PROJECT SUNSHINE â CHAPTER EIGHTY-SIX: BOYS DONâT CRY
summary: steve harrington x lab!oc. series rewrite-ish | read on Ao3
when another product of Hawkins National Laboratory escaped a long-survived nightmare alongside her sister, she crashed into one unsuspecting teenage boy and dragged him deeper into the dark mysteries that made up their hometown.
word count. 4k || masterlist
warnings: cannon typical violence, child abuse, horror, gore, and depictions of mental illness. season 5 will stray the furthest from canon events!
Sunshine sat in the basement of the radio station with a babbling Anne on her thigh as she listened alongside Joyce for Hopperâs confirmation that he had made it safely into the Upside Down. They both had their attention fixed on the radio on the table, but Joyce was too anxious to sit in the empty seat behind her.Â
Steve, Dustin, and Jonathan took the stationâs van to track Hopper on their side as he moved through the Upside Down.Â
The rest of the party, along with Kali and Eddie, gathered around the whiteboard. The kids quietly chatted amongst themselves and got ready to note anything odd Hopper reported back.Â
Sunshine turned her attention onto the kids, feeling the lingering tension between them following Luke, El, and Willâs trip into the Void and their encounter with Vecna. Will had taken a similar posture to Luke; his body curled into itself as if he was scared of anyone venturing too close.Â
After his possession, they believed Willâs ties to the Mind Flayer had been severed. That, however, proved to be untrue the following summer when Will felt its presence regain strength as the Gate was reopened. Then, after their battle against the solid form of the Mind Flayer at Starcourt, they hoped the monster was done and gone for good. But nothing could ever be that simple, not for them, at least. A piece of the Mind Flayer had infected Henry Creel long before it got its hands on Will. That piece of the Mind Flayer was very much alive inside of the man-turned monster, and a piece of it still lingered inside of Will too. It was those two pieces that connected Will to Vecna, both of them having been infected by it.Â
Mike called what happened to Will inside the Void âhijacking.â Willâs mind had been momentarily hijacked by Vecna, allowing the monster to control him. Why Vecna used Will to go after Luke specifically, no one was sure of. El had more history with both the Mind Flayer and Henry, but Luke had posited that it was because El was the harder target. If Vecna had been recovering after their fight over a year ago, that would make sense.Â
Will was clearly terrified of getting hijacked outside of the Void and hurting someone else. He was so gentle, too kind for all that heâd been through. The weight of hurting Luke was heavy on his shoulders. Yet, his friends kept him from crumbling. They showed through their actions that they werenât scared of Will. They wanted to help him. They needed to. Finding Vecna before he found them again was the only way they knew how to do that.Â
But the monster, even after finally showing his face after over a year, was still elusive. They hoped that Crawl would bring them closer, but it was so uncertain; everything was so uncertain.Â
âThe Old Man is en route!â said Robin over the radio. She and Tamera were on lookout duty that night, a task usually done by Lucas and Mike, but the two wanted to stay close to Will that night, so the girls volunteered for the job. They watched from the top of the church's bell tower, which gave the perfect view into the military base, for Hopper to sneak into one of the cargo trucks for a ride into the Upside Down.Â
Over Sunshineâs shoulder, Nancy tapped her foot against the concrete floor repeatedly as her eyes were glued to her watch. She knew, down to the second, the amount of time it took for one of the cargo trucks to pass through the Gate hidden behind the walls of the base, and to travel the route to what they recently figured out was to the Upside Down base. Hopper would jump out of the truck not long after passing through the Gate and trek to the section he was set to search during that Crawl.Â
According to the information that Murray was able to, somehow, get his hands on, the delivery of supplies would take an hour. That gave Hopper just enough time to search the next square on their map for any sign of Vecna.Â
A couple of minutes passed before Dustinâs voice sounded from the radio.Â
âWe got him. Headed west now. Over.âÂ
Everyone let out a collective breath of relief. Sunshine glanced down at Anne, whose gaze flickered around the room in curiosity.Â
âNow we wait,â Nancy said more to herself than anyone. She pulled up a chair on the other side of Sunshine and sat, drawing Anneâs attention. Nancy greeted her with a small smile and wave. âSomeoneâs up late.âÂ
Sunshine sighed. âSomeone doesnât like to be left out of all the excitement.â Anne refused to sleep when the basement was full of people. It was like she knew something was going on and she didnât want to miss out. Even when Sunshine or anyone tried to get her to go to sleep upstairs, in the dark and quiet, Anne fussed until she was back in the action. Sunshine supposed it was a good thing she liked being around people, but she could see the little girl fighting off sleep with each passing minute.Â
âHolly used to be like that,â Nancy said. âShe still can be, sometimes.â A small frown formed on her lips, and she shook her head. âI thought all of this would be over before she was old enough to ask questions about what is wrong with this place.âÂ
Sunshine shifted in her seat, facing Nancy. âSheâs asking questions?âÂ
âHow could she now?â Nancy replied, a humorless laugh punctuating her sentence. âShe rides her bike to school every morning with Will and Mike, past a military base where the library used to be. She asked to go to our auntâs house on Lake Michigan for her birthday this year, but our mom had to explain why we arenât allowed to leave town yet.â She paused and lowered her voice so only Sunshine could hear her. âHer room is between Mikeâs and mine. How do you explain to your little sister why you and your brother wake up screaming sometimes?âÂ
Sunshineâs heart ached as she took in the sadness in her friendâs face. Using her free hand, not holding Anne, and grasped Nancyâs and squeezed it in what little reassurance she could offer. âYou canât,â she said. âBut youâre doing everything you can to protect her so she doesnât do the same. Thatâs something, Nancy.âÂ
With a tired sigh, Nancy leaned sideways into Sunshine, resting her head on the girlâs shoulder. âI wish I could have protected Mike from it.âÂ
âYouâre trying to keep him safe now. Youâve been trying since this whole thing started.âÂ
âIt wasnât enough.âÂ
Sunshine rested her head against Nancyâs. âIt has to be,â she said. âItâs hard protecting the people we love, especially when they want to protect you and their friends just as badly.âÂ
Nancy just hummed in response. There wasnât much else to say. They all were in an impossible space, trying so hard to save the people they loved, with no real guarantee itâll work.Â
âShit!â A loud hiss startled Sunshine upright. From across the room, Leia nearly tripped over her shoes as she moved toward the desk. A box of tissues sat on the corner, and Leia hastily grabbed a handful. A small drop of blood stained the front of her white shirt.Â
âAre you okay?â Sunshine asked her sister. Leia nodded as she pressed the tissue against her nose.Â
âDid you just use your powers?â asked Nancy.Â
Leia hesitated before she nodded again. âMike, uh, startled me. I slipped for a second.âÂ
âSlippedâ, as in lost brief control of her abilities. But Sunshine hadnât noticed the lights flicker or the radio crackle with static, which was often a result of Leia using her abilities, accidentally or intentionally. Maybe Sunshine just missed it.Â
Wiping the last bit of blood from her nose, Leia tossed the tissue into the waste basket and hurried back to the kids without another word.Â
Sunshineâs attention was pulled onto Anne as she let out a whinny cry. âWell, if you didnât fight sleep so hard, we wouldnât be crying, now, would we?â she said as she stood up from her seat and headed upstairs with the hope of finally getting Anne to sleep for the night.Â
The Crawl had been a success in terms of a smooth entrance and exit for Hopper, but he cleared another square of their map without finding anything.Â
About halfway through the Crawl, Sunshine got Anne to fall asleep and eventually returned her to her crib after the basement cleared out.Â
Steve stayed behind after returning, and he and Sunshine enjoyed a rare moment alone on the rooftop.Â
The night had long settled in, and the chill of fall was making itself at home. Sunshine had changed into a set of pajamas that Steve had brought from her house. Her mom had packed her a bag, complete with a container of cookies and another letter. Theyâd been exchanging letters since Sunshineâs return, which mostly consisted of her reassuring her parents that she was alright.Â
The soft t-shirt she wore didnât exactly protect her from the dropping temperatures, but she was too comfortable with her head resting in Steveâs lap to get up. An involuntary shiver ran through her, which he noticed immediately; Steve had been keeping a close eye on her since she returned. He shrugged off his zip-up and placed it over her like a blanket.Â
She gazed up at him, his hair gently getting messy by the breeze and his features more relaxed than usual. âNow youâre going to be cold,â she said.Â
He shook his head, lifting his chin to the starry sky like he was taking in the cool weather happily. âNah. Iâm not the one shivering.âÂ
The scene felt normal. So normal that Sunshine almost felt like she hadnât been gone. It was in moments like that one where she could almost forget. But then she became very aware that she couldnât feel the tickle of hair on the back of her neck, and phantom pain crept through her bones. The memories were like greedy hands, eager to take hold of her and drag her right back under water.Â
A soft sigh fell from her lips before she could stop it.Â
âWhatâs on your mind, my Sunshine?â asked Steve, his voice impossibly soft. She wanted to melt into him.Â
âI just wish I felt more like myself. I think I could do more if I did.âÂ
Steve brought his hand to the side of her face, holding her with a gentle touch. âYou donât need to do any more than you already are,â he said. âNo one expects more from you.âÂ
âI know. But I do.âÂ
He was quiet for a moment; his face pinched in deep thought. He moved his hand from her face and patted her shoulder, prompting her to sit up. Sunshine watched him with a curious gaze as he grabbed a bag of candy they had brought to the roof to snack on. He pulled off the zip tie that kept the bag closed, and with a look of intense concentration, he twisted it into a loop before he held it up.Â
âWhatâs that?âÂ
âA promise,â he said simply. âAfter this is all over, and thereâs no more evil governments after us or mind-screwing monsters, you, Sunshine, will never feel like the whole world is on your shoulders. Thatâs my promise to you.âÂ
Tears welled up in her golden eyes. She wasnât sure that was really something he could promise, but the sincerity on his face and in his voice gave her no choice but to believe him. She chuckled wetly as she gazed at him with all the love in her heart.Â
âThatâs a big promise.âÂ
âYeah, well, if thereâs anyone who deserves a big promise, itâs you.â He shrugged, like what he was saying was so casual, so easy. âYou have me, Sunshine. Forever. If you want me.âÂ
