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themochiverse · 2 years

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We All Float | JHS

Banner credits go to: @introgfx (TYSM it looks amazing <3)

[ Part of - The Fear Festival collab hosted by the lovely @taetaecherub and pls check out the other authors works and support 'em!]

➳Pairing: yandere!shapeshifter!hoseok X fem!Reader

➳Genre: Yandere, Horror

➳Warnings: Swearing, strong impacts of graphic depictions of violence & gore ( a ton of it ), exploration of fear, mental/emotional manipulation, mentions of suicide, physical abuse (like broken bones, bruises, scars, etc.), choking, mentions of domestic violence, Agora-phobia (fear of helplessness/embarrassment, etc), bullying, Atelo-phobia [insecurities/ fear of imperfection), Claustro-phobia (fear of tight spaces), auto-phobia/mono-phobia (fear of being alone), hypnotism, blood, more blood [like srsly a lot of it], stalking, supernatural creature (s), illusions, mentions of death, NON-CON touching, NON-CON kissing (Nothing sexual happens)

**Note: This fic has extreme themes of violence and gore, including sensitive topics. If you are NOT comfortable with this, please proceed to not read it.

➳Synopsis: ‘Come one, come all, for today is the night!’ It’s Halloween, and people in town have start to gone missing. You ought to be cautious but what’s better than mucking around at a haunted house carnival with your friends? Only you should be careful around the one gorgeous looking actor who’s ready to have his horrific fun with you tonight.

➳Word Count: 9.26k+

➳Disclaimer: This fanfic is purely from my imagination, I do not intend to harm any Idol or person in any way. Nor sexualising them. Please do not steal any ideas from here, this is all of my work and original work. I DO NOT CONDONE THIS BEHAVIOUR IRL.

We All Float ©Copyright -2022- themochiverse

No part of the story can be copied, reproduced, redistributed or transformed into any other form. Meaning no photocopying, recording whether written or electrically. No methods are allowed that uses anything from this fic. This follows in the permitted Copyright Law. All images and/or gifs go to their rightful owners.

➳A/N: THIS IS THE MOST I HAVE EVER WRITTEN IN MY LIFE. I hope it's good and I'm super sorry for the delay! Anyway, I hope this gives you a thrill :p

Taglist; @minshookie29 @6tslovr @proflyndo @pinkcherrybombs @xanslii @papijiminfeed @justanotherstarlightmonger @kittykatfey @princess-sunshyn @jinniesjoon94

"Please, someone, somebody help!"

The yell for help disappears every second, and the blood-curdling screams ripple through the forest. The intention to run and seek safety was impossible at this point, especially when she was right at the hands of the masked killer.

Red, abraded cheeks, muddied hands, smothered all over her beautiful ripped, ragged clothes, the wet soil sank into her fingernails, and the painful twist that came from her ankle obviously meant more than a gruesome warning.

She whimpered when the masked person, oh so deadly, inched a foot or two, only to crouch down to her eye level. Their eyes searched hers, fear consuming those innocent orbs that would soon no longer blink.

Her hands moved backwards, pulling her body with all the strength that she had left which had only lasted seconds.

It was a clear, audible scream. A bellowed howl that had a tremendous impact, shaking the nerves of creatures who were hidden, awakened by the high-pitched shrill.

The regular kitchen knife that had now sunk deep through the girl's left hand dripped with fresh blood, coating the reflective silver material. It had gone through the soft ground, her hand pinned painfully when the warm tears sprang out of her begging eyes.

The knife now pulled out, like ripping out a bandage left a silent gasp on the girl's lips. She brought out her bloodied hand to her chest weakly, the red colour continuing to stain the girl's dirtied dress. It was not just bright enough though.

Her sobs were caught in her throat, repetitive broken cries that couldn't escape properly like broken melodies with their broken notes. It was music to him though, a lullaby he could listen to all night and sleep without any disturbance.

He shuffled towards the girl, whose breaths became hot and heavy, the beads of sweat that trickled across her forehead, in other words, a quivering figure.

Or soon be the victim.

He scrutinised the crying girl, her eyes following the knife that was lightly tracing the features of her face.

"I don't know what to do with you," the man paused "should I start here?" The knife smears the blood on her dry lips, slowly getting wet by the substance, as it made its way to the tip of her tongue. A salty, metallic flavour drove through her hard-bitten taste buds, not even close to soothing the sting which had popped everywhere.

"Or here?" This time the knife points to her chest, right at her fast- beating heart. The man puts a little pressure on the spot, digging the tip of the knife into the girl's skin to receive a response from her.

She squeezes her eyes shut out of agony, her hands scraping against the ground, making it even ten times worse.

"P-please." The response is so gentle it makes the man rethink his choices. But. But it seemed so fun, no, it was really fun. This was his excitement, his happiness, his relief, his way of living. No one could stop him, and no one would be able to save this poor little, pathetic girl.

He removes the knife before it drives deeper into the skin. The man groans, standing up as he circles around the helpless girl who could not do anything but cry.

He goes to crouch again, his noxious breath fanning over the girl's ear.

"Do you want to see my face before you die, my little girl?" Her widened eyes meant so much to him that the glee shown on his face would have been horrific to even consider. His hands grab the mask he wore, lifting it off to reveal his true identity.

"Surprise."

The girl's eyes enlarged in a stupor as she scrutinised the man in front of her. Pale cheeks with sharp cheekbones, chocolate hair that fell on their eyebrows, and that scar. That faint scar ran against his eye to his eyebrow. The scar that she created.

"Does this ring a bell?" The man chuckles, his cold hand reaching out to the girl's wounded one. She struggles to move hers away from his but the grip he had on her was immense. And at this state, this girl was soon about to die.

The man hums, his fingers drawing vague circles around the red splotch that was formed on the girl's palm. In a flash, before the girl knew it, a wet thing made her palm sting. She hissed and realised that the wet thing was actually a tongue. Disgusted, she pulls her hand away as it thuds on the ground.

She watched those rosy lips now drowned in crimson red, a deranged smile that made her sick in the stomach when he said the next words.

"I'm sorry, I was just thirsting my hunger."

The man beams with his teeth out and the knife in his hand prongs at the girl.

"Aw, don’t be afraid. Dying is much easier than living."

She knew what was going to happen next, she knew, but she attempted her last opportunity of staying alive.

"P-please, please d-don't do this."

The man draws in a breath, muttering a 'no'. The knife plunges deep into her chest, the dark blood soaking her dress as her hands also held onto the knife. She stared him in the eyes, final words choked from her bloodied throat.

"Why?"

The man observes her breathing as her hands drop onto the ground, those pretty eyes of hers stay open, and that voice he could never get tired hearing of was clamped shut. Gone forever.

He inhales her dead scent and replies thickly, "Because.. you never loved me, my love."

The man stood up before wearing his mask again, viewing his lover one last time in satisfaction. Now her dress was bright enough.

The screen goes completely black, and a loud whine erupts from your friend.

"Y/N! I was up to the best part!" You put the remote away, as you held a bowl of colourfully wrapped lollies. Black and orange for the packaging, obviously.

"Eden, please get your ass up and stop getting distracted for god's sake." You motion your friend to follow you, an irritated moan coming out of her mouth.

"But, I was up to the best part, the best part Y/N!"

"What is this? The new ghost face movie or something?"

"It's called 'Scream, Baby', and yes it is new."

"Imagine actually having a psycho killer boyfriend." You mumble to yourself before talking to Eden again.

"Good thing I stopped you or else you would've spoiled the whole thing to everyone."

"But-"

"We have the last bit of decoration left, come on, once we're done with this we can get ready to go to the carnival."

The cold air hits you both as you go to the front of the house to help each other hang the streamers and fairy lights.

"I thought your mum said she wasn't letting you go?" Eden asks, grabbing less than a handful of lollies as she pops one into her mouth, dropping the rubbish onto the ground.

You fiddle with the lights, untangling the mess that was situated.

"Did you really think I was going to listen to her?" You shake your head disapprovingly (well, actually sarcastically) finally undoing the knot.

"I think she's scared, like other mums'."

"Yeah, I get what you mean, with the drastic news and all." Eden sighs, grabbing one end of the fairy lights while you grab the other.

"Can't believe people are going missing in this small town. This shit-town, Derry." You almost scoff in disbelief as Eden silently agrees with you with a nod of her head.

You both finish off the remaining decoration, satisfied with how it turned out. Bright, flashing lights danced vibrantly, the purple neon light that hung at the door made it look extra cool. And the Jack O' Lanterns. How could anyone forget those?

Those funny, supposedly scary-looking pumpkins glowed by the warmth of candles, all of them menacingly staring at the neighbourhood. The fake cobwebs stretched over the windows and fence. Skulls at the side of the entrance sat there with the grim reaper, its skeleton dangling.

It was not the best, but at least the house looked spooky enough for little kids. You check out the other houses on the street, some almost looking like haunted mansions while others left theirs unbothered with only one Jack O' Lantern and a bucket of candies. The regular sign says, "Please take one."

"Didn't the Jefferson's give away toothbrushes instead of chocolate last year?" Eden points to the last house on the street, which was not decorated at all.

"They're not here, heard they went to Hawaii for vacation a week ago."

"Dang, wanted to pull one last prank at them, and how'd you know?"

You snort, covering the laugh with your hand.

"You've always said that Eden, and word spreads fast here, especially with the internet and all."

You stretch, the moonlight shining on the darkened roads as clouds block the wonderous image in the night sky. Oh boy, today was going to be a fun night.

"Now, who's ready to attend the carnival?"

The cheers of exhilaration and laughter surge far from the entrance of this year’s Halloween extravaganza, and more than hundreds of people had attended to deem the levity chills of fear and excitement. The air had never felt much colder than when you and Eden just arrived at the town's biggest festival.

Even though you wore a black, puffy jacket with the fluff tickling your neck, you could still feel the subtle breeze singing along with you. The black shirt with shoulder cuts made your skin shine gloriously beneath the night sky. Your dark blue jeans glistened from the shiny stones that were neatly attached.

A great outfit for a great night.

“Where are the others?” You ask as you glance around for your friends.

Eden glances at her watch, the time ticking away slowly.

“They should be here, let’s go in and see if we can find them.”

An arch was made just for this festivity, painted red words dripped displayed, 'The Carnal Fear'.

The carnival was bombarded with people, stalls of all types of games set up, the aroma of fresh food just swinging by, and oh my, the prizes. How could anyone forget the prizes? Bright lights and music filled up empty lanes as more people started to come in.

"Y/N! Eden!" Young voices yell from afar, two people running like if it were the end of the world. A pair of arms wrap around your shoulders, the wispy air already replaced the warmth that was radiated by the touch.

Min-ho and Jina smiled at you and Eden, their cheeks widened every second.

"Oh my god, I can't believe we finally got to meet up!" Jina exclaims, her giggles wandering around your ears.

"Don't tell me you guys started without us." Eden folds her arms across her chest, a fake scoff erupting from the corner of her lips as they quirk up.

Min-ho rolls his eyes jokingly, his fluffy hair being swept away in the chilly weather.

"Of course not, we were just looking for you guys."

You squint your eyes at him as they trail down to his shoulder.

"You sure you didn't play any games without us?" Min-ho follows your gaze, an 'o' expression formed on his lips.

Startled, he tries to send a signal to Jina, confusion taking over.

"Nice bear, there's one that looks exactly like it, right over there." You point to a water gun stall, little kids crowding the line as each of them were frantic for a prize. And one received the duplicate teddy bear Min-ho had darned on his shoulder.

“Alright, we did play, but it was only one!”

The giggle that abrupted from your lips fluttered in the air, a tingling sensation that flew into his ear. A wonderous, unhinged smile paved its way out of control. He stared across at you and your little gang, worthless in fact, but he just knew that the four of you were going to make his night the best. A night he would never forget.

Your steps on the pathway walked in every direction out of excitement as screams and joyous laughter mixed in delight- out of order. Your eyes fall into fascination with the decorative rides, and the food stalls- just the festival itself was amazing.

You viewed common games that are played on Halloween every year, like the classic 'Apple Bobbing'. Red apples were floating in a brown barrel, usually used for beer, and the spectacular green water rose up and down whenever a person was participating.

"How's it green?" You ask your friends out of curiosity.

"Not sure, they probably got lights in there or they actually coloured it." Jina replies to you as her fingers point towards a specific fun ride.

The Merry-Go-Round

"You want to go on a kids ride?" Minho says.

"Why not? Unless you want to be a loser and not reminisce childhood memories!" You stick your tongue at Minho, laughing as you and Jia run to hop onto the ride.

Minho gawks at Eden as they both share an awkward silence.

"Well, they're not wrong." Eden mentions as she goes to join them. Minho's ready to go but a loud whisper and slight yelling prevented him from taking a step further. He finds a couple pulled into a quiet area, both of them arguing.

"I told you not to talk to him!"

"I ain't lying, I didn't even talk to him!"

"Fucking whore, knew I shouldn't have brought you here."

"What did you just say? What the fuck did you just call me you son of a-"

Whack

Silence pours in like a waterfall, and a surprised, light-hearted gasp turns into a tremble. Hot air starts to burn onto the marked skin, too hot for breathing. Angry eyes turn into frightful ones, and they soon turn into a puddle of tears.

"Go act like a pretty bitch and wipe those fucking tears off your face." The man spits at his girlfriend's feet, walking away with a hot head. Her sniffles slowly die down, as she walks out too, her eyes landing on Minho.

He's frozen, gazing at her red cheek and puffed, eyes. He doesn't move, doesn't utter a word but is stuck. His breath hitches, taking a step back before the woman trudges away.

Fucking helpless.

"Minho! Hurry up!" He hears your voice, and it's filled with so much pleasure, it's something he hasn't truly felt in a while. Minho joins as he sits on the galloping horse. A clear, distinct white color reflects light and the red and blue patterns disguise its true beauty. The ride begins and fun-like music tunes in, the galloping horses going up and down as your laughter and cheers are in unison with your friends.

Except for Minho.

He's lost in his personal thoughts, gazing at the ground. The woman that looked at him, he thought about her eyes. How they were deceiving, bewitching and untrustworthy. Sure she had fat tears in them, everybody cries though. That woman could have simply, or even possibly tried talking to him. Had she needed help? Of course, she did, she was just scared, frightened. That was all.

Well, maybe she did not need to talk to him but could have told security or gone to the police. The woman seemed shocked at first, the slap had gotten her startled, yet quiet. It was a physical act that put her in her place. It was a toxic relationship. Perhaps it started as verbal, continuous arguments. Then those arguments altered into the man calling his girlfriend indecent names. Financial problems or blackmailing could be part of the list too, and this list could go on forever.

Minho knows all about this. This kind of stuff. It was hard to tell if he suffered in his life, but he was living way better right now. But back in the past? The most important time of living life? It was his precious childhood/teenage days that were too fragile for anything. Especially graphic.

Everything was going well.

Minho was halfway through high school, an A+ student, healthy, and athletic, his mother got a job, and his dad was working as an architect. The family was rich and financially great and Minho's life was normal. Just like everyone else.

Everything was going well.

It was just one fucking night that changed everything.

From normal to chaotic.

"Minho, try calling him again." His mother's panicked voice rang through the dining room as she paced back and forth.

Minho pressed the numbers, but the call didn't go through.

"Where could he be?" Her mellow voice was shaking in worry and fear for her husband. She knew he had an important, huge meeting and that he was supposed to be back by 9 or at least 10.

But it was fucking 1 in the morning. Minho remembered the time perfectly. The more he thought about the scene he just witnessed, the more he travelled back in time.

Minho was 16, he looked a little skinny, but had a fair look. In fact, he recently found out that one of the girls in his class had a crush on him. But now was not the time to think about that. He observes his mother still pacing back and forth, biting onto one of her nails as she gnawed on it. It wasn't a good habit of hers, and Minho smiled at that.

The door clicked, and heavy steps were taken into the house. Minho's mother jumped as she ran to see her love. She hugged him dearly, relieved that nothing serious had happened to him.

She was gently pushed off by him, her questions following her.

"Where were you?" Yes, where did his father go?

The response comes out as a grunt as he takes off his coat, loosens his tie and gulps a glass of cold water. Minho doesn't know if his mother took notice, but his dad's hair was a little messy, a little too messy for his liking.

"Honey, is everything okay? I was worried sick about you."

Minho's dad ignores her again, it's until she tugs his hand. It was this strong, bitter smell that she whiffed at. Alcohol and a mix of perfume, a perfect combination like chaos.

"Where the hell were you?" His mother says sternly, eyes narrowing within a second as her voice grows loud.

"Whose perfume is this? Who the fuck did you meet?"

"I was at the meeting."

"No you did not, you told me the meeting ended at nine to be exact and that you would be at least an hour late. What were you doing in that one hour that made you come home so late?!"

"I was at the god damn meeting!" Now his father's voice grew as he intimidatingly went up close to his wife.

"You fucking liar! I can smell the perfume, it's a woman's perfume. Just tell me who you were with!"

"You said it yourself you bitch! A woman."

Minho stared across at his parents, the tension growing and growing further like poisonous roots. He blinked and the next thing he saw made him sick in the stomach like his worst nightmare on a happy day.

His father's hands were around his mother's neck, her face swelled red and her eyes were tearing up. The nails that dug into her neck were crushing her fragile throat and she felt the world around her closing in.

Without any control or sense, Minho grabbed a vase and-

"Minho!" He's out of his thoughts, and they withered away like blowing a candle. You stare at your friend in concern as the ride had stopped and he just happened to zone out.

"Everything okay? You wanna do something else of your liking or-"

"No, I'm good." The response comes out as bitter as death, wicked like hell. You could tell something was wrong. A change in his expression, coupled with an uneasy tone, that gave it all away.

Was he not enjoying himself? Or was there something beyond this? Something out of your hands? The four of you stroll around, looking for something else to enjoy as you tell your friends to go ahead and that you would catch up to them soon.

Your hands fiddle around the white laces on your shoe, groaning as you bump into someone.

"I'm so sorry, I did not see you there." You gape at the tall person in front of you, their Halloween outfit as black as the devil's blood, and their little hat on top looked exactly like a jester hat but just black. Its silver balls illuminated in the night, chimes ringing here and there. The man in front of you gave a light- tipped smile, grinning with his teeth out.

"No, it's okay, I'm just glad I bumped into you."

You open your mouth but the words get stuck in your throat once you process his response. Glad I bumped into you? What the hell was that supposed to mean? You catch him still staring at you with those endearing eyes, dark circles underneath them until you notice something off about his right eye.

It was a very faint, red line that stretched across his eye. A scar.

"I don't mean to creep you out, even though that's what everyone in Halloween is doing," he muttered, still giving you the exact light-tipped smile from before, "but I what I mean is for you to come over to the circus that will start soon in about fifteen minutes."

Oh, he must work here.

"A circus? Well, that's new."

"Yeah, it's a new addition you know? Be there by the way and bring your friends along too. You'll seek thrills there."

"Right, uh thanks."

Suddenly someone grabs your arm from behind, staggering you as you see Eden.

"Y/N, what's taking you so long? Jina and Minho are waiting for you."

"Sorry, this man here was talking to me." You turn around only to find him gone. Huh.

"Yeah, let's go."

You gotta be careful you know,

It's like dust falling into snow,

You won't notice it for a while,

It just so happens right before you go.

"Oh my lord, why is the line so long?" Jina frowns with her hands across her chest. She was so pumped to experience actual jump scares from her point of view, but it had been simply crushed by the number of people who also wanted to do the same thing as her. A sign had been nailed to the ground, wet paint displaying, "One Pair at a Time."

"Are you kidding me?" She grows irritated, asking one of the workers why it was only one pair at a time.

"Too many people ma'am, worried a fright can turn 'em into a stampede. Don't want history to repeat itself do we?"

Right, the 1980 'Death Joke'. Like any other Halloween, the haunted house was a classic for everyone. It was until a mysterious actor decided to scare the crap out of everyone that was in there. Realistic screams rang through, and wails of pain ruptured within the walls. The people outside had stopped their personal conversations only to see a pack of people running out of the frightening house. There were so many of them that some had died by being stepped over or just simply their heart jumping out of their sockets. The blood was the true witness of all.

But, the most shocking thing was the way some died. Ripped arms, punctures all over the bodies, so many of them headless. Blood had dripped down the walls, splattered, dried out. Those who came out alive spoke the unspeakable.

It was a giant spider. Bigger than a human with legs as pincers, and terrifying teeth. They were all pointed outwards, with sharp edges with a ton of them in spirals. The only thing that was so unnatural about it was the head. It was a human head with deep, red scars, scathed along its eyes. It was a human that turned into the spider, the actor.

They didn't know what to call it, so they called it, IT. The media had labelled them as crazy and psychotic. It was bullshit that no one would ever believe, a fake tale just to get the suspicions of murder away. Some of the survivors were either convicted or sent to asylums. Months later, all of them died by committing suicide. Stabbed, jumped out of a window or hanged themselves to death.

No one wants history to repeat.

Loud sighs drew from your friends, Eden spoke, "Let's get some food first? My stomach is growling and that's a sign of 'you're gonna die if you don't eat'," she laughed sarcastically as the others followed her. You're tagging along until you hear a whisper.

"Pst."

It was almost a stern whisper, nothing electrifying or hot, it felt like ice. Like dead bodies.

"Pst." It repeats again, and the same feeling is there again. The wisp of cold air, but when you turn around you find no one. Those large pair of eyes that narrowed, glowed dangerously.

Oh, Oh, you were so so stupid.

Such a pathetic being, yet so distinct and beautiful.

If Hoseok had the opportunity to snatch you away right now, he would.

But, he can't do this in front of everyone, after all, for the first time in years he's revealing himself to a group.

And that was specifically yours.

Only then, you noticed the floating balloon that sat in the quiet alley. As red as a cherry, the bright colour flashed in front of you. Alluring, hypnotic thoughts drag you in there. You get a hold of the string, not thinking much about it.

"Boo!" You don't know if it was the same noise but they both happened at the same time. You jump back, the popped balloon now flat on your hands as you stared at the glowing eyes that glare at you.

The person comes to light, and it's the same man from earlier.

"I'll give you a tip," he chuckles deeply, "go to the circus, and the line here will be gone, once it's done come straight here and I'll allow you and your gang to go in."

"W-wait, you work as an actor here?"

"A professional actor, professional enough to scare you." The man winks as he walks out of the alley. And then, he's gone.

You somehow managed to convince your friends to head over to the circus as it turned out that the man was right. Nearly everyone had gone to see the show and most of the rides had no lines. You all jog in whatsoever, a man with a black jester hat-

Him again?

He smiles gleefully at you again, but it now felt a little off to you. It wasn't just the way he smiled but also how you took his words into consideration. Go to the circus, and the line here will be gone, once it's done come straight here and I'll allow you and your gang to go in.

Hang on, if the lines were going to be empty, why couldn't you go now?

"Take a mask, take a seat and enjoy the show!"

You glance around and find the massive tent you guys are in had enough space to fit everyone that came. Solid, brown wooden benches smelt like fresh pinewood and mint. Red and yellow stripes licked the tent in all directions, and the rainbow lights lit up the place.

It's deafening to the crowd, but the audience settles down when dramatic music starts to play. The lights dimmed, and everyone hushed as the show was about to begin.

"Ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys, welcome to this year's Carnal Fear Circus!" Whoops and cheers surge in the air, thunderous clapping now softened.

"Stay in your seats, eat up your food and feel amused and overwhelmed by this show as it's not one to miss!" Magicians play fantastic tricks, the audience going 'ooh' and 'ah.' They bring monkeys in and then the monkeys start doing tricks. You see acrobats and clowns doing their own little thing. Everyone claps and laughs in jubilation. But something is off.

It's like time slows down and you can hear ticking. Everything around you is in slow-mo, including your friends who were munching on cheesy hot dogs and corn on the cob. The hairs on your neck stand, anxiety crawling through.

When you think you're alone, someone watches.

And he's staring right at you. No smile this time, but a dead look like he's about to murder someone. Behind him, an object flies into the air. And it's a red balloon, as red as a cherry. It goes higher and higher till it bursts.

"Let's pick some volunteers! Who will help Mick the mysterious in his performance?" Hands fly into the air, and multiple people yell over each other to be chosen.

The magician, Mick, points over to your area. "You two there! Pretty ladies with hot dogs and corn, why don't you come over?" Eden and Jina glance at each other, giggling as they jog off to the pit. You and Min-ho watch silently, and you observe how his mood had slightly gotten better. He finally had a smile on his face.

"May I have your names please?" The mic is passed to them, and both of them speak.

"What gorgeous names! Now, Jina, I have a task for you to do, in fact, you get to work on this one." The magician uses his wand (yes, the wand with the white tip and its black midway) to display the glistening, black rectangular box in front of him.

"I want you to get inside of this box while your friend Eden will be looking for a key. She'll be given clues to get you out, and you'll see the surprise that comes by."

Jina mutters a sure, entering the rectangular box that almost looked like a coffin, the lid shut closed. Eden covers her face with her hands, her ginger hair helping too. Mick hides the key right under the heavy box, slipping it ever so quietly. Inside the box is completely dark, and Jina's breathing was the only thing she heard. Maybe the box was soundproof? It was so dark, dark like on a Christmas Eve night.

"8..9..10, here I come! Ready or not."

The floorboards creak, faint little footsteps stomping around the house. Jeremy was scavenging for his younger sister, Jina. It was a Christmas Eve night, and the adults were all laughing, having sips of rich, bubbly champagne. His cousins, Tim and Tilly had joined them to play hide and seek.

It was Jeremy's turn to seek his cheeky cousins and of course his sister. He entered his room, crept up tacitly and looked under the bed. He found two pairs of eyes peering right at him. Tim and Tilly crawl out of the bed, giggling at the silly idea to hide in the most obvious place. The only person left was Jina. Now, Tim and Tilly could help but they cannot tell Jeremy at all, even if they find Jina themselves. That was part of the rules.

"Achoo!" The noise comes from across the corridor, the trio running right past Jina. She was tucked in the old, dusty cupboard that her mother used to put ancient things in. Like some of the Christmas decorations that were in here, and the wine cups too.

The cupboard was empty this time, and it was enough room for Jina to hide in. When she had run in and closed the cupboard's door shut, it was as black as night. She wasn't scared, she was a brave girl. Time passed, and Jina heard her cousins talking with her brother loudly downstairs.

"Where could she have gone? We looked at all the hiding spaces."

She chortled, tiny hands pressing against her soft cheeks. It felt like forever all of a sudden. Her palms began to sweat, her body feeling uncomfortably hot. Maybe now was the time to get out, and her butt had been aching from sitting the whole time.

Jina reaches to push the door, but it does not budge. She tries again, and again. The door rocks instead as if it were stuck on drying cement. Her heart races, blood pumping ridiculously, grunting as she uses all of her power to push the door open.

Nothing.

Then everything gets too dark, too dark that for a moment she thought she was blind. Her breathing gets heavy, and her forehead is sweaty too with a blistering temperature. The cupboard starts closing in on her and she starts to feel alarmed.

Her hands touch the back of the furniture and it felt incredibly close to her. She does the same with the other sides, her mind striking her that the walls were going to crush her. The space was too compact, feeling like she couldn't barely move at all. She feels her lungs constrict, blood pumping faster, and the oxygen around her slowly dissipates away.

"Mommy? Daddy?" She cries out, tiny teardrops plummet from her green eyes. She can't move her legs, barely an inch to move and it gets much harder to breathe. Jina starts to bang on the door vigorously, screaming for her mother and father.

"Mommy! Daddy!"

In a couple of seconds murmurs and yells come from outside the cupboard.

"Jina, sweetie, where are you?" A silky voice drifts and Jina realises it's her mother.

She hits the door again, sobbing.

There's grunting at the door, and groans of pain as the door swings open with massive power. Jina is lifted off of her feet swiftly, crying as she speaks with broken sobs.

"I c-couldn't b-breathe mommy, it was too dark."

It was too dark.

Abruptly the memories wash in and Jina starts to find herself in the same situation. Her vision blurs, getting clammy and her breathing becomes rapid. Rapid short breaths as she's wondering what might be taking Eden so long?

"Ooh, you're hot..cold...ok now warmer.. extremely hot." Jina can hear them, her hands sticking onto the black box's lid, trying to push it open. But it's locked. She starts to experience the exact feeling, the dark walls closing in, she might be locked in here forever.

She endures the space surrounding her, feet touching the very edge of the box. She clangs the lid, hoping to get a response.

"You're right there!" Jina makes out the comment, and her heart pumped briskly. It was starting to get suffocating and she couldn't take off the jacket she was wearing. Jina bangs at the lid again, yelling to get out.

"Open this! Open this shit right now!" She begins to pant as her vision starts to lose focus and witnesses stars in front of her. She tries kicking with her legs, but she's so weak, the oxygen getting harder and harder to reach her lungs.

"And she did it, ladies and gentlemen! A round of applause for these two." Roaring claps swell in the tent and the crowd cheers. A wave of chilly air brushes against Jina, and her eyes flutter. She recognises Eden pulling her up as she stumbles against her. She gazes to find you and Minho on the benches, but a twisted feeling punches her stomach.

Right behind you is a red balloon, bright and smooth, floating with a white string. It twirls around and black writing is formed on there.

"Jina."

It pops and Jina cowers out of nowhere, frantic eyes probing whether or not the crowd saw that at all. And it seemed like you didn't too.

You notice Jina's red cheeks, her sweat shining across her forehead. You watch Eden comforting her as they reach the steps to talk to you and Minho.

"Jina, oh my god, what happened?" She sits with a huff, slithering off her jacket.

"Just got a little conscious over tight spaces, again."

"Let's go outside and get some fresh air, we can just chill-"

"Dear ladies and gents, the mask you have brought in, please wear them for the next act!" The speakers' screech from corners, everyone whispering and teasing each other when they wore their masks. Except when you rummage to look for yours, it is not there. And it's the same with Eden, Jina and Minho as well.

The masks everyone put on looked horrendous. There were the classic X eyes and lined smiles, hollow faces with white teeth, fake blood splattered on fake bandages, and the word 'god' and the cross were written on it. They reminded you of purge masks, just like the ones in movies.

Promptly the lights switch off, and everyone is dead quiet. Your friends eye behind you, and you do the same. The masks start to glow, all of them staring at the black pit. No one moves, and no one talks until a red light glows. And you see him. You don't see the magicians or the acrobats, but him.

The man is grinning again, presenting a wide smile that can charm anyone.

"Eden...you don't look too splendid today." He draws out her name, and it echoes in her ear. She widens her brown orbs, parting her lips as she looks at the jester man.

"Don't you remember? Eden, you better not come to homecoming."

It’s the gasp that reminds her.

"Eden, you fat doll! You better not come to homecoming you ugly piece of shit." Spit falls on her brand-new, polished shoes by the bully, Sophie. Her blond hair swishes and she gives Eden a nasty stare, pushing her aside as her gang snickers.

Eden doesn't know what's wrong with her. Is she that awful? Is she that bad looking that everyone in her class makes fun of her? Didn't her diet help her? Probably was, and it made sense. No one liked her anyway, not only her looks but her personality too. She was too shy or extremely weird, not sporty or athletic. Life does take a lot of turns for the worst.

Homecoming was near and the endless threats that were sent Eden’s way made it an obvious decision to not attend the party. Even though she had prepared a beautiful dress, it wasn't worth it.

She sighs at the beauty she created, a dark navy blue ball dress attached with stick-on diamonds, faint silver glitter and the pale ends of sky blue. Fake blue carnations were affixed to the corset and golden linings were hemmed along the way. God, she even had matching jewelry too.

“Why aren't you going?” Her mother had asked her as she cleaned the dishes.

“I don't know, I just don't feel like going.”

"Nonsense, you will prevail homecoming with that dress. And it doesn't matter if you don't go out with a guy, as long as you're having fun then it's okay." Her mother optimistically said, hoping it would convince her daughter to go.

"I seriously don't know mom, and my dress is not that appealing either. I feel like it's going to be tedious." Eden's mother raises her eyebrows at her, and the delicate dishes clang as she takes off her wet gloves.

"You better wear that dress in five minutes, and I don't want to hear it from you." She points a wooden spoon at her, sipping a bit of hot chicken soup she had made. Eden whined, stomping to her room and grabbing her dress. She slips it on easily, fixing the ends of the dress and did a little twirl. She glanced at the mirror, her ginger hair curled at the ends and never minded- her dress actually looks gorgeous.

A knock is heard at the door, and Eden's mother comes in with a smile on her face. She started to help Eden with her hair, added a couple of extensions and did her nails. Eden giggled when the makeup brush tickled her eyes, the blue eyeshadow sprinkling. When they were done, Eden's lips parted, an 'o' shape formed and she was in shock.

"You look like Cinderella." Her mother told her, and Eden replied she wasn't in a fairy tale and that she was all grown up now. The drive to her school didn't take too long, and the blast of music thundered when they parked their car.

"Have fun, and if you need anything call me okay?" Eden's mother gave a swift kiss on her daughter's cheek. She waves and enters the school, and Eden discerns laughter and conversations in the hall. It was bright, a disco ball shimmering its sparkles and people were dancing. As if they were hypnotised, the conversations ceased and everyone stopped to look at her. Whispers and murmurs rang through Eden's ears and for a second she thought they were gonna tease her again.

"Jesus Eden! You look beautiful." A girl complimented her, and then a lot of people started to do the same. Eden never felt this type of appreciation in her life. People invited her to dance, to eat with them and she had proper chats too.

"Dear students of Drightfall High, thank you for voting and we hope you all are having a great time. We have calculated the votes to announce this year's homecoming king and queen!" Hoorays and clapping were occurring and a slap of drum rolls happened.

"This year's homecoming king and queen are-" the announcer pauses, opening the envelope in their hands, "Noah and Eden!" The room yells in congrats and hugs are given. To experience the feeling of the homecoming crown on Eden's head was truly an honour.

Once the party was over and everyone was saying their goodbyes, someone pulls Eden into a quiet corner.

"You bitch!" A slap smacks Eden across her cheek, and she stumbles.

"I told you not to come to homecoming, and you just took my fucking win."

"You disgusting whore, what is this piece of shit anyways? Made it yourself from the dollar store? Bet it couldn't compare to my designer dress." Sarah simpers, her friends following her too.

Rrripp.

"Woops, my hand slipped." A tear in Eden's dress and pull on her carnations- it was too much to handle.

More rips and more delirious moves were made and Eden pushed them off. Her salty tears wiped the makeup off of her face, and she wobbled on the road.

Fuck.

How the fuck did he know?

Within a second Eden runs away, her sobs loud and clear when she exits the tent.

"Eden wait!" You yell after her, and then they snap their heads toward you. Your heart thumps against your rib cage. Every single individual stares at you with their purge masks and Jina and Minho halt too. Your eyes trail to the pit and the jester man that stood there cackled wickedly.

"You better run." He said in a sing-like way, and he vanishes. The red light continues to radiate and there's an ear-splitting grind. The audience stands up, hands forming into fists and weapons come out of nowhere.

Your breath hitches as you and the others take slow steps.

"Run."

You all hop off of the benches, feet pressing against concrete and you look for Eden to leave.

"Eden! Eden where are you?!" You stick with Minho and Jina, their voices colliding.

"What the fuck is happening?!"

"I don't fucking know but there's fucking murderers coming after us!"

"We need to find Eden, right now so we can get out of here." You inform them, and instantly a pack of heavy stomps carry on the ground.

You all turn around in sync and it's the audience cracking their necks, holding axes and knives.

Shit.

You sprint as fast as you can while Minho shouts.

"Where do we go?!"

"We're on the opposite side of the exit, it's gonna take us longer if we take a detour." Jina mentions, your breaths are in sync.

What's one place that will be hard for them to find you?

Your eyes broaden and you have an idea.

"The haunted house- let's go there!"

"Are you insane? It's going to be easier for them-"

"It's the biggest ride to easily hide, and we need to find Eden right now."

They look at you with hesitation set in their eyes, but with no choice, they agree and follow you.

You all huff and pant when you enter the house, and it's perfectly decorated. The dark wood, with carvings and cobwebs, barely any light escaping through. Various stairs and corridors are planted, old dry paintings hang on the walls and a wail erupts upstairs.

Eden.

The three of you run up to find her, hearts racing faster every time you thought about dying at the hands of these people.

"Eden! Where are you? We need to leave right now-"

"Y/N in here!" Jina shouts, and you hurriedly go after her. You identify Eden sobbing quietly, her eyes red and swollen from whatever she beheld.

"Eden, we need to leave right now. You're not gonna believe it but there's a like a whole fricking mob coming after us."

"What?"

"Y-yeah, we have to get out now." Eden teeters on her feet, and finally, the four of you prepare to leave when-

"FUCK!" A yowl erupts from Minho, and behind him stood one of those masked people. A knife was stuck deep in his shoulder, blood coating his denim jacket. He can feel the weapon drive deeper and deeper into his skin, the tendons and muscles- it's all pain. You dash to him but Jina gets a hold of your wrist, pulling you back. Behind Minho, there's...more.

No, no, no.

"Minho!" You scream and he wails in agony. You, Eden and Jina trip out of the room and the door shuts close. You grab onto the door handle, unable to open it.

"Leave him alone! Don't you fucking touch him-"

A head-splitting slice hangs in the air, and you're mute.

No...

"Y/N, let's go. I-it's too late." Jina murmurs, and hot tears sprang from your eyes. Eden peers downstairs and even more arrive.

"We need to get up higher." She tells and you obey.

