Rating: T (to go up later)
Tags: modern/urban fantasy, set in a magical new york city, namjoon is a dragon shifter, pixie taehyung, mermaid jungkook, elf jin, fox hybrid Hoseok, other members tbd, human original character, other original characters added
It's rush hour, and the subway platform is packed with bodies, the underground station warm despite the autumn chill.
Yue stands near a support beam, headphones in, scrolling on her phone idly.
News headlines flash past her eyes as she scrolls.
Brutal attack on dragon in Taipei, victim in critical condition, reads the first one.
New medicinal herb discovered, potentially able to revolutionize cancer treatments, says the next.
Yue groans internally. Yet another plant to learn about in botany class.
New anti-deforestation legislation passed in Brazil, huge win for pixies all over the world.
Ancient dragon artifact stolen, suspect remains unidentified.
Accidental discovery of powerful attack magic causes explosion, two confirmed dead.
On and on the headlines go, Yue not paying particular attention to any of them.
The overhead speakers ding.
"There is an uptown one train to Times Square: 42nd street approaching the station. Please stand away from the platform edge."
The concrete starts to rumble under her feet as the train approaches, loud and all-consuming, bringing with it a rush of cool autumn wind. The brakes squeal as it comes to a stop.
The train's doors open and people spill out, some holding small children by the hand, others holding skateboards or grocery bags or duffel bags.
Yue stands near the doors, trying her best to let people off first before entering herself.
It is rush hour, though, and she mentally curses herself for not getting this particular errand done earlier in the day.
A young elf looks up at her curiously as he holds his mother's hand, walking past quickly amid the rush of people.
She's finally able to get onto the train, grabbing hold of a bar to steady herself, standing room only as the seats are all taken.
"Stand clear of the closing doors, please." The voiceover plays, a ding sounding before the doors close.
With a lurch that makes some of the standing passengers stumble- probably tourists, she thinks with a roll of her eyes- the train pulls out of the station.
She only needs to take the train six or so stops, just to a family friend's potion shop to get some herbs for an assignment.
I really should have done this earlier, she thinks, groaning internally as the train's jostling bumps her into an older, sweaty-looking elf man who reeks of body odor.
The subway is always loud as it clatters its way down the tracks, which is why most prefer to use headphones. Speakers are not allowed on public transport, something that Yue thanks the city lawmakers for every single day.
Her phone buzzes in her hand.
Ayesha: you coming to the party tomorrow?
Yue grimaces. The thought of a college party is not exactly her cup of tea, but.
So maybe she'd been feeling the weight of loneliness and existential dread weighing her down recently. So maybe those ugly tendrils of depression growing in her chest had rooted into the ground, rendering her immobile and helpless, draining her of life unless she snipped them back herself. So maybe she was taking this metaphor to new and creepy levels.
Her roommate Lyla was always out or busy with something, hardly giving them a chance to hang out or even really get to know each other at all.
She didn't have a boyfriend. Her ex was some elf exchange student who constantly turned his nose up at human customs. It was honestly a miracle they got together in the first place.
Either way. Something needed to change.
Yue was ready to take that step.
But she hated parties. Especially ones like the one Ayesha's talking about, with frat houses packed to the brim with people, music so loud you had to shout to be heard, bottom-shelf alcohol flowing freely.
Yue: uuuugh you know i hate parties.
Ayesha: Girl, you need to let loose a little. You don't have anything else going on, do you?
Time passes like that, the subway chugging along the tracks, until:
"This stop is: Penn Station: 34th street."
Yue shuffles her way to the doors, along with a significant portion of the passengers in the cabin.
The train lists, brakes squealing as it slows to a stop.
The doors open with a ding, and Yue joins the sea of people flowing onto the platform.
She walks past the shops and restaurants and boutiques built into the station as she makes her way up to street level, and her mind starts to wander.
The assignment she needs the herbs for is a love potion.
