justletmelovemyself

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Chapter 9: The Dragon

With a kind of grace that captivated anyone watching, the Dragon walked along the edge of the cliff, closer to them, before jumping off and landing easily on his feet next to the pond. He looked up at them with cat-like eyes, “Kim Taehyung. Jung Hoseok. I’ve been awaiting your arrival.”

Taehyung was astonished by the man’s words to say the least. “Y-You have?”

“Yes,” the Dragon replied easily. “We have much to discuss. However, let me see how bad Hoseok’s condition is.” Before the man could get too close, Eunji bound over to stand protectively in front of Taehyung and Hoseok’s forms and began to give a low warning growl. She knew how powerful this man was, it was unmistakable in his aura, but she still wasn’t about to let a stranger near her witch and his packmate. The Dragon seemed to realize this quickly as he paused in his steps and smiled softly at her, “Easy, familiar. I don’t wish any harm upon them. What is her name?”

“Eunji,” Taehyung supplied, his arm loosening a bit from where it had wound protectively around Hoseok’s shoulders at the man’s sudden approach.

The Dragon hummed, holding out his hand, palm up, towards the wolf. Eunji gave it a tentative sniff and seemed content that he wasn’t going to hurt them as she proceeded to sit back on her haunches. “She’s beautiful,” the Dragon commented before looking at Hoseok and Taehyung once more. “I apologize, I got ahead of myself. I suppose you wish for an explanation as to how I knew you would be here?”

“T-That would be nice, s-sir,” Hoseok stuttered from where he was sitting on the soft patch of grass, his knees bent in front of him. His orange-tinted eyes were filled with nothing but wonder and astonishment as he gazed up at the man, despite the obvious dark bags of exhaustion that lay under them.

“Well, since I know your names already, I should introduce myself,” the Dragon continued. “My name is Kwon Jiyong, although most people only know me as the Dragon.”

Kwon Jiyong, Taehyung repeated internally. He hadn’t even thought about the fact that the Dragon’s real name never came up in any conversation he’d had with any witches. He was always simply the Dragon.

“It’s an honour to meet you, Jiyong-ssi,” Taehyung addressed him with a formal bow, which the man promptly waved off.

“None of that now,” Jiyong insisted with a close-lipped smile. “I’ve never been one for formal talk. Call me hyung.”

“Okay, h-hyung,” Taehyung conceded. “So, how exactly did you know we would come to you?”

The Dragon moved to pick up a lovely blue flower from a patch a few feet away from him as he responded, “The answer to that lies with someone else. Mira!”

They all watched as a new figure emerged on top of the same cliff Jiyong had come from just minutes before. As it came closer, following in the older witch’s footsteps, Taehyung realized that it was a woman. Her skin was smooth and sunkissed and her golden brown hair flowed in the wind with her movement down to the middle of her back. Her features were sculpted and her obvious angelic beauty stole the breath from those who laid eyes on her.

A fluffy calico cat was draped over her shoulders comfortably, it’s striking blue eyes intense as they locked on to the two strange men and wolf.

A familiar, Eunji mused, confirming Taehyung’s own thoughts. He then wondered if Mira was a witch as well, or if this was Jiyong’s familiar.

The cat clutched onto the woman’s loose yellow blouse as she jumped down onto the grass just as Jiyong had. “This is Mira, my wife and packmate,” the Dragon - Jiyong - introduced, an enamoured grin on his face as he watched her.

The woman strided over to his side with a bit of a skip in her step, where he easily wrapped a protective arm around her waist. Jiyong took the flower he had picked and tucked it behind her ear along with a lock of her hair. She smiled happily and it seemed like the whole world got a little bit brighter with it. It reminded Taehyung eerily of a certain orange fairy.

She turned to Taehyung and Hoseok and bowed her head in acknowledgement. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”

The cat that was settled on her shoulders stood, balanced, and jumped over to lay across Jiyong’s shoulders instead. The older witch lifted a hand to rub the top of the cat’s head affectionately. It was his familiar, then.

Mira squeezed her husband’s hand before she started, “I’ve been gifted with the ability to have glimpses of the future, and many months ago I saw that you two - and your familiar - were going to be seeking us out for help.”

“A fairy!” Hoseok blurted suddenly, the realization hitting him as his slow senses processed the woman’s aura. “You’re a fairy. It’s rare, but I know that some fairies can have visions of the future.”

Mira smiled brightly, excitedly. “I am.” Carefully, she let go of Jiyong’s hand and walked forward towards Hoseok. Taehyung and Eunji watched cautiously as she approached but didn’t even think of attempting to stop her. She and Jiyong had been trustworthy so far.

The brown-haired fairy held up her palm, Hoseok mirroring her and pressing their hands flat together. The orange fairy gasped a little at the sheer potency of her aura, feeling honest and reliable flow through his body.

After a few moments of analysing each other’s auras, Mira stepped back to join her husband. “You are very weak, Hoseok-ssi,” she commented, a worried furrow to her brow. “It is quite a powerful curse that’s been put upon you.”

“As I’m sure you know, that’s why we’re here,” Taehyung said. “Reversing it is far beyond my capabilities.”

Jiyong nodded, “I cannot promise that we’ll be able to fix it, but we can surely give it a try. It will come at a price, however.”

“We suspected,” the younger witch replied.

“We’ll send you to deal with someone,” Jiyong explained rather vaguely. “To put a stop to the havoc they’ve wreaked.”

A thought suddenly came to Taehyung. “Please don’t take any offense to this, but...why don’t you just deal with these issues yourselves? You’re as powerful as all of our packmates combined, maybe more.”

“Well, that is because while we may have more power, it also takes us much longer to recharge,” Jiyong explained. “It’s simply impossible for us, even with all the other powerful beings across the world doing the same, to take care of all the problems.”

“My Jiyong has quite the saviour complex,” Mira mused, patting her husband on the chest. “For many hundreds of years, he would wear down his magic energy until he was nearly out, and needed months to come back from it. Not to mention he risked his life too many times to count. We implemented this system of helping those that seek him out by asking for help with one of the recent bad situations in the realms. He is much more useful when saving his magic for the biggest of battles.”

“That makes sense,” Taehyung conceded with a nod. “So, what is it that you would like us to do in exchange for removing Hoseok’s curse?”

Jiyong sighed, “First of all, you should know that with a heavy curse such as Hoseok’s, there is never a guarantee that even we can fix it.”

Taehyung grabbed on tightly to Hoseok’s hand and shared a glance with him. “But there’s a chance you could?”

The Dragon nodded, “It will require most of my magic, as well as Mira’s and...yours too, Taehyung.”

The younger witch’s eyes widened in surprise. “M-Me?” he asked, pointing with his free hand to himself.

“Yes, you,” Jiyong replied. “It will be the most powerful spell you’ve ever cast and it will take a toll on you, but we will need your help if you want to try and save him.”

“I - of course I’ll do it. No question,” Taehyung responded firmly. “If it is successful, what do we need to do as payment?”

Jiyong and Mira shared an uncertain look between them before the witch gave an answer. “It’s quite a dangerous task, but we believe that with all of your packmates, you will be able to complete it.”

Of course it was dangerous. For what they were asking, Taehyung knew it wouldn’t be anything easy. He could tell by the look on both Jiyong and Mira’s faces that whatever it was would be a little more complicated than what Minho had to do.

“If we can successfully reverse Hoseok’s curse,” Jiyong began, “We will task you with killing the fairy king, Minseok.”

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Namjoon missed the scent of mandarin and ginger and it had only been a little over a day since Hoseok left. He missed Jimin’s soft, floral scent of roses, and Taehyung’s sweet patchouli, but their scents still lingered amongst the house more than the orange fairy’s. The alpha shifter found himself having to fight the urge to be in Hoseok’s room all day, desperately craving the citrusy scent that was fading on the bed sheets.

To make up for the fading scents, Namjoon spent a lot of time nuzzling the necks of his remaining packmates. Seokjin’s sweet, comforting vanilla scent, Jungkook’s spicy cinnamon, and Yoongi’s-

The calming musk of a forest on a rainy day invaded Namjoon’s senses, alerting him to the familiar presence behind him in the study. Two hands laid on his shoulders and a pair of lips pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “What are you reading about?” Yoongi’s low, raspy voice inquired.

“The universe’s history. I’ve never truly realized just how much of it we don’t know,” Namjoon admitted. “Considering that a few children and grandchildren of the Originals are still alive, how is it that there are so many important questions just brushed under the rug and left unanswered?”

“I don’t know,” Yoongi replied, arms wrapped around the alpha shifter from behind. “I suppose that we are taught to accept the fact that we don’t have the answers to everything. You’re right, though. The simple fact that the Dragon is scarcely written in history books despite being such an important person in witch history and world history, it’s strange. I know that witches kept his existence on the down low, but still.”

“How are the shops?” Namjoon said before frowning at his own words. “I feel like that sounds terrible. Should I really be worrying about our shops when we have a packmate on the verge of dying?”

“That’s not terrible, Joon. That’s still a valid worry as well,” Yoongi bent down to lick just under the shifter’s ear, right where he knew it would weaken the shifter. Namjoon let out a startled groan of pleasure. When the vampire leaned back once more, he continued, “Jin is handling things just fine. Less hands to help out than we’re used to, but he’s managing. It’s the slow time of the year anyway. Plus, Jungkook and I went in for a few hours to help this morning.”

The werewolf perked up and looked back at the older man, “You took Jungkook into town again? How did it go?”

“He did really well,” Yoongi announced, “He started feeling uncomfortable after a while and he told me immediately so we came home. I can’t help but regret not trusting him sooner.”

Namjoon immediately pulled the vampire down with a hand on his nape and pressed his lips firmly against the other’s soft, slightly cold ones. Yoongi melted easily into him, spinning the wereshifter’s chair around so he could sit on his lap. Their kisses continued and deepened quickly, as was so common for the two of them, until hands were wandering around and frantically pushing clothing out of the way.

For them, kissing was always a battle for dominance that descended into deep lust with the blink of an eye. When Namjoon poked his tongue rather harshly against the vampire’s sealed lips and began grumbling low in his throat at the initial refusal, Yoongi relented with a hint of smirk. He immediately nipped at the alpha shifter’s pink tongue, causing the man to growl more harshly and yank away from him.

Yoongi couldn’t help but grin when the younger man glared at him.

“How is it that we always get so carried away?” Namjoon mumbled, not really speaking to anyone specifically.

The vampire answered him anyway, “Your big alpha ego doesn’t like a challenge for dominance in the bedroom, so you get riled up easily when I fight you.”

Namjoon rolled his eyes and scoffed. “Well, I only meant to give you a reassuring kiss. Then I was going to tell you that you can’t change the past, so just show Jungkook the trust you have in him now.”

“You’re right, I’ll do that.” Yoongi sighed and lifted his hand up to play with Namjoon’s short, soft hair. “Always know just what to say, don’t you, alpha.”

The tease elicited a responding growl of satisfaction from the shifter, which in turn made Yoongi laugh. Namjoon frowned at the mocking sound before leaning forward to take the vampire’s lips once more.

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“My brother?” Hoseok all but whispered in shock.

“We-we’re not hunters, you must know that,” Taehyung exclaimed, bewildered. “And yet you want us to take on someone so powerful? Why? And why us?”

“Well, the reason we chose you is because he’s Hoseok’s brother,” Jiyong looked down in a bit of shame. “To be quite honest, we would do this ourselves, but Mira and I are both forbidden to ever enter Aurora.”

Hoseok’s head was spinning with the new information, made worse by his cursed tiredness. “Wait, what?! But from what I’ve heard - you’re so powerful...”

The Dragon turned to his wife, “Will you go get us some drinks and snacks. I’m sure they’re hungry and we have quite a bit to tell them.”

Mira nodded, pressing a kiss to Jiyong’s lips before hurrying off in the forest next to the cliff.

Jiyong waved his hand and procured a large, blue plaid blanket from out of thin air. “Let us sit before we explain.”

Taehyung, still frozen in confusion, nodded almost on autopilot and moved to help the older witch spread the blanket out over the soft grass. It was large enough that there was still a few feet behind where he sat with Hoseok on one side, and the other where Jiyong made himself comfortable, along with Mira, who returned with a few sandwiches and cups of strawberry juice.

Hoseok dug right into the food, admittedly uncomfortably hungry, but Taehyung didn’t touch his. The witch’s gaze didn’t leave the two across from them. Even though things had been going well with Jiyong and Mira, Taehyung was suddenly cautious again at what they had asked for as payment.

“We don’t know how much time Hoseok has left, so explain quickly,” Taehyung demanded, his tone harder than Hoseok had ever heard it.

Jiyong nodded. “It has been many generations since the Fairy Kingdom’s king cursed us. Before that, we’d divided our time there without any issues. King Jung Bonhwa was the first one to have a problem with us. Mira was one of the king’s advisors, and he was not happy with the fact that Mira was against the outlandish, viscous ideas he wished to put in place throughout the kingdom.”

Hoseok was beginning to see a pattern now. He was exiled from Aurora for going against what the king wanted, as was Mira, and Jimin was exiled because of lack of care for true justice. Learning that his late father was as bad a king as his brother was becoming was already a shock to the orange fairy, but now to hear that another of his ancestors was just the same. “Just when was the last time an honourable king ran Aurora?” he asked.

Mira gave a sad smile, “Too long. Fairies were once very peaceful people, but since King Bonhwa, the heirs are becoming more and more violent and unhinged,” Mira continued, her voice wobbling slightly with emotion. “Our remaining family in Aurora were executed after he exiled us, but we had been held in high regard by the people for a very long time. To hear all of the terrible things that have happened because of the royals since then breaks both of our hearts.”

“So, you want us to kill the current king and give the crown to someone more suitable? And...why now? Why not stop this generations ago?” Taehyung asked.

The Dragon replied, “Yes, we wish him to be killed, but we were going to leave Hoseok the choice of how to continue running everything. And the reason we chose now is because before, we had no way to enter the Kingdom. They’re armed with the most powerful and fierce guards, and they will kill anyone who’s banned. Too many for even Mira and I to take on all at once. Not to mention the amount of guards that would still stand in the way of the king.”

“But, I’m also banned,” Hoseok said, still confused. “They’ll kill me as soon as I show up, just like you.”

“Not necessarily,” Mira corrected. “I’m sure that he told you they would, but you are his brother. Despite the past rulers’ increasing psychopathy, they tend to have a soft spot for family. I believe that if you approached it in the right way, you could get him to allow you a conversation with him. That’s more than enough for a chance to take him out.”

“There are...a lot of holes in that plan,” Hoseok responded.

Jiyong and Mira shared another look between themselves before the brown fairy admitted, “A few months before I had the vision of you coming for help, I had another vision. One of your brother and Aurora.”

Hoseok’s heart sunk in his chest. “W-What does he do?” He didn’t doubt that his brother was capable of many unthinkable things.

“The citizens are going to start a revolt in two months time, they too are done with him. Minseok doesn’t take the revolt well. He responds by ordering the military to slaughter anyone who dares to speak against him.” Mira’s lips press into a thin line, “A war will form between the followers of the king and the rebels, the numbers more on the side of the rebels. However, the king’s followers have more power. Much blood is shed. If he remains king, eighty-five percent of the fairy population will be wiped out, the ones who rebelled entirely erased from existence.” After a moment of allowing them to digest the information, she continued, “What happens in my visions are absolute, unless I, with the knowledge, directly interfere with it. Though Jiyong and I cannot get close enough to the king to prevent this future from happening, you can, Hoseok. I know death may seem a harsh punishment, but I believe the crimes he’s committed already are enough to merit it, let alone the horrors my vision showed. We believe that he deserves to die, and that’s probably the only way for you to take back your kingdom.”

Despite growing up believing from the start that he would never become king, Hoseok had always felt a sense of obligation towards Aurora. He knew how terrible most of Aurora’s laws were, but he’d always seen it as improving slowly but surely. The orange in him, the positivity, thought that the small, good changes to the laws they were making was good enough. Any progress was enough in his naive, sheltered mind. It took him being banned from his homeland to truly see how wrong things were run. He wondered how much he didn’t know about. “Was Aurora really once...peaceful? Happy?” Hoseok asked quietly.

Mira nodded with a longing smile lifting her lips, “Before King Bonhwa, Aurora was the best place to live, although, I suppose I am biased.” She chuckled half-heartedly. “We’ve been keeping an eye on things from afar since we were banished, unable to do anything. We thought of sending a few allies we’ve made, but none of them would be able to get close to the king. He’s just too protected by his loyal army of guards.”

“I’m a fairy, I physically cannot lie,” Hoseok reminded them. “How am I supposed to convince him to have a meeting with me if I can’t do that?”

Mira smiled fondly and mused, “You’re one of the pure ones, aren’t you? Of course, us fairies cannot lie, but we are instinctively talented at twisting the truth or finding a way around it. Use your imagination, Hoseok-ssi, and I’m sure you’ll come up with something.”

“You aren’t yet bonded with your pack, correct? They will still be allowed to enter Aurora without more than a simple background check,” Jiyong said.

Hoseok shook his head, still confused. “But they still won’t be of much help getting close to the king.”

“No, but they can still be there for support and help,” Mira replied.

Hoseok realized at that moment that Jiyong and Mira didn’t have a perfect plan or all the answers they were looking for. This was a job for him and his pack. He realized that they would have to come up with something on their own. With the unignorable anger that ran through Hoseok’s veins, he knew that they had to do it. They had to take down his brother, King Minseok, at all costs. Not just as payment if Jiyong and Mira can even heal him, but because he can’t just sit by and watch as his homeland crumbles.

The orange fairy shared a look with Taehyung, and the other gave him a gentle quirk of his lips and a nod. Hoseok turned back to Mira and Jiyong, “We’ll do it.”

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His birthday was quickly approaching and Seokjin didn't think he’d ever been so happy in his life.

After The Big Reveal (as he liked to call it) Seokjin and Jungkook had sat down with the rest of their friends and explained everything. Though he knew deep down that his friends were some of the kindest, most understanding people he’s ever known, he was still quite surprised by how easily they accepted him after telling them that he was a Little. Jimin had a bit of knowledge about Littles previously, and though Taehyung had thought it to be something inherently sexual, he actually understood the concept quite quickly. Yoongi, Hoseok, and Namjoon didn’t know anything at all about Littles, but their confused expressions were eased soon after Jin answered some of their questions.

Not only did they all accept Seokjin’s little side, they actually were quite excited to be involved with Little Jinnie. He hadn’t slipped into littlespace since The Big Reveal, so they hadn’t fully experienced Little Jinnie yet, but they were willing and happy to. Honestly, as he got older, his Little side came out less and less, so he probably wouldn’t even slip for another month or so.

Seokjin had been shocked when only a day after the reveal, Yoongi asked him about Little Jin’s favorite movies. He explained shyly that he hadn’t explored many movies while in littlespace, but he had found that he enjoyed Mulan when he’d watched it when it was playing on television one day when he’d slipped.

The others approached him quite a bit with genuine questions about his littlespace and every time they did, Seokjin felt like tearing up. He’d never thought even in his wildest dreams that all of them would so readily and enthusiastically accept him and he was just so happy he felt like he could burst sometimes. He felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of his shoulders.

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Jeon Jungkook added Kim Namjoon, Park Jimin, Min Yoongi, Jung Hoseok and Kim Taehyung to the group chat “Go Time”.

Jeon Jungkook changed his name to “BestMaknae”. BestMaknae changed Kim Namjoon’s name to “RRRapMonstaaa”. BestMaknae changed Park Jimin’s name to “ShorterThanYou”. BestMaknae changed Min Yoongi’s name to “LilMeowMeow”. BestMaknae changed Jung Hoseok’s name to “SunshineHobi”. BestMaknae changed Kim Taehyung’s name to “TaeTaeBear”.

{Go Time}

ShorterThanYou: JK YOU WANNA BE PUNCHED?

ShorterThanYou: CHANGE MY NAME!!!

SunshineHobi: I mean it ain’t wrong tho

TaeTaeBear: ^^

ShorterThanYou: You two can’t talk your names are fine >:(

TaeTaeBear: Fair

BestMaknae: That’s bc Hobi hyung and Tae hyung are my favorite hyungs <3

SunshineHobi: Awww! luv you too kookie!!

TaeTaeBear: <3 <3

BestMaknae: Well besides Jin hyung of course :)

SunshineHobi: Predictable

ShorterThanYou: I can’t with you sometimes brat

ShorterThanYou: Not only do you disrespect my height all the time but you also never call me hyung!

BestMaknae: Love you Jimin xx

ShorterThanYou: Why you little-

RRRapMonstaaa: Are you ever going to get over this name jk?

RRRapMonstaaa: I mean I know it was my rap name when we met back in high school but is it really necessary?

BestMaknae: Even if your rap name is RM now you’ll always be RRRAPMONSTAAA to me

TaeTaeBear: Aww how sweet :’)

RRRapMonstaaa: Ok that is kinda sweet

RRRapMonstaaa: It’s also just a name so it doesn’t really matter I was just curious

LilMeowMeow: Wtf is this?

SunshineHobi: Oop

SunshineHobi: Prepare yourself for an angry kitty jk

BestMaknae: Isn’t it a great name hyung! :D

LilMeowMeow: No

LilMeowMeow: No it isn’t

LilMeowMeow: Change it immediately

BestMaknae: Hmmm

BestMaknae: No :)

LilMeowMeow: Fear my wrath maknae

ShorterThanYou: Welcome to the club yoongi hyung

BestMaknae: Anyways

BestMaknae: So everyone knows the plan right?

ShorterThanYou: yep

TaeTaeBear: yessir

RRRapMonstaaa: correct

LilMeowMeow: yes

SunshineHobi: I’m ready to go!! :D

TaeTaeBear: Jungkook and I will take Jin hyung out and keep him distracted until this afternoon

ShorterThanYou: Namjoon hyung and I are going to clean up the apartment and decorate!!

LilMeowMeow: Hobi and I are cooking dinner and baking the birthday cake

BestMaknae: Good

BestMaknae: Let’s hope this all goes smoothly

RRRapMonstaaa: I’m sure everything will be fine

SunshineHobi: As long as Joon stays as far away from the kitchen as possible I think it’ll be alright

RRRapMonstaaa: HEY!