You're all panting again with contended hearts and clammy clothes, pushing yourself into the first room you find.

It's wide and massive, and dust reeks from the ceiling-

Oh lord. The ceiling.

Like an ancient movie, sharp spikes are pointed, as white as day. In front of you were solid, cobblestone steps and one mistake could result in death.

You catch Eden pulling the doorknob but the door is locked.

"We're all going to die at this point." Jina whispers to herself, never feeling this scared in her life.

You ignore the disastrous emotion, and carefully observe the steps in front of you.

"Y/N, what are you doing?"

You step on the first stone, and nothing happens yet.

"Just follow me, and don't step on any stone that is raised a bit higher. It'll trigger the trap."

They silently stick with you and you're halfway there.

"Woah!" You snap your head, looking at Jina who had accidentally stepped on the wrong stone. It goes deep into the ground, grinding against it and everything goes soundless. The ceiling begins to shake like an earthquake and it was getting extremely difficult for you to keep your balance.

"Just go!" You yell, jumping on every random stone just to get out of this death trap. You get out of the horrendous room, and the lights start to flicker. Eden comes out too, panting when she sees you.

"Where's Jina?"

A scream bellows, and you see the walls closing in on Jina.

"Y/n! E-Eden, fuck help ME please." She chokes out, her body getting squished by the rough walls. The ceiling starts to drop closer and closer to her, and you both can't do anything. There's no button to turn it off, nothing.

You wince when you start to hear cracks, and her screams echo in your ear. The spikes sink into her forehead, and her skull gets demolished. Blood splattered, some of it landing on you. The walls oppose each other, and Jina's body was stuck on the spikes. She hung loosely, and nothing of her was noticeable anymore. Her face was completely gone and bones were out in all the wrong places. It drops with a thud, more blood spilling and the puddle grew.

You stare at the scene like a dead person.

A dead person.

"Y/N..." You feel Eden heave on your shoulder as she dragged you away. You're both at the end of the corridor, and a glimmer of hope arises. Right in front of you was a door with an exit sign and you and Eden rushed in.

Except, it wasn't an exit.

It was a mirror maze.

You apprehend the door slam and the ground shakes slightly. You and Eden glance at each other, nodding heads as you take steps. It's clear, and blue lights reflect. Copies of you and your friend are at every angle and direction, and you bump into one of the mirrors.

"Fuck." You groan as you soothe your head with your hand.

"Eden, do you know where to go next?" You question her but there's no response. You gaze at the mirrors and your heart jumps out of your chest.

"Eden?"

"Y/N!" You hear her calling you and you start taking haphazard control. You collide into more mirrors until you find her.

"Eden, oh my god, are you okay?"

"Y-yeah, I'm fine, I just got lost, sorry."

"Don't be, come on, I think we're near-" You jolt straight away, your head impacted by the clear wall in front of you.

What the-

You form fists at the door, sweaty palms greasing the clean glass. Eden tries to leave but she also hits her head. Oh god, she's stuck.

And then you hear this disgusting noise behind Eden.

It's the man.

His tongue glides smoothly along the glass, and you start to see his red scar more vividly now. Out of nowhere, he bangs his head on the glass and both you and Eden jump. He does it again and repeats it until there's a crack.

Hell, you were realising what he was doing. You try breaking the glass with your shoulder but pain waves in. The crack starts to get extensive, and you keep trying to somehow fracture the glass from your side.

The banging stops and you look at the man grinning again, with a red balloon behind him.

He opens his mouth wide, and spirals start to form, and so many teeth jagged are coated with blood.

"No! Stop, stop, leave HER ALONE!" You scream, as your fists rap at the wall.

"Don't do this to her! PLEASE, I'm begging you, don't do this to-"

Clink.

Glass shatters everywhere, and fragment of pieces graze Eden's face. A crunch is heard and you see blood explode on the walls and you fall back, not realising the tears had already dropped. The man is gone again.

Your head takes time to process the things you just saw, and all of your friends were dead. They were never going to come back into this world ever again. You manage to exit the room and find a pair of stairs that lead back to the start of the house. You're so tranced in your thoughts that you trip on a step, tumbling down and you hear a twisted crack from your ankle.

The shriek that bursts out of your dry lips tells enough of a gruesome warning. You peek at your leg and you shake your head. Part of the bone is cracked and it pops out, blood enriching the wound. The torment is killing you and you have no other option but to crawl out of the place. You haul yourself out steadily, wincing and hissing every time the bone gnawed at your skin.

You're in the middle of the path, behind you was the exit, but it was sealed with red balloons and a wooden board. Everything is so quiet, and dead. No one was here except for you and the man.

You were so alone.

"Hey Y/N, wanna play truth and dare?" Your friend asks you, wiggling her eyebrows when you say yes.

"Okay... I pick truth."

"Aw man, I had a good dare. Anyway, what's your biggest fear?"

You take time to answer this one, what was your biggest fear?

"Hmm, I think it's being alone."

"Alone? What type of fear is that?"

You try to explain to her, "It's like you're scared of being alone in this world, and you're the only person who exists in a certain place."

"So that's your fear?"

"Yeah, I hate being alone."

You hated being alone, and you were so fearful about it.

Sweet, melodious music dances in the breeze and only one ride smoulders in front of you.

The Merry-Go-Round

The man dressed in all black stands there watching you. Your breath hitches and you see him crack his bones and do weird movements with his body. His legs begin to extend and they become...pincers? The same goes for his arms and the body part that remains normal is his head.

Everything starts to connect... the 1980 Death Joke, and the missing people from previous festivals-

He was the actor.

And he even told you at the beginning.

He's so proud, and he's played such a mind game with you all. And he's finally going to have you, and keep you forever.

"Y/N, my darling, how was the carnival?" The name throws you off, and you whimper when you move back with your broken ankle.

Hoseok catches this and he pouts.

"My poor girl got hurt while trying to survive? Well, isn't that heroic?" He crawls with his pincers, coming towards you, and you try to move backwards. You're slow and weak, unable to move an inch when you move your leg. He, on the other hand, runs at a pace that even you could not muster.

"No!" You scream, hands swatting at him.

He cradles you in his spider-form arms, and brings you extremely close to his face.

"I forgot to introduce myself, forgive me. But the name is Hoseok, or as others like to call me, IT."

You tremble under his touch, as you uncomfortably writhed around. Everything is silent and it feels like it's just the both of you that exist in this world. His world.

"I want you to scream for me."

It all happens in a flash and you screech at the pincer that struck your chest. Blood drips, and crimson floods in. You gurgle and spit out blood when it goes even further. You can feel yourself breathing slowly, the breaths now soft and steady, and your eyes become blurry.

They stare directly into Hoseok's eyes, and he opens his mouth. Three circular balls glow yellow and your eyes fall into his spell. Just right before you get hypnotised, you see the bodies of your friends float in the night sky. Blood dripped from each of them. The amount of fear he consumed from them was fresh, and it was like a full buffet. Hoseok is always in your head and was always inside your friends' heads too. Sure, he enjoyed fear, but the best part of all was death. Just seeing the way they all die.

Hoseok gives you the exact same light-tipped smile from before, and he was right, you did make his night the best.

His lips fall onto yours, capturing the liquid, murmuring to you.

"You're not alone anymore, Y/N."

He chuckles before diving in again.

"Once in a while... we all float."

#We All Float #yandere hoseok #yandere shapeshifter hoseok #horror #yandere #tw: violence and gore #yandere writing #yandere hoseok x female reader #yandere kpop #yandere bts #hoseok smut #bts smut #jhope smut

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trina864 · 1 year

Text

Kingdoms and Wars | Park Jimin

Summary; You always thought it was your fault what happened that night, but when you find out what really happened and that something much bigger is going on it brings you closer to the one you thought you lost.

Paring: Panther shapeshifter Jimin X Peregrine falcon shapeshifter f!reader. | E2L

Genre: Fanfiction, romance, Fantasy. || Angst, Fluff. | ROYAL AU

Word count: 16k

Warnings: It’s a war, so lots of fighting - also against Jimin. Mentions of blood, killing, torturing, manipulating. We’re talking wounds to the bones here. Very chaotic in a way. Reader is a confused mess, yet strong lady. Jimin is pretty mean at the beginning.

Spotify Playlist: Here.

‣ A/N: Hi, so I’ve had this story in my drafts for soooo... long! I picked up on it a while ago and it took me some time to find out which way I wanted to go with it. But here we are! I want to be honest with you and say that I’m not very good at keeping a blog, and it takes me some time, lots of time actually to write stories, but I’m practicing to write faster and better. With that being said I’m always up for a chat, and I hope you like this story! Love from the author. <3

This was the moment.

Your moment.

Your soldiers moment.

The moment you had spent months on planning. Every detail was set and the thirst for victory had never been stronger.

It was strange, a war between two different shape-shifting races.

One being birds of prey; your kind.

The other being all cat animals you could think of. From the smallest lynx to the biggest lion; Jimins kind.

Shapeshifters were always friendly, keeping to themselves in the background. Compared to other creatures as dragons and elves shapeshifters were very calm.

But this field only showed that there were layers to things.

Jimin stood at least 40 meters away from you, his black triangle ears ever so slightly moving at small sounds you couldn’t hear.

Even if he was that far away you could still see every detail of him. His black strands of hair, his nose twisting, his golden skin, his lips…

Every detail on him was clear for your sight to see, cause even if he had the best smell and hearing of the two of you, your kind had amazing sight.

This moment was the silence before the storm. The only thing to be heard was the howling wind impatiently telling you to attack.

You turned your eyes to the right side seeing your soldiers start to shift into all sorts of birds, hawks, eagles even owls. They were bigger than normal birds with the human genes in their dna.

You sighed as you too shifted into your animal. With your big wings you calmly flew higher into the sky were you had the advantage.

You could feel all the cat eyes follow you like shadows follow at your feet. It was somehow giving you more confidence, you couldn’t help the smirk that reached your lips.

You soon made eye contact with the one and only Jimin. He had too changed form into his mighty black panther.

Your good sight caught everything about him - the muscles underneath his fur, how they clenched and unclenched, his claws poking through his heavy fur layered paws, his eyes trying to catch up with what you were seeing, how his pupils extended just the slightest when he realized the eye contact.

He was overwhelming.

It was a rare sight, black panther shifters are rare and also extremely powerful, you didn’t linger on why Jimin was king of the cats.

But you were powerful yourself.

When you hovered about 24 meters in the air you howled and spread your abnormal big wings.

When Jimin saw your peregrine falcon in the air he began hissing soon turning to growling. The other cats followed him.

Not even a second after their growls you howled and dove towards the ground. Your claws were out, ready to grab one of the cats and rib them apart.

The birds had a big advantage. They could start the attack. Jimin and his cats wouldn’t be able to reach you in the air, the only thing they could was to defend themselves and try to snap out after you.

When you reached the cats, claws out, you had the first cat in your grab. A cheetah at that - cheetahs were very hard to catch as they were extremely fast.

The cheetah snapped after your claws, wings, everything that would result in you letting go, but it couldn’t reach you.

You bended down to bite at its neck, you knew exactly which nerve to bite to let it faint in your grasp.

You didn’t enjoy killing, never had, therefore you agreed with your soldiers to only knock them out.

Dropping the cheetah to the ground you took a look at how it went for your soldiers. There were some down trying to fight them on the ground, you were worried for them. They didn’t have the advantage.

You dove into the fight faster than the eyes could travel with you, no one saw it coming. You let out a squeak.

Your bird enjoyed setting her claws in flesh. You didn’t hunt often which annoyed her very much.

You got a grip at two cats one being smaller and a regular cat, the other being a white tiger. Wait, you knew that tiger.

Jimins right hand man. Taehyung.

You could also feel the struggle with the tiger knowing he would be much more trained than the others.

You were quick to let the cat become unconscious and drop it, it was another story with the tiger.

The tiger snapped much more than the others and nearly got you many times. He was wriggling so much in your grab that it was becoming difficult for you to keep a straight phase, you nearly hit the ground many times.

You knew there was no good ending to this, you were too close to the ground and Taehyung wouldn’t let you bite into his neck.

You were about to drop him and find another prey when you felt it.

You let out a defeating howl knowing this wasn’t good. Sharp claws were boring into your back pulling you down and smashing you to the ground.

The moment you hit the ground you heard your birds howl for you. You could hear them losing. This wasn’t good, you needed to win it meant everything.

The only way was to take out the leader.

And just as the thought crossed you saw a big black paw pinning you to the ground you were so awfully lying on.

Your weakness showed when you turned back into human, some of your animal features still present, such as the long claws on your hand, and feathers broke through your skin here and there.

When a shifter couldn’t keep their shift it was because they were tried, which was weakness.

You felt his breath on your neck feathers. Only a bite and you would be dead, it was so fascinating to him.

Jimin was arrogant not believing in your power. He never had believed in your power, not since childhood. He hadn’t even made a real plan for this fight knowing he would win.

But arrogance kill.

In the blink of an eye you had gathered all your energy and you made an attack.

Flipping around, your sharp claws tore over his face. You saw blood drip from his chin when he roared and threw himself away from you.

Taehyung beside you didn’t hesitate before jumping in, but you outsmarted him and dodged away from him with ease before letting your claws sink into his leg.

He roared too kicking you away from him.

Your own back was hurting. The ten claw marks on your back had opened up for blood and you could feel it drip down from your back.

You could see that Taehyung was hurting surely not coming back for more, it was another story with the panther in front of you.

He growled, eyes filled with hate and blood as he began circling around you.

“Come on Jimin..” you whispered waiting for his attack.

The air was filled with anticipation, this was the final battle between you two, a battle which had been going on for a decade. If he lost it would mean victory, but if you lost it would mean death.

Jimin let out an amused growl hearing you whisper at him. He liked being the one to start the attack.

“Come on Jimin..” You said again this time with more annoyance in your tone.

You were literally getting dizzy turing around yourself like this… but maybe that was his plan?

You stopped turning with him instead using all of your senses:

Hearing, smelling, felling, tasting and seeing.

You were strongest in seeing, but a second place would be feeling, you could feel every movement around you, also Jimins.

So it didn’t surprise you when he finally launched out to attack your back.

You dodged by turning to your right and Jimin was left with nothing between his claws as he had hoped.

It made him growl feeling the emptiness in his paws.

It didn’t take two seconds before he again launched at you, this time in front of you.

You dodged with ease again almost bursting into laughter seeing his struggles.

It was as if you were playing with a kitten. It was annoying him how little care you gave into it, but still managed to dodge him, and it made his anger stronger.

Anger which he used precious energy on.

This time when he jumped at you again claws out and teeth sharp you only fell to the ground and watched as he jumped right over you.

But playtime was over.

Instead of not attacking back this time you let your claws sink into him while he jumped over you resulting in them cutting him open.

His growl turned weak, but still the anger was now keeping him up as the only thing.

He attacked again but with all the weakness in his body for tiring himself you didn’t even need to dodge.

Taking a grip around his paw you smashed him to the ground. He didn’t resist, he couldn’t find the energy.

You ended it by letting you claw find the place where he would faint and the moment he did, his cats stopped fighting and your birds won.

“Your majesty!”

You looked up to see your medical doctor who was also your really good friend run over to you.

He had noticed the claw marks on your back and was already trying his best to stitch them up before you would pass out from the loss of blood.

“Hoseok! Glad you’re here.”

“Yea yea, but I can’t help much if we don’t get you back to the castle.”

Hoseok and you had grown up together on the castle. Hoseok had been a village boy who worked his way up as he was studying medical records, and as he was only a few years older than you a friendship quickly bloomed between you.

He too was a shapeshifter like all who lived in your kingdom, his bird being a hawk.

“We’ll take Jimin with us, the rest will be handled by Seokjin. I need to try and get some informations from Jimin before we deliver him to Seokjin.” You commanded.

Before you knew it, you were back to your own beloved kingdom. You and your soldiers walked in the little village just before the castle, you saw many familiar faces greet you with respect.

Everyone was relieved that you had won, cause if not it would have meant destruction for your part of the shapeshifting country, and that was something you couldn’t bear.

The war had been going on between you and Jimin for many years. Jimin hated you and you hated Jimin, he was arrogant, selfish and whenever you met he would insult you.

As the queen of the bird-shifters you weren’t used to insults and you didn’t take them easily.

But this battle was not just about Jimin stepping over line by disrespecting your part of the shapeshifting realm, Jimin was starting to interfere with vampires. This was alarming, and not only to you, but to the other shapeshifters as well.

Vampires and shapeshifters had been in war for over centuries, people often thought of the war between vampires and werewolves, and werewolves so happened to be part off shapeshifters.

Shapeshifters no matter the race had always been against vampires and their ways of being extreme in torturing, manipulating and killing. You yourself loathed vampires, they had taken more of your people than any other race had. Whenever you thought of vampires it would bring back memories you were trying your hardest to forget.

This was why it had alarmed the shapeshifter community that one of their own was starting to interact with vampires. It was documented with spies that Jimin had talked with vampires on shapeshifter ground, and that was very illegal.

You were alarmed, because you didn’t understand his motives behind it, Jimin was the last person who would be interfering with them.

A meeting had been held between your kingdoms, there were five in all with Jimins. But the meeting had been held with only four kingdoms.

Your kingdom, Felan. The sea creatures kingdom, Havini. The reptile kingdom, Josumi. And then the biggest kingdom known as Tefany, the biggest cause it was really just a mix of creatures.

Tefany had races from every corner of the world, and they made sure to brag about that, but you didn’t blame them for that, you blamed their king, Seokjin, he always loved to brag about his kingdom.

The meeting had been held in Tefany without Jimins or his kingdom’s, Valsinto, knowledge. It was Seokjin who had called all of you for he saw just like you how Jimin was starting to rule.

“I have called you all here because we need to discuss Valsinto’s status.” He had started as you all were seated at a round table.

“Is something happening with Valsinto?” Selina, the queen of Havini had asked, her voice small compared to her fierce killer whale shapeshift. You had witnessed how her anger could burst out of her making her one of the most dangerous shapeshifters in water.

She besides you was the only women to rule over a kingdom.

“I’m afraid Jimin is starting to become a threat to all of us.” Seokjin had stated.

“What do you mean? Jimin is only a threat towards Felan.” The ruler of Josumi, Yoongi, had remarked his split eyes looking over at your form.

“I’m afraid that is not the case anymore.” Seokjin had replied with a sigh.

“Jimin is interfering with vampires.” When Seokjin stated that the two others gasped with fierce looks in their eyes. No one was allowed to meddle with vampires, that was the law of peace between the shapeshifter kingdoms.

You were the only one not surprised, not scared, when Seokjin had stated the meetings reason. The other two turned to you and it was Yoongi who stood up and raised his voice.

“You knew about this, Ms. Y/N?!” His eyes shifting color as his split tongue came out in a sneer.

Your own nails grew relentlessly as your anger took over. You and your race had always been treated with little to no respect from the other kingdoms. They had never liked the way your kind observed instead of talked, unlike Jimin and his kind, his talking and charming person had convinced the others.

The cats and birds had been at war since your teenage years, there had never been any help from the other shapeshifters.

“As you yourself pointed out Mr. Namjoon, Valsinto has always been a threat to Felan, you can only expect me to have spies on Jimin.” Even in your anger you kept your cool, there was a slight venom in your tongue, but nothing which would rile the situation up even more.

“But why didn’t you share your information with us, Ms. Y/N?” Again Selinas small voice quivered.

“I don’t see why Felan should bow for your kingdoms when there has never been respect for our kingdom as deserved.” You answered shuting them all.

It was Seokjin who broke the silence.

“Ms. Y/N is right.” His voice broke as he looked down from you gaze.

“We have never had respect, none of us has had respect for any of the five Kingdoms, especially Felan has been treated poorly. I want to give you my deepest apologizes, and thereby offer my cooperation. We need to stop Jimin from being manipulated by the vampires, and we need to do it fast.”

At the meeting it had been decided that your kingdom would lead the fight against Valsinto as it was your people who had experience at fighting against the cat shapeshifters.

There were more reasons to it, you had requested to lead the fight because you had to figure out Jimins motives, his planning. You were in war with Jimin, but you knew him, he wouldn’t meddle with vampires at his own will. but also because you felt as if you had something to prove, your kingdom, and you as a leader had to prove that your people were strong.

You needed to prove to the others that you had earned enough respect.

As you walked the hallways of your castle you felt yourself getting dizzy. The bandgade Hoseok had made was drenched in your blood. You felt yourself fumble as you took a turn in the hallways.

“Your majesty!” Hoseok immediately ran up to you and held your arm in support.

“Take Jimin to the dungeon... Hoseok will lead me to the nursering hall.” You muttered to the guards behind you.

They walked past you as you leaned on Hoseok. Not even a step further you felt yourself faint from the lose of blood and a whisper of Hoseoks voice could be heard in the back of your mind.

When you awoke it was to the sun shining through the window at the furthest wall in the room. At first you felt no pain, but that quickly changed as you tried to sit up.

“You need to be careful Y/N.” Hoseok said as he pushed you down again.

“Your wounds are healing well, but you lost a lot of blood it will take some time for your system to adapt to that.” He explained while mixing herbs in a mortar.

“And Jimin? Did he awake yet?”

“Yes, he woke up the day before yesterday.” Hoseok answered making you flinch, how long had you been out?

“How long have I been sleeping?” You asked turning towards Hoseok who was still fidgeting with the herbs.

“Three days.” He mumbled.

“Three days?! I have to get up, the others will want Jimin in their custody.” You exclaimed as you stood up, for a moment the world spun around you and you fell to the bed again.

“Y/N! You have to stay in bed and let your body heal!”

“Hoseok, I agreed with Seokjin and the others that Jimin would be transferred to Josumi, 6 days after we got him. I have to see him.” You sighed and ruffled your already messy hair.

“And? Isn’t that good then we don’t have to worry about him.” Hoseok stated as his herbs were finally done. He turned you so your back was facing him, and started smearing the mix onto your wounds. You almost moaned when the cold mix touched your skin immediately relaxing it.

“Hoseok you know Josumi’s ways with people they deem traitors, they tortur them. If Jimin goes to Josumi it would mean even more chaos. Jimin would feel betrayed and he would make sure a war would start. I can’t let him go to Josumi.” You muttered in a small voice. You felt Hoseok slow his movements behind you. A sigh left you when you knew what Hoseok was going to say.

“Don’t tell me... Y/N? Do you still have feelings for the guy?” He asked his voice quiet.

You stayed quiet before Hoseok, not knowing how to answer. Did you have feelings for Jimin? You didn’t know, all you knew was that Jimin would not be going to Josumi. Josumi was a warm place filled with deserts of sand, and no places to hide. Jimins kind was not meant to be in an environment like that. Further more Yoongi was known to be a fair yet ruthless ruler, if he deemed someone unworthy of his time or trust he would make sure to find that persons weakest link and use it against them.

Even though Jimin had disrespected your kind, your pride and your feelings, you never wanted the things going on in Josumi to happen to him.

“Y/N, he betrayed you, he used your feelings against you! How can you still care about him when he doesn't deserve you?!” Hoseok ranted behind you while fuming around in the room.

You couldn’t blame Hoseok for being angry with you. It had been him who had seen you the queen of birds of prey at your worst, he had comforted you the night Jimin had made sure to tear you apart.

Jimin and you had known each other much longer than most people knew about. Your fathers had been good friends when you were younger. They often met in Tefany where they would put you and Jimin together to practice your training skills. You grew up each summer in Tefany with Jimin by your side. And each summer each of you bloomed even more. You were always so impatient for the summer break where your father would take you to Tefany and you could see your beloved friend, and crush.

You remember the long summer days with practice in the rose filled garden, and Jimins loving smiles. And the nights where you two would shift to your animals and run wild in the beautiful nature.

You also remember the summer where everything crashed, you were 17 then, Jimin 18.

“Jimin! What’s happening?!” You asked as you ran up to the fuming boy. The guards from the palace had woken you up and hurried you out of the castles walls. They had dragged you to the garden filled with roses of different colors where you found Jimin racing around.

“You let them right to us!!” Jimin roared at you his eyes turning yellow in the evenings darkness.

“W- what are you talking about?” Your voice quivered. You had never seen Jimin this upset before, his hair messy and his eyes filled hate. You would be lying if you said you weren’t scared.

“The vampires! They are inside now! You let them to us when you insisted on taking that evening walk!!” Jimin shouted walking up to you and pushing you into a rose bush. Their thorns bore into your skin, you whimpered in pain and quickly fiddled out of the bush.

“What..? But we always take evening walks. I- I-” Childish tears of broken love rushed to the surface of your eyes and spilled on your blood kissed cheeks.

“I told you we should stay at the castle tonight! That there have been rurmors of vampires! And now look what you have done!!” Jimin had never looked at you like that, hate filed eyes just like the thorns in your skin.

“Y/N!” You heard your father’s secure voice yell as he came running from the castle with a few guards. You ran to his embrace crying into his shoulder. He didn’t know the true reason for your tears, only you and Jimin knew.

“My father?!” Jimin begged, and you felt your father’s embrace loosen as he looked over at the young boy’s hoping eyes.

“Jimin... H- he didn’t make it.”

That summer changed everything between you two, and your kingdoms. Jimins hatred towards you started wars. He was the new king of Valsinto, and only two years later when your father died you became queen of Felan.

Your pasts were unknown to the people, but between you two it was the reason for the wars between your kingdoms. The other rulers never understood what had started the obstacles between two well held kingdoms, suddenly there were just two rulers who hated each other.

Your biggest fear was for people to discover your past. That you were the reason for a kings death. And even if you had been told to not believe those words you could not stop believing in them.

It was your fault that Jimins soul was broken, and you were afraid to try and do anything about it. You hated him, and you hated yourself.

He had made sure to let the other kingdoms know that the reason behind the wars was you. He never told them anything about the night, only that you were the reason for it all.

You were done believing that you were at fault. And you were even more done being afraid of your past, it was time to embrace it.

On the nursing bed your tears spilled from your eyes just like that night so many years ago.

Hoseok sat down beside you and patted your arms. His anger always vanished when he saw his friend’s tears.

You had spent many years believing Jimins words, because you cared for him. It was that care that broke you over and over again.

He was blinded by his anger, he needed something to punch, and you so happened to be his punching bag.

but you were done being a punching bag, you were a proud creature, you weren’t weak anymore.

“Y/N, if you really love Jimin, you need to wake him up from his anger. You can’t keep standing by and let him hurt you.”

You knew that, but how were you supposed to make him realize what he was doing?

The day after you found yourself circling the entrance to the dungeons where you knew Jimin would be.

You had always played a big game in front of Jimin, never letting him see how his words hurt you. You may have feelings for the man, but you were first of all the queen of the kingdom Felan. If you showed your weakness to any of the four rulers it could have been used against you.

Now things had changed. If you didn’t show your weakness now, it could be catastrophic. Yoongi would be here tomorrow to pick up Jimin, and you had to figure out what Jimins plan was before he was taken away.

You knew he wouldn’t meddle with vampires no matter what, but you also knew that there in fact had been vampires on shapeshifter teoritory.

When you finally walked down the cold corridor you wanted to run up again. Yet you felt yourself move forward with a determination you didn’t know you had.

“Your majesty.” The cold hall was filled with guards by each of the cells housing the worst kinds of traitors and killers. As you walked by each of the guards bowed their head in respect, filling your heart with confidence.

The prisoners each yelled when they saw you who was the reason for their capturing. They rushed to the doors trying to break free and get the enjoyment of killing you. The look in their eyes frightened you deep down, but the royal blood which floated in your core forced you to lock eyes with them. Your eyes would never show the fear you had for them.

Fear for yourself had never reached you, it was the fear for others that really terrified you enough to show.

You reached the door at the end of the hallway too quickly for your own liking, you knew behind that door was your greatest everything in one person, your greatest war, greatest insecurity, greatest love, and all was placed in Jimin.

The door was opened for you by one of the guards and the sight behind it wasn’t idyllic.

Jimin was hung up by his hands, his head lulled forward and his legs barely standing. You could faintly hear drops of blood hit the floor. In the living light hung beside him his skin was painted in warm colors.

When you looked over the claw marks from your own hand you felt a pang of guilt, yet it was overwhelmed by the sadness he had caused you.

“Get a doctor. Take your time.” You said to the guard who had opened the door.

You stepped towards him with echoes following your high heels.

“Come here to mock?” You slowed as you heard his voice. It was deprived of water, yet there was still poison in his mouth.

You said nothing as you walked closer to his cage. When you were stood in front of him you waited till he lifted his head and looked at you. You weren’t sure how you looked in his eyes, if you look scared, sad or full of pity, all you knew was that finally for the first time you were truly angry at Jimin for the pain he had caused you.

All the anger you had never felt came rushing to you when you looked at him like this. All his punches had been for nothing? His malicious words was in vain, he had lost this battle.

And the worst thing: he lost the battle not to you, but to himself when he started engaging with vampires.

“Why...?” You hesitated, as if to keep your anger to yourself.

Jimin didn’t say anything, all he did was lift his weak lips into a smirk. The claw marks from his jaw to his cheek dripped blood to the smirk painting it in red.

“Why Jimin?!” You punched the bars in front of him, yet he didn’t flinch.

Jimins smirk faltered just the slightest, something you noted into your mind for later.

His head once again lulled down to hang from his shoulders, as if he didn’t want to carry the weights on his shoulders anymore. In your anger you opened the door in front of you and fumed over to him. Griping him by his jaw you heard him hiss, a thing which would have slowed you before, yet you kept pressing into his skin making him look into your eyes.

“why...” You whispered. The black in his pupils crumbled before you as the hurt in your eyes showed itself for the first time.

There was an unspoken understanding between you two, an understanding you had only ever felt 10 years ago. This new yet old connection between you two made a seed of hope bloom inside you, maybe he was still there.

Yet you didn’t know if it would change anything between you two, the damage was too big and your kingdoms had suffered because of your childish behavior, people had died.

You couldn’t allow yourself as the queen of your kingdom to fall for the man who had caused parents to die.

You sighed as you threw his face out of your hold.

“Why did you engage with vampires Jimin?” You demanded but like before he stayed silent before you. It irritated you.

“Look I am trying to help you here, tomorrow Yoongi will come to take you and we both know that his ways of getting information is much more remorseless than mine.” Your heels clicked for each step you took on the stone covered floor.

Jimin was dressed in clothes from the battle as he didn’t get a chance to change.

“Why should I believe you want to help me?” His raspy voice groaned as his shackles rattled. He tried to stand, but you saw how his legs gave up under him.

Suddenly you regretted saying the guard could take his time.

You walked up to him by his side and placed your arm on his back lifting some of his weight from the ground.

“Because I don’t hate you like you hate me. And unlike you I remember the times before that night.” You expressed making him look at you.

The two of you held the eye contact. His black ears atop his ebony filled hair twisted ever slightly.

“Y/N I didn-”

“Your majesty the doctor is here.” The guard interrupted making you sigh. You almost had him hooked around your finger, one more minute and you could have learned about his plans.

You knew Jimin didn’t corporate with vampires. But what he was doing with them was a mystery.

After you had let go of Jimin the doctor went up to the weak man and started tending his wounds. You stayed in the room together with the guard, keeping an eye on the panther.

Jimin had often made it clear he hated bird shifters, he didn’t deserve your trust yet.

You could see the struggles from the doctor when he had to tend the big wounds on Jimins stomach. His clothes was made of amor, something which was placed tightly to his body.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t get his shirt off without taking the shackles off your majesty.” He said with a bow.

“Take the shackles off.” You said to the guard beside you. The guard turned to you with a bewildered expression.

“But your majesty he could try to-”

“I said Take. Them. Off.” You commanded locking eyes with the guard who immediately followed your orders and walked over to release Jimin.

Jimin fell to the ground with a thud. He groaned as he took ahold of his sore wrists and massaged them. They were red with bruises all around from the shackles. You almost felt sorry. Almost.

“Hurry and stabilize him before he loses to much blood.” You said to the doctor and sat down on a small chair placed in the corner of the room.

Your own wounds were starting to feel sore, you would have to find Hoseok after and get some of that magical herb mix he had made. When you looked at Jimin and the way he twisted on the floor you considered lending him some of the mix as well.

When the doctor was finished Jimin had fallen asleep on the floor, his body shivering from the pain and the cold.

“His wounds doesn’t look to good, your majesty. I will have to keep check on him for a week or two too see if the medicin is working.” He said after cleaning the blood of his hands.

You cursed yourself for not having given him a doctor instantly after the fight, yet Jimin had given you no reason to care for him and he still hadn’t. But with Yoongi arriving tomorrow and Jimin being in such a bad condition, you knew there was a risk of him not making it through his visit in Josumi.

“We don’t even have two days doctor, mr. Yoongi will be arriving tomorrow to take him. Isn’t there something we can do now?” You urged. But the look on the doctors face said it all. Jimin would be dead if he didn’t get the right treatment, and it would be because of you.

“Hoseok what should I do?!”

After the incident you had gone straight to Hoseok searching his perspective on the situation. You needed a hawks eyes on this matter.

“First you need to calm down, you’re stressing your body with all this marching around.” He emphasized. His eyes followed your moving form marching around in his room.

You groaned as you took a seat on his bed.

“I still don’t understand why it’s so important to you. Jimin has done nothing to deserve your distress.” He said.

“I know.”

“Then why are you stressing so much over it?!” Hoseok exclaimed standing up from his old armchair making the legs of it squeak against the floor.

“Because Jimin knows something!!” You screamed at Hoseok as you too stood up facing him.

You saw how his anger slowly retreated and his shoulders relaxed. His eyes looked over your face- scrunched in absolute chaos, sadness, confusion, anger, confidence, determination, there were to many emotions on your face which Hoseok rarely saw, it scared him in a way.

You composed yourself, letting your hands sweep over your face and down your dress, after seeing your friend sigh.

“Hoseok I know you think I’m only this distressed because it’s Jimin, and we have a past...” You frowned remembering back to a few nights before you got to know of Jimins vampire business.

“But Jimin really does know something.”

Hoseok who had turned away from you frowned hearing your words. They sounded so serious, and in a moment he got the idea that there was something you weren’t telling him.

“What do you mean ‘Jimin knows something’? Is there something you’re not telling me Y/N?” He said still not looking at you but crossing his arms over his chest. It was clear he was hurt by you yelling at him.

“... There is.” You finally admitted making him spin towards you. His face was scrunched up, skepticism visible.

“You mean to say to me that there are informations you didn’t tell me?! For how long have you been keeping secrets?”

“Hoseok I’m not keeping secrets, you can trust me.” You walked towards him, but he walked backwards.

“You clearly have been keeping secrets if there are things you haven’t told me.” He yammered.

“I had to! Hoseok believe me when I say that the things going on right now is dangerous! It’s bigger than you, me, even Jimin! I was trying to protect you and Naia!” You begged fumbling towards your most trusted friend.

Hoseok and you had been friends ever since you could remember, your past went back to the same time as yours and Jimins. Hoseok had stood by your side through thick and thin, yet you knew that the one thing Hoseok hated was dishonesty, and right now it looked like you were the dishonest one.

When hearing your words and swallowing what you were saying Hoseok forced himself to calm down. He knew you wouldn’t try to hurt him on purpose.

“...Tell me what’s going on Y/N and I will help you figure out what to do.” He reasoned and sat down again. You could still see the anger in the twists of his eyebrows and the fiddling of his hands, but your happily took what he offered of peace.

You sat down in front of him on his bed.

“You remember two weeks before the news of Jimin interfering with vampires?”

Hoseok shook his head and looked to you with a questioning look.

“No, what does that have to do with anything?”

“Everything.”

In a fresh night of spring laughter could be heard from a small cottage placed in the outskirts of the village placed in the kingdom Felan. It was you, Hoseok and his wife Naia who finally found time to get together and enjoy wine over a meal.

“So you’re telling me, my husband flew straight into a tree when you played catch?” Naias light voice said making a laugh spring from your mouth.

“Yes! He was so into the game that he flew straight into the trunk.” You exclaimed making Naia roll over with her wineglass in hand.

“Hey! To my defends we were only 14 and I wasn’t very good at maneuvering!” Hoseok defended, but it only made it worse for himself, as Naias laughter intensified.

“Yea yea keep telling yourself that... Wait, is the time so many? I have to get back to the castle! They’ll be expecting me to a meeting at 9 o’clock.” You exclaimed getting up from your comfortable seat.

Hoseok and Naia both complained, but none the less followed you to the door to say their goodbyes.

That night you had on purpose let you horse stay back at the castle as you still loved your night walks. The night walks had followed you since you and Jimin had started doing them.

Thinking of him would always make your heart clench with sorrow. You never understood how he could get so angry at you, keep you at such a big distance, had he never felt anything for you?

You had walked through the woods in your own thoughts being totally lost in your head, when you had heard a weird sound. The sound didn’t only awake you from your thoughts it made hairs rise on your arms.

The sound had sounded like a vampires teeth sinking into flesh, a sound which had all your senses alert.

Though scared you walked towards the sound, you weren’t queen for nothing and if one of your citizens were in danger you would sacrifice your life.

“...what do you mean you don’t know?...” A voice you had never heard before said. It was a horrid voice, high pitched, only a vampire could have such voice.

“I mean I don’t know! The person won’t reveal themself, they write there’s too much at risk.” Another more well known voice whispered. You felt your nails grow when you heard the voice of your own royal adviser and how he was whispering together with the vampire.

The adviser had been in your family for years, he had served your father before yourself. You couldn’t understand what he was doing with a vampire.

