Kaida

Just then, you hear the door open and look up to find a familiar man walking in.

“Sixth owner, oh-!” But upon your excitement, you forget about the handstand completely, therefore falling straight on your head.

“Y/N, seriously,” Taehyung lets out a sigh when he runs over to your lied form, an arm rested on his knee as he checks up on you. “What are you doing?”

“A handstand!” You chirp as you jump and spin about to sit up and face him. 

“Are you hurt?”

“Head hurts a little but us genies have a thick skull so I’m perfectly fine,” you assure him, demonstrating by knocking your fist against your head a few times.

It’s then when you feel Taehyung’s hand on your head and the words that are usually so easy to spill from your lips slips away as you stare at the man in front of you. His brows are creased with concern as he gently runs his fingers through your hair in a gentle manner. You allow yourself to close your eyes, reveling in his moment of care, before looking back up at him after a few seconds.

“What’s wrong?” You ask innocently. “Did you finish what you had to do? You guys ran out there pretty fast with such angry brows you almost looked like that red little bird with the thick boxed brows.”

Angry bird? He blinks.

“It was cute,” you say, giggling at the imagery before hitting him with a light punch to his chest. “But never leave me alone like this again, alright? My owners’ words are law and I would never defy anything that any of you ask of me but do you know how bored I was? I started singing that twinkling star song!”

“Alright, Rumplestiltskin, I won’t do it again.”

“Hey! My name’s Y/N, you can’t call me Rumplingsticks anymore.”

“Alright, Rumplestiltskin.”

Now he’s just messing with you. “Sixth owner!”

“Maybe when you finally call me by my name, I’ll stop calling you Rumplestiltskin and call you by your name.”

“Hey,” you narrow your eyes his way, “that’s unfair and you know it.”

“Oh come on, what’s so wrong about calling your owners their personal name? We’ve already given you permission and you said your owners’ words are law yet you refuse to listen to that request.” It’s a good point but you know not to be swayed by it.

“There are rules established for genies, alright? Rules that we have to follow which are above the rule stating that a genie’s owners’ words are law. It’s to make sure the relationship between that of an owner and their genie remains strictly owner and genie, nothing more, nothing less.”

“..Oh.”

You don’t understand why he grew slightly hesitant with his reply but continue speaking anyways. “The rules states that a genie is and will always be below their owner, and right now the rules are a bit more lenient as compared to beforehand but for me, it’s just a way to not get attached to my owners.”

“You…don’t want to get attached?” He asks, a bit unsettled by what you had just said.

“If I get attached, I wouldn’t be a genie, now would I?” You say with a rueful smile. “I live to grant the wishes of my owners, not to establish a relationship beyond it because at the end of the day, once my job is done, I’m meant to return to my lamp and wait until my next owner finds me. If I get attached, I will only hurt myself.”

Hurt yourself. So you do this in order to protect yourself. “...Have you ever met any of your previous owners?”

You shake your head. “That’s also another rule. Once the contract between a genie and an owner is over, we are never to meet again — which isn’t much of a problem because it usually takes years before I’m founded by another owner again. Kinda convenient, isn’t it? The owners won’t be able to find me a second time so those greedy bastards years ago will never have me at the palm of their hands again.”

“...Ah.”

When his hand begins to falter, slowly falling from your head, you take that moment to reach for it. “Hey, I’ve never realized this but you have pretty big hands.” Your eyes fall with fascination as you stare at it, a finger trailing along the lines of his palm before you go on to grab his other hand and hold it up to your face. “Your hand engulfs my face!”

How can someone look so pretty with the kindest and sweetest heart and not expect anyone to fall for her?

.

.

“If anyone tries to hurt you again, don’t hesitate to tell us.”

You look up at Hoseok’s command and blink silently for a moment, seeing as both him and Yoongi are pretty serious about this subject. You guess the younger owners probably told them what had happened and now here they are, checking up on you with Yoongi’s hand gently stroking your head.

Taehyung had done something similar to this moments ago so he must have also been concerned for you when he came back. Is that why the three of them rushed off after your rambling? To deal with that guy?

But what for? You’re simply a genie to them and besides, it didn’t even hurt that immensely for them to get worked up on. Humans can’t harm a supernatural being that easily.

Yet they’re so concerned for some reason.

“Why?” So you ask, although knowing that your mind automatically agrees to obey his command because you’re obligated to as a genie. It doesn’t mean you can’t speak up and question them though. “I wasn’t hurt,” you say innocently.

“Even so, he disrespected you,” Yoongi tells you. “That’s not allowed here.”

“Why?” You ask again, still confused. “I’m just a genie. You’re the owners and your place here matters most. You all sit on high positions, I’m just here to serve you like the rest of them. And besides, I was the one who intruded in the first place, skipping the halls and laughing about as if no one is here risking their lives everyday. Aren’t I the disrespectful one? These are your people, after all, and I’m sure that human isn’t the only one who had such thoughts.”

Hoseok lets out a small sigh before taking your hand and leading you over to take a seat. Once you’re settled down and look up at him with wondering eyes, he goes on to speak. “You may not understand it but we respect you, Y/N.”

You blink. “You…do? But—”

“You’re a genie, right,” he cuts you off with a nod, “but don’t you think you’re cutting yourself off short?”

“I am?”

“You always talk about being under your owners and your only purpose is to serve them but without you, your owners wouldn’t be able to make their wishes, now would they?” Hearing Yoongi’s explanation, you start to understand a little. “You’re more powerful than us in the first place but you still put yourself below us. Have you ever thought of living for yourself?”

“I can’t do that.” The thought itself sounds insane. “Genies live to serve their owners.”

“Then think about it this way,” Hoseok says as he kneels before you and takes ahold of your hands. “Between you and your owners, between you and the seven of us, one can’t do something without the other. You live to serve your owners, to serve us, and we found you through fate, now blessed with something much more than we ever thought to have.”

