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nayutai · 6 years

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A/N: This is the longest thing I’ve ever written in my life dear God. Fanfic authors that write stuff this long on the regular deserve a medal and an ice cream cone.

Word Count: 10,039

The Center is a stark contrast from all of the stories I’d heard as a child. I’d been terrified with tales of needles and forced scientific research but the view in front of me is a far cry from what I’ve envisioned. The building is made of sandstone and brick with roses of varying colors blooming everywhere. There’s a small fountain out front surrounded by more flowers and couple stone benches. The entire setup screams love. That ideal is further cemented when we walk inside. Everyone is smiling and majority of the nurses moving through the halls are dressed in some shade of red or pink. It’s absolutely nauseating. Tae squeezes my hand which is covered in his much larger one as we walk up to the reception desk.

“Hi! How can I help you today?” The peppy nurse asks as we sit in the two chairs set out in front of her desk.

“We have an appointment with Dr. Min. Kim and Garrison” Tae responds. I’m so glad that he’s able to take over like this because I’ve been running on autopilot for the past three days since The Incident occurred. The nurse quickly checks us in then gives us at least 10 pages of paperwork to fill out.

“Since you two are new patients I’ll need you to fill all this out for me. It’s front and back so make sure you don’t miss anything.” She smiles brightly as she hands over the clipboard and a pen with a bright pink flower superglued to the top of it. We make our way out to the waiting room to bare our souls to all of this paperwork.

“When were we mated? February 27th” The documents don’t take nearly as long to complete as I thought they would but the information they ask for is borderline intrusive. Have we consummated our relationship? If so, how often are we sexually involved? Tae wiggles his eyebrows at that question which makes me smile for the first time since we walked through those doors.

Thankfully we don’t have to wait too long to see Dr. Min once we hand in our paperwork. He’s not quite what I imagined he would be after seeing the other staff members. His smile is bright and wide when he greets us but I can tell he’s a man who likes to show his happiness in ways other than a permanent smile. Nevertheless, his very aura is calming. There’s a picture of a smiling toddler in the arms of a woman with a matching smile perched proudly on his desk.

“Dr. Min Yoongi, pleasure to meet you both,” He says enthusiastically as he shakes our hands before rounding his desk to sit down. “So, what seems to be the problem?” Suddenly he’s all business as he grabs a pen so that he can take notes. The shift is almost a little jarring but time is of the essence I guess.

Tae immediately starts rattling off the details of what happened that day in my apartment. I interject here and there but ultimately leave the storytelling up to him. Dr. Min listens intently, occasionally making a few notes in what I’m assuming is our file. His brow furrows the more Tae speaks. I can practically see the gears in his head turning as he tries to piece together the information that we’re giving him.

“When you say the soulmate mark was fading, how exactly was it doing that?” he looks up from his notes to elaborate. “Did it go letter by letter? Were all of the letters fading slowly at once?”

“It-it was more like when you move a piece of paper over a candle flame. Bits and pieces of each letter seemed to just burn away but it stopped when he grabbed my arm.” I realize that this is the first time that I’ve actually said this out loud since I’d called my mom in a panic that day. It sounds just as outlandish now as it did then.

Dr. Min mumbles a curse under his breath before hastily reaching for his phone. He looks as if he’s been kicked in the knee. He punches a few numbers, glancing at his watch as he waits for his call to be answered.

“I need you in my office now.” He opens his mouth to continue but whoever he’s on the phone with interrupts him to which he rolls his eyes. “Shove that quesadilla up your ass and get in here now.”

This is a far cry from the happy, smiling doctor that greeted us when we first arrived. Frankly, he looks stressed and maybe even a little scared. He gives us a small smile but it’s nowhere near as calming as I think he intended it to be. If anything, I’m even more worried at the fact that he even feels we need to be calmed down. “I’m going to be honest with you guys. If this is what I think it is, it’s bad”

A frazzled man in a white coat that matches Dr. Min’s suddenly bursts through the door. “Hi, I’m Dr. Kim Seokjin.” He quickly shakes our hands before leaning against the filing cabinet behind Dr. Min’s desk. He glances over at Dr. Min with a look that says this better be good. Must have been one hell of a quesadilla.

“Tell Dr. Kim exactly what you told me word for word.” Tae and I share worried glances but nevertheless, we recount every detail of what happened for Dr. Kim. By the time we’re done, his face is a mask of stress just like Dr. Min’s.

“This can’t be what I think it is. Yoongi, tell me this isn’t what I think it is.” A deep sigh leaves Dr. Min as he drops his pen to press his fingers to his temples, eyes tightly closed as he mumbles something to himself.

“What do you think it is?” Tae asks apprehensively.

“Simply put, it’s magic. Faerie magic if you want to be more specific.” Dr. Kim explains rather reluctantly.

“Wait, faeries?” I ask with a confused glance between the two frazzled doctors. “Are you really telling me that Tinker Bell tried to burn his initials off of my wrist?”

“No, no, Tinker Bell is what we call a benevolent faerie. The one responsible for what happened to you? Not so much.” Dr. Min explained. “The magic these faeries practice is old and dark. It’s also the only magic strong enough to” Dr. Min takes a deep breath as if to stable himself “to break a soulmate bond”

It suddenly feels like all of the air has been sucked out of the room. The Earth seems to have stopped spinning on its axis. I can see Dr. Kim’s lips moving but my brain can’t process what he’s saying. It all sounds like gibberish. The feeling of Tae’s hand tightly squeezing mine is the only thing keeping me anchored to reality. Someone, somewhere is trying to split Tae and I apart for some unknown reason and I begin to feel physically sick at the prospect of losing him.