The voices became louder as you came closer to the culprits. Your dress was lifted in your hands to not make a sound. You would’ve shifted into your falcon if it wasn’t because they would hear you.

“Find out who it is! I need more information! The last piece and we got them.” The voice spat.

You tried to get closer to get a look of the vampire, but it was limited how close you could get before the vampire would smell your blood.

“All our planning for years will finally be fulfilled. We just need him dead.” The vampire whispered before eventually it was gone in the blink of an eye. You couldn’t feel the presence of it anymore.

“Wait! What does this even mean Y/N?” Hoseok wondered out. Even though he understood the words coming from your mouth he couldn’t connect the dots.

You sighed sitting on the edge of the bed with your fists full of hair.

“Don’t you understand Hoseok?! There are spies everywhere giving information to the vampires! Hell we didn’t even realize Jasper was on their side, yet he has been giving information to them always!” You whisper-shouted at your best friend.

It was as if a light opened in Hoseoks eyes when you put it that way.

“They have been planning for years Hoseok... Every little attack which has happened was planned, every detail in our meetings they know, they know everything about every of our kingdoms.” You whispered your voice hopeless.

Hoseok walked over to sit beside you and you felt his arm give you a squish into him.

“When I found out about Jasper I took him and a few trusted guards with me to a safe house no one but I knew the location of... There I got him to talk.” You explained.

The memories of Jasper in that house still filled you with horror. The things you made yourself do to get information out of him disgusted you, but you knew it had to be done, he couldn’t be trusted.

“Did you know that the attack all those years ago was planned? The attack back in Tefany...” You said and Hoseok quickly caught up to your words.

“Wait... but that means-”

“It wasn’t my fault. Me and Jimin didn’t lead any vampires back with us to the castle, they already had everything planned. It wasn’t me who killed Jimins father. That’s why I’ve been so chaotic- Everything I believed was false, I don’t know if I hate Jimin, love him, or if i hate myself, love myself. I just don’t know anymore.” You said tears finally prickling underneath your eyes.

To think that you had blamed yourself for so many years, that Jimin blamed you, and finding out it wasn’t your fault made all the weights on your shoulders float away. It was as if someone pulled you up from overflooding water and made you breath again, but then they dumped you in all the chaos.

“Well this is both terrific and good.” Hoseok said and you could only chuckle in agreement. Good for you that it wasn’t you who was at fault, terrific because if it wasn’t an accident it meant something bigger was roaming around. Something messed up in the royal activities.

“You said the vampire mentioned someone having information, I assume a traitor or spy? But wasn’t there also another person they wanted dead? Someone who knew too much maybe?” Hoseok asked whereas you nodded.

“Do you know who any of them is?” He asked.

“No... Jasper didn’t know who the traitor was and he wouldn’t tell me who the vampires wanted to kill... I did get- get some kinds of hints though.” You said uncertainty in your tone.

“Now listen to me Jasper... We can do this the easy way or the hard way. As far as I’m concerned the easy way isn’t as hard to clean up afterwards, but you decide.” You explained making the old man before you gulp.

“You don’t scare me Ms. Y/N. I’ve known you since you were a baby, you won’t hurt me.” Jasper said his trembling telling you of his hypocrisy.

“Tell me who is it that shares important information with the vampires?” You demanded, but Jasper stayed silent.

You took ahold of his wrinkled hands tied to the chair, and there your nails grew to their full extent cutting into his skin slowly and painfully. His cries echoed in the room, making some of your soldiers turn away.

“Let’s try again. Who shares our information with the vampires?” You again commanded this time your voice stronger and closer to his ear.

“I don’t know who it is! I was trying to find out for the vampires so they could get some specific information they needed!” He whimpered making you retreat your nails from his hands.

“Surely if you’ve tried to solve this, you must have a clue. Tell me.” This time you grabbed around his neck. Beneath your fingers his pulse was beating in the mercy of your hand, one cut and it was over for your old adviser. He whimpered louder than before.

“Alright! Alright! All I know is that it’s someone from high ranks! The information they had is top classified.” He shouted.

“How high ranks?” You asked letting your nails touch the thin skin on his neck.

“Ranks as in the kings and queens!”

You had stopped there taking two steps back. Your soldiers had look confused of the snippets they were hearing. You had known this vampire thing were serious, yet that there was a chance at your own collogues being the culprits- that took you by surprise.

“There was someone who the vampires wanted to kill, who?” You continued. Jasper saw how your eyes darkened when he revealed that your royal friends weren’t as friendly as you originally thought. He saw the child he had known fade away in front of his eyes, and that frightened him.

You never had mercy for traitors.

“I- I won’t tell you.” He stammered. You slowly walked over to him and leaned your sleek form over him. If he wasn’t going to tell you, then you would make him.

“If you don’t tell me... I will make sure to paint my white roses red with your blood, whereafter I will make the vampires lick the petals clean.” You said making a promise to him which you would not break.

You would make his skin open like a zipper and watch the blood flow out of him, like classic vampire style. Only you didn’t do it for your own pleasure, you did it for your people.

“You can do what you want, I fear the vampires more than I fear you. But it’s funny to know that you’ve already seen the cry of help, from him.” Jasper said a hysterical laughter running out of his mouth.

“So, what does that mean? ‘You’ve already seen the cry for help from him’?” Hoseok phrased making you shrug.

“I’ve tried to figure that out for weeks now. Ever since the night I heard the vampire and Jasper I’ve been alert of the royals, I have my own spies in every kingdom, but they haven’t gotten anything.” You explained as you again started marching around in Hoseoks room.

“Why didn’t you inform me of this sooner Y/N? You’ve been going around with this on your shoulders, it has been stressing you out.” Hoseok said as his eyes followed you.

“I didn’t want to drag you into this game. For them it’s all a big game of thrones which they laugh at when they play. For us it’s life or death. If the wrong people find out that we know this much it’s over. We don’t know who we can or can’t trust.” You explained.

“Let’s sum up what we know so far.” Hoseok said making you stop and nod in agreement. There was so much to keep track of.

“We know that the vampires is planning something, and that they have been planning for years. We know that Jasper was a spy for them, and he’s dead. We know that there are two people who is very important to us right now: One who is a traitor, and one who could have informations which might give us the win.” Hoseok listed one after another, you nodded for each thing he said.

“But I don’t understand what all of this has to do with Jimin, you said that he knows something.” Hoseok recalled.

You walked over to his desk leaning your form on it and crossed your arms over your chest.

“If I’m honest I don’t know if he knows something. But it was all just too suspicious, two weeks after I found out about Jasper and Jimin is found corporating with vampires. I know he would never work together with vampires. He hated me for thinking I lead a vampire to his father, he hates them even more for actually killing him.” You explained not looking into his eyes. You knew Hoseok would be skeptical of your reasoning, but he hadn’t known Jimin like you had.

Jimin was a man of honor, even if he had hurt you in ways you couldn’t forgive he still had dignity. He wouldn’t ever corporate with vampires.

“Y/N did you ever consider that maybe Jimin is the one giving informations to the vampires?” Hoseok asked. He noticed how your face frowned just the slightest bit.

“Think about it, maybe he blames you so much that in his hatred towards you he forgot who the real enemy is. He could have been the one leaking informations.” Hoseok explained trying to convince you. You shook your head refusing to believe what he was saying.

“No because I think that’s what they wants us to believe.” You argued, but you could already see that none of you were giving up.

You were about to give another argue when a light bubble lit up in your mind thinking back to your words.

If you were right and the vampires wanted you and the other royals to believe that Jimin was the villain, then maybe it was truly because he was the victim.

You stopped yourself from continuing making Hoseok frown. He could see on your face that you thought of something, as if something important flashed in your head.

“Hoseok I just got an idea.” You implied. You walked with determined steps over to his chamber door and was about to walk out when he stopped you.

“Wow, hey stop! What are you thinking Y/N? Tell me!” He grabbed your arm and made you turn towards him.

“Hoseok I swear I will tell you, but I need to find out if my theory is true. I’ll come back in an hour or two.” You said as you wriggled out of his hold and ran out of his door.

Hoseok stood quietly and looked after you as your dress flowed after your retreating form. A curse left his lips when he realized that you were slowly slipping out of his reach to save.

After the episode with Hoseok you ran straight to your own room to find the letter Jimin had send you not too long ago.

After it had been discovered that Jimin and the vampires were working together and it had been settled that you would go to war against Jimin, he had send you a very hateful letter.

At that time you had been confused with all that was going on, you hadn’t known what to believe.

Now that you finally figured out what to believe and what not to believe you understood the words of Jasper. ‘You’ve already seen the cry of help, from him’

If Jimin really was the victim, and you had seen a cry of help from him, then maybe this letter was more than just hateful words. You hoped that there was a message in it you hadn’t seen before, a message like you and Jimin used to make when you would send each other letters after each summer.

If there was that would mean you were right, and Jimin was targeted to die because he had discovered something he shouldn’t have.

You ran around your room throwing your drawers open to find the letter. You knew you had kept it, you kept everything Jimin send you.

After the third drawer you finally found the letter. You remember the first time you read it. It had been in the silence of the night with only one candlelight to keep you company. At first you had screamed in anger while throwing it away. A little later you found yourself biting into your thumb to keep your sobs to yourself.

As you read through it again there was still the same hurting feelings somewhere, yet they were hidden by your determination.

To miss Y/N, ruler of Felan.

.I curse your name to the devil every time I .need to hear it. .Your kind has always been a disgust. Always begging others for .help. And it is you, .Y/N, who rules over that race.

.I .am sickened by your .innocent act. .Please, it was you who killed my father, and that the others .trust you is a mystery to .me.

.Don’t think that I will ever .trust you again. .Anyone .else could hurt you and I wouldn’t care.

- .Jimin.

When you were done reading the letter a laughter escaped you. How could you not have seen the message?

I need your help, Y/N. I am innocent. Please trust me. Don’t trust anyone else. - Jimin.

Knowing Jimin was the person the vampires wanted dead terrified you. Right now Jimin was set to go to Josumi tomorrow, he had some heavy injuries because of you, and everyone in the five kingdoms was suspecting him.

You couldn’t prove him innocent. Only if you found the true traitor who had been giving the vampires clues about royal affairs, if you found that person, then it could prove Jimins innocence.

You ran with the letter in your hand down through the big empty hallways of your castle. The guards who usually would stand and keep and eye of the castle weren’t anywhere to see. You knew something was wrong, someone had ordered the guards away from their posts.

When you reached the dungeons you felt shivers hit your skin, the coldness from down there seemed to be more relentless than before.

Your steps echohed in the corridors, just as before there were prisoners shouting at you, you hurried past them finally reaching Jimins door and when you pulled it open you were about to greet him, but stopped suddenly.

“Hoseok? What are you doing here?” You asked in the doorway. Hoseok was standing in front of Jimins cage his back turned to you.

But when he turned there was a smile on his lips, the same loving look in his eyes and sigh leaving his mouth.

“I was just checking if you were down here. I couldn’t understand why you suddenly left before, but I knew it had something to do with Jimin.” He said.

You looked at your best friend, he was the same as always nothing suspicious about him, yet the feeling in your gut told every of your senses to run.

“Yea, well you were right Hoseok. I was blinded by my past with Jimin to see that it’s him who is leaking our informations. I should have listened to you, I’m sorry.” You lied as you walked over to him and gave him a hug which he happily welcomed.

“I will let Yoongi take him tomorrow, they will know what to do with him.” You said looking at Jimin who’s face was a little swollen from the scars you had given him.

His eyes begged you not to do it. You could see it clear as day in him how his fright shined through. Jimin was weak and dying in that cell.

“Please... Y/N...” Jimin whimpered, but you were pulled out of the room by Hoseok who shook his head.

“He really thinks he can manipulate you with his tears.” He said walking with you out of the dungeons hand in arm.

“Yea... What a fool.” You said with hurt in your eyes, but instead of it being for Jimin, this time it was for the friendship you knew you were losing as you looked over at the same old Hoseok.

You stayed up wandering around in your room till 12 at midnight wondering if it really could be true.

“What do you mean ‘Jimin knows something’? Is there something you’re not telling me Y/N?”

“Why didn’t you inform me of this sooner Y/N? You’ve been going around with this on your shoulders, it has been stressing you out.”

“Think about it, maybe he blames you so much that in his hatred towards you he forgot who the real enemy is. He could have been the one leaking informations.”

Could Hoseok really be a spy?

You didn’t want to believe it, he had always been there for you, always listened to you. Always managed to make you laugh. And then what about Naia? Was she a spy too?

But with every excuse you made it only confirmed the lie. When you really thought about it you remembered all his victorious smirks when you told him of news in the royal affairs, you remember how he was always overly sweet as if it was forced.

Naia too had always smirked evilly in the shadows of your eyesight.

Again your heart shattered because of the war, but this heart wasn’t going to come back, you knew you had lost your best friend - a best friend you never had in the beginning.

Hoseok was a spy, and he knew you were close to the truth, too close to the truth. If you didn’t run now you were just as dead as Jimin.

That was why you walked down to the dungeons one last time this night. Jimin and you had to get out of the castle. As Jimin wrote there wasn’t anyone else you could trust, you couldn’t even trust your own friends.

Your breath was quietly panting as you moved down the stairs of the dungeon. All the prisoners were sleeping, making it easy for you to slip past them.

At the end of the hall a guard stood guarding Jimins room. You walked over to him your chin high.

“Your majesty what are you doing here at this time?” He asked a surprised look on his face.

“That’s truly none of your concern, but if you want to know then Mr. Seokjin asked me to take Jimin to Josumi myself. I leave with him tonight.” You said and luckily it worked because the guard stepped aside and let you get through.

When the doors opened Jimin was already looking over at you confused. He had heard you two out there using his exceptional good hearing. He frowned looking at you running over to his door and realising his handcuffs.

“Y/N? What is happening?” He asked looking at your serious features. He knew you had been lying to that guard, but what your true intentions were was still unknown.

“No time for questions Jimin, we have to get out of here.” You said and hooked his arms around your shoulder which he happily complied to. You lifted him with all your strength.

“When we’re out of Felan you can shift to your panther once again and heal. Then we’ll run, you’ll have to follow me.” You explained as you together walked out of the dungeons. The guard kept looking after you, but he didn’t ask questions that wasn’t his job after all.

You could feel how Jimin was holdning onto you tightly almost begging you not to let him go. His ears atop of his head twisted in every way listening if there was anyone after you two.

“I hear Hoseok talking to someone in the hallway over there.” Jimin whispered and pointed to a hallway behind you two which you knew let to your chamber. Your eyes widened realizing that Hoseok was probably going to your room to kill you.

“We have to hurry Jimin. Hoseok can-”

“can’t be trusted I know.” He finished for you.

Jimin walked faster rushing the way you were leading him. He could feel how the stiches your doctor had made were popping up one after another, he wanted to scream in pain yet he had to stay quiet in order to not get attention.

You were almost running along with Jimin, your legs were throbbing from caring his weight, but you kept going.

You had just reached outside of the castle when you heard guards shouting orders around. You and Jimin locked eyes both knowing they had discovered your disappearance.

Both you and Jimin upped the speed to a new level. Even with your training as a soldier you were exhausted, there was a major wound on your back, which was still extremally painful and there was a moisty taste of iron in your mouth. When you looked over at Jimin he wasn’t doing much better.

The wound from his jaw was bleeding, and there was salvia hanging from his mouth. He looked as if he would faint in any moment.

You saw the edge of the somber forest just as Jimin informed you that the guards had found you.

“They have found us Y/N, they’re talking about how they can see us.” He said with his ears twisted backwards.

You looked behind yourself and Jimin and true enough, with your good sight you could see the guards some meters away from you. You couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it was clear that some of them shifted into their birds to fly after you.

“You have to run Jimin! When you reach the forest you can shift and heal. I’ll keep them occupied.” You yelled pushing him forward and stopping yourself.

When you turned back feathers broke out from your skin and your mouth grew into a beak. It took seconds for you to shift.

Those seconds were enough for the first guards to reach you.

When the first one came they tried to dug under you to get to Jimin, but you blocked them and with your claws tore through one of the wings. The bird howled and crashed into the harsh ground with a bang.

You didn’t enjoy hurting your own guards, but there was nothing else to do but fight.

When the second guard came they took the fight with you instead of trying to get to Jimin.

The guard plunged into you with the strength of their harpy eagle and thereby flung you around in the air. When you finally recomposed he was already on his way to Jimin and more was coming towards you.

Jimin wouldn’t make it in time to the forest before the harpy eagle, so you quickly flew up into the sky and there dove down to the harpy eagle.

Your peregrine falcon was the fastest bird in the world, so with the dive you reached the eagle on seconds and with your claws ready to attack you took the harpy eagle out.

Jimin who had heard the fight not far behind him turned to see what was happening. Your feathers were splattered with blood as you tossed another bird away from you resulting in it crashing to the ground.

You kept fighting them one by one buying Jimin time, but more kept coming and you were getting tired. New scars had been made by the guards and the old one was slowly popping up in the stitches.

When you were at you lowest and there was a group consisting of 6 birds coming towards you all birds bigger than yourself you knew fleeing was the only option.

But as you turned a black stribe shot forward picking up the fight where you left it. You watched on the sideline as Jimin fought against the birds in his large panther.

His hind legs consisted of an incredible muscle, which made him able to reach absurd heights.

He would jump into the air and grib onto one of the birds while they tried to get some damage done, but it was impossible for them to take the panther down.

You on the other hand wasn’t doing as well as Jimin. Your body was giving up because of tiredness resulting in you changing back to human.

Jimin heard you hit the ground behind him with a thud. He looked back to your form lying lifelessly of the ground smudged in blood from your old and new wounds.

Worry filled his body when he saw you there on the ground, so when he had fought the last soldier of the big group he ran towards you and raised you onto his back.

Soldiers were shouting behind him as they tried to reach him, but he ran off into the woods with you on his back and a beating heart in his throat.

The sun streaming in through dusty windows and the smell of freshly baked buns woke you from a sleep you weren’t aware you were in. Your body were clothed in new more comfortable clothes than the ones you had on yesterday.

When you realized you didn’t know the place you were in panic erupted in you. You managed to get out of bed and take a few steps around before you remembered last night.

“Y/N? Are you okay?” A voice sounded behind you, when you turned it was to Jimins worried face. He was clothed in trousers and a beige earthly shirt. He looked good standing with the sun hitting his eyes coloring them light brown, his hair was damp with drops still dripping to the ground.

“W- where are we?” You asked ignoring Jimins question.

The room you were in seemed to be a living room with connected kitchen. Every corner was decorated with plants of different greens and small nips you usually would see in a witch cottage. The colors were earthly and balanced.

Wherever you two were it was homely and light, it made you feel good.

“It’s my mothers old cottage.” Jimin explained.

You had never met Jimins mother, it had always been his father with him in Tefany, but when you were younger Jimin would often mention her. He used to tell you stories of her cottage and how her genes made him available to heal extremally fast whenever he was shifted to his panther.

Now that you stood in the cottage you understood his joy for it. The home smelled like fresh flowers and buns which you could spot on top of the kitchen counter.

Your stomach growled loudly making Jimins ears twist. A smile lifted to his face hearing your stomach, he walked over to the buns and threw one to you, softly yelling ‘catch’.

You looked down on the bun in your hand, golden brown and still warm.

When you teeth sunk into the soft bun and you felt the bread on your tongue a low moan of approval left you. The bun was surprisingly good. When you swallowed it was as if your pain went away, your back no longer hurting and your legs ready to run a marathon.

“It’s my mothers recipe, it should cure scars and wounds of all kinds.” Jimin explained.

You frowned going over to a mirror standing by the couch you checked to see your back, and true enough when you looked there was nothing. You heard Jimin sigh in relief - he didn’t want to be the cause of a deep scar on your back.

Looking over at him there was a thankful expression on your face, Jimin melted just the slightest bit seeing your adorable cheeks full of the bread he had baked. When he looked at you like this remembering back to yesterday night he couldn’t understand how he ever could’ve caused you pain in the first place.

You saved him last night.

And now you were so pretty almost flimsy in front of him. When he looked at you standing in his beloved mothers cottage in one of her old dresses he felt his heart beat a little faster for each blink of your eyes.

“Did you find my message?... In the letter?” Jimin asked pulling himself out of the trance named you.

“At first no, but later I did.” You answered. Jimin walked past you to sit in the couch, he turned to you signaling you over to the couch before him.

“You know we have a lot to talk about.” He said and you nodded in agreement, taking the seat he had offered the two of you fell into an easy yet heavy talk about the things you had found out, everything that you knew of the kingdoms and their rulers.

There was still one ruler who worked together with vampires on the loose, and they had to be stopped.

“What is it you know that they wanna kill you for?” You asked, maybe he knew more than you, yet you had an idea that Jimin knew just as much as you did, and if that was true your name was now too on the list of wanted dead.

“I caught one of my servants getting a letter from a vampire, it smelled like death. When I read it there was written that their plans on destroying the kingdoms would soon begin. That was months ago. I stopped their plan by finding all the spyes they had in my kingdom and killing them for treachery. Without the spyes in my kingdom they couldn’t carry out their plans.” Jimin explained.

You nodded hearing him talk, yet there was one thing which you had to know, there was one thing that was bugging you.

“Did you know they planned that night? That night in Tefany 10 years ago?” You asked, Your eyes were plastered to your shaking hands, your breaths was heavy. Jimin could hear your breathing from his spot.

When you saw Jimins own hands sneaking on top of yours and holding them tightly you felt sparks in your stomach. The heavy breathing slowed with his own and your eyes finally looked into his soft brown orbs.

“I found out from one of my spyes a few months before they framed me for being in lead with vampires.” Jimin said.

“Th- then why did you never write o- or see me? You never apologized!” You exclaimed distraught. You tried standing up to walk away from Jimin, but he grabbed your wrist forcing you to stay.

“Y/N listen to me. I am truly sorry over the way I’ve been treating you all these years... If I could take it back I- I would. I wanted to apologize- to hug you even, ever since I found out that it wasn’t our fault that night. It was never your fault, no matter if it had been an accident or not, it wasn’t your fault.” You could hear his voice break a few times and you could feel the small droplets hit your skin painting it with sorrow, yet you couldn’t turn around to look at him.

You wanted to be angry at him, and to stay angry at him- him who had caused you so much pain and self-loath for the past 10 years. But there was no anger in you to be found, only regret that those years were spent like they were, in a lonely castle without a real reason for keep going.

“I would have written to you, but at that time I didn’t know who I could trust, maybe there was someone in your castle who would have read my letter and killed you for it. And then I was accused of working with vampires and I knew you would hate me. Besides it would be suspicious if I suddenly didn’t hate you anymore, maybe the vampires would have thought that I was working together with you. I- I couldn’t put you in that kind of danger.” Jimin continued. When you heard his reasoning his voice softly smoothing in through every cell in your body, you finally understood.

You understood that maybe you weren’t the only one with feelings for the other. You understood Jimin for the first time in your life. Because you and Jimin found each other there in the middle of a war surrounded by demons pulling and twisting you away from each other, but it wouldn’t succeed for them this time.

You turned around with Jimins hand still holdning your wrist and his hair still damp and dripping drops of water onto you, and there you hugged him. He hugged you back, he hugged you back with an intensity you never had imagined.

The suns waves were illuminating the two of you through the rose filled windows and making your shadows small under your feet.

The next couple days were filled with laughter and healing. You and Jimin had decided to take some days off, no thinking about the war, no thinking about the kingdoms - only fun times with laughter and times of resting to get back energy.

Today Jimin had insisted in introducing you to the forest around you. You had been curious to see the forest from inside which looked so enchanting from the windows of the cottage.

You were on barefoot feeling the damp grass under your feet. You could smell all kinds of different flowers and animals.

“Keep up Y/N!” He yelled from inside the forest. You stood outside of it admiring the pixels of dust there seemed to be soaring in the air.

“I’m coming!” You yelled back and softly ran into the forest.

When you spotted Jimin he was sat squatted down with his back to you. You walked up to him letting your hands rustle through his light hair, it was soft from the shower he took this morning.

“See.” Was the only thing he said as he leaned back into your legs, giving you space to see what he was doing.

Down in Jimins hands were a little beige colored rabbit, rubbing it’s head into his hands and making small sounds you could barely hear. You were surprised the rabbit was so comfortable with a predator like Jimin and yourself.

“How can it be so comfortable with you?” You asked looking at Jimin who was already smiling up at you.

“I think it’s my mother it can sense in me. She used to be protector and feeder of these small guys- all of them actually.” Jimin said and pointed out over the forest where you suddenly could spot all kinds of forest animals.

There were tons of rabbits jumping towards you and Jimin, there were dears walking around the trees, there were squirrels and foxes, and a variety of birds. The forest was full of life.

Jimin looked at your stunned face with an awe in his eyes, he could see your excitement yet it was dulled down by nervousness.

“You wanna hold one of them?” He asked and gestured to another little white rabbit jumping towards you and sniffing the air.

“Won’t they get scared of me? I don’t have your mother in my genes.” You explained making Jimin chuckle. He laid the rabbit he was holding down, picked the white rabbit up and held it out to you. You took a step back still scared you would stress the little thing in Jimins hands.

“They won’t get scared of you Y/N, they can sense you’re no danger. It’s just like us when we’re in animal form. You don’t get scared of someone who doesn’t want to hurt you right?” He reasoned and you nodded softly at that.

Feeling yourself relax you took a step forward again and held out your hands to welcome the little guy. When Jimin laid the rabbit in your hold, you couldn’t stop awe-ing over how small it was.

The fur was soft and fluffy and it’s tail wacked. There were small noises coming from it as it began to make itself comfortable in your arms.

When you looked up to Jimin to show him your excitement you were surprised to find him already going around and greeting the animals as if they were old friends. You had thought he stood by you all along and that that was the reason for the rabbit being so calm with you.

You sat down on the ground with the little rabbit in your hold and it wasn’t long before more rabbits came towards you. They overflooded your lap with small whacking tails and long ears.

You laughed looking at them fighting for a good spot in your lap. When they calmed you looked up to see where Jimin was, he hadn’t walked far away knowing you would probably like if he was in sight.

Jimin was stood in front of a big deer bug, it’s antlers reached over his head. You eyes widen seeing such a royal looking animal- just like Jimin. Seeing them stand in front of each others like that almost doubled the awe you had for Jimin.

You had always liked Jimin to an extent were you couldn’t forget about him even when it hurt you, but having been together with him these couple of days, seeing a new and softer side to Jimin was melting something away in you.

Suddenly you never wanted to go back to your beloved castle and your people, you never wanted to be the queen of Felan and have respect from everyone. You wanted to stay in this cottage with your animal friends, baked buns in the morning and herbal tea in the afternoon, and most off all you wanted to wake up beside Jimin every morning to a smile making moons in his eyes and the sun shining down on you to warm up your bodies entwined with one another.

That was what you wanted.

And maybe someday you would have that.

“Well I see there was nothing to worry about.” Jimin said laughing seeing your lap and arms full of fur balls in different colors and sizes. You smiled up at him and rubbed one of the rabbits behind it’s ear.

“That’s Jungkook.” Jimin told you and pointed towards a black rabbit a bit bigger than the others sitting beside you.

“He’s a shifter too, he protects the rabbits from danger. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in human form. Y’know it’s normal for some shifters to-”

“To stay in their animal form their whole life.” You finished smiling up at Jimin. Sometimes he forgot you were a ruler too, knowing just as much as he did about shifters.

“If this is Jungkook, then who was the deer bug?” You asked looking over to find the deer Jimin had talked with, but he was already gone.

“That’s Namjoon. A shifter too as you may noticed. He’s the true protector of this forest. He lives in it and always makes sure to keep unwelcome guests out. Some call him the king of the forest.” Jimin explained with a smile as he sat down in front of you and caressed Jungkook behind one of his black ears.

A little time with comfortable silence passed before Jimin again spoke.

“I was thinking if you’d wanna take a flight through the forest, then I’d be up for taking a run.” Jimin said making you look up at him with wide eyes. Was it really okay for you too shift when your animals were both predators?

“Yes, it’s okay for us to shift even though we’re predators Y/N.” Jimin said reading your mind. An embarrassed smile crossed your face.

You really did need to shift soon, you could feel your bird getting impatient to get some wind under the wings, and it would be nice to take a stroll with Jimin, like you used to.

The rabbits each hopped down from you when they felt you stir and when the last was down you stood up.

“Well I could really use the flight.” You said a smile on your face. And just minutes after you and Jimin were shifting.

Jimin watched as feathers broke through your skin, as you mouth formed into a beak and your arms grew into wings. It looked so painful, yet elegant. Your normal eye color splashed into jet black reminding him of his own fur.

He felt something homely every time you and him shifted together, it brought him back to the time before the war, to a time were you and him did everything together.

The times back in Tefany were you would look at him with adorable admiration, because he always managed to protect you from the guards whenever you did something you weren’t supposed to.

Childhood with you and him had been innocent and pure, the truest things he had felt in life was in his childhood with you.

Jimin planted his large paws to the ground looking over at you with a glint in his eyes - then he ran.

He was already far away when you shrieked and flew into the air.

You reached him quickly. The jet black panther ran beneath you on the forest floor. His muscles clenched and unclenched as large roots laid underneath his paws.

You couldn’t help but watch closely how his back muscles moved under that heavy fur. You wanted to paint your hands black with his fur. You wanted to get your hands through the fur and feel his skin.

Your wings carried you down closer to Jimin, you could almost feel his fur with your claws like this. You reached down to his ear and nipped with your yellow beak making a purr erupt from the panther underneath you.

The forest around you was quiet. There was no animals in sight, only trees and bushes.

After a while of running you could feel Jimin slow down underneath you. You looked down at him and saw his teeth out and his ears flipping around listening after something you couldn’t hear.

You knew something was wrong. Jimin wouldn’t growl at other animals, and you yourself felt movement around the two of you.

Jimin stopped under you and you found a spot in a tree to land.

His chest was low, almost touching the ground. He was in attack stance.

This wasn’t good. You couldn’t see anyone around, but you had a bad feeling, as if you were being watched from somewhere.

“I gotta say it’s impressive, how you two managed to avoid getting caught back in Felan. But the games end here.” You wanted to howl when you heard the familiar feminin voice.

Of the three rulers who stood back you had been sure it wasn’t Selina who was the traitor. She had always been to innocent, a little too sweet to ever be able to do such a thing, but apparently that had all been an act.

You thought back to the meeting between four of five kingdoms were you had discussed Jimins fate. Selina had been so genuine concerned, asking you why you hadn’t shared your informations with the rest of the kingdoms. She was genuine concerned on her own behalf.

“Y’know when Jimin found out that there was one of the rulers who couldn’t be trusted, I was so afraid if he knew it was me. I had to find a way quickly to get him out of the picture.“ Selina said as she finally revealed herself from a dark corner in the forest.

“I never told the vampires or any of the spies who I was, exactly for this reason, so no one could ever find out it was me. But Jimin knew it was one out of four, so he could easily find out it was me. At first I sent a trusted spy, one you knew well Y/N. Jasper was obsessed with finding my true identity, so I promised him if he killed Jimin I would reveal my name.” Selina said with a smirk playing on her lips.

She was confident, walking around without a weapon and she couldn’t shift without water.

“But then Y/N- you overheard his little meeting with one of the vampires, and you prevented him from killing Jimin. I knew I had to be even more careful now, I needed you to believe it was Jimin who was the traitor, so I planted vampires in his castle and made everyone believe he was the betrayer.” Selina hissed with bitterness in her voice.

She was aggressive in her stance, anger clear in her blue eyes.

“Why didn’t you believe the evidence when you even had it yourself, you had spies telling you Jimin was with the vampires, yet you didn’t believe it, Why?!”

She glared up at you her teeth in her mouth growing sharp.

You shrieked before flying down and landing beside Jimin. Your falcon was caring you now, taking over for you and forcing you to show her, to show yourself.

She nipped Jimin at his snout, kissing his cheek and leaning into his fur, which you had wanted to through the whole run, your bird did it for you showed everyone your true feelings for Jimin who purred beside you.

“Ah... I see. You still have feelings for him. Him who betrayed you when my mother killed his father. Him who crushed you to the ground because he blamed you for the killing of his father.” Selina mused. She laughed loudly bending over and mocking you.

You didn’t get hurt by it, but it was clear that Jimin beside you was getting angry. His teeth were out in a growl and his legs were clenching- ready to attack.

“Should I tell her about that night Jimin?” Selina asked with innocent eyes. He growled louder beside you, he took a step forth almost going for her throat, but you stopped him by jumping in front of him and turning to her.

You knew her words were poisonous, but one other thing about Selina- Her kind couldn’t lie.

“That night 10 years ago when you broke Y/N’s heart! You know which night right?” She asked looking at you. You knew exactly which night. There was only that one night were Jimin really broke your heart.

“It’s your fault! Your fault that he died! I lost everything because of you and your childish behavior!”

“I hope I never have to see your ugly face again! And your stupid feelings! Did you really think I’d want you? You and your stupid bird. I want someone who can handle themselves, someone who’s beautiful, intelligent, funny! You will never be any of those things. You’ll always stay an ugly murderer!”

“He really told you off didn’t he?” Selina laughed. Jimin jumped over you with a roar and launched out after her, but before he could even touch her Jimin was pulled away by a familiar bird.

“Ah Hoseok! Right on time!” Selina said and clapped her hands. Hoseok who too was in shift, carried Jimin away from Selina and with his claws held him to the ground.

You squeaked and flapped your wings looking over at Jimin getting dirt in his face and blood flowing from Hoseoks claws.

You were about to fly over and attack Hoseok when Selina interrupted.

“Ah ah ah, I wouldn’t do that Y/N! You see if you as much as move one step towards Jimin Hoseok will rip his face apart! And you know he will!” Selina yelled looking over at Hoseok and smirking.

You stayed put, not moving a feather as you looked with sad eyes over at Jimin. He was looking at you too, communicating with his eyes, telling you to run. But you couldn’t- you wouldn’t.

“Were was I? Oh! That’s right, I was telling Y/N about out lovely night together Jimin! You remember it, right? How your fingers traced my breast, my hips down to my legs. Oh how you moaned that night! ‘Don’t stop! Keep going!” Selina laughed like a maniac when she looked over the two of you.

You who had given up fighting only listening to her words while falling to the ground in deverstation, and Jimin who was roaring and scratching to get out of Hoseoks hold to rip herself into pieces.

Like the sun shining brightly and getting blocked by a million clouds filled with flowing sadness, that was how you felt when you heard that Jimin had gone to Selina that night 10 years ago. The words he had said was nothing compared to the thought of him being with anyone else.

“And to think that you would actually die for this man. Him who has caused you nothing, but pain.” Selina continued this time pity in her voice, and her pity hugged your form like slimy sweat.

“Y/N. Believe me or not when I say I don’t want to kill you. You and I... we’re the only women to rule over a kingdom, and those men has always looked down upon us! You deserve respect! We deserve respect! Join me and together we will rule all of the five kingdoms! We will, with the help from the vampires, throw the kings off their thrones and take them! You and me together is undefeatable!”

You could hear in her voice she was confident that you would agree, she knew you were devastated, angry, and she was trying to use your emotions against everything you love?! Your people! Your fellow rulers! The peace! She was trying to make you betray that... She was trying to make you betray Jimin.

Carefully you pulled your form up from the ground. Even with no scars on your body, it was hurting as if a million knifes were stabbed into you. But you stood up proudly like your animal.

There in front of Selina, in front of Hoseok- your former best friend, and in front of Jimin, the man who had made you like this- Proud, a fighter, loyal. He who in your childhood had showed you love like a soft rose being offered to you, and then ripping it away like the thorns on it’s stalk tearing through you, he had helped you to become the women you were.

And even if he had hurt you before, you were not giving up on him, cause deep down you knew who Jimin was, and you knew he was worth fighting for like he was fighting for you right now.

Selina screamed when you flew into her and bore your claws into her skin - lifting her up into the air you flew faster than you had ever done. You had to get her to Tefany.

Behind you there was sounds of squeaks and howls from different kinds off birds. Among them you could hear Hoseok. Beneath you on the forest floor there was a black stripe following you, and you were relieved to know that Hoseok hadn’t hurt Jimin when you took Selina.

Selina tried her best to wriggle out of your claws, but the more she moved the tighter you made your hold, it wasn’t until you could feel her bone that she stopped moving.

When you reached out of the forest and onto Tefany territory, you could feel the birds behind you getting closer.

You had the castle in sight yet you weren’t sure you could reach there in time.

You just had to get to Jin. You had to complete your mission.

Underneath you Jimin was running. He didn’t understand what you were doing or where you were going at first, but when he finally realized you were going to Tefany he sped up.

You could spot him speeding up and running ahead to get to get help.

“Ms. Y/N, Could I have a word with you?” You were shocked to see king Seokjin behind your chamber door after you opened it.

Having just been to the meeting regarding Jimin and his kingdom Valsinto, you were tired and wanted to be alone after ripping up in old memories, but you lead Seokjin in as he was the ruler here, and the eldest of you.

“You said at the meeting you have spies in king Jimins castle, right?” Seokjin requested looking over your face with a serious air to him. Normally Seokjin was to the playful side, accept when the situation was deadly important.

“I do mr. Seokjin, why do you ask?” You could see in him the shift in his demeanor, as if he was distancing himself from you.

“Because somebody here is lying. You know that, but the question is, is it you?” Seokjin said as he again took a step back from you, ready to shift into his lion.

You sighed knowing you’d have to give up your informations to save yourself, you still didn’t know if you could trust Seokjin, but you would have to for now.