SunshineHobi: :)

BestMaknae: Text us when the place is ready and we can head back

ShorterThanYou: Aye aye brat!!

LilMeowMeow: Best of luck to everyone

TaeTaeBear: And may the odds be ever in your favor

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They’d only been out with Seokjin for an hour before Taehyung realized just how much he was third-wheeling.

Jungkook had suggested a place to sled to start the day out. Since their options were limited thanks to the pandemic, he’d had to work hard to plan the day.

Jungkook and Seokjin were currently sharing a sled (despite there being one for each of them) and giggling and laughing cheerily as they slid down the hill together. A few times the two of them had fallen off and tumbled around in the snow, their bodies tangling into a perfect mess of limbs. They would look into each other’s eyes and then blush when they realized their positions, quickly getting up again.

Taehyung was left to sled on his own and didn’t mind when he realized that his two friends were so caught up in each other they’d pretty much forgotten about his existence. On the contrary, he was happy that they were spending time together. He just hoped that the two of them would get their act together soon and confess their true feelings for one another. It seemed as if everyone could see the heart eyes they gave each other except them. It truly was like watching a romance movie play out and Taehyung had a first hand viewing. How cliche.

After two hours of sledding, the trio headed to an open diner just a few blocks away from the sledding hill. When Seokjin sat on one side of the booth, Taehyung quickly pushed Jungkook in alongside him, claiming the other side all for himself. He ignored the glare Jungkook gave him and simply shot him an innocent smile back.

“What are you guys going to get?” Seokjin asked as his eyes immediately went over the menu.

Jungkook bit his lip, “I’m not sure. I can’t decide between the cheese burger and the jajangmyeon. I’m craving both.”

Seokjin nodded, “Me too. Why don’t we order both and share?”

Jungkook couldn’t help the blush that crept up his cheeks. “Yeah, that sounds good,” he replied with a big smile.

If Taehyung was anyone else, he’d probably be rolling his eyes at their cheesiness, but he truly just thought it was cute.

Taehyung ended up on his phone when the two love birds ended up in a conversation together.

{Go Time}

TaeTaeBear: Guys these two are being so obvious

ShorterThanYou: Of course they are XD

SunshineHobi: Haha you third wheeling tae?

TaeTaeBear: Totally

TaeTaeBear: They’re lucky I don’t mind

TaeTaeBear: Anyways how’s it going with you guys?

SunshineHobi: The cake is baked and cooling

SunshineHobi: Yoongi hyung and I are working on dinner now before we decorate it

TaeTaeBear: Good good

ShorterThanYou: Apartment is clean and Joon hyung is getting the box of decorations from his closet

TaeTaeBear: Awesome! Shouldn’t be too long then?

ShorterThanYou: We’ll be about an hour

SunshineHobi: We’ll need 1.5 hours

TaeTaeBear: Sounds good!

ShorterThanYou: Ooh I can’t wait! Jin hyung is gonna love everything!!

SunshineHobi: Me neither!! I hope he likes our presents tho

TaeTaeBear: I personally think that’s going to be his favorite part :)

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After lunch, Taehyung, Jungkook, and Seokjin spent a bit of time doing some Christmas shopping. They all bought a few gifts for their parents and siblings.

It was perfect timing when Taehyung got the text that the apartment was ready. They only had a couple more stops before they were planning to head home.

Anticipation grew between Jungkook and Taehyung as they walked up the stairs to their apartment. The two of them had insisted on carrying all the bags so Seokjin could open the door for them, and though it had gotten them a raised eyebrow, the older shrugged it off and allowed them to do whatever they wanted.

So Seokjin twisted the door handle to their apartment and he’d barely shut it behind them all when their four other friends jumped out from the living room and kitchen and shouted, “SURPRISE!”

Taehyung and Jungkook giggled as Seokjin jumped a little, startled, and then an understanding smile came over his face.

“You guys didn’t,” Seokjin said.

Namjoon grinned back at him, “Oh, but we did.”

“Happy Birthday, hyung!” Jimin yelled, running forward to place a pink party hat on Seokjin’s head and then hug him.

“We know that your birthday is actually tomorrow,” Hobi explained. “But you’re working most of the afternoon and evening so we thought it would be better to celebrate it today!”

Seokjin sighed fondly, “Goodness, you guys are too sweet.”

“It was all Kookie’s idea!” Taehyung interjected, ignoring the wide-eyed look he was getting from Jungkook. “He asked for all of us to help and of course we were happy to! We love you so much, hyung!”

They all started migrating to the living room, where Seokjin took in the Happy Birthday banner and ribbons and balloons all around him. “This is too much, guys.”

“Never, hyung.” Yoongi spoke up for the first time. He smiled his rare gummy smile and gave Seokjin a hug around the waist. “You’re always there when we need you. And you always throw the best parties, so it was only right that we do the same for you.”

This was the first birthday of Seokjin’s that all seven of them were going to be spending together. While Seokjin had known Yoongi since childhood, and Hoseok and Namjoon since high school, he had only been close friends with the youngest three for two years. Though their group of seven had been fully formed by Seokjin’s previous birthday, Namjoon had been unfortunately under high stress with his studies and couldn’t spare the time to sleep, let alone celebrate, and Jungkook had a family emergency back in Busan.

“Thank you,” was all he could say.

“Aw, you’re so welcome, hyung!” Jimin cooed, jumping forward to hug Seokjin around the neck.

The older man didn’t hesitate to cuddle the other back.

“Alright!” Yoongi said excitedly. “Hoseok and I slaved over the naengmyun all day, so you’d all better be ready to eat it.”

His exclamation was answered with enthusiastic shouts and cheers.

When they finished the delicious food, they decided to move onto gifts.

Seokjin was already protesting as they led him to the living room, “You really didn’t need to do gifts on top of all of this! I’m really not that happy to be turning twenty-five.”

“Well, we did, hyung,” Namjoon replied, pushing the older man in the direction of the couch. “So too bad for you, you have to enjoy it.”

They all had anxious but excited expressions on their faces as they found seats around the room. Each of them seemed to have manifested gift bags of varying sizes in their arms.

Jungkook sat down right next to Seokjin and gave him a hopeful smile. “We, um, we got some things for both Little Jinnie and you, so which one would you like first?”

Seokjin was ready to protest to so many presents, but the glares from across the room had him holding back what he was going to say. “Uh, Me first, Little Jinnie after.”

“Okay,” Jungkook replied.

It was Taehyung who came over with, not a gift bag, but an envelope in his hands. He held it out to Seokjin who took it reluctantly. “This is a collective gift from all of us,” he explained. “Jin-hyung, we know how hard you’re working to get your bakery up and running, and we really wanted to help you with that.”

Seokjin opened the envelope and pulled out what he thought was a letter, only to find that it was a list of recommendations the boys had compiled. Information about a few high rated realtors that could help him find a good location for his business (courtesy of Namjoon, Yoongi and Hoseok), the names of some talented interior designers (Taehyung, Jimin, and Jungkook), and and six coupons for free help getting the place ready when the time came (only usable on his friends).

“Oh guys, thank you so much,” Seokjin crooned. “I’ll definitely be using these coupons.”

“You’re welcome, hyung!” Hoseok beamed.

“Don’t lose them or we won’t help!” Yoongi snarked with a smirk.

“There’s more, hyung,” Jungkook told him, hands rubbing over his jeans anxiously.

More?

Seokjin then looked to realize he had missed a slip of paper. As he pulled it out, his eyes widened at the sight of a check, those eyes becoming even wider at the number presented on it.

“Your baking is the best I’ve ever had, Seokjin-hyung,” Namjoon said. “We all know that you’ll draw in a lot of people and make them happy. So, we wanted to help.”

The oldest one in the room was shocked, “I-I can’t accept this, you guys.”

Jimin spoke up next, “You don’t have a choice, we won’t take it back!”

“A-Are you...are you sure?”

A chorus of six voices replied, “Yes!”

Seokjin still felt hesitant. It was a lot of money and he felt bad about accepting such a substantial amount.

“It’s not for free, though, hyung!” Jungkook announced, having noticed the older man’s reluctance. He grinned when Jin looked at him. “We want free food whenever we stop in!”

Everyone let out a laugh, Seokjin included. “Alright, fine. Thank you all, though. It really means a lot to me.”

“No problem, hyung!”

“You’re welcome!”

“Just make sure to keep a healthy stock of those caramel brownies I love.”

In the midst of all the chuckles and quips, Seokjin felt his brain falling into that familiar headspace, his elation taking away any lingering of nerves he might have had about slipping into littlespace in front of the others for the first time.

No one noticed at first, as they continued to talk about their favourite dessert of Jin’s and debated which one would be more popular. It wasn’t much of a surprise that it was Jungkook who took notice of the wide, slightly glassy eyes of his hyung.

His eyebrows lifted in realization and he asked softly, “Jinnie? Are you little right now?”

The others immediately stopped talking and turned their heads towards Seokjin, who grabbed the nearest blanket to fiddle with and nodded his head shyly.

Hoseok clapped his hands together excitedly, quickly quieting down when he realized it might startle Seokjin. Yoongi and Namjoon smiled encouragingly.

Jimin cooed, “Oh, what perfect timing! Well, it’s nice to officially meet our Little Jinnie!”

“H-Hello,” Jinnie replied softly.

Jungkook scooted closer to him and smiled, “Would you like to open the presents we got for you, Jinnie?”

Jinnie’s eyes widened and he tried to hide how excited he was at the idea. “Um, yes.”

“Yes, what?” Jungkook asked almost automatically.

Seokjin blinked, “Yes, please.”

Jungkook ruffled his hair, “Good boy.”

The first present was placed on his lap, courtesy of none other than Taehyung. It was a simple gift bag. Seokjin wasted no time in tearing through the tissue paper obscuring what was inside. His eyes widened and he reached in to pull out the cutest dog onesie he’d ever seen. Following that one, there was also a dinosaur onesie and a flying squirrel.

“Thank you so much, Taehyungie!” Little Jinnie exclaimed, holding the soft material to his chest. “They are the cutest-est!”

Taehyung smiled and ruffled Jin’s hair. “You’re welcome, Jinnie.”

“Okay, move out of the way, it’s my turn now!” Jimin announced, nearly body slamming Taehyung out of the way. He grinned at the Little, “I hope you like it!”

Jin squealed excitedly as he ripped the wrapping paper and revealed a giant Lego set and a Disney themed jigsaw puzzle with so many famous characters on it. “T-There’s Mickey Mouse! A-And Jasmine! And Pinocchio!” He looked back up at Jimin, “It’s awesome!”

The gift opening continued with Namjoon giving him some Dr. Suess books, Hoseok giving him colouring books and a set of (washable) markers. Then, Yoongi gave him a set of three Disney movies - Mulan, Aladdin and Tangled.

The final gift came from Jungkook, who handed him the biggest gift bag Seokjin had ever seen in his life. Inside, he found two dozen or so plushies.

Jin felt so overwhelmed at all his gifts that when he looked back up at his friends, he had tears in his eyes. He’d never let himself think about the possibility of them ever accepting this other side of him, and now that they had, he was elated.

“T-Thank you,” he said, voice timid but sincere. “Jinnie loves his presents! Jungkookie and Jiminie and Taehyungie and Hoseokie and Yoonie and Namjoonie are the best-est ever!”

The Little all but threw himself off of the couch, launching himself into Jungkook’s arms. The other caught him easily with a fond chuckle.

“Can we watch one of the movies?” Jin asked suddenly, pulling back so he could look at Jungkook properly.

And really, it’s not like Jungkook, or any of them, could say no to that adorable face.

The rest of the night consisted of loudly singing along to all the songs in Aladdin by all of them, and Seokjin curling up in his new Dinosaur onesie with Jungkook in the corner of one of the couches. When the cake was brought out and devoured, Jungkook took the time to wipe the icing and crumbs that accumulated around Jin’s mouth with a napkin.

As the second movie of the night came to an end and everyone else was passed out around the room, Jungkook turned to Seokjin with the most loving look in his eyes. “Whether you’re our Jin-hyung, or our Little Jinnie, we love you. I love you.”

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Chapter 8: To the Lagoon

Worldbuilding Note on Magic: As stated before, witches and fairies have nearly identical means of magic. While some other creatures, like demons for example, can only use their magic for mischief and harm, or shapeshifters, whose magic is only shown through their enhanced senses and technical immortality, witches and fairies both have the most extensive means of magic of any creature. Witches tend to lean towards specializing in body focused magic most often in the form of potions (i.e. strength potion, energy potion) referred to as inner magic, while fairies tend to lean towards manipulating outside forces using charms or spells (i.e. plant growing, building) referred to as outer magic. However, both fairies and witches are capable of using both types of magic. To be clear, though, these types of magic are not easy. They take practice and concentration and use up a lot of magic energy if one isn’t careful enough. If a spell is powerful enough, it will require an incantation to complete.

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Minho had given them the general coordinates to the place he’d met the Dragon, so Jimin was in charge of navigating them through the expansive forest and kept looking down at his phone every once in a while. According to the pink fairy, they were about two hours into their twenty-three hour journey.

Hoseok was piggybacking on Taehyung’s back, made easier for the witch who took a strength potion he’d made earlier with Jimin. Now, he was able to carry the ill fairy through the rather difficult terrain without any issue.

Eunji ambled alongside them, her coat glistening almost golden in the sunlight. She had their few bags strapped to her back, refusing to let Jimin carry them earlier and giving a little growl when he attempted to pick them up.

The orange fairy had fallen asleep after they’d left the house, and only woke up a few minutes ago, as the sky above them became more grey than blue.

“That strength elixir must be working great,” Hoseok commented with a sleep-raspy voice. “You’ve barely broken a sweat.” The witch didn’t appear tired at all, though they had been walking quickly for a good two hours now.

Taehyung smiled, glancing back at him momentarily before focusing back on the forest ahead of them so he didn't accidentally trip on anything. “It’s one of the potions I make best, though it only works for witches and humans.”

The orange fairy hummed, “I always forget that you witches are technically human, what with your magic and all. I always wondered what it was like being human. Not being immortal.”

“Being human is...well, it’s just different. I’m sure Yoongi and Jungkook would agree that humans still have a fear of any supernatural being, even if we’ve all progressed in relations over the years. Human lives are short and we face many hurdles of injury and disease, so we savour each and every moment that we have with our loved ones.”

Jimin glanced over his shoulder at them with a little pout, “That’s sweet, but sad too.” A thought seemed to come to his mind then and he continued, “I guess that we’ll have to help Jungkook when his human friends and family eventually pass away.”

Hoseok hadn’t even thought about the fact that Jungkook was still a young vampire and anyone he knew when he was human was aging without him. He wanted to ask more about these friends and family, but he also knew that it wasn’t really Taehyung or Jimin’s place to tell him.

Instead, he leaned his heavy head on Taehyung’s shoulder and asked the man, “So, when did you know you wanted to become a witch?”

Taehyung chuckled, “Oh, I've always known. Even in my earliest memories I remember being closely connected to magic, wanting to reach out to it but not being able to. My family...wasn’t the greatest. They had a deep-rooted hatred for witches, so I never told them about my...special abilities. One time, when I was seven or eight, I purchased a spell book with my saved up allowance and practiced spells in the woods near my house for weeks. Verbal spells didn’t come easily to me then, so I tried potion making, and that was where I thrived.”

“Your family hate witches?”

The man nodded, making his soft, chocolate brown hair tickle against Hoseok’s cheek. “My great-great grandfather was said to be killed by a witch’s spell, but no one seems to know the full details so I’m not sure it’s even true. Needless to say, when Eunji found me and I began keeping myself young as they continued to age...they found out what I was and they weren’t happy.” The large wolf trotted over and nudged Taehyung's hand - that was holding Hoseok’s thigh - with her black nose. The witch smiled at his familiar. “My two younger siblings didn’t really care, but the rest of my family, my parents and my grandparents, were disgusted by me. That’s when Eunji and I left them and never looked back. I occasionally check up on my siblings, though. They’re rather old now, and probably have only a few years to live, but they seem to appreciate it when I visit.”

“Of course they appreciate it, Tae,” Jimin said, “They love you very much. Your parents didn’t understand you, but they do.” The pink fairy turned to Hoseok with a smile, “Hopefully, you can meet Taehyung’s brother and sister one day, hyung.”

“How’d you meet the others then, Taehyungie?” Hoseok inquired.

The witch made a thoughtful noise and smiled, “Well, it was quite an interesting encounter to say the least…”

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July 3490

Taehyung had been searching all over the city of Seoul for some arbay flowers. The flowers were few and far between but they were an extremely good binding agent for mixing two or more potions together without having it explode in one’s face (Taehyung may or may not have had some bad experiences in that area). Just when he was about to give up his search, Baekhyun told him that there was one place he could go to get some arbay flowers.

“It’s on the edge of a pack’s land,” the older witch warned. “I’ve heard that they’re rather lenient on people entering their territory since they own such a large area, but I would still be careful so that you don’t anger them.”

“I won’t!” Taehyung exclaimed excitedly. “Oh, thank you so much Baekhyun-hyung! You’re a lifesaver!”

Baekhyun smirked smugly, “I know.”

Taehyung stuck his tongue out childishly at his hyung.

The location was about an hour’s drive away, on the outskirts of the city, but it took an extra half hour thanks to traffic. Taehyung sang along to the music blasting through the speakers, Eunji howling along every once in a while from the backseat.

Taehyung reached the end of a paved road and made a left turn onto a dirt road that he drove on for a good forty minutes or so. Eventually, the sparse houses petered off completely and the rough road became more and more uneven. He came to a stop when he reached a large dirt lot at the end of the road, with an unmissable wooden sign with chipped red lettering.

Entering the Mysterious Forest. Proceed with caution.

Taehyung hadn’t even known that this place existed before Baekhyun told him about it, and the older witch explained the phenomenon behind the vast forest. “The further one goes into the woods, the more unsettled they become. Strange things begin to happen, and eventually everyone turns around to leave.”

It was rather intriguing to Taehyung, but despite his curiosity, he had no plans to venture that far into the forest today. The patch of arbay flowers was supposed to be only eight or so kilometers in, just on the edge of a pack’s territory. The witch planned to get in and out within a few hours.

Of course, things don’t always go exactly to plan.

With his backpack secured to his back, Taehyung set off into the woods, following a faint foot trail Baekhyun had indicated. Eunji growled playfully and nudged his hip before taking off down the path, the witch laughing and chasing after his familiar.

He eventually reached a small stream, listening to the sound of the water gently running over the rocks that lined the bottom. Eunji immediately hurried over and began lapping up the cool water, while Taehyung scoped out the area.

Despite Baekhyun insisting that arbay flowers grew decently right near this stream, Taehyung couldn’t seem to find any. But he’d come all the way here and he wasn’t going to give up yet. The witch wandered the area for a while more, a disappointed pout making a home on his face as the minutes ticked by and he still didn’t find what he was looking for.

He did a double take when his gaze ran across something with a very distinct purple color a little ways in the distance. Before he could get too excited, he realized that it was on the other side of the stream.

Baekhyun had warned him about entering the nearby pack’s territory, but he also mentioned that they weren’t said to be especially mean, and while weighing his options, Taehyung was focused on that.

Are you sure about this, Taehyung? Eunji questioned, her voice resounding in the witch’s head.

“It’s just beyond the treeline over there,” he replied. “We’ll be in and out in less than five minutes.”

Eunji hummed, Let’s just hope the pack doesn’t have any super territorial were-shifters then.

“It’ll be fine,” Taehyung insisted, trying to ignore the little voice in the back of his head warning him about trespassing.

In the end, the witch trudged towards the stream and began strategically stepping on the rocks above the water to cross. Once on the other side, he waited for a moment, listening carefully and looking around in case anything was going to happen. It was silent, however, so Taehyung waited until Eunji did her routine sniff of the air before the two made their way over to the flowers.

Taehyung’s cheeks hurt with how much he was grinning when he saw the abundance of arbay flowers growing just into the treeline. The deep purple petals glimmered faintly in the rays of sunlight peeking through the canopy.

Immediately, the witch began carefully picking the flowers and putting them into his backpack. One of his best achievements so far in life was successfully creating a backpack that looked like any other, but actually kept anything inside from getting crushed. The bag could be tossed around or even run over by a car, and the contents would be just as you set them in.

He was so wrapped up in his excitement that he jumped high in the air when Eunji, who had been lounging and keeping watch next to him, stood up on all fours and took a defensive position. A warning growl rumbled in her throat, her eyes and ears alert.

Taehyung looked at her with wide eyes. “Eunji, what is-”

He didn’t get to finish his question because a large, snowy white wolf burst through the trees from further into the forest, coppery-golden eyes narrowed in on them. Their lips curled back as they let out a snarl. (White wolf)

Well, shit.

As his heart raced in his chest, Taehyung noticed that the wolf’s eyes were flashing blue, indicating a shapeshifter omega - and a very defensive one at that.

“This is your property, right? I’m sorry, I just wanted to harvest some of these flowers!” the witch rambled, trying his best to calm the situation. “It was stupid of me, I’m sorry! We’ll leave right now!”

Before Taehyung could do good on his words, the white wolf stopped it’s growling and tilted it’s head curiously. In the blink of an eye, Taehyung heard the faint cracking of bones before the wolf disappeared, and in its place stood a very naked, very handsome man.

The man was tall and had broad shoulders, black hair parted over his forehead. He had an eyebrow raised in question as he stared Taehyung down. “You wanted the flowers? What for?” he asked in a smooth voice.

Taehyung was blinking quickly and trying his best not to look away from the man’s face. “Ah, I’m a witch. I’ve found that arbay flowers are a great combining agent and a friend told me that they grew in the area. He warned me not to cross the stream as that was a pack’s property, but...I’m sorry. I thought I would be gone before anyone would notice.”

The man gazed at the witch with a look Taehyung couldn’t quite decipher. It wasn’t an annoyed or angry look, nor was it quite a curious one either. “What is your name?”

“Kim Taehyung.”

The man flickered his gaze back over to Eunji, who stood protectively in front of the witch. “And this wolf is your familiar?”

“Yes.”

The man hummed. “Quite a unique animal for a familiar.” He stared at Eunji meaningfully for a few moments before she backed down from her defensive stance, surprising Taehyung.

He won’t harm you, was what Eunji gave as an explanation. When the man moved forward and gave her a gentle pat on the head, she nudged his wrist thankfully.