Sunshine was quick to throw her arms around him, and he wasted no time embracing her back. He held her with both a gentleness and a fierceness, like he wasnât going to let someone take her again. Sunshine felt safe with him; she always had, even in the most dire of situations. And he saw her, really saw her, not as some marvel of science, but a marvel of a girl who loved him.Â
âI want you forever, Steve,â she whispered into his shoulder.Â
âWhew,â he breathed out before he laughed, almost nervously.Â
He leaned back with a smile that was contagious. With the zip tie still pinched between his fingers, he held it out to her. âWhat do you say? If the world doesnât end here soon, want to marry me?âÂ
Sunshine couldnât help the laugh that bubbled past her lips, something so young and sweet. They really were just two kids, nearing the end of the teenage years with far too much baggage. And while Sunshine had spent most of her childhood not feeling like a kid, with Steve, it came back to her. Around him, she was that little girl running wild and free, not scared of what lurked in the woods or hid in the treetops. No, with him, she was the little girl who climbed the branches toward the sky and picked wildflowers. She wanted to feel like that forever, and with him, she would.Â
âOf course I do.âÂ
He beamed brighter than the moon overhead and slipped the zip tie ring onto her left handâs ring finger. It was an odd shape and silly; it was perfect.Â
âIf my mom knew I just proposed to you with a zip tie, sheâd kill me,â he joked. âI promise, Iâll find you a real ring, something almost as pretty as you.â He leaned forward, still holding her hand, and pressed a kiss to her nose.Â
With a shake of her head, Sunshine grasped the sides of his face and kissed his lips under the twinkle of stars that seemed to push their way out from behind the cloud cover just for them.Â
Sunshine could have fallen asleep on the roof, lying with her head on Steveâs chest and his hand tracing patterns on her back. The rhythmic thump of his heart lulled her eyes to a close, but as the early hours of the morning neared, they knew they needed to get some actual sleep somewhere a little more comfortable.Â
They stood to their feet and readied to head back inside. The night had grown even colder. Sunshine had slipped her arms into Steveâs zip-up and went to keep her hands warm in the pockets, but she touched something inside the right pocket.Â
She pulled out what she thought was just a piece of trash, a crumpled-up napkin. But before she could shove it back into the pocket, she noticed smudges of red that stained the napkin.Â
Steve paused at the door to the roof and made a face when he saw what she was looking at. âOh, gross. Sorry,â he said. âDustinâs nose started bleeding on our Crawl tonight, and I knew if I left the trash behind, Iâd get an earful from Robin. I meant to throw that away.âÂ
âDustin got a bloody nose?â Sunshine said, unable to hide the rush of panic from flooding her face.Â
âHe said itâs from when those assholes roughed him, Lucas, and Mike up,â Steve said, attempting to ease her growing worry.Â
She glanced back down at the napkin dotted with blood. âHeâs sure?âÂ
Steve nodded. âHe sounded pretty sure, yeah.â He held out his hand, and she passed off the napkin. âDonât worry, Iâm keepinâ an eye on him. I promise."Â
With a nod, she followed him back inside the radio station.Â
[...]
Mike tried not to roll his eyes as he lifted a full bag of garbage from the trashcan, but it was a reflex he couldnât help. His dad made some dry comment about him finally helping out around the house. The chores around the house had doubled since the Byers started crashing with them, but Mike didnât mind that part. What he hated was how his dad liked to act like he did nothing to help because he forgot to take the trash out a couple times. God forbid it slipped his mind between school and trying to stop some fucking monster from ending their world.Â
If the Byers werenât there, Mike probably would have shot back with some shitty comment that got him sent to his room, or one of those looks from his mom that made his stomach hurt with guilt. But Joyce was helping Karen wash dishes, and both women were actually smiling as they chatted. Jonathan was teasing Nancy about her choice of movie that she had picked out from their subpar collection, and they both looked a little less tense than they had in a while. And Will was pretty enthusiastically helping Holly draw her very own D&D character.Â
Mike had coined the name for her character one night when he and Will were doing homework downstairs, and Holly came down to annoy them. Instead of telling her to get out, Will started asking her about school, which led to Holly excitedly talking about some made-up game her and her friends played at recess. Will said she and her friends would probably like D&D once it stopped being basically outlawed and deemed âsatanic.âÂ
Holly insisted on coming up with her own character, and Mike gave in to join the conversation. After some back and forth, they settled on Mikeâs name suggestion of Holly the Heroic. He promised to paint her a figurine after she drew out what she wanted.Â
It was weird, but the extra three people brought a sense of peace to the Wheelersâ household; chaotic peace, if that was even a thing. It was enough to make Mike not bitch back to his dad. Instead, he started to haul the garbage toward the garage.Â
Outside, it was as if summer had stepped over the edge of a cliff, sending the temperatures plummeting. The concrete floor of the garage was cool against Mikeâs bare feet as he stepped through the side door of the garage to where the bins sat beside the house.Â
The wind had picked up too, causing the lid of the bin to smack against the siding of the garage after he lifted it. Mike cringed at the noise before he tossed the bag inside and closed the lid.Â
Before he stepped back into the garage, he heard his name being called around the side of the home and toward the driveway.Â
Despite his lack of shoes and jacket, he followed the noise.Â
âWill?â he called out, spotting his friend in the middle of the driveway with his back to Mike. âWhatâre you doing?â When Will didnât respond, a shiver ran down his spine, and not because of the cool air.Â
Since the trip to the Void with El, Luke, and Will, Mike had been on edge, along with everyone else. Heâd been watching Will closely, worried that something would happen to him.Â
What if Vecna got a hold of Will again and made him do something Will would never even think about? What if the monster cursed Will like he had Max? What if�
There were too many âwhat ifsâ that swirled around Mikeâs head that he didnât want to think about.Â
He called Willâs name again as he started to walk down the driveway toward him. He only managed to take a couple of steps before Will broke out running. Confusion halted Mikeâs movements for a second before he took off after him.Â
The asphalt stung the bottoms of the bare feet as he followed Will down the road, but he didnât slow. It wasnât until Will reached the end of the road, a couple of houses down from the Wheelerâs, did Will finally stopped, allowing Mike to catch up.Â
âWill?â Mike called out again, but when Will didnât respond, he closed the short distance between them and grasped Willâs shoulder.Â
However, the second Mikeâs fingers grazed the fabric of Willâs shirt, he finally turned around.Â
Mikeâs eyes went wide as he stumbled backwards. The person in front of him wasnât the Will he knew then, but rather the Will he had once known. The Will in front of him was shorter and skinnier. His eyes and cheeks were sunken in, almost like he was hollow inside. Blood and dirt were smeared against his pale skin, and he had his hands clenched in tight fists at his sides.Â
Willâs cracked and bloodied lips parted before he spoke in a higher-pitched and sadder voice. âIt got me.âÂ
Inside his chest, Mikeâs heart thundered, and nausea rose in his throat. âT-This isnât real,â he whispered. He had left his backpack discarded on his bedroom floor, where he kept his Walkman in case something exactly like what was happening happened. They all kept them close, but Mike hadnât expected it. He hadnât gotten a bloody nose or nightmares any more intense than the ones heâd had since he was twelve. His head only hurt when he listened to the kids in his classes ask stupid questions or when his dad tried to talk to him about golf. Had he missed something?Â
The younger version of Will frowned and tilted his head to the side as he peered upward at Mike. âIt was real for me,â he said, his voice growing bitter with each word he said. âDid you even care, Mike?âÂ
âWhat?â he sputtered, feeling hot and cold at the same time. He knew he was being screwed with, but it felt so real. So, so real. âOf course I cared.âÂ
Will was silent for an excruciating moment before he took a step toward Mike. âDo you still?âÂ
Before Mike could respond, Willâs appearance shifted before his eyes. Instead of the younger version of Will, Mike was staring at the current version of Will, taller and not as ghostly. Still, there was something unsettling about that Will, the way his gaze was sharp, like all of the softness that made up Will had been taken out.Â
âOf course I do,â Mike said after a beat, finding his voice, even if it was shaky. He tried to reach out to Will again, to see if he was real, but Will jerked backward as Mike had slapped him. His face was suddenly painted with hurt, a look that made Mike feel sick.
Then, Will shook his head, eyes glassy. âYouâre scared.âÂ
Of monsters. Of the world ending. Of himself.Â
Mikeâs eyes gathered with tears too, mirroring Willâs expression. He wanted to shake his head, tell Will he was wrong, but Mike felt stuck. He was scared.Â
Taking another step back, Will sighed. He turned back around, and Mike suddenly snapped out of his frozen state. He lurched forward toward Will, trying to grab him before he walked away again. But instead of grabbing Willâs shoulder, Mikeâs hand went right through him. He was thrown off balance and fell forward, catching himself with his hands as he fell against the road. A sharp sting spread across his palms as the skin was peeled back. That feeling, however, came second to the sting that spread through his chest. A cry broke through his lips so sudden and sharp it startled even him.Â
Then, the sudden feeling of a hand on his back caused him to scream. The hand didnât move, though. Shook his shoulder. He blinked, and the empty road in front of him was replaced by the concerned expression of Nancy. He grabbed her forearms, ensuring that she was solid and real. Once he was only somewhat sure of that, he fell forward into her, burying his head in her chest as he continued to cry.Â
âOh, Mike,â she said softly, holding onto him tightly.Â
He flinched as something was slipped over his ears, but his body relaxed slightly when he realized it was a pair of headphones. Music flooded through his head.Â
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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âł material/bodily comforts, such as food, warmth, or special accommodations, that contribute to physical ease and well-being
âđŞ pairing: ot7 x fem.reader
âđż genre: fantasy!au, soulmate!au, hurt + comfort + recovery, angst with a happy ending, fluff, eventual smut
âđ word count: 4.9k
âđ¨ summary: as you settle in, jin and namjoon take you for a visit into the city clinic. you just hope you're not too far gone.