Her professor, an elf woman from Sweden with short purple hair who wears a lot of black, had said:
"Love potions are tricky. A true love potion- one that instantly makes the person fall in love with no drawbacks- doesn't exist. Love potions exist in a bit of a moral grey area, so it's important to go into depth with your client exactly what effect is desired, and- to get every single component right the first time. A badly made potion can have disastrous consequences."
She emerges to street level and it's like everything fades in slow motion, the lights and sounds and smells of the city.
The streets are bustling with people, waves of chatter rolling over her as they go about their day.
A punk-looking naga kid with piercings and a neon green mohawk skateboards past, weaving around people, blasting obnoxiously loud metal music from a speaker. An older elf woman shoots him a dirty look.
The shop is cozy, with dark wood paneling and frosted glass windows. Plants and herbs overflow from terra cotta flowerpots artfully staged on wood tables and the concrete floor. Lining the walls are long dark wood shelves packed with glass potion bottles filled with various glowing liquids. Small metal plaques with the items' respective descriptions label the shelves.
The cashier's counter is toward the back of the shop, a few cauldrons bubbling behind the desk in an Employees Only area. The aroma is pleasant, a faint lavender and rose scent coming from the steam rising from the cauldron.
"We'll be with you in just a moment!" A male voice calls from the back.
"Treating me like a regular customer? I'm shocked." Yue's voice is full of mirth.
"Oh, it's you." The voice falls flat, dropping the fake-nice pretense. "Just a minute."
After some shuffling noises, a pale pink-haired elf man emerges from behind a curtain. He smiles wide upon seeing Yue, wiping his hands on his leather apron.
"How's my least favorite apprentice?"
"Doing great, Jin. You have that order I put in?"
"Ah, yes. The ingredients for..... a love potion, correct? Very tricky."
"That's the one. Hopefully the damn thing cooperates this time," she mutters, remembering the time she had screwed up a potion so imperceptibly that it had looked and smelled almost identical- only the taste was off, something so vile that she immediately gagged and threw up upon it hitting her tongue.
"Just a minute. Let me grab the stuff for your order."
The man putzes around the shop for a bit, snipping leaves from a few plants and grabbing a few things from a few bins behind the counter as well.
"Anything fun happen recently? I remember my college days." Jin sighs, wistfully. "So full of life."
"Could be better." Yue leans against the counter, pursing her lips. "There's a party coming up. Might go."
Jin's eyebrows shoot up. "Really? You don't seem like the partying type. No offense." He sniffs. "Something happen?"
"....You could say that."
The party is loud, the house booming with bass before Yue even steps through the front door.
Yue paused on the lawn, watching the glowing purple magic lights pulse in time with the bass as if the house itself was breathing. Already, she regretted coming.
But she had had enough of staying home alone, her roommate absent, studying material she already knew.
"Yue!" A dark-skinned elf with purple locs greets her. She wears a flowy kimono over a pair of denim shorts and a crop top, an outfit that doesn't seem to fit the autumn chill. Her drink is sloshing over the rim of the red cup she holds as she gestures for her to come in. She doesn't seem to care.
"Surprised to see you here. You don't strike me as the partying type." The elf twirls a lock around her finger, leaning against the door.
"Yeah, well." Yue shrugs. "Here I am."
She takes in the scene of the party, elves and mermaids and naga and pixies and hybrids, all illuminated by the pulse and glow of the magical dance floor someone had spelled that pulsed in time with the music.
And there she was. A human. Completely unremarkable.
Ayesha notices her expression.
"Hey now, none of that. This will be good for you. Okay?" She smiles. "Let's get you a drink, hm?"
The elf shows her to the kitchen, which is laid out with a variety of bottom shelf alcohol and different mixers, as well as a few colorful potions in plastic water bottles- clearly reused.
A bright green one labeled simply stamina potion in what seems to be an old Gatorade bottle.
Yue shudders at the possible uses for that particular one.
'30 minute self-confidence enhancement- use at your own risk!' says the scrawled label on a bottle of glowing purple liquid.
She fixes herself a rum and coke, ignoring the potions. She does, however, add a second shot of rum.
Ayesha watches, raising an eyebrow in a silent question.