Before Taehyung could even think to question his familiar further, the man began walking towards him, holding out a hand. “My name is Kim Seokjin.” As Taehyung took the man’s hand in his own, rather dirty one, he watched the other’s eyes light up with something that looked like confirmation. “And you are my packmate.”

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September 10 3501, Present Day

“Hyungs were very cautious meeting people in our territory even back then,” Jimin explained. “For most of us magical beings, territory means property, but to shapeshifters, it’s something that they feel the instinct to defend.”

Taehyung chuckled amusedly. “I remember that Seokjin-hyung and Namjoon-hyung were very surprised to meet a wolf familiar. They’d never met one before so it was kind of a strange situation.”

“Hmm,” Hoseok hummed with a tired smile. “Definitely strange. I know that shifters are able to communicate telepathically with each other, are they able to have that connection with Eunji?” Said wolf trotted by Taehyung and rubbed her face quickly against Hoseok’s thigh before continuing on ahead of the group once more.

“They can’t speak with normal wolves, but since Eunji is attached to me, they are able to speak sometimes.” Taehyung answered, “But they explain it as being more difficult than with a shapeshifter, though. Like searching for the right radio signal so you can hear properly.”

“Interesting,” the orange fairy mused.

Taehyung hiked Hoseok up higher on his back from where the older man had been slipping down. “When I met the others, Jimin basically attached himself to my hip and never left.”

The pink fairy turned in their direction with a beaming grin. “We all are undoubtedly packmates, but Taehyungie is my soulmate. My best friend. I’ve never met anyone who understands me as well as he does.”

“How cute,” Hoseok murmured, his eyelids drooping like there was lead weighing them down.

Jimin and Taehyung share a knowing look before the fairy goes back to checking the GPS and the witch turns his head just enough to plant a kiss on Hoseok’s temple. “You can sleep again, hyung. We still have a long way to go.”

“M’kay,” the orange fairy mumbled, finally allowing his eyes to shut completely. His lips pouted out cutely. “‘M sorry I can’t keep myself awake.”

The older man was out like a light before Taehyung could tell him he didn’t need to apologize.

After a little while of more walking, Taehyung and Jimin began to notice that the sounds that normally surround the place - the birds chirping, the crickets playing their tune - were dying down until they sounded far away. The clouds in the sky continued to get darker and darker until the daylight was almost completely hidden. The eerie aura of the place didn’t go unnoticed by the two men, but they continued on despite beginning to feel extra cautious.

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It was quite early into the next morning - a couple hours before dawn - when the three finally decided to stop for a rest. They’d made better time than expected, and the strength potion only worked so well.

They found a small, uninhabited cave and took shelter there from the soft but biting wind blowing outside. Despite the chill it gave them, they revelled in it because it eased the eerie, hair-raising feeling that encompassed the atmosphere and the otherwise silent forest.

Jimin started a fire easily with a snap of his fingers, and they all laid down to rest for a few hours after eating the meals Seokjin had packed them. Hoseok had slept on Taehyung’s back for almost the entire journey, only waking up every few hours to take a leak or drink some water. The witch was becoming increasingly more distressed at the orange fairy’s state, so Jimin cuddled up against his back from where they laid next to Hoseok on a thick blanket.

When Taehyung and Jimin woke up three hours later at the first light of dawn, Hoseok was still fast asleep and didn’t appear like he was going to be awake for a while. So, the two of them ate a bit more before they began preparing for the next step of their journey.

The plan was to leave Jimin at the cave while Taehyung took Hoseok the last hour and a half hike to the coordinates Minho had given them. That way if they were in danger, the pink fairy would be close enough to assist, but far enough to leave the meeting with the Dragon - if he was even there - to the only two required searchers. If the man did exist, he was reclusive and cautious around people, so the less people the better.

“There,” Jimin said, taking his hand away from Hoseok’s shoulder. “I’ve put a tracking charm on you, so I can find you if you don’t return on time. And a breadcrumbs charm so you’ll be able to find your way back to me here without any trouble.”

“Thanks, you’re the best,” Taehyung replied.

The pink fairy gave a smug, beaming grin. “I know.”

The witch snorted in amusement at his lover’s cocky response as he went about maneuvering the still sleeping Hoseok onto his back. With the strength potion it took little time or effort at all. Jimin adjusted the orange fairy’s large, warm coat to make sure it still covered him completely.

“Taehyung, I’m proud of you, you know,” Jimin announced as he reattached a small bag of essentials onto Eunji’s awaiting back.

“Why’s that?”

“Because you’ve never quite been the commanding type, or someone who likes to take charge,” the pink fairy explained. “But you’re the most likely to help Hoseokie right now, and you stepped up to the role. I know it’s not easy.”

It wasn’t easy. Taehyung was an independent person, obviously, as he’d spent many years on his own before he met his packmates, but he’d always been more comfortable as a follower. Namjoon was the one that usually took charge in important situations, no doubt thanks to the alpha wolf instincts ingrained in him, but Taehyung fell into the role of follower much more naturally. Even the others, who also admired and respected Namjoon’s leadership skills, asserted themselves more often than Taehyung. Well, except maybe Jungkook, but that little vampire had always been happy and go-with-the-flow.

“Thanks,” the witch replied, adjusting the fairy on his back. “It feels strange, I’m not going to lie, but I’ll do anything for someone who needs help, especially the ones I love.”

Jimin smiled softly at the witch’s words. “You love Hoseok-hyung?”

Taehyung didn’t hesitate in his answer. “Even when I didn’t know he was our packmate, I knew in my heart how I felt about him.”

The pink fairy was so insanely enamoured with the younger man, that he couldn’t fight the urge to grab the taller by the face and pull him in for a quick but passionate kiss. Taehyung smiled into the kiss but responded in kind, nipping playfully at Jimin’s bottom lip.

With a little yelp, Jimin pulled back and slapped him on the arm, feigning annoyance. “Get going, you little shit.”

Taehyung laughed heartily, “But you love it when I bite you.”

The fairy smirked, “Exactly.”

After Jimin left a gentle kiss on the corner of Hoseok’s mouth, Taehyung set off even deeper into the woods. He grieved the loss of the pink fairy’s presence almost immediately, as the unsettling and quiet nature of the forest made him feel so unbelievably uncomfortable. It felt almost like the trees were watching him, and the absence of any animal sounds only added to the creepiness. The witch was sure that if Hoseok’s body wasn’t so exhausted, he would be feeling the same way as well.

It was truly like the forest didn’t want them there. The further Taehyung went, the more his instincts were telling him to turn and run back the way he came. However, he pushed on, for Hoseok.

The early morning was cloudy and grey again, clouds looking like they could drop rain onto them at any moment.

Taehyung tightened his grip under Hoseok’s knees, trying to take some solace in his presence, even if he wasn’t awake. At least he had Eunji by his side.

Taehyung, I’ve never felt anything like this before, she said, trotting along close to him. Everything in me is telling me to run.

“We can’t stop,” was all he replied. What could he say anyway? He too felt his heart beating out of his chest and his natural instincts heightened and yelling at him.

What if Minho purposefully sent them into danger? What if he’d read the other witch wrong and he had malicious intentions? What if Taehyung was walking straight to his, Eunji’s and Hoseok’s death?

Taehyung’s feet came to a sudden stop as his throat tightened up. His eyes were darting around him, searching desperately for whatever was making him so innately terrified. Run away! Danger! You have to run away, his mind screamed at him.

Taehyung? Eunji called, sounding just as cautious as he felt.

“Minho said that he felt this way when he came as well, but this is so much worse than I was expecting. It’s difficult to get myself to even move a few steps forwards,” he explained.

“Are you sure we should go on?” The sound of Hoseok’s groggy voice startled Taehyung, not realizing that his hyung had woken up.

Looking over his shoulder, he saw that the orange fairy’s eyes were still droopy with sleep but darting around nervously nonetheless. “We have to try, hyung.”

Facing forward once more, Taehyung took a deep breath in a failed attempt to calm himself before forcing his feet to continue moving through the woods. He felt vaguely like he was walking through quicksand, his feet and legs heavy and protesting. The witch was shaking with how much energy it took to go against his instincts, despite the second dose of the elixir he’d taken before they separated from Jimin.

Just as he thought that he might actually collapse from all the feelings bearing down on him, they all stopped. Halted. Just like that.

Taehyung blinked and found himself gasping in deep breaths as his body untensed, trying to gather his bearings now that he didn’t feel so on edge. He felt normal again, like absolutely nothing was wrong. Confused, the witch glanced at his familiar, who only appeared just as bemused as he was. Then he looked back over his shoulder at Hoseok once more and saw him gazing around them in awe.

Now that he could concentrate on more than just the overwhelming feelings that had taken over his body before, he followed the orange fairy’s gaze.

Before them was a lagoon - undoubtedly the most beautiful lagoon Taehyung had ever seen in his life. Sunlight beamed down from above them, making the blue-turquoise water glisten and sparkle. A few foot wide waterfall poured into the lagoon from the rocks above them, and the entire place was surrounded by bright, luscious greenery. Flowers of pinks and yellows and oranges and purples brought a variety of colour to the area as well. The overflow of the pond trickled into a small stream that they’d been following for the last few minutes but had paid little attention to whilst being overwhelmed with fear. The joyous chirping of birds could be heard nearby, as well as the sound of small animals scurrying along the branches in the trees. This place was the definition of paradise.

The whole thing looked completely out of place in the middle of their woods. While the Mysterious Forest was abundant with full green trees and bushes, they were mostly in a darker shade of green and only had patches of flowers dotted throughout.

Not to mention that just a minute ago, the sky was full of dark, looming clouds and not a single animal sound could be heard. It was like they had teleported, but Taehyung turned around to face where they’d just come from and found the familiar forest a few feet behind him. It was like they were inside a bubble of utopia.

“This must be magic,” Hoseok breathed out, expression still full of wonderment. “It’s like...like nothing I’ve ever come across before.”

“It must have taken a powerful person to create such a place,” Taehyung said, his heart beating faster once more, but this time in excitement. “It has to have been him. It has to have been the Dragon.”

Eunji’s grey-golden fur shone in the sunlight as her body fidgeted, unable to contain her anticipation. We must pray for the Dragon. That is what Minho-ssi said, right?

“Pray,” Taehyung parroted, attempting to blink himself out of his daze. “Yes, yes. We have to pray!”

Just as the witch set Hoseok down on a soft patch of grass and was about to drop to his knees in front of the lagoon to pray, a new voice rang out. “No need for that,” it said.

Taehyung, Hoseok, and Eunji all whipped around to see a figure standing leisurely on one of the fifteen foot cliffs to the left of the waterfall. It was a man with sharp features and pale skin. He had a lithe body that was draped in a red and gold robe, his hands held behind his back in a casual manner.

The aura emitting from the man was so powerful and dominant that it caused Hoseok to gasp audibly, and Taehyung to feel the urge to bow at the man’s feet.

Speechless, the witch watched open-mouthed as the man tilted his head in curiosity at them. “The Dragon,” Taehyung breathed, his voice barely louder than a whisper.

The man apparently didn’t have any difficulty hearing him, however, even from a ways away and over the sound of rushing water. He gave a mysterious smile. “That I am.”

With a kind of grace that captivated anyone watching, the Dragon walked along the edge of the cliff, closer to them, before jumping off and landing easily on his feet next to the pond. He looked up at them with cat-like eyes, “Kim Taehyung. Jung Hoseok. I’ve been awaiting your arrival.”

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Chapter 7: Domesticity Interrupted by Fears

Worldbuilding Note on Vampires: It is no secret that vampires need to drink blood to survive. As they age, they need it less often. While any and all creatures’ blood is appealing to vampires, their bodies will only allow them to attempt to drink if the creature is less powerful than them. In Jungkook’s case, he of course craves the blood of his packmates and they take turns feeding him (and Yoongi as well) but because they are all older and more powerful, even if he was desperately hungry, his body would not try to attack them. A vampire’s instincts understand that trying to drink from a more powerful being isn’t going to end well. That’s why Jungkook is in control completely at home but the hyungs were worried about public places with humans and less powerful creatures.

Additionally, vampires can eat normal food, they just aren’t required to. Most do, though, to enjoy the flavors.

Worldbuilding Note: It is widely known that the universe, and all the beings within it, were brought into existence by a spiritual being called the Creator three-thousand one-hundred five years ago. Appearing as an androgynous, ageless, translucent being, they are seen during times when the universe is on the cusp of apocalyptic catastrophe (which has happened three times).

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“Are you sure you feel well enough to be up and about?” Seokjin asked, a concerned line forming between his furrowed brows as his hands hovered over Hoseok.

The orange fairy gave the older man a warm smile as he moved himself to sit on the edge of the bed. “I’m feeling alright right now, hyung. I want to make the most of it.” It had been about an hour since he’d had his last dose of energy elixir. Hoseok’s body now felt less like it had five hundred pounds weighing on it and more like he’d run a marathon without any aiding magic. So...still not great, but better than nothing.

Seokjin huffed in resignation, “Fine, but you’re coming back here the second you feel worse again.”

Hoseok wrapped his arm around Seokjin’s shoulders once he stood up, allowing the wereshifter to support him. The two seemed to realize their proximity at the same moment and matching blush crept up their necks. The fairy smiled shyly and Seokjin returned it before clearing his throat awkwardly and turning his head to face forward.

He’s my packmate! Hoseok’s mind was screaming excitedly. I can’t believe I’ve finally found them.

With his heart beating a little faster in his chest in happiness, the orange fairy took in the areas of the house he had yet to see. Being all cooped up and unconscious most of the time meant he hadn’t seen more than the foyer, the guest bedroom and en suite, and the two lounge rooms. Now he was able to appreciate the expansive hallway littered with paintings and photographs - both of the packmates, and scenic views. He appreciated the architecture of the building and the immediate feeling of home and warmth it gave him.

Seokjin led Hoseok into a large dining area, though the space would be considered anything but averagel. The dining table was large, wooden and square-shaped, with three elevated couches lining three of its sides. The couches had plenty of cushions and blankets to make it even more comfortable. “This is our personal dining room. We have a larger one for bigger gatherings, but we haven’t used it much,” the shapeshifter explained as they entered.

The rest of the pack were already lounging on the couches, aside from Yoongi, who was bringing hefty plates of food in from the attached kitchen. Seokjin gestured for Hoseok to sit down next to Namjoon, who immediately smiled that dimpled smile of his and gave him a rub on the shoulder. The two of them were on one couch, and to their left, an affectionately cuddling Jungkook and Taehyung took up the second. Taehyung was draped over the vampire’s lap, playing with the younger man’s long, dark locks as he said something only the two of them could hear. Across from Hoseok and Namjoon was Jimin, who gave him his signature eye smile and snuggled into Seokjin’s side as the shifter took his seat.

“Careful of the kimchi stew, it is still steaming hot,” Yoongi warned as he set down the last dish on the table. He scooted in on Hoseok’s other side and gave him a similar pat on the shoulder as Namjoon had.

“Well,” Namjoon began, pulling the dark red wine bottle from the center of the table towards himself. He used the wine corker to pop open the bottle as he continued, “Today we are celebrating Jungkook’s growth as a vampire. He has officially matured from his fledgling stage and is able to be amongst others without losing control of himself. Although he made a risky move today -” he eyed Jungkook with a look “- he did prove his growth. Jungkook-ah, we all know how difficult your first years as a vampire were, and I know that I speak for all of us when I say that we are so extremely proud of you.”

The maknae was squirming a little in his spot, grin bright as he basked in the praise. “Thank you, hyung. I promise I won’t be so reckless from now on.”

Seokjin scoffed, “Sure you won’t. That promise won’t last a year.”

“But we still love you,” Jimin added, leaning over the table to pinch the young vampire’s rosy cheek. “Even with your reckless streaks.”

After the wine was poured, they toasted to Jungkook and proceeded to dig into the abundance of food in front of them. Hoseok couldn’t help but moan at the taste of some of the dishes, specifically the bulgogi and tteokbokki. He complimented Seokjin and Jimin when he learned that they had been the main chefs that evening.

An hour passed by, then two, all of them becoming pleasantly buzzed - although Taehyung was strict in making sure that Hoseok didn’t have too much, not wanting it to interfere with the energy potion.

Hoseok found himself in a conversation with Namjoon about some of the customs of Earth. There weren’t too many that were different from Aurora, but some were definitely a surprise to Hoseok. The wereshifter also explained that the pack’s businesses raked in a decent amount of money, and since the Mysterious Forest was usually steered away from because of its sheer eerie atmosphere, they had purchased the entire forest for a bargain price just a year or two before they had met Taehyung.

The orange fairy, though feeling that familiar and constant feeling of fatigue, couldn’t help but admire the domesticity of the pack around him with everything he had. His pack, he kept having to remind himself.

Taehyung kept giving Jungkook little pecks on the lips and murmuring about how proud he was of the vampire, while the younger one smiled bashfully at the attention. Seokjin berated them multiple times with gentle slaps to the arm, worried that Hoseok would get uncomfortable. Hoseok would most certainly say that he was not in the least bit uncomfortable at the display of affection.

As the drinks were thrown back, it became apparent that some of them were crossing the line between buzzed and totally shitfaced. Besides the slight slurring of words and Yoongi coming closer to Hoseok until their sides were pressed together, the most obvious sign of their inebriation happened when Jungkook spoke up meekly to all of them out of the blue.

“Do...do you guys think that we can really save Hoseok-ssi?” he asked.

Their previous chatter fell quiet as no one knew quite what to say, and Hoseok ducked his head as he swallowed down the worry that was beginning to climb up his throat.

Namjoon gave Jungkook a sad smile, his eyes glassy with either tears or the effects of alcohol. “I really don’t know, Jungkook. I don’t know.”

Hoseok bit his lip. They always ended up here - thinking about what would happen if they weren't able to save him. It wasn’t awkward, but more solemn, and no one really knew what to say so they inevitably fell into silence. He hated so much that he was causing them such distress.

“Don’t worry,” Jimin said, leaning across the table clumsily to grab Hoseok’s hand with his own as he caught the other fairy’s expression. “You’re our packmate, Hoseok-hyung, we would go to the ends of the universe to keep you here with us.”

The room went quiet for a minute as everyone processed Jimin’s words. Namjoon and Seokjin hissed out a quiet, half-berating “Jimin!”, while Yoongi suddenly appeared much more sober than he’d been moments before. Taehyung and Jungkook had furrowed their brows, taking a bit longer than Yoongi to realize the implications of what Jimin had said.

“Wait...you’re our packmate?!” Jungkook exclaimed, his doe-eyes widening to the size of dinner plates.

“And why didn’t we know about this before?” Yoongi questioned, his tone not exactly angry but definitely upset. His words were directed towards Namjoon and Seokjin specifically.

Namjoon looked at his packmates guiltily. “We were going to tell you. It’s just…”

“We didn’t want to say anything before we knew that Hoseok-ah could be saved,” Jin explained earnestly. “So that if he didn’t make it...maybe it wouldn’t hurt you so badly.”

Everyone fell silent at that. Yoongi understood their reasoning and it was just another grim reminder of the precariousness of their lives at the moment.

Jungkook turned to Hoseok with a look on his face the orange fairy couldn’t quite distinguish, “Hoseok-ssi…”

“Call me hyung, please. We are packmates after all.”

“Hoseokie-hyung,” Jungkook corrected with a little smile, “I’m so happy that you’re part of our pack! I just knew that there was something special about you when I first saw you in the forest!”

“I’m happy as well, hyung,” Taehyung added, sending the fairy a soft smile before leaving pecks on a beaming Jungkook’s cheeks. Hoseok understood, it was hard to resist that adorable little vampire when he acted so cutely.

A cool touch to his hand that had been resting on his own thigh caused his gaze to turn to Yoongi, who was staring back at him with a look that could only be described as soft. “I didn’t expect to find another packmate after Jungkook for decades…” he began in that quiet, deep timber of his. “But I’m glad we didn’t have to wait that long.”

With growing exhaustion, Hoseok gave him a close-lipped smile and put his other hand on top of Yoongi’s. “Me too.”

The two shared a quiet moment of gentle touches and fond stares.

“The potion’s wearing off already, isn’t it?” Jimin asked knowingly. As much as he appreciated the sight of the two of them happy and calm, he couldn’t help but notice the tiredness that exuded the orange fairy, even in his fairly inebriated state.

Hoseok grimaced and nodded sheepishly. “Yeah.”

Seokjin furrowed his brows in worry as he checked the time on his phone. “It’s only been a little over three hours since you took the last dose.”

“We’re almost out of the first batch, too,” Namjoon announced. “Tae, do you have enough ingredients to make another one?”

The witch had an unusually serious look on his face, completely different than a few minutes ago. “Enough for one more. Plus, we’re heading to the forest to try to find the Dragon tomorrow, and hopefully he can help us.”

No one said anything as they all still had their doubts about the Dragon even actually existing but no one wanted to bring up the grim possibility.

Jungkook spoke up kind of awkwardly after a minute, “Let me take Hoseok-hyung back to his room to rest.”

“I’ll go with you,” Namjoon said.

Taehyung hummed, “I should get started on the second batch of that energy elixir. Jiminie, will you help me?”

“Of course,” he replied.

As the others slowly made their way out of the room, Seokjin turned to the vampire, “Looks like we’re on cleaning duty, Yoongs.”

Yoongi groaned but conceded.

Jungkook had his arm around Hoseok’s waist and was holding most of his weight as they made their way back to the guest room - although, it was kind of an unspoken agreement that it was Hoseok’s room now.

Namjoon followed behind the two of them and grabbed the empty water glass that sat on the bedside table once they made it to the room. “I’ll get this filled up with some ice water for you,” he announced as he watched Jungkook assist Hoseok to the bed.

The orange fairy looked up at the shapeshifter and gave him a nod along with the best smile that he could manage. The room fell into silence once Namjoon was gone, but it didn’t take long for Jungkook to speak up.

“Hoseok-hyung?”

“Hmm?” he hummed as he settled under the covers. His eyelids were halfway closed at that point but he was still listening.

Jungkook bit his lip and wrung his hands in front of him nervously. “I’m glad you’re our packmate. I’m only a young vampire, so I don’t have many abilities, but I’m going to do everything I can to save you.”

The orange fairy smiled tiredly at his sweet words and replied, “You help me by just being with me.”