“Jess” The sound of Tae calling my name makes me blink my eyes open though I’m not sure when I’d even closed them. “Jess, come back to me.” He’s got my face cupped in his large hands as I see the doctors standing over his shoulder in concern.

“What happened?”

“Panic attack. A perfectly normal response to what’s happening right now” Dr. Min responds as he returns to his desk. Dr. Kim busies himself checking my pulse and vital signs as Tae looks on.

“I’m checking the two of you into The Center for an extended stay until we can get to the bottom of this.” Dr. Min explains. “We have people who handle this sort of thing but you two physically cannot leave each other’s sides until we’ve got this sorted out. Only the touch of a soulmate can stop this faerie’s magic.”

“Wait but what about school? Our jobs? Our…lives?” I ask incredulously while Tae nods in agreement.

“I know this is extremely abrupt and inconvenient but, in order for us to help you two, we need to keep you here.” Dr. Min explains as he pushes his phone closer to us. “We don’t know who is trying to break your bond nor do we know why.”

“We can’t force you to stay but if you want to hold on to each other then it’s in your best interest to do what we say.” Dr. Kim adds on.

Tae releases my hand to drag both of his down his face. For the first time, he lets it show just how tired and worried he is. He’s been hiding his feelings for the sake of my sanity but I can see the weight of everything settling on his shoulders. This is bad. Very bad. He’s been so strong but it’s my turn now.

“We’ll stay but I need to make some arrangements.” Both doctors relax a bit in obvious relief.

Dr. Min slides his phone closer to me. “Call whoever you need. I need to go speak with the lab techs. There’s a battery of tests that need to be run before we can even begin to try and sort all of this out.”

The two men quickly make their exit and I immediately pick up the phone. After dealing with two universities, two crappy places of employment, and two sets of worried parents, I am both mentally and physically drained. A knock on the closed office door precedes Dr. Min poking his head into the room. Tae waves him in and he returns to his desk.

“The nurses in the long-term ward told me that they’ll have a room ready for you two in about an hour so while they’re doing that I’ll go over the tentative plan of action we’ve come up with.” Dr. Min informs as we listen attentively.

“First and foremost, we have informed the investigative division of your situation.” I didn’t realize that The Center even had an investigative division. I’d always thought it was just a hospital of sorts for soulmate issues. “The involuntary severance of a soulmate bond is actually a serious crime so they’ll be looking for the culprit on their end using the results from the tests we run.”

“And what kind of tests will you be running exactly?” Tae asks as he squeezes my hand in his.

“Magic this powerful always leaves behind remnants so we’ll be running some blood tests on Ms. Garrison since she seems to be the main target of this faerie. We’ll also be running some less…conventional tests such as what we call Readings.”

“Why do I feel like this Reading is going to be less fun than actual reading?” I ask apprehensively. My left nipple is tingling in a way that tells me I won’t like whatever the hell a “Reading” is. Tae always laughs at me when I say that but in all my 21 years my left nipple has never let me down. It’s always guided me through life like a trusty compass and right now it’s telling me that eating nails would be more fun than whatever Dr. Min is talking about.

“I’m not going to lie to you, Reading aren’t very pleasant.” I knew it. Another point for the left nipple. “First you need to understand that magic is akin to a fingerprint when it comes to trying to find out who did what. Essentially what happens is one of our lab fellows will put you in a coma of sorts and they’ll then use the remnants of the magic left in your system to try and trace it back to the faerie responsible for it.”

“But Jess will be okay, right?” I can feel Tae’s panicked energy radiating off of him in waves as squeezes my hand ever tighter.

“Most people come out of Readings completely unscathed; however, the initial toll they take on a person’s mind and body can be a bit overwhelming so she’ll need to stay in that comatose state for at least 24 hours afterwards to give her body time to recuperate.”

My lower lip is drawn between my teeth almost instinctively as my anxiety starts to skyrocket. Finding and being with my soulmate was supposed to be the most exhilarating time of my life and up until now it has been. It’s so unfair that we only got to experience that type of bliss for such a short amount of time.

As if sensing my growing unease, Tae starts rubbing circles in the palm of my hand. I can feel my heart rate slowly returning to normal as he continues his ministrations. Dr. Min goes over a few more basic things before his phone rings again notifying him that our room is ready.

Tae and I are pleasantly surprised that our hospital room is more like a hotel suite with heart rate monitors.

Noticing our expressions, Dr. Min pipes up from his spot by the door as our nurse Miranda sets to hooking up the equipment, “We like to make our patients as comfortable as possible. It’s bad enough that you have to be in the hospital in the first place may as well make it like home.” He shoves off of the door frame before bidding us goodbye. “I’ll see you two in the morning.”

Our parents stop by not long after the doctor leaves with all of our stuff. Of course, the two mothers in the room can’t stop fussing over us. That is until Tae’s younger sister Mihyun gently places Tae’s duffel bag on the bed to reveal a sleeping Yeontan on top of his clothes. That dog can sleep through everything.

Tae and I immediately squeal as we descend upon our “child” while his mom descends on his sister for sneaking Yeontan into the hospital. He gives an excited yip before launching himself into Tae’s waiting arms. We’re allowed exactly five minutes of playtime before Tae’s mom is shooing Mihyun out of the room with Tannie hidden under her baggy sweatshirt.

“We’ll leave you two to get some rest,” My mom says as she kisses my forehead. “Oh, and call Deja. She’s worried sick about the both of you.”

It’s not till the door shuts behind our family that the excitement of the day finally starts to catch up to me. My eye lids feel like lead weights are attached to them as I cuddle up to Tae under all of the blankets. He pulls me in closer to his side as he continues to flip through the channels on the big screen across from our bed.

“Tae,” he hums in response, glancing down at me before returning to his channel flipping. “I’m scared.”

“Me too, Jess. Me too.”