Yue narrows her eyes. "Not a single word."
The elf just shrugs, gold earrings swinging with the movement.
She takes a sip and immediately grimaces at the taste.
She spots a few friends, a cheery red-haired fox hybrid- Hoseok, her brain eventually supplies- waves at Yue as she chats animatedly with a few classmates standing around.
She recognizes the black and blue-haired man with the gills as Jungkook, a mermaid friend she'd met a few months ago in her prerequisite science class.
Yue notices a red haired man in the group. He's the only one she doesn't know.
He stands tall, moderately built. He wears a black fitted shirt and black cargo pants. The shirt is fitted enough that Yue can see the slight swell of muscle beneath it.
As she's watching, he laughs at something. His laugh is loud and warm, the red scales at his collarbone catching the party lights.
Ayesha follows her gaze. "Namjoon? I dunno, some new guy. Heard he's a dragon."
"Wow, really? I thought they rarely come to the city." Yue sips her drink.
"I don't know the specifics, but he's got some kind of family drama going on."
"He's pretty new, just joined at the beginning of this semester, but I heard he's a double major."
"Right? He's a cutie, too."
Ayesha nudges her. She grins wickedly.
"Is that interest I hear?"
"Shut up. He's cute, that's all." Yue sips her drink.
"You should talk to him! You could use a little fun, you know."
The elf lowers her voice.
"Plus, I heard dragons are very good in bed."
"Shut the fuck up you piece of-"
Yue's hiss is cut off by the approach of a familiar man- with a certain scaly red haired man in tow.
Be normal, Yue. He's just a guy. You've talked to plenty of them before.
"Hey Jungkook. How's it going?" Ayesha smiles, but it's forced.
The mermaid's smile drops as soon as he notices their facial expressions.
"Am I interrupting something?" He asks, looking between them, turquoise scales at his jaw glimmering in the low light.
"No, no of course not." Yue elbows Ayesha, who is trying hard not to laugh.
"......Okay?" Jungkook looks confused, but thankfully decides to drop it.
"Anyway. This is Namjoon, he's in one of my pre-rec classes."
The dragon moves out from behind Jungkook with a smile.
"Hey, nice to meet you guys."
Seeing him up close is somehow even more overwhelming.
The dragon is tall, taller than all of them, even Ayesha. He's Asian, with almond eyes and golden honey skin. He's got a good amount of muscle, but isn't totally shredded. There's a smattering of red scales all over his body, and he has long black nails that almost resemble claws.
There's a brief awkward moment where he's not sure whether to bow or shake hands. He looks flustered, but quickly recovers, choosing instead to do neither.
They exchange introductions and settle into easy conversation. Namjoon's double majoring in human anthropology and English, earning a low whistle from Ayesha upon hearing it.
"Damn. So you're one of the smart kids?"
The dragon scratches his neck, bashful.
"Not really. I mean, it's mostly just a lot of reading."
"Nah, don't be humble." Jungkook chimes in.
"This guy's amazing. He's at the top of our class."
Namjoon smiles wide, revealing prominent dimples.
Ayesha nudges her again, and Yue realizes she's been silent this whole time.
She scrambles for something to talk about.
Grasping for the easiest answer, she blurts: "So where are you from, Namjoon?"
"Korea. My family is from the mountains. They're... traditional." He sighs. "They were against me coming to school here. They keep to themselves, mostly."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
He shakes his head, dismissive. "What about you?"
"China. A city near Shanghai. Was born there, but then my family and I moved here."
"Ah." His eyes brighten. "You speak Mandarin, then?"
"I can understand, but my speaking skills are horrendous. Please don't make me speak Mandarin right now." She laughs, taking a sip of her drink.
"No worries." He has no trace of an accent. Yue wonders briefly how long ago he came to the States.
The conversation carries on similarly. Namjoon is intentionally vague about his family background, giving off the distinct sense that he doesn't want to get into specifics.
The topic turns to classes, and Yue groans when someone mentions an upcoming exam.
"You guys, we're literally at a party. Can we talk about literally anything other than class right now?"