After the explaining and you giving up your informations to Seokjin, he too had told you he had a clash with a spy who had tried to kill him cause a vampire had ordered him too do it.

Seokjin had told you if it ever was necessary you could come to him for help, and if you found out who was behind you should come to him, and he would help you get rid of the traitor.

You hadn’t trusted him enough to go to him without knowing who the real betrayer was, now you knew, you had to get Selina to Seokjin. He besides Jimin was the only one you could trust, there were still too many spies in yours and Jimins kingdoms.

When you could spot Jimin coming back with an army behind him and Taehyung by his side you were almost howling in victory. Your wings couldn’t carry Selina and yourself much longer, and the birds behind you were getting closer and closer - you could almost feel their breaths in your nape.

When the clash between Tefany’s warriors and the spies happened it send echoes through the kingdoms. There were bones breaking, blood flooding and screams ringing.

It was like water and fire hitting together and making an explosion. You were the starting point.

When you reached the warriors it resulted in Selina wrinkling herself free from your clasp and Hoseok diving down catching her.

You were exhausted, your wings so weak that you fell to the ground. Jimin caught you - jumping in the air and catching you on his back.

Deep inside you there was still the heartbreak of Selinas words, but you pushed it down. A war was not the time to cry about your love.

You jumped off Jimins back and flew up into the air searching for Selina and Hoseok. You pushed the weakness of your wings away and fought through it. You had to find her, if she got away it would mean an even bigger war and this time with the vampires there too.

When you caught the two they had already reached the treeline to the forest. You dove down to the forest reaching it in minutes with the speed of physics.

The forest was dark, the tress around you not letting you see much. Yet you could still see the figures of Hoseok and Selina. They weren’t far.

Dodging tree after tree you caught up to them. You flew directly into Selina successfully knocking her to the ground. You made a sharp U-turn and again flew into them - this time not hitting any of them, but getting dragged to the ground by Hoseok.

He turned himself into his hawk and squeaked.

You and Selina were both up on your feet in seconds. Now you three stood opposite each other, waiting for someone to start the attack. You were outnumbered.

It was Hoseok who decided to start - shooting into you. You dodged by the skin of your teeth and again dodged as Selina ran to you with her claws out.

Now it was your turn - The two was lined up so you shot to them clawing Selinas arm, but missing Hoseok.

Selina screamed out as you again succeeded to hurt her. The wound on her shoulders with your claw marks already hurting. It was embarrassing her how easy it was for you to hurt her.

Hoseok blasted to you just after you had hurt Selina, catching you off guard he bore his claws into your stomach.

All the scratches, the tiredness, the weakness you felt, caught up to you when his claws ripped out of you again.

With a final squeak you were the one to fall first - you had lost this battle. Hoseok changed back and with a laugh stalked up to your form which was ripping back into human.

Selina came up behind him with a smirk and both looked down at your tired figure.

“Too bad. You would have won if you accepted my invitation.” Selina said a laugh on her lips.

She crouched down to you pressing her long nails into the fresh wound Hoseok had made. You screamed with the last energy you had.

“Instead I have to watch you die, die in the losing end of the Kingdoms.” She said.

Tears of pain came to your eyes as she pressed her fingers harder into the wound and laughed. But when she retreated her fingers in a rip and screamed you were the one to laugh.

“The only one to die is you!”

You wheezed in sorrowful happiness when you heard Jimins voice growl out in anger.

Jimin carried Selina by her throat and banged her into a tree. Behind him Hoseok was fighting in the tight grip of Taehyung.

“J- Jimin. You don’t want to kill me, remember all the good times we had!” Selina begged her voice messed up by his hands tightening around her voice cords.

“Oh but I do Selina. Ever since I discovered that it was your mother who killed my father, it was you who was the traitor and ever since you laid your hands on my mate! I’ve wanted to kill you for so long now.” He grunted through clasped teeth.

And there on the grass you watched as Jimins hands finally ended Selina and her whole plan of finishing her mothers works.

Jimin ran over to you, taking you in his arms he hugged you into him. You softly laughed when you finally felt his lips on you as he kissed your cheek.

“My love, I am sorry for everything.” He said tears in his eyes and blood on his hands.

“Don’t be. Everything will be good now.” You told him and held his cheek in your hand.

Jimin leaned down to you, and instead of kissing your cheek, this time he took your lips and caressed them in the best kiss you had ever had. And there in his arms with his lips to yours, you awoke.

When you woke up it was to a familiar feeling of sun in your face and sounds of various kinds of birds. The cottage.

Your eyes opened to the most wonderous sight you had ever seen.

In front of you was an angelic Jimin smiling down at you, and holding you in his arms. The sun was hitting his eyes making them sparkly.

He leaned down to you, catching your lips in a soft dance with his own. Your boyfriend had the softest lips you had ever felt - just like rose petals.

“Slept well?” He asked his voice hoarse.

“Better than ever.” You answered with a sweet smile.

“What did you dream about?” He asked as his hands caressed your waist with soft strokes.

“About kingdoms, and wars.”

#fanfic #bts #jimin #jimin x reader #jimin fanfic #jimin ff #bts jimin #ff #park jimin #jimin park #shapeshifter #fantasy #kim taehyung #kim seokjin #min yoongi #jung hoseok #bts hosoek

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staytinyville · 4 months

Text

Stay Alive (39)

BTS poly!ot7 x Reader

Magical Creatures AU

Series Masterlist

Warnings: none

A/N NOT BETA. I have some polls to do once I finish this whole section of meeting all the boys families. I have one out right now here >> (01/11/23-01/18/23). It's a simple yes or no so be sure to go check it out!

Taehyung lived on the other side of Daegu where a majority of its forest and landscaping was. The mountains were a lot like Seoul but a bit smaller. They had caves where dragons and elves lived but the place Taehyung took you to was just a large forest area with colorful foliage and plants that you had never seen before.

The excited boy was pulling you along quickly, dragging you almost with how much he was rushing forward to find the place he was looking for. You didn’t have time to look around your surroundings, only catching small glimpses of colors and other people lingering about. Your eyes almost popped out of your skull when you both came across a large gathering of people with angel-like wings on their backs.

Taehyung had explained to you that they were fearies. If he had his own wings, they too would look just like those. Large and black that would stretch out to be 10 feet in length. As you kept moving forward, you could only stare at his back with sad eyes. You could only imagine the feeling he must have felt to see others of his kind with their wings. It must be tough to lose a part of yourself.

Taehyung didn’t show it though, he still continued to drag you around the forest and giggle as his eyes widened at the familiar forest of his home.

“I'm going!” You laughed when he turned to look at you. “Wait.” You told him pointedly, catching him stop to give you a boxy smile that you had fallen in love with.

“Sorry!” He told you, pulling you closer. “I'm just so excited for you to see my home.” He looked around once more, closing his eyes as the wind blew through his hair.

“You don't live in a house?” You frowned, looking around to try and find some semblance of a building.

“I mean we do but they're hidden in the forests nearby.” The man explained. “Fearies like nature a bit more than most. Hobi's kind live the same way–it connects us to nature.” He added.

You paused for a moment to think about how Hoseok and Taehyung differed. You were clearly able to tell some differences but not all. So it left you wondering just how similar the two were and how different.

“Do you and Hobi have the same abilities?” You asked.

“Not at all.” Taehyung answered you, turning to walk alongside you as he continued on his journey. “Only spell casting and telekinesis. I have wings and Hobi doesn't. There are a couple of other things too.” He rambled on.

You smiled at his boyish nature, knowing that was just the personality Taehyung had. “Like transfiguration?” You asked him, remembering how it was only Taehyung who had turned the boys into frogs.

“Yes!” Taehyung giggled, happy to know you figured that one out. “I can do that but Hobi can't. He also can't shapeshift.” He explained nonchalantly.

“You can shapeshift?” You gasped, giggling to yourself as you swung your intertwined hands around.

“Into a lot of things!” Taehyung smiled, ducking to rub his nose along your own.

However something in the distance made him freeze, quickly turning his head to find the source. You could hear some people talking followed by one or two barks of a dog.

“Oh!” Taehyung’s face suddenly lit up, his breathing turning sporadic. “Oh my gods! Hurry!” He pulled you harshly, running forward without letting you get the chance to start.

“Taehyung!” You gasped. “I'm trying.” You yelled, getting your legs to start working.

“Another thing Hobi doesn't have.” Taehyung’s eyes sparkled as he looked around.

There was rattling coming from the trees and something came out from the foliage. “A familiar!” He screamed, letting go of your hand and rushing towards a small pomeranian dog that was running towards the two of you.

“Yeontan!” Taahyunh cried, picking up the puppy. “I'm home! I made it home. I'm so sorry.” He cried, rubbing his cheeks against the dog’s fluffy coat.

“Yeontan!” Someone called out, rushing out from between some trees in a panic. When the man saw you and Taehyung, he gasped quietly. “Taehyung.” He whispered, a large smile overtaking his face.

Taehyung turned around, setting down the dog before lunging at the man who clearly recognized the boy. “Hyung!” Taehyung laughed, hugging the man around his neck.

“Nothing has changed has it?” The man laughed, hugging Taehyung closer to him as he laughed joyfully.

When they both pulled away, the man’s eyes drifted over towards you, causing his eyes to widen and clear his throat. “Taehyung?” He nudged the boy's shoulder, trying to get his attention back on you.

“Taehyung, you have a guest.” Someone spoke up, causing you to look around for the source but finding no one else in the vicinity.

“Oh right!” Taehyung pulled back, giving you a grin as he brought you closer. “Seo-Joon.” He told the man. “Yeontan.” He turned to the dog. “This is my mate, (Y/N).”

The smile on his face reminded you of a boy who was excited to showcase a trophy. You giggled at his expression, wanting to coo at him but decided not to because of the others in the area. You would have to coddle him later.

“Hello.” Seojoon bowed his head in greeting, you followed after.

“It's nice to meet you.” You spoke up.

“Goodday.” Your eyes went wide as the voice came from the ground, locking on to the dog Taehyung was just crying over.

“Oh, he just talked.” You squeaked, looking at the animal in astonishment.

“Yes, familiars do that!” Taehyung clapped, reaching down to pick up Yeontan. “Here hold him.”

You jumped back as Taehyung shoved the poor animal in your face, his tongue lapping out as he panted.

“Please don't.” Yeontan sighed, closing his mouth as he hung in Taehyung’s arms.

“Yeontan. Be nice. She is my mate.” Teahyung pouted, looking at the dog in the face.

“Don't worry I won't.” You smiled at him.

Yeontan gave you a nod in thanks and if he could you would assume he was giving you a kind smile. You could tell the animal praised Taehyung a lot and only allowed him to touch him more than often. He seemed like those kinds of pets. The ones who got attached to their owners at a young age. At least that was what you compared him to.

“Have you been taking care of him since I've been gone?” Taehyung turned to Seo-Joon.

“I found him after you disappeared.” Seojoon answered, frowning just a bit. “He told me about the man who took you.”

Your eyebrows rose as you heard Seojoon’s story. Turning to look at Yeontan in Taehyung’s arms, you begin to wonder how it was he managed to escape. But then again, maybe a dog wasn’t as important as an actual faerie or dragon.

“I was there but managed to escape in time.” Yeontan began to explain as he caught your glance. “I made it this far before Seo-Joon found me. Without Taehyung, I'm not able to turn into anything else.”

“I'm sorry I left.” Taehyung sighed, rubbing his cheek against Yeontan’s fur again.

“It's alright, Tae.” The dog wiggled around for a moment in Taehyung’s hold. “I'm glad you're back.”

“Yes, but he doesn’t have wings.” Seojoon spoke somberly.

Taehyung froze for a moment and his shoulders dropped. He gave a sad smile, softly curling his fingers around Yeontan’s fur. “Things were hard in the facility.” He quietly said.

“And you can tell us when you are ready.” Yeontan cut in.

Seojoon nodded with a reassuring smile. “You’re home now–all of you. That’s all that matters.”

“All because of my beautiful mate.” Taehyung grinned, moving to give your cheek a kiss.

“No words will ever be able to express how much it means to have them all back home.” Yeontan bowed his little doggie head. “Welcome to the world of magic.”

Taehyung had introduced you to his parents and the rest of his family. They all gave you their thankful wishes and hugs that signaled how much they truly missed their son. It was tearful to hear Taehyung explain to his siblings what had happened to his wings but they still hugged him to make him feel better.

Once things settled down, Taehyung had decided to take you to where his grandparents were resting. He said they would have loved you so much. He was someone who grew up with his grandparents much like how you had. You figured that if the day came when you would lose your grandfather you would feel the same sentiment as Taehyung.

“Your world is very beautiful.” You spoke softly, sitting on a stone bench that overlooked Taehyung’s family’s crypt. “I love it so much.”

“Enough to stay?” Taehyung said out of no where.

“Stay?” You question, turning to look at him.

“With us.” He hummed, facing you directly. “Here.” He added. “Be our mate.” He took your hands into his, fingers intertwined together as he gave you a hopeful look.

“But—” You immediately said, not processing his words just yet.

“It's not that different from your world!” Taehyung began to defend his reasoning. “I'm sure you'll fit right in. And work? Don't worry about it! I'm sure Bang Nim can find you something.”

You grinned, eyes drifting to his lips as you watched him ramble on about the things you could do in their world. You cut him off though when he began to speak about how things would work out living with all seven of them, hand on his cheek to make him look at you.

“I have to think about it.” You smiled.

“I hope you say yes. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.” Taehyung said quietly. “I love you too much to let you go.” He whispered, leaning closer to brush his lips against yours.

You smiled into the kiss, pulling him forward to press your lips fully into him. Pulling back, you kept your forehead against his, noses brushing together.

“I love you too, Taehyung.”

Series Masterlist

@h3arteyes4mingi , @fangirling-all-the-way-tbh , @rinkud, @rln-byg , @singukieee , @hoshi-is-ult-bbg , @ldysmfrst , @juju-227592 , @alienchickenpoop , @dreamerwasfound , @afangirl91 , @psiphidragon , @puppyminnnie , @shyloh-the-cornsnake , @ollyoxenfrees , @whynotlarene , @beeltsumu , @cryingpages , @milopenne , @belikejk , @thatonedemigodfromseoul , @woozixo,

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raethye · 1 year

Photo

Show Me Your Claws by raethye

Rating: Explicit

Pairing: Seokjin x Taehyung

Length: 32.4K, complete

Tags: Kim Seokjin | Jin, Kim Taehyung | V, Kim Namjoon | RM, Park Jimin (BTS), Jeon Jungkook, Jung Hoseok | J-Hope, Min Yoongi | Suga, Alternate Universe, Shapeshifters, Hybrids, Near Future, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Serial Killers, Original Character(s), Blood and Violence, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Detectives, Sex Work, Speciesism, Lust at First Sight, Explicit Sexual Content, Imprinting, Top Kim Seokjin | Jin, Bottom Kim Taehyung | V, Beast Mode Sex, Bondage, Explicit Consent, Safeword Use, Abuse of Authority

A killer is hunting the sex workers of New Seoul. Detective Kim Seokjin needs someone on the inside to help. Falling in love with that someone was never part of the plan.

https://archiveofourown.org/works/43412568

#my writing #bts #ao3 #romance #crime thriller #bts fanfic #fanfiction #taejin #seokjin #taehyung #light sci-fi #murder mystery #bts smut #bts fic #written for a prompt #taejinbingo #ao3_raethye

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sparklehoney7 · 1 year

Text

The Things That Break Our Hearts

by: jademin

pairing: jungkook/ot6

info: chaptered 19/19 complete (136,573)

tags: OT7 // Magical Realism // Alternate Universe - Fantasy // Mythical Beings & Creatures // Polyamory // Sickfic // Minor Character Death // Temporary Character Death // Alternate Universe - Magic // Human Jeon Jungkook // Families of Choice // Blood and Violence // Healer Kim Namjoon | RM // Grim Reaper Min Yoongi | Suga // Dokkaebi Kim Seokjin // Fairy Park Jimin (BTS) // Selkie Kim Taehyung | V // Shapeshifter Jung Hoseok | J-Hope // Anal Sex // Group Sex // Blowjobs // Lots of Sex // Okay just lots of it // but also a lot of love because that's my jam // Angst and Fluff and Smut // Humor // Explicit Sexual Content // Resolved Sexual Tension // Flirting // Angst with a Happy Ending // References to Depression // sexual awakening // Hurt/Comfort // Vmin are little shits // Dom/sub Undertones // Everyone's vers!except maybe Tae // Trigger warning: suicidal ideation

summary: For most of Jungkook’s life, he believed that his father had snapped and killed his entire family, leaving him an orphan with an uncomfortable magical gift that isn't a gift at all, but more of a curse.

Can a magical family take Jungkook into their fold, teach him to love, and help him escape his troubled past before it's too late?

link

#bts fic #fic rec #bts ot7 #magic au

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imafivestarkpopstan · 1 year

Text

Best Brother Series - Family Reunion

Warnings : None

Comment below to join any of my taglists, BTS, Stray Kids, TXT, Enhyphen, or all/multiple!!

"Let's go!" Jin roared, over the commotion happening to the twenty others. "Hurry up!"

"Two minutes!" Jungkooks voice hollered. "Coming!"

"Wait! I forgot my hairband!" Y/N screeched, racing upstairs.

"Give it back, Jeongin!" Hyunjin shouted.

"Yeonjun hyung took my shoes!" Hueningkai yelled.

"Everyone shut up!" Yoongi yelled. Everyone quietened down. Then there was a snicker from Jungkook, then Yeonjun, Soobin, and Y/N. Exasparatedly, he turned to them. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing."Y/N grinned. "Let's go."

They piled into the four cars, 5 each, driven by Jin, Yoongi, Hoseok and Jimin as Namjoon didn't have a license.

"Hobi Oppa, can I sit in front?" Y/N asked. "I feel sick at the back."

She and Taehyun switched places, and Hoseok gave her a bag, just in case. When they got out of the car, she had to lean against the house gate, feeling incredibly dizzy.

"Ready?" Jin asked. He'd waited for Y/N. She nodded and they went in the house.

"Hi, Y/N!" Her younger cousin, Hanseul, said. Y/N smiled and patted her head.

"Hi, Seulie. How're you?"

"I'm great!" The right year old exclaimed. She held up a green origami rabbit. " Lisio Unnie showed me how to fold a rabbit, and I did one for you!"

"It's beautiful." Y/N marveled. "Did you thank Jisio Unnie?"

Jisio was their cousin, a year older than Y/N. Hanseul nodded excitedly, dragging Y/N over to the gaggle of girl cousins. Y/N was very popular at family reunion girl groups.

"Look who's here!" Hanseul announced. Y/N was swallowed by the eight girls, and by the time dinner was ready, the group was chattering very loudly.

"Gosh, how loud can they get?" Jeongin asked Jooyeon, who shrugged.

"That's how they are, hyung." He said. "Gaon and Gunil hyung always say they can shapeshift."

"Jin Hyung can shout over all of them though." Taehyung said. "He always manages to get Y/N's attention.

"Y/N!" Jin shouted, proving Taehyung true. "LESS NOISE, PLEASE!"

"Alright." Y/N agreed. As if a miracle struck, the girls quietened down, the noise quickly departing.

"Thank you, Jin." Meiseo, theif aunt, smiled. "It's so hard to get them to be quiet."

"You're welcome." Jin grinned. "I do it all the time you know. I have twenty siblings."

"Why your parents chose to keep having children I don't know." Meisro'd husband, Jonghyun, sighed. "We told them to stop after Hoseok but they never listened."

"Believe me." Jin said. "Sometimes I wish it was only me and Y/N. She's the easiest to manage except at these gatherings."

"Well, a big family's a big family." Meiseo said. "Let's eat!"

#bts x reader #stray kids x reader #jungkook x reader #seungmin x reader #jeon jungkook #jeon jungkook x reader #txt x reader #choi beomgyu #choi soobin #choi yeonjun #Spotify

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whipped-for-kpop-fics · 6 years

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Protection Squad - Fifteen

15/15

A kind woman offers you a place of work at the animal shelter she owns and one of the animals seems to take a strong liking to you. You thought Suga was just like any other cat you happened to meet in therapy. You realise how wrong you were when he reveals his true self to you in order to do everything he can to prevent anything hurting you ever again.

Pairing- Reader (Y/N) x Suga

Genre - Shapeshifter!BTS & magic AU

Warning- multiple possible triggers; Mental disorders talked about and portrayed (depression, anxiety , suicidal thoughts and acts) abuse . near death . plus possibly more . If you are uncertain if you can read, privately message me about what you wish to avoid and I’ll tell you if the story contains it.

Protection Squad Masterlist

Shelter Layout

For a full week, you remained motionless in Yoongi's bed. If it wasn't for the obvious sign of your chest rising and falling with steady breaths, they would've thought you weren't alive.

Molly and Seokjin checked on your vitals hourly but nothing changed. Everything pointed to you being perfectly healthy, even the fatigue circles under your eyes had evened out after the spell was complete. Molly herself had cleaned you up and put you in fresh clothes, once again Yoongi's, before leaving you in his bed to allow you to wake up in your own time.

Every single one of the males had taken over 24 hours after the spell to wake up so none of them were particularly concerned but then it turned to 48 hours then 72 and that was when Molly and Seokjin joined the others in concern. The longest any of them took to recover was 72 hours and that was Hoseok due to how damaged his body had been from his years of battling disease beforehand.

Molly and Seokjin spent the following days researching possible causes for your prolonged slumber but they both came up short.

All of the household checked up on you multiple times a day, fearing you wouldn't wake or they'd miss a change in your situation.

Much like the last time you recovered in Yoongi's room, he barely left your side. He only left the room to go into the adjoining bathroom. He didn't even leave to eat. Someone always delivered meals to him but he didn't always eat them. The longer you were asleep, the less he ate.

At precisely 2:03am exactly eight days after the spell, your hand twitched and Suga shot upright from where he was curled up against your side, taking comfort in your steady breathing beside him. He stared at you, waiting to see if it happened again. When four minutes passed without anything else happening, he decided he must've dreamt it and somehow woke himself up. It wasn't the first time his mind had tricked him after all.

Slowly, he settled back down and once again closed his eyes. He was almost asleep when there was a light weight on his back. His eyes flew open and he knew he wasn't imagining it. The weight grew lighter until it turned into gentle brushes of small pressure across his back.

Without thought, he turned into Yoongi and looked at you. You had a soft smile on your face and your right hand on his side.

"Hi." You greeted quietly. He pounced forward to wrap his arms around you carefully and bury his face into your neck.

"You're okay." He spoke repeatedly, relief and joy thick in his voice.

"I won't be if you keep leaning on me like that." He jumped backwards and you giggled.

"Fuck, I was so scared you weren't going to make it."

"Silly kitty." You lifted your hand to hold his face. Yoongi closed his eyes and put his hand over yours to prevent you letting go. "What time is it?"

"Uh.." His eyes fluttered open and he looked over to the digital clock on his bedside table. "Gone 2 in the morning."

"You think Molly will be mad if we go have a midnight snack?" You grinned and he started to laugh. "What?"

"You've been basically in a coma for a week straight and the first thing you want to do is raid our kitchen?" You nodded and his cheeks lifted as he smiled widely. "Okay, let's go eat."

You grinned and kicked back the covers dramatically to get up. When you were on your feet, you stopped still and furrowed your eyebrows together.

"What? What is it?" Yoongi rushed around to stand in front of you. He held your upper arms and looked at you with concern.

"I feel weird." You muttered.

"Like ill?"

"No just...not myself." You looked down at your body, inspecting everything and not at all surprised to find you were wearing Yoongi's clothes.

"Well, you're not entirely anymore. Well, I mean, you are but you're more than just yourself now." Your eyes widened as you realised what he meant.

"I'm...like you now?" He nodded. "Oh...well shit." Once again, you looked at yourself. "What happened?"

"You don't remember?"

"I have a lot of these like, clips in my head but I don't know if they're real or not."

"What's the last thing you remember for sure?"

"Standing on a bridge and looking over the barrier to the water." You mumbled.

"Uh...yeah...well...you jumped." Your eyes bulged as you looked at him in shock. "Me and Hoseok saw it but we got to you too late, you had stepped off by the time we got to you."

"Holy shit, I tried to commit suicide?" He nodded and you took a few steps back until you plopped down onto the bed. "N-no, I wouldn't do that to my parents."

"You really weren't yourself that day, Y/N. You scared the shit out of me."

"I'm sorry." You were honest and he smiled softly.

"I know. I think it was all too much and you shut everything off to try and protect yourself."

"Lot of good that did." You joked and he whined.

"Please don't joke about almost dying like that, Y/N." He pleaded.

"Right, sorry. Too soon, right?" He whined again and you got back up to wrap your arms tight around him. Yoongi returned the embrace instantly. "Thank you Yoongi, for always looking out for me. What do my parents know?"

"They think we've gone on a road trip." He answered. "I couldn't say you're ill and staying here, it was hard enough to convince them that was the truth last time you were unconscious."

"Sorry. It must be annoying."

"I'm only worried for you, not annoyed by you." He insisted and you nodded against his shoulder, believing him. "Do you still want fo-"

"Y/N!" Hoseok yelled bursting into the room making both you and Yoongi jump in surprise and split from the other. "I knew I heard your voice!" He ran over to engulf you in his arms. "I'm so glad you're okay!" He cried and you held him tight, burying your face in his shoulder.

Hoseok's loud tone had woken the rest of the household minus Seokjin and Molly as their bedroom was on the first floor next to the living room. In seconds, four other men had entered the room to each announce their joy at your recovery and hug you tight.

When your stomach grumbled, they all backed up realising they were crowding you.

"Let's all go have a celebration feast!" Taehyung suggested, already running out of the room and down the stairs.

By the time the rest of you had met him in the kitchen, both Seokjin and Molly were there. Seokjin had been awoken by Taehyung running down the stairs and when he got out of bed to investigate what had the fox shifter excited, Molly woke too.

"How about grilled cheese?!" Were Seokjin's first words to you. You smiled widely and nodded in agreement. He knew you loved a good grilled cheese.

"Me too, hyung!" Jungkook called walking over to help Seokjin gather ingredients and prepare food for all of them.

"How are you feeling, Y/N?" Molly asked, leading you away from the excited males to the dining room where you both sat down at the table.

"Hungry, mostly." You answered and she laughed.

"Nothing hurts?"

"Nope."

"Any tingling or odd sensations?"

"No well, other than not feeling like myself. Yoongi said it's because I'm like him-like them now."

"Yes, I performed the same spell on you as I did all seven of them." She confirmed.

"So, I can change into an animal now?" She nodded and you looked down at your hands. "That's cool, I hope it's not a lame animal."

"I have a feeling I know what it is." You looked at her surprised. "Do you remember how I said your destiny is here?" You nodded. "You have a destiny many dream of but never really find themselves reaching."

"What do you mean?"

"You've heard of soulmates, yes?" You nodded. "A lot of people believe everyone has a soulmate but unfortunately, it's not true. It's a nice thought, to believe that who you fall in love with is your soulmate but only a lucky few are destined for such a connection."

"Oh. Is Seokjin your soulmate?"

"No, I'm not destined for such things but luckily neither is he so our love will last as long as we work for it. But for you, your soulmate will always love you and you them regardless of effort put in. Of course, you'll have ups and downs but you'll always return to each other."

"What does this have to do with my animal side?"

"Well, animals cannot naturally procreate with other species. You'll turn into the same animal as your soulmate."

"And you know who my soulmate is?"

"Not for sure and neither will you until you meet eyes in animal form." You tilted your head questioningly and she smiled. "You can't make a connection with only half of you. You've met as humans already but the bond won't be final until you meet in animal form."

"Wait, does this mean that I've always meant to turn into a shapeshifter?" Molly nodded solemnly. "The universe wanted me to try to kill myself from the get-go to lead to connecting with my soulmate?"

"Maybe not this way but no matter what, something would've happened that would result in you having to change."

"I guess I should see what form I take, huh?" You sighed and stretched out.

"You want to do this right now? What if...what if your soulmate isn't Yoongi?" You tensed and looked at her slowly.

"I thought you said you know who it is? Does this mean it isn't him?"

"I only have suspicions, I can't say either way. I just want you to prepare for every possibility."

"It's definitely one of the guys?" She nodded. "How do you know?"

"The energy emitted when you're here. I can feel the bond but I can't see who it is linked to."

"What am I going to do if it's not Yoongi? I don't want to be with anyone else." You confessed and she smiled half-heartedly.

"I know you love him and he loves you but if he's not your soulmate, your love won't be enough. You can try to make it work but it'd be best to not allow anything further to happen between you."

"Oh." You frowned and folded your arms on the tabletop to rest your chin on them. "I don't want to change now."

"Are you going to avoid it for the rest of your life?" She laughed but your sharp nod of confirmation cut her off. "Oh...I've never heard of a shapeshifter that never turns, not even once. I think the animal DNA is too strong to allow that."

"Well, I can try to fight it for as long as possible."

Neither of you spoke and the room would've been silent if not for the seven noisy males in the room over.

When they joined, they brought with them noise and plates of food.

Seokjin had a large platter full of grilled cheese sandwiches for you all to share. Jimin had a platter of various prepared fruit that he placed next to the sandwich platter.

Yoongi sat next to you and placed a glass of orange juice on the table in front of you. You smiled and accepted it to gulp down a large amount causing him to chuckle.

"Thirsty?" He teased.

"Hey, I've been asleep for a week, my throat is bound to be a little dry." He hummed and reached out to grab a sandwich and hand it to you. You grinned and took it happily to start eating.

All thoughts of soulmates and true love left your mind as you got sucked into the conversation with the group, the smile never leaving your lips.

***

At 6:45am, you were back in Yoongi's bed and he was beside you.

You were both laid on your sides facing each other, heads on the pillow as you talked softly. When the conversation ran out, you both remained like that and simply looked at one another, taking in the others features up close while the calm remained in the room.

"Can-can I ask you something serious?" You asked after a little while.

A little while after the previous conversation ended, your thoughts inevitably returned to your talk with Molly at the table and you began to worry over your soulmate's identity again.

"Yeah, okay." He replied, nodding slightly even if he looked a little concerned. "Anything."

"Do you love me?" His eyes widened.

"Wh-what?"

"Do you love me? I don't mean as friends or whatever, I mean more."

"Yes, I do." He answered straight away. "If you hadn't ignored your phone for a month, you'd know this."

"Oh, right." You chewed on your lip, allowing yourself to retreat back into your mind.

"Do you?" He urged when you didn't return the sentiment. His heart was pounding and his palms growing clammy as his nerves ran wild.

"Huh?"

"Do you...love me too?"

"Oh right, yeah, I do." You nodded and he smiled widely, showing his gums. You couldn't help but smile back.

"I know you probably don't feel ready right now after everything that has happened but when you're ready, can we try it again but seriously this time? Will you be my girlfriend?"

"I want to say yes right now."

"Then why don't you?" You sighed and sat up to lean against the headboard. Yoongi frowned, his lips pouting slightly as he mirrored your position. "Y/N?"

"Molly told me I have a soulmate." You announced bluntly.

"You believe her?" You nodded. "Why?"

"I just...I feel like it's true."

"You don't know who it is?"

"No, she said we won't know until he and I meet eyes in animal form."

"Okay then, let's see if it's us."

"What?!"

"You don't want to know?" You shook your head. "Why not?"

"Because if it's not you, that means we can't be together." Yoongi's whole body sagged at the news. "Molly said we can try but our love won't be enough, we won't last and I'll go to him. It's destiny." You sighed and rubbed your face roughly with your hands. "I want to be with you, Yoongi."

"I want to be with you too." Yoongi pulled your hands away from your face to hold them in his own. "But if you're destined for someone else, avoiding this will only hurt us both."

"Don't use logic on me." You whined and he chuckled. "I wanted to be ignorant and pretend that if I never change, everything will be okay and we can be together."

"You were going to never turn into your animal form?" You nodded. "Is that possible?"

"I don't know but I'm willing to try if it means we can be happy and in love."

"Fuck, I really wish I could let you try but, I know if I'm not your soulmate then us breaking up is inevitable and I'd rather save us both that heartbreak."

"You really want me to change?" He nodded and you got up from the bed.

"Where are you going? Just do it here."

"I'll take on the same animal as my soulmate, I don't want you to have to see me if I don't turn into a cat. I don't want you to see who I belong with so suddenly."

"Oh, yeah, maybe it's best you don't do it here." He mumbled. "Go in the bathroom, I'll stand on this side of the door." You nodded in agreement and went into his bathroom. Yoongi closed the door behind you and pressed his forehead against it.

"What do I do?" You asked only then realising you had no idea how to change.

"You know that part of you that doesn't feel like you?"

"Yeah."

"Focus on it. It's the animal in you. It may take a little while the first time but it gets easier and quicker the more you change."

"Okay." You took a deep breath and closed your eyes.

"Y/N?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you, no matter who you're destined for." You smiled and found the part of you that was new, the animal part and worked to focus on making it more prominent.

"I love you too, Yoongi."

As your body morphed from human to animal, you felt it all. You had expected it to be uncomfortable or painful but it felt great. It felt as if you were turning into what you were meant to be. That was when you really started to believe in destiny.

When your body became still and settled, you allowed your eyes to open. You were obviously a lot smaller than you were when you closed your eyes but that didn't tell you too much. Looking down, you saw fur the colour of your hair. At least you weren't a bird you mused. But that still left cat, dog and fennec fox. You were certainly too small to be the same breed as Namjoon but maybe dog shifter soulmates could mate regardless of breed.

You moved forward with your gaze downcast to approach the door that you had seen a full-length mirror on the back of.

When you looked up at your reflection, your heart beat erratically in your chest. You couldn't help but stare at yourself until there was a knock on the door.

"Y/N? Are you okay?" Yoongi called nervously.

You almost called out but realised your words wouldn't be in any human language. For a second, you were about to change back to human but then you decided not to.

"Y/N?" You stayed silent and sat down, staring up at the door expectantly. You knew he'd get worried and enter soon enough. "Y/N, answer me or I'm coming in." Only three seconds later, the door flew open and Yoongi's eyes scanned the area, not looking down at the floor for a good five seconds. The second his eyes landed on you, he froze. You tilted your head at him and let out a noise that made him return to reality. "Holy shit!" He exclaimed dropping to his knees to stroke your head lovingly. You couldn't help but purr at his touch and his gummy smile stretched his cheeks. "You're so fucking cute. The cutest cat ever." He cooed. You pulled away from his touch to make an annoyed sound. "What?" Even in cat form, you gave him a look and he understood. A chuckle left his lips before he changed and before you sat Suga. The second your eyes met his, you felt your life click into place. It was like everything finally made sense and you understood your place in the world. That place was right next to Yoongi.

He stalked over to you to rub his head against yours affectionately. A happy noise left your throat and you returned the affection. You both purred joyfully as you continued to rub against one another, showing all your love in the best way you could as cats.

Silently, Suga turned and faced his room. He looked over his shoulder at you and you understood instantly.

Together, you returned to the bedroom and jumped up onto the bed. There you curled up and fell asleep for the first time with your soulmate. The man, or cat, that you would more than happily spend all of eternity with. in whatever form he asked of you.

Some of you may've already seen it but yesterday I posted a little note for you guys (readers of Protection Squad). I really hope you will all read it. It's important as it talks about a major issue that this story is heavily revolved around (mental illness). It's also a thank you note to you all for reading and such.

Originally, I was just going to write a little note here but I started to write it and it got way too long so I figured making a separate post would be best

I love you all and thank you for reading my lil story :3

~Chee

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fave-bts-fics · 3 years

Text

Got this ask today

Unfamiliars

BY: themarmalade

SHIP: YOONSEOK

WORD COUNT: 27198

CHAPTERS: 8

STATUS: COMPLETE

RATING: MATURE

SUMMARY:

Hoseok rescues a kitty in a summer storm. Thanks to some weird magic, Yoongi is that kitty.

In a tiny apartment full of plants and moonlight, a simple, aching happiness blooms. But with what Jungkook knows, how long can the happiness last?

45 notes · View notes

yoonologue · 4 years

Text

Shadow l JJK l (1)

Genre: Fantasy au, Shapeshifter reader.

Ratings/ Warnings: Girl gets held at knifepoint. Minor violence.

Summary: Shadow has been on the run her whole life. Her survival depended on her keeping her mouth shut and staying hidden. If she didn't then she would be captured and used as a pawn to do people's dirty work. However, it seemed that her heart did not seem to understand that. She had never been able to ignore a person in need. She never had a problem before, but it seems that her luck had run out. Now she was left with scraped hands and unconscious boy that was too nosy for his own good.

WC: 2.2k+

A/N: I got inspired by the throne of glass series and wrote this little piece. It is my very first fic, I hope you like it! Special thanks to @2dreamcatcher8 for motivating me!

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The summer festival was everything you hated. It was loud and filled with people of all ages, milling around being needlessly loud. The city that you were in was a port city, creatively called Spiritport. Which meant that during the summer, business was booming. People were coming in and out of the city daily, but nothing drew people in like the summer festival. It took place at night in the heart of the city, to brighten up everyone's spirits and celebrate another year of prosperity. The town square was shut off especially for the event, lanterns were lining every building to provide light. There was a band playing somewhere in, the beat of the drums could be heard over the noise of the crowd. Vendors lined the alleys selling everything from exotic food to the finest silks. There was an elemental Fae doing tricks to entertain passersbys. One of the specialties of the summer festival was that Fae of all kinds were welcome to attend regardless of their status or powers. The air felt electric with the magic of all the fae combined.