You purse your lips a little. “But you don’t even want to make wishes.”

“Your presence itself is the blessing, little lamp.”

You look at Yoongi, blinking a few times. “It…is?”

They both nod. “Life’s made a twist with you around and it seems like things are also brighter these days,” Yoongi says. “So it doesn’t matter whether someone will get annoyed at you or not, never stop laughing and smiling because at the end of the day, it makes us happy. We’re happy we met you, truly.”

Ah.

Have you ever heard such words from your owners before?

How many owners have you had in the past? One too many to count at the moment but you know more than anyone that none of them have ever given you words of gratitude.

They’re happy they met you.

You haven’t done much but…they’re happy with you.

Ah…

“Speechless, huh?” Hoseok chuckles a little as he reaches up to hold your face in his hand. It’s so soft, so tender, in the way they always do when they reach out to hold you. They’ve never been aggressive with you, ever.

You haven’t spoken their names at all but something tells you you might be getting attached.

After a while of trying to focus on Namjoon’s words, you fall bored before proceeding onto find entertainment by playing with your hair.

A genie’s hair can be as long and as short as you’d like it to be, so for the meeting you decide to braid a long braid as it rests against your shoulder, plucking pretty flowers out of thin air before sticking them into your hair.

It’s pretty, you say to yourself, and eventually you get too engrossed with your hair braiding that you don’t even realize when the meeting has already ended and everyone had already packed their stuffs up to leave.

“Y/N.” Until you hear a familiar call of a familiar name and you instinctively look up at Yoongi’s call. He smiles when you answer to him. “Seems the name does fit well,” he says and your eyes light up as you remember them giving you a name just this morning.

“Ah! That’s right! I almost forgot!” You say as you flick your now long braided hair off your shoulder and stand up to join them, not caring to mind how the room was filled with scared men just moments ago. “It’s a pretty name!”

Taehyung chuckles at the sight of your long hair and gently pats your head. “Alright, Repunzel, seems you were that bored, huh?”

“Repunzel?” You cutely tilt your head to the side. “Is that another fairytale?”

“It is.”

“I should really catch up on some stories to keep up with your references. In the meantime,” you hold your hand out to Taehyung, a bright grin plastered on your face, “Hello! Nice to meet you, my name’s Y/N.”

Cute.

Taehyung accepts your handshake. “Hello, my name’s Kim Taehyung.”

You giggle as you shake his hand but falling too excited that you manage to shake it way too hard and too fast and for much longer than needed.

“Alright, little lamp,” Hoseok says as he takes your hand away from Taehyung, “shake a stranger’s hand like that and they’ll eventually get too ticked off by you.”

“Oh, really? Was it too much?”

“Add a little less force and a little less shaking. Handshakes also should not last that long, only for a second or two.” He tilts his head towards Taehyung. “Try again.”

You turn back to the younger man to try again and when Taehyung accepts your handshake once more, you do it in a more respectable manner. “Was it right? Did I do it right?” You ask when the two of you let go and look up towards Hoseok for approval.

He nods. “That’s right, good job” he says with a light pat on your head.

You smile happily at the praise. “I wanna practice more!”

With that, you go down the line to shake each of their hands and eventually after getting to everyone, you let out your burst of energy once more, flowers popping out of your hair as you spin around upon completing the first practice of what it means to be human.

“By the way, Y/N.” Jimin holds your shoulder as he looks you straight in the eyes, falling more serious than ever before. They’re usually always so expressionless and serious around their men but around you, their expressions are softer, more gentle, and even now as he’s looking you straight in the eyes, you know Jimin can be scarier. But he’s serious nonetheless. “Don’t go around shaking just anyone’s hands, you got that?”

“Why’s that?” You’re genuinely curious.

“Humans can be quite cruel,” he simply says. “Just…promise us.”

“Hmm, is that a wish?”

“Y/N.”

“Okay, okay,” you laugh a little before nodding at him. It’s times like this when you know not to question things and to simply listen to your owners. “I promise I’ll be careful,” so you say.

After all, an owner’s words are law to a genie.

.

.

“Who are you?”

“Huh?” You turn at the man who just addressed you, his eyes narrowed with suspicion your way. “What do you mean?” You ask as a flower falls from your hair so you lean down to pick it up and return it to where it was.

“All of a sudden, you show up beside the boss’s side and you’re always so loud and lively yet the bosses do nothing about it.” His brows furrow with disgust at the sight of your hair. “And why do you have flowers in your hair?”

“Why not?”

“Listen here, what we’re in is serious business. No one’s here to laugh or giggle or skip around. Everyone here is risking their lives because of the business we’re in yet here you are, prancing about as if this is some sort of fairytale to you. It’s disgusting.”

Humans like this exist, the aggressive and angry type. You’ve had an owner like this once, or maybe thrice, and you were always afraid of even making a peep around them — not that it mattered much. Once they were done with you, you were sent back to your lamp before they needed you out for another wish.

Well, you don’t have to be afraid now because they aren’t your owners.

Just another human being who won’t have a clue who you are or even believe in your existence any longer once you’re done with all of this.

So you shrug at his words, not caring one bit as you walk away from the conversation. There’s no need to pay attention to him.

“Hey! I’m talking to you!” You feel a harsh tug against your hair as he forces you back.

“Ow! What the hell?!” You shout, falling in disbelief at what he had just done as you watch some of the flowers fall from your hair. “What’s your problem, dude?” You say as you tug your hair back from his grip, eyes glaring up at him. It doesn’t hurt that bad but the fact that he had the audacity to do such a thing makes you angry. 

“The problem is you ignoring me. I was speaking!”

“And?”