Jungkook hums in agreement, taking a long drink.
Namjoon shrugs. "I actually kind of like my classes."
The dragon elbows him good-naturedly, and
From across the living room, a red-haired Hoseok beckons them over.
"Oh, hey." Ayesha waves back.
"It was really nice to meet you, Namjoon. Right, Yue?"
Yue and Namjoon exchange glances. She nods.
"Oh- yeah, nice to meet you. See you around?"
The dragon nods, smiling wide and oh.
There are those dimples again.
Yue chews on her bottom lip, smiling softly.
They leave the conversation, but not without Namjoon giving her one last fleeting glance.
Ayesha waits until they're out of earshot to elbow Yue. Again.
"He was cute, wasn't he." It's not a question.
"Shut up. I just barely met the guy."
Ayesha stares at her knowingly, her bright green eyes boring holes into the other girl. Yue stares back.
"Fine." She relents. "Yes, he was cute. Happy?"
The elf looks at her with what can only be described as mischief in her eyes.
They go over to Hoseok, who makes eyes at them from the couch.
Before Yue can stop Ayesha, the elf's eyes go wide. "Who?" She says in faux smugness. "The hot new guy Yue was talking to?" She trades a look with Hoseok, who gasps.
The glint in the fox's eyes is undeniable. Yue knows something absolutely unhinged is about to come out of his mouth.
"Oooooh. Yue, you need to get a piece of that!"
"I swear to god I'm going to kill both of you."
They just laugh. Yue feels the mortification creep up her cheeks.
"He....seems nice," the human finally settles on with a hum.
"Ugh, you're so boring. Is he at least hot?"
Ayesha squints, a wide smirk on her face. "Yeah, Yue. Is he?" She raises an eyebrow.
"You guys. I literally just met the guy." She huffs.
"It's not like you weren't also there, Ayesha."
"It's different. I'm not the one that's into him."
"Who even said I was into him?" Her tone is high pitched, indignant.
They level her with a look, unamused. Hoseok's fox ear flicks irritatedly.
Yue stands her ground for a moment, staring back at them straight-faced, but then- they all dissolve into laughter.
So, as it turns out, this English class is full of people from all over who speak three or four languages. Yue feels distinctly out of her element, with one and a half (English and second grade level Mandarin) under her belt.
Namjoon shows up in his Essentials hoodie and sweats, looking unreasonably attractive even all dressed down.
Namjoon chats animatedly in what she assumes is Japanese, then switches seamlessly between it and what sounds like Korean before turning back to her in English.
"Woah, New York is so crazy multicultural. I mean, I had heard about it, but it's different seeing it in person."
"It's like no other place on earth." She smiles, tight-lipped, as they take out their respective notes.
From a backpack he pulls out a notebook. It's large, almost sketchbook-sized, bound with black leather and embossed with the Moleskine logo. It's clearly well loved, pages full of dense writing as he flips to a blank page.
As Yue looks around, she notices he's one of the only students taking notes on paper. Almost everyone else in the lecture hall is pulling out laptops and tablets.
She nudges him. "How come you take notes on paper?"
"I retain it better." He shrugs. "Plus, it's somehow more aesthetic."
He frowns, and is surely about to offer a mildly offended retort when their professor walks in, a stern-looking man- an older husky hybrid with a beard- and class starts.
They're assigned an in depth analysis paper on the book 1984 and are asked to partner up. Namjoon picks her- to no one's surprise- and Yue cheers internally.
Because, from what she's heard, this guy knows his contemporary literature.
"Isn't this kinda giving us an unfair advantage? I mean, you read this kind of stuff for fun." She mumbles.
"Haven't most of you guys read this in high school, anyway?"
They get to researching, (turns out Namjoon does, in fact, own a laptop for research,) but Yue can't seem to concentrate.
All he's doing is reading on his laptop, but.
He mouths the words as he reads, plush lips moving silently, brow knit in concentration. His warm skin is almost like caramel, with a mole on his cheek she'd never really noticed before. The red scales on the side of his neck reflect the light, making them almost shimmer. And those eyes, amber and almost glowing...