It was too much for you. You felt like everyone was watching you and any minute someone would figure out who you were. You would get captured and sold to the highest bidder to do as they please. The only reason you were there was to get a pulse of the kingdom. There were rumors of the king going to war with the neighboring kingdom. That could only mean trouble for you because wars meant that you would have to constantly be on the move to avoid being caught by the King's men. The current King had the reputation of a kind man, but desperation makes even the kindest people behave in peculiar ways. It was the reason your kind had been driven to near extinction. They had been hunted and used as pawns by various kings and high fae. What was left of your kind were forced to go into hiding and be on the run for the rest of their life. You needed to keep tabs on what was happening in the kingdom, so you could run at the first sign of danger. Now, you were in the form of a young girl in her twenties. You had mousey brown hair that fell to the middle of your back, and soft features that were common around this part of the kingdom. The form allowed you to blend into the crowds without catching anyone's attention. It was perfect for your job at a local inn as well. It allowed you to keep your head down and work in the kitchen in exchange for a small room in the inn. You saw who was coming in and out of the city and what was happening in the neighboring kingdoms as well.

You stayed close to the shadows sliding into an alley near a musician with drums. Everyone was focused on the festival and didn't pay you any mind, granted your dark cloak made you blend in with the darkness around you.

You watched as a crowd gathered in front of the musicians and people started to dance to the music. It was then that he caught your attention. A shorter man with blue hair that matched the night sky was pulling him into the circle of dancers. He was wearing a loose shirt with the first few buttons undone showing off his tan chest. His pants were tight highlighting his muscular thighs which surely took some work. His dark hair was unruly and fell in his eyes but he didn't seem to mind. You couldn’t tell if he was fae; his ears were covered with his long hair. He was laughing like he was having the time of his life as his friend spun him around to the music. When he turned to face your way, his eyes drew you in. They were large and full of light. You hadn't seen such beautiful eyes on a human before they almost looked like the eyes of a fawn. And when you caught a glimpse of his smile, it reminded you of a bunny. Regardless of his resemblance to woodland creatures, he was undeniably beautiful. He was probably a woodland fae. Your eyes followed him as his friend dragged him away, no doubt to enjoy all that the festival had to offer. You didn’t when you started smiling, but it felt good. You let yourself imagine that it was you pulling him through the crowd, and you would be the one to take him home.

When he was lost in the crowd you saw something else that made your smile die on your lips. A man was pulling a panicked girl around your age in an alley. No one noticed the pair, as they were a little ways away from the vendors. The fear in her eyes set you off instantly, you darted out of the alley. You carefully made your way around the crowd towards the alley. Teleporting would be faster, but it took a lot of effort, not to mention, the advanced magic would draw a lot of attention.

As you approached your destination, you heard muffled cries. Pulling the hood of your cloak over your face you step to the alley. The sight in front of you made your blood boil. At the end of the alley, the man had the girl pressed up against the wall with a knife to her neck. Tears were streaming down the girl's face and she struggled to get away.

Your plans of not drawing attention to yourself flew out the window as you took a deep breath and prepared to shift. The shift itself only took a few seconds however, it required a lot of concentration. You sifted through your memory to find a form that would help you the most. The face of the stranger from before popped into your mind; his strong physique was just what you needed to defend yourself. You envisioned every detail of the man and felt your body change from. Your spine straightened and you felt yourself growing muscles. You took a second to adjust to your form. The loose trousers and shirt you were wearing under the cloak felt just a little tight but not so much that it hindered your movement.

You slowly made your way over to the man until you were standing directly behind him. You made eye contact with the girl. Her eyes widened and before the man could react, you grabbed his arm that was holding the knife and twisted it behind his body. You grabbed his neck with the other hand and whirled him around, slamming his face against the stone wall of the opposite building. You could shift your body as you move to make you lighter and faster on your feet. The girl let out a startled scream. You visibly winced knowing that, it definitely was going to draw the attention of one of the high fae, thanks to their advanced hearing. Just as you shoved his body into the shadows, you turned to see that the girl had run out of the alley. Before you could follow her, your ears picked up on the sound people approaching the alley you were in.

You hurriedly looked for another exit to the alley. You realized there was no other way out than the way that you came. Just as you turned to leave the way you came, you saw three men enter the alley, blocking your only way out; their faces hidden in the shadows. You realized that the only way you were getting out of the alley was by charging through them. You took a deep breath and hid in the shadows

As they got closer, the man in the center cried, "Who's there? Show yourself!."

You let out a light scoff. As if anyone would reveal themselves just because the other person asked. One of his companions seemed to agree with you, "When has that line ever worked Jin?" the one on the right side.

"Yah don't disrespect your superior like that you brat!" Jin fired back.

"Guys stop fighting! Now is not the time to be doing this" the last man spoke.

"Well, it's not my fault you guys have no manners! You need to treat your elders with respect!" The man's voice seems to rise with every word he said until it echoed in the small space.

The man on the right took a step back and turned to face the street as if he was looking for something in the distance. A nearby lantern illuminated his face and an involuntary gasp left your mouth. The man whom you were looking at was the same man whos form you were now in. At the sound, all three whipped their heads towards your hiding space. That shook you out of your shocked state. Using their momentary distraction to your advantage, you ran out of your hiding space. Your body collided with the man in the middle knocking him off-balance and took off down the street. You ignored the sounds of alarm from behind you and kept running. You could only think of one thing and that was that if he saw you, then it would be the end of your freedom forever.

You hear footsteps pounding on the ground behind you. One of them was following you and you could sense they were getting close. All you had to do was get out of the festival and into the dark streets beyond the square then, you could shift into another small animal and escape. You fought your way through the festival crowd. You could feel people's eyes on you but you kept running trying to lose the man hot on your heels. You weaved between vendors and people but it seemed like the man knew exactly what you were going to do. If it were any other time, you would be impressed, not a lot of people could keep up with your speed, but now survival was the only thing on your mind. He was probably high fae, which would explain how they could hear you. That made you run even faster.

When you got past the festival you ducked into a narrow street to your right. The further you went in the maze of the streets the darker it got. Almost everyone had shut down their business to enjoy the festival. You had to get to the inn so you could hide. The noise of the festival was slowly fading away as you run further. You dodged several crates littering the street and pushed them behind you to hinder your pursuer. You heard him mutter a curse, but he did not slow down. He was undoubtedly high fae and with the way, he was keeping up with you, definitely trained. You pushed yourself to be faster.

You made your way to your inn. It was located in the opposite direction of the port, bordering the forest that led to the rest of the kingdom. It was slightly detached from the rest of the crowded city, to give the guest some illusion of privacy. It catered to the High fae who preferred the serenity of the forest over the bustle of the port. It had a stable that stored horses of the guests of the inn. It was also where you stayed, there was a room in the upper portion of the stables that had a small cot and overlooked the animals. There was also an entrance at the back of the building that you got food deliveries from. You just had to make it in and then you could shift and slip into the kitchen. So many people moved in and out of the kitchen every day that the fae chasing you would surely lose your scent in the overwhelming atmosphere.

You turned into random streets to confuse him and after a few minutes, you heard his footsteps fade a little. You ducked into a narrow alley that opened to the small clearing in front of the inn. Some lanterns lit the front of the inn making it appear warm and inviting. You did not see anyone lingering in front of the building, most of the guests were probably at the festival you left behind. That meant you could go in undetected. As you were assessing the grounds, you failed to take into account that the footfalls of your chaser had picked back up. It was only when you heard the telltale sounds of gravel close by, that you took off towards the inn.

You turned to see if the man was close and saw him turning into the alley you left behind. You cursed, of course, it had to be him chasing you. Just then your foot got caught on a rock that sent you crashing to the ground. Your hands broke your fall as the wind was knocked from your lungs. You skidded to a stop. You groaned and rolled over to relieve the pressure on your chest. You cursed into the sky; that was what you got for making such an amateur mistake. When you finally got a sense of your bearings, he was coming to a stop in front of you. Your fall had forced your hood off of your head and as you looked up at the fae’s face you saw his eyes widen.

“How-” He never got to finish his sentence because the next second you hurled a rock lying by your hand straight at his face. He was out before he hit the ground

You really, really, hated the summer festival.

#jeon jungkook #jungkook #jungkook fantansy au #bts fantasy au #bts #jungkook x reader #jungkook x you #bts x you #fantasy!jungkook #park jimin #kim seokjin #kim taehyung #kim namjoon #min yoongi #Jung Hoseok #shapeshifter reader #jungkook imagine #jeon jungkook x reader

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writersrealmbts · 1 year

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Treasured Hoard: Part 5

Part 4

Description: Dragon Hoseok! You’re spelunking when you come across a dragon, and suddenly your life is a lot more complicated as he adds you to his hoard.

Warnings: Not really

Posted: 03/15/2023

Tags: Dragon!Hoseok, Shapeshifter!Hosoek, Hoseok X Reader

Mostly Fluff: 1,186 words

“I’ve got bad news,” Hoseok said, as if that hadn’t been obvious by his bringing you a whole net-full of gifts on top of taking you outside for most of the day.

“Okay?”

“I have to go to a clan meeting. My kin-clan. It’s best if I don’t bring you. I’ll be gone until the evening of day after tomorrow.”

You blinked at the book in your hands. “Oh. That’s….”

“A long time. So, I was thinking, while I was gone…I’d leave you a way to get in and out of the cave. Just in case of an emergency.”

Your chest tightened, and you couldn’t seem to draw a full breath. Two weeks of trust-building while making trips outside. Two weeks of barely leaving his sight when among the plants and trees and sunshine.

Continue Reading on Ao3...

Part 4 ~ Part 6

Masterlist ~ Hoseok Masterpost

Tagging: @alex–awesome–22 @missmoxxiesworld @bryvada @knjhe @i-dont-even-know-fck @sinceritythatcouldntbedelivered

#treasured hoard fic #hoseok #j-hope #jhope #hoseok x reader #dragon!au #dragon!hoseok #reader x hoseok #jhope x reader #reader x jhope #bts fic #shapeshifter!hoseok

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btschooseafic · 1 year

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BTS-Hybrid au on Tumblr

organizing! I will try and tag all of the hybrid fics I reblog, but I wanted to specially note the fics I might want to re-read, or ongoing fics I want to keep track of

edited 02/11/2023

*completed*

Fix You by casuallyimagining

hybrid!yoongi x reader

reader takes in a stray cat who turns out to be yoongi. also available on ao3!

sequel, Home by casuallyimagining

hybrid!yoongi x human!reader, hybrid!namjoon x hybrid!hoseok, hybrid!jin x hybrid!jungkook

yoongi continues to heal from his past and develop his relationship with you, when he runs into his old pack. also available on ao3!

Somewhere I Can Breathe by myplaceforstories

hybrid!reader x taehyung, ot7 friendship

you go to the country, hoping it will be easier than living as a stray hybrid in the city.

The Little Fox by purpleyoonn

hybrid!reader x ot7, ot7 x ot7, a/b/o dynamics, trauma recovery, lowkey soulmate au

you run away from the bidding house where you were abused, and are taken in by a pack. also available on ao3!

Escape by amazedforjjk

hybrid!reader x hybrid!bts

you and seven other predator hybrid escape the truck that was taking you to your execution

Calico by mygsii

jimin x reader, jungkook x reader

after an incident, you end up taking in cat hybrid jimin. only problem is, you don’t know how to take care of him.

The Treasure Box by worldofblade

hybrid!jimin x human! reader, lowkey soulmate au, co-workers au

when you see everyone treating your new coworker jimin badly just because he’s a raven hybrid, you decide to befriend him

Mother Nature by alternateafterthought

tiger hybrid! hoseok x lioness hybrid! reader, heat, smut, college au

you ask your friend hoseok to help you out during your heat

Inheritance by jincherie

hybrid!yoongi x reader

your grandmother passes away and leaves everything to you, including her cat hybrid. also available on ao3!

Hybrid Games by moviefreaklover

ot7 x reader

you, a famous game designer, adopt seven hybrids

Choco Bun by nunchiimagines

ot7 x reader, kind of coworkers/office romance au, kind of cafe au

you are a rabbit hybrid who opens up a cafe under BTS Corp. no one expects the seven CEO dragon hybrids to take an interest in you

Outro: Love Is Not Over by kiirokero

hybrid!hoseok x human! reader, single parent au, teacher au

you are the single parent of a golden retriever hybrid, yunho. hoseok is his teacher.

Dance To This by hollyhomburg

ot7 x reader, polyam, first part finished, second part ongoing

you are blind and adopt jin to help assist you.

Sugary Sweet by hollyhomburg

hybrid!reader x hybrid!taehyung x hybrid!yoongi x human!namjoon

namjoon is a writer and moves out into the country cause of anxiety

Shelter of Hope by daydream-hobii

ot7 x reader

you and your husband namjoon run a hybrid shelter

A Place Called Home by agustdakasuga

ot7 x reader

you are a vet who tries your best to save hybrids. this extends to your personal life, and the many hybrids you’ve brought home with you

To Build A Home by euphoricfilter

ot7 x reader, 9 tailed fox reader, smut/implied smut

you and jin need to find an owner or a pack before the government takes you.

The Sanctuary series by writersrealmbts [7 parts completed]

Part 1, Safe with Me, seokjin x reader

Also on ao3!

Pack Trials series by writersrealmbts

werewolf au, hybrid au, choose your own adventure (choose which member), other groups available

also on ao3!

*ongoing*

Enchanted To Meet You by ditttiii

hybrid!ot7 x human!reader, soulmate au, idolverse

BTS has supposedly gone on hiatus. Secretly, they are shapeshifters searching for their soulmate--you. also available on ao3!

Eunoia by wishesunderthestars

hybrid!ot7 x human!reader, ot7 x ot7

you are a world famous director who suddenly keeps running into hybrids in need.

Abundance by angelicyoongie

hybrid!ot7 x human!reader, ot7 x ot7

you adopt three different packs of hybrids... who don’t get along. also available on ao3!

Peculiar Pack by daydreamindollie

hybrid!bts x human!reader

you are a hybrid psychologist who finds a hybrid stealing from your garden one night, and decides to take in him and his pack

Sly like a... by youarejesting

hybrid!ot7 x reader

you take in seven hybrid as part of a government experiment. also available on ao3!

Gossamer by aroseforyoongi

hybrid!taehyung x human!reader, dark themes, smut, human experimentation

you are a scientist. your job is to take care of the new hybrid in your lab.

Wabi-sabi by flurrys-creativity

human!taehyung x hybrid!reader

taehyung adopts a blind hybrid.

Sehnsucht by 20moonchild21

hybrid!bts x human! oc

Hope is a newly appointed lawyer who takes in an injured hybrid she finds on the streets.

Stubborn Hugs by eternal-mikrokosmos

hybrid!namjoon x reader, ot7 x ot7, ot7 x reader, smut, mystery

you bring home a koala and bunny hybrid. unfortunately, you and the koala hybrid have some history together. also available on ao3!

Perihelion by jincherie [hiatus]

hoseok x reader, roommates au, college au

you and hoseok accidentally become roommates. neither of you are very happy about it

90 Days by ttaehyungtrashh [hiatus?]

ot7 x reader

you are a cafe owner who has befriended jimin, who lives on the streets. when winter comes, you ask jimin and his pack if they want to come stay with you. despite his reservations, namjoon says yes.

restitution by cloudteawrites

ot7 x reader

you find out that an uncle you never knew existed was the head of a famous law firm. now that your uncle has passed away, he’s left you everything, including seven hybrids he had only recently adopted. also available on ao3!

Home Calls the Heart by anonnie-in-wonderland

ot7 x reader, grief, magic

both you and the boys are grieving when Taehyung brings you home to his pack.

#bts fanfic #bts fanfic recs #bts x reader #ot7 x reader #hybrid au #completed #ongoing #polyam

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missklou · 3 years

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Shapeshifters (BTS RM sequel)

Pairing: Namjoon x reader (Enemies to lovers)

Genre: Smut, angst, werewolf AU, slow burn, enemies to lovers, slight reverse harem.

Y/N was the big-eyed, suffered child who shivered in the corner as life presented her with more and more pain, trauma after trauma until she cracked inside and burned in rage.

The night her world was destroyed for the last time clicked something into place, a piece of her soul that was lost. Between fear, despair, loneliness and the animalistic will to survive, her path crosses that of a man.

Namjoon, whose eyes burn with fierce hatred, lips drip with blood, and hands that carry more sins than he will ever be able to bear.

Y/N and Namjoon were the children that life destroyed… It’s time to fight back.

*****************************************************************************

“Even as she maintains her strength against his wrist, the man’s hand doesn’t budge, resting heavily around her delicate neck but without applying pressure.

-Do you have any idea how simple… How easy it would be to take your life?

Namjoon’s whispered voice sends shivers that make the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, she’s shaking, heart beating faster and faster as he speaks.

-It would only last an instant and then… Dead, like the fragile and stupid creature that are humans, and I wouldn’t be able to stop it… I couldn’t…

Silence.”

CHAPTERS:

- 1. That Night

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wordsturnintostories · 4 years

Text

show me your rosettes, baby (g)

summary: The world tour is over and the Bangtan Boys finally get their well-deserved break. When Namjoon suddenly can’t find Jimin anywhere, things take an unexpected and pretty unbelievable turn. “Kim Namjoon!” “Hyung. How common is it for people to turn into cats?”

word count: 27.8k (strap in, guys) note: wow sorry for not uploading here. i uploaded on ao3 but forgot to put it on my tumblr blog. which probably doesn’t matter... unless there are still people reading this fic on here. If that’s you, have fun. ✨ warnings: graphic depictions of blood and wounds

masterlist | moodboard masterlist

When Namjoon exits Bang Sihyuk’s office, head heavy and heart low, the coolness of the hallway air is the first thing he notices. It’s a refreshing change to the tension that had lingered in the office and kind of added an uncomfortable pressure to every breath, to every thought. The second thing he notices is that Yoongi is sitting on the leather couch, on his phone while holding up Jimin against his neck. The little cat sleeps comfortably. Even from over here, Namjoon can see the little belly rising and falling with every breath.

“Hyung,” he whispers, not wanting to disrupt the sacred peace.

Yoongi looks up from his phone and scoots to the side so Namjoon can sit comfortably beside him. Jimin’s tail flicks once but the kitty just sniffles and sighs against Yoongi’s throat.

“He sleeps so well,” Namjoon comments.

“Fell asleep right away. Such a cute little baby. Even with paint all over his fur.”

It’s a hidden question and Yoongi’s natural way of asking for what had happened when he doesn’t want to accuse or cast blame or make anyone feel bad. When Namjoon just hangs his head low, he’s got his answer.

“Do you think we’ll get it out?”

“Am I Min Yoongi or not?”

Okay. It’ll all be okay, hyung will take care of it. Yoongi is good at repairing things, has fixed almost as many things as Namjoon has broken - which is a lot, needless to say, and not even half of it has been captured on camera.

“So, what did Pdnim say?” “He said that we can’t tell the members about this.”

When Yoongi doesn’t say anything in return, fingers quietly curling up into a fist on his lap, Namjoon doesn’t need words to understand the storm inside his hyung.

“Not ever?” “Just for a while.”

“Well,” Yoongi snorts, “good luck with that. You’re shit at keeping secrets.”

“Hyung. I always do my best-“

“You always blurt out secret stuff. You’re the worst out of all of us.”

“That’s not true.”

Yoongi turns to look into his eyes, looking highly unimpressed. It’s a little unsettling how much it resembles Jimin’s look from this morning, when Namjoon’s elbow had accidentally pushed over Jimin’s little bowl of tuna right after he had filled it up. It’s pure disbelief and annoyance in one glance.

“Okay,” he admits, “maybe it is true.”

Satisfied, Yoongi sits back, checking in on Jimin gently and brushing his fingers through the fluffy fur, which earns him the sleepy beginnings of a purr.

“In any case,” he begins, “we don’t have to worry about keeping secrets if Jimin doesn’t turn back soon anyway.”

And yes, that’s a good point. And strangely, it’s got Namjoon thinking. In the beginning of this, he’d hoped for Jimin to turn back as fast as possible but now? Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if he’d stay a cat for a bit longer, just long enough for the members to find out (because Pdnim had only made him promise to not tell the members, and not to hide Jimin from them) and then turn back so they are able to prepare for the comeback. Yes, that would be perfect, even if he can’t imagine how it must feel to be a cat for Jimin.

“Anyway, I’ll be in the studio,” Yoongi says and just gets up without even waiting. “Slow Rabbit-hyung sent me my beats back, so I’ll work on that. Don’t worry about getting take out, I’ll cook tonight. Just text me when you and Sejin-hyung are done shopping.”

“Kay, hyung. Thank you.”

“Don’t forget the rubbing alcohol.”

Namjoon signs that he understands and sits back, rubbing his face. He really wishes he could be as stoic as Yoongi. Sure, the guy has a hot whirlwind of emotions on the inside, emotions that tear deeper into his heart tissue than he lets on, but just the fact that Jimin has been able to fall asleep on his chest is a huge testament to the calmness he radiates. Namjoon knows that he will probably never acquire that level of calm that Yoongi has. Most of the time, his fingers and brain and motor skills just don’t… line up and that resulting clumsiness flows into his aura and disrupts every inch of serenity he could even build up. Maybe that’s why Jimin loves to be scooped up by Yoongi. Why he rests so peacefully in Yoongi’s arms instead of wiggling around like he does in Namjoon’s.

Finally, Sejin comes out of the office as well.

“Ready to go?”

After their first couple of hours of treading through a couple of stores and ticking off a couple of items from Sejin’s list (even the rubbing alcohol), Namjoon feels like he’s swallowed a stone. Worry presses into his belly like an unremovable weight, inducing a stomach ache and a wandering mind. There’s so many things going through Namjoon’s mind that he doesn’t even pay attention, just strolling after Sejin, careful enough to not get lost but otherwise unresponsive to the world. He’s got sunglasses on, a good enough disguise to avoid showing people the storm in his eyes. They walk and walk and by the time they finally sit back in Sejin’s car, two shopping bags in the trunk, and drive on, Namjoon has created and dismissed a good six plans of action that seemed perfect at first and then turned out to be either impossible or unrealistic. He really doesn’t know what to do and coming back to his first issue - not being allowed to tell the members - almost drives his mind into overdrive.

How on earth does Pdnim expect me to take care of Jimin when I have to hide his secret identity? Because in the end, Namjoon is convinced that that’s exactly what it is - Jimin turning into a baby leopard for days counts as having a secret identity. And Yoongi was right - Namjoon is terrible at keeping secrets from the public. From the members? Even worse. Multiple scenarios run through his mind. He spills the tea in all of them. It’s just not- Namjoon just can’t imagine living with Jimin and practically raising him, experiencing the highs and lows of a developing character, of a developing person, celebrating first successes and mourning losses together and then not telling the members. It’s almost like the universe had heard Namjoon’s wish for a child of his own - and then given him a child he can’t show to his members. In some way, it’s ridiculous because he knows with all his being that he would have never managed to raise any of the maknaes without Jin or Hobi. The only relief is that Yoongi knows. Pragmatic Yoongi who can do anything he tries. That’s the only relief, Namjoon thinks.

All this rumbling discomfort inside his head makes Namjoon want to focus on something else, something outside of himself. He doesn’t want to acknowledge the ugly feeling of being alone - I am not alone. I will never be alone. It might take some time to dismantle all the lies that pop up in his head every now and then but not giving them the attention they cry out for is a first step. Namjoon’s fingertips tingle on the car window’s cold, wet glass.

Outside, Seoul has been dipped into an agitated grey glow that’s certainly thanks to the white clouds above, not a precious white, not a clean white either. It’s an old, used up white that reminds Namjoon of old carpets in need of thorough cleaning. Only a few seconds later, the thick clouds can’t hold their ugliness anymore and spill over with thick drops. It’s comforting, to see another thing burst out of their normal state - Namjoon feels the heavy rhythm of the water on the car and the relating echo in his soul. I wish I could spill over so carelessly too. But he can’t, he promised, so he just turns his consciousness back to the hazy grey of the world behind the window and sighs.

The more he focuses on the rain, the way that less and less people walk the streets, the thrum that tunes out everything else, the more he’s drawn to his memories with his members, almost as if the melancholy outside had snuck inside his head and drawn out memories of comfort.

Namjoon sees Taehyung sitting on his bed in their shared room. Yeontan lies halfway draped over his lap, napping with big hands carding through his fur softly. Outside, it is raining, inside, it is quiet that day.

“I want to write a song about the rain,” Taehyung says in a hushed tone, never taking his eyes off the window.

“What do you want to write?”

Namjoon loves this about the younger boy - he can never really pinpoint what’s going on in Taehyung’s mind - Taehyung’s mind is a beautiful maze of creativity and emotions. Just inspiring - like listening to a new song for the first time and falling in love with it because it connects to something inside of you so deeply that not listening to it makes you feel like something is missing in your soul.

“The way rain falls - we think it’s sad because it’s water and water has so many purposes,” Taehyung pauses, “in summer, we play with it. We see it in the ocean, we drink it. But when it rains, the drops are reduced to falling, only falling helplessly. The fall must feel endless, the way we have nightmares of falling sometimes. Maybe that’s why people think rain is sad.”

Namjoon hums, trying not to let the intense amazement at those philosophical thoughts ruin their serene atmosphere.

“Do you want it to be a sad song?”

“No,” Taehyung says, “it should be comforting. Because water lives in a circle and falling means nothing if you know that your home is in the clouds, above the world and that you’ll always find your way back home. If you know this, even hitting the ground is not scary anymore. Rain is not sad - it’s a reminder that everything will be alright. Rain means don’t worry, you’ll be okay soon.”

Namjoon feels his heart swelling even now, even here in the car, as they drive through the streets of Seoul, passing taxis, business people, students and everyone else. No one knows this, no one else has shared this moment with Taehyung, no one else thinks about rain just the same way. Not yet, anyway, not until the song has been finished. Namjoon loves these secrets that they have, these secrets and songs that are theirs to guard until it’s time to entrust them to the world. Not just once, he’s drawn strength from them. And now too, it makes him smile fondly. I love my members. I’d do anything for them. I can do this, too. Hitting the ground is okay, no matter how much it hurts. I will always find back home. Fighting, Namjoon.

Beside him, Sejin smiles. They pull up to the pet store.

Now, Namjoon is ready to stroll through pet store aisles with a pout on his lips and his shoulders hanging low, mind absently digging through his list of issues and his spiderweb of possible solutions. He is prepared to pick between red and blue and pink and green cat toys (which is stupid because cats are probably color-blind like dogs, right?) and to look for the fluffy stick-thingy Yoongi had mentioned. He’s ready to ask store employees for help when he can’t find litter boxes after half an hour of searching and yet suspecting that he’s run past them at least five times.

There’s one employee who’s keeping an eye on him (Namjoon can feel the gaze on his skin and wonders whether he’s starting to develop some sort of clairvoyant powers now that Jimin turned into a leopard) and whether it’s because she recognized him or whether he’s a suspicious customer, running through the same aisle five times, looking around helplessly and not even having one product in his hands despite having been in the store for half an hour now (yeah, that’s probably it). In the back of his mind, he still tries to figure out why in the world he would ever say yes when Sihyuk asked him if he would be okay on his own because he wanted to get something for his own dog as well. Sweat rolls down his back when his eyes go up and the employee has moved to stand directly in front of him.

“Hello, customer-ssi,” she greets, sweetly but with a flat tone, “how may I help you?”

“I, uh, I’m looking for uh, cat toys. For my cat.”

A shudder of as if that needed elaborating, Namjoon runs through Namjoon’s head and he knows that if Yoongi was standing next to him right now, he would facepalm and move away, stew in second-hand embarrassment from a safe distance. He smiles when the employee giggles softly and likes to think that just maybe, his stupid reply may have been a tiny spark of light in her boring work day, something to laugh about. It’s nice.

“Okay, the cat section is here,” she leads him over to another aisle that - no kidding - Namjoon didn’t even see before. Despite the big sign overhead. Am I blind- “you were standing in the mixed aisle before, so you’ll probably have better chances finding what you want here.”

He blushes, because this is really embarrassing, and thanks her with a nod. She probably thinks that he’s cute, or handsome, or whatever the nation thinks about him nowadays, but then he dares to look at her eyes and realizes that no, that’s not it, she probably thinks he’s a poor customer who doesn’t have a clue about anything because then she has mercy on him, yes, that’s a recognizable spark in her eyes that Seokjin also has when dealing with the mess Namjoon is and makes, and she asks, “Have you filled out the questionnaire yet?”

And see, that’s another thing that makes Namjoon feel so damn clueless. How was he supposed to know there was a questionnaire? Does every customer here fill it out? Or just the helpless idols?

“Questionnaire?”

“Yes, well. You look a little-“ she pauses, has to pick her words carefully because he is a customer and she doesn’t want to upset him (but the way she smiles like she’s giggling inside really lessens the punch) “-like this is your first time buying stuff for your cat. The questionnaire might help you figure out what type of cat yours is.”

Oh. There’s different types of cats?

“No, I haven’t.”

“Haven’t filled out the questionnaire or haven’t bought cat necessities?” (For your cat, Namjoon’s brain adds, just to taunt him. He winces.)

“Neither.”

“Oh, no worries,” that sounds cheerful, “I can help you, if you’d like.”

He nods graciously, genuinely thankful for her help although he’d usually insist on solitary shopping. Normally, people recognize him too quickly and the rest of his shopping trip turns into a race (it really feels like that sometimes) to get through the store without causing too much of a mass revolt in the streets (although in Korea it’s better than in other places). The woman - her name tag says Lee Kyungmi in an elegant font - pulls out a sheet of paper from somewhere and leads him to a quiet corner with two armchairs that are so fancy that for the first time in the whole half an hour he’s been here, Namjoon realizes how high-end the store actually is. Of course Sejin wouldn’t just take him to any store - they had to go to the frickin’ best because well, customer service, right? Confidentiality. Anonymity. Quality. Like so many other instances in his life, Namjoon is grateful for Sejin’s clear head.

“Let’s start here,” Kyungmi and points to the first question. “Have you shopped with us before?”

He ticks the box for “No”. Back when his family adopted Rapmon, they had bought all the stuff for her in some store in Ilsan and when he says they, he means mostly his mother and his sister.

“Tick the type of animal you’re shopping for.” He ticks cat and moves on. “How old is your pet?” And that’s where it gets complicated for the first time but Namjoon pulls through diligently and writes, “a few months.” Because while it’s difficult to guess and it’s not like he can just ask anyone to find out Jimin’s age let alone ask Jimin himself, Namjoon has seen documentaries about leopards and Jimin is definitely not a one year old leopard yet. Thank God. “What’s your pet’s breed?”

Well. That answer takes a while but Namjoon doesn’t want to look any more incompetent in front of the staff who is so kind to order them both a coffee from the store’s café further in the back. Namjoon is aware that he clearly can’t write leopard, so he settles for mixed breed. Mixed. Leopard and human.

“Does your pet spend most of its time inside or outside?”

And like that, Namjoon spends a good twenty minutes on answering all the questions on his pet’s fur, the living environment, the food (he improvises a little because yeah, of course he’s feeding Jimin only cat food from the can, of course, he’d never let him have stuff from the table) etc etc until he stops at the end of the page, smiling like he’s just won an award because finishing the questionnaire really feels that way. Until he lifts the paper. And sees the back. More questions.

“There’s a back!? How much do you want to know about my, uh, pet? Isn’t this like a pet tinder?”

Kyungmi laughs more, visibly unable to contain her bright laughter that seems a little out of place in this reverently quiet store (which is not that different from most high-end stores Namjoon’s visited) and Namjoon’s heart blooms when he thinks about the fact that he can make people laugh like that even without his music and rap and stage presence. Even on his own, without the members next to him.

“This is definitely not pet tinder, we’ve got a register for that in the back for registered pets. The next questions will be about your pet’s character. Whether it’s energetic or calm or a little diva. This information helps us to find the perfect toys and equipment for your pet and also, mix some customized food for the little one.”

Namjoon is stunned. If Jimin even knew the lengths I go for him today… Namjoon is glad that they moved to the chairs. They are comfortable, like lounge chairs in waiting rooms in the backstage areas of broadcasting stations. Chairs to fall asleep in. He can see Sejin strolling somewhere through the aisles, probably making use of the situation to buy stuff for his children’s pets as well.

“What is your pet’s favorite activity?” Jimin had enjoyed chasing that frog - hunting?

“What sets your pet apart from others?” He’s not actually a pet- its cuteness?

“Does it enjoy cuddling? Does it have a favorite person?” Yes, yes, yes. Definitely. He loves all his hyungs. - Do pets even have hyungs?

“Does it tolerate other people or pets in its territory?” Loves people, loves pets.

“How does it react in critical situations, e.g. when it’s taken to the vet?” …

Namjoon huffs. All the questions make sense but he can’t help but feel like the helplessly falling rain drops on their way into the sewers. There’s only so much to know about kitty Jimin after three days and his mind doesn’t seem to understand that the questionnaire definitely only wants answers about cat Jimin. Ah, this is difficult. He’s not sure whether Jimin has ever been to the vet even as a human (and suddenly, his mind can’t stop thinking about the possibility of having to take leopard Jimin to the vet for an examination - and all the shit human Jimin will give him for it afterwards). He groans and maybe that’s a sign for Kyungmi to start speaking.

“If you can’t or don’t want to fill out everything, that’s fine too. I’ll do my best to help you nonetheless.”

When he hands the questionnaire over and she’s read the answers, Kyungmi gets up and starts walking towards the cat section. Namjoon does his best to keep up and follow. Like the competent store staff she seems to be, Kyungmi grabs products with sure eyes and quick hands and puts them all into a basket while she explains.

“First of all, keeping a pet is both a great decision and a huge responsibility and we are proud of you for adopting your cat”, welp, Namjoon thinks, I’m living a lie, but then again, it does sort of feel like he adopted Jimin - just maybe in a different way, 7 years ago… “besides food, you need a variety of items to make your pet feel at home and cared for. Since your cat spends a lot of time inside and outside, you’ll need to brush its fur not only to clean it but also to check for ticks and other little insects that could be hidden underneath. Now, you wrote that your cat is a short-hair breed, so this is our shampoo segment for short fur. We recommend this one, this is a scent-free shampoo from a brand that only produces vegan and pet-friendly stuff. If you would like to check out this product line over here, we can surely find-“

The first package in Namjoon’s hands says “all fur types” on the front in red, big letters. Namjoon can’t help but wonder - is it really for all fur types? Would those shampoo companies develop their shampoo for wild cats too? Do wild cats have the same fur as small domestic cats? Namjoon isn’t bold enough to ask. But am I really the only person with this issue? In his head, Namjoon browses through all his contacts. Sadly, all the people he knows either have no pets or have never mentioned any pets and there are no shifters Namjoon knows other than Jimin. Suddenly, a thought pops up. I have seen wild cats before - at the zoo! Surely zoo employees would know which fur products are adequate for leopards, right? But... do we know anyone at the zoo? If not, can we just call them and ask? Is that a normal question? Do they have a hotline for desperate pet owners? It sounds… unlikely but Namjoon reminds himself that he’s an independent rain drop falling helplessly that only needs to find its way back home. He calls Yoongi.

“Namjoon? You alright?”

Yoongi sounds sleepy. Yoongi would never be bothered to worry about falling from the clouds. Namjoon excuses himself from Kyungmi and walks a few steps away. He whispers.

“Hyung, do we anyone who works at the zoo?”

“Why are you whispering? Also, I don’t know? Why are you asking?”

“It’s…”, the words I’m overwhelmed by the amount of cat shampoo in this shop and you were the first person I thought to call because I don’t think there’s an actual zoo hotline I could call for help sound a bit ridiculous, so Namjoon figures he’ll solve this problem on his own. “Ah, no, it’s nothing. Sorry for calling, hyung.”

“No, I just don’t understand… but maybe ask Tae? He’s the people expert.”

“Thanks, Hyung! Sleep well.”

“I’m not sleeping.”

His voice is raspy, deep. A little purr comes through the phone and Namjoon can just picture it - Yoongi on his sofa, head on a pillow, Jimin on his chest. Napping. He ends the call. A new image pops up in his mind - isn’t there some YouTube channel Jimin and Jungkook watch sometimes? Some guy who takes care of lions and leopards? Something like that? A… Dan Richard? Just Richard? Suddenly, Namjoon wishes he’d paid a little more attention to his dongsaeng’s YouTube interests. Maybe I’ll look this Richard guy up and ask for help. He thinks he remembers that Jungkook had once exclaimed that the guy was famous and that he would love to visit that place one day - that he would love to just meet the lions too, play with them. Jungkook is a thrill-seeker. He’s crazy. But now, Namjoon smiles. I’ll definitely text him. Later.

Kyungmi still smiles politely when he turns back to her and carries on with her informative rant about shampoo.

Namjoon feels like his arm is ready to fall off after having carried his little basket of cat stuff for only ten minutes. Kyungmi is still giving him a lecture on how to measure his darling pet’s temperature (revelation of the day - one does not simply take the temperature in the cat’s mouth, no) when his eyes flick to the toys just a few shelves further. To be honest, Namjoon has never ever in his life imagined to stick a thermometer any place other than Jimin’s ears or mouth and he figures he shouldn’t start now, so he starts slinking away slowly, step by step. It’s unsettling how guilty he feels for ignoring Kyungmi’s speech - why do I feel so guilty?