A sudden flash of light against my eyelids makes me groan as I sling my left arm behind me trying to connect with some part of Tae’s body. That boy is always leaving the blinds open talking about his precious natural light. I for one value my precious natural sleep more.

“Tae. Blinds.” He grumbles some nonsense in his sleep before turning over to ignore me.

“Good morning, sleepy heads!” A cheerful greeting from someone who is most definitely not my boyfriend jolts me out of my slumber. I panic for a moment as I’m not in a familiar bedroom until I remember the events from yesterday.

My sudden movement wakes Tae as he rouses from sleep next to me. He’s so cute in his half-asleep state that I almost forget Nurse Evil and the fact that she woke me up so suddenly.

“My name’s Laila and I’ll be your daytime nurse.” She informs us as she walks over to the computer next to our bed, scanning her ID as she inputs some information. “I need to draw some blood from you, Ms. Garrison if you don’t mind.”

“Of course I mind, but you’re just going to do it anyway” Tae pokes me in the side and I turn my glare on him instead. If there’s one thing I hate, it’s being awakened before I’m ready to do so and he knows this.

“Be nice.” He mouths to me but Nurse Laila seems entirely unaffected by my sour mood. She has the audacity to smirk as she preps my arm, feeling for a good vein to draw from. My left nipple tingles a little and I decide there and then that I don’t like woman.

The entire ordeal takes less than five minutes and she’s out the door just as quick as she came with several vials of blood and a promise to return with our test results when they arrive.

“I don’t like her.” Tae just rolls his eyes before rolling out of bed, arms stretched high above his head as he makes his way to the bathroom. “Where are you going? You can’t leave me here. What it something happens?”

“Well then I guess we’ll just have to shower together huh?” He wiggles his eyebrows at me before disappearing into the bathroom. A few seconds later his t-shirt comes flying out of the open door followed closely by his briefs. Cheeky fucker.

I look to my right and notice that the machine that’s keeping track of all my vital signs can be removed from its wall mount. I hope the manufacturer made it waterproof too but if they didn’t then that’s just too bad because the sound of Tae turning on the shower has set me into motion.

Tae’s head is turned upwards into the stream of water when I enter the bathroom. My mouth waters slightly at the way the muscles in his arms flex as he pushes the floppy strands of his hair out of his face. My mind wandered to days past spent pulling on that same fringe as he buried his head between my legs. Finally dragging my eyes away from his figure, I notice a small shelf on the other side of the shower that will do perfectly at holding this blasted machine.

I quickly strip off the flimsy hospital gown I’d been forced to wear before stepping into the shower. After making sure that the monitor wouldn’t fall off of the shelf, I move closer to Tae and loop my arms around his slim waist. I place soft kisses at the base of his necks before moving along one shoulder. A shiver runs through him much to my delight before he’s turning to face me.

“Hmm seems you decided to join me after all” the smirk on his face promises a good time as his lips descend upon mine.

My head rolls back as his lips move along my jaw before continuing down my throat. His little nips and sucks at my skin are sparking a fire in my veins. His large hands skim my hips until they’re gripping my ass, pressing his pelvis against mine. The feeling of his erection against my lower stomach pulls a low moan from my throat. Tae’s lips return to mine as he lifts me up against the shower wall, my legs wrapped tightly around his waist.

I pull away from the kiss with a gasp as this new position has the bulbous head of his length pressed against my neglected clit. My hips keen against him on their own accord as Tae dips his head to capture a hardened nipple in his mouth. He grazes it with his teeth, pulling back slightly before letting it go with a pop.

“Tae, please” I’m not entirely sure what I’m begging for but when Tae slides two of his long fingers into me I feel like I got what I asked for. Euphoria sings through my veins as he plunges his fingers into me over and over, making sure to hit that special spot each time. Right when I feel like I’m about to explode the bathroom door flies open and Nurse Laila’s voice is echoing around the bathroom. We freeze where we are.

“Ms. Garrison? Are you-oh…” The glass door of the shower is too fogged up to clearly see her but we can both tell when she realizes what exactly is going on in here. “Your heart monitor rate was pretty elevated but I see you’re just fine.”

Tae and I lock eyes at the sound of the door closing and immediately dissolve into uncontrollable laughter which quickly morphs into soft whines on my end at the way it causes my walls to clench around his fingers.

“Should I continue?”

“Yes please, Mr. Kim.”

A while later, I’m seated between Tae’s outstretched legs as he dries my hair since the wires keeps getting in the way when I try to do it. He’s humming a tune he’s probably making up as he goes and if we weren’t in a hospital I’d say this moment is perfect. There’s another knock on the door and I half expect to get another visit from Nurse Laila but its Dr. Min.

“Hello, love birds,” He’s sporting another one of his megawatt smiles and I can’t help but to smile back. It’s almost like smiling is a contagious condition around this man. “I finally got the results back from all of the blood tests and I’ve got good news and bad news.”

“Give us the bad news first, Doc.” I nod along in agreement with Tae. It’s better to just rip the band-aid off and get it over with.

“Fair enough well whatever faerie cast this spell has some serious, serious mojo. I’m honestly surprised that you didn’t pass out or worse. I’ve never seen levels this high. You’re one tough cookie.”

“That’s my girl!” Tae praises as he tightens his arms around me. I simply roll my eyes and await the so called good news that Dr. Min said he had.

“Fortunately, there are very few faeries that are even capable of casting spells this powerful. That along with the amount of magical remnants left in your system may very well tell us exactly who did this.”

“So basically, our extended stay may not be so extended?” I question warily, afraid that he’ll say it’s all a joke and blind me with his smile.