“You should listen when a man is speaking, you whore.” Your brows furrow at the name. “That’s right, you’re a whore, aren’t you? Leeching off the boss and always being by his side. You might think you have him now but once he’s done with you, you’re going to be tossed to the side like a useless piece of trash. What do they see in you anyways?”

He looks so similar to two of your previous owners. Whenever they made a wish and it was a wish that went against the laws of wishes and you had to explain it to them, they always resorted to trying to hurt you, asking why you were such an incapable genie and calling you all these horrible names.

God you didn’t want to ever remember them but here you are.

“Listen,” you sigh, knowing there’s really no point in angry at a man who won’t hear a word you’re saying. “Whether I’m leeching off your boss or not, that’s not really your problem, now is it? So what if I’m tossed to the side after he’s done with me? Shouldn’t you worry more about yourself? But thanks for looking out for me, pal.” You pat him on the shoulder before walking off once more, this time holding your braid in your hands so he doesn’t have the chance to pull at it again.

“Who the hell said I was looking after you?!”

Even with his yelling from behind, you decide to ignore the man.

You have better things to do than worry about them, after all.

.

.

“Hey, do the flowers in my hair bother you?”

“What?” Taehyung loads his gun again, brows furrowed with confusion as he takes a glance your way. “Why would they bother me?”

“So they don’t?” You ask again, falling more confident and happy this time.

“Yeah, they’re pretty.” He pats you on the head before returning his focus back on his shooting and you turn around, happily summoning more flowers out of thin air to place in your hair.

“I knew it,” you giggle.

“Why, did someone say otherwise?” Jungkook asks and you shrug.

“Well not exactly but I guess he implied it. I mean, I guess it bothered him that much if he had to pull my hair when I was walking away, though it might just be because he doesn’t really enjoy my presence around here. And it’s not like I can’t tell when we’re in serious business because I’ve literally had owners who were kind of like the enemy of the people, you know? The villains, I would say? But not the good kinds, the horrible step-mother kind, not like you guys. It reminded me of those men who would scold a women when they spoke in the presence of a man and he had the audacity to tell me Namjoon and you guys will one day throw me away once you’re done with me and it’s like, obviously? Duh? I’m a genie, I’m meant to be tossed off to the side once all the numbers of wishes are done and over with but I obviously can’t tell him that but I did really wanted to but I knew it wasn’t a good idea so I stopped myself and instead said—”

You pause in your ramblings as you realize the room has gone quiet and cold and when you look up at your three younger owners, you blink with confusion upon their silence.

“Uh…what’s up?”

“Who was it?”

“Huh?”

“Who pulled your hair and spoke to you like that?” Jimin repeats, his expression a little more hard and cold than usual. He looks a bit scary with the glint of anger flashing in his eyes and though a part of you shivers slightly, you also understand that what he’s feeling at the moment isn’t directed at you.

“Uh…” You glance at the other two who’re just as angry and think for a moment as you try to remember the man’s face. Your owners just demanded an answer out of you so you have to tell them. “I think his name was Doyun? It may have been something else but he was wearing a navy blue shirt and had a scar right under one of his ears.”

They get up and begin walking off, leaving you wondering what was going to happen.

“Um—”

“Stay here,” Taehyung demands. “That’s an order.”

“I wanna try the strawberry kind! Strawberry looks delicious and the color’s really pretty.”

“Strawberry cake,” he adds to the order and you respond by clapping happily.

“By the way, I think that lady that we met on our walk has her eyes on you.”

“Does she now?” He leans back into his chair, eyes focused on the papers before him once more.

You take a seat on the edge of his desk, nodding. “Her eyes were glaring at our hands. I don’t think she likes me.”

Namjoon chuckles. “So genies can detect those type of emotions, huh?”

“Sometimes,” you say. “I still have yet to understand a lot of it though. Like being stressed, for example. All I know is that hugs are a great way to relieve it. The seventh owner taught me.” Namjoon chuckles in response. “But I don’t really understand anger. A lot of my previous owners were uptight and angry most times until they have me grant them a wish and they look happy for a second before I’m sent back into my lamp. And I also don’t really understand pain or love. They say sometimes it goes hand in hand.”

“Hmm..it sure can.”

“Really? Why is that?”

“Love can be quite a strong emotion,” he tells you but just as he looks like he’s about to go into it, Namjoon shakes his head instead. “It’s a complicated emotion to explain,” he says. “You’ll have a better understanding of it if you experience what it means to love. Though it comes in different forms.”

“What do you mean?”

“You can have love for a friend, a family, or hold romantic feelings for someone.”

“Hmm..I think I get it.”

“Do you?”

“Yeah!” You nod enthusiastically. “Like your love for the other six owners, that’s romantic love. But the way you care for your parents and siblings are different from what you have for the boys. And I love you as a friend!”

Oh.

“Yeah,” Namjoon nods, “precisely.”

There’s a knock at the door and your eyes light up as you realize it’s your cake coming so, without thinking, you’re flying right over to the door.

“Hey,” but Namjoon stops you before you can open it, “walk, little lamp.”

“Oh! Right.” You snicker to yourself as you let your floating body fall back onto the ground before turning the knob to open the door. It’s a little strange but you guess not having a name isn’t so bad if he’s going to call you by little lamp.

You find it endearing.

“Hello!” You expect to greet the assistant but instead find Jimin there instead. “It’s you, fifth owner. You have my cake!”

“Huh. I was wondering why one of our men was walking here with a box of cake in hand.”

He lets you take the box and close the door before anyone can see you flying towards Namjoon’s desk. “What’s so strange about cake?”

“Doesn’t really suit the vibe.”

“Really?” You ask as you hand Namjoon the box so he can help you untie the strange little bow on the box. When he does the job for you, you happily take it out with an excited expression plastered on your face. “Look, fifth owner! There’s strawberry!”

“Yes, yes,” Jimin chuckles when you present him the cake, “I see that.”