But the toys are beckoning him over like nothing else in this store and then, he’s standing in front of them. He’s happy, somehow, and thinks that if he were an Animal Crossing character, he would start having sparkles or flowers around his head right now, blushing and swaying on his feet. Sejin sends him a thumbs up from where he’s sitting in the lounge chairs from before, two fancy paper bags at his feet.

Wow, there’s so much variation, Namjoon thinks, surprised that people have come up with so many things just to entertain their pets. Kyungmi comes up next to him, still cheerful, still in her element and not seeming like she’s mad at him for escaping her waterfall-like explanation speeches.

“I would recommend a chewing toy of some sort,” she says, pointing at some boxes. “You wrote that he’s only a few months old, so he might still be teething.”

“Yeah, he chews on our fingers a lot,” Namjoon agrees and grabs a little heart shaped pillow that looks good to bite into. For cats. It resembles Tata a little bit but probably not enough to make Jimin feel guilty for chewing it up.

“Is this good?”

“Depends,” Kyungmi says and brings out something from the aisle on the opposite site, “does your cat get distracted easily?”

“Sometimes?”

Jimin generally has a good concentration span. But when other people are around, it sure is easier for him to get distracted. The burdens of a people-oriented mind.

“Well, we always recommend toys with safe seams, adequate texturing, organic materials and a high fun factor for your cat. Of course it should also be washable, with all the slobber and dirt it will encounter. Are you looking for a toy with catnip or without?”

Catnip? Namjoon has heard of it. Of course. Who hasn’t seen those cat videos on YouTube with cats going crazy after taking a whiff of catnip? Usually, they roll around in it and then nap the high off, which seems harmless. But he’s not sure whether that’s a good idea. Isn’t catnip like a drug for cats? If so, the agency probably won’t allow it. Also, Namjoon really doesn’t want to drug Jimin.

“Without, please.”

“Are you sure? It does help to create a bigger and longer interest for a toy. Not all cats like it, but most do. But if you want, we can find other toys that are interesting for your cat.”

Namjoon nods and together, they decide on a couple of hand-sewn mice with dangling twisted rope tails for Jimin to chase. The eyes are sewn on to prevent swallowing. The mice almost look too cute to buy and the thought of finding them wet and chewn out on the sofa makes Namjoon wrinkle his nose in disgust but then his mind wanders to the little picked apart frog Jimin had killed in their backyard and that’s enough motivation to buy them all. Kyungmi hands him another chew toy that has some floss material on it and she explains that it not only helps with dental hygiene but that it is also supposed to lessen bad breath. We definitely need that, Namjoon thinks, quietly to himself, because every pet’s breath stinks. That’s just a universal fact. Sorry, Jimin.

“Do you want it in blue or pink?”

Honestly, after all the running around, the two quickly filling shopping bags that weigh down his arms and the relentless chatter from Kyungmi, this simple question sinks the ship. As much as Namjoon enjoys picking stuff for his dongsaengs, he’s tired. Does it matter? Does the color really matter? He doesn’t know whether future human Jimin would be offended by his choices when it comes down to colors but he does know that Jimin is particular about style. Kitten Jimin however is a completely different story that Namjoon actually doesn’t know anything about. He might have a completely different taste from his human counterpart. The only thing Namjoon knows is that Seokjin once bought a hat for Jimin that the dancer thought was completely hideous. The next time he saw it was in Hoseok’s section of their shared wardrobe. Up to this day, Jimin hasn’t worn it even once.

“We also have them in yellow, green and black, if you think he’d like those better,” Kyungmi adds, not even aware of the trouble she’s causing. No, Namjoon does not know if Jimin would like those better because Jimin is not Jungkook and not Yoongi and will therefore not sympathize with the black toy by default.

For a second, Namjoon tries to put himself in Jimin’s shoes. These toys are gonna stay with him for a while. What if he doesn’t like them and we have to keep them until we are in Seoul the next time? Even if we order stuff, if we are on the road, we won’t get them delivered and Jimin will have to make do with these. Namjoon thinks back to his old phone case that was an accidental and careless order, and remembers how annoying it is to look at something every day if you don’t like it. No, he’ll do the best he can to make sure Jimin likes his cat toys.

He freezes. His eyes wander down to the shopping bags he’s already holding. Will Jimin like the other things I have picked? A wave of uncertainty rushes through him and he’s tempted to just push it all back into Kyungmi’s arms, leave the store and come back with Jimin once he’s shifted back so he can choose everything himself. But he is aware of how that would look. Kyungmi is still waiting for his answer and the headache that’s building is not helping at all. So, Namjoon is ready to take extreme measures. He pulls his phone out and dials Yoongi’s number. It takes three tries to get him on the line but for his dongsaengs, Namjoon has learned persistence.

“What is it now?”

“Hyung, which color do you think the, uh, the cat would like best when it comes to toys?”

Namjoon only realizes now that they should have maybe come up with a codename for Jimin. Just in case he’d ever need to talk about his kitty alter ego in front of other people who are not supposed to know. Perhaps Yoongi realizes the same thing. Perhaps Yoongi doesn’t care. His incredulous answer on the other side is a little… unhelpful.

“What are you asking me? Am I a cat? Just bring anything, Namjoon-ah. I don’t care about the color as long as Jiminie doesn’t tear my flesh and bones apart. He might look harmless but I swear he’ll be a beast later.”

“You’re so dramatic, hyung.”

“I’m truthful. He keeps chewing up my fingers.”

“Okay, but… do you think,” Namjoon turns away from Kyungmi and whispers, just to make sure, “do you think he’d like something more, uh, Chanel, or, like a cat bed from Versace? Because this store is high-end but if he doesn’t like it-“

Yoongi just huffs on the line and Namjoon feels a heavy weight in his chest. How am I supposed to take care of Jimin if I don’t know what Jimin wants? How could I know? How can any of us know? Maybe there are specific brands that are popular with shifters? Should I call Jackson? But no, Jackson is probably sleeping right now, if he’s in Europe. Namjoon whines.

“Hyung…”

“Namjoon-ah. Don’t lose your mind over this. Just bring anything and we’ll all be happy.”

“But what if- what if he doesn’t like it?”

Namjoon can’t help it. He doesn’t want Jimin to be disappointed in his hyungs when he shifts back. He wants Jimin to feel safe and loved and honored to be taken care of by his hyungs.

“Then we’ll return it. Keep the receipt, Namjoon, and don’t worry. Just buy the basics and if he wants additional things, we’ll order them, okay?”

“Okay, hyung.”

Something crashes. Yoongi groans.

“Okay. I have to wipe up a mess. See you later, Joon.”

“See you,” Namjoon mumbles, a tiny bit reassured. Rain means don’t worry, you’ll be okay. He turns back to Kyungmi, who has once again waited politely. He lifts the bags on his arms.

“My hyung said to just buy the basics.”

“I think we’ve got everything then. Would you like to pay?”

“Oh, just one more thing. I need something, uh, like a stick for cats? Hyung said it’s important.”

“A stick? For chewing on?”

“No, for playing.”

To be honest, Namjoon has no idea what this specifc toy looks like. He’s just grateful when Kyungmi leads him to a special section. The toys look like… fishing rods. For cats.

“I think this is what you meant.”

“Are these… fishing rods?”

Kyungmi laughs. “I guess you could call them fishing rods.”

“I thought cats fish with their paws.”

“Oh no, they are for the cats.”

Namjoon doesn’t... understand? It’s like his brain is frozen. The concept is just so weird. Why would cats need fishing rods?

“Oh, you mean for the owners to fish the cat?”

“Yes, kind of. You hold the stick and the cat chases after it. You see this fluffy part at the end, right? It will awaken your kitty’s natural hunting instincts.”

Namjoon gasps. Awaken their natural hunting instincts? Do I want that?

“Isn’t that… dangerous?”

“On the opposite, it’s essential.”

The image of a leopard on a prowl inside their apartment makes Namjoon feel a little different. It’s essential, he tells himself. Kyungmi is the expert. Don’t worry. It’s essential.

“Okay, I’ll take a few.”

“Very good. I would have recommended taking more than one anyway, in case the cat breaks it.”

Namjoon nods, smiling. Right. In case the cat breaks it.

“Would you like to pay now?”

“Sure.”

Sinking into Sejin’s car seat feels like a welcome break from running a marathon. Namjoon thinks he should have maybe not put on dress shoes but sneakers this morning. But he couldn’t have known the day would take such a turn, so this is how it is. They drive for a while before Namjoon realizes that this is not the way home. It seems like they are driving away from Gangnam, not towards it.

“Hyung, where are we going now?”

“Well, you expressed that you wanted to go somewhere serene and calming, so I’m taking you somewhere you can relax.”

“I did no such thing.”

“Yes you did. You sighed, checked your phone, scrolled to Jin’s contact, looked at it while we stopped and waited at three different street lights, then you sighed again, shut your phone off and stared into the distance. You’re an easy read.”

Namjoon is speechless, blushes at how Sejin chuckles and wriggles his fingers in his lap.

“Thank you, hyung,” is what he presses out, almost quieter then he wants, thanks to the heavy blanket of emotions falling over his mind.

“Also,” Sejin adds, “you always look for quiet places to figure out your troubles. That’s you. And I said I’d support you, so this is the first responder emergency aid you get.” A chuckle rips free from Namjoon’s chest and he leans back comfortably.

Like before, a sweet rumble runs through the car once Namjoon’s mind finds the peace to concentrate on it. It’s soothing, like a little lullaby as the city’s shapes fly past the window. The only difference to this morning are the empty backseat where Jimin’s, no, Yeontan’s travel box had stood, and the slight worry that pulls both Namjoon’s brows and shoulders down. Worry for Jimin that is completely unnecessary since Jimin is safety entrusted to Yoongi. Yoongi who has a way with words, a way with trivia knowledge and a way with cats, as it seems.

Namjoon is aware - as aware as everyone else in the band - of the fan’s obsession with Lil’ Meow Meow, and he sometimes he wonders whether it affects Yoongi. Whether his feelings towards the nickname are positive or indifferent, or whether is ever pops up in Yoongi’s head at random times. Whether his friends ever tease him about it like Jackson teases Namjoon about being the Dad of the group. There is only this way of wondering because Namjoon doesn’t feel confident to ask Yoongi about it - its a peculiar thing, this theme of Yoongi as a cat - and somehow, Namjoon feels like asking about it would make him sound… suspicious. Like maybe asking about it could make it sound like he’s accepted it and he isn’t sure what Yoongi will think. Because Namjoon never thinks that his best friend acts or looks like a cat. Never. He’s never scrolled through a so-called Yoongi and Cats thread on twitter. (What’s a twitter? Never heard of it. Can you eat that?)

Namjoon wonders if people would still call Yoongi a cat if they found out about Jimin. Or if they would draw sketches and write (actually tear-inducingly) good stories about kitty hyung Yoongi and baby kitty Jimin. Well, he wouldn’t ever get to know.

Because ARMY wouldn’t find out.

Because not even the members would.

Namjoon sighs and turns his eyes back to the rain outside.

When Namjoon first moves to actually register the outside world passing by instead of gazing outside with dead eyes, he realizes with a start that Sejin has either lied or misunderstood the words “serene, calming place”. The manager drives their car onto the parking lot of a restaurant that looks oddly familiar, like a faraway memory of an uncle you’ve seen once and just shortly but who has left a lasting impression by sneaking you a piece of cake or something.

We’ve been here before, Namjoon realizes, for lunch. He remembers how the news of BTS’s presence here had sort of blown up the restaurant’s little circle of regular guests and made it into countless online reviews that in the end boosted the restaurant’s ratings and even led to a well-deserved renovation. That had been during their era of first wins, first apartment moves and first everythings in the spotlight and if he didn’t know better, Namjoon would say that their present had been hammering against the egg shell of their past even then, that their success had already been a firm knot in their lines of fate back then. But that is bullshit, just the way success by hard work to the bones could never be replaced by success gained by just looking pretty, and Namjoon smiles fondly, almost feeling a sense of touching connectedness to the place. Almost as if this little restaurant has grown up with them. As if it understood their troubles. Maybe “serene” and “calming” fit just right.

Vague memories start to creep back right then, vague memories of a tired maknae surrounded by even more tired hyungs, everyone eating with aching thighs, aching calves, aching everythings, and greasy food that did everything it promised on the photos on the menu. Namjoon remembers the rides there and back, remembers the sleepy faces, the happy snapshots in between, reasons to celebrate their togetherness, and even a distant voice mentioning that a relative of Sejin worked here. It must be meaningful for hyung to come here too. Over the entrance, a big white sign says Geum-wol in brushed golden hangul. Golden month. In the sun, the letters look piercingly bright.

“We’re going to eat?”

“If you want to.”

“I’m not very hungry yet. But I think I could use some food. Some soul food.”

“I promise you won’t regret it. They changed their menu along with their remodeling a couple of years ago.”

A shiny glimmer sparks from Sejin’s eyes and Namjoon has to work on holding back a giggle. It’s the same, really, it’s exactly the same as Jin-hyung’s I-see-food glimmer. “I’m sure I’ll love it if you do, hyung.”

From years of shared meals, boring breaks in between recording sessions at broadcasting stations and backstage eating sessions, the whole band knows their staff members. There’s not much that actually goes past them when it happens in the same room. Fourteen eyes see a lot of things, even things people wouldn’t think they would notice. They know which types of snack to bring to bribe a specific staff member and they know that Sejin generally has good taste (all of their tastebuds have evolved, Seokjin always insists, along with the success of their company).

Upon entering the restaurant, Namjoon feels like he’s stepping into someone’s living room. A fancy, warm and welcoming living room. It has a lush arrangement of plants, clearly well-loved and well-cared for and fantastically arranged (Namjoon spots that little cactus on the windowsill covered in tiny drops of water that sparkle in the sunlight like royal jewelry and just knows that he is in love). The painted linens and calligraphed drawings lead his surprised mind to the Joseon era, eagerly lapping up his memories from tv shows and stories and books and bundling them all together in this spot where an attentive waitress in a fancy outfit leads them to a table.

“They did a great job with the remodeling,” Namjoon says, unable to tear his eyes off the golden decor that doesn’t look cheap and the beautifully arranged sets on the low table. Even the pillow underneath his bottom is an invitation to relax.

“I love it here,” Sejin nods, smile wide. “It feels like coming home and going on an adventure at the same time.”

Yes, Namjoon thinks, feeling the blood in his veins stir a little. An adventure but also home.

“Hyung, what’s home to you? Seoul or Ilsan?”

It’s a difficult question. If Namjoon wasn’t so close to their manager, it might even be a rude question and he would possibly not be bold enough to ask anything else for the rest of their meal here. Sejin just thinks.

“It’s possible for a person to have more than one home, you know? At least that’s what I think.”

Of course, Namjoon can empathize with that. He’s got a big heart home in the members and then another, with his blood-related family.

“So, home is where my wife and children are, but home is also with you guys. I miss you when I go home, can you believe it?”

Namjoon chuckles.

“Of course. We’re the best, so sweet and so nice and so cute - I’d miss me too if I wasn’t here.”

“Oh, shut up. Jin’s ego is rubbing off on you.”

They both laugh until the waitress returns to take their orders and even then, the glimmer in their eyes doesn’t disappear.

Namjoon’s chest feels warm. Maybe we don’t need to eat here anymore. Maybe this conversation was enough comfort already.

It takes a while for the food to come through the restaurant’s kitchen doors that are hidden behind a noble dark-wood door decoration. Everything here looks noble in a way, Namjoon notices, but not without losing the effect of feeling gently familiar, almost loving. That kind of atmosphere is something Namjoon hasn’t even experienced in noble restaurants before, so he sinks into his fluffy seat cushion, letting himself enjoy the treat thoroughly. Because it is a treat - a feast for the weary-hearted that can’t go home to their families, either because they have to stay here or because the family is not at home. The green plants in the genuinely ancient looking pots (some have gold-plated rims, some are glazed, some are engraved or painted with artful poetry and all of them are twitter-worthy) offer silent comfort, sometimes swishing their arms, sometimes just staying rooted in the fresh dark earth and reminding every onlooker about altruism, virtues like endurance and quiet resilience.

When the food arrives, Namjoon kind of feels sated in a non-physical way. His heart doesn’t seem so heavy like before. It’s like someone has gently kneeled at the edge of his heart to shake up the stiff earth in it. It’s nice. Paired with the soothing voice of Sejin, the type of questions he asks now and then (all of them optimistic, in a distracting way “I heard from Yoongi that you wanted to look for a new bed, did you already find something you’d like?” and “Will you publish your new mixtape soon? My kids listen to mono to fall asleep but my wife said that at this point, she could probably perform it live.”) and together with the delicious food in front of his nose, Namjoon almost feels like he’s escaped to another world. Another world where he isn’t famous, where he isn’t living this life but some other version of it, where all his decisions had been different but led him to this little restaurant nonetheless, and there he is, sitting at the axis point where all the versions of him flow together into this one moment. It’s magical, like glowing dust floating in the air, like the first flakes of snow landing on your face. The light of the sun slides past the beautiful gold-ornamented silk curtains of the restaurant, revealing a gorgeous view on the side of Achasan Mountain that’s lushly green thanks to the trees on it. It’s basically an invitation to dream, to imagine, and Namjoon’s eyes can’t really get enough of it.

“Hyung, have you ever had a secret that you were so afraid to tell that you lied to keep it?”

Sejin sighs into his spoon of rice.

“You know what I think about lying,” he starts and Namjoon nods. Lying means breaking trust, Namjoon-ah. Never lie to your members. During their entire time together, he can’t remember ever seeing Sejin lie. “I usually don’t keep secrets either. Not bad ones, at least. But there was one.”

“Was it bad that you lied back then?”

“Yes, the consequences were bad but the worst thing was that I didn’t say the truth. Even though I apologized, the regret stays with me and every time I look at that person, I feel it again.”

“Hyung, I don’t want to feel that way towards the members.”

“Then don’t lie.”

“Do you think it will be that easy?”

“I honestly don’t know what I think it will be like with Jimin. Maybe you are lucky and the members are back before he shifts back so they can see for themselves. Didn’t you send something to the group chat already?”

“How do you know?”

“Jungkookie sent me a text asking if we got him a surprise pet. He sounded very hopeful. He even used the heart-eye emoji.”

“Oh no. What did you answer?”

“I wrote ‘Ask your hyungs.’ Nothing else. That was before you called me to come back here.”

Namjoon groans and figures that Jungkook will have to wait. No new pets for a while, sorry Jungkook.

“I don’t think I’m ready to be a cat owner.”

Sejin huffs, amused. “The universe thinks you are.”

“Well, I don’t think so and that’s what counts. Even the maknaes would be better at handling a cat than me.”

“That’s not true. Jungkook - I swear, this kid doesn’t have any sense of self-preservation, so I don’t even want to think about what he’d do with Jimin. Tae… well. He’d probably slide into depression without Jimin to talk to so let’s not think about that. I think we can agree there’s no one better than Hoseok to deal with such a thing if he doesn’t freak out about it but you follow close behind, just after Yoongi and Seokjin.“

“Hyung, that was a shitty argument.”

“At the same time,” Sejin says with a look that says I wasn’t done, “Kook loves Jimin to death and would do anything to make him feel better. Taehyung has studied up on dogs and dog training for half a year before adopting Yeontan. Imagine how much more he’ll do for his soulmate.”

The look Sejin gives him is serious and even when they are brought drinks and the girl from before leaves again, the serious expression does not leave Sejin’s eyes.

“Hyung, just think logically for a second. Jiminie is a tiny fragile cat baby, a rare leopard cub and I am a helpless clumsy idiot who can’t even take care of himself. How do we match well in your eyes?”

“You don’t need to match. Honestly, other than Jimin being smaller than usual and not being able to speak, there’s no difference to living together as usual. You take care of him and he looks up to you. You shouldn’t worry so much.”

He starts chuckling a second later when he realizes the unintentional pun. Namjoon frowns.

“I disagree. This morning I almost squished Jimin between the fridge and the fridge door. It’s not exactly safe for him to be around me. He’s too curious and I’m just clumsy. Did you see the printer ink in his fur?”

“It’s not a big deal, Namjoon.”

“Besides, Yoongi takes care of him way better than me.”

“Allow yourself room for improvement and learning.”

“I’m afraid I’ll hurt him.”

“So be more careful. You haven’t killed any of your band mates yet, so I don’t think it will happen any time soon.”

“Yeah, but they have all been human and with a fully functioning human mind for the past seven years. They know how to dodge the danger.”

“Animals have pretty good instincts, too. I think Jimin won’t need help to dodge your accidents once he’s out of his toddler phase. And don’t forget that all of you can take care of Jimin in different ways, each of you plays their own role. It will all be fine.”

The food arrives and is daunting enough to drag Namjoon’s rumbling thoughts away from his hardships. There’s soup, there’s rice, there’s vegetables and meat, and it’s beautifully arranged and beautifully steamy and just the scent could throw a man off his horse in desperate hunger. It’s heaven. At the first spoon of soup, Namjoon understands why Sejin brought him here. Comfort spreads in his tummy like a sweet melody. He sighs, almost tearing up over simple Korean soul food.

“Thank you, hyung.”

Sejin’s smile is kind.

“You know we love you like you’re our own children, right? Sihyuk-hyung and I. Of course, seeing my own children being born was different but you are my family too. We always want the best for you, we want you to go forward with boldness and integrity.”

“You’re doing well, hyung.”

Of course it’s a little strange to think of their CEO and their manager as parental figures in general but after sharing his life with them for the last decade, Namjoon figures his own parents wouldn’t even be mad if he suddenly called any of them appa by accident. He smiles when he remembers all the times a sleepy Jungkook has called other people appa without even noticing. It had always resulted in a hand carding through his hair, a warm “aigoo, our sleepy maknae, are you warm enough?” and lovely feelings of family.

“Namjoon-ah, what if this is an opportunity?”

“What do you mean? An opportunity how?”

“We haven’t heard of shapeshifters before Jimin turned into one, right?”

“I haven’t. It truly feels like a mind-blowing discovery. Only that it’s not a discovery exactly because apparently, shapeshifters have existed all the time.”

“But it means that they must be hiding in society. Why?”

Namjoon pauses. Why are they hiding? In the end, he supposes shifters - supernaturals in general - are like every other human being.

“Afraid of discrimination? Racism? I don’t know, hyung. I’m still hung up on how I didn’t know about this although one of my best friends has literally been a hybrid his entire life.”

“A hybrid? What the heck is a hybrid? And who’s a hybrid?”

Oh. Right.

“Uh, well. It’s more like Spiderman… more permanent? More all the time? I don’t know, I’m bad at explaining this.”

“Spiderman is a hybrid? Wow, I never thought about it this way.”

“No, I mean, yeah, I guess? But hybrids are people with animal features? I think? Like, a tail or animal ears?”

“Like in anime?”

“Basically. I don’t know too much about it but it seems to be that way.”

“Wow. That must be really difficult to hide.”

“I’m sure it is.”

How does Jackson hide it? Now that Namjoon thinks about it, he has seen Jackson without a cap on his head or loose pants to shove the tail in before and not seen any animal features. How is that possible? He then realizes that Jackson’s managers and company must know. They must have the editors photoshop his animal features out on every photo, even every video. Wow. That must be such a huge effort. And expensive. What a hassle it must be for stage appearances, interviews and even just walking freely on the street. All of the sudden, Namjoon feels grateful Jimin isn’t a hybrid. The company wouldn’t have been able to pay so much money to edit every shot of him so extensively back then. They wouldn’t have accepted him.

“So, hybrids are different from shapeshifters, right?”

“Yes, hybrids can’t turn into animals.”

They eat in silence for a few minutes, letting the new information and thoughts sink in along with the food. Namjoon realizes he’s both a little grateful and a bit bummed that Jimin didn’t turn into a hybrid. It would have been impossible to hide from the members then. He wouldn’t have to tell them anything, they could all figure it out, Jimin wouldn’t turn into some animal that can’t speak, he would just be a normal human being with some extra parts and that would be it. They could deal with it so much more easily - probably. But Namjoon reminds himself that that line of thought is just based on assumptions. There’s probably no perfect option between those two if you’re a performer.

“Do…do you think the members are going to figure it out themselves?”

“I think they’re all smart enough to.”

“So… just a maybe?”

“I can’t tell the future, Namjoon-ah.”

“I know, I just… I just don’t want to be alone with this.”

“Are you?”

“I guess I’m not but… I’m just so glad that we are seven members. Because we share our lives, our feelings and our fears all the time. That’s where we all draw our strength from. Keeping a secret like this from the members… I don’t want to break their trust. Isn’t it my responsibility to tell them about this? This is such a huge change and it’s not fair to just… I don’t think this is right, hyung.”

“If a secret becomes a prison, it doesn’t deserve to be kept, Namjoon. You’re too precious to cut yourself down just to please someone else.”

“Hyung, are you telling me… to tell someone?”

“I’m telling you to do the right thing. If you know the right thing is to tell the members and you take action, you will have to bear the consequences. I’m never for disobeying authority - especially PDnim because I know he tries to do the best for all of us - but if you feel burdened and like you have to mute yourself to keep your promise, then it’s not worth it. You should definitely talk to PDnim. I’m sure that he will understand. Maybe not today, though. Give him a night to think about it all. He might have not seemed surprised but it’s a huge change for him too. It’s a given that any impulsive decisions may need revision.”

“He should have been prepared for this day, especially if he knew about Jimin from the beginning.”

“Yeah, I agree. I think this decision just shows that PDnim is just human too. He made a mistake, just like you have in the past and still do. Also, ‘doing the right thing’ looks different through every person’s eyes so who knows how we would have decided to do things in his place.”

“I know.”

“Everyone needs room for learning. Do you still trust PDnim?”

“Of course. I know he will fight for us no matter what.”

“Then I don’t think you need to worry about the members.”

Namjoon nods and goes back to his food, forcing himself to just stop thinking about this issue. I’m not doing myself a favor if I overthink this. So he focuses on the food that’s before him. It’s really delicious, coating his tongue and all the tastebuds on it - but he can’t help but notice the taste of disappointment mixing in. What do I need? What am I looking for? Is it just support? Do I want pity? Advice? He chews, lets his eyes wander over all the other restaurant guests. Some seem happy, some are engrossed in the food or their friends. They all seem free of worry, even if just for the moment. I want my worries taken away. To be reassured.

“Hyung, can I call Jin-hyung?”

“Sure, go ahead.”

“Would you be mad at me if I told him?”

“Namjoon-ah. Do what you feel is right. You know I respect you.”

“Thank you, hyung.”

“Why do you want to tell Jin specifically?”

“Well, he’s the oldest so I guess he should know. Also, realistically speaking, Taehyungie and Jiminie are like, actual soulmates so I guess Tae would either figure it all out on his own or Jimin would tell him. Hobi is Jimin’s roommate so he can’t avoid noticing any significant changes about Jimin. And Kookie - Kookie is pretty observant about Jimin too whenever he doesn’t give him heart eyes. No, I think telling Jin-hyung makes the most sense. He feels responsible for the maknaes so I think he’d be the most upset about not being told - not because he’d feel left out but because he couldn’t have cared for Jimin the way he needs it.”

“You’re a good leader, Namjoon-ah. I’m proud of you.”

“Don’t make me blush, hyung. It’s just… strategy.”

“Mhm,” Sejin says, cheerfully winking.

Namjoon groans and rolls his eyes at the enthusiastic chuckling behind him. He finds a free table in a calmer part of the restaurant and takes out his phone. The window next to him comes with a good view on the wooden slope of a hill just behind the end of the parking lot.

For a moment, Namjoon tries to sort of soak up the freshness and calm from outside to reenergize himself for this serious talk with Jin. The green of the trees pulses with life, like a painting so fresh and excessive that the colors threaten to run down the canvas in a semblance of invigoration, and he sincerely wishes the city would look like that more often. Although the air outside is still hazy from the rain before, everything spreads out in a vivid picture in front of Namjoon. So beautiful.

The phone rings four times before Jin picks up. His voice is super groggy.

“Hello? Joon, that you?”

“Hi hyung,” Namjoon says softly, grateful for his hyung’s voice against his ear. So close, almost warm. “Where are you right now?”

“In bed.”

There’s rustling, probably blankets and pillows. Namjoon checks the time. It’s 2 pm. Typical Jin. No worries at all. “You won’t believe it, we’re at Kookie’s parents’ place and we stayed up late yesterday to play games with Kook’s brother. So I’m in the guest room and guess what?”

“What?”

“It’s the middle of the night, a light falls on my bed and I think it’s a ghost but it’s Kook standing in the doorway. Says he feels lonely without his hyungs so he comes to sleep with me instead of in his own bed. He’s been clinging to me like a monkey-“

There’s a deep groan of annoyance in the background and suddenly, slapping sounds.

“Are you fighting?”

Yelling, more rustling, the thump of a body hitting the floor. Namjoon can’t help but grin at the image of his bickering brothers even if he goes unheard. This normality feels good. This being together feels good. There’s laughter in the background, so loud and explosive Namjoon basically feels it spilling out of his phone. When he looks around to apologize for disrupting other restaurant guests, no one even looks his way. Jin laughs.

“Sorry, Namjoon-ah, there’s a noisy teenager next to me. You know how they get. Where were we?”

“Hyung, we didn’t even start talking…”

“Ah, right. Well, why are you calling? Is everything alright?”

“Um, define alright.”

Seokjin pauses. Namjoon knows he understands and he can already sense Jin’s answer coming.

“I can come back earlier, you know. It’s not a problem for me.”

“No, hyung, it’s fine. Sejin-hyung and I are dealing with everything, so it’s all good, I just wanted to tell you an imp-“

“Sejin-hyung is there!? He was on vacation! What happened, you little punk? There’s no way everything’s alright if you had to call Sejin-hyung!“

Oops, Namjoon’s brain helpfully provides. He clenches his jaw as Seokjin rambles on in the background, about how he’s gonna pack his suitcase and come right back and about Jimin and his sickness and everything - Namjoon feels his head ache.

“Namjoon-ah?”

Namjoon can’t focus. It’s as if something draws his gaze away from the creamy white tablecloth and the golden decorations and outside the window. They land on a little violet spot by the parked cars - a moving spot. It moves around a black car. Sejin’s car. The man wearing the violet - it’s a modern violet durumagi, a noble-looking Hanbok overcoat - is walking around Sejin’s car, looking inside. Namjoon freezes, doesn’t hear the restaurant, doesn’t hear Jin’s voice. Is that a stalker? Did he recognize our car? The man circles the car as if he expects a BTS member to sit inside of it and Namjoon feels a little sick. I hope he won’t come- the man looks at him. Their eyes meet. Time stops for a horrifying moment. Namjoon’s blood freezes, the trees pulse along with his heart, moving in on him with force. Like a fly in a spider’s net, he feels caught. He can’t move even if the eyes pierce through him as if they see into his soul or even beyond. Namjoon’s breath falters and he gasps when Sejin’s hand suddenly lands on his shoulder. He grasps it, needs the warmth to ground himself, to come back, to calm his soul. To find his sanity, possibly.

“Hey, sorry, it’s just me. Are you okay?”

Namjoon nods numbly, realizes that Jin is still on the phone, repeating his name.

“Jin-hyung?”

“Thank God you’re still there. What happened? You scared me.”

“I’ll call you back later, hyung. Don’t worry, okay? Sorry.”

When he hangs up and puts his phone back on the table with shaky hands, the man in the durumagi outside in the parking lot is gone.

“Are you alright? You look… you’re trembling.”

“Hyung, did you see the man outside? Just now?”

“The man?”

“He stood by your car. I think it might have been a stalker, hyung. Can we leave? I don’t feel safe.”

Sejin gives him an immediate reaction and Namjoon feels grateful for his hyung and manager who always takes him seriously if need be.

“Of course.”

“Hyung, he was so scary. He looked right at me.”

“I’ll ask if we can leave through the back. Come on.”

“Thank you.”

Together, they walk up to the waiter’s area. Namjoon doesn’t hear the conversation between Sejin and the kind waitress from before, only sees her eyes widening from the corner of his eye while he trains his gaze on the entrance of the restaurant. Just when he thinks he spots a a hunch of violet, Sejin’s hand on his lower back pushes him forward and he’s led through a door, they wait for a while, something rustles and a key clicks. Then, fresh air, a quick walk, Sejin’s car. When Sejin’s door closes and the motor turns on and the car starts rumbling, Namjoon feels the ice in his stomach start to melt. He can only start breathing again when they are off the parking lot.

“I’m sorry this happened,” Sejin says quietly. “I wanted you to have a great time.”

“Not your fault, hyung. People do what they want.”

“Yeah.”

The engine starts and Sejin begins to pull out of the parking lot. Namjoon keeps an eye on the area behind them just to see if the man in the violet durumagi appears again. Nothing. He sinks into his seat as they drive further away.

“I’ll take you to the perfect place. You’ll love it.”

“Okay.”

“It’s one of my favorite places in Seoul but you won’t expect it because I’ve never taken you there and you normally don’t ever go there.”

Namjoon feels numb. Sejin’s words kind of go through his ears but don’t find his brain. It’s been a while since something like this happened. He realizes that he’s holding a plastic bag in his hands, on his lap. Warmth seeps into his thighs.

“Are these…?”

“They insisted on giving us food for compensation.”

“It wasn't their fault.”

“They wished you and the members health and strength for the upcoming promotions, too.”

Namjoon nods, feeling tired. He puts his head against the window, lets his eyes jump from color to color, finding a home in the blur and allows himself to drift off.

“Wake up, we’re here.”

It’s a car wash street, the kind where you throw some coins into a coin slot, then park your car inside the washing tunnel and run out as fast as you can as soon as the lights turn on and the brushes come to life and the water starts to spray. Namjoon is not sure whether that’s really the so highly praised destination Sejin planned to go to to relax and be comforted or if he just decided to make a joke. (Or clean the car, for some reason.) On the other hand, it puts a check behind all the characteristics of the mystery location Sejin had revealed. A place you wouldn’t expect? check. A place you never go to? Check. Check, check, check. Now, Namjoon wouldn’t necessarily say that car wash street would be a place he’d ever want to be at, but if he knows anything after traveling half the world with his band mates and staff, it’s that it’s not the places you visit that count but the people you visit there with. So he smiles, allowing some childish giddiness to build up in his stomach at the surprise that Sejin has for him. Whatever it is.

“Let’s go, hyung. Show me what you had in mind.”

Sejin smiles and drives a little closer to the washing street. They wait until the car in front of them is done, which takes exactly one run-through of Zion T’s Eat on the radio and then, Sejin pays and slowly drives forward until the display in front of them tells them to stop.

“Do we run now, hyung?”

Namjoon feels a bit of adrenaline rush into his limbs when Sejin doesn’t look like he intends to move. And then the big big brushes around them begin to stir and Namjoon’s mind is telling him that it’s almost too late and that he should run now if he wants to make it out dry and Sejin just chuckles.

“Stay inside, relax. It’s time for the playlist,” he says and picks something on the car’s display. Soft music trails through the speakers, turned all the way up because the washing street is loud, Jimin’s voice singing Promise as angelically as possible and when the first drops of water hit the car, Namjoon’s heart stops for a second. It’s so nice, this calm feeling of safety that engulfs him when he watches more and more drops of water running down the windows. The warmth that’s in the car, even with the motor off and the lullaby fading. They are practically embedded in the music. It’s just a blessed togetherness with a friend he likes spending time with, a friend who comes up with the wildest ideas to give him comfort and a good time.

And even when the water hitting the car is less than a rain shower and more like a thrumming thunderstorm, Namjoon’s heart still jumps around with giddy leaps for the simple, childish sensation of being surrounded by water but not getting wet. Sejin also seems to have a good time, looking outside the windows with a fond smile and gently tapping the steering wheel with his fingers, matching the soft beats of Blue Side.

“Let’s finish eating,” he suggests then and really, that’s the only way to make this - whatever this is - better.

The paper bags around their little boxes rustle when they unwrap the food and with a warm fuzzy feeling, Namjoon realizes that this moment is special for Sejin too. Usually, the manager would not let anyone eat in his car (a habit from his time taking care of their official business cars), so this is clearly an exception he made for Namjoon.

“This is the coolest thing I’ve done in a long while,” Namjoon says after a few bites and feels like he should maybe pick up his old habit of writing a diary again. He doesn’t want to forget this.

“Let’s take a selfie, hyung.”

They do, and even after finishing their lunch, after watching the big brushes make way for smaller brushes to foam and shake their car, and after five more songs, the car wash street is still not done.

“Hyung, what kind of washing program did you buy? Will we be out before dinnertime?”

“Only the best for you,” Sejin grins. “You’re enjoying yourself, right? If not, we’ll go through again. This playlist is longer than you might think.”

“I am enjoying myself.”

“Good. I really wanted to distract you from everything. Are you relaxed?”

“Very.”

The moment is perfect, warm and content. As if it was meant to be. Namjoon feels his anxiety and all the stress of the day wash off along with the film of dirt on the car. It flows out of his line of vision and his soul is considerably lighter. Maybe we should do this more often.

“This is one of my favorite spots in the city,” Sejin reveals and checks the digital clock on the display, “and you’ll see why soon.”

The brushes recede to the sides of the tunnel and make way for the blow driers. It doesn’t take long for the display outside to start blinking again to signal that the ride is over soon. Sejin starts the motor and when the blinking display rises up, slowly revealing the exit before them, Sejin smiles.

“Look.”