“That is exactly correct.” He checks his watch before moving to the computer and logging in, clicking a few things. “I ordered a Reading so they should be coming to get you for that later this afternoon most likely after you two have had lunch.”

Sure enough Nurse Laila comes to collect me for my Reading about an hour after we’ve finished lunch. She puts me in a wheelchair, hospital protocol according to her, and wheels me down the hall to the elevator with Tae tagging along as my designated “heart monitor holder”.

We get off on the basement floor of the Center though it looks more like a funeral parlor than a hospital at this point. The lighting is coming from golden sconces that line the walls and the floor is a super thick carpet the color of spilled blood. Every so often we pass by a small table with a golden urn sitting on it. I don’t even want to know what’s in those. Nurse Laila rounds a corner, stopping halfway down the hallway in front of an inconspicuous set of mahogany double doors. She knocks twice and I expect some sort of witch doctor to answer the door but that isn’t the case.

“Hello Nurse Park” The slightly flirtatious tone in her voice has me looking between Nurse Laila and the god among men that opened the door. This Nurse Park person returns her smile but it doesn’t reach his eyes and he looks supremely uncomfortable as he steps aside for Nurse Laila to steer me into the room.

“I’ll take it from here thanks.” He takes the handles of my wheelchair and I can practically sense him rolling his eyes as she makes a flirty remark on her way out of the door. “Keep me near the cross, Jesus. Anyway, it’s pleasure to meet you both. I’m Nurse Park but you can call me Jimin.”

“Cool so what’s up with you and Nurse Laila?” I question as I hop up onto the bed he’s parked my chair next to. This time I watch him roll his eyes as Tae snickers in an armchair next to my bed.

“I just started working here about two months ago and the second she found out that I haven’t found my soulmate yet just like her she’s been trying to get in my pants. I’d tell her I’m not interested but I’m an attention whore so whatever.” I nearly choke on my own spit as Tae claps his hands like a seal in laughter. It hasn’t even been five minutes yet and Jimin is already my favorite nurse.

When we finally calm ourselves down, Jimin motions for me to lay back on the bed as he prepares himself for this whole Reading thing. I watch him move around the room, taking notice of the way his black scrubs hug his ample backside. Tae flicks my bare leg rather harshly when he notices where my line of sight is focused. He doesn’t actually seem too bothered by it though probably because Tae appreciates a nice ass just as much as I do.

“So, what exactly is a Reading? What’s going to happen?” Tae asks as he curls up in the plushy armchair.

“Readings are actually a form of tracking spell. It’s along the lines of a bloodhound using a dirty sock to find the person who wore it.” He explains.

“A spell? Are you like a wizard or something?”

“Not a wizard, no. I come from a long line of witches actually so I think the correct term would be warlock but that’s much too dark for me. I prefer Magic Mike.” He winks at me as he settles down onto a stool behind my head. Tae snickers once more but the mood sobers when Jimin indicates that he’s about to get started.

“Taehyung, normally soulmates are not allowed in here when I’m performing a reading because it’s a difficult sight to see but I understand that there are special circumstances at work here. I can promise you that she won’t be in any pain but I also need you to promise me that you won’t interrupt because that will be detrimental to her and me. Are we clear?”

“Crystal”

“Okay now let’s get started.”

Jimin grabs a small bowl, grinding something up in it before dropping a lit match into whatever concoction he’s got mixed up. My eyes get wide at the purple flame that suddenly shoots out of the bowl that’s a bit too close to my head for my liking. A citrusy sweet smell caresses my senses as Jimin rubs some sort of oil onto his hands. The atmosphere in the room is peaceful and I hum contently when Jimin begins massaging his fingers into my temples. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say he’s some sort of masseur and not a warlock.

My eyes drift shut as he continues his ministrations, moving down until he’s working his fingers into the underside of my jaw. I’m on the verge of drifting off to sleep when Jimin starts mumbling in a language I’m quite sure isn’t English. A burning sensation starts at my temples and spreads throughout the rest of my limbs. My back arches from the bed at an angle that should be borderline painful and yet I feel nothing. It’s as if my entire being is contained in a small ball inside my head. I’m aware of everything my body is doing but I feel none of it.

Jimin’s hands have moved to the base of my neck but for whatever reason I can no longer hear the sound of his voice like I could before. It’s then I realize that I can no longer smell the scent of the oil he’d covered his hands in either. The burning sensation I’d felt at the start of this has also faded into nothingness. All of my senses are slowly fading and if I had control of my body I know I’d be flailing all over the place. I can’t even open my eyes. Now I see why Dr. Min said these Reading are unpleasant. It doesn’t hurt but being stripped of your senses like this is enough to drive anyone over the edge.

Just when I think I’m about to lose it, a flash of purple light appears behind my eye lids. Is it the flame Jimin lit earlier? It can’t be, can it? That purple light starts to take a shape that looks almost human. The blob of light soon sprouts hair the same color as the light it spawned from though the roots are a pure white. Skin the color of rich caramel soon takes the place of the purple light but it’s still a faceless human and it’s quite unnerving.

Just as her facial features begin to appear she disappears and the face of a man I’ve never seen in my life is in her place. His lips are full and pulled into a smile that has surely made a few people weak in the knees. Just then, something snaps and he disappears just like the woman before him. My senses return to me immediately after but they bring with them the same intense burning that landed us in this situation. Only this time it’s worse. So much worse. My entire body feels like it’s being doused in flames as a scream tears its way out of my throat.

“What the fuck did you do to her?” Tae yells as he quickly hops on the bed and pulls my writhing figure into his arms. Everywhere he touches instantly feels cool.

“This isn’t me!” He shouts as he grabs at some of the bottles and bowls he’s got in the room.