Yue feels her breath catch.
What the hell, he's gorgeous.
The insecurity rears its ugly head again, sitting like a stone in the pit of her stomach.
Why on earth would he be into me?
She can feel the imminent self-doubt spiral she's about to go down, but-
She startles. He's looking up at her, inquisitive.
They make slow progress on their work, chatting idly as they jot down notes and make a Google Doc.
He has to get her email to add her to the doc. It's stupid, but. For some reason, it feels like a big deal.
God, why does that feel like butterflies in her stomach?
Such a ridiculous cliche.
"Fuckass butterflies." She mumbles under her breath.
"Oh, n-nothing." Please if God is real I'll be allowed to fade from existence right now.
Class ends shortly after, and they start packing up their stuff as the lecture hall fills with chatter and laughter.
Yue, once again, notices. Like a creep.
She notices his bag, a brown leather messenger bag that looks handmade. It's full of pen marks on the inside lining.
She notices his stationary, a cute cactus pen in his pencil case when he opens it to put his stuff away.
They enter the library, a large but still cozy place with vaulted ceilings, red brick walls, and plenty of reading nooks, tables, and study rooms.
They set up in a quiet corner, the scent of coffee wafting towards them from a group of tired-looking elf students sitting nearby, all hunched over their computers, typing frantically.
The smell makes Yue mildly nauseous, and she suddenly realizes she hasn't eaten at all today.
She checks her phone. 2:14pm, it reads.
She knows she's going to get a headache if she doesn't eat something soon, but.
She won't be able to stomach much in this state. But Yue won't be able to get anything done if she does get a headache.
It must have been showing on her face, because-
"Something wrong?" Namjoon says, looking up from his laptop.
Yue debates for a second if she should tell him, but-
"Oh, I almost forgot. Have you eaten? I was gonna go grab something from the vending machine. I always get hungry after class. Want anything?"
She stares. How did he know?
"Oh, um. Water and a bag of Sunchips would be nice, actually. Here, lemme..."
She goes to dig in her bag for her wallet, but-
"Don't worry about it. I got it."
He flashes that bright smile again, shooting her finger guns as he gets up to head to the vending machines.
She sags back into her chair, watching his tall figure as he leaves.
She turns to dig in her tote bag again, this time for the Tylenol she usually carries to keep the impending headache at bay, but.
Keys. Notepad. Key card. Phone. Pen case. Tablet. Headphones. Scrunchie. Tampon pouch. Lip gloss.
No Tylenol. Not even a stray pill.
She considers just powering through, but is interrupted by the dragon's return.
"My liege." He jokes, setting down a bottle of smartwater and a bag of sunchips.
Yue can't help but smile. Of course he would buy her the more expensive water brand.
He rips open a packet of Oreos, holding one in his mouth for a moment as he does something on his laptop before chomping it in one bite.
He eats like a man starved. Fast and messy.
I bet that's how he kisses, too.
Her eyes widen and she quickly dispels the thought.
There's an ache forming behind her eyes, and she blinks hard.
"Oh, by the way. Do you happen to have any painkillers? I can feel a headache coming on."
"Sure." He digs in his leather bag for a bit, coming back with a white plastic bottle.
"I carry 'em for muscle pains. My shoulder hurts sometimes after I transform."
What the hell are the odds?
She takes two pills with some water.
After that, Yue is finally able to focus and they get some work done.
As they're wrapping up, saving their work, Namjoon stands, bending over as he puts his stuff away.
"Do you want to get lunch after this? I'm free if you are." He asks.
Yue's almost done picking up, about to leave, but she stops in her tracks.
"Are you asking me on a date, Joonie?"
He whips his head up so fast it looks painful.
On seeing the panicked look on his face, she backtracks. "Kidding. I'm kidding. It doesn't have to be a date."
His eyes widen, and she snorts.
"Kidding. Again. Bye, Namjoon." She waves, smiling, starting the short walk to the exit.
"Oh, uh s-see ya!" Namjoon waves back, looking so confused.