“It’s pretty, isn’t it? It matches the seventh owner’s cheeks whenever he’s trying to hide his face from me.” They snicker at your oblivion while you take a fork out to dig in. “Wow! This is delicious!!” You exclaim with an awestruck gasp. “The spaghetti the fourth owner cooked was nice but this cake is…different and…I love both of them!” You quickly turn to Namjoon. “Is this also another form of love? Love for food?”

He laughs. “I guess you can say that.”

“Wow, if I had known food was so delicious I would have tried it much earlier. Ah, now I’m so excited to get food everyday!”

“Everyday?”

You nod Jimin’s way. “The first owner promised to grant me wishes since you guys don’t have anything you really want. Like a role reverse! And I asked to eat food everyday as well as getting a taste of cake.”

“Granting you wishes? That sounds fun,” the younger one says. “You have any more wishes up your sleeves?”

“Wishes?” You take another big bite of the cake, eyes closing tightly with a blissful expression on your face. “Hmm…I want a name.”

“A name?”

“You do?”

“Yeah! It sounds fun,” you nod.

“You don’t have a name?” Now that Jimin thinks about it, you never did give them your name on your first meeting, just introduced yourself as a genie and that was that. “That sounds like a job for all of us.”

“It does?” The way you look up with big rounded eyes as some creme from the cake on the corners of your lips makes you look extra adorable today.

“We’ve got to find you the perfect name,” Jimin nods when Namjoon hands him a tissue and he goes on to fix your face. “A name that’ll be perfect for you, little lamp.”

He goes on to wipe away the sauce with his thumb as you fall excited all over again with your new discovery. “Alright, alright, calm down.”

“How can I calm down when I’ve just had my first human food?! Ahh, I’m gonna go tell the seventh owner about this!”

He laughs when you fly off on your own, always one to report your discoveries back to Jungkook no matter how busy the man is. It’s probably because the maknae never refuses your presence no matter where he is or what he’s doing. He could be in the middle of a meeting and excuse himself for a moment just to indulge in your antics and give you a pat on the head, praising you before returning to his work.

You’re spoiled by him.

.

.

“By the way, you’re rich aren’t you?” Dressed in a causal long white skirt with a pretty blouse, you walk on your two little feet beside Namjoon, pretending to be a human among the humans. Most days you’ll make yourself only appear visible before your owners but today you insisted accompanying Namjoon on his errands.

“Well,” he shrugs as he check his phone, seemingly busy, “I am the boss of a mafia so I can get anything I want at the snap of my fingers.”

“Huh.” You turn around, walking backwards, head tilted to the side as you look around at the humans who’re walking around. “So that’s why the seven of you have literally nothing to wish for. You already have human genies at the expense of your money.” You sigh, turning back to walk right again. “You know I’m starting to get a little bored not granting anyone’s wishes.”

“I thought you enjoyed not doing that.”

“You’re just different, alright?” You pout. “Even though you deal with some illegal things, you’re all better than all my previous owners. They were always greedy and wanted everything I had to list out the rules to them a billion times whenever they wanted to wish for something, and you know! One of them even asked me to have a woman submit to them! How ridiculous is that?!”

From the corner of his eyes, he sees your figure on the verge of floating up in mid-air so Namjoon brings his head to rest on your head, pushing you back on the ground.

“It’s like, they think if they can’t get their way, a wish from a genie will grant all their happiness but maybe if you try being a decent human, they’ll actually have women fawning over them rather than forcing their hearts. I hate humans like that.”

“Uh-huh.” 

You take his hand off your head when you turn to look up at him, thinking that perhaps Namjoon just wants you to stay near him so you resort to holding his hand instead. His followers walking a few feet behind (who has no idea what you’re spewing about), falls confused at the way you casually hold their boss’s hand but when Namjoon does nothing to shake you off, they know they can’t do anything about it.

“So you’re saying there are certain rules that keep you from granting a wish?” He asks and you nod.

“I can’t kill people — I once had a King ask for that but obviously it’s wrong for a supernatural being to get involved with human wars, you know? So never ask me to do something like that, I neither want to do such a job nor is it within my power — though honestly, if you’re a mafia boss, that would mean you’re perfectly capable of doing it yourself, right? So it’d be dumb to wish for me to do it because you’re also powerful enough and you have men at your disposal to do something like that. But then again, a literal King, who, mind you, was also quite powerful, had literally asked that of me when he himself could have just…” Realizing you’re falling off to a tangent, you clear your throat as you return to the subject of the matter.

“I also can’t bring back the dead — which can get quite heartbreaking but once someone’s gone, I can’t manipulate with their fate and it’d create a huge problem with the laws of the world. And I also can’t force human feelings like love, for example.”

“...Really?”

“It’d be quite cruel if I could,” you say. “Imagine forcing someone who’s meant to love someone else to love a certain person. I’d ruin their future whether they love their fated ones during their current time or not. Humans are meant to go through different stages in their lives without anyone forcing their hands. That’s why it’s better to wish for materialistic things, that way we don’t mess with the laws of the world and ruin anyone’s lives.”

“Hmm. That makes sense. So then,” you look up at him when he turns to you, “you mentioned the owners can also make a wish to become a genie or set the genie free by wishing for them to become human?”

“Yup!”

“Well then what do you wish for?”

“Huh?”

“Since me and the guys have no need for anything at the moment, do you have anything you want?”

“Me?” You blink, taken back by his question. No one’s ever asked you for such a thing so getting put on the spot like that makes your mind fall blank. “Um…”

“We’ll grant you whatever wish you want.”

“A role reverse huh? Sounds fun,” you grin. “Then…I want to eat human food everyday from now on. Just like my seven owners.”

Namjoon chuckles. “Alright. Consider it done,” he says. “Anything else?”