Tae wraps his hand around my wrist where his initials are as he holds my head to his chest. Tears are flowing down my cheeks as I try to focus on the sound of Tae’s voice in my ear whispering words of encouragement. Jimin’s hand suddenly touches my forehead and it’s covered in something gritty. He quickly says a few words in the same unknown language he was chanting earlier and the burning stops.

“What was that?” I choke out as I attempt to catch my breath.

“I have honestly never had anything like this happen before.” He seems genuinely flabbergasted as he rubs a warm wet cloth across my forehead. “I need to consult with my Elders.”

Jimin disappears through the door and returns a few minutes later with Dr. Kim in tow. He quickly sets to checking my vital signs as he fires questions off rapid fire at Jimin. Dr. Min flies through the door seconds later and the interrogation only intensifies. I can tell that Jimin is none too happy about having his work questioned like this. His fists are balled up tightly at his sides as he grits his teeth. It seems he’s fighting to hold back whatever choice words he’d like to throw at the doctors before him as his full lips twitch.

“I did everything by the book.” He opens his mouth to continue but words start tumbling out of his mouth before I can stop him.

“I saw a man too.” Silence overtakes the room in the wake of my confession. “I’ve never seen him before but I saw his face right before everything went wrong.”

“That is definitely not normal. I need to go speak with the Elders. Now.” He vanishes with a flourish of his hands.

“Why are you interrupting my stories without an appointment, Jimin?” The Elder says though she never removes her eyes from her television set. Teleporting to her living room wasn’t my first choice but this evil ass faerie didn’t leave me with much of one.

“My apologies Elder Ashlyn.” I bow as deep as possible to show that I come in good faith. “We have an emergency of the faerie variety.”

“It must be important if you dared to interrupt All My Children for this.” She waves a hand towards the armchair to her left. “Sit.” I do just that and with great haste.

“There is a faerie trying to break a soulmate bond. I performed a Reading to trace the spell and somehow they used it to make a separate, more powerful attack.” Elder Ashlyn finally turns from her TV to look at me. The fact that I actually have her attention lets me know that this is just as serious as I thought it was which is an oddly validating feeling.

“The person you performed the Reading on, did they happen to see someone else other than the faerie?” I’m taken aback at her question as I hadn’t even mentioned the man Jess had seen yet.

“Well…yes. How did you know that?” Elder Ashlyn chuckles humorlessly as she turns the television off completely, turning her body to face me.

“I know you’ve been around a while Jimin but it seems you’ve forgotten that I’ve lived nearly three times as long.” She steeples her fingers beneath her chin as she considers me for a moment. “I’ve seen this before. Only once, but it’s an experience I’ll never forget.”

One of her fingers twitches and a massive red book appears in my lap. She explains that everything I need to know about what’s going on is in this book. I quickly flip it open and curse inwardly when I realize that it’s written completely in Elotian, the language of the first witches to ever exist. Fuck I should’ve payed more attention in my studies when I’d been forced to take classes on the dead language of my ancestors. I can speak it enough to cast some of the more powerful spells but I sure as hell can’t read it. Elder Ashlyn sniffs in disdain when she sees me struggling to read it. With another twitch of her finger, the words on the page are suddenly written in a language I can actually understand.

“Is this correct?” I question in absolute shock. I know what I just read but there’s no way it can be true.

“I’m afraid it is, Jimin. Now let’s get you back to the Center so we can fix this.”

“We? You’re coming with me?”

“I believe that’s what I just said, Jimin. Listening is key.” I blink wildly as I find myself no longer sat in an armchair in Elder Ashlyn’s but rather back in my Reading room at the Center. God, I hope I can be an Elder one day because I can barely teleport myself sometimes let alone two people at once. She’s even changed her clothes into the long, black robes befitting a witch of her status.

The room is empty so I’m assuming that they took Jess and Tae back upstairs to their room. When we reach the extended stay ward, a hushed whisper moves through the gang of nurses manning the floor as they see Elder Ashlyn gliding through the halls. She’s made quite a name for herself and I’m sure they’re all curious as to why she’s made an appearance.

I remember the room number from Jess’ file so I make a beeline straight for it, cringing as Nurse Laila winks in my direction when we pass by. The door is closed when we reach it so I knock once and open it once Tae shouts to invite us in. They smile at me when I enter but they falter a bit in what looks like confusion when they take notice of Elder Ashlyn following behind me.

She’s intimidating as hell and she knows it. Her hair is a deep ebony shade that seems to blend in with her robes, making the striking blue of her irises even more striking when coupled with the chocolate tone of her skin. She extends a perfectly manicured hand towards the couple as she introduces herself.

“I hear you two are having a bit of a problem.” She opens her mouth to continue when Dr. Min and Dr. Kim stumble into the room, tripping over themselves in their haste. The nurses no doubt alerted them to Elder Ashlyn’s presence the second they could. They both bow deeply the second they right themselves, giving her the respect she’s due.

“Elder Ashlyn, to what do we owe this great pleasure?” Dr. Kim asks nervously after Dr. Min shoves his elbow into his side. Those two act more like brothers than colleagues sometimes.

“I know what’s going on and I know how to fix it.”

Hearing that someone not only knows exactly what’s happening to me and Tae but also how to fix it has my heart seizing up with joy. This is the first time we’ve been able to get a definitive answer from someone and I’m hanging on to her every word.

“So, what is going on?” Tae asks as everyone else seems to be frozen.

“Miss Jess here has not one, but two soulmates and the third wheel is trying to change that.” Two soulmates? She says it so calmly as if she hasn’t just taken my entire world and tossed into the air. Four jaws collectively hit the floor at this newfound information.

“So…the man I saw,” I trail off unable to actually say it out loud.

“Yes, he’s your second mate.” She confirms. “This type of thing happens once every millennia or so and the lore says that you are to meet both of them at the same time but sometimes things don’t happen as they should.”

