do you know if she's just gone out or..."
"Oh I'm her next door neighbour and I'm afraid you've missed her," the woman smiled indulgently, "she left for the airport this morning, I think she's gone to South America to stay with family."
"No!" Jin-kyu yelled, "I mean..." He noticed the now very worried look the neighbour was sporting. "It's fine," he sighed dejectedly, "I just forgot to er, give her her present. Do you know when she's getting back?"
"New Year’s I think," the woman replied, "I'm sure she won't mind getting it when she comes back dear."
"Yeah, thanks," Jin-kyu nodded mournfully as he shuffled down the steps and, for lack of a better idea, headed home.
He glanced up at the sky before he entered his apartment building but the ceiling of New York was back to its usual overcast and clouded state, no sign of stars.
"That's right," Jin-kyu growled, "you better hide."
Jin-kyu climbed the stairs with a feeling of dread settling in his stomach. With Patricia in Brazil until New Year’s, who the hell else was he meant to go to for help?
It wasn’t like he could dial 911 and explain the situation, he would be put in a straitjacket quicker than the time it usually took Camille to criticise his outfits.
Speaking of Camille...Jin-kyu opened the door to his apartment and was greeted with the sight of the blonde standing by the kitchen counter. Her hands were on her hips and there was a frown on her face. Jin-kyu noted that Sammy was sitting cross legged up on the island beside her.
"Jin-kyu you need to go shopping," Camille announced abruptly before Jin-kyu had even taken the keys back out of the lock.
He sighed, "Camille seriously? Have you been going through my closet again?"
"Worse," she replied with a huff, "your cupboards. Who needs this much ramen Jin-kyu? Are you going to open a Japanese restaurant or something? Is the art career just not panning out for you?"
Jin-kyu groaned as he closed the door behind him to stop the draught from sneaking in. "Camille, it's fine..."
"It's not fine," she snapped, gesturing emphatically towards Sammy, "have you seen how skinny this boy is?"
"What's that got to do with my ramen?" Jin-kyu questioned with a sigh, as he stopped himself from telling Camille that yes, he knew exactly how skinny Sammy was. He had deliberated for quite some time on just how far to dip in the curves of that waist.
"He needs real food!" Camille exclaimed, "Jesus Jin-kyu, if you're going to have a top secret house guest, the least you could have done was some grocery shopping - even just for the basics! I've never seen milk as green as yours and I'm pretty sure that your eggs are going to hatch any minute now. Although judging from the smell of them I reckon it's gonna be more of a Daenerys deal than a fluffy Easter chick."
"I'll go tomorrow," Jin-kyu grumbled.
"No, you'll go now," Camille replied. "Sammy's stomach hasn't stopped growling since I got here and clearly he doesn't like noodles," she moved closer to Jin-kyu and stage whispered, "he just threw them down the garbage disposal!"
Jin-kyu rolled his eyes, "You could have ordered take out," he muttered, as he glared at Sammy, who simply beamed happily back at him.
"No," Camille snapped, "you need to grace this family-sized fridge with real food for once Jin-kyu. Buy some vegetables for fucks' sakes."
"It's late..." Jin-kyu started, but faltered under Camille's glare.
"Don't give me that Kim, the grocery store nearest here is open until midnight and it's a big one, so no more excuses," Camille sniffed as went to grab her coat.
"Don't tell me you’re coming with?" Jin-kyu asked incredulously, earning him a sharp look.
"No Jin-kyu, although I can clearly see how much you'll miss my company, but I'm going home to sleep so I can wake up refreshed for my coffee morning with your sister. I have so much to tell her."
"Camille," Jin-kyu growled warningly.
Camille chuckled and batted Jin-kyu’s chest with the back of her hand, "Relax - your secret is safe with me!"
She turned to go give Sammy a hug and kissed him on the cheek. Jin-kyu raised his eyebrows as Sammy flushed happily, kicking his legs out from the counter.
"He's adorable," Camille whispered as she passed Jin-kyu out of the front door. "How the hell did a miserable old grump like you manage to snag him?"
"Thank you Camille, I'll talk to you later," Jin-kyu grit in a low voice before slamming the door behind her. He could still hear her insufferable cackling as she walked down the hallway.
There was an awkward moment when both Jin-kyu and Sammy stared at each other in silence. Jin-kyu lifted his hand up to scratch the back of his head, huffing as Sammy copied the action with a thoughtful expression.
"So, I guess I'm going grocery shopping," Jin-kyu shrugged, "are you...do you want..."
"Can I come with?" Sammy asked suddenly in a rushed voice. His face looked so damn hopeful that Jin-kyu had to bite back another eye roll.
"Yeah, fine, just let me grab some more cash," Jin-kyu replied with a nod. "I've kind of forgotten how much real food costs."
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