“I want that!” You point towards a small bakery store that displays a few desserts from their windows.

“Cake?”

“I heard they’re delicious, I wanna try one!”

You look as excited as a little kid he can’t help but want to get you everything your finger points at. “Alright then.”

“Mr. Kim?” 

But just as the two of you were about to walk towards that direction, you hear a voice calling out for Namjoon and you both turn around to find a lady approaching.

She’s pretty, wearing probably high expensive clothing with dress pants, a white blouse, and a blazer jacket hanging over her shoulders. Her sunglasses falls atop the bridge of her nose as she spots the way you’re holding Namjoon’s hand, eyes looking up at her with confusion and naivety, with no chance of letting Namjoon’s hand go.

“Who’s this?” She asks and you note at the way Namjoon hesitates.

Oh crap, you never told him your name. Do you even have a name? All your previous owners have called you genie so even if you did have a name, it’s been centuries since anyone has called you by a proper name so you don’t even remember to think of one.

You’re genie to your owners. Just genie.

But because your current owners are treating you so well and allowing you to roam freely in the human world, you should have known to make up a name for yourself.

But how does one do that?

“A friend of mine,” Namjoon states but her eyes doesn’t look away from the hand holding.

You fall suspicious as to why.

“A friend?” She raises a brow before turning her attention your way. “Any friend of Namjoon’s is a friend of mine. I’m Yoon Seji, you are?”

You stare at the hand that holds out to you, blinking in confusion. You think you’ve seen how this works before. Humans shake hands when they meet one another, don’t they? All you have to do is reach out and hold her hand. Sounds easy, right?

But if you shake her hand, doesn’t that mean you have to introduce yourself? She’s already given you her name so it’ll be your turn if you accept her handshake. But you don’t even have a name to begin with. But it’d be rude to not shake her hand. But you don’t have a name.

Oh god, you’re freaking out.

Namjoon comes to the rescue. “Forgive her, Miss Yoon, my friend here isn’t familiar with such customs. She came to visit from a different country so she does not mean to be rude.”

She blinks. “Handshakes aren’t universal?”

“Not in her country.”

“Where is she from?”

“That is a question she’d rather not disclose.” 

Though her brows fall with suspicion, Yoon Seji decides to not pry any further. “Surely I can get a name, no?”

Why is she so adamant about getting to know you? You feel like this human has something for your first owner but unfortunately for her, he already has your six other owners by his side so she’s too late for that.

You tug onto Namjoon’s arm to beckon him to lean down so he does, lending you his ear. “I don’t have a name,” you whisper to him.

Huh. So that’s why you never introduced yourself formally to them in the first place.

“I apologize, Miss Yoon, but we must get going.”

“W-wait–!”

Dramatically, Taehyung, a grown-ass man, begins to pout as he shoves his face into the palms of his hands, sniffling just as the door to his office opens. “Another day, another rejection.”

“Are you crying?” Jimin asks as he walks into the room with Yoongi tolling along.

“He’s fine, he’s just being dramatic,” you say with a roll of your eyes.

“I’m dramatic?” Taehyung gasps offendedly as he jumps back up, his pen leveled at you once more. “This is the tenth time you’ve rejected my proposal, wouldn’t that hurt anyone? You actually don’t really care for me do you, gorgeous?”

“We just started dating,” you stress.

“And? Don’t people date in order to get married? What’s wrong with flying past a few steps when you’re deeply in love?”

“You’re deeply in love with me? Already?”

He stands from his chair, approaching you and while you take a step back to back away from him, Taehyung doesn’t let you. The other two simply watch on without interference, amused by this. “We finally found our missing piece, Y/N, do you really think I’d want to waste months and years just to get a yes out of you?”

“We spend all those time in order to get to know each other better, and by then maybe you’d be more confident you actually want to marry me and pull me into your mix.”

He pouts. “Why would I wanna wait to do that when I already know I want you in my life forever?”

“You’re being clingy.”

“Oh yeah?” Taehyung challenges with a raised brow as he leans in closer, nose bumping against the softness of your cheek. “I think you actually enjoy this part of me.”

You don’t answer him and instead look towards the other, a silent cry for help on your expression with your neck stretching away from the koala bear holding onto you. Yoongi snickers and you frown.

“You just love seeing me suffer, don’t you?”

“Come on babygirl,” Yoongi chuckles as he walks forward to where the two of you are, “like Taehyung said, I think you’re actually enjoying this.”

“I mean come on, getting a position as our wife?” Jimin chimes in, playing along with the fantasy Taehyung has created. “That’s easy money and we know you love easy money.”

Just how do they see you?

“Maybe in a few years, yeah?” You turn back to Taehyung, knowing the other two aren’t willing to help you at all. He’s still clinging to you securely, refusing to let go anytime soon. “In three years’ time, if we don’t break up by then and if we’re all still deeply in love with each other, you can ask again and I’ll say yes.”

He gasps and like an excited puppy, you can almost imagine the tip of his ears perking up and his tail wagging rapidly behind him. “Really?! You promise?!”

“Yeah, yeah..”

“You promised!” He picks you off the floor without a second thought, causing you to let out a small little yelp at the sudden action. “You promised, Y/N, you can’t take it back now!”

“Okay, okay, I get it. Now put me down, will you?”