“So basically what you’re saying is that I’m supposed to share my soulmate with some other man? That’s complete and utter bullshit and I won’t do it.” Tae is absolutely furious. It was bad enough that someone is trying to break our bond but to find out that I was never just his to begin with is probably a crushing blow.

“So, what do we do?” I question, holding on to Tae for dear life.

“First we find the faerie who cast the spell and I only know of one who has enough mojo and the gall to do this.” The Elder holds out her hand with her palm turned skyward and a woman suddenly appears. Her face is unfamiliar but I’d recognize that hair anywhere. “Her name is Antoinette and despite her appearance she’s been around longer than some of the Elder Witches, including me.”

“How can we help?” Dr. Min inquires.

“Monitor her temperature very closely.” She informs as she waves a single hand in my direction. “I’ve stabilized her internal temperature at 98 so if it budges at all, I need to know about it. Jimin and I will be doing all of the heavy lifting on this one.”

“What happens if this other guy succeeds?” Tae has been silently brooding for so long that hearing his voice makes me jump a little.

“Should the bond be broken, you’ll go back to being unmated only this time there will be no one for fate to lead you to.” The Elder says solemnly. I can see her concern for us in her cerulean eyes. “As for Jess, fate will most likely lead her towards this second as they are soulmates.”

The thought of losing Tae has bile rising at the back of my throat as I continue to cling to him. Meeting him felt like taking a breath of fresh air or seeing the sun after being trapped in darkness. I don’t know why my life is such a whirlwind. All I want is to live peacefully with my soulmate.

“We must go make some preparations. We’ll return when it’s time.” Just like that, Elder Ashlyn vanishes into thin air, taking Jimin with her.

A strange silence settles over the room as the two doctors excuse themselves as well, most likely to inform the nurses on what’s going on. The two of us just sitting next to each other in silence is not out of the norm for us but this quiet feels different. It feels heavy almost as if it’s choking us. Everything about this situation seems to be getting worse at every turn. I have a second soulmate out there somewhere who is trying to take Tae out of the picture to have me all to himself.

“Tae I-” he shushes me with a finger to my lips.

“Don’t apologize because I know that’s exactly what you’re about to do.” I open my mouth to protest but he shushes me once more. “None of this is your fault, Jessie.” My eyes water at the nickname that he normally reserves for when I’m in a shit mood and he wants me to smile. Even now when we’re in danger of losing each other he’s still trying to cheer me up.

“I love you,” I choke out as I sob escapes me. “so, so much.” He sighs mumbling an I love you into my hair as he pulls me even closer.

His breathing is ragged as his emotions finally get the better of him. He whispers words of love and encouragement in my ear as he pulls the hair tie out of my hair so my curls fall down around us. His fingers quickly bury themselves in the ringlets as soon as they’re able to, scratching gently at my scalp. I cling to him as tightly as I can afraid that he’ll disappear if I let up for even a second. We must have fallen asleep at some point because I’m awakened by the sound of my phone ringing. I recognize the song as the one I’d set for Deja.

“Hello” I croak out, cringing at the sound of my unused voice. I sound like I swallowed glass.

“Ew why do you sound like microwaved death in a moldy hot dog bun?” Deja has never been one to hold back what she’s thinking. I can’t help but smile at her tom foolery.

“It’s a lot. Can you and Hobi come see us?” I haven’t laid eyes on my best friend in over a week and that’s a crime against God himself.

“Sure can see you in an hour.” I hear her yelling at Hobi before she hangs up and smile at the fact that my best friend is coming to see me.

Fifty-eight minutes later I hear a commotion going on at the nurse’s station down the hall and there’s only one explanation for the rising sound of yelling.

“Is that Deja?” I nod my head yes as I climb out of Tae’s arms, making my way to the door.

“What do you mean I can’t see her?” Deja is about to blow her lid. I just feel it. I poke my head out and see she’s arguing with Nurse Laila. Hobi is standing behind her with his hands on her hips in case he needs to restrain her and I notice Jungkook standing next to him for backup. Part of me wants to let Deja chew her out but I decided enough is enough.

“Deja!” She stops mid yell to look at before flipping Nurse Laila off and walking down to our room. I can hear mumbling curses the entire way until she reaches me, pulling me into a tight hug.

“Can you believe that trifling heifer told me I couldn’t see you because I’m not family?” She fusses. “Just because we didn’t come out of the same vagina doesn’t mean we’re not family.”

“No printer just fax.” I finally pull away and drag the both of them into the room.

Hobi, Jungkook, and Tae immediately go off on a bro tangent on the couch in the corner talking about whatever it is the two of them talk about. Judging by the devious smirks on their faces, I’m not even sure that I want to know.

“Okay sis now spill the tea. What’s the diagnosis?” I take a deep breath and recount everything that’s happened since we’ve been at the Center and she surprisingly doesn’t interrupt. “Two mates? You lucky little shit how do you end up with two dicks to suck? I mean it sucks that one of them is evil and wants to destroy everything but still” Of course that’s what her sex crazed brain focuses on.

I open my mouth to reply when there’s a knock at the door. Seconds later, Nurse Laila comes flouncing into the room. Deja and I wear identical scowls as we look her up and down. The woman hasn’t been outright rude or mean but there is just something about her that rubs me the wrong way. My left nipple feels irritated and itchy every time she’s around.

“You, you, and you, I need you out. Visiting hours are over.” A quick glance at the clock tells me she’s full of shit and Tae notices it too.

“It’s barely 6 o’clock. Visiting hours don’t end till 9…” He lets his statement hang in the air almost like a challenge. The irritating nurse fiddles with her stethoscope though her smile retains its blinding quality.