âđž trigger/content warnings: PTSD (low self-worth, anxiety), medical exam/hospitals, sleep deprivation, pets as coping mechanisms (yeontan will live on in this story đ˘), everyone trying their best
âđ a/n: thank you so much for your patience!! hope you enjoy :)
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part 7: if only you knew
This house is bigger than you thought.
You start in the living room, with the large semicircle of couches and the wraparound windows showing the lush greenery outside. Thereâs an abundance of houseplants and tall, full bookshelves, with comfy looking chairs to match.
Then they lead you through the hall to the various rooms on the ground floor. Thereâs the infirmary room where Jin took you when you first arrived, and an open yet warm bathroom with a magnificent tub.
At the back of the house, thereâs a room completely full of bookshelves and papers, with a desk and a few plush armchairs.
Then thereâs a very large room filled with all sorts of strange objects: jars and beakers of all sizes, racks of dried herbs, cauldrons and vials of shimmering liquid, odd plants that you donât recognize, leather-bound books scrawled with swirling runes. And connected to that room, a sizable greenhouse with crawling vines clinging to the walls.
Itâs all so overwhelming, you canât process all of it.
They lead you up the wide, curling staircase in the main room, and down the long hallway to a number of bedrooms. They all look completely different. One is warm, cozy, and cluttered, while another is sleek and modern and clean.
Thereâs a room painted all green and gold, plants crowding the space like a small jungle. And a bedroom at the end of the hall thatâs almost as large as the living room. Thereâs a number of bathrooms, all as different as the bedrooms, and a sizable home gym.
They all hesitate at one room, though. Itâs near the end of the hall, the door closed. They look at each other, expressions unreadable, and skip over it.
Jin has told you that youâre welcome in all the rooms, but you take it that youâre not allowed in that one.
You already know that youâre going to get lost here, barely remembering what each room looks like let alone where it is. But you doubt that youâll be here long enough for it to matter.
They tell you that they have a number of pets, and they ask if you want to meet any of them.
Hesitant, all you do is nod, not sure what else to respond with.
It earns a smile from all of them, even Taehyung.
Back in the living room, Jimin leaves briefly and returns with a ginger cat in his arms. Tail swishing, the cat perches in the crook of his elbow as its amber eyes scan the room. Its nose twitches, face upturned to sniff the air.
Then its eyes land on you, and the cat jumps out of Jiminâs arms and scurries across the room.
The men blurt out a handful of warnings, either to the cat or you, itâs hard to tell. But the next second the cat is jumping up your leg and clinging to your chest.
Thereâs the pinprick of its claws, but you hardly notice it. Because some instinct makes your arms curl protectively around the animal. The rumbling of its purring reverberates through your chest. The cat nuzzles into your neck, paws clinging to the sleeves of your sweater.
A strange feeling floods your brain. Warm and tingly, it makes something burn behind your eyes.
You nuzzle into the cat's soft fur with only the slightest hesitation. Something nags at the edge of your mind, something that you can't grasp no matter how hard you try.
Jimin appears at your side, a near-blinding smile across his stunning face.
"His name is Fish Sticks," he says with a slight chuckle, scratching behind the cat's ears.
Youâre fairly certain you would die for Fish Sticks.
The cat doesnât let go. The rumble of his purring is the most soothing sound youâve heard in a while.
The men exchange a few words, but you miss them, too focused on the cat and the pleasant feeling that its presence produces. It's almost like this little creature is a beacon of warmth, radiating throughout your entire being.
All of a sudden, you get the sense that one of the men is addressing you, judging from the silence in the air.
A quiet, hesitant noise comes out of your throat, a sound that's questioning and apologetic.
But the man called Namjoon just smiles in response.
"I said that our next step is probably a comprehensive exam at the clinic. Is that alright with you?"
His voice is nothing but calm, eyes watching you with a seemingly infinite amount of patience.
"Joon, she might want to take it easy for a few days," the thin dark-haired man says, you think his name is Hoseok.
"Yeah, there are still a lot of things to get used to," Jimin supplies helpfully, sending you a concerned glance.
You turn to Jin, unsure of what to do next.
"It's entirely up to you, love. Whatever you're the most comfortable with," he says, and his eyes look like pools of honey.
The cat seems to have calmed you significantly, because you look around the room and meet most of their eyes, trying to assess their expressions. They're all a mixture of tension, concern, friendliness, and some unknown emotion that you can't pin down.
"Exam?" you say to no one in particular, an uncertain question hanging in the air.
"Yes, it would just be a standard checkup at my main office. And then a few basic tests, just to see where you're at. I would facilitate everything, and you won't have to do anything you're uncomfortable with," Jin says.
"So, it would..." you start, trailing off.
"It would see if we can possibly restore some of your memories," Namjoon finishes.
You don't know how to feel about that. Memory has become a very strange thing. You don't have many, and you're not sure how many you want to regain.
Another look around the room. Jimin has that same warm, calm expression on his face. You don't know why, but you trust him. The muscular one, Jungkook, is watching you with those wide brown eyes, his face a complete contrast from the rest of his body. Hoseok and Yoongi have stern expressions, but when your gaze meets theirs, it softens. And Jin and Namjoon are waiting patiently for your answer.
These men have show you more kindness that you've ever known. The least you can do is speed up the healing process so you can get out of their hair.
You look at Jin and nod. He smiles and nods back.
You sit in the living room as they all make preparations to go into town. The cat shifts out of your arms but lingers at your side, nuzzling against you every so often.
Jin and Namjoon came to breakfast dressed in suits, looking ready to leave for work. Now they shuffle in and out of the room, packing papers and books into leather cases. The rest of the men disappear into the kitchen or down the hallway.
A few moments later, Yoongi approaches you with a pile of clothing in his arms.
"It's cold outside, you should bundle up," he says, sounding a little shy in spite of himself. He helps you shrug on a wool cardigan and then a rainproof jacket on top, given the dark clouds outside.
He sets down some thick socks and a pair of fur-lined boots by your feet, and he drops to his knees just as you're reaching for them.
Taken aback, you freeze as he gently takes your right foot and slips the sock on, then the left, then the boots.
You're almost too stunned to move, completely shocked by the act of humble kindness. In the facility, some of the guards used to force you to lick the underside of their boots, and now this man, who is almost too beautiful to look at directly, is touching your feet.
He even ties the laces for you, looking up at you with a quiet smile after he's done.
A few moments later, Jungkook approaches and hands you a colorful handheld bag.
"It's a bit of a long drive, so we packed you some snacks in case you get hungry," he says.
Again, you're stunned into silence, the lunch pack hanging limp in your hand.
You mutter out a "thank you." It comes out squeaky.
Jin slings his leather bag over his shoulder and runs a hand through his hair.
"Alright, we're all set. Ready to go?" he asks, holding out a hand.
You swallow down the fear that comes with a new environment, nodding as you take his hand. He rewards you with a radiant grin, leading you to the door.
Just before you reach the front entrance, a voice breaks through the silence.
"You'll come back, right?"
Turning around, you don't realize that it was Taehyung who said it until you meet his strangely desperate expression from across the room. And you realize that he's speaking to you directly.
Something seizes in your chest when you see the urgency in his face, the hidden sadness in his eyes. It makes you want to reassure him.
"Yes," you reply, and this time your voice comes out strong.
It seems to soothe him, for some reason, because his shoulders visibly relax and something unspoken passes between the two of you.
"We won't be gone too long," Namjoon says to the rest of them, opening the front door and letting in a gust of chill air.
The front door is massive, yet it swings open easily. A stonework pathway extends beyond it, winding under a wooden trellis draped with vines.
Entering into the yard, you realize that this is the first time you've been outside since...longer than you can remember. The two men lead you down the walkway to a driveway lined with a handful of vehicles ranging in size.
Jin opens the backdoor to a sleek black car, gesturing you inside. You slip into the backseat as Jin slips into the driver's seat and Namjoon in the passenger's side.
Jin starts the car and pulls out of the driveway, one hand on the wheel and the other resting on Namjoon's knee. The few pale rays of sunlight peeking through the thick cloud cover catches on his watch.
The car weaves through a twisting road downhill, lined with lush trees that create a dark green canopy overhead.
"I'm sure you have questions," Jin says, expertly navigating the vehicle down the steep road in the rainy weather. "Feel free to ask away."
You do have questions, a million of them, but you're not sure where to start. Your curiosity snags on their professional clothes.
âWhat do you do?â you ask hesitantly, hoping it isnât too invasive of a question. Little did you know, they would let you live inside their brains like a parasite if you asked.
âIâm a trauma specialist,â Jin answers humbly, as if being a doctor is commonplace. âAnd Namjoon teaches at Duchanne University. He's working on his second book now, too."
He throws a proud glance in Namjoon's direction, and the other man rolls his eyes with a shy smile that you never could've pictured on his face.
The car is approaching the mountainside, with all its moss-covered rocks and lush trees hanging overhead, and the three of you plunge into a tunnel carved into the dark rock.