This time he listens easily but doesn’t let you go before placing a long-lasting kiss on your cheek just for good measure.

the mission is where you first impress namjoon

as he sits across a table from a man while they negotiate on some things, you stand to the side, feeling a bit restless, and it's when they serve tea that you feel the need to drink it in order to calm your nerves

yet just as you're about to take a sip, you notice the smell being a bit off, and normally to a normal citizen, they wouldn't notice anything being off but you're a researcher who specializes in herbs and plants so you understood immediately that the tea both you and namjoon were being served was poisoned

and without making a scene, you reach out to namjoon with a hand on his shoulder

he continues on his conversation, pretending not to take any note of your hand, but he's alerted immediately, especially after he takes his own cup and tries to drink when you give him a good ole squeeze

namjoon stops the negotiation midway and basically corners the dude and forces him to reveal his true face

at the end of the day, the both of you get out of there alive and namjoon promotes you to being the scientist of the group. being part of a small organization filled with hitmen means needing to kill in order to survive, and so he allows you the privilege to kill through lethal poison rather than guns and blades and such

out of the five boys, seokjin's the first one to help you feel welcomed. although namjoon puts his trust in you, he's still your boss so he's frightening and intimidating, henceforth seokjin's easier to get along with

yoongi and hoseok are scary and taehyung is a bit distant

being the scientist and seokjin being the team's medic also helps the two of you get closer

at one point you and taehyung get a mission together and run into deep trouble where your quick thinking gets the two of you to safety, but along the way taehyung gets heavily injured and asks you to go on ahead and leave him

obviously you werent going to but he insists, saying "this is the life of a hitman. just leave me be"

but you tell him "even if i have to drag your corpse out of here, i'll do it. i'm not leaving you here alone. you have people that cares for you, taehyung, and they deserve to see you whether you're alive or not"

and eventually taehyung loses consciousness and you manage to bring him back and have seokjin save him before it's too late

he still puts his guards up around you but after the incident, the two of you share a bond deeper than before where you both respect one another (the hatred and jealousy from before has slowly withered away)

taehyung's a tsundere tho and it amuses yoongi because whenever tae's in a turmoil, he's always going to yoongi to complain and talk about his feelings

hence yoongi hears a lot about you on his end

and eventually it comes to a point where yoongi's like "i don't think you hate her, taehyung. i think you're actually starting to genuinely like her"

"who me?"

"what's wrong with having a little crush?"

"she...she's jimin and kookie's girl"

"and?"

you know how you, jimin and jungkook share a room because they dont have a spare one for you? well one night you wake up from a nightmare to see the both of them gone and it makes you remember that day you came back to find them both missing

and it frightens you

hence you leave the room, trying to convince yourself that they must be out on a mission and just forgot to tell you, but you're still scared and afraid, and with a blanket hung around your shoulders, you're treading through the hall only to bump into a man;

jung hoseok

"you're crying" he points it out without a filter

"i..i-i just..." you hang your head, feeling embarrassed as your voice trembles. "where are they? have you seen them?" it makes you relieved to know you're waking up in the same house but you're still afraid and hoseok can tell it has to be about what happened all those years ago

so he replies by relieving your anxieties "they're out on a mission"

no matter how cold hearted hoseok may be, he knows jimin and jungkook cares a lot about you, hence he decides to take care of you tonight rather than taking the risk in getting scolded by those two when you're right in front of him, crying

hoseok stays by your side, letting you sit on the sofa with him right beside you, and he doesn't have to say anything but his presence alone makes you feel less lonely

eventually you fall asleep and that's the first night you and hoseok have ever truly interacted with one another

turns out he's not as scary as you thought

jimin and jungkook finds it out the next day when they return to find the two of you in the living room

you're resting peacefully on hoseok's lap while he has some paper in front of him, reading

it's an unexpected sight

but pretty and cute

you and yoongi at this point are the ones who haven't really interacted but that's mostly because both of you are the quiet type and needs a third person to get involved for you to interact

that third person is taehyung

the guy doesn't mean to but he ends up being your bridge and it's mostly because (he doesn't realize it but) he talks about you a lot to yoongi

and that's how yoongi gets to know a bit about you

it's odd sharing a living space with a man you haven't had a good chance to actually speak to but there's a day when everyone's out and taehyung calls you up to ask about getting groceries

and because you aren't allowed out by yourself (because you're still sorta new to all this and need to be able to defend yourself in case of emergencies), you have to ask one of the guys

turns out everyone's gone but yoongi who's actually sleeping in the middle of the living room, on the sofa

you almost revert to your introverted ways but know the guys would scold you harshly if you went out by yourself and it's also not a choice to delay grocery shopping because taehyung likes getting cranky so you can't disobey him either lmao

hence you wake yoongi up with lots of hesitation as well as pacing back and forth, contemplating whether to wake him or not

all the while yoongi's aware because how can he not? he's a professional criminal so obviously he can tell when someone's near him

but he pretends to stay asleep so you don't get embarrassed

it's cute

and when you finally work up the courage to wake him, he puts on his a good act pretending to have just woken up

and that's how the calm boy and shy girl relationship begins

also what's a gang au without some kidnapping?

and ofc it's you who gets kidnapped :D

it happens on a mission where you're with both hoseok and yoongi, connected by earpieces

the two of them are together on the field while you're elsewhere trying to collect some lethal herbs

now normally when things like this is going on, the enemies wouldn't care or see you as a threat but word got out that the new recruit is particularly good with poison and very knowledgeable

hence you all fall into their trap and in turn, you get disconnected from hoseok and yoongi

who're quick to freak out and contact namjoon

the enemies and you don't know just how much you mean to the group, they thought you were just someone they took in for no particular reason so it wouldn't even matter if you disappeared

but it turns out that's bullcrap and the boys have all come to care a lot about you

hence the response to the kidnapping wasn't received well

namjoon's a monster when people upset him and boy becomes lethal

it surprises even you when they come to your rescue looking quite upset

in the end you get saved and have a talk with jimin and jungkook who asks about how you feel about the guys

you don't give them a clear answer but to be honest they dont actually need it

they can tell

and so begins our mutual pining arc then eventual confession beginning with seokjin who does it subtly

he's in your research lab one day uttering the words "you make the cutest expression when things don't go your way"

it shouldn't matter that much but it flusters you and so you stutter out "w-what does that mean?"