Namjoon doesn’t immediately understand what Sejin wants him to see - but then it hits. The display rises up to reveal the horizon. The car street is built upon a little hill and from here, they can look down on a lower part of Seoul, gleaming in the golden light of the falling sun. It looks like an explosion of light, framed by the walls of the cr wash tunnel. It’s glorious, breathtaking even and Namjoon just stills, afraid to ruin the view with irrelevant thoughts. This is perfect. Just perfect.

The light reflects off the rain water that’s still lingering on the skyscraper’s plateau rooftops, the endless glass walls and even the airplanes taking off in the distance like rising diamonds. The massiveness of it all, the way it surrounds everything, the way it creates this feeling of being a witness of a majestic spectacle takes Namjoon’s breath away. Golden light floods the sky. The Han River looks like a serpent on fire. And this is just a goodbye for one night, so ordinary, almost meaningless. So beautiful.

Namjoon gasps. A fleck of violet moves in the corner of his eye.

“Also,” Taehyung’s soft voice sounds like a melody after the long, thoughtful break of silence in their room. Yeontan yawns and shakes his fur, looking fluffy. “Even if hitting the ground is painful and seems like it will break you apart, you’ll see that that’s exactly what it takes to create a rainbow. Being shattered can be beautiful too - if you keep letting the light shine through you. It will all be okay. That’s the comfort I want to give.”

And then the moment is gone, Namjoon doesn’t know how he got here, only that he feels floaty one moment, almost like he’s being pushed out of his body. It’s comparable to being lifted out of your seat the moment your plane lands and stutters along the landing strip. The next moment, he’s being shoved back in, feeling very weighty for second, like he somehow doesn’t really fit in his body. All of that happens at the same time with Sejin driving forward to exit the car wash, a white flash blinding Namjoon so strongly that he has to close his eyes lest they lose sight forever, and him wondering whether this is the famous light at the end of the tunnel that everyone’s talking about. Whether this is the end. He opens his eyes when the gleaming brightness recedes behind his eyelids, or rather, when he can’t see the the tiny veins in his eyelids anymore.

The sight before him takes his breath away. Where the car’s coachwork, the car wash brushes and sponges surrounded him before, thick trees now form an uneven circle around him and create a clearing. Namjoon sits in the middle of it, on the grass, hands in his lap, jacket softly flapping in the mild breeze. He can’t help but wonder how he got here, whether this is a dream, whether he just fell asleep after leaving the restaurant. When he reaches out to touch the grass, to just see if it’s real, he gasps. It’s very real and incredibly soft, softer than the grass in the little garden on top of BigHit’s office building. Little flowers sway under the sparkly rays of sun that manage to make their way through the treetops and birds hop around the branches of the trees while chirping animately. A butterfly lands on his knee and Namjoon is careful to stay still. After a few moments of taking rest, it flies off and Namjoon adores the tiny creature that had been so bold to land on him. Being so used to the city’s sharp edges and spaces devoid of color, being in nature always feels a little unreal, like something out of a dream. Not being able to recall how he got here just adds to the strange feeling.

Desperate to push the worrying second cycle of thoughts of where am I, what happened and what the heck away and keep his calm, Namjoon closes his eyes. He takes a deep breath, tells himself not to worry, and deliberately tastes the forest air as it streams through his nose and across his tongue. He wills his heartbeat down, eager to drown in the serenity around him, even if there might be bigger issues at hand. It takes a few minutes to lose the fear, the confusion and the anxiety, but when he does, his body becomes light, almost like he’s floating.

Namjoon feels… embedded. Embedded in nature to a ridiculous degree, to an extent that he doesn’t normally experience in a forest, not even when he’s fully Namjooning, as the other members call it. It’s an amalgamated feeling, every inch of the woods around him part of the sensation. Everything pulses, everything vibrates, from the strands of grass brushing against his ankles to the bugs crawling over myriads of swaying leaves. And Namjoon finds himself in the center of it - not as the center, just interwoven into the net of reality, just a tiny, belatedly added piece in this complex throng of life pulses that flare up as soon as he inhales and settle when he exhales. He could lose himself in the pleasant buzzing that could be all around him just as well as it could be him, his cells, his body thrumming with life. He just knows he could lose himself in this too easily and too fast, there’s this little whirl of energy nudging him deep inside his mind, asking him silently whether he would like to stay here a little while longer, longer inside the whirlwind, if he would like to go deeper, deeper, deeper. And Namjoon isn’t afraid even if it seems a daunting invitation. He’s too overwhelmed to react, busy listening to the trees sway, the birds flap their wings, the clouds pass by. The calmness mixes with a sense of belonging, a belonging he still doesn’t feel all the way in their new apartment. This is a perfect place, he thinks.

He feels embedded, knows that this is a rare moment and that it’s a privilege to be here and experience this miracle melody of life. There’s only one other moment that feels like this - when the stage lift pushes him above the stage, the beat driving his blood forward and thousands of fans melting into him, when their screams align with his rap. Embedded. Namjoon wonders if he’s dreaming, if this rush he feels is just a product of his memories ganging up on him in his sleep.

Something rustles behind him and Namjoon turns around slowly. He finds that the shopping bags from the pet store have followed him into the woods. Only the shopping bags that had been his. What the heck? If I’m here and the shopping bags are too, shouldn’t Sejin be here as well? Is this some kind of… time travel or teleportation stuff? What is going on? His breath hitches as a new thought hits him. What if - what if someone took me here?

He watches one of the bags topple. There’s no wind. Suddenly, a little brown paw - hand? - appears behind the brown paper and Namjoon has to hold back a coo. A little animal with slightly wet fur rolls out of the paper bag, sniffing it. It looks like an otter. The only other time Namjoon has seen real otters was when he’d visited the zoo in Seoul with the members and back then, the otters had been in a water enclosure. This otter is not overly fluffy but the black twitching nose makes up for it in cuteness; Namjoon raises his hands to his mouth to not let out any sounds. And fails. Immediately, the otter looks up, big brown eyes staring at the strange invader in the clearing. Apparently, Namjoon doesn’t categorize as a threat, because the otter goes back to exploring the bag right away, squeaking and sniffling around. There’s more rustling and from his angle, Namjoon can only see a little sleek tail peeking out from the paper bag’s opening. Then, the otter seems to have found something of interest because it backs out, dragging the little twisted rope Namjoon had bought for Jimin.

Jimin. A tiny ripple of shock rocks through Namjoon. His eyes widen. He had almost forgotten. He might have almost sat here for the rest of the day, getting lost in the beauty of the woods and forgetting about his day - about all the drama - and what he had wanted to do. Is this an enchanted forest? It’s so… peaceful. He looks around, scans the area. Trees everywhere, the ground in between covered in lush grass, flowers and fallen leaves. In the distance, something glitters every now and then, and Namjoon realizes that the constant soft swishing sound in the air must come from a little pond or river. Somehow, now that he thinks about it, that same freshness carries in the air and it’s almost like Namjoon can feel the fresh water swirl in his lungs in a peaceful, refreshing way. It’s all he could dream of when he imagines a peaceful retreat. To be honest, he would love to come here with the members.

Suddenly, the otter startles with a squeak and flees when Namjoon stands up and wipes down his slightly wet jeans. When his eyes follow the cute animal, he stiffens. There’s a wolf standing just a couple of meters away. It’s big and grey, definitely a grown wolf. It takes one quick look to realize just how huge it is. It reaches up to Namjoon’s chest if he were to stand up - and it’s watching him intently. The gaze is so strong that Namjoon feels a lot like he’s been caught. Caught in the wolf’s territory. He doesn’t dare to move even as his heart pounds and his head tells him to run.

Namjoon knows, logically, that a wolf is a big predator with a tendency to be territorial and the ability to kill an adult without much effort. He knows that he should logically be afraid of it, maybe afraid enough to pee his pants, but it’s so damn hard to be afraid here in this warm-colored, sun kissed spot of forest that, in its essence, is so pure, so good. It reminds him of good things, of relaxation. Of home. Maybe it’s also because of the way the forest just buzzes on inside his mind as if the wolf hadn’t appeared, as if there was no reason to worry, no reason to stop the bubbly melody because the wolf simply wasn’t dangerous. Maybe it’s because of the knowledge that the forest has some kind of conscience and possibly an ability to judge between good and evil, or maybe just that the way the forest breathed and pulsed around him reminded Namjoon of all the books he’d read in his childhood. Books that had taught him about principles, about the order of things even if those books consisted of fictional characters and places. It somehow instilled trust in Namjoon, a trust that he thinks he had already extended towards the forest. The forest had accepted it from him. And now, the forest was offering it in return. He looks up to find that the wolf us mustering him still, probably not used to visitors on its terrain but it’s not a malevolent look. There’s no growling, no claws, no fangs or even the kind of bristling he’s usually get to see each time Monie met another dog she didn’t like, so Namjoon concludes that the wolf is just curious.

“Hi,” he says lamely, “I hope I’m not intruding. I don’t know where I am but I’ll leave if you want me to.”

Namjoon doesn’t know why he’s talking to an animal but he knows that animals do assess people and pick up on their mood and intentions based on their voices, so he just speaks. It feels natural, the forest’s buzzing picks up and little sparks appear in the melody, almost as if it was amused by their interaction.

He almost doesn’t flinch when a black wet nose prods his thighs, his shins and his hands. He doesn’t flinch when the wolf locks eyes with him and feelings of both being utterly vulnerable and fully accepted shoot through him like electric shocks. He feels - like he’s meeting one of his best friends. A quiet but wise friend, maybe a little like Yoongi.

Without a sound, the wolf turns and starts walking. A breathless Namjoon stands in his spot as if the ground under his two feel was holy. He stays until the wolf throws a look over its shoulder. Does it want me to follow?

Walking with a wolf, Namjoon comes to find out, is a very different feeling than walking with your own dog. Definitely. The wolf doesn’t stop a hundred times to sniff at every flower, every stone and every shrub to see if someone else has peed on it. The wolf also doesn’t feel the need to pee on all these things himself or pull on a leash to find more things that have been peed on. No, the wolf walks through the forest like it’s his kingdom revolving around him. Like he owns every centimeter of the land. Quietly. With pride and honor. The wolf oozes self-expression on a higher level, shows off its independent thinking and self-determined capabilities. Namjoon likes it. They stop at a pond. At first glance, it looks like any other pond or lake Namjoon has seen before. There’s clear, calm water surrounded by a shore packed with reeds and all kinds of water plants. He spots frogs on the wet earth and even a few fish in the water. The surface shows him his face, plain and normal, like any other mirror in the world would show. Perhaps its the soft water noises or just the visual of water that calls up feelings of thirst - Namjoon wants to lean down and scoop up some water in his hands but when the wolf next to him doesn’t make any move towards the water, almost as if he’s wary of it, Namjoon becomes suspicious.

“Is it drinkable?”

The wolf’s eyes aren’t focused on the water and instead scan the area. Maybe this isn’t a resting place. Maybe he’s patrolling the territory? Is this the outer edge maybe? Even if they just remain standing for a few minutes, a this deep sense of fateful belonging is in the air, almost like honey dripping down tree bark. The air is sweet and thick and Namjoon’s hand flies to his chest. Breathing becomes more difficult with time and he throws a worried glance at the wolf who remains stoic. Are we… supposed to die here? What is this? It almost feels like a relief of tension when the wolf suddenly shakes its fur. But not only that, it walks towards Namjoon and only then can he see the eyes of the wolf - dark, black has replaced the kind amber glow from before. What is happening? The wolf doesn’t seem any more threatening than before, just nudges Namjoon’s arm until he holds it up. What does it want?

A swoosh of air, then a dark body tunes out the light of the sun. Namjoon yelps when claws tear through his shirt and into the bare skin of his lower arm that suddenly has to carry a heavy weight. When he has gathered enough courage to open his eyes, he comes face to face with a raven. It’s black and sleek, gaze so piercing it almost hurts physically. It stares at Namjoon without blinking. What is it with these animals here? In a strange way, their eye contact is comfortable like a conversation between friends, with a certain familiarity, but the intensity of it just shatters that comfort completely. He’s captivated by the raven’s eyes. In the depths of his mind, he understands that his soul lays bare, that he’s practically naked before this creature. Every dream, every doubt, every fear, they all turn and twist inside of him, coming alive under the scrutiny of the attentive gaze. When he feels his body tense and shiver, physically unable to withstand the tension, Namjoon looks away.

His eyes fall on the pond, now mysteriously dark, reflecting the faraway blinking of stars. Is it night already? How long have I been here? The starlight shimmers like diamonds on the water whenever it moves. The sway of light almost seems melodic, almost audible. When he sees his image in the calm surface, it's... different than before. He sees himself and definitely recognizes himself but somehow, it's not what he normally looks like in a mirror. Namjoon thinks that it might just be the ethereal glow the moon and the stars cast on the pond but then, he sees something else in his eyes, a different kind of glow. Something that he's never seen before. If someone asked him to put this into a song, he has no idea what the lyrics could be. It's almost otherworldly. A few steps away, the wolf sits, watching the pond’s hypnotic view.

The raven walks a few steps closer towards Namjoon, gaze burning into the side of his head.

“What do you want, raven?”

Namjoon feels his lips move on their own.

“Reality,” the raven croaks. “Fragile. Guard it.”

It flies off with a whoosh and Namjoon follows the bird until it has passed the top of the trees. Maybe I would know where I was if I could fly. I could go home.

Before he has time to think about the raven, leaves rustle behind him. When Namjoon’s head turns toward the sound, he expects to see some other animal, or maybe that the otter has followed them. What he gets instead is a colorful burst of color on a tiny body. He blinks.

“Oh, Jiminie! Is that you?”

The cub just taps forward, head bobbing with every step as if it had become too heavy after wandering for so long. When it finally reaches his feet, it plops down into the grass with an exhausted chuffing sound. Namjoon can see its flank moving up and down with the cub’s breaths.

“How did you get here, baby?”

Did he really walk here all the way from the company building by himself? Perhaps the question would be easier to answer if he knew where exactly here is. He looks around, has never felt so disappointed by the sight of trees everywhere, then sits down in the grass.

“Did hyung take you here? Is hyung around, Jiminie? Did you get lost looking for me?”

The leopard cub’s fur is warm and damp under his fingers and he can’t help but scoop the little one up. He still doesn’t answer, doesn’t show signs of understanding and Namjoon figures that’s just the way it is. Jimin immediately snuggles deeper into the embrace, seeking the comfort and shelter and Namjoon holds his fingers out when the leopard’s little black nose starts snuffling around. Jimin doesn’t settle for his fingers and noses along Namjoon’s shirt until the human recalls the image of the baby cat snuggling into Yoongi’s neck. Is he looking for bare skin? With curiosity, Namjoon opens the upper button and exposes a collarbone. The leopard’s tail wiggles with excitement as the cub finds familiar scents on Namjoon’s skin. He squirms, blue eyes opening to sparkle as they find Namjoon’s face. He yips and yaps and makes little high-pitched noises that have Namjoon chuckling.

“Hey there,” he laughs, “hi baby. Hi. Yeah, hi. It’s me, yeah.”

When the cat calms down, lulled into safety by the warmth and scent and the familiar voice, Namjoon smiles. “Should we go looking for hyung?”

He holds his breath when the wolf steps closer, just reaching down to sniff the cub throroughly. The big head is almost leaning against Namjoon’s chest and he can smell the typical scent of dog and woods on the big animal. Jimin squeaks when the big nose rubs over his fur instead of fingers and his tail shakes but he’s brave, enduring the bigger animal’s curiosity. Namjoon is aware that this whole thing is absolutely ridiculous. It doesn’t make sense at all that he teleported into the woods slash got abandoned with amnesia, that he follows a wolf and that Jimin just appears out of nowhere. He feels like he’s missing more than one piece of information.

I only remember sitting in the car with hyung and the next moment… I was here in the woods. Or did I wake up? Did I fall asleep? Is this a dream? Was I unconscious and maybe… Sejin-hyung took me here? Was maybe the car wash a dream and this is where he wanted to go? But if Jimin is here - doesn’t that mean that someone came looking for me? Like, I was missing and they decided to search for me and Suga-hyung and Jimin came close and they just lost Jimin but he ended up finding me? He freezes. What if this is a magic forest and I lost track of time and weeks have passed? What if all the members are back and looking for me too? It’s all confusing and every speculation Namjoon comes up with feels incomplete and unsatisfying. Whatever, he tells himself, we’ll find Suga-hyung and he can explain everything that’s going on.

The wolf seems to be satisfied with smelling Jimin, so it just walks off as if there’s nothing more to stay here for, warm amber eyes and serene personality. They walk for what feels like an hour, thinking hard, dodging trees, passing caves (some are decorated with lanterns, some are not), another pond. Jimin falls asleep quickly in Namjoon’s arms. At this point, Namjoon has decided that he’s either a) hallucinating, b) on drugs and hallucinating, c) having the weirdest dream of his life or d) trapped in a children’s fairy tale for some disturbing reason. He’s decided that all the things that have happened don’t really makes sense and that even the wolf seems too… much like a book character to be real. He notices a few scars on the wolf’s flank and on his legs and figures that the wolf must have fought with some other animal to get them but they don’t look vicious. Somehow, they look like they are meant to be there, like the wolf is aware of them and carrying them with a certain pride. This wolf is the kind of animal that would be given a series of touching children’s movies, leading a lost human through the woods on a powerful journey to - just to where? That’s the thing Namjoon has been trying to wrap his head around for the last half an hour. It doesn’t come to him.

A growl leaves the wolf’s throat when Namjoon walks into it and makes him retract his earlier thoughts about the wolf. Makes him realize that this is still a wild animal despite the calm appearance and that the wild animal has stopped walking and also warned him to not run into it again. To keep his distance. To respect its boundaries. When Namjoon looks away from the sleek grey body against the knee-high ferns and wild flowers growing everywhere, he automatically freezes. A stunning light-brown stag is grazing in front of them, all alone and almost glowing in the sunlight slipping through the treetops. It owns a majestic pair of antlers - majestic in both size and form, covered by the fine sort of fur that make them look soft like velvet. When it looks up, Namjoon stumbles a step back, tiny in front of the huge animal. Even breathing - breathing feels like a mercy in front of this animal, like he’s only able to breathe because he’s been allowed to. Namjoon thinks he prefers the wolf as a walking companion - until the deer’s deep brown eyes focus on him and Namjoon’s world begins to spin.

Like magic, pieces of memories start to flit through his mind, recollections of old days and new days, of forgotten moments and forlorn ideas. A youthful looking Jin appears in front of his inner eye, dressed in crappy t-shirts that they would all laugh about fondly now. Memory-Jin shoos Namjoon out of their crappy little makeshift kitchen after letting him wash cabbage and resumes cooking for the members. A hard-faced Yoongi who is stuck with writer’s block for a whole week, a depressed Yoongi in front of a tauntingly empty fridge. Hoseok, holding a pair of smelly sneakers (his sole pair at the time) to his chest as he packs his bags quickly before they leave for some tv program shooting. Jimin, Taehyung and Jungkook, all crying quietly under one shared blankets on Chuseok, Christmas and New Year’s because it’s the third year in a row that they can’t visit their families to spend the holidays with them. The way every hyung’s heart breaks at the sound that their thin apartment walls can’t block. A hundred memories flash by, too fast to really stick but not fast enough to not make emotion swell like a tsunami wave. He’s on his knees, he notices though wet eyes, Jimin no longer in his arms. Namjoon just wishes the stag would stop looking at him. In this beautiful place, it doesn’t seem fitting to think about all these memories again - all the bad, painful memories buried underneath the glory of the payoff, of the success, the luxuries.

But the stag doesn’t. Instead, it comes closer and closer until its warm breath falls on Namjoon’s chest and collarbones and it feels like the overflow of memories will burst Namjoon’s heart. The big deer musters him like it can feel all of this too, like these are all pieces of a shared photo album, like the stag cherishes them deeply. The warm nudge of its snout against his cheek feels like a whole embrace and Namjoon shudders. In a weird, cathartic way, he wishes he could just burst.

Suddenly, a shock goes through the stag. It jumps away in fright, letting Namjoon fall to the ground.

“What’s going on?”

To his right, he sees the wolf, poised and full of tension, looking somewhere between the trees and nudging Jimin under its belly. Namjoon can’t see anything. Jimin’s ears point to the same direction as the wolf’s ears. What did they hear?

“Dokkaebi,” the raven croaks from one of the trees. It must have come back when I saw my memories. It croons, “don’t cry, moonchild, don’t cry. It’s fate, don’t cry.”

Namjoon can’t wrap his head around the ominous words. He knows what a Dokkaebi is, obviously, but the rests sounds like it’s some fantasy novel- prophecy type shit. He really hopes that nothing bad will happen. Dokkaebis are good, aren’t they?

The wolf and the stag apparently believe that something bad will happen because the wolf looks even more tense than before, fangs peeking out and eyes wary. The stag walks around to keep an eye on all of their surroundings, hooves scratching up the ground every now and then. Neither makes Namjoon’s racing heart calm down. What’s happening? Should we hide?

“Listen, Namjoon-ah,” the wolf interrupts his self-talk, “I’m sorry to say this but we can’t really do much against a Dokkaebi. You need to remembers this: This is your Essence, your bokjil. Nothing can happen here if you don’t let it. Do you understand?”

He pauses, eyes dark. Namjoon’s head is full of confusion. What the hell is my Essence? Why does it feel like we’re seconds away from going into battle?

“You-you can talk as well?”

“Do you understand?”

“No,” he presses out between tight lips, feeling immensely frustrated by now. In a way, he feels in awe of the wolf’s wise eyes and he doesn’t want to fling all his sorrows on the elegant creature but it just bubbles out of him. “No, I don’t understand anything! From the beginning till now I have not understood one damn thing this whole day. I don’t know how I got here, I don’t know how to find my hyungs, I don’t know why I can understand you-“

The wolf growls. Namjoon’s mouth snaps shut immediately.

“This is not the time for whining, pup. Clear your head. Remember, we are here and we will help you as much as we can but there’s a damn Dokkaebi on his way to see you and that’s not good news. Dokkaebis are powerful tricksters. Don’t believe everything you see. I don’t know what he’s here for but he’ll try to get into your head. Don’t agree to anything he propos-“

“How rude, wolf. Don’t judge a whole species for a few individuals’ actions,” a new voice speaks and Namjoon doesn’t want to look but he has to. His eyes widen. Violet durumagi. That’s the Dokkaebi!?

“You! You’re the stalker from before!”

The guy frowns and lets out an indignant huff. He notices the wolf softly biting Jimin’s neck and carrying the cub a little further away, obviously not wanting him to be anywhere near the stranger.

“Stalker!? I’m not a stalker. Do you really think I’d be chasing you all over Seoul for my own entertainment? I’m not crazy. I get paid for this, thank you very much.”

It’s Namjoon’s turn to frown because that… is not less concerning in any way.

“Paid? Are you a paparazzi then?”

“Are you kidding? I was sent by the MMA committee.”

The MMA? What do the Melon Music Awards want now? Is this just a misunderstanding?

“Then why are you coming to me? Just call our CEO. He always helps if there is something wrong about the logistics or the shows.”

The man furrows his eyebrows.

“Are you an idiot? What shows are you talking about?”

Okay, rude, Namjoon thinks. Every word this guy says is just plain rude and he has to remind himself to remain calm and collected, to not show any insecurity. It certainly doesn’t make sense for anyone from the MMA’s to come to the artists themselves to ask them about anything - that’s solely the management team’s task. So Namjoon remains wary of this guy. After all, the animals had also fled from the clearing and animals’ instincts are seldom wrong.

“I’m talking about our next show in December? I mean, it’s still a really long time until then, but if you’re already planning, I can just call PDnim and we can figure out-“

“We already talked to your PDnim and scheduled a meeting. That was this morning.”

“Okay, hold on. What does MMA stand for?”

“Magistrate of Magical Affairs, of course. I’m your case worker and I need to ask you a few questions about Park Jimin and his environment that I hope you will answer truthfully. Of course, our AMI already collected quite an amount of data but like any other UI, she’s not perfect.”

That hope sounds more like a threat. The wolf growls.

”Let’s sit down, Namjoon-ssi.”

A dark mahogany table materializes out of nowhere, joined by two chairs, one on either side of it. Namjoon sits down, not ready to have a conversation about all this stuff again. He just wants to go home. I hope they are not freaking out about me. Jimin’s legs and his tail twitch as he sits, looking to Namjoon from between the wolf and the stag. He already wonders how he’s going to explain everything that happened to Jimin when he finally shifts back.

“I suppose that’s Park Jimin.”

“Yes.”

Papers appear on the table. They look like official forms. Upside down, Namjoon can’t read much of it. Before the Dokkaebi can start asking stuff, a thought shoots through Namjoon’s mind.

“Alright, first question. Who is Park Jimin living with right now?”

“With me and five other guys.”

“Does he have close contact to his parents? Does he see them often? Do they come over?”

“No, that’s not possible. They talk to each other on the phone, though.”

The Dokkaebi writes something down. He remembers his conversation with PDnim and hopes that it’s not a bad thing that Jimin doesn’t get to see his parents much even though he has a feeling that it is.

“Since when has Park Jimin been living with you?”

“We moved together in 2012.”

“I see. Are there children in your household?”

Namjoon almost says Yes but then realizes that officially, Jungkook is not a child anymore. Neither is Seokjin. So he says, “No. We’re all adults. Responsible adults.”

The other man raises a brow but ticks a box on the paper.

Namjoon almost chokes.

“Have any of you ever had a cat?”

“Not that I know of. One of the members grew up on a farm, so I suppose there were cats around. Does that count?”

“If you would guess in percent, how much time of the day do you spend at home?”

Namjoon sinks a bit deeper in his chair. Be honest, he tells himself. Honestly always wins in the long run.

“10? 10 percent of the day, maybe 15 if we’re lucky?”

“That’s a very low percentage.”

“Our schedule is very busy currently.”

“Will that change in the foreseeable future?”

“I don’t think so.”

“You do realize that even though cats can be left at home, they do need a lot of stimulation and effort, yes? Especially when they are so young.”

“I want to take him along to work.”

“That is… ambitious. Is your workplace a cat-friendly environment?”

Not… really. The studio maybe. An arena full of people? Jimin would stay backstage. Tannie had managed. Namjoon nods confidently.

“We could make it one.”

That sounds more like a question than a statement and Namjoon hopes that it won’t come across as insecurity. Because he knows that PDnim would do anything to enable Jimin to live his life normally with the others wherever he goes - despite his handicap.

“That’s not enough. According to the first and the fourth book of the MMA’s additions to the Civil Code, the Magistrate is legally required to assign a qualified caregiver with every Type-3 shapeshifter or hybrid if their parents or further relatives are either absent or physically, mentally or otherwise unable to raise the child in all aspects. This is the law. You know, most people are happy to hear that someone else helps them with raising a shifter.”

“Most people don’t value what they have until it’s too late.”

“Do you even know what raising a shifter means? What happens when a shifter like your friend grows up, when his instincts tell him to hunt and kill? What do you do then?”

“I will do whatever I can.”

“And that’s what they all think. Until their shifter child kills the pet. By accident. Until their child attacks the neighbor, a sibling, the parents themselves. That’s what the training is for. They need to be taught how to live from the youngest age possible.”

“And you think I can’t do that?”

“I’m just offering you the best options available.”

“But you don’t get to say what’s best for a person you don’t even know. Yes, maybe I don’t have much experience with shifters, but-“

“Exactly, you don’t. The magistrate has done this since mid-Joseon times so I think we do know pretty well what’s best for your shifter friend.”

“That’s bullshit. That logic only applies if you think that this is a task on your schedule. But this is about a person. Park Jimin is a person. And you don’t even get one thing to say about what’s best for him. Firstly, you have never even met him before, let alone asked him about what he thinks about this.”

“And you have? How, if he’s been like this for days now.”

“I have not but I will as soon as he shifts back. Until then, I will decide in his place, but I will never undermine his autonomy as a human person like you just did. Secondly, if you boast about the Magistrate taking care so well of every shifter and hybrid in the country, how come the Magistrate didn’t have Jimin or even his parents in the registry until now? Shouldn’t you have known about him?”

“Well, we didn’t- I mean, before AMI alerted us, there were no signs-“

“I don’t trust you. Jimin shifted and suddenly, you barge into our lives, saying Jimin should come with you every time he shifts. Maybe there is a reason Jimin wasn’t in your registry. Maybe his parents didn’t trust you either. Either way, I can’t consent to your proposition.”

“It’s not a proposition.”

“Without my consent, it’s nothing at all.”

“Tell me, Namjoon-ssi, have you met other shifters or even hybrids so far?”

Namjoon thinks that he must have, if so many people of the community hide their real identities. He must have walked past so many shifters and hybrids on the sidewalk, brushed past their shoulders, bumped into them in an elevator, in a crowd, anywhere. But he doesn’t remember just because he didn’t know back then. There’s just one hybrid he remembers. Jackson.

“Yeah, I have.”

“Did they seem animalistic?”

Just as always, Jackson had been friendly and sociable, with open laughter and a warm hug. Had he not revealed his dog ears and his silver tail, Namjoon would have probably never found out about his hidden identity despite being his best friend. From the corner of his eyes, he sees something moving.

“No. He seemed - just like I knew him. Human.”

“He did, didn’t he? He must have gone through proper training by either his parents or a mentor. Shifters and hybrids can’t afford to be found out and ostracized, so they train to overcome their instincts. Their instincts are overwhelming when they are young and they need to learn how to act like humans.”

That’s messed up, Namjoon thinks, but figures that it’s necessary to survive without trouble in the cruel human world. He sees Jimin waddling over to him.

“Do you understand what might happen to Jimin if he doesn’t receive training? How it could harm not just the people around him but him, too?”

It’s a fair point, Namjoon has to admit. He can’t imagine how Jimin would feel and think of himself if he killed someone or something else. If he even hurt someone just because he couldn’t control himself. Suddenly, Namjoon remembers his first months (scratch that, make it years) in dancing, how his limbs weren’t graceful, his movements weren’t controlled. Of course, seeing it on Hobi or Jimin was clear and the idea of replicating it exactly was simple, but whenever he tired, he couldn’t do it even if he could envision it perfectly. Until a certain point, his limbs were flapping around and it was impossible to make them cooperate. Is that what it would be like for Jimin? Namjoon knows how much Jimin hates losing control. This would be his worst nightmare, probably.

The Dokkaebi seems to take his silence for doubt or hesitance, apparently, because before Jimin can reach Namjoon’s chair, the man reaches for the cub and holds it up by the neck. Without any warning, he shoves two fingers into the cub’s mouth. Taken by surprise, Jimin squirms and tries to wiggle out of the firm grasp but the man just continues to pry his little jaws open.

“See these fangs? They’re made for meat, specifically for tearing into it.”

Jimin whines so loudly that Namjoon has to really contain himself. He can’t bear to see his brother being treated like that. His knuckles are white with the force of his fists. The Dokkaebi just goes on.

“It’s is still young but once he’s grown these jaws will be strong enough to drag a fully grown antelope up a tree.”

“Let go,” Namjoon says, “he doesn’t like it.”

The Dokkaebi shrugs, the golden emblems of his durumagi gleaming in the sun.

“It doesn’t like me, I don’t like it. It’s mutual loathing. What I care about is what it likes. Did you know that feral predators don’t discriminate? Any living creature becomes meat, even humans.”

I don’t like you either, Namjoon thinks grimly. Jimin really struggles, tiny paws pushing against the hands holding him, head twisting this direction and the other. He can’t get away and hisses. Namjoon leans over the table.

“Let him go. He’s still a person and he deserves respect.”

The Dokkaebi’s eyes sparkle darkly as if he had just waited for Namjoon to say that. He lets go of the kitten’s jaw but keeps holding it firmly, hand moving to Jimin’s neck to paralyze him. His voice is deep and daunting.

“And will he still deserve respect when he’s grown and turned into a wild beast just because you’re too sentimental to send him away to train?”

Filled with anger, Namjoon glares at the man in Hanbok. But his eyes are drawn somewhere else. The mahogany table disappears, the chairs disappear, Namjoon plops on his butt, while the Dokkaebi just takes a few steps back. Something shimmers in the air beside the Dokkaebi, almost like a fire’s flying sparks being drawn into one shape. Namjoon gasps when it takes form - a fully grown leopard materializes right in front of him. Its massive body looks huge in comparison to Jimin’s kitten body, it would tower over him were the little one on the ground. Even though the leopard only reaches the Dokkaebi’s bellybutton at most, its presence is overwhelming. As if the whole forest vibrates in simultaneous fear and awe of this one creature, as if it feels the low buzzing of danger joining the life-filled and cheerful pulsing of the woods. Namjoon’s back thumps against rough bark and he realizes he’s been walking backwards. The moment the leopard takes its first breath, the forest’s melody collapses. Namjoon almost chokes at the sudden disarray, the jumbled notes clashing into each other like cars on the wrong side of the street. They seem jagged and lost like they can’t remember their tempo, their placement or even their key and instead, they jump around and create chaos. It reminds Namjoon of a drowning person who is making the most dreadful noises humanly possible before realizing there is no saving because the screams for help are swallowed by the waves all around. It’s ugly and raw and if Namjoon would be sent a melody like this for a song, he wouldn’t even try to fix it.

His stomach drops and his blood freezes, suddenly unable to maintain a steady flow as his heart begins to pound heavily, The blood rush in his ears does nothing to drown out the low tones of danger building up with every step the leopard takes forward. While he frantically weighs the probability of success of running and simultaneously takes careful steps backwards, the notes how much darker the forest looks now. At first, he doesn’t think it could be due to the new predator whose own threatening melody intimidates the forest into a frantic arrhythmia - the sunlight still flickers through the treetops - but then the leopard steps into the center of the clearing. There’s a dark aura around the cat - an inverted glow, as if it was drawing all the light from the atmosphere and keeping it locked away in itself.

Namjoon breathes heavily already, without having run an inch. The adult leopard stands still, steadily breathing, chest moving, ears twitching to capture every sound, tail resting low. He looks like a sharp dog waiting for a command. Namjoon really wishes that none would be given, that they could just keep their distance and be fine. Don’t move, he thinks. And then, at one twitch of the Dokkaebi’s eyebrows, the leopard takes another step.

“Will you still think that a beast like this should be given respect? When it discovers that it’s born to be a hunter? A killer?”

Namjoon’s eyes widen when his eyes meet the leopard’s, when the amber lights in them go dark like the darkness swallowing up a long forgotten candle’s last flame.

“When it realizes that fresh meat is better than whatever crap they mix together in those pet stores?”

The grass is silent under the leopard’s paws. Its muscles move elegantly under the beautiful rosetted fur of the vicious cat. The perfect killing machine, a documentary narrator had explained Stealthy, skillful and merciless. Namjoon’s heart pounds frantically. He thinks of running. His mind short-circuits. He runs.

Almost immediately, a body knocks into him, brutally pressing him into the ground. Everything goes dark with the collision. Namjoon groans, has difficulty estimating the degree of his injury. All he feels is pain. When he opens his eyes again, the leopard bares his fangs right in front of his face. He’s trapped. Trapped underneath the perfect killing machine. All the dead prey he’s seen in the documentaries flashes by his eyes. He whimpers, can’t believe he’ll just become another piece of prey. Leopards mostly go for the throat. They paralyze their prey with a forceful bite, then go for the kill. Namjoon’s hands go for his throat in a feeble attempt to shield it. He’s not sure if it’s smart or even any protection at all.

“When they discover that they crave the taste of blood?”

Blood. Namjoon weakly realizes the there’s blood dripping from the leopard’s jaw and snout. He chokes, feels his body spasm against his will. When the leopard leans in, face coming closer and closer, Namjoon’s hands shoot out to hold him away, to press the cat’s face away. Fear drives a stake into his heart when dark red drops roll down his wrists, his arms. His entire hands are covered in blood, so much blood that it can’t possibly come from the cat’s fur. Am I bleeding? Tentatively, Namjoon feels around his throat again. It’s wet, everything is wet. Blood in massive amounts. He shudders, fighting the way his lungs constrict and burn. A flash-like memory pushes its way into Namjoon’s inner eye like a cold slithering tendril before he can defend himself from the intrusion. Images flash. From a third perspective, he watches himself on the ground and the leopard caging him in. He watches the leopard’s furious lunge and the way its jaw closes around his throat, the way blood blubbers forth as if he were a fresh spring coming to life. The leopard bites until the flesh is bloody and raw, an open wound. The precursor to a powerful death. The leopard growls and Namjoon is ripped out of the vision which he understands to be the Dokkaebi’s point of view.

“Do you still think a beast like that deserves respect when the first victim dies? When they bleed out in your arms?”

Namjoon can’t stop choking violently, can’t breathe, can’t focus. The leopard still or perhaps again has its massive fangs in his flesh like a vice grip, unrelenting and unbeatable and Namjoon’s vision blurs a little. With the blood loss comes freezing coldness. Panic sets in slowly but sinks deeper with every moment. Am I really dying? Am I dying? Again, the leopard rams its fangs into Namjoon’s throat, rattling his entire body. When his head lolls to the side, grey fur moves in front of his eyes. He hears a voice. Dokkaebis are powerful tricksters. Don’t believe everything you see. This is your Essence, your bokjil. Nothing can happen here if you don’t let it. Do you understand?