There's a few moments of darkness, and then a strange tingling sensation through your entire body. You wouldn't be surprised to find that this cave was laced with magic.
Then, you're emerging from the tunnel with a burst of pale light. Fog rolls over the hills in thick blankets, and you can see the road winding down the mountain.
In one way, it reassures you that this is a safe place, protected by the magic in the caves and the privacy of the forest. In another way, it would make it a lot harder if you ever needed to flee on foot.
"Where are we going?" you ask.
"To a clinic in Burkwood, it's the closest city. If there's anything else you want, we can pick it up there too," Jin says, smiling at you through the rearview mirror.
You can't imagine what else you could possibly want. They've already shown you more kindness and generosity than you've ever known.
The drive proceeds in comfortable silence, the car rocking as it slopes down the winding roads. You have more questions, but you can't seem to think of what to start with. Your body feels heavy, and your eyelids are starting to disobey you.
They mentioned that it was a bit of a long drive, but you are too focused on keeping awake to notice much.
You vaguely register the outskirts of a town that give way to brick streets and old-looking buildings, all enrobed in thick ivy. In fact, the whole area seems to be enveloped in greenery, probably thanks to the frequent rain.
And the rain is picking up now. It makes the sidewalks, littered with fallen leaves, slick with it. Passerbys open up their umbrellas as the lampposts light up to illuminate the foggy landscape.
You're fighting the urge to drift off into sleep as Jin drives on.
Soon, you come to a wide square of cobblestoned streets, lined with grand domed buildings with rich architecture. You can still see people riding their bikes along the rain-slick streets.
Jin pulls over, sneaking a peck on Namjoon's cheek. Namjoon has gathered his bags, his glasses on, and he beams at the gesture.
"See you later, honey," Namjoon says as he glances at both you and Jin, and it's unclear who he's directing the pet name to.
He opens the door and exits with his bag in tow. You watch him walk towards one of the beautiful old buildings and disappear inside.
A short while later, Jin parks the car beside a large sleek white structure, opening the door for you and offering a hand. He stops to look at you before you enter the building.
"There will be a lot of people inside," he begins. "I won't let anyone hurt you. If you want to leave at any point, just let me know, okay?"
You manage a nod.
"Would you like me to hold your hand?" He asks, and this time you shake your head. Because no, that would be pathetic, and you hardly know him.
He justs nods in understanding, offering a small smile before leading you inside.
The smell of disinfectant immediately hits you. Gloves, plastic, metal. Needles. Doctors.
It screams the same thing in your brain: pain is coming.
And Jin was right, there are a lot of people in here. Too many bodies, too many movements and smells.
Before you even realize what you're doing, you've grabbed Jin's hand.
He stops in his tracks, looking at you in shock, and you look almost as shocked as him.
You're about to rip your hand away, but he gives you a comforting squeeze and this time he smiles so warmly his eyes crease.
Somehow, the feel of his skin feels good, despite everything. It grounds you.
The feeling in your chest hitches.
You're able to ignore the countless sights and smells around you with Jin's hand in yours, even as you hear him talking to other people and leading you down hallways.
Probably because the sleep deprivation is making it hard to even keep your eyes open.
You're shuffled through exam rooms, allowing them to check your vitals, answering the questions directed at you, though all you're able to offer is a nod or shake of the head. Jin catches on to it and reframes all questions towards you as ones that can be answered with yes or no.
You're hooked up to electrodes and wires, undergoing multiple scans in different machines.
It makes you wish you were a machine. Things would be much easier that way.
You can see several nurses talking to Jin in hushed tones, glancing in your direction every so often. Jin replies, though you can't hear it, and then the nurses look at you with pure pity in their eyes.
You remember what Jin said earlier. We protect people like us.
Sometime later, after using a considerable amount of your energy to keep from falling asleep standing up, you and Jin are led into a room with x-ray prints all along the walls.
It takes you a long time to realize the scans are of your brain, and that they're talking about you.
The doctor is pointing to different sections of the brain on the scans, but her words are muffled in your ears.
All you can register is the look on Jin's face. It's a mixture of sorrow, pain, and regret.
The only sense you can make of it is to assume that he's disappointed that you won't be out of his hair faster.
Maybe you're too far gone to be fixed. Maybe all the goods part of you died in the facility.
You're silent in the car, staring out at the darkening skies. The clouds have gotten thicker, unleashing a heavy rain. As you return to the old buildings from earlier, people hurry by under their umbrellas.
Namjoon open the passenger door, using his suit jacket as a shield. He greets Jin with a kiss, offering you a smile.
But you don't have the energy or will to even try to mirror it.
As you drive back up the mountainside, trees whizzing past the window wet with rain, you drift in and out of sleep. Jin handles the car so smoothly even through the winding roads, one hand on the wheel with the other resting somewhere on Namjoon.
You don't notice them both sneaking glances at you through the rear-view mirror, glad to see that you're getting some sleep.
When you arrive at the house, the sun is half set. You trudge up the path lined with plants, now lit by outdoor lights, reaching the massive wooden slab that is the front door.
Even in your sluggish state, you can't help but think that you'd like your home to have the same thing, if you had a home. A big sturdy door to keep others out. But this is isn't your home.
Jin and Namjoon lead you inside, and the sound of soft chatter sounds in the distance. You can smell food cooking too.
The house is darker now that the sun has set, lit up by warm ambient lighting from the lamps and elegant light fixtures all around.
You follow Jin and Namjoon into the kitchen area, spotting the bodies crowded inside. The room is bustling with activity, jazz music playing in the background.
Yoongi is standing over the stove, shifting his attention between a great big pot of boiling water, a pan full of bubbling red sauce, and a pan filled with sizzling meatballs. Jimin is chopping lettuce, Taehyung is slicing a loaf of french bread, and Jungkook is shredding cheese.
All of their eyes immediately find yours when you enter the room, Jimin and Yoongi offering a smile, Jungkook and Taehyung looking at you with a hopeful expression.
"Welcome home," Jimin says, eyes crinkling.
It makes a very weird sensation bloom in your lungs. The idea of home is bitter.
Jin and Namjoon set down their coats and briefcases, greeting the others warmly.
You stand there awkwardly, not sure what to do. Yoongi and Jimin pick up on it almost immediately.
"Do you want to come and sit here?" Jimin says (cutting himself off from saying your name), gesturing to the row of stools along the opposite side of the kitchen counter.
You take him up on his offer, eager to have something to do.
The kitchen is flush with heat from the cooking, but you can still hear the rain pounding outside from the cracked window above the sink.
Jungkook pauses his cheese-shredding to provide Jin with a glass of red wine and Namjoon with a whiskey cocktail of some kind, giving each of them a kiss on the cheek as he does so.
You sit there and watch it all unfold.
Yoongi boils the pasta as he watches the sauce and meatballs simmer. Jimin prepares a ceasar salad with grilled chicken, croutons, and freshly shredded cheese (thanks to Jungkook). And Taehyung spreads butter, herbs, garlic, and cheese on the bread slices and places them in the oven.
At some point, Hobi comes down the stairs and into the room, slick with sweat and panting slightly. He sends a radiant smile your way when he sees you.
Soon, the table is set and everyone's gathering around, Yoongi gesturing for you to sit with them.
Jin and Namjoon sit at either head of the long table, you falling into the seat in-between Jimin and Jungkook.
Bowls of pasta and meatballs are served, garnished with fresh herbs and grated cheese. Jungkook helps load a side of salad and garlic bread onto your plate like it's the most natural thing in the world.
This time, you don't hesitate to dive into the food. Everyone notices, but they just exchange happy glances between themselves to avoid making you feel uncomfortable.
The food they make is ridiculously good. The pasta, tomato sauce, and savory meatballs warm your insides, providing ample protein to help you feel stronger. The salad is crisp and refreshing, the bread soft and salty.
The men around you are chatting pleasantly, every once in a while attempting to lure you into the conversation, but you have absolutely no interest in that. Your brain is still sluggish with exhaustion. Right now youâre just glad the food isnât upsetting your stomach.
You donât see it, of course, but a steady stream of warmth fills their hearts whenever they look up and see you sitting at the table, eating as much as you want.
After dinner, Hoseok and Jungkook start on the dishes while you follow the rest of them to the living room. The soft jazz is still playing, some of them refilling their wine glasses before they settle on the couch.
Theyâre still trying to talk to you.
âHowâs your stomach?â Jin asks. You nod as if to say alright.
âDid you get some sleep on the drive home?â Yoongi asks. You nod again, even though you know this isnât your home.
âWould you like to meet more of the pets?â Jimin asks. You nod more firmly this time.
He rushes off to another room with a big smile.
You reacted well to Fish Sticks, so they decide to let the rest of the cats out.
Thereâs Hepburn, a regal-looking fluffy white cat with iridescent blue eyes. She looks up at you from the floor and rubs against your legs.
Then thereâs Grease, a black cat with very large green eyes and fangs that poke out from his mouth. He tries to crawl up your pants, but after a stern word from the men, he settles to just hop around your ankles.
Finally thereâs Potbelly, clearly a little bit older and slightly chunky, with a smattering of brown, orange and white fur. He nuzzles against your hand briefly before sauntering away, disinterested.
You react very fondly to all the cats, stooping down to scratch behind their ears.
âWould you like to meet the dogs?â Jimin asks next, watching your face closely for your reaction.
Theyâre not sure if you encountered any guard dogs at the facility.
Unlikely, because your face only turns more interested, and you give an eager nod.
They bring them out one at a time. The smallest first, Yeontan, a dark fluffy Pomeranian who yips happily at the sight of you.
You notice a very strange expression come across Taehyungâs face.