Jungkook sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at the other with those big doe eyes of his that Hoseok was falling in love with. “There has to be something we can do to save you. The Creator wouldn’t have made us packmates if they were just going to take you away from us.”

“Fate works in mysterious ways,” Hoseok replied simply. He had the common trait of an orange fairy; optimism, but even he was worried about the next day - or rather, later today, as it was reaching the early morning hours.

It was quite obvious when the vampire’s gaze slipped from Hoseok’s eyes down to his lips. The fairy’s slow brain had barely caught up to what was going on before suddenly Jungkook was kissing him. Hoseok easily accepted it once the shock wore off, revelling in the soft touch of the vampire’s hands gently caressing his cheeks. The kiss was innocent and soft, yet excited, unsurprisingly matching the younger man’s personality perfectly.

When Jungkook pulled back after a few seconds and looked at the older man, he smiled solemnly. Hoseok hated seeing him with such a somber expression but the words that followed warmed his heart. “No matter what happens, I love you, hyung.”

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None of them slept well that night, with the exception of Hoseok whose exhaustion knocked him out for a good five hours straight. The morning found them all around the living room, drinking coffee and tea and eating their respective breakfasts. There was a nervous energy to the room that couldn’t be ignored but no one verbally acknowledged it.

“I meant to ask you last night, Taehyung, but then we got pretty drunk,” Seokjin said, turning to the younger man as he munched on his chopped up mango. “Who is the Dragon exactly? All I really know about him is that he’s extremely powerful and no one can confirm if he’s even alive right now.”

The others made noises of agreement at the oldest man’s words.

Namjoon rubbed his chin thoughtfully, “I tried to find out more about him when you first mentioned him, but the records I could find were fairly vague about his existence entirely.”

Taehyung nodded, unsurprised. “Us witches have more information about him kept to ourselves, so I’m not surprised that there aren't many records publicly.”

“Are you not supposed to talk about him or something?” Hoseok inquired.

“No, nothing like that,” Taehyung replied. “My kind only kept it to ourselves as a secret weapon nearly a thousand years ago, when witches were more scarce and rather looked down upon. As time went on, and his existence became more like a legend, other supernatural creatures found out about him, but nothing in depth.”

Six pairs of eyes watched him with curiosity, so he continued. “The Dragon was a witch who, thousands of years ago, was a prodigy. He taught himself some forms of magic that no one else has ever been able to replicate to this day. He was smart and he knew that his extraordinary power painted a huge target on his back. When he was around five hundred years old, he retreated into hiding. He became known for reappearing during the worst of battles witches were involved in. One of those battles was the vampire-witch war that happened in China about two thousand years ago. The group of vampires called the Firsts wanted to eradicate my kind from the face of the Earth.”

Yoongi huffed and curled his lip in disgust. “I’m not surprised. From what I know of the Firsts, they had a terrible superiority complex. Truly some of the worst vampires in history.”

“The witches were more powerful, but the Firsts had numbers,” Taehyung explained. “Just as the witches were losing hope of any chance of winning, the Dragon appeared at their side. He did something that no witch had never done before - he summoned dragons to aid in the fight. Of course, this is where he got his name.”

“Dragons?” Jungkook parroted, eyes as wide as they’d ever seen them.

“But...how did he convince them to fight?” Jimin questioned, bemused.

Everyone knew that dragons were sentient beings that lived in the unseen. They were wise, fierce creatures, and they were known notoriously for visiting people in their dreams - a messenger of the Creator. When they did visit, they commonly brought advice to those who needed it, and created fear in those with severely ill intent. Any sort of physical form of a dragon was unheard of, so no doubt summoning them to fight required exceptional power and connection to magic.

However, convincing them to fight when they aren’t inherently violent beings was probably even more difficult than summoning them in the first place.

“I think the answer to that has been lost to time or is just unknown to anyone but the Dragon himself,” Taehyung replied. “They didn’t kill all of the Firsts, just enough of them to cause the survivors to retreat. I don’t believe there’s any record of him ever summoning them again. The witches wouldn’t have won that battle without him, and countless battles afterwards, though he was much more discreet with his tactics after that. Eventually, even us witches stopped seeing him, so no one knows if he’s dead or alive. Us witches all learn about him during the early years of our magic journey. We’re taught not to make a big show of our powers, as it will only attract those who wish to do us harm.”

Namjoon hummed thoughtfully, “Smart.”

Hoseok, despite being tired, felt more hope now that he heard the full story of the Dragon. “So there really is a chance that he’s out there still.”

“Possibly,” Taehyung agreed. “The details of his story have most likely been altered over time, but I believe that most of it is still true.”

“So what’s the plan today, Tae?” Seokjin asked.

“Well, the way Minho explained it, the place he met him is a day’s walk from here. I’ll take Hoseok and Jimin. I don’t know how the Dragon feels about other supernatural creatures, but fairies use similar magic to witches so I feel like Jimin’s the best bet as backup.”

“This still makes me nervous,” Yoongi said.

“What if something happens to you guys?” Jungkook asked. “The further you go into the forest, the stranger and scarier it seems. What if something really bad is in there?”

The others muttered their agreement.

Jimin lifted an eyebrow. “Would you guys rather we don’t try this at all? And risk losing Hoseok-hyung?”

“Of course not!” Namjoon rushed out, guilty eyes moving to the orange fairy. “We want to save you, hyung.”

Hoseok smiled reassuringly, “I know that, Namjoon-ah. I know you’re all just worried about the unknown of it all.”

Namjoon reached over from his spot on the other side of the couch to squeeze Hoseok’s hand. Seokjin followed suit by walking over and running a hand through the orange fairy’s hair. Then Jungkook bounded over from the armchair and brought the older man into a tight hug. Yoongi had been lounging on the floor in front of the coffee table and reached over to pat Hoseok’s knee.

The orange fairy couldn’t help but feel almost overwhelmingly warm and comfortable with his packmates’ touches. It was a feeling he hoped he would get to feel for many years to come. He hugged Jungkook back tightly and gave the others appreciative smiles.

“That settles it, then,” Taehyung announced, regaining everyone’s attention. “Jimin can help me finish preparing a few things, and then we’ll go.”

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It had only been half a day since Jimin, Taehyung and Hoseok had set off into the Mysterious Forest and Jungkook had already worked himself up enough that he needed to feed. He usually only needed to feed two or three times a week, but he’d had his fill of blood only the day before. He was so anxious after they left that he eventually just burst into the library and crawled into Namjoon’s lap, whining against the wereshifter’s shoulder.

Namjoon, who had been deep in a book about the old wars to distract himself from his own nerves, jolted a little at the sudden company. Blinking multiple times to bring himself back to the real world, he wrapped his free arm around the younger man’s waist. “Hungry again already?” he asked.

The vampire grunted in confirmation. “‘M sorry.”

“No need to be sorry, baby. Take what you need.”

Jungkook eagerly began leaving little kisses on the older’s neck, showing his love and appreciation for the wereshifter before he sank his small fangs into flesh where his neck met his shoulder.

Namjoon was pretty much used to the prick of pain that accompanied the initial bite, only letting out a sharp exhale before the pain subsided. As Jungkook gently sucked his blood into his mouth, Namjoon continued to read the book in his hand. The other one found itself rubbing up and down the little vampire’s back in soothing motions.

Once Jungkook had felt that he had enough, he licked the puncture marks to help them heal faster and then moved his head up to press a thankful kiss to the shapeshifter’s lips. Namjoon hummed and parted his lips to allow their kiss to deepen, not minding the slight taste of his own blood.

The vampire let out a pleased moan and pressed himself closer to the other’s body if that was even possible. Their heads tilted and their tongues began teasing each other’s mouths.

Before things got too heated, they both parted and let their foreheads rest together.

“I’m not one of the Ties like you, hyung, but I can feel in my heart that Hoseokie-hyung belongs with us. I don’t want to lose him.”

The young vampire’s words made Namjoon hold him tightly, the book he’d been reading dropped to the sofa and long forgotten. “Neither do I, Kook-ah,” he whispered back. “Neither do I.”

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Chapter 6: A New Hope

Worldbuilding Notes on Familiars: Familiars are a witch’s companion and can be any animal, though most commonly they are dogs, cats, birds or snakes. When a human reaches the point where they become a witch, an animal (usually on the streets or occasionally in the wild) will begin to feel a pull towards the witch. They usually find each other fairly quickly and physical contact finishes the transition from animal to familiar. These familiars become more physically and mentally powerful, and can heal more quickly than a regular animal. Just like a witch will keep themselves young, they will also keep their familiars young as well.

The feeling of a bond between a witch and their familiar is similar to the feeling of a pack bond but not quite the same. If a familiar dies, the witch will experience intense pain for a few weeks, but they will ultimately survive. On the other hand, if a witch passes away, their familiar will unfortunately die along with them.

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September 9, 3501, Present Day

“Please, hyung! Please, please, please, please, please!”

“No.”

Jungkook whined and stomped his feet petulantly as he pulled at the older vampire’s jacket sleeve. “That’s not fair, hyung! I’ve been good, I want to go into the city again!”

Yoongi sighed and reached over to ruffle the younger one’s hair apologetically after he finished buttoning his black coat. “You have been, baby. You’ve worked so hard on keeping your bloodthirst under control and I’m so proud of you,” he praised. “But, Taehyung and I are going into town to meet a new person and I don’t want anyone going that doesn’t absolutely have to.”

After Namjoon and Yoongi had spoken the night before, it was decided that Yoongi would be the one to go with Taehyung to meet this Minho guy. Jungkook hadn’t been happy when he learned that he wasn’t allowed to go with them. He’d been dying to get out of the house since he’d been cooped up nearly seven years ago. Most fledglings only needed to stay with their sires for five years, and yet, here he was, still locked up.

Jungkook pouted and crossed his arms now. “There’s always an excuse.”

Yoongi looked up from where he was adjusting his gold watch. “What?”

The younger vampire huffed out an annoyed and disheartened breath. “Whenever I ask to go into town with you, you always have some excuse as to why I can’t. You say that I’m doing well with keeping my bloodthirst under control, but you still won’t let me see other people again.”

Taehyung came over from where he’d slipped on his shoes and wrapped an arm around Jungkook’s waist, giving a comforting squeeze. “Kook-ah, you know that your bloodthirst was much different from other fledglings. Hyungs just want to make sure that you aren’t a danger to yourself or anyone else.”

“Think of it this way, Jungkookie,” Yoongi reasoned, his tone soft with guilt now that he knew his baby was unhappy. “We don’t know how long we’ll be gone, but this will undoubtedly be the longest you’ve been away from me before. Namjoon will still be around, but this is another step towards going out like you want.”

“I guess,” Jungkook replied, though his shoulders slouched dejectedly. He slipped out of Taehyung’s grasp and started walking out of the foyer with dragging feet. “Bye, hyungs.”

The older vampire and the witch watched him go, one with guilt in his eyes and the other with a knowing look. Taehyung ushered the two of them out the door quickly and to the vehicle waiting outside that he had pulled out of the garage earlier. Eunji was resting in the back seat, idly grooming her paws.

After they typed in the park address and were out on the long stretch of road from their remote abode to the outskirts of the city, Yoongi found himself thankful that Taehyung had decided to drive today, because his mind was currently occupied. He was nibbling at his lower lip anxiously and thinking about how upset Jungkook had been. The younger vampire’s dejected expression etched into his brain.

“Do you...do you think I’m being too careful with him?” Yoongi blurted out, breaking the quiet ambience of the soft music playing from the car speakers.

Taehyung took it in stride, as he always did. He’d always been the most intuitive out of all of them and often knew the others needed to talk well before they themselves did. “Well, since I’m not a vampire, I don’t have the knowledge or experience or feelings that you two do about all of this. I honestly think that only you and Jungkook can decide that.”

“I’m his sire, I’m supposed to protect him, but I’m also supposed to help him grow and acclimate to society.” Yoongi shook his head, “I thought I knew what to do from what I’ve been taught and told, but it’s different when it’s your own fledgling. I don’t want anything to happen.”

“You have the best intentions, hyung, and Jungkook knows that,” Taehyung replied. “But I’m sure that not being able to go anywhere except your own house and see no one but your family can get suffocating after a while.”

“So you think that I should let him have more freedom? Bring him to the city?”

“Not necessarily such big steps,” Taehyung corrected. “Perhaps allowing a human friend to come over and visit and see how he does. Then, maybe you could take him to the outskirts of town where there’s not as many people as in the city.”

“Yeah...yeah, okay,” Yoongi began nodding, hopeful, though still cautious. “That could work. I don’t want to overestimate his control, but I also don’t want to underestimate it. I think your ideas would be great to try, Taehyung-ah.”

The witch couldn’t help but smirk, “Aren’t they always?”

Yoongi rolled his eyes as he snorted before gently slapping his boyfriend’s arm. Then, the vampire changed the subject of their conversation. “So, what do we know about this ‘Minho’ guy?”

“His name is Choi Minho and he’s 173 years old,” Taehyung listed off. “Baekhyun referred me to him as he claimed to have once been helped by the Dragon.”

“The Dragon?” Yoongi frowned, trying to remember where he’d heard the name before. “Isn’t that a witch of legend?”

Taehyung hummed in confirmation. They had reached the outskirts of Seoul now, where they passed some farmland. “I’m sceptical as well. On the phone with Minho, I asked him if he was serious about it and he said he was. He was hesitant to talk to me at first, but once I explained the situation with Hoseok-ssi, he agreed to meet us at Riverbend Park to speak in person.”

“At least he wants to meet in a public place,” Yoongi remarked, feeling uneasy about someone with such an outlandish claim. “It’s a good thing you brought Eunji with us, just in case this goes sour and we need backup.” From the backseat, Eunji let out a pleased rumble and leaned forward enough so the vampire could run his fingers through the fur on top of her head. “Not to mention that she’s amazing at reading people. She’ll probably know this guy’s true intentions long before we will.”

“I’m hoping for the best,” Taehyung said, “But if this doesn’t work out, I don’t know if we’ll be able to save Hoseok before his magic energy disappears completely.”

---------------------

Hoseok could feel the effects of Taehyung’s last energy potion wearing off already, and it had barely been four hours since he’d taken it. It appeared that the more he drank it, the less effective it became. It hadn’t gone unnoticed by the others either. They all wore varying expressions of worry on their faces as they came in and out of the room intermittently.

As he’d lost the ability to move, Seokjin had cooked up a simple soup for him, which Jimin was currently attempting to force down the orange fairy’s throat. Jimin eagerly claimed the position of Hoseok’s entertainment for the day, which was mostly just talking about anything and everything. Eventually, though, the conversation inevitably veered in the direction of Aurora.

Jimin had sparkles in his eyes when he spoke about the beauty of the Fairy Kingdom, of the vibrant colors of the plants and the vastness of the forests. He explained that Earth was one of the most developed worlds (naturally, as it was the center) and that large forests like back in Aurora did exist, though not as many, and certainly not as filled with life as the Fairy Kingdom.

“Jimin-ah,” Hoseok began as he swallowed the last bit of soup, “Can...can I ask why you live here instead of Aurora?”

The pink fairy froze for a moment before setting the empty bowl on the bedside table and looking back at Hoseok with a solemn smile on his face. “Of course you can. Fairies don’t often leave Aurora, so I imagine you’re curious about me.”

“Well, yes, that,” Hoseok replied, “But I also just want to know about you as a person. If you don’t want to tell me anything, that’s fine too.”

Jimin smiled more genuinely at that, then he crossed his arms on the edge of the bed and leaned his chin on them. “I lived in Aurora until I was twenty-six. Then...then, I was banished.”

“What?” the orange fairy was shocked. Jimin frankly didn’t seem capable of doing anything that would get him banished from his homeland. Then again, his own brother had banished Hoseok for an unfathomable reason. “Twenty-six...so that was many decades ago. My father exiled you? What for?”

“Honestly…” Jimin bit his lip, apprehensive, but looked the older man directly in the eye so he knew he was telling the truth. “Nothing.”

Hoseok blinked before furrowing his eyebrows in confusion. “Nothing?”

“I lived in Rosewood,” the pink fairy explained. Hoseok knew that Rosewood was closer to the edge of the Fairy Kingdom, almost as far as one could get from the royal palace. “There was a string of robberies in the community at that time. I happened to walk by the crime scene the morning after one had taken place at a jewelry shop and I was immediately pinned as the perpetrator by the owner. He never liked me, and I suppose he saw a chance to get rid of me and took it. I thought I would be released quickly once they realized that there was quite literally no motive or evidence that I did anything, but…I was banished by the king.”

Hoseok was honestly shocked and it took his mind probably too long to really understand what Jimin was insinuating, perhaps because his body was exhausted. “Jimin...I…”

The younger man smiled softly, still a bit solemn. “You don’t need to say anything.”

“But I do,” Hoseok rebutted. “My father exiled you from your homeland without probable evidence and that...I’m so sorry, Jimin-ah.”

“It isn’t your fault,” Jimin replied. “But thank you.”

Hoseok felt a little bit overwhelmed by what Jimin had told him. Before his brother was the king, Hoseok’s father, Jaeseok, ruled the Fairy Kingdom for over a century. Compared to his brother’s reckless, heated antics, Hoseok thought that his father had been a rather fit king. After hearing Jimin’s words, however, he questioned whether he really knew enough about what went on during King Jaeseok’s reign. Hoseok felt choked up with second-hand guilt.

“In the end, I suppose it was fate,” Jimin continued, eyes alight and sparkling once more. “If I hadn’t been forced out of Aurora, I would never have met Yoongi, or any of my other packmates.”

That’s right, even though Jimin had been wrongfully banished, it allowed him the opportunity to meet the others. So at least there was a silver lining there.

The orange fairy felt like he could breathe easier again. “I guess we’re in the same boat, huh? Wrongfully exiled but managed to meet our packmates-” Hoseok tried to cut himself off once he realized what he was saying, but it was too late. He looked at the other fairy with wide eyes.

Jimin’s eyebrows were raised in surprise. “You found your packmates? But you’ve only…” Then his eyes widened in understanding. “Wait...we’re your packmates?”

Hoseok winced but nodded sheepishly. “I’d definitely felt a pull towards all of you, but it was Namjoon and Seokjin-hyung that told me.”

“Of course the Ties knew,” Jimin said, a slight furrow to his brow. “But why didn’t they tell the rest of us then?”

“I think…” the older man wracked his brain for the right words. “I think they wanted to wait and see if I could even be healed before telling you guys. So it wouldn’t be as painful if I…” he trailed off.

Jimin stood up from the chair with a desperate, worried expression. The pink fairy leaned over Hoseok and threw his arms around his neck, holding him in a tight, comforting embrace. Hoseok used what little energy he had to wrap an arm around the other’s back and hug him. “I won’t...I won’t let you die. Whether you were our packmate or not, it would have been the same. I won’t let you die.”

A feeling of pure adoration and love came over Hoseok, making him smile weakly. If he didn’t already know that he was meant to be with these six men, he would have to know now with all the butterflies that seemed to swarm his stomach when they were around.

Hoseok’s eyes shot open the second he felt something soft and warm against his cheek, only to see Jimin leaning back away from his face. The pink fairy had given him a gentle kiss to the apple of his left cheek, leaving a tingling warmth in its wake.

“We’ll figure this out, Hoseok-ah,” the younger man said determinedly.

The orange fairy didn’t have anything to reply with, and not much energy anyway, but he could only hope that Jimin was right.

-------------------------

The park was quiet because of the clouds covering the expanse of sky above them, but there were still some people milling about. The humans that passed by Taehyung and Yoongi gawked at the rather large wolf accompanying them, and even the other supernatural creatures did double-takes. A wolf was a rather uncommon species for a familiar, as they were usually pet animals like dogs, cats, rabbits, or birds. Though the species of a witch’s familiar didn’t reflect the amount of power they held, it was still rather jarring for anyone to see a wild animal in the center of the city.

Eunji wasn’t the only wild familiar around today, apparently, because as Taehyung and Yoongi spotted a man standing where they were to meet Minho, they could clearly see a large black bear by his side. As they approached, the large animal gave them a suspicious glance and made a huffing noise before going back to eating berries off of the rather long branch it had cradled in its arms.

“Minho-ssi?” Taehyung questioned as they reached the picnic table.

The man turned at his voice and smiled with a gentle nod. He was tall with short black hair and a kind smile. He was dressed in simple jeans and a long-sleeved blue button-up. “Taehyung-ssi, I presume.”

The witch returned the nod as the two of them took a seat on the other side of the picnic table, Eunji settling down next to Taehyung and eyeing the black bear across from her curiously. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with us, Minho-ssi.”

“That’s not a problem,” the other witch replied.

“This is Yoongi-hyung, he’s one of my packmates,” Taehyung explained. The two nodded their greetings before Taehyung cut to the chase. “So...Baekhyun-hyung said that you really had an encounter with the Dragon?”

Minho’s friendly expression turned a bit apprehensive then. “Why exactly do you want to know? You mentioned something about an injured friend?”

“Yes, a new...acquaintance of ours is losing his magic energy,” Taehyung replied. “We aren’t quite sure what caused it, but it doesn’t really matter when every witch I’ve contacted insists that it can’t be treated.”

Minho looked thoughtful. “Hm, that’s very strange. Uncommon, too. So, you’re seeking out help for this friend?”

Taehyung nodded, “Yes. I haven’t had any luck so far, though. That’s why when Baekhyun-hyung told me that you claimed to have an encounter with the Dragon - as far-fetched as it sounded - I had to follow up with you.”

The older witch locked Taehyung in an intense gaze, like he was analyzing him. After a good minute of silence, Minho let out an exhale and dropped the intensity of his gaze. “I have met him - the Dragon. It’s true.”

“Baekhyun mentioned that he saved your familiar from the brink of death?”

“He did,” Minho confirmed, turning to run his hands through the black bear’s thick fur. “He saved my Hwayoung. It was a few decades ago now. I was in Russia, hunting down a demon that had been terrorizing a few of the villages there. The demon...managed to trap Hwayoung in a ring of hellfire.”

The demon must have been powerful, then, as Taehyung knew that only the oldest demons were able to produce a ring of hellfire. Hellfire was magical in nature, and therefore couldn’t be put out in any natural manner. Not even witches had a spell or potion that could put it out. The fire only disappeared if the demon was slain, which was no easy task if it was powerful enough to create a ring of hellfire.