“I’m aware of that Mr. Kim but that only applies to family members. Visiting hours for non-related parties end at 6.”

“Let’s ask Dr. Min and see what he says.” This time I notice her smile droop a bit as I reach for the phone. I maintain eye contact as I punch in the doctor’s extension, praying he’s in his office to answer.

“Dr. Min”

“Hello Dr. Min, it’s Jess Garrison. What time does visiting hours end for people who aren’t family?”

“There’s no difference. Visiting hours are over at 9 o’clock sharp for everyone. Didn’t your nurse tell you that.” He inquires and I can practically see the confused expression on his face.

“My nurse is a dirty liar but thank you Dr. Min. Have a great evening.” With that I hang up the phone. At this point, Nurse Laila is outright glaring at me. I have no idea what her problem is but she’s got the wrong one if she thinks I’m going to put up with her crap.

A thick mist the color of a donkey’s ass bubbles over the edge of massive black cauldron. Everything about what’s going on is so cliché that it physically pains my warlock spirit.

“Is all of this really necessary, Elder Ashlyn?” I inquire as she hands me a large wooden oar to quite literally stir the pot.

“Magic this dark requires us to old school Jimin. Now keep stirring and don’t let it stick.” She instructs as she consults the recipe in her “magic cookbook”. She tosses in a few more ingredient and the smell coming off of this concoction would make Shrek himself puke his guts out. Me, being but a pure warlock, am on the verge of passing out from the stench while Elder Ashlyn seems totally unaffected. I’ll say it once and I’ll say it again, I can’t wait to be a freaking Elder. This shit stinks.

“Just how dark is this magic anyway?”

“This is blood magic.” The weight of her statement hangs in the air like the foul stench of this potion.

All magic obviously affects the person you cast it at but what many people don’t realize that the person who casts the spell is also affected. Blood magic had been outlawed centuries ago because people were using it to transfer the effects of performing dark magic – which could kill the people who practiced in it depending on the power of the spell – onto other people or animals. Breaking a soulmate bond requires some potent stuff which explains why the faerie hasn’t croaked like a frog but that doesn’t explain why Jess isn’t a corpse though. She didn’t even need the standard 24 hour recuperation after the Reading.

“They’re soulmates.” The Elder interrupts my train of thought to tell me something I already knew. Of course this strange man is Jess’ soulmate. That’s the whole reason he’s trying to break her bond with Tae in the first place.

“What?”

“That’s why Ms. Garrison isn’t six feet under. Antoinette probably added some of this second soulmate’s blood into her spell. It’s also the reason why Mr. Kim has been able to stop her with just a touch.” Everything suddenly clicks into place. Soulmates are intended to be our ultimate protectors so it makes sense that a spell containing the blood of her soulmate didn’t stop Jess’ heart like it should have.

The god awful concoction is nearing its completion according to the watchful Elder when she suddenly spaces out. She looks like Raven when she was having visions and I want to laugh but she’d probably smack me. When she blinks back to reality she looks visibly shaken. I’ve never seen her look like this, frightened almost.

“What happened? What’s going on?”

“The other Elders. They were attacked.” I drop my oar, nearly letting it slip beneath the surface of the foul substance I’d been stirring.

“Who would attack the Elders?” The Elders represent the oldest most powerful witches currently breathing and an attack on them is quite literally a suicide mission for anyone that dares to try it unless…unless this Antoinette wench is more powerful than Elder Ashlyn had previously let on. I mean, she did say that the broad is even older than her. A faerie that old is sure to be a magical powerhouse and she’s the only person with even half of a reason to want the Elders out of the picture. They’re the only ones able to stop her.

“Everyone lived but none of them are in fighting condition anymore. Apparently Antoinette and her minions organized a surprise attack” Well that doesn’t sound very good.

“Does that mean what I think it means?” I sure hope it doesn’t.

“Yes Jimin. We’re on our own now.” Fuck.

“Can’t we call in some more witches?” The look on Elder Ashlyn’s face tells me everything I need to know. She might be powerful, but she’s only one. The other Elders were supposed to help us.

“Our numbers have yet to bounce back from that last witch hunt in Salem.” We both shudder as we remember that hellacious period where our entire way of life was nearly extinguished. “It’s too risky to call in more help.”

Jesus be with us.

“I think your left nipple was right this time.” Tae asks as we’re laying in bed, deciding to call it a night now that our friends have left. I snuggle up closer to his side.

“My left nipple is always right but what was it this time?” He chuckles and kisses my forehead before he answers.

“Nurse Laila. She’s suspicious and I don’t like it.”

“I told you she was a trifling bi-” Just as I’m about to insult this woman for everything she’s worth, Tae groans in agony. “What’s wrong?” I ask worriedly thinking I’ve accidentally elbowed him or something but he doesn’t answer.

Sweat is beading at his hairline and he’s clawing at his left arm. When I notice that his fingernails are beginning to draw blood, I shift on top of him and pin both of his arms to the mattress. It’s taking every ounce of my strength to keep him from breaking free which leaves me unable to press the call button for help. Guess I’ll have to do it the old-fashioned way. I scream as loud as I can as Tae continues to thrash around and yell as if he’s being scalded. The nurse who answers my calls takes one look into the room and immediately pages Dr. Min.

She runs over to push Tae’s shoulders into the bed when she sees that I’m in danger of being thrown off of his writhing form. His entire body is covered in sweat. I can feel the heat radiating off of him in waves. Tears well up in my eyes at the sight of him in so much pain. I’m hoping that my grip on his wrist will prevent anything from happening to the mark on his skin. A rush of air scares the living daylights out of both me and the nurse as Elder Ashlyn and Jimin suddenly appear at our bed side. They’re appearance is quickly followed by that of Dr. Min.