Then thereâs Mickey, a small brown and white dog that approaches you excitedly yet gently. Then Holly, a brown curly-haired dog that tries very adamantly to sit in your lap. Then Bam, a sleek Doberman that jumps and runs circles around your form when he sees you.
âGentle, gentle,â Jungkook instructs the dog when he almost tackles you.
Then Jimin brings in a fluffy golden retriever, who is yanking desperately on the leash in both Jiminâs hands.
âToast, calm down, girl!â Jimin says as he gets dragged along.
But when the dog sees you, she lets out a sharp whimper, shooting towards you like a bullet. The leash is yanked out of Jiminâs hands as she barrels into your legs, letting out little whines and happy-sounding barks.
Something makes you sink to your knees and wrap your arms around the dog, some deep and heavy urge that grips you like a clenched fist. You gulp an inhale of the dogâs somehow familiar scent, and tears nearly spring into your eyes.
Everyone around you is about to cry too. Toast is your dog.
She smelled you almost as soon as you entered the house. It broke their hearts to keep her separated from you, since they had no idea how youâd react. She nearly broke the door down trying to get to you.
Sheâs panting as you pet her head, her tongue hanging out of her grinning mouth, tail wagging rapidly.
If youâd die for Fish Sticks, then youâd go to war for Toast.
You stay on the ground petting her for a while, the boys watching you fondly. At some point, you find your eyelids drooping again, belly full and worn out from all the interaction.
âAre you ready to wash up and settle in for bed?â Jimin asks you, very much fighting the urge to coo at how cute you look while comfortably half-asleep.
You nod and follow him upstairs. He gives you a set of striped pajama pants and matching button-up as you wash off with another wet washcloth, Toast sticking to your side like Velcro the entire time.
Downstairs, everyone crowds around Jin and Namjoon, asking how the tests at the clinic went, barely concealed hope in their eyes.
But they shake their heads solemnly.
âThe spell was at nearly full strength. Nothing can be recovered,â Jin says. âBut otherwise sheâs healthy.â
Their faces fall a bit, but they figured that it would take a miracle for your memories to get brought back. Even if it were possible, the process would no doubt cause you extreme pain, and none of them want that.
Taehyung, though, has tears in his eyes again. He brings his hand up to his forehead.
If only you knew, Tae thinks. If only you knew just how much they love you, how much he loves you.
But he knows that youâre uncomfortable around him. And the awful thought did cross his mind: what if you never love him again?
Jungkook rubs Taehyungâs back as more tears fall. He can see the pain in Taehyung's face, the pain that screams please don't forget me and all the things we shared.
But it can't be helped. All they can do is help you as much as they can.
"She's just...gone," Taehyung chokes out.
Namjoon swoopes in right away.
"She's still her, just a little lost," he says.
"But she recognized Toast," Taehyung mumbles, dejected. Because why didn't you react that way to any of them?
"It's instinctual, muscle memory," Yoongi cuts in firmly. "You can erase the memories, but you can't completely erase the feelings that come with them."
Jin places a hand on Taehyung's shoulder, leaning into him.
"I'm sure she recognizes us, in a sense. She just can't express it because we're...people. Animals are easy, they don't judge. But people...it's people that hurt her," Jin says, rubbing soothing circles across Tae's shoulders.
The younger man nods, wiping his tears. He's gone silent, now. Jungkook helps him up the stairs to get ready for bed.
Later that night, Namjoon brings a half-empty bottle of rosĂŠ and two glasses up to his and Jin's shared bedroom.
Jin is fresh out of the shower, wrapped in a bathrobe, hair still wet, a medical newsletter in his hand.
Namjoon puts the glass in his empty hand and fills it up. Jin smiles at him gratefully.
"Quite a day, huh?" Namjoon says as he pours a glass for himself.
Jin looks lost in thought.
"I'm worried about Tae," he says solemnly.
Namjoon pauses, then comes to perch on the armrest of the chair Jin is sitting in.
"He's still in denial. It's a hard pill to swallow," Namjoon says, wrapping an arm around his other half.
"Indeed it is," Jin replies, sipping at his wine.
"He'll come around," Namjoon insists.
"I know he will. It's just..." Jin trails off.
"Yes, love?" Namjoon prompts.
"There's this tension between them that I don't understand," he says. "I think Tae is mourning her old self because he doesn't think her new self will connect with him."
"Hmm," Namjoon says, thinking. "I think you're right. But we'll be there, to help both of them. That's what they need right now, for someone to guide and support them into a new state of being."
Jin downs the rest of his wine, beaming up at his partner.
"I love you, you know that?" he says, grinning.
"Of course I do," Namjoon replied, grinning back.
"Now come on, let's get in bed."
a/n: thanks so much for reading!! i would literally sell my left tit to hear any of your thoughts!
Sorry this took so much longer than I intended it to. The week this was supposed to be posted was hell and then I kept writing and writing and nowhere felt good to leave off. Anyway, because of that, this chapter is a little longer than usual. Enjoy!
âLeave it to you to make what was supposed to be an easy in-and-out complicated.â Minhyuk sighed, tossing his helmet into the ambulance behind me.
He eyed the already forming bruise around my abdomen until I pulled my shirt over it again. It hurt like hell, my shoulder in no better shape, but the paramedic was relatively sure Iâd be fine. That reassurance was enough for me as I was itching to get back inside to find Namjoon and Hoseok. Under Minâs insistence, I had to be checked out first and given the all clear before he allowed me to do anything else. Taehyung was transported to the nearest hospital shortly after we were led out of the facility, Jimin going with him after hearing that Yoongi had been taken there too. Jin had gone with Yoongi, leaving Jungkook as the only other one besides the missing red panda and lion, his instincts still on high alert right next to me while his eyes remained glued to the buildingâs entrance in hopes his older packmates would be the next ones to walk through it.
âYeah, well, someoneâs got to keep things interesting in your life.â I grunted, jumping off the edge of the ambulance truck bed.
Jungkookâs gaze flit to me, quickly standing as I did, as eager to head back in as me.
âYou alright?â Min asked, giving me a once over to confirm for himself.
âIâll be feeling it for days to come, but itâs not anything I canât handle. Any luck with Namjoon and Hoseok?â
Right on cue, Jungkookâs posture shifted, his rounded ears pointing in the direction of the doors seconds before he broke into a dead sprint. His name lodged in my throat as I turned my attention that way. Jooheon emerged first, rolling the massive metal sliding door to the warehouse open a bit further to allow another stretcher through. A brief bout of panic struck me, my eyes darting between the group of medics to see who was on it. It abated somewhat after realizing the man being wheeled towards another ambulance wasnât one of the pack members, but the guard who attacked me and I had last seen fighting with Namjoon.
I whipped my head back towards the doors, releasing a deep breath seeing the two missing hybrids walk out the doors next, side by side. I sagged in relief seeing the two of them relatively unharmed, apart from the obviously busted lip Namjoon sported and their disheveled clothes and hair. Jungkook launched himself into Namjoonâs embrace, the pack leader welcoming the contact while simultaneously attempting make sure the youngest was unhurt. The sight was heartwarming, a part of me happy that I was able to get them out of there, now I wanted to make sure the seven of them were reunited with one another.
As much as I desired to check on them myself, I allowed them their moment together, my attention turning back to Minhyuk who had been watching them just as I had.
âDid your men find Jongsu?â
Minâs head turned to me, the shake of his head deflating the small bit of happiness I held.
âNo. Heâs gone. We didnât hardly find any of the guards either, Iâm assuming they had some sort of escape route in place that we just havenât found yet. Weâre working on releasing the other hybrids they left behind.â
âWhatâs going to happen to them?â
He turned contemplative, crossing his arms over his chest.
âWeâll most likely send them to a secure location, just to be safe. Same with the ones you were with. It would be in their best interest, and yours, if you all laid low for a while until we find Jongsu.â
âYou want to send me to witness protection too?â I asked surprised.
âI donât really think you have a choice Y/N. Jongsu will come after you. Iâd rather be as prepared as we can be in that case, wouldnât you?â
âY/NâŚâ
I turned at the call of my name, Namjoon having been able to peel Jungkook off him approached Minhyuk and I cautiously, his eyes darting between the two of us as he came to my side.
âAre you okay?â
I melted under his concern, his worry-filled chocolate gaze searching for my answer before I could provide it.
âAs good as I can be under the circumstances.â I shrugged. âWhat about you? That looks like it hurts.â
I tapped my lower lip in the same spot his was split, his features turning confused as he brought his hand up, wincing when he made contact with the wound as if he hadnât even known it was there.
âAh, well, good news is that other than my lip, Iâm fine.â
âYou sure? I can have one of the medics check you out just to be safe.â Minhyuk suggested.
Namjoon shook his head, giving as much of a polite smile he could without irritating his cut.
âI appreciate the offer, but I think Iâd feel a lot better if I could be taken to the rest of my pack instead.â
âIâll have a car brought around for the three of you.â Min promised, reaching for his phone.
âFour.â
Minhyuk paused, turning his attention back to Namjoon. âFour?â He repeated.
Bewildered, I ran a quick count in my head, unsure who else Namjoon could be referring to since they would already be at the hospital. Namjoon nodded once, his head tilting slightly in my direction though his eyes never left Min.
âI want Y/N with us.â
âMe?â
âYes.â Namjoon stated simply, shifting his gaze to me. âI think all of us would feel a little more comfortable having you nearby. Besides, Iâm worried it may throw Yoongi into a panic if he wakes up and canât find you.â
âWhoâs Yoongi?â Minhyuk questioned.
âOur snow leopard.â
âOkay, and why would he panic if Y/N isnât there?â
Namjoon opened his mouth to answer, but my hand found purchase on his forearm before he spoke.