Is this… an illusion? As Namjoon tries to push the leopard off, his hands drive deep into the fur. The cat pulls off, growling like hell. There’s a long moment the leopard and the boy stare into each other’s eyes. Namjoon feels his own heartbeat pulse through his open flesh in hot, painful surges. Thump, thump, thump. Then - realization. He stares at his fingers, then at the wild cat. His hands are buried deep into the fur, so deep he can feel the outline of bone against his skin. The cat’s chest is pressed against his as it presses him into the ground. And yet. No heartbeat. The leopard has no heartbeat. It’s an illusion. The knowledge explodes like a bomb inside Namjoon’s mind, inside his body.

“You’re not real,” he gasps, almost laughing in relief. As if he’s opened the door to a dark room, clarity and light flood everything. The blur in his vision disappears, all the pain just vanishes in one go, so quickly that Namjoon almost feels floaty. The pressure on his throat disappears, Namjoon can think straight. Even the leopard disappears like it was never there. He feels his throat. No blood, just smooth skin. The sensation is surreal after being caught in the the cruel illusion. Namjoon sits up. He’s exhausted even if he’s fine. I want to go home, he thinks.

When his eyes fall on the Dokkaebi holding a whimpering Jimin down, he swallows. You can do this. This is not about you. This is about Jimin, and you’ll do anything you can to protect him. He trusts you. This Dokkaebi is just trying to intimidate me. The wolf right next to him, radiating a comforting warmth. I am not alone.

“I said, let go of Jimin.”

The cub starts running as soon as the hands leave his fur and he tucks into Namjoon immediately.

“Shhhh,” he whispers, rubbing the little one’s head, “it’s alright. I’m here, I’m okay, see? Shhhhh.”

He lets Jimin sniff around as much as he wants, the cub desperate to be comforted by a familiar scent.

“I will respect Jimin no matter what happens. I will respect his wishes and not decide over his head. Every person needs to be respected, everyone. Lack of respect and love are what turns people into psychos, not lack of training. Not even shifters.”

“I don’t think you understand. If you don’t choose for him today, I am authorized to take Park Jimin in custody until his trial ends. The mere fact that he’s lived as an unregistered shifter for so long needs to be investigated. After that, he will be sent to the Academy either way.”

“And how is that respecting his human rights?”

The Dokkaebi smiles.

“But he’s not human, is he? Human rights don’t apply to him, smartass. He’s a shifter. It’s time for you to understand what that means.”

That’s a crass way of saying it but it really hits Namjoon. That can’t be true… right?

“So… we need to find a trainer for him to be able to keep him?”

“We as the MMA offer classes at our very own Academy to guarantee professional supervision and a guided training period. Since you are VIP clients, we would only charge you half the tuition fees and make sure Jimin receives upgraded treatment there.”

“There?”

“The closest Academy campus is located outside of Seoul, in the mountains and woods of Gapyeong-gun.”

“What! Why is it so far away?”

Gapyeong-gun isn’t too far outside of Seoul but it’s difficult to get there by car. Public transport is even worse. Namjoon knows it means they wouldn’t be able to see Jimin much anymore - driving to school, being there for class and driving home in the afternoon would already take more than half of the day. He’s gonna miss early dance practice, vocal training and a lot of interviews, Namjoon thinks.

“With over 500 students of all kinds of genetic denominations, it’s slightly difficult to find a fitting environment to meet every student’s needs in Seoul, Namjoon-ssi. The Academy is in the woods to grant space, freedom and anonymity.”

“I see… but we can’t drive up there every time Jimin has class.”

“Oh, I think there might be a misunderstanding… the Academy is similar to a boarding school. He would stay there for his entire study period.”

That means - we won’t see Jimin at all? Or just a couple of days per semester? On the weekends? Assuming the Academy even allows students to receive visitors.

“No. Jimin can’t just leave for a semester. Do they have online classes?”

“Online classes are not practical, Namjoon-ssi. Young shifters require hands-on training, not theoretical teaching.”

“You can’t be serious.”

“I am.”

“Is there no way one of those mentors would come to us to train Jimin?”

“Unfortunately, they are always short on staff so that won’t be an option. Unless you find a private tutor with a Caregiver and Mentoring Certificate, Jimin will have to attend school like anyone else.”

From some corner of his mind, Namjoon hears Bang Sihyuk’s voice. No one can know.

“That’s not an option,” Namjoon says. “On so many levels.”

“It’s the law.”

Namjoon breathes. He doesn’t know what he expected from the day when he put his feet on the carpet by his bed for the first time this morning, but it wasn’t this. The Dokkaebi’s eyes bore into Namjoon’s face, he can feel it.

“Are you perhaps… suggesting I break the law?”

The atrocity of the phrase makes Namjoon’s head snap up.

“Of course not,” he snaps, then, calmer, because he’s not a snappy person and he reminds himself of all the people he represents, “of course not.”

I will not allow scandals, Bang PD had once said. If any of you see any of the others or even a staff member do something illegal or even consider doing something illegal, we’re gonna have a long talk. I know you boys by heart. You’re kind, hardworking and talented. I will do anything in my power to support you but I will never enable people to abuse their position.

“You had me worried there, Namjoon-ssi. For a second.”

“I’m just saying that there are two things that cannot happen no matter how we turn it. Jimin can’t go to the Academy. And he can’t go without training. We need to find another solution. I trust you to find a different way.”

It’s this point that Namjoon fears. Because he has no idea about the MMA’s bureaucracy, about the rules or the law. He doesn’t want to engage in illegal activities. But he can’t not leave everything up to fate or luck either, and this is where he needs the Dokkaebi’s honest help.

“Well, there are other ways…”

“Which are?”

“Expensive ways.”

He hopes it doesn’t involve corruption but he feels like a gangster with his next words.

“Money is not an issue.”

“Money!? Are you really offering me money? That’s a weak currency.”

“Real estate?”

“Do I look like I need real estate?”

“What then? Business shares?”

“I’m not greedy.”

“Well, what is it?

“You know, some creatures thirst to feed on your emotions, your dreams, even your blood. They love the taste of a conflicted soul. But I am not that cruel. I wouldn’t even dare to suggest such crude things-“

“Get to the point. What do you want?”

“Your soul.”

The forests still before the Dokkaebi’s lips press closed. As if under a spell, even the clouds draw together and the menacing darkness in the Dokkaebi’s eyes falls over the clearing. Namjoon shivers, feeling cold, feeling tiny, feeling empty. For the first time of his life, he understands that he’s sharing a table with a predator. From this distance, running won’t make a difference, not when the forest obeys the powerful man in Hanbok; begging won’t change a thing, not when Namjoon’s chair’s armrests are chilling and rough like a cage’s bars. No, Namjoon has only his words and he knows he needs to put them in the perfect order to find the one way to get out of this situation unharmed. From the corner of his eye, he notices the deer and the wolf, helpless onlookers by the misguided force of his own lips. They look sad, fur no longer shiny in this low light, heads no longer held high in this awful suffocating silence. As if their souls had been drawn out of them with the threat of Namjoon’s loss.

“The way I see this,” Namjoon reiterates, slowly, praying to breathe life back into the forest with his warm voice. There’s still hope, he reassures himself. I have many words. Words are my playground. No reason to despair yet. “It’s a bargain, yes? We will bargain.”

“I am not a monster,” the Dokkaebi says. Namjoon can’t tell whether that’s supposed to reassure him. He takes it as an affirmation when the man waves his hand, signaling him to start.

“First of all, what do you want my soul for?“

“Is that really your biggest concern?”

“Of course. I will not agree to anything if I don’t know what will happen to my soul. Let’s be honest to each other.”

“Honest, hm?”

All books and films and stories aside, there’s not many occasions Namjoon has heard people even mention their soul or anything related to it. There’s no way of knowing what a soul means in this world of super natural creatures, the value it has, if it’s different for the different creatures. What you can do with a soul. So yes, even if he has to argue and talk his mouth off for hours, he insists on knowing every little detail he can get. He is aware, of course, that any information the Dokkaebi shares could be a lie, but Namjoon has seen liars before, knows some signs of it. Knows he won’t let others do just anything to him.

The Dokkaebi’s face pulls into a smile that so… heavy that Namjoon isn’t sure what to make of it. From the dark look in the man’s eyes, the gaze that he directs at his own hands, he dares to believe that smile is not meant for him.

“Do you know how people turn into Dokkaebis?”

Namjoon has to reign in his mind to not think about the tv show and instead rake his memories for old tales that he may have been told by his grandmother or other elderly from his neighborhood when he was young. All the Korean books he’s read in his youth. Nothing helpful pops up.

“I’m not sure… you die with a sword in your chest?”

The wooden table aches with the forceful slam of the Dokkaebi’s hand. Namjoon flinches, pants, hopes to never see anyone scowl at him again like that.

“Do I look like frickin’ Gong Yoo!? Frickin’ Koreans - has this entire nation watched that show!?”

A bead of sweat trails down Namjoon’s neck. He fiddles with the ring on his finger, shrugging.

“It was a good show. Funny, too.”

“Nothing about being a Dokkaebi is funny. It’s a curse,” the Dokkaebi growls as he tugs his durumagi sleeve back into place. “Just like this atrocity.”

Honestly, there’s not many Hanboks Namjoon has seen in real life with authentic golden emblems sewn into it - the kind that a king would wear in a drama. This durumagi must have either belonged to royalty before (but it doesn’t look very old) or been exclusively tailored for this man because there’s no way that he could have gotten this in a normal Hanbok store. It kind of reminds Namjoon of their 2017 MAMA outfits. This must have been expensive, too. Too expensive for a random foreigner with no regards for Korean culture to spend money on. Why did he get a Hanbok overcoat like this if he doesn’t even like it?

“Cruel of God to put me into this for all eternity, isn’t it? The garb I was butchered in.”

As if a hole is torn into reality, Namjoon’s strained but collected vision is directed towards the Dokkaebi’s stomach where blood starts to flow into the fine fabric with shocking vigor. Namjoon almost stumbles backwards in his seat, the chair creaking as he leans back, his mind telling him to get away, get away. Even the scent of blood is out to shock him. It stings in his nose, as if to show him how real it is. No wound is visible behind the slashed textile but Namjoon is sure that he wouldn’t be able to look at it anyway. This is already crass enough. Jimin seems to smell the blood too, raising his head and sniffling the air. Namjoon does his best to placate him with kind caresses and a slight push for him to stay down, to lie back down and sleep.

“Ugly, isn’t it?”

He should have notices the teasing tone of the Dokkaebi. Should have noticed, well, everything around the blood. Should have noticed. Because when he looks at the Dokkaebi’s face, another layer of reality has been torn away. He feels bile force its way up his throat, feels terror claw into him. In the chair across the table sits the body of a young man, shape and visage so unrecognizable it might have been a different person altogether. A cold breeze rushes through the trees around them, shaking the powerless leaves around as it likes.

The disgusting taste of bile reaches Namjoon’s mouth and he shudders, swallows, presses his eyes shut, swallows and swallows until there’s enough spit to wash everything away for a second or two. He dares to look up, look back at the Dokkaebi. His face is - not a face. It resembles a farming ground that has been plowed thoroughly - deeply, brutally, with force. The flesh of his cheeks just hangs off his face in tatters, like shredded wet tapestry that’s supposed to be removed and clings to the wall pathetically, his left cheekbone sticking out like crushed wood good for nothing but to feed a fire, and there’s blood everywhere between the swollen flesh, the torn nose, the ripped off eyebrow as if it was the only thing holding the disfigured pieces together. The only thing that’s sort of intact are the eyes - eyes that have not lost the piercing ire that’s following Namjoon’s pupils as they wander across the massacrous sight, almost like guard dogs making sure he won’t dare misstep even once. By the time Namjoon even locates the Dokkaebi’s throat between the wet, bloated flesh and the sharp pricks of white that had held the man’s jaw in place once, there are tears streaming down his cheeks. He shuts his eyes, praying that this face will not become the center of his nightmares for the rest of his life. When the Dokkaebi leans his face into his hand, which is also torn apart, flesh swelling between deep bite marks, joints hanging off the bone loosely, there’s an ugly squishing sound. Namjoon really wants to vomit. Jimin squeaks, terror in the high-pitched sound. The tiny cub thrashes in Namjoon’s hold but his hands feel numb, can’t hold the cat. It falls off the chair, squeaks some more, and runs.

“Please,” he begs, “please stop.”

“Did you know,” the Dokkaebi says, jaw crunching while he speaks, “that a supernatural’s powers never work on themselves?”

“No,” he croaks.

“Never, Namjoon-ssi. So I can hide this from you and the entire world but never from my own eyes.”

“Why did you have to show me?”

“Look at me again.”

“No, I don’t want to.”

“Look at me again. I will answer your questions.”

By now, mind occupied by the intensity of disgust and just overall sickness, Namjoon doesn’t even know what kinds of questions he’s asked before or if he still wants them answered. Raising his eyes back onto the horrifying sight takes more than a few seconds of encouraging and reassuring himself. He whimpers when the sticky red of the blood and the gruesome white have not vanished, but follows the Dokkaebi’s finger. Namjoon can’t help but pull up his shoulders, wishing he’d be somewhere else, wishing he could just go back to his normal life when the man in Hanbok puts his fingers into the flesh by his throat. He chokes, gags, isn’t sure who the sound is coming from, and looks at the wolf and the deer. The wolf is low on the ground, nuzzling something in between his paws that Namjoon identifies as a trembling little cat cub. Only the stag looks back, eyes deep and full of sympathy. Please get me out of here, Namjoon begs but jumps when the Dokkaebi’s loud voice demands his attention.

“LOOK AT ME!”

He does. Shivers.

“Do you see this?”

Between the two fingers that sort of… pull a more punctual wound open, something white shows up. At first, Namjoon suspects it to be bone but then, the Dokkaebi’s fingers dig deep enough to show the actual bone and it’s clear that the white piece is not a part of it.

“It’s a fang,” the Dokkaebi says, his own teeth showing. When he rips it out of his throat and throws it away, it takes only a few seconds to lodge itself in the open wound again. He looks at it in disgust. “This is the sword in my chest.”

“Great,” Namjoon groans, “I’ve seen it. Now make it go away.”

“Can you imagine the one thing that’s worse than all of this?”

“What is it?”

Namjoon feels sick. Sick to his stomach, sick to his bones. Sick like even vomiting won’t bring relief. Sick like he hasn’t felt sick since the beginning of his life. Sick like he won’t recover till the end of his life if this doesn’t end soon.

“The fact that all I remember from my life as a human is my death - the way a pack of wolves tore into me, clawed me apart until I became this. That I am forced to watch myself die every single night. Becoming a Dokkaebi is a punishment.”

The Dokkaebi pauses, must have found mercy in some hidden, unharmed corner of his body, and lets some sort of magic cover his face until he looks like a normal human being again. For some reason, it doesn’t loosen the icy grip the vision of his face has on Namjoon’s heart. He knows what he sees but his heart doesn’t follow up on it, not when it knows what’s underneath the mask. When the blood stains disappear from the Hanbok, Namjoon and the whole forest take a deep breath, like the last second of winter’s chokehold has passed and everything dares to hope for new life.

“I can’t heal or even become free until I find these beasts and kill them. I may seem powerful to you but I am not a war hero. My illusions will not be enough to trick a powerful Alpha - not when there’s a whole pack of wolves following him. They've all had a taste of my blood, what do you think will happen if I try to kill their Alpha?”

Namjoon’s head is still reeling. He doesn’t really want to talk anymore. If at least one of the members were here. Yoongi, perhaps. Or maybe just the wolf and the stag. Anyone. Comfort. He pulls himself together and speaks, even if his voice is trembling.

“So you collect souls. To become more powerful.”

“Sort of, yes.”

“And what happens to the person who sells their soul?”

“It depends on the contract they make.”

“Contract?”

A new piece of paper appears on the table, flat between them, innocently white against the dark wood and Namjoon feels his heart pound quickly at the sight of it; as if it knew what kind of paper it is. He remembers all the times he’s been standing on a tower in the pool, ten meters above the ground, then letting himself fall into the water below. His body feels the same rush of losing control, sitting in this chair but looking at the paper and Namjoon needs a second to gather control over his mind again. When he takes a second look, the paper doesn’t call forth adrenaline and memories and his ears pop open to hear the sounds of the forest. The Dokkaebi speaks first.

“This contract specifies our deal - I receive your soul for three months in return for letting Park Jimin live with you instead of taking him to the Academy.”

“And how can I be sure that it’s only for three months and that you won’t be taking my soul and do whatever you want with it for all eternity?”

“Think of it as a Netflix subscription… if your free trial is up, the subscription ends.”

Namjoon frowns. “…that’s not how Netflix works... Do you even watch tv?”

“Why would I not be watching tv? There’s lots of good shows…. How To Get Away With Murder, and-“

“Anyway,” Namjoon says, “what happens to me in those three months? What does it mean for me if you have my soul?”

“I don’t need your memories, your emotions or any of that. I merely need your soul’s strength, the horsepower of your soul so to say. In those months, you will probably not be very productive and drift in your thoughts a lot - your mind will automatically drift to me and what I’m doing. But you’ll live normally.”

“That’s not enough then,” Namjoon says. He isn’t sure if that’s too bold to say but he knows that they had agreed to bargain and bargain he will. An idea pops up. “My soul is worth much more than that.”

He seems to have hit the nail on the head because the Dokkaebi frowns.

“I’m in the international business. An absence for three months will result in million-dollar losses. Nowadays, the world doesn’t really run without me. But what’s most important, I have a family to take care of and a leopard shifter brother I need to raise - I want more in exchange.”

“What do you want?”

“How sure can I be that the mentor you pick is good for Jimin and that our CEO will even accept that person?”

“Are you challenging me?”

“No. I’m saying, every mentor must have undergone training themselves. You mentioned a license?”

“There are classes to train mentors and caregivers.”

“Good. Enroll Min Yoongi and me. We’ll do the classes, we’ll take the exam, whatever. We’ll take care of Jimin.”

From the expressions of the Dokkaebi, it’s not discernible how much it is that Namjoon is asking for but from the long silence, Namjoon gathers that it must be a big deal. Whether it’s about sneaking them into the system or breaking the law, he doesn’t care. These are the conditions. I will do whatever I can to make Jimin live the best life possible.

“The class takes three years of teaching. I can’t keep the officials’ eyes away from you for that long.”

“Well, do we have to be present or do we just need to pass the exam?”

“You need to pass the exam.”

“When is the next one?”

“I’m not sure. In five months? I think the exams take place semi-annually.”

“Great, put us on that list. We’ll be there. We’ll pass it.”

The Dokkaebi huffs and rolls his eyes.

“Humans are so stupid. Look, you don’t really think you can learn the stuff from three years of class in five months, do you? Especially when you’re just human.”

“Give me a guidance counsellor then. Something like a tutor.”

“What?”

“Someone to tutor Min Yoongi and me. Someone with experience, a person who’s taken the classes before.”

“I-that’s- you’re asking for a lot, Namjoon-ssi.”

“My soul is worth a lot.”

The forest sings around them as if nothing bad could ever happen here and with every chirp of the birds, Namjoon feels something in his blood surging, like a connection. Almost as if he can feel the grass growing, stretching towards the sky and bathing in the sunlight. By the side, the deer and wolf sit. They look more relaxed than before and Namjoon likes to think it’s because he’s taken control of the situation. The Dokkaebi’s eyes are calculating but also… curious.

“I’ve never met a human who actually knows the value of their soul.”

Namjoon is not Seokjin, so he doesn't think it's the right time to fling in some cheesy pun or snarky comment like, of course, my soul's just as handsome as my face.

“So, what happens to my soul if you die fighting those wolves?”

“Good question. I guess you’d have to hire someone to find it for you.”

“Find it???”

“I suppose so. I’ll make sure your guidance counsellor slash tutor will be able to find your lost soul in case I die. If I can even die. Otherwise, I’ll just bring it back to you.”

“That’s not reassuring at all! What if someone else finds it first? Someone bad?”

“We could always bind it to an object? Something small, something you can keep on your body?”

Namjoon thinks about all those EarPods he’s lost. He shivers at the mental image of his soul falling through some sewer on the street.

“Maybe not too small?”

“I won’t need your soul anytime soon anyway, so we’ll find an adequate object until then. When I need it, I’ll notify you. That all?”

Namjoon looks at the paper and finds that every word has been recorded on the paper in fine calligraphy. It looks like an old Hangul script that he find in museums. It makes him wonder how magic works, how many kinds of magic there are and if it’s anything like he would imagine. If people could really use magic for good, just like Tata with his little ray gun.

“So you want to use my soul to execute revenge.”

“I want to find the people who killed me and make them pay, yes.”

“How about you bring them to the police?”

He should have seen it coming but somehow, he didn’t. The Dokkaebi gets up faster than Namjoon can even register and slams his hand on the table. His eyes are angry, his whole body tense.

“You think they would even care!? No one cares, no one cares for a punished soul! And even if, I don’t think it’s your business how I deal with my stuff.”

“I think it is, considering that it’s my soul you’re taking. I don’t want it to be used for violence.”

“But you want your little brother to stay with you, don’t you?”

Of course Namjoon does. Also, besides wanting Jimin to stay with the group, there’s also a couple of rules Namjoon can’t ignore. No one can know, PDnim had said specifically. We need to keep him safe, Yoongi had pointed out. Even if Jimin wanted to go, Namjoon’s hands would be tied.

“Jimin can’t go,” he says simply, hoping that he won’t have to explain. It’s enough reason. The Dokkaebi nods, as if his reason is the same. Enough.

“Then you can’t care about what I use your soul for. This is the deal. Take it or Jimin will have to go.”

A wave of uncertainty rushes through Namjoon. What can I say to make him reconsider violent behavior? It’s natural in the world to use violence for violence, Namjoon knows that and can’t help but feel disappointed at the realization that it’s no different for the supernatural world. But still, even if that’s the natural way, there’s another path that’s worth taking - Namjoon knows this especially.

“There’s no freedom in-“, he wants to say but the words are stuck in his throat. A cold shiver crawls up his legs like a horde of insects scrambling over each other between his bare skin and his clothing. He looks around, feeling as though time stands still. Everything is still as it was a second ago, the Dokkaebi, the mahogany desk, the wolf, the stag, the trees. But it’s all silent as if someone had turned the birds, the trees and even the frogs off. As if the whole forest is holding its breath for something major to happen. The sunlight still falls through the treetops but it flickers, dipping the clearing in an unsteady light, never quite passing warmth to Namjoon even when it brushes over him. What is going on?

He notices something stirring from the corner of his eyes. When he turns, the wolf and the stag are moving, moving around something. The wolf nudges something, licks and nuzzles his snout into a lump, a naked human body on the grass. The body moves, lifts its blonde head. Jimin? Namjoon is holding his breath along with the forest. It takes minutes but finally, the boy moves more, sits up, encouraged by the wolf that moves around Jimin in gentle steps, tail wagging slowly. When Jimin rubs his eyes like he’s just woken up from sleep, Namjoon can’t help but smile fondly. Jimin shifted back. The Dokkaebi makes a surprised noise by his side but Namjoon ignores him, standing up and walking towards Jimin, who has also found his way up. Their footsteps towards each other echo, hitting grass, little rocks and flowers. Namjoon thinks they echo from within his chest. His racing heart pumps blood through his ears. He sighs in relief when a hand touches his shoulder, closes his eyes for a last time before he lets himself be convinced that this is real. When he opens his eyes, he gasps, even if the image before him is not new. Jimin really stands in front of him, hair in disorganized strands as if he’d run, eyes big and tears wetting his entire face. He’s crying, sobbing and something is wrong with the image of his younger brother but Namjoon can’t figure out what, so he tries to touch Jimin. The skin is familiar and warm and the touch makes the younger shake even worse. Sunshine turns into rainy clouds over their heads.

“Hyung,” Jimin gasps, voice broken and small. His breath brushes over the goosebumps on Namjoon’s skin in fast little waves. Too fast.

“Jiminie, you shifted,” Namjoon rushes to smile warmly, grabbing the boy’s shoulders, “you changed back. How did you do that?”

Jimin looks around, eyes wild as he searches the area around them. For what, Namjoon doesn’t know but the fear in Jimin’s face makes his heart break. He wills his big hands to calm and to quickly wipe Jimin’s cheeks like Taehyung and Seokjin always do to calm him. Jimin whimpers and lets himself be drawn against Namjoon’s chest. Normally, he wouldn’t really do this, but Jimin shaking like a leaf definitely isn’t normal. His little chest is falling and rising too fast and Namjoon feels like he’s holding a delicate bird in his arms. Drops of rain start falling, start trailing long paths over Jimin’s bare skin.

“What’s happening, Jimin-ah? Tell hyung what’s going on, hm?”

What is going on inside his head? Are there side effects to shifting? Is he in pain? Does he remember anything?

Jimin smells good where his hair is right underneath Namjoon’s nose. It’s reassuring to see him back in human form of course but right now Namjoon dares to think that maybe Jimin has shifted back at the wrong time. What if the Dokkaebi will try to take advantage of him? When he’s this vulnerable? What if he just takes him and I can’t do anything? Namjoon is careful, trying not to overwhelm Jimin but he finally has the opportunity to get the answer he’s been dying to hear ever since Jimin found him in the woods.

“Jimin-ah, is Suga-hyung here too? Did you come here with Suga-hyung?”

“Hyung,” Jimin breathes, voice fragile, threatening to break while new tears flow out of his beautiful beautiful eyes, “hyung, will you really send me away?”

The forest’s melody dies down into an ugly silence. No buzzing, no life. Namjoon’s heart shatters. Shatters like it’s just a thin slice of glass not meant to withstand anything. He feels the shock crawling into his own face, driving tears into his own eyes. A whisper of betrayal hangs in the air and Namjoon swallows heavily. Before he can say anything, Jimin grabs his arms. Pleading.

“Hyung, please no. Please, please don’t send me away. I would never - I, please, please, I want to stay with you. I love you all so much, I can’t-”

He cries, cries like he hasn’t since a long time ago, since he was younger and more fragile in his spirit, too dependent to reassure himself. Big tears roll over his cheeks, big tears like fat raindrops falling after a forest fire and Namjoon is reminded of that one time he’d found Jimin in the shower, under the running water where he had been for three hours until everyone started looking for him. The water had washed the tears away of course but the redness in Jimin’s eyes and the way he’d curled up on the floor instead of standing had given it all away. In the end, Hoseok had helped him to breathe while Taehyung had patted him dry and given him little kisses on his forehead. Jimin didn’t sleep that night, confiding hoarsely in Taehyung, and had seemed better afterwards but never spoke of it again. The next day, Namjoon was informed of the death threats that had been announced against Jimin and Jungkook and the concerts PDnim had canceled because of it.

“Jimin, I-“

“Please tell me you won’t give me away because I’m different now. You said- you said you’d always love me.”

The tears are real, they slide down from Jimin’s cheeks onto Namjoon’s hands, warmly but clinging onto their skin desperately as if afraid of falling. Namjoon’s heart pounds, strains, tries to escape his chest and engulf Jimin’s to make him feel protected, secure and loved.

“That’s,” Namjoon’s voice breaks, “that’s never gonna happen, Jiminie. We won’t send you away. We’ll never send you away, okay? You’re our brother, you can decide what you want and we’ll always be here for you. We love you so much, you’re our Jiminie.”

Under Namjoon’s hands, Jimin’s tears are wiped off and when he looks at his dongsaeng again, the deep sadness is replaced by glimmers of hope. A pout is on Jimin’s warm lips as he mumbles, “promise?”

“I promise.”

The way Jimin’s face lights up like the golden sun breaking forth from behind the clouds is everything. If he was any more sentimental, Namjoon would probably really believe Jimin was an angel. But there’s something… unsettling in the way Jimin’s beautiful eyes start looking glassy. Glassy if there’s some sad part of him that can’t believe Namjoon’s promise.

“But would you… would you really sell your soul for me?”

Namjoon breathes, feels lightheaded, feels the air rushing inside his lungs, rushing in, rushing out. Feels peace in the rush. Wants to give the same peace to Jimin. The tender love Jimin always gives but never expects to be given in return.

“Jiminie, it’s because of my soul that I can serve you and the members. I will fight for you with all that I am but I don’t know if I can give my soul away and still-”

It’s difficult to say this and to see the hope in his dongsaeng’s eyes flicker and turn into new tears. Jimin presses his eyes shut, a bitter smile on his lips.

“I trust you, hyung. If you want me to suffer, I will. You’re my leader. I will always follow you. You’re my home, you know that, right?”

“I know-“ Namjoon’s voice completely breaks. This is the worst he’s ever felt towards Jimin even if the younger is smiling at him, he knows that not doing it would make him think that he betrayed Jimin forever. In the rain, it looks as if Jimin’s whole body is crying violently. With a start, Namjoon knows. I have to protect him in any way I can. If it’s this sacrifice, that’s life. It will all turn out well. It always does.

“Oh, Jiminie. You’re my home, too. We will never send you away.”

For a second, he becomes a witness of the sunrise that’s Jimin’s smile. It swells along with the crescendo of the forest, swells into a warmth that soaks into Namjoon’s body. It's so beautiful, almost like it can make up for all the shit and all the disgustingness his day had brought. Namjoon wraps his arms around Jimin, letting his nose get buried in Jimin's neck, just the way he knows Jimin likes to be hugged. And then it happens. With an ice-cold start, Namjoon realizes that something about this is wrong. He realizes what has been bothering him at the back of his mind for their entire conversation. Why the chill on his legs had never gone away. He hadn’t felt Jimin’s heartbeat. Even with his fingers digging into Jimin’s cheeks, into Jimin’s shoulders and while holding his head against his chest by the neck, Namjoon hadn’t felt Jimin’s heartbeat pulsing under the delicate skin. Just like the leopard - the illusion of the leopard. Within seconds, Jimin dissolves like a ruined reflection in a lake - and Namjoon looks straight into the dark, gleaming eyes of the Dokkaebi. The Dokkaebi who is holding a whining leopard cub in his arms. The only weak comfort are the red stripes on his hands that look suspiciously like claw marks.

“How heartwarming. Now, let's move on.”

Namjoon gasps like he’s resurfacing after a long dive. He holds his chest but can’t find the hurting spot. It aches from deep down, hollow. Around him, the rain is back and crashing down. The initial peace is nowhere to be found. An illusion. It was - it was another trick. Namjoon slides off the chair, can’t hold himself, sinks to his knees, gasping for air. It takes more than a minute to come back to his senses, the nausea overwhelming. The forest’s song has turned into a mess, an arrhythmical clashing of dissonant sounds.

“How- how did you do that?”

“Hmmm, I didn’t do anything. Your imagination is really powerful, all it needed was a tiny push. Now, if you’d sign here and here… You have come to a decision, have you not?”

Namjoon’s heart pounds furiously and he starts to believe that people saying “follow your heart” clearly haven’t ever stood before decisions like this. One side of his conscious knows that the Dokkaebi is a supernatural being and that there’s no way he could ever take this guy on but the other side of his mind tells him that every creature has a weakness and that a trickster can be defeated through a trick. But there’s no real way to tell whether he can even win this game or not - other than trying. His hands are shaking so he puts them into the wolf’s fur. The touch ignites a prickling sensation, almost like little lights crawling into his hands to give courage and strength. And if this is the last thing I try, I have to do it. For Jimin.

“I-I made my decision.”

“And which is it?”

“I decide not to tell you. You didn’t tell me I had to tell you what it is, you only said that I needed to decide.”

The twitch in the Dokkaebi’s eyes gives it all away - it’s a valid loophole and the Dokkaebi has not expected Namjoon to find it.

“That’s unacceptable, you can’t-“

“In fact, I can. This is my Essence, my bokjil, isn’t it? Nothing can happen here if I don’t allow it. I could just go back and report you.”

Namjoon feels like there’s hot courage boiling in every vein. The wolf nudges his cheek in silent praise. It feels like victory. Until the Dokkaebi laughs.

“Oh, Namjoon-ssi, how do think you got here in the first place?”

Namjoon hates the patronizing tone.

“Do you really think you’re so great that you can transport your physical body into your soul’s landscape yourself? And how do you think you will get out of it without my help? Do you want to wander your own soul for the rest of your life and never go back?”

Everything shatters. Shatters like it’s final and there’s no saving left for this mess. Shatters like the melody is irreparable, useless.

“Give me Jimin first,” Namjoon croaks.

“Sign first. I will give him to you right after.”

“You have been tricking me left and right. How do you expect me to believe you say the truth?”

The Dokkaebi laughs.

“Hm, I see we have a bit of a misunderstanding here. You see, I haven’t lied to you. Tricks and lies are really two different things. Lying means intentionally misleading someone. A trick is just a suggestion. If you fall for it, that's your bad. Also, I do have some honor. I’m not a liar. I always keep my word.”

Namjoon shudders, feeling empty, feeling defeated. His shoulders sag, his chest hurts. I just want to go home. Thunder shakes the sky and lighting crashes down when the pen in his hand scratches over the rough paper. The ground beneath his feet turns to mud with the myriads of water drops catapulting against it. Everything is wet, the uncomfortable sort of wet that you’re not prepared for even with an umbrella and a rain jacket. The drops are invasive, driving straight through Namjoon’s clothes and pressing obnoxiously against his skin. It’s unrealistic and illogical but Namjoon fears that they might dig through his skin and pierce his organs if he doesn’t get out of here soon.

The Dokkaebi smiles when Namjoon puts the pen down. The mahogany desk disappears behind a new veil of rain and Namjoon feels unprotected with nothing firm between the Dokkaebi and him. He sighs in relief when Jimin’s wet snout, wet fur, wet body touches his fingers, when the little one mewls in his arms.

“It’s alright, baby. I’m here. It’s alright.”

“I believe we’re done here. It was a pleasure to meet you, Namjoon-ssi.”

He should be glad it’s all over, should be glad this weird meeting is coming to an end and he will go home and all but all that’s left on Namjoon’s mind is the feeling that he’s missing something. That he’s been tricked beyond simple illusions, bereaved of answers, options, freedom, god knows what else.

“Wait,” he says, barely able to keep his eyes open in the strong rain, “why me? Out of the millions of souls in Seoul, why did you pick mine?”

He notices a grey figure moving through the rain. Wolf? The Dokkaebi seems to notice it too but instead of being intimidated by the animal that could tear him apart any second, he speaks calmly.

“As I said before. Each beast has its own preferences.”

He’s gone in the blink of an eye, the dark glint in his eyes and the wicked smirk on his lips the last things Namjoon sees. He smiles weakly, finally able to breathe now that the menace is gone. He looks down at Jimin in his arms, finally safe. In a gesture meant to calm the shivering cub, Namjoon lets his fingers move through the cub’s fur as tenderly as he can, careful not to pull on the strands of hair the printer ink still glues together. Jimin purrs when Namjoon rubs his neck. And then - Namjoon freezes, nausea swelling up like a roaring tsunami. There’s no pulse. A dark wave pushes over him, making him numb and deaf, making him drown in himself. The leopard baby falls apart in his hands. Instead of the forest’s melody, there’s laughter. Namjoon falls to his knees. He vomits. Namjoon sits in the rain, unmoving and alone, only the wolf by his side, silently spending warmth. The rain drops sting.

“How do you want the song to sound?”

Namjoon has a few ideas already, here between the softness of the pillows and the gentle curls of Taehyung’s permed brown hair and the hazy glow outside the windows where rain keeps running down the glass tirelessly. On the windowsill, a scented candle flickers, spreading its cozy wooden scent. It’s most likely a gift from Jimin and therefore a treasured reminder of something special for Taehyung.

“It should sound like tearing your heart out violently. Like crying, too. Because our tears are just like raindrops,” Namjoon sees Taehyung staring into the distance, face grim as little wet streaks trail down his cheeks and drip off his jaw, “without the pain, there is no need for comfort. Even if you’re not scared of it anymore, being broken still has to hurt. It hurts every time.”

Namjoon kneels in a familiar living room, shaking, dripping, gasping. There’s a puddle of water at his knees, slowly sinking into the carpet. His head spins and he’s nauseous, as if his whole body rhythms and sensory systems have all been overloaded and violated. He still feels the stinging pricks of rain drill into him. Even the comforting and familiar scent of Yoongi’s cooking is not enough to calm him down. He’s home, yes, but he can’t stop shaking. Is this… what going insane feels like?

The only sense of relief comes when a small rumbling distracts him from all the noise in his head. A tiny body of violently colorful fur rolls around on a blanket on the sofa to his left. The kitty rumbles, its paws kneading the air while it sleeps. Namjoon doesn’t dare to believe it, inherently afraid to fall for another cruel trick. Slowly, he leans over to put a hand on Jimin’s chest. Thump, thump, thump. Peace. Glorious peace spreads in Namjoon’s chest. It’s real. This time, it’s really real. It seeps through his entire body and Namjoon relaxes, tears streaming down his cheeks. Jimin is fine. Jimin will be fine. I made my decision. It will be alright.

“Namjoon!?”

He flinches when something crashes against the floor. A cup of tea stains Yoongi’s white slippers, the shards in a circle around him like he’s standing in a bomb’s impact crater. When Namjoon lifts his hand to wave, his wet clothes feel gross and heavy. Yoongi frowns. One look at Jimin, the paper bag that stands next to the sofa and Namjoon realizes something he hasn’t even thought of while in the woods.

“Namjoon-ah. Are you alright? Were were you? Sejin-hyung said-”

Yoongi’s eyes follow his, the genuine concern put on pause when he understands that Namjoon is focused on something else. When their eyes meet again, Namjoon can literally see his hyung’s thoughts.

“Don’t say it, hyung-“

“Where are they?”

Namjoon grimaces.

He forgot the shopping bags in the woods.

masterlist | moodboard masterlist

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