“Get off of him but don’t let go of his wrist.” I quickly clamber off of him, joining the nurse on the other side of the bed. His arm thrashes wildly now that I can’t hold it down and for a second I’m genuinely concerned that he might pull my arm out of its socket but the thought of letting go never crosses my mind.

“Jimin we need to do a barrier spell.” He nods once and they both wave their hands over my boyfriend. They begin chanting in what sounds like the same language Jimin had used during the Reading.

Tae suddenly stops moving as he’s wrapped in a greenish light. His body lifts from the bed a few inches, taking my hand with it as I continue to hold on. The light continues to grow brighter and brighter till I’m forced to look away. When it finally dies down, Tae is lying peacefully on the bed. It’s almost as if he’s sleeping.

“You can let go now.”

“What was that?” I ask as I crawl back onto the bed with Tae and pull him into my arms. Elder Ashlyn excuses herself to speak to Dr. Min and the nurse, leaving Jimin to answer my question.

“We put a barrier spell on him and your hand coincidentally. It will protect him from any and all magic, including ours, but it won’t last forever.” He runs a hand through the dark red strands that sit messily on his head. “A faerie like Antoinette will probably find a way to break it so I’m hoping we get to her before she can do that.”

“Will he wake up or will he just keep sleeping like this?” I gently brush Tae’s sweaty hair out of his forehead and undo a few of the buttons of his pajama top to hopefully help cool him off. Jimin runs a hand through his hair again before gripping the back of his neck and I can already tell that I won’t like his answer.

“I guess I forgot to mention that barrier spells are often called Sleeping Beauty spells for obvious reasons.”

“So will true love’s kiss wake him up?” Jimin huffs out a small laugh in spite of himself.

“I’m afraid the similarity to the fairytale stops with the sleeping. Only the person or in this case people who cast the spell are able to wake him up.” I nod my head in understanding, looking up from Tae’s face when Elder Ashlyn and Dr. Min re-enter the room.

Dr. Min moves to Tae’s side of the bed, logging into the computer to input some data before he starts hooking Tae up the identical heart monitor on his side of the bed. It had previously gone unused as the faerie’s magic always seemed to be directed at me, but in light of recent events it’s definitely needed now.

“Ms. Garrison, I’ve had a long talk with Dr. Min and we think it’s best that the two of you relocate to my residence.” The Elder informs me as she takes a seat in the couch. “I’ll be able to better protect the both of you there.”

“So when do we leave?”

“Now” She waves her hands and yet nothing changes. The last time she did that she straight up disappeared but this time nada. My neck nearly snaps when I look towards my window and instead of the rose garden in front of the Center that our room had a view of there is a thick wall of trees. They sway in the wind like funeral marchers.

“Did you really just bring our entire hospital room to your house?” Jesus Christ this woman is powerful. She looks like she’s barely older than me but it’s frightening to think just how much she can do.

“Not necessarily. I simply made this spare room look like your hospital room although I did snag the monitoring equipment. It’s quite useful.” She makes sure we’re comfortable before leaving to go do whatever it is Elder witches do in times of crisis. Jimin is about to do the same but I beg for him to stay a while longer.

It’s a little strange to see him in something other than his black scrubs but I’m not complaining. The tight, ripped jeans he squeezed himself into are just what the doctor ordered. The thought of asking to take his picture briefly crosses my mind just so I can show Tae just how thick he is. I know he’d appreciate this sight just as much as I do.

“What made you want to dye your hair red?” I question as he runs his hands through it for the millionth time today.

“I like switching it up. It was bright orange before this, wanna see?” He digs his phone out of his back pocket, scrolling for a bit before he’s handing it over to me.

“You’re probably the only person I’ve ever met who could actually do this and not look like a sad jack o’lantern.” He smiles before taking his phone back.

“I don’t know I think orange would look good on you too Ms. Jess.” I roll my eyes at such an outlandish thought. I would most definitely look like a sad jack o’lantern. Tae suddenly shifts in my arms, his burrowing deeper into my chest with a small sigh.

“I’m going to ring that faerie’s neck. She deserves to rot.” Jimin’s fists are tightly clenched at his sides, teeth clenched as he stares at Tae.

“Why do you think she decided to attack Tae instead of me this time?”

“I have no idea. We’re almost ready to summon her so we’ll get some answers then.” He stands suddenly from the stool he’d been sat on, walking over to the open window. “Then we’ll kill her.”

“Kill her?” My heart skips several beats at the thought of my newfound friend taking a life. No matter how much harm she’d brought down on us, killing her just feels like too much. “Is that really necessary?”

“Supernatural laws are very clear on this matter. Attempting to break a soulmate bond is a crime punishable by death in our world.” He turns finally to look at me. “Why do you care so much? She tried to rip you guys apart. Aren’t you happy we’re taking her down?”

“Of course I’m happy but she’s still a person.” He scoffs at that.

“She lost her humanity a long time ago, Jess.” He crosses the room until he’s towering over me. If he wasn’t my friend, he’d probably be very intimidating right now with the dark expression that’s clouding his soft features. “Try to get some sleep, okay? I’ll be down the hall if you need anything.”

The door clicks softly behind him as he leaves me alone with my sleeping boyfriend. He looks so peaceful like this but I just wish we could wake him up. With a deep sigh, I shift us around in bed a bit and try to take Jimin’s advice about getting some sleep. The bright light of my phone screen coming alive catches my attention in my peripheral. It’s a text message from a number I’ve never seen in my life.

252-799-3245: Hey uhm you don’t know me but I think we need to talk

Normally I’d delete a message like this and keep it pushing but curiosity gets the best of me. I quickly type out a response and wait, biting what little fingernails I have left.

252-799-3245: My name is Namjoon

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