âIâll⌠explain later.â I interrupted him, hoping the grimace I gave Minhyuk came off as a smile more than the awkward twist of expression it felt like.
I could tell Minhyuk didnât appreciate not knowing exactly what that meant. The look in his eyes was familiar, one Iâd seen on many occasions when he knew he wasnât going to like what I had to say. Thankfully, I was spared the incoming lecture by an uneasy Hoseok, his tail puffed out as he helped himself to the spot next to me opposite of Namjoon, concern marring his normally unbothered countenance.
âAre you alright?â
I nodded, giving him a reassuring smile. âIâve already been checked out and given the okay. What about you?â
A relieved smile lifted his lips, some of that radiance I associated with him returning.
âNot even a scratch.â
Grateful that I had one less injured pack member to worry over, my thoughts shifted to the one I knew was critically injured and the other I had last seen totally unconscious. Out of the corner of my eye, Namjoon tried to keep his fidgeting to a minimum, but I knew that if I was itching to make sure Taehyung and Yoongi were alright, he probably felt those feelings ten-fold.
âMin. We can figure out the specifics later, but Iâm sure Namjoon as well as the other two would feel much better if we could get to the hospital as soon as possible.â
Reluctantly, Minhyuk agreed, calling someone to bring a car around. Unsurprisingly, Jungkook was the first inside, followed by Hoseok while Namjoon stood by patiently for the two of them to settle. His head turned towards me, the slight tilting gesture telling me he was waiting on me. Before I could join them, Minhyuk stopped me, giving Namjoon a tight-lipped smile as he pulled me a few feet away.
âIâll come pick you up when Iâm done here, so donât leave the hospital, alright?â
âAlright.â
âAnd get checked out while youâre there.â
âMin, the paramedic alrea-â
âThe paramedics arenât doctors. Iâd feel better if youâre cleared by a doctor.â
I sighed under my breath, head already nodding in agreement.
âI will.â
âIâll see you soon.â
I hugged him, happy to be seeing him again after the time I spent in that prison. He squeezed me in his embrace, the affectionate gesture not lasting more than a couple of seconds with neither of us being big on physical touch. We parted, the two of us exchanging mock salutes as he retreated to finish his job. I watched him go, part of me tempted to stay just so I could join him in his hunt for Jongsu, but a much larger part of me wanted to make sure Taehyung was okay. I turned around, meeting Namjoonâs patience with a renewed sense of urgency.
âLetâs go.â
To say the hospital was busy was an understatement. It seems the seven hybrids Iâd come to know in the short time Iâd been kidnapped werenât the only ones to be transported to the nearest hospital. Several different species packed the lobby upon our arrival, some of whom looked physically okay, while others were plainly obvious the abuse they endured. I swallowed hard at the sight, feeling sick to my stomach that the man responsible for their suffering was still at liberty.
âYou find Jimin and Taehyung and Iâll find Jin and Yoongi?â I suggested, glancing at Namjoon.
He nodded, feet already rushing down the hall with Jungkook on his heels. I turned to Hoseok; a bit surprised to see he wasnât following the other two.
âIâm with you.â
âWorks for me.â
Since I didnât have the ability to smell or sense or whatever it was that hybrids did to locate each other, I beelined for the nursesâ station. Though I was sure Hoseok probably could have saved me the trouble.
âExcuse me?â I called out to the frazzled nurse collecting the mountain of patient sheets sprawled across the counter. âWeâre looking for a snow leopard hybrid. He may have been unconscious when he was brought in.â
âAre you family?â
âIâm his packmate.â Hoseok answered.
The nurse took one quick look over Hoseok, but didnât question him. She turned to her computer, quickly scanning through her screen before nodding.
âWe moved him to isolation under doctorâs orders. Youâre allowed to go back, but Iâm not sure if theyâll allow you to see him.â
âWhy did they move him?â I frowned.
âAnother hybrid that came in with him requested it. He said it would be better for him to wake up somewhere with fewer people and less noise.â
That was probably a good call on Jinâs part. I thanked her, about to leave before quickly turning back.
âOh, actually, there was another hybrid transported via ambulance. Heâs also a packmate of ours, a tiger. Could you tell me his condition?â
A soft brush over my calf caught my attention, my eyes dropping down as the nurse turned to check her patient log again. The striped, fluffy tail responsible for the caress made pointed, lazy thumps against my leg, my eyes traveling up the appendage to Hoseokâs sparkling gaze.
âWhat is it?â
He took a step closer, invading my space as his torso pressed into my side.
âYou said âoursâ.â He murmured, keeping his voice low enough for only me to hear.
âYeahâŚ?â I confirmed, a little confused.
âHeâs in surgery right now.â The nurse informed us, my focus snapping back to her. âDoctors stabilized him before going in, but he was rushed in for emergency surgery right after.â
Though I had witnessed the extent of his injury, the information was still like a punch to the gut. I could feel the growing anxiety rolling off Hoseok next to me as he absorbed what we were being told as well. Quickly, I tamped mine down, trying my best to keep from making things worse for him in case my rising concern amplified his.
âOkay, thank you. Would it be possible for me to be notified when heâs out?â
âOf course, just fill this out for me.â She rummaged through the enormous about of paper littering the area around her for a clipboard before handing it to me. âYou only need to fill in the emergency contact portion since I have the patient demographics already. Iâll attach your contact info to his file.â
âI donât have a cell on me. Is there a way you can get ahold of me within the hospital?â
âIf youâll be in isolation, I can forward a call to them, and they can let you know.â
âThat would be great. Thank you.â I smiled gratefully, handing back her clipboard.
Hoseok relayed his thanks, taking my hand to pull me along with him in the direction of the hospitalâs isolation ward. Though it was busy, the closer we got to where Yoongi was being kept, the more I noticed the number of people began to thin out. Not only that, but it was much quieter in this part of the building. At least, it would have been, had the shouting at the end of the hall not been happening. Hoseok dropped my arm, breaking into a run when recognizing Jinâs voice trying to be heard over the loud bangs. I picked up my pace after him, swearing under my breath. So much for being here when he woke up, I groaned internally. I was seconds away from rounding the doorway into the room, my momentum halted when my body slammed into Hoseokâs who was backpedaling his way out. The impact nearly knocked the breath out of me, my body stumbling back before Hoseok caught me with an arm around my waist, slinging the two of us away from the doorway right as a stool came flying through it.
âYoongi calm down before youâre sedated again!â Jin snapped.
Cautiously, Hoseok and I peeked around the frame. Two security guards stood with their backs to us, palms out as they approached the wild-eyed leopard who tore at the multitude of cords and tubes attached to him. Jinâs ears flattened, worried gaze flicking between the guards and Yoongi, trying his best to verbally calm the agitated cat while gesturing to the two men to back off. One glance at the situation was all Hoseok needed before throwing himself into the mix. He rounded the guards, moving to block their approach towards Yoongi.
âHeâs not a threat!â
Yoongiâs head whipped up at the sound of Hoseokâs voice, his fight with the medical equipment temporarily forgotten.
âNot a threat? Heâs throwing furniture around and is clearly hostile.â One of them scoffed.
âOnly because heâs not sure where heâs at or whatâs going on.â Jin explained, inching closer to Yoongi now that Hoseok was warding off the two men. âYou have to understand that these are extenuating circumstances. Our pack is spl-â
âAnd you have to understand that in his current state, heâs a liability to himself and others. We canât have him threatening the safety of other patients, he has to be restrained.â
They made to move forward, Hoseokâs concern revealing itself in the way his tail wrapped around his own leg at Yoongiâs snarl upon noticing the men coming at him. Quickly, I rushed into the packed room, intercepting the surprised guards.
âWait! We can calm him down, please, just give us a few minutes.â
âLady-â
âPlease. Five minutes. Thatâs all Iâm askin-â My words ended on a soft oomph~ with the sudden smothering I found myself in.
Yoongiâs body collided with mine, pulling me further from the perceived threat. His bristling tail curled around my thigh and tense arms wrapping themselves around my shoulders. I threw a hand up to let the guards know I was fine as they tried to lunge at the two of us. Jin moving to Hoseokâs side to act as a physical barrier between us and them.
âHeâs mated to her. She can calm him down.â
Security froze at that statement, looking to one another nervously. Though I wasnât well-versed in hybrid regulations and behaviors, I did know from my time as a PI over the years that separating mated hybrids was a big no-no. Although, that was standard procedure for hybrid-hybrid mates, I was hoping the same applied to human-hybrid couples as well. The longer the two strangers lingered, however, the more I could sense how on-edge it was making Yoongi.
âGive us a moment, please.â I begged, inputting as much emphasis as I could in my voice.
The last thing I wanted was for them to have just been given their freedom, only to be locked up somewhere else, or strapped to a bed. Neither option sounded like it would end well. An exasperated sigh was my answer, one of the guards dropping his shoulders before nodding reluctantly.
âFine. Five minutes. If heâs still feral, heâll be restrained.â
I winced at the term âferalâ. None of the seven Iâd met could even be considered close to feral hybrids, but I supposed now wasnât the term to argue technicalities when he was giving us the space we asked for. Yoongi watched their retreat, the tension not leaving him until they were out of sight and the door was shut behind them. Even then, his hold on me was unrelenting as he turned his attention to Jin and Hoseok.
âWhere is everyone else?â
âJungkook, Jimin, and Namjoon are with Tae.â Hoseok answered since Jin probably didnât know either. âHeâs in surgery right now.â
âWhat?â Jin blurted, whirling on Hoseok with worried eyes. âWhat do you mean heâs in surgery?â
âHe was shot while we were trying to escape.â
All three pairs of eyes turned to me, Jinâs face going pale at the news, his Adamâs apple bobbing as he swallowed.