Taehyung felt himself automatically reach over to Eunji and run a hand over her back, confirming her presence. He could imagine how terrifying it was for Minho when his familiar was in such a position.

“By the time I killed him, Hwayoung was…” Minho paused and blinked back the surfacing tears. “All of her fur had been burnt off, and her skin was charred. She had the faintest heartbeat I’d ever heard and I felt such sick dread. I did what I could to keep her alive, but she didn’t improve even over many weeks.”

Taehyung’s heart clenched painfully in empathy. A witch’s familiar was an unimaginably important being in their lives, just as much as their packmates, but in a different way. He’s not sure how he would handle the grievance of losing Eunji if it ever happened. She meant a lot to him.

“I found myself wandering the country, just waiting for a miracle to happen really. And then it did,” Minho continued. “I made acquaintance with a much older witch, who told me about a place those who were desperate could go to pray. I didn’t really necessarily believe in any god or higher power, but I was willing to try anything at that point.” It was then that Minho paused in his words and looked at Taehyung and Yoongi with a serious expression. "The woman told me that I should keep the place a secret because if the location were to become known to someone with ill intentions, it would disappear forever."

“That’s why I couldn’t find anything about it,” Taehyung realized. “Anyone who does know is hesitant to talk.”

The older witch nodded with a smile. “I went to this place she spoke of, and I prayed for help. And then...the Dragon appeared. Just...out of nowhere. I was shocked, but I told him of my Hwayoung’s condition and he agreed to heal her if I brought her there. When I did, I watched him heal her like it was nothing. It was the most powerful display of magic that I’d ever seen before.”

Both Taehyung and Yoongi were surprised at the story, but not as unbelieving as they had been before. Minho appeared honest and genuine in his retelling, and in Taehyung’s mind, if Baekhyun trusted him, then he really didn’t have a reason not to trust him as well.

“That’s...incredible,” Yoongi managed out in awe.

“Do you…” Taehyung bit his lip. “Do you trust us enough to tell us where this place is? It seems like it’s the only chance for Hoseok-ssi to be healed.”

Minho took a minute to carefully look over both of them before he nodded. “I trust you. I will tell you the location, but I trust that you will keep it secret and not abuse it.”

Taehyung let out a long breath, some of the tension that had built up over the last few days easing away. “Thank you, Minho-ssi. You have no idea how much this means.”

The older witch’s smile turned into a teasing one. “Are you sure that this Hoseok-ssi is only a friend? The way you talk about him certainly makes him seem like more.”

“Maybe he will be,” Taehyung replied honestly. “But right now he is only a friend.”

Minho nodded. “Well, Baekhyun told me that you live near the Mysterious Forest, correct?”

Yoongi and Taehyung shared a confused look with each other but nodded in confirmation.

“If you wish to meet the Dragon, there is a waterfall deep within the woods of the Mysterious Forest where you can pray. I believe the place is an extension of himself, and if he believes your intentions, he will show himself to you.”

“The Mysterious Forest?” Yoongi exclaimed, his utter shock only barely held back. “Are you serious?”

“Very serious,” Minho replied earnestly. “Even though it is quite near to you, the waterfall is hidden very deep in the woods. He may ask you for something in return for his help. He asked me to eradicate a group of feral trolls over in Egypt.”

“We’ll do whatever he needs! Wow! I…” Taehyung struggled for the right words. “Thank you! Thank you, Minho-ssi. Thank you for trusting us with this information. Hoseok-ssi will be very happy to hear it, just like the rest of my packmates will be.”

Minho gave a mysterious sort of smile then, “Speaking of packmates, does one of them happen to be a young vampire?”

Yoongi straightened immediately, on alert. “Yes, why?”

The older witch huffed out a laugh and pointed behind Taehyung and Yoongi. The two of them quickly turned around and instantly spotted the familiar head of dark hair peeking out from behind a tree across the clearing in the park.

“Jeon Jungkook!” Yoongi called sternly, his resounding voice momentarily startling a human couple walking nearby. “Come over here!”

Demurely, Jungkook revealed himself and shuffled across the grass towards them, refusing to meet any of their eyes the entire way. He stopped next to Eunji and gave her a head rub in greeting. “H-Hi, hyungs.”

“Jeon Jungkook, what do you think you’re doing?” Yoongi chastised. “You know how dangerous it is for you to be out alone.”

Though the younger vampire obviously still felt bad for disobeying his sire, he stood firm and crossed his arms over his chest. A serious frown twisted his lips and made a furrow between his eyebrows. “Yet I didn’t kill anyone. No one’s been hurt and I feel completely in control.”

Yoongi sighed harshly through his nose, “How long have you been here?”

“The entire time,” Minho supplied. “He arrived with you but since he was hiding I assumed he was back up or something. Once I saw how terrible a job he was doing at hiding, I realized you might not have realized he was here.”

Jungkook’s frown turned into a prominent pout. “Was my hiding that bad? I thought I was being pretty sneaky.”

“Maybe you weren’t too bad,” Minho clarified with a gentle smile towards the young vampire. “But when you work as a hunter, you become more aware of your surroundings all the time. Work on using your other senses to eavesdrop so you don’t expose yourself by peeking around trees so much.”

“You really feel completely in control right now, Kook-ah?” Yoongi asked.

Jungkook nodded, “I was going to turn back and head home the second I felt any bloodlust but I never did.”

“That’s rather impressive, Kookie.” Taehyung complimented. “I’m proud of you.”

While Jungkook blushed and grinned at the praise, Yoongi narrowed his eyes in Taehyung’s direction. “You knew he was there the whole time, didn’t you?”

Taehyung shook his head in denial, “No, I didn’t know. Though I had an inkling he might follow us this morning.”

Yoongi turned back to Jungkook with a sigh but a softer look in his eyes. “Even though what you did was risky, I’m proud of you too, Kook. I’m sorry that I underestimated you.”

“I forgive you,” the younger vampire replied. “I know you’re just being overprotective. I remember when I was a human, we would call people like you a helicopter parent.”

“Yah!” Yoongi exclaimed, his normally pretty calm expression twisting up in disgust. “You’re my boyfriend, please don’t refer to me as your parent!”

Jungkook’s smile became mischievous and he rebutted, “You always seem to like it when I call you Daddy, though.”

Minho broke down in full on laughter across the table and Taehyung giggled along, highkey proud of Jungkook’s confident teasing. Yoongi, on the other hand, sputtered out incomprehensively and blushed a color that obviously contrasted the rest of his pale skin.

Along with the good news of a real possibility of healing Hoseok, the moment lightened the atmosphere that had been so cautious to begin with. Taehyung looked at Hwayoung now sharing her branch of berries with Eunji and the smug smirk on Jungkook’s face, and he felt like maybe - just maybe - everything was going to be okay.

------------------------

The sound of the book falling out of his hand and hitting the desk is what startles Namjoon back awake. He realized that he had been falling asleep while reading as he’d had a difficult time sleeping the night before. He was overwhelmed with anxiety as he pondered Hoseok’s - his packmate’s - fate.

The shapeshifter sighed and dropped the book onto the table after he bookmarked it. He stood up from the chair in the library and stretched out his arms and legs. On his way to the kitchen to get some water to quench his thirst, Namjoon stopped by Jungkook’s room. The door muffled the sounds coming from inside, but it was clearly some kind of war video game the young vampire was playing.

Namjoon didn’t bother knocking on the door and simply opened it, though he did so cautiously as he knew that Jungkook was still bummed from earlier that morning. “Hey, Kook-ah, have you eaten anyth-”

No one was inside. Namjoon took in the empty chair Jungkook always sat in when he played video games in his room, the television playing the start menu - accompanied by sound effects and gunfire like in the game - over and over again, and finally looked at the curtains blowing gently in the wind that came in through the fully opened window.

Namjoon pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers as he realized what had most likely happened. “Jeon Jungkook, you are in trouble!”

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Chapter 5: The Ties

Worldbuilding Note on Packs: A pack is simply a group of any number and mix of supernatural creatures. Most commonly, say on Earth, you would find packs made mostly of vampires and werewolves with the occasional witch or another being, while packs in Aurora (the fairy kingdom) are pretty much one hundred percent comprised of fairies. Creatures tend to stick to their homeland, but Earth is a bit of an exception as it is considered the center of all the worlds - a hub of sorts. Packs are comprised of all members of a polyamorous relationship (or sometimes simply a pairing).

A pack bond is initiated by exchanging bites on the neck. Depending on the number of packmates, these bites can sometimes overlap. As packs are considered soulmates, some of the members have a tug at their heartstrings upon meeting a future packmate for the first time - only some of them, however. These people of a pack are known as the Ties and tend to take on a leadership role as a pack grows. There is usually only one Tie for small packs, but larger packs can have more than one. Once bonded, pack members have a much easier time understanding each other's feelings and simply feel closer on another level. Ties usually feel an amplified version of this from the second they meet a pack member.

Finding all members of a pack can take anywhere from years to centuries, and it isn't uncommon for some packs to never find all of their members and consequently, some creatures never have a pack. Fate works in mysterious ways. If you are lucky enough to find all of your pack members, you will know because the Ties with feel an overwhelming sense of peace and settlement once everyone is bonded.

On another note, a were-pack is different from a pack. A were-pack is simply a community of local shifters, usually separated by city or village. While some big-city were-packs live with humans, smaller towns or villages of were-packs don't have close connections with humans.

--------------------

September 8 3501, Present Day

"You really..." Hoseok trailed off, unsure of how to put into words the many things running through his mind at that moment.

"Jungkook was the last one to join our pack," Namjoon began, eyes on the fairy as he picked at the skin around his fingernails nervously. "His pack bond with us became obvious when he was turned and all of us had known him for a while and felt things for him, so it wasn't an unexpected feeling to have." The alpha took a deep breath, "But you, Hoseok-ssi, you came into our lives loudly and all at once. I was so worried about a stranger in the house that I ignored the pull inside of me that told me you were meant to be with us."

Hoseok still felt a little bit dumbfounded, so he just let an eloquent, "Wow."

"Do you think that fate has made a mistake, Hoseok-ssi?" Namjoon asked, analyzing his reaction. "Do you feel nothing for us at all?"

"Of course I feel something," the orange fairy replied genuinely. "I just haven't really had much time to think about my attraction to the six of you and what to do about it. It makes sense, though, that we're packmates." Hoseok couldn't help but smile, "I've always wanted to find my pack, you know? I just didn't have my hopes up after a hundred years."

The shapeshifter's lips spread into a beautiful, relieved grin, accented by his deep dimples that Hoseok was now just seeing for the first time. He wished he had been warned about them. "I'm glad you feel the same way."

"How old are you all, by the way?" Hoseok questioned, realizing that besides Jungkook, their ages were still unknown to him. "If we're going to be a pack, I should know who I need to call hyung."

Namjoon chuckled, "Well, Seokjin-hyung is the oldest. He's four hundred fifty-six years old." The fairy couldn't help but widen his eyes at the shapeshifter's impressive age. "He and I were together first. About a decade after we got together, we met Yoongi-hyung and Jimin, who had also been together for a few years. Yoongi-hyung is the second oldest of us at three hundred forty-two years old. I'm one hundred twenty-five years old, the next oldest."

"Not anymore," Hoseok said cheekily, despite his still tired body. "I'm one hundred thirty-eight years old. So I'm older than you."

The alpha's lips twitched, "I suppose I should call you hyung, then. If you'll allow me."

"Of course you can," the fairy replied. "Who's the next oldest?"

"Jiminie is ninety-eight," he answered.

Hoseok smiled thinking about the pink fairy. He couldn't wait to get to know the other better. "What about Taehyung-ssi?"

Namjoon continued, "The four of us were together for about sixty years before we became acquainted with Taehyung about ten years ago. He's now sixty-seven years old. Then we met Jungkookie as a human about eight years ago." The smile fell from the shapeshifter's face a little. "I would gladly tell you everyone's life stories, but I feel like that's better coming from them personally."

Hoseok hummed and dipped his head in agreement.

"Might as well start with us two," Seokjin announced as he stepped back into the guest room. He'd changed his soaking wet shirt for a comfortable and dry baby pink sweater. He smiled again softly in Hoseok's direction as he fluffed his warm brown hair. "It was quite surprising when Joon and I came to the realization that you were our packmate. Not much takes us by surprise these days."

"Are you two the Ties?" the orange fairy asked.

Seokjin nodded before dropping himself unceremoniously into the alpha shapeshifter's lap. The other instinctively moved to hold the omega by the hips, stabilizing him. The fairy both admired and envied the natural movements.

"So, how did you two meet?" Hoseok inquired.

"Well, we were born in different villages. I was from the large were-pack here in Seoul," Namjoon began.

"I lived in the were-shifter village of Rosewood, a couple of hours east of here," Seokjin explained.

---

December 3420

Kim Seokjin had lived in Rosewood for three hundred seventy-four years before he decided he needed a change of scenery. The small village was rather secluded and they barely saw humans more than a few times a month. While the omega wasn't unhappy with his home in Rosewood, he had heard many exciting tales of the big city, where the were-shifters intermingled with the humans every day. He'd felt a pull towards Seoul for many years, but ignored it in favor of his comfortable life in Rosewood. Eventually, however, as years passed by, the pull became too strong to ignore any longer.

His family had been hesitant when he'd announced his plans, but their doubts didn't deter him in the slightest. He'd made up his mind. Rosewood wasn't far from Seoul anyway, so he promised to keep in touch with them and visit often. He gave them all one last kiss on the cheeks before he left with nothing more than a single suitcase carrying his most valuable belongings.

The hustle and bustle of the city were jarring, but the immediate sense of right he felt upon arriving in Seoul quelled any anxiety he had. Seokjin approached one of the counters at the train station, where he could see a shapeshifter sitting at a computer. The information counter, known as a Connecter, helped new shifters connect with the local were-pack.

Kim Minseok was matched with him as a guide to the new city as he'd been a village boy himself. He was about a hundred years older than Seokjin, and also an omega. He was kind and had a sweet smile. The man helped set him up with an apartment and a part-time job at a cafe.

Seokjin was pretty much completely used to the presence of humans all around him by the end of the first week. The crowds and the subways and the mingling of supernatural creatures and humans - all of it turned out to be exactly what Seokjin had needed in his life.

During the third week, while Seokjin was working a late shift at the cafe, his whole world changed. It was close to dark so the tables were empty and the omega was doing his cleaning duties while pausing every once in a while to assist a customer.

The tinkle of the bell above the front door alerted him to another one. He set down the cloth he had been using to dry off a few mugs and turned to greet the customer. "Hello, welcome to T's cafe, what can I get for-"

Seokjin cut himself off with a gasp as he locked eyes with the person walking up to the register. A young alpha shapeshifter - he could tell by the aura surrounding the man - was looking back at him with wide brown eyes. He had blond hair almost long enough to fall into his eyes and was dressed casually in fitted jeans and a graphic t-shirt.

"Oh!" the alpha exclaimed, a hand shooting up to rest over his heart. "Holy shit, my heart is gonna beat out of my chest! What the fuck?"

The laugh that tore from Seokjin's throat couldn't be stopped, giddy and amused. "I think - I think we're packmates," he managed out, a little lost in the awe he was feeling.

The man's already wide eyes somehow managed to open even further and his jaw dropped. "What - really? Is that what this feeling is?"

"I've never felt it before, but I've heard many stories about Ties meeting each other for the first time and this is exactly as it was described."

"I'm Namjoon!" the alpha announced excitedly. A big smile was taking over his face and showed off a set of adorable dimples. "You think that we're Ties?"

"Seokjin," the omega replied, "And yes, I do. Only Ties would feel such an obvious, strong connection to each other upon first meeting."

"Wow," Namjoon breathed in awe. "I honestly wasn't expecting to meet any of my packmates so soon. I mean, I'm only forty-three!"

The omega playfully winced, "You make me feel so old. I've got more than three hundred years on you."

"That's not that old, hyung."

"Yah, I was joking! Of course, I'm not old!"

Namjoon let out a wheezing laugh as Jin feigned anger, hands on his hips and all. "Well, it's nice to meet you, hyung," he greeted once he had gathered himself together.

"So," Seokjin began, "You're part of the Seoul were-pack, huh?"

"Mhm," the alpha nodded in confirmation. "You must be fairly new here, I haven't seen you around before."

"I'm from the Rosewood were-pack," the older man replied. "Felt like I needed a change of scenery. Although, I suppose it could have been fate nudging us closer together."

Namjoon couldn't be more obvious with the heart-eyes he was making towards the omega. "Perhaps it was. Fate is a mysterious thing."

"Fate is a mysterious thing," Seokjin repeated in agreement. The two of them jumped when the timer on one of the coffee pots went off, signaling that the brew was hot and ready (maybe Seokjin was too as he was so caught up in the man before him). "Oh, right! What can I get for you?"

The alpha blinked and looked around like he had just remembered that they were in a cafe as well. "Um, uh...a caramel macchiato please, hyung."

And who was Seokjin to say no to those wide, heart-melting eyes? (besides the fact that it was his job and he technically couldn't even if he wanted to).

"Of course," the omega replied, punching the order on the screen in front of him. "I can't give you a packmate discount, unfortunately."

"That's okay, I don't mind paying for it."

Seokjin almost let out a gasp when Namjoon pulled a black card out of his wallet. He'd never seen a black card in his life until he came to the city, and he knew the significance of them. Namjoon was rich, and Seokjin didn't almost gasp because he was a gold digger, but rather because of all the rich people the omega had encountered over the last few weeks, both human and not, Namjoon didn't present himself as such a person at all. The others had been so...proper, but the alpha was so casual and sweet.

The omega continued on like he hadn't seen the black card at all, taking his payment and going about the familiar motions of making a caramel macchiato. "So, do you work, Namjoon-ah? Or go to school?"

Namjoon nodded, "I'm in school right now for business. My parents want me to run a branch of their company in the future, but I kind of have an idea for my own business running through my head."

"Wow," Seokjin said in awe. "In my were-pack, we didn't really have "jobs" like the city folks here do. I have no idea what I want to do for a career, so that's awesome that you have such a bright future career ahead of you."

"The Rosewood were-pack is a traditional one, right?" Namjoon asked. "So everyone just contributes what they can and no one has to pay for anything, correct?"

The omega nodded, "Yeah, we're pretty primal. We prefer to hunt but we buy human food as well. So some of us are hunters, some of us are cooks, some of us are builders. Coming to Seoul, the number of possibilities of work is kind of overwhelming."

"What did you do in your were-pack?"

Seokjin popped the lid on the paper cup and slid it across the counter to the alpha who immediately went to take a sip of the drink and promptly burnt his tongue. The omega ran to fill another cup with cold water and came out from behind the counter to shove it into Namjoon's face. "You idiot, it's still scalding hot!" he reprimanded.

The alpha half-winced, half-smiled sheepishly as he accepted the cool water, "Sorry."

"To answer your question though, I cooked and baked mostly. Sometimes I'd babysit the pups or assist the healer in the rare occurrence they were needed."

"You did a bit of everything," Namjoon noted thoughtfully. "Did you feel passionate about any of those things?"

Seokjin nodded as he smiled shyly. "Baking. I love to experiment and create different sweets. And decorate them."

"I'd love to try your baking sometime!" the alpha exclaimed. "My mom always tells me that I should stay out of the kitchen for the safety of everyone, so homemade food isn't something I have a lot."

The older man chuckled, "Well, I would very much appreciate your feedback on all my food - baking and cooking."

The two of them were so giddy, feeling high on the emotions of meeting another packmate. Their grins were wide and cheesy and their cheeks were beginning to ache, but neither of them could care less at the moment.

Namjoon hesitated for only a moment before he reached over and took Seokjin's hand into his own, reveling in the warmth and softness. "I look forward to that."

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September 8 3501, Present Day

Hoseok smiled as he listened to the story of Namjoon and Seokjin's first meeting. Ties undoubtedly had the most overwhelming meeting of anyone in a pack, and the two shapeshifters' were a perfect example of that.

"That's so sweet," the orange fairy said. He could feel his mind and body wearing out quickly, but he did his best to keep himself together. "What came of your business career, Namjoon-ah? And your baking passion, Seokjin-hyung?"

"Oh, Namjoon has become quite the businessman since then," Seokjin replied with a fond look in the alpha's direction.

Namjoon grinned, "I own the bakery Seokjin runs, as well as the magic shop Taehyung and Jimin run right beside it. The supernatural creatures like us enjoy the bakery, and the humans appreciate the magic shop."

"Wow," Hoseok said, a little breathless as he felt his body becoming more and more exhausted. "That's perfect for you guys."

"Hoseok-ah," Seokjin began hesitantly. "Once you're healed, we would love to have you stay with us, but we don't want to assume that you will just because you're our packmate."

While the fairy was touched by their thoughtfulness, he didn't exactly have anywhere else that he was eager to go. "If I'm healed, I would love to stay here. Aurora isn't exactly welcoming to me at the moment anyway."

The omega clapped his hands together and bounced excitedly in Namjoon's lap, who held his hips tighter to keep him from falling. "That would be awesome! I'm sure Taehyung and Jimin would love your help at the shop, or if you would prefer, you could work with me!"

Namjoon pulled the other back against him and kissed his cheek with a chuckle. "Calm down, hyung. Everything is still new, so let's focus on getting him healed before we talk more about the future."

Just as the alpha finished his sentence, Taehyung appeared in the doorway to the guest room. Hoseok was relieved to see another cup of that familiar blue-green concoction in his hands.

"Sorry to interrupt," Taehyung said, eyeing the three of them with a raised brow at what he'd heard but not saying anything more.

"That's okay, Tae," Seokjin assured. "We were just talking."

Taehyung nodded and moved closer to the bed to hand the orange fairy the cup of energy elixir. "You must be needing more of this, I'm sure."

Hoseok drank the minty-tasting potion eagerly, reveling in the small but immediate boost of strength it gave him. "Thank you," he said.

Taehyung smiled back at him and took a seat in the empty chair beside the one the two shapeshifters were still sharing. "Well, I came to let you know that I have a possible lead on someone who can help you, Hoseok-ssi. Though if I'm being honest, I'm not sure if it's anything promising."

"You found a witch up for the challenge?" Namjoon inquired.