"i'm just saying," seokjin shrugs, "i wouldn't mind if things took a turn between us"

"huh?"

"don't act dumb now, babygirl, you know what i mean"

then he walks out as if nothing happened

but the words stick to you. the words, his comment about you being cute, the babygirl

you've come to know the boys and understand that they're not the type who'll let just anyone in

and when you go to your two boys, dropping your face onto a pillow while "complaining" about what happened with seokjin, they can only laugh

which makes you more confused

this goes on for a few days (this push and pull) until it's namjoon who makes it clear on the day you get injured on a mission, a gash running along your leg from an enemy's knife

and namjoon's like "no one touches my girl and gets away with it"

obviously that comment didn't slip past you and you're still thinking about it when he carries you on his back on the way back home

"you called me your girl"

"something wrong with that?"

he's so bold and unapologetic it's almost annoying

"well...what about the others?"

"oh please, it's not as if they're not dying to finally make you ours"

"yours.." you utter, finding it a bit funny the first time you say it. you don't hate it tho, in fact, you actually like it. "hm, that's a funny way of confessing"

"would you like me to go on my knees and declare it outright instead?"

"no, no," you quickly deny, "that'll make me uncomfortable and awkward"

he laughs. "and your answer?"

the hold you have around his neck tightens a little more as you nuzzle up against him "hmm...i guess i wouldn't hate it. being yours, i mean"

“Y/N…”

When they call your name, you cry even more.

“I’m so sorry.” It’s the only thing they can say and the only thing they can utter as you cry and cry, letting out all the anger and fears and the last of control you had left in you.

They let you punch them on the chest, meeting every one of your fists without defiance because they know they deserve this. They left you without a word, no note, no nothing, just an empty living space with nothing left of them. You must have cried nights overthinking everything, wondering where it went wrong, what you did and how you could have fixed things. 

But there was nothing to fix, not when you did everything right and it was all their fault for leaving. It hurts them seeing you cry without even uttering anything harsh to them and it hurts them even more knowing they could have been the one to end you hours ago.

Jungkook could have pulled the trigger and they could have lost you forever. If it wasn’t for Namjoon’s kindness, they would have never gotten another chance to hold you, to apologize and repent for the things they did.

“So this is your new life now?” You say after a few more minutes of crying as you wipe your hand against your nose and when Jimin offers you a tissue, you let the snot release.

“..Yeah,” Jungkook replies with slight hesitation as he too wipes his tears away with his shirt.

“What are you?”

“Hitmen.”

“Hitmen…” Just as you predicted, you were indeed their target, meaning they had to eliminate you due to the fact that you knew of their existence. But because they didn’t have the heart to finish off the job, you’re now trapped in the life they built for themselves when they left you. Or perhaps it was already built and that’s why they had to leave. “So then this Namjoon guy..”

“The don.”

“The don,” you nod slowly, trying to take everything in. “And this is why you left?”

“Well…” You know there’s a deeper story but Jimin saves it for you and just nods. “Yeah.” He doesn’t need to give you information overload after all. One day you’ll come to understand it better but for now, all you need are the gists to everything.

“And..this whole…relationship? Uh..with them? Was this before you left me or—”

“No!” Jungkook quickly denies before you can finish. “No, it…it was never in the plans,” he explains slowly so that you can understand. “They had each other before we came into the picture and along the way, well…things happened and they decided to accept Jimin and I into the relationship.”

“We never meant to hurt you,” Jimin says, his words forming slowly in order to not make you upset. “Obviously along the way it was only inevitable you’d get hurt by our untold truth but even then…loving you—”

“Was the mistake.”

“No!” He shakes his head vehemently, desperate to help you understand. “Never, Y/N. Loving you was one of the most incredible thing that has ever happened to us. I promise I don’t regret ever falling in love with you.”

“What I regret was leaving without an explanation,” Jungkook says. “You didn’t deserve any of that.”

“We had to leave in order to keep you safe.”

“Though in the end our last target tying us to the light was you so inevitably, your name was written on the hitlist.”

So in the end, meeting Jungkook on the streets then was something he planned, not an accident or fate calling your name. Jungkook planned to end you then.

“I’m sorry,” he says, eyes glossy with tears as he does his best to hold it in. You don’t think you’ve ever seen Jungkook cry this much but you know that when he cries, he tends to yearn for physical touch and you see the way his hand reaches out to hold you. But it hesitates, shaky, and before anything can happen, he retreats them back to his side, balling his hands into fists. This is probably his way of wanting to keep you comfortable. “I didn’t want to kill you, I promise. I’m sorry I scared you and I’m sorry I pointed that gun at you. And I’m also sorry you’re now forced to live like us.”

“I know today’s been rough and you’ve had a lot to take in. You must be really tired.” Jimin tries to reach for your cheek but stops himself and resorts to just a head pat. “I’ll take you to your room and you can rest there. Unfortunately we don’t actually have a spare room so you’ll have to take ours for now. Can you walk?”

You try to take a stand with their help but even that is a bit difficult. Seokjin did say not to apply too much pressure on it until the swelling subsided so in the end, Jungkook has to take you in his arms and carry you out of the cold room.

By the time you reach a nice looking room, you’re already too tired to function. Today’s event has drained you.

“Please stay.” But even though you’re much too tired to do anything, you still have the strength left in you to feel your fears and anxiety rushing all throughout your body. “Don’t leave..please.”

They aren’t sure whether that’s due to your fear for your new profound life or your fear of them leaving once more but they stay as you ask, not having the heart within to push you away.

“We’ll stay,” Jungkook promises while Jimin gives you a gentle hand squeeze.

“You want to save her so badly but the only way to do that is by trapping her here.” Taehyung chuckles bitterly at those words.

“Now do you really think it’s better keeping her alive than letting her stay here? You want to do that to someone you care about?”