âIs he- How bad is it?â
âThey said he was stable before they took him in, but I donât know the extent of the damage.â
While the othersâ hybrid features gave away their feelings openly, Jin didnât need them. He was an open book. The concern and sadness written across his face made it impossible for anyone to mistake how he took the news of his packmateâs injury. Gingerly, I reached for him, taking his hand to deliver a gentle squeeze of reassurance.
âI asked them to let us know when he was out. As soon as he is, we can go check on him.â
I wasnât naĂŻve enough to believe that my words dissolved his worry, but I did hope it brought him at least a sliver of comfort. I turned my attention to the leopard pressed to my back, glad to see that he was relatively unharmed.
âAre you okay?â
Slowly, he shifted his gaze to me, hiding the same worry Jin openly displayed behind the mask I had come to know was typical for him.
âWhat happened?â
âThey knocked you out and tried to take Y/N. Luckily, we were able to convince them to let Jimin go with her.â Jinâs brow furrowed as he relayed what he remembered happening. âNext thing I knew, Jimin had come back to get us out.â
âYeah, we managed to get away from the guards. I had them follow me so Jimin could get a signal up top. Namjoon, Hoseok, and Taehyung found me-â
âBeing nearly strangled to death by one of Jongsuâs men.â Hoseok spat, tail bristling.
Yoongi stiffened behind me, slender fingers cupping my chin to tilt my head up. He inspected the column of my neck, a low growl reverberating from him, through me at the sight in question where I had no doubt the redness was beginning to darken into bruises. And not the kind Yoongi liked to leave. I flinched against the soft touch on my cheek, having forgotten about the nasty blow I received to the face in favor of my sore shoulder and aching abdomen. Now that I was no longer fighting for my life, my injuries were starting to catch up to me. For Yoongiâs sake, I put up a fake smile, taking his hand so he would quit prodding at me.
âIâm fine, but thatâs when Taehyung was shot by Jongsu. Jimin and I hid in one of the corridors until I found Min to help us out of there.â
âWhoâs Min?â Jin and Yoongi asked simultaneously.
While Jinâs tone could have been interpreted as curiosity, Yoongiâs was flat out hostile. I looked over my shoulder at him, taken aback.
âAh, heâs Y/Nâs friend. A cop.â Hoseok chirped, oblivious.
Yoongiâs blank gaze never left Hoseok while he spoke, one fluffy ear flicking repeatedly. I watched it, the rounded appendage disturbing the surrounding black strands of his hair with every twitch. My limited experience with hybrids made me less than knowledgeable when it came to any of their habits, but I like to think Iâd spent enough time with Yoongi and his pack to have a general understanding of what their body language expressed. Especially their ears. Those appeared to have a mind of their own, even when the body attached to them said otherwise. Making a mental note of the action, I tuned back into the conversation, keeping my mouth shut concerning the new bit of information Iâd discovered.
âHe seems nice. I donât think Y/N would be friends with him if he wasnât a good guy.â
My brows furrowed picking up the leg of conversation I hadnât been paying attention to. Hoseok shrugged his shoulders, looking to Yoongi as if he expected the leopard to agree with him.
âYou planning on inviting him into the pack too?â Yoongi scowled.
Hoseokâs tail dropped and his ears ducked at Yoongiâs anger, his lips forming a soft pout.
âNo.â
âTone it down.â Jin scolded the cat, glaring at him. âRight now, our priority is Taehyung. We donât need your jealousy and temper tantrums.â
âIâm not jealous.â Yoongi defended himself, rounding his ire on a new target. âWeâve spent God knows how long locked in a fucking basement and the first thing weâre gonna do when we get out is look to trusting fucking humans? The species responsible for putting us down there in the first place?â
âYoongi, theyâre not all bad. One of them helped us escape.â Jin sighed.
âOnly because she wanted out too.â Yoongi huffed, dropping his hold on me and putting several feet of distance between us. âYou think if she had free reign to walk in and out of there she would have risked her own life to save ours?â
âExcuse you?â I whirled on him. âI realize that youâve been dealt some shitty hands, but you canât lump all humans in together. Thereâs people out there who genuinely care about whatâs happening to you all, Min and I included.â
âDonât lie to us sweetheart. We all know the real reason you put yourself in that situation was to bring down Jongsu for the pretty medal of honor it would probably bring you. If it just so hadnât happened to be our pack you were thrown in with, you wouldnât have given a shit about us.â
âEven if you werenât, I would have made sure everyone had gotten out. Donât think that just because we slept together, it makes you special.â
âOkay!â Jin intervened, moving in between Yoongi and I when the leopard took a menacing step forward. âItâs not the time or place for this. Yoongi, get back in bed until the doctor comes back and releases you. Hoseok, you stay with him. Iâll take Y/N with me to find the others.â
I glowered at the infuriating hybrid behind Jin even as the bear took my arm to gently lead me back towards the door. Yoongi hardly took his eyes off me even as I was pushed out the door, his narrowed stare expressing his distaste for me while the rounded appendage on his head started flicking again. Right before Jin nudged me out of the room, Yoongi averted his gaze, snarling softly before beginning to pace, the tip of his tail twitching. Hoseok was quick to try and console him, urging him back towards his bed despite the catâs obvious disinterest. I huffed a frustrated breath as the door closed behind Jin.
He bowed politely to the two security guards still stationed outside, letting them know that Yoongi was more or less calmer than he was before, but asked that they refrain from just barging in unannounced. Â I swiftly made my way down the hall Hoseok and I had come from only minutes ago, needing to put some space between me and that room. It wasnât normal for people to get under my skin so easily, but Yoongi seemed to have a knack for it. I took a deep breath, trying to reign my emotions in as Jin caught up to me, his hand reaching out for my shoulder only to think better of it at the last second and let it drop.
âAre you alright?â
âI think Iâd have better luck talking to a brick wall.â
âHe can be⌠difficult sometimes. He means well, heâs just crap at expressing himself.â
âI know Jin. I donât hold his words against him.â
He paused before leaving the isolation ward, his white ears swiveling to pick up the sounds outside the doors that my own, human ears, were too weak to hear yet.
âI donât want you to think we arenât grateful for your help. Without you, weâd still be stuck there, so thank you.â
His gratitude melted the last of the bitterness I had. My lips curling into a smile without much effort as I looked up at him.
âYou donât have to thank me, but I appreciate it, nonetheless. Youâre sweet Jin.â
His cheeks matched the shade of his hair, his hand came up to rub the back of his neck as he averted his eyes. His mouth opened like he wanted to say something, but the words never came, his lack of ability to articulate himself leaving him more flustered until I took pity on the poor man and saved him the trouble.
âLetâs go find the others and see if we can find out any more information about Taehyungâs condition.â
Summary: A personal assistant position wasn't exactly the job you always dreamed of, but you were never one to turn down an opportunity when it fell into your lap. Especially with the promise of guaranteed housing and provided transportation- that, as a fresh college dropout, was an offer you were unable to refuse. Surely you'd be able to pursue your newly formed (post breakdown) dreams while assisting on the side, how much could seven men really need?
Ot7xReader, Idol au
Themes: Ot7, Slow Romance, Slow Burn, Polyamory, Light Angst, Angst with Happy Ending, Domestic Fluff, Eventual Smut (Chapters will be tagged 18+!), Developing Friendships, Unreliable Narrator.
Uploads every two weeks :)
Chapter 1. Beginnings Tumblr Ao3
Chapter 2. Normalcy Tumblr Ao3
Chapter 3. Blue Christmas Tumblr Ao3
Chapter 4. Kiss of Death Tumblr Ao3
Chapter 5. An Olive Branch Tumblr Ao3
Chapter 6. Bad Habits Tumblr Ao3
Chapter 7. Unclear Horizons Tumblr Ao3
Chapter 8. The Seoul Music Awards Tumblr Ao3
Chapter 9. Do You Have To Let It Linger? (18+!) Tumblr Ao3
Chapter 10. In The Limelight (18+!) Tumblr Ao3
Chapter 11. Every Way That You Need Me (18+!) Tumblr Ao3
Chapter 12. Wishing To Be The Friction In Your Jeans (18+!) Tumblr Ao3
Chapter 13. Between You And Me (18+!) Tumblr Ao3
Chapter 14. Badly Bitten (18+!) Tumblr Ao3
Chapter 15. Funny Valentine pt. 1 Tumblr Ao3
Chapter 16. Funny Valentine pt. 2 (18+!) Tumblr Ao3
Chapter 17. In The Works... (Good lord, I hope you're ready for a long ass scene.)
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As soon as my collar touches the ground, my magic seeps out of me like a flooding torrent, extreme relief as it finally gets to feel the fresh air for the first time in years, but it's so overwhelming, so strong that my body can't control it and it causes a blast of energy that propels everyone nearby meters away just as the deafening sound of the explosion becomes even louder, everything in slow-motion as I realize I need to act right now.
Fire and gas. The obvious choice would be to use my earth power, but Iâm terrified that it would only cause even more damage, I canât do that here. I'll need to fight fire with fire, anything to protect my best friends and my soulmates.
My magic reacts without waiting for my permission and causes a dome of flames to cover the coming explosion just as the building's walls crack and give up the fight under the intense pressure happening inside.
The first impact as my fire attempts to absorb the strongest wave is like my insides burning and melting and I scream, not having expected that in the slightest.
The inhuman heat that swarms me from the inside is enough to have me almost lose consciousness but I push through, knowing that the fight is far from over yet and me blacking out would only give free reigns to my magic, which I can't have happening.
That explosion wasn't natural and unless I get rid of the source, it won't end.
Needing to add more strength to my fire, I let loose my wind as well, a second dome covering the fire and fueling it, making it stronger so I can start pushing against the enemy, knowing that he's somewhere within the mess, fighting for his life because there's no way he can run away now, not anymore.