"Not exactly..." Taehyung admitted. "I found someone who might have met a witch once that might be able to help. They agreed to meet me tomorrow in the city."

"Hmm," the alpha shapeshifter hummed thoughtfully. "Sounds kind of sketchy. You should take someone with you."

"Well, Jimin's in charge of the shop tomorrow, and Seokjin's got stuff at the bakery to deal with, so it's either you or Yoongi-hyung, Namjoon-hyung."

"I'll talk to Yoongi and see what he thinks," Namjoon replied.

Taehyung turned back to Hoseok and gave him a sheepish half-smile, half-grimace. "I really hope this lead works out, Hoseok-ssi. I'm really not sure how long that energy potion is going to help you."

Hoseok nodded in understanding. "We'll keep our fingers crossed."

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A/N: Sorry again that this chapter took so long to be posted. I do hope that you enjoyed some backstory though!

And thank you to everyone who left comments on this story, it always keeps me motivated to hear your feedback <3 Let me know if there is anything you'd like to see in future chapters (like certain pairings or plot points) and I'll do my best to incorporate them in.

Ages:

Seokjin - 455

Yoongi - 342

Hoseok - 138

Namjoon - 124

Jimin - 98

Taehyung - 66

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Chapter 4: Feeling and Healing

Worldbuilding Note on Witches: Witches may just be the most complex supernatural creatures in all the worlds. What makes them special is that they were not around when the universe was created, while all other creatures were. Even vampires, only created by turning humans, had a group of Originals that were first created by the universe. On the other hand, witches were humans who taught themselves the art of magic used predominantly by fairies, demons, and jinns. It wasn’t an easy task to learn magic by any means, and the truth was that most who tried ended up failing to do more than a simple spell. The few that could grasp the art of magic had the ability to become one of the most powerful creatures of all the worlds and live thousands of years.

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Namjoon fled the guest bedroom, Seokjin following only a few steps behind, leaving the other five in the sudden silence. The alpha were-shifter had ripped his arms out of the two vampires' grips, and Jungkook was looking after him with guilt in his eyes and a trembling lower lip.

Yoongi sighed and ruffled the younger vampire’s wavy locks. “Don’t worry about your Namjoon-hyung, he’ll come around.”

Jungkook didn’t reply, his gaze only falling to the ground and his eyebrows pinching together.

“I’m not manipulating you,” Hoseok spoke up, his voice rather sad. The four packmates turned to watch him struggle to sit up in the bed. He was a bit shaken up from the shapeshifter’s hostile behavior, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle. “I swear I’m not.”

Jimin hurried over to urge the other fairy to lay back down along with Taehyung. “I believe you, Hoseok-ssi. Your aura is too kind to be manipulative. Namjoon-hyung just has some trust issues.”

“I don’t know how to prove it to you,” the orange fairy continued. 

Hoseok continued to mumble but no one could make out exactly what he was saying anymore as his eyelids drooped and his body relaxed back against the pillows once more.

Taehyung ran a hand through the older man’s bright orange locks. “Sleep now, Hoseok-ssi. You need rest.”

The fairy was unconscious before he even finished the sentence.

“Jimin-ah,” Yoongi began softly, taking charge of the situation. “Since Seokjin-hyung is busy at the moment, why don’t you and Jungkook make us some easy dinner, yeah? I’ll help Taehyung tend to Hoseok.”

The pink fairy wanted to argue, wanted to stay, but he knew that he couldn’t do anything for Hoseok, at least not at the moment. So, Jimin instead nodded his head and stood up from the edge of the mattress, making his way over to the two vampires still hovering in the middle of the room. Jimin reached out and grasped one of Jungkook’s hands with his small one, guiding the quiet vampire out the door with him.

True to his word, Yoongi followed Taehyung to his workroom on the first floor, greeting the rather large wolf that laid casually on a large, fluffy dog bed in one of the corners.

Eunji was Taehyung’s familiar. Not all witches had familiars as it was difficult to come across an animal that shared a similar magic aura. Eunji was an absolutely gorgeous creature. She was a grey wolf, her coat the obvious color of grey, but tinted with a hint of warm brown. Her eyes were a shimmering gold color that was always piercing. Despite being around the familiar for years now, Yoongi still felt a shiver go down his spine every time their eyes locked. (Eunji) Nevertheless, Eunji was tamed by her connection with the witch, and now really saw the rest of the pack as her family.

The creature watched lazily as the vampire assisted Taehyung in concocting some sort of energy elixir. While the tea they had given Hoseok earlier acted like a caffeine boost, this potion would be much more powerful and suited to the fairy’s drastic state.

Yoongi basically just listened to the witch rattle off different ingredients for him to grab off of the shelf. Besides that, the two of them were pretty silent as Taehyung brewed the potion in a small cauldron on the stove. It bubbled a bright blue and green.

Yoongi would never, despite seeing it time and time again, understand how the potions came to be. To him, it just looked like different ingredients going into a pot, but somehow created a drink that had magical properties. Taehyung had laughed at him the one time he mentioned it, telling the older that the process of brewing involved adding the witch’s own power. Unlike other forms of magic that were practiced by multiple species, potions were unique to witches only.

After a few minutes of silence and stirring, Taehyung moved the cauldron off of the burner, turned it off, and ladled some of the contents into a mug.

“Take this to Hoseok-ssi and try to get him to drink at least half of it,” Taehyung ordered, handing over the mug full of the blue-green potion. “With how bad things were, this won’t keep him going for long so I’m going to contact a few friends right away, try to find someone who might be able to help.”

Yoongi simply nodded and moved to head out the door. He only stopped when he heard a quiet “hyung?” behind him. The younger man was looking at him as though trying to decipher his thoughts.

“Namjoon’s not the only one with trust issues,” Taehyung pointed out. “Do you think he’s manipulating us, too?”

The vampire turned fully back to the other. “No, I don’t,” he replied honestly. “For some reason...there’s something about him that makes me believe him.”

Nodding and humming in agreement, Taehyung moved over from the stove to the computer desk on the other side of the room. “I think so, too.”

They left it simply at that, Taehyung starting up the laptop and Yoongi heading back to the guest room.

Yoongi managed to urge the orange fairy to half-consciousness, enough to get him to drink most of the elixir that had cooled down enough by now. He couldn’t help but fluff the pillow and tuck the newcomer into his bed once he was finished.

The vampire sighed at his own actions before he took his leave once more, heading down to the kitchen to check up on the two cooking dinner.

Jimin was humming softly under his breath as he tended to the meat sizzling in a frying pan. Jungkook was preparing several kinds of vegetables and rice at the island in the center of the kitchen, pouting as he appeared to be lost in his own thoughts. He didn’t even look up to greet the older vampire when he usually approached him like an excited puppy.

“He’s fine,” Jimin told him as he glanced over, “I think he’s just really processing what he did wrong today.”

“Well, it definitely wasn’t the best idea to bring a stranger home,” Yoongi replied. “He’s still so young, though. I don’t want him to be so hard on himself.”

“Gods, you’re such a softie under that stone-cold exterior of yours,” the pink fairy teased.

Yoongi hummed and strutted over to stand behind Jimin, his arms wrapping around the younger one. “Only for my pack mates.” He sealed the words with a press of his lips to Jimin’s nape.

Footsteps came down from upstairs and the two at the stove looked up to see Namjoon and Seokjin walking into the kitchen, hand in hand. Namjoon had been visibly calmed down from earlier, no doubt in part to Seokjin’s “omega magic” as he called it. Now, the alpha looked more tired and deep in thought.

Namjoon was guided to sit down on one of the tall island stools by Seokjin, next to Jungkook, who had finished preparing his part of the dinner and moved over there. Next to each other, their expressions were identical. Both were so caught up in their heads that they barely recognized the world around them.

Seokjin picked up the bowl of vegetables that Jungkook had chopped up and brought it over to the stove where the other two still stood. “Is it about time to add these?” he asked Jimin.

The fairy nodded and took the bowl from him with a thankful smile. As the vegetables and meat finished up cooking, the vampire draped over his back didn’t bother to move.

“How are you feeling about all of this, Seokjin-hyung?” Jimin questioned.

The omega huffed out a laugh. “I’m fine. How about you, my lovely, ever-caring fairy?”

“I’m good.”

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Taehyung huffed out a frustrated breath.

Witches weren’t common amongst any world, so trying to track down someone who even knew one was difficult. Of course, there were the rather famous witches whose name was widespread for one shocking action or another, but there were also those who kept to themselves and did things silently. Those were the ones Taehyung was on the lookout for.

Online forums discussing encounters with different, rather unknown witches gave Taehyung half a dozen leads that trailed to dead ends after hours of searching. The first few acquaintances he contacted were unfortunately not of any help either. He was frustrated with the lack of progress, but his sheer determination to help Hoseok overshadowed any other emotion.

“I’m not sure where to go from here,” he conveyed to his friend, Baekhyun, over the phone. He knew that the older man was quite a busy person with his own pack, so he hadn’t wanted to call him unless he really needed to. Now at his wit's end, Taehyung hoped that his old friend might be able to give him a few names.

The two witches had met when Taehyung was still in his earlier years of learning magic. Baekhyun had taken him under his wing in a way different to any mentor Taehyung had had before. Instead of the usual firm, teacher-like attitude, the older male had approached him as a friend and became somewhat of a family to the younger for many years. By his side, Taehyung had learned more about magic and about who he himself was as a witch and a person. Baekhyun was undoubtedly the most influential figure in Taehyung’s sixty-seven years of existence.

“That’s a tough one,” Baekhyun replied. “Curses like that are nearly impossible to reverse.”

“I know, but I can’t just leave him to die without doing everything I can to help him.”

The older witch chuckled, “We lived together for fifteen years, trust me when I say I know that you would go to the ends of the universe to help someone in need.”

“My other mentors told me that it would be my downfall,” Taehyung stated as he ran his hand absentmindedly through the soft fur on Eunji’s back. At some point over the last few hours, she had made her way over and sat next to him, occasionally nudging him in encouragement. “They said that I care too much. That I can’t help everyone.”

“But you already know that,” Baekhyun added knowingly. “You know that perhaps better than anyone.”

The younger witch hummed, “Everyone has gone through hard times, Baekhyun. My past horrors are nothing special.”

With an audible sigh, Baekhyun changed the subject, knowing from experience that trying to argue about that with Taehyung led nowhere. “I think I might have a lead for you, but don’t get your hopes up too high.”

Despite himself, Taehyung straightened up in his seat in anticipation. “I won’t,” he lied, “Just tell me.

“You’ve heard of the Dragon?”

Taehyung scoffed, “Of course I have. Every witch in South Korea knows that name. But he’s just a myth at this point really.”

“Not necessarily,” Baekhyun corrected. “I admit that I thought he was only a myth most of my life until I met someone a few years ago who told me about a very interesting encounter he had with the Dragon.”

“And you believe them?”

“Choi Minho,” the older witch started into the story. “He’s a bit older than me. One night we were having drinks together and he told me about his encounter with the Dragon. He didn’t give me all of the details, but apparently, the Dragon helped him bring his familiar back from the brink of death.”

“That sounds insane,” Taehyung breathed out in awe, his fingers momentarily tightening on Eunji’s fur. The thought of losing his familiar was heartbreaking.

The wolf gave a quiet whine, sensing her witch’s emotions. Eunji leaned up and licked his cheek in gentle comfort.

“That’s what I was thinking at the time as well,” Baekhyun replied. “But I’ve known Minho for quite a while now, worked with him on many things, and he’s never given me a reason to doubt his word before.”

“And you think he could help me get in contact with the Dragon,” Taehyung asked.

“If anyone could reverse a curse like the one on your guest, it would be the greatest witch in all of South Korean history,” Baekhyun stated.

Taehyung hummed, “You’re not wrong there. I’m not entirely convinced but if you could give me this Choi Minho’s number, then that would be greatly appreciated.”

“Of course I can, and I understand your reservations about this, that’s why I told you not to get your hopes too high.”

“It sounds pretty far-fetched,” Taehyung admitted. “But I’ll take any lead I can get.”

“I’ll send you his number then,” Baekhyun promised. “But Taehyung, you sound tired, so go to sleep now and give him a call later.”

“Okay, yeah, I guess I should do that.” Taehyung let out an involuntary yawn. “Thanks, hyung.”

“No problem, Tae-ah. Let me know how it works out or if you need anything else.”

Once his phone was set down on the desk, Taehyung turned to lock eyes with his familiar. “I never would have thought that the Dragon could still possibly be alive, Eunji-ah,” he murmured to the animal.

The large grey wolf nudged at his thigh with her nose and then his calves, urging him to his feet. Go to sleep, Tae.

The witch smiled at the soft voice that appeared in his head. “Yes, ma’am.”

Taehyung chuckled as Eunji rolled her eyes and trotted back over to her bed in the corner, settling in for the night.

After checking in on their guest and assuring that his potion was working to elevate his magic energy, Taehyung walked into the bedroom he shared with his boyfriends. The witch, along with Jimin, had years ago created a large bed with their combined magic that defied physics and managed to fit all six of them on it (and a few more than that). Now, he found Jungkook, Jimin and Yoongi cuddled up on that very bed, limbs intertwined and fast asleep. Namjoon and Seokjin were noticeably missing from the bunch, so Taehyung guessed that they needed the night for themselves and slept on the futon in Namjoon’s office.

Taehyung changed out of his day clothes and into his pajamas, eyes drooping with the long hours he’d been awake. After cleaning up for the night in the bathroom, the witch slipped in behind Jungkook on the bed and wrapped his arms around him.

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The next time Hoseok rose from his unconsciousness, he could see daylight streaming in through the windows, the sun illuminating the room. His body felt heavy, his limbs tired, and his head was a bit cloudy.

Looking through the haze, a figure perched next to his bed captured his attention quickly.

The fairy expected one of the pack to be watching over him - Jungkook, Yoongi, Jimin, or perhaps that kind witch, Taehyung - but he was shocked to find that it was the two shapeshifters seated in a chair next to his bed.

Hoseok blinked. He wanted to say something but his throat and mouth felt dry and sandpaper-like. Attempting to speak only caused him to emit a rough croak.

The omega - Seokjin, he remembered - sat up straighter upon seeing him awake. “Don’t speak just yet. Joon, grab the water for him.”

The alpha nearly tripped over his own feet to pick up the glass of water from the bedside table. “Here, here! Please drink-” The man then succeeded in tripping over his feet as he turned back around, the glass slipping out of his hand. Even with their shapeshifter reflexes, the alpha wasn’t able to catch it again in time. Surprisingly, it didn’t break into a million pieces as Hoseok expected but rather clattered around for a few moments before rolling to a stop.

No one was really paying attention to the glass, however, because the contents of the cup had been thrown in Seokjin’s face and the other two were preoccupied with the soaked omega.

Seokjin simply shut his eyes and sighed as water dripped from the ends of his bangs and streaked down his cheeks. Based on his reaction, the fairy could tell that this accident wasn’t an uncommon occurrence in the house.

Hoseok bit back the laugh that threatened to tear from his tired body. For such a big, bad alpha, Namjoon - he finally remembered his name - sure was clumsy.

“Oh, dear!” Namjoon exclaimed. “Sorry, hyung!”

The omega reopened his eyes and looked at his boyfriend fondly. “It’s alright, Joonie. This is why Taehyung and Jimin charmed all of our glasses to be shatter-proof.” Seokjin picked up the glass from the floor a few feet away and carefully held it out to the alpha. “Go refill this in the bathroom, and for the love of all beings, please, try not to spill it again.”

Though the words were gentle and fond, Namjoon looked thoroughly chastised as he took the glass and walked off to the en suite with his head down.

Seokjin smiled after him with heart eyes before turning back to the fairy. “Sorry about that. I must go get changed. But it is good to see you awake, Hoseok-ssi.”

The omega had barely left the room when the other returned, holding the glass cautiously with both hands and taking careful steps. Quite an amusing and cute sight, Hoseok thought. “Drink what you can, you must be thirsty.”

Hoseok took the glass from the shapeshifter with shaking but eager hands. The cool water quenched his parched throat and he downed the whole thing quickly.

“How are you feeling?” Namjoon asked, his voice surprisingly soft.

“Better,” he replied, voice much less croaky than before. “More alive.”

The alpha nodded, “The energy potion Taehyung made must be working alright, then.”

An awkward silence fell over the two, neither quite sure what to say.

“I need to apologize,” the shapeshifter blurted out rather suddenly. “Not just for dropping the water.”

The fairy opened his mouth to say something, but Namjoon stopped him with a raised hand.

“Please...I am so sorry for my accusations before,” he apologized, barely able to meet the bed-ridden man’s eyes. He appeared truly ashamed of his actions. “They were uncalled for, you haven’t done anything to threaten or hurt us. I...I overreacted and I’m very sorry.”

Hoseok let out a huff of breath in relief that Namjoon was warming up to him and gave the alpha a reassuring smile. “Apology accepted. I understand why you acted the way you did. I’m a stranger that’s invaded your nest.”

“That doesn’t excuse my harsh words,” Namjoon replied.

“Truly, Namjoon-ssi, if I had a pack, I would also be overprotective of them.”

The shapeshifter bit his lip and looked down. “There...there’s something more than that,” he admitted.

The fairy pursed his lips, “What do you mean?”

“You...you startled me,” Namjoon tried to explain, brows furrowing when the words didn’t come out exactly as he’d wanted. “The way that you made me feel...made my alpha feel...”

“Something bad?”

The shapeshifter shook his head, “At first, I thought so. But after I was able to think about it for a while and talk with Seokjin, no. Not something bad. Something good.”

Hoseok’s jaw dropped. It didn’t take a genius to see where this was going. “You mean like...like...”

“Like pack mates.”

“Pack mates?” Hoseok echoed.

“Pack mates,” Namjoon confirmed sheepishly.

“Pack mates,” the fairy repeated once more, a little dazed with the thought.

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Chapter 3: I Don’t Know About the Stranger

Worldbuilding note on shapeshifters: Shapeshifters, or were-shifters, are a supernatural species that have both a human form and a wolf form that they can morph between. Shifters are born from other shifters, not turned from humans like vampires or witches. Their physical strength is matched only by vampires and a select few higher-ranking demons. As they are part wolf, shapeshifters are extremely territorial creatures that would do anything to protect the lives of those they love.

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“So, how much do you wanna bet that the others are locked up in the bedroom and that’s why they haven’t been responding to us today?”

“I don’t know, hyung. I think maybe they just fell asleep.”

“I hope that’s not what they’re doing. Yoongi and Jungkook don’t even need to sleep for goodness sake.”

“You may be right about them having...um, you know, though. Jimin’s insatiable at the best of times.”

“Aw! Tae, it’s so cute that you still can’t say the word ‘sex’ even with all the things you’ve done with us-”

“Hyyuunnggg! Don’t tease me! I just don’t like saying stuff like that!”

Namjoon listened to Seokjin and Taehyung bickering quietly with each other, a gentle smile on his face as he pulled up into the driveway of their home. Parking next to the second vehicle in their garage, the other two wasted no time unbuckling and getting out. Seokjin was now mumbling to himself about what he should make for dinner and Taehyung was clearly excited to see the rest of their pack after their workday, neither of these things being anything out of the norm.

Namjoon walked through the door behind the other two and had just hung the car keys on its hook by the closet when he froze in his movements, feeling like he’d been stunned.

The last thing that he expected when walking into his own home tonight was to smell the light scent of mandarin and ginger lingering in the air along with the familiar scents of the rest of his pack members. Though the new scent wasn’t unpleasant by any means, it was undoubtedly the scent of a stranger.

As an alpha, his protective instincts immediately went into overdrive. He grabbed Taehyung and Seokjin both firmly by their forearms and tugged them behind him. They looked up at him with surprise and worry in their eyes.

“Intruder,” Namjoon managed out in a growl.

Seokjin tipped his head slightly and picked up the same scent a moment later, his eyes narrowing. “There’s a stranger in our nest. Who is in our nest?”

Taehyung, who as a witch didn’t carry the same enhanced sense of smell as the other two did, was still eyeing them with a confused and concerned expression. “What are you talking about? A stranger?”

“It’s alright, Joon-ah,” a voice came from the top of the staircase. Yoongi swiftly made his way down the steps with a grace and smoothness only vampires tended to hold, eyes never once leaving the two agitated shapeshifters in the foyer.

The three of them that had just returned home for the day were still wearing what they had been this morning. Namjoon in his tan pants and light blue, striped dress shirt, his light brown hair softly styled. Seokjin in dark dress pants and a blue dress shirt, glassed perched on the bridge of his nose (Namjoon and Seokjin’s look). Taehyung in his all-black look for the day - from his black dress shoes to his black pants and his black turtle neck, topped off with one of his favorite black coats, because he wasn’t as naturally warm-blooded as his shapeshifter pack mates. His dark, long, slightly wavy locks finished off the look. (Taehyung’s look).

Yoongi approached them all with a calm and collected expression, immediately giving the tense trio a sense of relief. The vampire gave a small, reassuring smile. “I’ll explain the situation, but the man in our house is of no threat to us at the moment,” Yoongi assured.

“At the moment?” Namjoon repeated, eyes searching. His wolf was still on high alert, protective over his pack mates’ safety.

“So there is someone here?” Taehyung questioned, surprised. “We haven’t had a guest since Jungkook turned.”

Taking care of a newly turned vampire was no easy task, as it required great patience to teach them control. That’s why Sires were so important; without them, fledglings would go on bloodthirsty rampages and kill innocent people. Five to ten years was what was required by law for a fledgling to learn to fully control themselves.

Seven years after being turned, Jungkook was pretty much fully in control of his instincts, but they had kept him away from others for most of that time, only seeing a few select friends of the pack. Having someone unknown show up out of the blue like this couldn’t have been predicted by any of them.

“There is,” Yoongi confirmed, giving Taehyung a small smile. Then he turned and locked eyes with Namjoon once more, anticipating his discontent. “A fairy.”

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“Have his magic energy levels risen at all since he’s been asleep?” Taehyung asked, a worried furrow to his brow.

Once Namjoon and Seokjin had been placated enough to sit down at the dining room table and listen to the full story, Yoongi ran them through the day’s quite unusual events. The two were-shifters were still obviously hesitant about their unexpected visitor, but Taehyung could only focus on the orange fairy’s apparent sickness.