“Why don’t we ask the person in question?”

Their heads all turn your way when the question is proposed and you almost flinch at the sudden attention, not liking this one bit. When you meet the eyes of your two ex-boyfriends, they simply bite their lips uneasily as one of the others approaches you.

“What do you think?” Yoongi asks with a small tilt in his head. “Want to die or want to become a part of this? We kill people by the way, in case you haven’t noticed. So if you choose us over giving into a peaceful death, it’ll mean witnessing things you’ve never had to before. Cruel, nasty things. No one can protect your eyes from those things. Not even the two people you love.”

The two people you love.

He doesn’t know who you are nor do you think he’ll make an effort but something tells you Jungkook, Jimin, and they probably have a relationship going on. Maybe they left you for them, maybe they left for a whole different reason and fell in love with them later on, but either way, it seems your only decision is to either be a victim to death yourself or witness death before your eyes.

Both you don’t like.

But the man’s right, you love Jimin and Jungkook. It may be years since they left but you still care for them deeply even with everything going on. But how can you abandon your whole life just for this? How can you leave everything behind just for them? They left you. How’re you sure they won’t do it again?

“Your answer?” Yoongi prompts, a raise in his brow.

“Death,” you say, and it catches him off guard.

“Y/N–”

Taehyung laughs at your answer and it isn’t the type of laugh that’s taunting or menacing. It’s the sort of laugh where he’s actually doubling over and finding this genuinely funny. “Honestly that was expected. You didn’t actually think she’d choose this life for you, did you? Last I heard you abandoned her and gave her no explanation.”

The two of them glare at him but he continues laughing without a care.

“Well, you heard the girl,” Seokjin says and on cue, Hoseok takes his gun out, feet making their way over to you.

You flinch at the sight and Jimin and Jungkook panic.

“Wait.”

At the command of the don, Hoseok hovers his gun in the air, not moving an inch. You watch as Namjoon stands from his seat, intriguing eyes narrowed your way.

“She’s interesting, keep her alive. And besides, these two will be wailing in regret and we don’t really want to see tears shedding from their eyes now do we?” He pats both Jimin and Jungkook on the shoulders as he passes them. “Plus you have a few things to say to them, don’t you, little one?”

When you don’t give him a response, Namjoon simply walks off without another word, leaving Seokjin to approach you as he takes his knife out and cuts away the ropes that were bounded to your ankles. His touch is gentle when he grazes along the swell on your right foot just as your ex-lovers rush over to your side.

“Jung–”

Before you can utter another word, someone takes ahold of you from the back, a palm covering your mouth with something hard pointing right at your temple.

“Don’t scream,” you hear Jungkook’s voice right in your ear and you shiver in fear as you realize he has a gun pointed at your head.

Jungkook? You want to call out to him, to ask what’s happening, but the grip he has on you is too tight and you’re too scared to make a single movement with the gun pointed at your head. 

A gun held by your ex-boyfriend.

So many questions swarming in your head, rushing like bees working in a hive, one after the other coming in and out without rest. What’s Jungkook doing? Why does he have a gun on your head? Does he want to kill you? Will he kill you? But why? What’s the meaning of this? You haven’t seen him in ages and this is how he welcomes you back? 

“I’ll make this as painless as possible, okay?” You hear him say and hear the beat of your heart accelerating even more. He feels you tremble against him. “I’m sorry, I have nothing against you, it’s just that you know too much about me and…I promise I gave you more time than needed. You’re the last one, Y/N, and I…”

What is he saying? You’re the last one? The last one on his hit list?

“I’m sorry,” he whispers once more and tears escape your eyes as you close them tight, feeling the tip of the gun held closer to your head.

You know the trigger is coming.

“Jungkook stop!”

Suddenly there’s a voice, another voice, another familiar voice.

And when you open your eyes in anticipation and fear, your other ex-boyfriend who was just as dear to your heart stands right before the two of you. Park Jimin right in the flesh, your other lover who left you all the same, leaving with Jungkook.

It’s them.

“I know you don’t want to do this,” Jimin says, voice addressed solely to Jungkook.

“I have to, hyung. We…we have to.” 

We?

One moment the two of them packed their things up and left you alone without any sort of explanation, leaving you to build up insecurities out of insecurities, wondering what went wrong, why they both left, and why they both did it together. And the next they’re back in your life, one of them pointing a gun at you, the other begging him to stop.

“No we don’t,” Jimin says, his voice insistent, panicked, fearful. “We can talk to Namjoon about this, I’m sure it’ll be alright. He’ll come to love her just the way we do. It’ll be fine.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because he loves us.”

Loves.

You’re so confused.

“Please Jungkook…before you regret it for the rest of your life.”

Behind you, you hear a sniffle as the gun trembles against your head and when you bravely look over to your side, you realize Jungkook’s crying. He’s crying as he holds you up against him, knowing just minutes before he had been ready to pull the trigger right on you.

“It’s okay,” Jimin says, now mere inches away as he takes the gun away and brushes a tear away from Jungkook’s eye. You’re not sure what’s happening but once Jimin has his eyes on you, the memories of your old love return to you in a flashing wave and you feel your nostrils thickening. 

“Hey babygirl,” he speaks as if he’d gone off to vacation for a few weeks and not left you for years. A tear falls from your eye and Jimin brings a hand up to your cheek, a rueful smile on his lips. "Do you think even the worst people can change? That anybody can be a good person if they just try?"

“..What?” Something sharp is felt against your skin and when you look down at your arm, you realize he’s injected something into you. You look back up at him, fear and panic in your eyes. “J-Jimin–”

Didn’t he just beg Jungkook not to kill you?

“It’s alright now. It’s just a sleeping dose. You’ll wake up in half an hour.”

That’s the last thing you hear before you fall limply into his arms.