Yoongi shook his head in response to Taehyung’s question. “Jimin has been keeping an eye on him for a few hours and he only seems to be getting worse despite being in what should be a deep, healing sleep.”

“That doesn’t sound good,” Seokjin said, saying what they were all thinking.

Magic energy was a finicky thing. Each individual being held a different magic threshold, much like different sized gas tanks fueling a car. Some lucky creatures could use their magic pretty much endlessly and never run out, while other, more unfortunate beings could only use their magic for minutes at a time before needing to take a break and recharge.

Every supernatural creature learned from an early age that as it was one of the only ways they as immortal beings could die, low magic energy was avoided at all costs. Each person learned their threshold of magic and most didn’t dare to use up more than fifty percent of their energy at one time.

Despite every individual’s magic energy being unique, the cases of low magic energy were extremely rare and usually fixed with a few days of rest and good food.

If this fairy - Hoseok - had happened to experience low magic energy and had not improved even the slightest bit in the seven or eight hours he’d been unconscious, and in fact was only getting worse, this was a case pretty much unheard of. Things were looking concerning for the stranger.

“Let me take a look at him,” the witch insisted. “I might be able to help him. If it’s a matter of overuse of magic, there’s a chance that I can get him back on his feet with the right potions.”

Yoongi agreed easily with a hum, though his hopes for a simple potion working to help the fairy certainly weren’t as high as Taehyung’s. “Perhaps Hoseok-ssi’s emotions were unintentionally sucking up all of his magic.” Hopefully, it was a simple fix like that.

“Well, I guess we’ll see,” Taehyung continued, “Fairies are especially resilient when it comes to handling their magic. I’m surprised that this could have been enough to cause such damage to his energy.”

“Are you sure this isn’t a trick, Yoongi-hyung?” Namjoon finally asked, unable to keep the question in any longer. “Do you really think this Hoseok guy is trustworthy?”

Yoongi gave a sigh and a shrug, “I honestly don’t know, Joon-ah. I didn’t get any bad vibes from him and Jimin seemed content when he read his aura...but you know that there’s always a part of me that’s hesitant to trust so easily.”

“As much as the feeling of a stranger in our house makes me uncomfortable, the man is obviously in no position to harm us,” Seokjin admitted. “When he heals we’ll just have to keep a very close eye on him. Then we can send him on his way.”

Yoongi bit his lip, looking for just a moment reluctant at the omega’s words, before his expression shifted back to neutral the next second. No one but Seokjin seemed to catch it, though it was difficult to get anything past the oldest member of their pack. “Yes, I think that’s best.”

Seokjin narrowed his eyes at the vampire suspiciously but ultimately decided not to press the matter.

“Well, let me see if I can do anything to speed up that healing process,” Taehyung said, standing up from the dining room chair. The witch had shucked his long black coat before they came to the kitchen to sit down, so he was left in just his pants and dark sweater. The other three watched as he hurried out of the room, that familiar determination that they had seen time and time again settled on his soft facial features.

The three oldest members of the pack glanced at each other before Namjoon spoke up reluctantly. “I suppose Seokjin and I should meet the person who’s going to be a guest of ours for a while.”

Seokjin gave a nod in agreement and without any other words, they followed Yoongi down the maze of hallways.

When the trio reached the guest bedroom, they found Jungkook with an obviously worried expression on his face sitting on the sofa at the far end of the room. Jimin was trying to soothe the maknae with gentle words and scratches on the back of his head, but it seemed to be in vain.

Taehyung was already perched on the side of the queen-sized guest bed, hovering over a man with unmistakable orange hair and gently carved features. The witch’s hand was pressed to the fairy’s chest, a light blue glow emanating from his fingers. Taehyung’s eyes were shut and he had a slight furrow to his brow as he searched for the cause of the low magic energy levels.

Namjoon regarded the unconscious fairy with caution, but just as Yoongi had said, he couldn’t find any sign of ill intentions anywhere on the man’s features. Not that he could do anything to really harm them at the moment, as the omega had pointed out earlier.

Seokjin was slightly surprised to find that familiar need to nurture welling up inside of him at the sight of the stranger, urging him to swaddle the fairy in blankets and feed him chicken noodle soup until he recovered. It was an odd feeling to have for someone he didn’t know, especially because Seokjin, in the long time he’d lived, had only ever really felt that way about his birth family and his current five boyfriends. No one else.

“Are you finding anything, hyung?” Jungkook asked Taehyung as he fiddled nervously with his fingers, his voice unsteady. “Can you help him?”

Namjoon and Seokjin were a little shocked by how upset their maknae appeared to be at the stranger’s condition. The young vampire had always been quite a sensitive little thing, even when he was human. He had once come to his hyungs bawling his eyes out because he’d accidentally stepped on a caterpillar. However, the current look lingering in Jungkook’s wide eyes told them that this was something different than just being the caring, pure-hearted person he was. Something more.

Before either of the shapeshifters could think much further on that, the glow from Taehyung’s magic faded and he pulled his hand away from the man’s chest. A careful expression came over his face as he reopened his eyes, tucking the blanket back snugly back over Hoseok’s chest before he turned back to his lovers who were waiting in silence for the verdict. “Well,” he began, “It’s not quite as simple as we’d hoped. A potion certainly won’t cure this.”

The expressions on each of their faces differed, from caution to heartbreak.

“So, it’s not because of overuse of magic? Or shock?” Jimin inquired.

Taehyung shook his head. “No, it’s not.”

“Well, then what is it?” Namjoon questioned, wracking his brain for any other information he had on the situation. “Not much else could cause this except maybe-”

“-a curse,” Taehyung finished solemnly.

They all fell silent once more at those words. The thought of a cursed stranger in their house only furthered Namjoon’s instinct to throw the threat out.

“I-I’m cursed?” Six heads whipped around to look at Hoseok, who had startled them all with his low, croaky voice. The fairy’s tired eyes were settled on a color between light brown and peach, somehow still appearing bright despite his exhausted state. Hoseok smiled exhaustedly, “Um, hi. You must be the rest of Jungkook-ah’s hyungs.”

Namjoon felt unimaginably tense and tongue-tied, unable to respond to the fairy in any way. So he was thankful when Seokjin stepped forward with a welcoming smile. “Hello, Hoseok-ssi. Yes, I’m Seokjin, this is Namjoon, and the one tending to you is Taehyung.”

Hoseok gave him the best smile and dip of his head he could manage in greeting before he turned back to Taehyung cautiously. “A curse, you said?”

The witch felt it was unfortunate that the first words he ever spoke directly to this rather handsome man weren’t going to be good ones. “Yes,” he replied sympathetically. “Your magic energy levels are consistently dropping despite the fact that you’re obviously not still using your magic.”

“I haven’t used my magic since last night, and even then it wasn’t much,” Hoseok replied with a shake of his head, confused. “I thought my levels were low because of shock or something.”

“While I can tell that your body unconsciously used some of your magic to aid you through your shock, it was not enough to cause such significantly low magic levels,” Taehyung explained. “In witch terms, your magic is cloudy, and it’s trying to reject me. That is the sign of a curse. For such a dark spell, it must have been an extremely powerful being that cast it.”

The fairy shook his head in disbelief at the new information. “But...how? When?”

“I’m not sure,” the witch replied. “This is not exactly something that shows up in a witch’s typical book of spells. I’ll have to look further into it.”

“Tae, you said that his levels keep getting lower and lower,” Jungkook commented hesitantly. “Does that mean you can’t help him?”

Taehyung dropped his gaze to the bed guiltily, “No, I can’t. I’m nowhere near strong enough to cast a curse like that, let alone reverse one. I can concoct a few potions that will act as boosters for his magic energy levels to keep him stable for a few days, but we’ll have to try and contact an older witch for assistance. I might know someone...” he trailed off in thought.

“You guys...” Hoseok started, his words slightly slurred now as he got sleepy once more. “You guys would help me so selflessly?”

“Of course, Hoseok-hyung,” Jimin stated, moving closer to the bed so he could hold the orange fairy’s hand. “We’re not going to let you go through this alone.”

“Yeah, we’ll be right here,” Jungkook agreed with a nod.

“THAT IS IT!” Everyone was shocked at Namjoon’s sudden, uncharacteristic outburst. His wolf eyes glinted with rage in the dim lights of the room as all attention fell on him. “Listen to the things the maknaes have been saying! He’s manipulated them and got them wrapped around his finger already!” The shapeshifter stalked forwards until he was pushing the fairy’s shoulders harshly into the bed. “Who do you think you are-”

“Hyung!”

“Oh my god!”

“Namjoon!”

Yoongi and Jungkook were on either side of Namjoon in the blink of an eye, grasping firmly at his arms and pulling him away from Hoseok. When they had backed up far enough from the bed, Seokjin moved in front of the alpha, cupping his face in his hands.

“Calm yourself down, Joon-ah,” Seokjin soothed, tapping a bit into the omega side of him to get through to the other. “There is no need to accuse him of such a thing. You know how empathetic and loving our three maknaes are, don’t you? Just because they care doesn’t mean that they’re being manipulated.”

As Namjoon calmed down at the older man’s words, the two vampires began loosening their grip on him. While the alpha had calmed down enough to keep himself under control and understand how much he overreacted, he still felt a strange feeling in his gut about the orange fairy that lay tucked up in their guest bedroom. He couldn’t shake it off.

Namjoon didn’t spare anyone else a glance before he turned around, ripping his arms from the vampires’ holds, and fled the room with loud footsteps.

He burst through the door to his office on the other side of the mansion, stopping in the middle of the room as tried to figure out what to do with himself. It wasn’t much of a surprise when he heard and smelled Seokjin behind him a few seconds later.

The omega closed and locked the door without saying a word, grabbing Namjoon by the arm and guiding him to sit on the large, velvety sofa. Seokjin climbed into his lap without a second thought, long legs folding around the alpha’s waist as he quickly guided Namjoon’s nose to the scent glands on his throat.

The alpha greedily inhaled the sweet scent of vanilla and allowed it to slowly but surely calm him down from his tense state. Namjoon found his hands instinctively running up and down the other’s arms and torso, searching for the perfect place to settle but finding it difficult to choose.

A proud smile tugged at Seokjin’s lips as he felt and heard the younger’s pleased growl against his skin and his hands squeezing at the sides of his waist. The omega leaned down as well and tucked his own nose against Namjoon’s throat, inhaling the familiar musk of lavender and cedarwood.

Anyone who wasn’t a were-shifter would probably think their actions were rather sexually intimate, but the truth was that when their wolves became agitated, scenting their mates or significant others was a good way to calm them down.

Besides being the only shapeshifters in the pack, the two of them had known each other and been together the longest, so they practically read each other like open books now.

“I’m not happy about this,” Namjoon mumbled against the older man’s throat after a few minutes of silence, his voice sounding worried rather than angry as he had been before.

“I know,” Seokjin responded calmly. “I’m not very happy about it either but the man obviously isn’t in a state to hurt any of us.”

“Just - The way the maknaes were talking with him...like they...like they would do anything for him already. That’s not natural.”

“Perhaps,” Seokjin replied. “But Jungkookie attaches to people quickly, it’s not really so strange that he’s so worried about him.”

Namjoon sighed, “I guess...”

“And Jimin...” the omega smiled fondly at the thought of their younger packmate. “I can’t imagine how excited he was to meet another fairy. You know he feels kind of alone sometimes.”

Namjoon knew this well. Though there were some fairies that could be found across Earth, they were few and far between. It didn’t help that the couple of fairies that did live in South Korea weren’t exactly the most friendly or approachable.

“And Taehyungie. Our sweet, ever-caring Taehyung, he just wants to help heal everyone he possibly can.”

“I’m being an idiot, aren’t I?” Namjoon grumbled out, pulling back from the other’s neck enough that they could look at each other.

Though Seokjin couldn’t help but coo at the adorable pout on the alpha’s face and pinch his cheek, he shook his head at his words. “Not an idiot. You’re being an alpha, a protector. It’s a valid reaction to a stranger in our nest.”

“I was too harsh though, wasn’t I?”

Seokjin shrugged, “A little bit. But nothing a good, sincere apology can’t fix.”

Namjoon looked up at him with a hesitant yet hopeful expression. “You really think so?”

The omega smiled before he leaned in to press a quick, reassuring kiss to the younger man’s soft lips. “I really do.”

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A/N: So it sounds like BTS is possibly having a comeback in May though nothing has been officially confirmed yet. Let’s keep our fingers crossed!

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Chapter 2: Cabin in the Woods

Worldbuilding Note on Immortality and Aging: In this story, every supernatural creature is immortal, though some more than others. No supernatural creature will die from old age, but they can be killed. For example, vampires and witches are the hardest to kill. Vampires can only be killed if they are cut into pieces, and while witches are technically humans, they can gain the magic ability to create many protection spells and reverse their age. Any other supernatural creature holds enhanced healing. There are a few kinds of creature-specific sicknesses that can also kill, but it is very rare. Low magic energy levels are the only other thing that can affect a supernatural creature’s health, though it rarely kills.

As for the ages that creatures appear, vampires will always be the age that they were when they were turned. Witches will often use magic to keep themselves looking young. Most other supernatural creatures have an ageless-looking appearance once they reach adulthood.

Worldbuilding Note on Vampires: Vampires are created from humans. Vampires are not able to have children, so the only way they can come to be is if a human is bitten by a vampire and has venom purposely injected into their bloodstream and then dies with that venom still inside their body. When they are turned, the person that turned them becomes their sire and is lawfully responsible for keeping the fledgling under control until they’ve learned the tools to curb the bloodlust.

Behind witches, vampires are some of the oldest supernatural creatures. While most other immortal creatures are usually killed off before they reach one thousand years old, quite a few vampires have exceeded the age.

Random Worldbuilding Note: Earth has different countries and traditions similar to our world. However, everyone speaks the same language (I guess we’ll say it’s English). Different honorifics still exist depending on the country (hence why they still use terms such as “hyung” and “noona” in this South Korea). Some supernatural species have a special language unique to them, but they still speak English as well.

(A/N: So sorry if this is super confusing, I’m new to worldbuilding lol)

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“-And this is where Jin-hyungie yelled at Namjoon-hyungie for breaking his vase. I think he said it was like thousands of years old or something...”

The little vamp’s commentary was cute, but Hoseok found himself a bit distracted by the beautiful mansion he’d been led to.

Jungkook had shown him the few miles back to the residence he apparently shared with five others. It was situated at the edge of the large forest Hoseok had been dropped into, an extravagant, nature-inspired mansion just before the tree line. Largely constructed of large logs of wood, Hoseok couldn’t help but admire the details in the craftsmanship. Fairies had an appreciation for nature, so he saw many houses just like this one back in Aurora.

Hoseok followed Jungkook through the front door and into a big entry room where the younger was currently rambling about random memories and his ‘hyungies’.

After switching their dirty shoes for slippers, they made their way up a grand staircase just beyond the foyer and ended up in a lounge room where Hoseok couldn’t help but freeze in his steps at the sight of another person.

A small man with pale skin and a dark, sharp gaze stood only a few feet in front of them with curious eyes. He was dressed in blue velvet pajamas and had matching sliders on his feet. He’d obviously just come through the door on the left side of the room that leads even further into the house. He looked at Hoseok with analyzing eyes. “Jungkook, is this a friend of yours?” the man asked, tone neutral.

“Oh, Yoongi-hyung!” Jungkook exclaimed, an excited smile on his face. “This is Hoseok-ssi, he’s a fairy! I just found him in the woods and told him he could stay here-”

“You what?” The man, Yoongi, hissed, eyes suddenly narrowing in on the young vampire. (Yoongi’s look)

Jungkook became wide-eyed at his hyung’s outburst and repeated unsurely, “I-I found him in the woods...”

Yoongi pinched the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger. “Jeon Jungkook, what the actual fuck were you thinking?” Despite the angry worry in the words, Hoseok could hear the underlying fondness as well. Yoongi dropped his hand and looked at Jungkook seriously. “How many times have hyungs told you that you can’t just bring strangers into our house, especially a random fairy you found in the woods -,” his feline-like eyes cut to Hoseok, “- No offense.”

Hoseok waved him off, understanding. “None taken. It was a little strange that he seemed to trust me so quickly, but I thought it was perhaps just a custom on Earth.”

Jungkook pouted, slouched over next to him. He obviously took the gentle reprimand from his hyung to heart.

Yoongi was still regarding Hoseok with a calculating gaze but remained amicable. “Jungkook is still young, he doesn’t see new people very often.”

The fairy hummed in agreement. If Jungkook had been turned only seven years ago, that meant that he probably still needed to be close to his sire most of the time. Carrying on that train of thought, “Are you his sire?”

“I am,” the older vampire replied, before cutting to the chase. “Do you have any intentions of harming me or any of my pack?”

Hoseok could tell that Yoongi was quite a bit older than him by his aura alone, but the impact the vampire’s demanding words had on him left no room for doubt. His tone was laced with dominance, letting the other know that he really didn’t want to know the consequences that came with lying. Not that a fairy could straight out lie anyways.

Thankfully, the fairy just had to be honest. “I wish no harm to you or your pack,” he replied, hoping his genuine tone got across to him. “I apologize if I’m intruding.”

Yoongi sighed, “Well, Jungkook already invited you in and it would be rude to throw you back out.” The vampire took a moment to think before he said, “Follow me. I think we should probably talk about a few things.”

---------------------

“I’m sure you understand that I need to know more about you before you can stay with us as a guest,” Yoongi said. He’d led them to another lounge room, one that apparently the pack used most often.

Hoseok agreed with a nod as he settled down onto the comfortable, plush sofa, the other two taking the pair of empty recliners across from him. “Of course I understand. We are strangers. I suppose I should be wearier of you as well but I honestly don’t think I have the strength at the moment.”

He’d been slowly feeling the energy drain out of him since he came through the Gate, but now that he was seated, he realized that his earlier tiredness was becoming increasingly greater.

“Are you okay?” Jungkook immediately asked, worry in his gaze. “Did your journey through the Gate take a big toll on you?”

“Gate?” Yoongi asked, eyebrow raised.

“Yes, hyung,” Jungkook replied. “Hoseok-ssi came through the forest Gate.”

“The gate in the Mysterious Forest? Our Mysterious Forest?” At the younger vampire’s confirming nod, Yoongi hummed thoughtfully. “That’s never a good sign.”

Hoseok frowned, “What do you mean?”

Yoongi shifted his gaze back over to him, “Do you think that anyone really wants to go to a place with a name such as the Mysterious Forest?”

Well, he certainly had a point there.

“I didn’t know where I was going when I went through the Gate,” Hoseok admitted. “Unfortunately, it was without my consent.”

The older vampire furrowed his brows in confusion. “If that’s all, why didn’t you simply go back through?”

The fairy sighed. “It’s a bit hard to...”

As he was trying to find his words, a new figure walked through the door to the lounge room. Hoseok watched as a short man with what could only be a dancer’s body walked in. He wore jeans and a black knit-sweater interwoven with bright colors to form random words. He was a sight for sore eyes with his bubblegum pink hair and matching plump, pink lips.

It was the color that first made him realize who the man before him was, then the familiar aura about him confirmed Hoseok’s suspicions.

This was Jungkook’s fairy hyung. What had the young vamp said his name was again?

The man’s eyes were also undoubtedly flashing the same shade as his hair as he took in Hoseok, his expression melting from surprise into an angelic smile. (Jimin’s look) “And just who do we have here?”

“Jimin-ah,” Yoongi greeted, a small but fond smile on his face. The same kind of fondness that he’d expressed towards Jungkook not too long ago. “You’re home early.”

The man, Jimin, replied to the older vampire but didn’t let his eyes stray from Hoseok. “Jin-hyung told me to go home because he says I’ve been working too hard lately.”

Before that conversation could continue, Jimin strutted across the floor with a light confidence about him and held his hand out towards Hoseok.

Blinking in surprise, Hoseok lifted his hand shakily, thankful when Jimin took the initiative to press their palms flat together in a traditional fairy greeting. Hoseok felt a rush of kind and loving flow through him - Jimin’s unmistakable aura. He knew that Jimin was probably feeling his own orange positivity and warmth. As fairies, they could sense each other’s intentions easily.

“It’s nice to meet you,” the pink fairy greeted, relaxed. “I’m Park Jimin.”

“Jung Hoseok,” the orange fairy breathed, relieved to find the reassurance of a kind soul.

Jimin’s eyes widened slightly, “You don’t happen to be one of the Jungs, would you? Aurora’s royal family?”

Yoongi’s eyes cut to Hoseok with that same sharp gaze while Jungkook looked at him with a bewildered expression. If they weren’t so unfamiliar with each other, Hoseok might have laughed at the totally stark contrast between the two.

As it was, Hoseok bit his lip and nodded in answer to the man’s question, unable to lie even if he wanted to. “Yes, I am part of the royal family.”

Jimin quirked an eyebrow at him, “Then what in the world are you doing here?”

“That’s what he was explaining to us before you arrived,” Yoongi said. “Jungkook was in the forest when Hoseok-ssi came through the Gate. He brought him back here.”

“Brought him back-” Jimin looked like he was about to explode as he desperately looked at the young vampire. He seemed to cut himself off before he could start scolding him. “Never mind, that’s not important right now. What is important is why Hoseok-ssi came through the Gate and why his energy levels are dropping. So, while I make some tea to help with that, he can continue his story.”

Hoseok was a little surprised by how forward the other fairy was, but he didn’t question it.

Perhaps it wasn’t the best idea to tell three nearly strangers his personal story, but Hoseok felt all the adrenaline of the last few hours wear off and bone-deep exhaustion take its place.

As Jimin made his way over to the corner of the lounge room, where a small counter sat, to turn on the kettle to boil, Hoseok took a deep breath. “I’m...my older brother is the King of the Fairy Kingdom,” he began, ignoring Jungkook’s immediate little gasp of surprise. “I...We had a disagreement during a council meeting and he...he, ah, he banished me from Aurora.”

Hoseok couldn’t help but feel embarrassed as he took in Jungkook’s shocked expression and Yoongi’s thoughtful one.

Jimin sat down bravely next to Hoseok and place a comforting hand over his own. “Your brother is King Minseok?” At Hoseok’s confirming nod, Jimin hummed understandingly. “He’s a...a bit of a loose cannon, isn’t he?”

Hoseok hummed his affirmation. “No one can predict how he’ll react to something, even the smallest of things. After our father was killed fifteen years ago, Minseok has had the throne.”

“I remember the coronation,” Jimin commented.

Hoseok vaguely wondered why Jimin had left Aurora, and if it had been of his own accord. However, he knew that he was the one being interrogated right now.

“I was under the impression that the current King was a good man,” Yoongi said, his brows furrowed slightly.

“He is,” Hoseok defended, almost instinctively. “I mean...he’s far from the worst ruler the Kingdom has ever known.”

“That’s not very convincing,” Yoongi rebutted.

“He has good intentions, but he is prideful,” Hoseok admitted. He’d never said such things about his brother out loud before, and it honestly felt really good. “He doesn’t like when someone has ideas that differ from his own.”

“H-He banned you just because you had a different opinion than him?!” Jungkook nearly shouted, incredulous.

Hoseok nodded, still a little ashamed. “I’m not allowed back into Aurora. He’ll kill me if I show up there ever again.”

A silence came over the room as everyone digested Hoseok’s story. Yoongi and Jungkook were both obviously lost in thought as Jimin crossed the room once more when the kettle whistled.

Hoseok watched as Jimin pulled a teabag out of a tall, silver container and placed it in one of the available mugs. Jimin then poured the water into the mug as well before adding in a bit of honey and stirring. In the back of his mind, Hoseok wondered if Jimin somehow knew that that was how he preferred his tea, or if it was simply a coincidence.

The pink fairy sauntered back over to the sofa and handed Hoseok the steaming cup of tea. “I could feel your energy levels sinking, so this should help a bit.”

Hoseok inhaled the scent of berries and a hint of citrus. Cautiously, he took a sip. There were floral undertones to the tea that seemed to send a spark of something through his veins, though he couldn’t quite identify what it was.

“It tastes wonderful,” he complimented. “I swear I feel more stable already.”

Jimin giggled, “I would hope so. Our Taehyungie worked on perfecting that blend for years.”

Another one of Jungkook’s ‘hyungies’, Hoseok guessed.

He hadn’t really wanted to admit to himself, but his magic energy truly was dropping low. He’d never experienced it before himself, nor had he heard many others’ stories of it, but Hoseok knew that’s what was happening to him. Low magic energy is one of the only ‘sicknesses’ that could kill a supernatural creature. Though typically caused by overuse of magic, it can also be caused by a spell or come about as a reaction to shock. Hoseok didn’t think that what he’d gone through that day warranted enough shock to cause it, but he certainly hadn’t overused his magic. Perhaps a spell had been cast on him by a witch, though that was highly unlikely. Oh well, that was something for future, not-tired Hoseok to worry about.

“Well, thank you,” Hoseok said. “Both for the tea and for taking me in. I don’t really have anywhere to go.”

“You should be thanking Jungkook for being reckless,” Yoongi replied. “If he hadn’t brought you here, we wouldn’t have been able to help you.”

Jungkook looked up at the older vampire then, all wide, puppy eyes and a pout on his lips. “H-Hyungie, I’m so sorry that I was so stupid. I realize now that Hoseok-ssi could have been a bad person and I let him into our house. I just really liked him and I wanted to help him,” Jungkook muttered, still ashamed. “I didn’t mean to put the pack in danger.”

Hoseok was surprised when, for the first time, Yoongi’s expression shifted into something else entirely, his typically stoic exterior melting completely at the younger vampire’s cuteness and innocence. He reached out and curled a hand around Jungkook’s shoulder, sliding to the edge of his seat so he could be closer to the younger.

“It’s alright, little one,” Yoongi reassured in a smooth, calming tone that filled Hoseok with warmth. “I know you didn’t mean to. You haven’t been in contact with many others besides us in years, I’m sure meeting a new person was really exciting. Just remember to be more careful in the future.”

Jungkook nodded almost feverishly as he melted into his hyung’s familiar touch. “I will,” he promised.

Jimin must have noticed the surprised look on Hoseok’s face because he couldn’t keep in his giggles. “Yoongi-hyung seems all scary, but he is truly the biggest softie in the whole world.”

“Park Jimin,” Yoongi replied, a fake-sweet smile on his lips. “Shut your trap.”

Jimin smirked, “Well, you can’t tell me I’m lying, hyung. I’m a fairy.”

Hoseok blushed a little in embarrassment about being caught staring, but he giggled along as well, albeit a bit more tiredly.

Jimin turned back to him and gave him a knowing smile. “After the day you’ve had, I’m sure you’re more than exhausted. Let me show you to a guest room where you can take a nap.”

“Wait,” Hoseok blinked, “So...you’ll allow me to stay here? Even though you don’t really know me?”

“You’ve been easily honest with us, which is rare, even from a fairy,” Jimin replied. “Plus, your aura has told me enough.” The pink fairy stood up and held a hand out for Hoseok to take. “Come on, you need rest.”

Hoseok looked over at Yoongi, who was now running his hands through Jungkook’s hair soothingly. The older vampire gave a single nod, “I’m cautious, but I trust Jimin’s intuition. I also know that I’m much older than you and that it would be foolish of you to try to take me on.”

Well, at least he was honest, even if brutally so.

Hoseok gave him a small, thankful smile anyways and turned back to the pink fairy in front of him. “Okay, lead the way.”

With Jimin’s hand occupying his right, and his left curled around the warm mug of tea, he followed the pink fairy through a maze of hallways. Unlike Jungkook, who excitedly pointed things out to him, Jimin was quiet, probably because he could feel how tired Hoseok was as their hands touched.

“Just in here is one of the guest rooms,” Jimin announced, pushing open one of a hundred doors they’d passed by. “Though, we don’t have guests all that often, so don’t expect much.”

The room greeted Hoseok with the same wood cabin style walls and floor that seemed present throughout the whole house, the walls decorated with a few abstract art pieces. A king-sized four-poster bed was the centerpiece of the room, with a set of drawers, a vanity, and a bedside table filling up the rest of the space.

Simple, unlived in, and a safe place to sleep.

“It’s wonderful, thank you.”

Jimin smiled brightly at him, his eyes nearly disappearing with the action, before he gestured towards the two doors to their left. “The en suite is through there, and the other one is a closet, though I suppose you don’t have any other clothes with you...”

“Jimin-ssi,” the orange fairy began.

“Yes?”

"Thank you,” Hoseok licked his lips, suddenly feeling parched. “I really don’t know much about Earth and I’m really not sure how I would have faired if the little vamp hadn’t found me. As reckless as it may have been for Jungkook to invite me into your home, I am eternally grateful for his kindness. And yours and your pack’s as well, for allowing me to stay here.”

Jimin’s smile softened and he replied, “I would never leave a fellow fairy in need. Besides, your aura has given me nothing but positive feelings. My pack trusts that I can read your intentions well enough.”

Hoseok took a sip of the tea he’d nearly forgotten about in his hands, soothing his parched throat.

“Get some sleep,” Jimin said. “Hopefully that will bring your energy levels back up some.”

Hoseok nodded in agreement, setting the cup of tea on the bedside table and taking a seat himself on the edge of the bed. Moments after Jimin left the room, Hoseok laid down to sleep. He was out before his head hit the pillow.

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Chapter 1: The Banishing

Worldbuilding Notes on Fairies:

The origin of how fairies came to be is rather unknown. Their attributes and used honorifics suggest they are of Korean descent.

Fairies can be creatures of trickery. Though not inherently evil, fairies possess the ability to manipulate easily if they so please (not all use this ability, though). While they can also sometimes use aura reading to detect whether someone is lying or not, a fairy’s downfall is that they themselves cannot lie. Despite this, they are talented at twisting words and finding loopholes in different situations.

A Fairy’s magic ability is similar to that of witches, but it is easier for them to learn as they are born with a close connection to magic itself, while witches spend years and years learning to connect with magic. Fairies are often good spies as they have their smaller form that can easily hide. Fairies are born with a given color - the color of their hair and eyes. These colors represent common personality traits (though not always 100% accurate from person to person, and not all fairies have all the traits the colors represent). A mix of two or more colors just means that the person has personality traits of multiple colors (i.e. a very dark blue would have traits of both blue and black).

(Link to the basis of color symbolism I’m using - https://www.color-meanings.com/)

Colors and their meanings:

(This part is optional to read, but I will be using this as a basis for fairy personalities in the story)

Red - The color of passion and energy. Red draws attention like no other color and radiates a strong and powerful energy that motivates us to take action. It is also linked to sexuality and stimulates deep and intimate passion.

Orange - The color of enthusiasm and emotion. Orange exudes warmth and joy and is considered a fun color that provides emotional strength. It is optimistic and uplifting, adds spontaneity and positivity to life, and encourages social communication and creativity. It is a youthful and energetic color.

Yellow - The color of happiness and optimism. Yellow is a cheerful and energetic color that brings fun and joy to the world. It makes learning easier as it affects the logical part of the brain, stimulating mentality and perception. It inspires thought and curiosity and boosts enthusiasm and confidence.

Green - The color of harmony and health. Green is a generous, relaxing color that revitalizes our body and mind. It balances our emotions and leaves us feeling safe and secure. It also gives us hope, with promises of growth and prosperity, and it provides a little bit of luck to help us along the way.

Blue - The color of trust and loyalty. Blue has a calming and relaxing effect on our psyche, that gives us peace and makes us feel confident and secure. It dislikes confrontation and too much attention, but it is an honest, reliable, and responsible color and you can always count on its support.

Purple - The color of spirituality and imagination. Purple inspires us to divulge our innermost thoughts, which enlightens us with the wisdom of who we are and encourages spiritual growth. It is often associated with royalty and luxury, and its mystery and magic sparks creative fantasies.

Pink - The color of love and compassion. Pink is kind and comforting, full of sympathy and compassion, and makes us feel accepted. Its friendly, playful spirit calms and nurtures us, bringing joy and warmth into our lives. Pink is also a feminine and intuitive color that is bursting with pure romance.

White - The color of purity and innocence. White is a true balance of all colors and is associated with cleanliness, simplicity, and perfection. It loves to make others feel good and provides hope and clarity by refreshing and purifying the mind. It also promotes open-mindedness and self-reflection.

Black - The color of power and sophistication. Black is an incredibly strong and intimidating color that exudes authority and makes us feel secure and protected. Often seen at formal and prestigious events, this mysterious marvel arouses and seduces our senses with its elegance and sexiness.

Gray - The color of compromise and control. Gray is neutral, conservative, and unemotional. It is practically solid as a rock, making it incredibly stable, reliable, and calming. It has a peaceful, relaxing and soothing presence. Gray avoids attention but offers mature, insightful advice to anyone who asks.

Brown - The color of stability and reliability. Brown is dependable and comforting. A great counselor and friend full of wisdom. You can count on its help if you need an honest opinion, support, and protection. It stabilizes us, helps us stay grounded, and inspires us to appreciate the simple things in life.

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Hoseok listened to his older brother babble on to the other five high council members, trying to manifest the courage to speak up to him about what had been weighing him down since the last meeting.

Minseok, his brother, was not a bad person. However, he also wasn’t necessarily a good person either. As the crowned King of the Fairy Kingdom of Aurora, he wasn’t the worst candidate in their long history, not by a long shot. Hoseok had watched him exile a butler after he brought him an indigo-colored robe instead of a dark purple one by accident, but had also seen him send fresh-baked loaves of bread to the orphanage nearby as a treat for the children. He was a man capable of coming up with creative solutions but sometimes allowed his power and authority to cloud his judgment.

An enigma, his brother most certainly was.

This was why Hoseok was so nervous to bring up the topic on his mind. He wasn’t sure how Minseok was going to react, though no one ever really knew. Nevertheless, he needed to give it a try, for the good of their people.

“King Minseok,” Hoseok addressed, standing up from his seat when a lull came in the conversation. He bowed politely towards his brother. “There is a concern of mine that I needed to bring up, brother.”

The older man with a head full of shocking dark purple hair and eyes the same color looked at him curiously. “Yes, Hoseok-ah. What is the matter, brother?”

Hoseok gulped against the lump forming in his throat and forced himself to speak. His brother was being kind right now, but he knew the man could turn on a dime. “The army, brother. They have been urging us for some time now to give the soldiers more time before sending them to war.”

Minseok raised an eyebrow, “We have an alliance with the jinns, a promise to fight with them against the demons.”

“I know, my King,” Hoseok replied. “But our soldiers are being slaughtered on the battlefield. If we could change the laws in place and give them a few more months of training to build up their skills-”

“So, what you’re saying is that I should spend more money and time on our soldiers when the war they are fighting isn’t to be a long one?” The King asked, interrupting Hoseok’s words.

It was predicted that the jinns were going to win the war with the demons, though it was a slow process. “We’ve lost thousands of our citizens, Minseok-hyung.” Hoseok urged. “Lives were lost when they could have lived if only they had more skills and endurance. The captains have been coming to us since they realized the pattern months ago.”

Minseok furrowed his eyebrows in annoyance. “We already give so many resources to the military, we don’t have anything to spare.”

“We’ll find some, we’ll find a way-”

“ENOUGH!” Minseok boomed, standing up from the throne and slamming his hands down on the table. “The way the laws are written right now give our soldiers plenty of time to refine their skills before they are sent off to fight. More soldiers come back than don’t and that’s more than we could ask for. I will not spend another second on this unimportant topic when there are other issues to be resolved.”

“But, hyung,” Hoseok pleaded. He knew he should just shut up, but the worried words of the captains wouldn’t leave his mind. “Perhaps you could just allow some of the captains to tell you their worries personally. I really think that we need to-”

Minseok’s dark purple hair began to lift around his golden crown, glowing and sparking with magic. That was when Hoseok knew it was over for him.

“Hoseok-ssi, you know better than to talk back to your King!” his brother hissed.

“Hyung, my King, I’m sorry-”

“You’re banished!”

Hoseok nearly choked. “W-What?”

“I’m banishing you from Aurora. How dare you rebel against the King!” Minseok raged, motioning for guards to grab onto Hoseok.

Hoseok could see the anger in his brother’s eyes, the betrayal, and knew that there was no changing the crazed, overdramatic sentence given to him.

“Minseok,” Hoseok looked at his brother with one final plea, “Please don’t do this. I didn’t mean to offend you in any way.”

Minseok snarled, his bright purple hair starting to glow and move as his power began to build up inside of him. “You’ve betrayed the crown. You’ve betrayed me. There is no place in Aurora for you any longer.”

Hoseok bent his head, knowing that his brother had truly made his decision and nothing he could say would change his mind. His own shocking orange hair lay flat against his head, no spark of power anywhere to be found - a sure sign of any fairy’s defeat.

The five councilmen who were occupying the table with the two brothers sat in silence, eyes sympathetic as they watched Hoseok being escorted out of the room.

There were ten guards that led them towards the Gate that was situated just outside the castle walls, two of them holding onto Hoseok’s arms like he was going to even try to get away. He knew better than that.

A misty, swirling wall of fog lay just behind the golden bars of the Gate. Hoseok could only watch with a defeated look in his eyes as his brother opened the right door of the Gate and then turned to look at him.

“Jung Hoseok, you are hereby banished from Aurora under my authority, King Minseok of the Fairy Kingdom. Shall you ever choose to return, you will be greeted with death.” Minseok snarled out his brother’s sentence with such malice it made Hoseok cringe. Then the King turned to the two guards holding Hoseok’s arms and ordered, “Throw him through the Gate.”

Hoseok, whose heart was racing with fear in his chest, didn’t fight the two men at all. As he was forced forward, he shut his eyes tightly and braced himself. He merely accepted his fate as he was pushed harshly into the swirling fog.

Now, Hoseok had never traveled worlds before, so he hadn’t ever experienced what it was like to go through a Gate before.

At first, it felt as if he was falling at a great speed, the breath snatched from his lungs. Then, he suddenly felt himself slow down before dropping onto some sort of hard surface.

Laying on the ground, Hoseok was reluctant to open his eyes. He knew that he must be on Earth now, as Earth was the center of the worlds, but he didn’t know exactly where. He couldn’t hear much besides the ruffling of some leaves in the breeze and birds chirping happily. The temperature was slightly cooler than he was used to, and his attire of matching silk shorts and a shirt certainly didn’t do anything to keep him warm.

Taking in a brave breath, Hoseok opened his eyes and took in the scene before him. He was in a forest lush with tall, green trees. Pretty blue flowers bloomed in patches on the ground, bringing Hoseok a bit of relief. Surely the place couldn’t be too bad if there were beautiful flowers blooming, right?

From Hoseok’s limited knowledge of Earth, he knew that it was the center of the realms and welcomed those of all supernatural backgrounds. While most supernatural beings had their own realm to call home, there were a few that didn’t. Vampires, shapeshifters, and witches lived primarily on Earth. Creatures like jinns, goblins, demons, and yes, fairies, all had their own realm.

Gates only existed between Earth and these worlds, but they were plentiful all across the Earth. Most Gates were situated in Gate Stations (just like a train station) but there were some that were simply situated in the middle of nowhere.

Of course, it appeared that Minseok had to make things even more difficult for his brother by sending him somewhere obscure. Hoseok hadn’t had the chance to see exactly where he was sending him to. A childish move on the older man’s part.

“Well, gosh marbles!” Hoseok shouted into the trees as he stood up and dusted himself off. “What am I going to do now?”

Where was he to go? What was he to do? The Fairy Kingdom was all he had known his whole life.

“E-Excuse me?”

Hoseok yelped with a start at the sudden voice, his head whipping around to find the source. He caught sight of a young-looking man peeking out from behind one of the trees to his left. He had big, curious doe eyes and didn’t appear to be much of a threat, but Hoseok knew from experience not to let his guard down.

“W-Who are you?” he asked, kicking himself when he stuttered.

The young man came out from behind the tree, revealing his all-black ensemble; jeans, a leather jacket, and some army boots. Hoseok remembered reading that fashion was quite different on Earth, but he was still surprised. “I’m Jungkook. Who are you?”

(JKs look) (except no beanie)

“Hoseok,” he replied cautiously.

“Did you just come through the Gate?” Jungkook asked, head tilting towards said Gate right behind Hoseok.

“Yes.”

Jungkook hummed thoughtfully. “No one’s come through that Gate in years.”

“Oh...” Hoseok said intelligently. “Um, could you perhaps tell me where I am?”

“Well, I would assume you at least know that you’re on Earth, but more specifically, you’re just outside of Seoul, South Korea.”

“South Korea...” Hoseok repeated, wracking his brain for anything he knew about this place. He knew that he’d heard of it, but he wasn’t sure where from.

“You’re a fairy, right?” Jungkook asked, rather excitedly. “Many fairies seem to have Korean in their blood. So technically, you’re in your ancient homeland!”

Ah, Hoseok thought, that makes sense. Fairies were rather sheltered about things outside of their own Kingdom, so while Hoseok had heard that they were possibly descendants of Earth’s South Korea, he didn’t know much about it at all.

Hoseok blinked at the smiling young man before him, whose grin and scrunched-up nose made him look uncannily like a rabbit, not to mention his adorable front teeth.

“Ah, sorry!” Jungkook turned a little sheepish. “Ever since my Jimin-hyung came, I’ve really wanted to meet another fairy so badly!”

Hoseok didn’t have time to register that apparently, South Koreans used the same honorifics as fairies, as the more important part of the young man’s statement caught Hoseok’s attention. “You know another fairy?”

“Mhm,” Jungkook nodded his head dutifully, his shaggy dark brown hair bobbing up and down with it. “Jiminie’s color is pink. And he lives with us.”

“Us?”

“Me and my hyungs! There are six of us. We live just a couple miles away from here.” Jungkook answered with a fond smile.

“A pack, huh?” Hoseok gave the young man a once-over when he realized he had no idea what creature Jungkook was. “Are you...human?”

Jungkook shook his head before opening his mouth and pointing at some very tiny but pointy incisors that hadn’t been there a moment ago. “I’m a vampire, like my Yoongi-hyung. I was obviously a human, though, before he saved me.” Jungkook’s smile faded a bit as he seemed to get lost in a memory.

“A little vamp, I see,” Hoseok replied, feeling like he needed to lighten the mood. “How old are you?”

“I’ve been a vampire for seven years, and I was twenty-three when I was turned.” A pretty young vampire then. Hoseok had read about vampires who lived to be thousands of years old.

“Well,” Hoseok began with a gentle smile, “I’m one hundred thirty-eight, so I guess that makes me your hyung.”

Jungkook let out a sigh of relief. “Good, I don’t like being a hyung.”

Hoseok chuckled at the younger’s adorableness before he remembered where he was and what had conspired for him to be here.

Jungkook must have noticed his expression sadden because he gave a little gasp. “Hoseok-hyung, do you need somewhere to stay? I’m sure my hyungs wouldn’t mind housing you for now.”

Hoseok honestly questioned the young man. Who in their right mind invited a total stranger into their home? Jungkook the baby vampire, apparently. Hoseok doubted that he had any nefarious ulterior motives for inviting him, as fairies were fairly good at reading others and he didn’t sense anything from him, but it was strange nonetheless.

However, Hoseok really didn’t have anywhere to go or any money to get a place to stay. He’d been thrown out of the only world he’s ever known and didn’t know what he was supposed to do. And he was tired, just plain tired from the eventful day.

So, he gave the only answer he really could.

“I would love a place to stay, Jungkook-ah.”

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A/N: So...what did you think?

I’ve never written anything in the fantasy genre but I’ve been loving so many fantasy fics lately that I just had to take a try at it. I don’t know much about the specifics of the different supernatural creatures in legends and such, so these will mostly be of my own making, but with some common traits you probably know.

Please do not expect me to update this for a while, as I need to update a few other stories first, but I will not abandon this fic.

I tried to make it clear that Hoseok’s brother, Minseok, has an unstable mentality, and thus feeling like his brother betrayed him over something rather ridiculous and banishing him seemed reasonable to him. 

Please leave comments and likes as they fuel my motivation to write exponentially <3 And if you have any suggestions now or in future chapters for what you would like to see, I would love the ideas and will try to work them into the story (though I don’t have much solidly planned just yet anyways).

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So far we know:

Seokjin - ?

Yoongi - Vampire

Hoseok - Fairy (138)

Namjoon - ?

Jimin - Fairy

Taehyung - ?

Jungkook - Vampire (30)