My magic has so much pent up energy that I can feel it filling every streets, spreading through the air and dancing in liberty, free and ready to make the most of this moment and that terrifies me because so much can turn badly if I let it be.
I hiss when my water twirls around me, as if not conscious of the situation. Nowâs not the time to have fun when we have so many people to protect!Â
I canât have Bo-young and Sung-kyung die when I can have a say in that, I can't have that old woman whisper that my best friend should've listened to her, that she should've stayed away from me.
And what of my soulmates? I might not know these two well, but I know Jimin and Hoseok and the simple thought of imagining them crying over their death, it turns my soul bitter and heartbroken.
I can't make them regret trusting me. I can't cause misery to the only people that care about me. I can't cause them pain when that's all I want to avoid.
My magic comes into focus on the task at hand and I sigh in relief as my fire grows in intensity, a literal volcano erupting inwardly and trying to break through the enemy's protections, which means he's not alone. Someone's trying to keep him alive.
The gas suddenly fades into nothingness but before I can make use of that opportunity, no time to think about what this implies, or even why it disappeared in the first place, a new barrier adds itself to the man I need to stop, his fire gaining in strength, an act of desperation.
But sadly for that man, I'm stronger. I'll always be stronger. There's no way he can win.
My fire absorbs his, eats through it like it's made of air and my insides burn, scream against it, that an unknown source of magic essence could be absorbed by my body, hurting it but also nourishing my own magic.
My wind gives more and my fire keeps devouring, no hesitation even if it hurts me, because our goal at the moment is the same. We need to protect, anything to keep safe.
This would have been a piece of cake had I not locked it away for so long, it wouldn't have to try and make up for lost time in such a short amount of time. My magic is hungry for power and it will take it however it needs to to attain its goal.
I drop down to my knees and fall into a coughing fit, the taste of blood filling my mouth and dripping down my chin. I donât know what I was expecting from this, but itâs much harder than anything I couldâve imagined. I donât know how much longer I can hold on like this.
I wipe my face with the back of my hand, but that only results in spreading the blood over my skin and when I cough again, the harsh current of lava flowing through me growing in intensity, more blood trickles out of my lips, a cough splattering it to the ground when I almost choke on  the liquid.
Damn it, my body canât keep up with my magic. I need to end this soon if I donât want to die.
Just as I think that, a gasp reaches my ears over the infernal chaos and when I turn my head to look behind me, itâs to see a body crawling over to me that has my eyes widening, a whimper leaving me at the sight of Sung-kyungâs bloody body, her eyes locked on me as she tries to reach me with difficulty.
Sheâs hurt, because of me.
"Stay away Sungnie, you know how dangerous I am" I manage to tell her, lungs unable to fully fill with air as I start panting but she ignores me and hugs me from behind, her sobs shaking against my back as I bring my attention back to the fight at hand at a slight waver in the enemyâs magic before it dims down.
He's growing weaker.
I need to get to him, if I can just fight through the barriers, then I could get rid of the danger...
I start coughing again, watch as even more blood coats the ground, the crimson ruby in liquid form hardly processed by my mind as being mine.
Sung-kyung tries to take me away from the fire, her pleads for me to stop hurting myself, to follow her making me wince at how desperate they are, but I donât move from where I am, I canât, she doesnât realize that this wouldn't change anything.Â
I could move miles away that my magic would still remain here, it would still cover the magical explosion, it would still have my insides burning like a flaming hell.Â
The blazing heat she feels from the tornado of lava in front of us feels so fresh to me, a breeze of warm air that feels simply comforting.Â
It screams to me that itâs part of me, that although it hurts me right now, it doesnât have a choice, that itâs for a good cause and I understand that, I really do, I brought that upon myself as soon as I removed my collar.
The problem is the enemy's fire, the barriers. As long as they donât stop, I canât put an end to this.
"Please Y/N, stop this, you're killing yourself!" my best friend screams, desperation in her voice but I shake my head, she doesn't understand that me stopping would only kill them. This place would blow up and then I wouldn't be able to save them all.
Anyway, my fire wouldn't listen to me, itâs too far gone.
"We'll all die if I stop now" I tell her as I push her hands away from me to try and stand up to my feet, body wobbly and filled with exhaustion and too much energy all at once, a dizzy feeling that makes me see a blur as I step towards the dome.
I need to see what the heck is going on in there.
Sung-kyung tries to hold me still but my wind pushes her back, too roughly.
I snap my head towards her, eyes wide as I see her unconscious against a nearby building's wall and that's when I take in the many unconscious bodies around me, not dead, but clearly heavily wounded by my magic.
My eyes notice Bo-young and my two soulmates not too far from her, blood on their faces, scratches covering their skin, rubble surrounding them from a pavement that has seen better days.
Hate. Shame. Disgust.
I did that.
I turn back to the matter at hand and enter the dome of elemental magic, heart broken and torn apart at what I just saw, at what I caused and it only serves to fuel my fire as it feeds off my emotions to become more vicious, more aggressive, as if not understanding that it is itself the cause behind all this destruction.
Once I get through the thick wall of my own magic, the heat that I would expect from an explosion is nowhere to be seen, which means most of it was absorbed already.
I look up and right in the middle of what remains of the building, I find the man on his knees as his body struggles to breathe, the fire taking everything with it, oxygen included.
My magic is made to kill after all. Itâs made to destroy, itâs made to turn everything to ashes, itâs made to drown everything, itâs made to ruin and hurt.Â
It won't kill me, never, but it's ready to go quite far to get what it wants and there's no way I can stop it, not until it's satisfied and right now, it wants this man.
Because what better way to protect our loved ones than to kill the ones threatening their lives?
The man looks up to meet my gaze, eyes filled with fear as he finally understands that heâs gone against more than he could handle.
"Please spare me, I-I will stop, I promise I'll stop, please let me live" he pleads pitifully but my magic only pushes stronger against the barriers, ones that start to fade, as if sensing that it's almost over, that itâs useless to even try anymore.
I step closer to him even if it demands so much energy from me until I stand right in front of him.
"Who are you and why are you doing that? Why did you attempt to blow up this area?" I ask between pants, watch as he shakes his head miserably, himself torn between limited choices.
"It was a sick plan, it was, the mall is full of people, he wants death, that's all he wants! Please, I didn't have a choice, if I didnât listen he wouldâve-â the man starts crying out but too soon, the barriers disappear.
And even as I step forward in an attempt to stop my fire, it jumps on the man like a lion finally finding the right moment to pounce on its prey and I watch as he melts in front of my eyes, screams of agony reaching my ears as his skin falls right off his body, a bloody mess before he gets completely disintegrated in front of my eyes.
The surge of power that floods my soul next makes me fall to my knees a second time, tears falling down my cheeks as my magic finally becomes satisfied, as if after the best meal of its life, it can finally rest easy.
The tornado of fire fades into thin air and only remains around me a circle of pure destruction, everything that the building was completely melted, no sign that there ever was something here to begin with if not for the ash and the remnants of a once human body.
My magic absorbed him. It absorbed the man, his magic, his energy, everything.
Disgusted with myself, I stand up with some difficulty and look behind me to see everyone still unconscious as the sound of police sirens get closer, no doubt this chaos needing more hands to take care of, and although it feels like hours just passed by, the fact that theyâre not here yet lets me know that it was but mere minutes.
I limp my way to my collar but my magic pushes it out of reach, as if daring me to even try.
I scream, out of anger, frustration, pain, that this day was supposed to be great but now, all remains is a shitty mess, something that was never supposed to happen now happening and I couldnât hate it more than I do at the moment.
"You give me my collar right fucking now" I growl, not in a mood to handle its moody ass, not in a mood to handle it at all. I never wanted to interact with it and Iâm not starting now.
My wind caresses my skin, as if to apologize and the collar falls in my hands. I stare at it and after a moment of hesitation, I clip it around my neck.
Then everything becomes dark.
Yoongi's POV
When I open my eyes, it's to pure confusion as the sirens around me are loud and many.
My head hurts much more than I ever thought possible and I grunt as I try to lift myself off the ground, body barely responding to my brain as it tries to process what happened.
Because what happened? What was that?
I turn to my left to see Jin waking up, his own blood covering his face and I hurry my way to him, hands going to remove the ash from his skin but only ending up lathering it more and I cup his cheeks, wait for him to look at me.
I need to make sure that he's fine, that heâs not in pain. His confused eyes open and fall on me and I sigh in relief, a small smile that he responds to weakly, slowly as his eyes register the state of the place surrounding us.
Feet start running around the area and a body crouches next to us, hands on our shoulders with a comforting squeeze that feels familiar.
"Are you two okay?" I hear, look up to see Eunwooâs concerned face before Jin lets out a painful sigh followed with a grunt as he tries to sit up with our help.
"Why do I feel like I got run over by a truck?" he mumbles, a sentiment I share. That is a very good question.
"What happened?" I ask, eyes staring around me to take in the state of the area, notice the many bodies being taken care of right now, paramedics spread all over the place with urgency, yet I canât even begin to understand how this came to be as my memory has yet to really come back to me.
I think back to when Jin and I got here at first, our meal interrupted by the call, how we had to secure the area, how we had to ask surrounding restaurants and shops to close, for everyone to get away while trying to avoid creating panic.
Sung-kyung arrived, she had her friends with her, they were standing a while away and-
Then it all comes back to mind and my eyes widen as I start searching the ground more intently. Oh my gosh.
"There was about to be a frighteningly big explosion, I have no idea what spurred it but it was something that even my power wouldn't have been able to handle. I saw the way the fire came alive from inside the building, but then this girl-" I stop there as I remember when Sung-kyungâs friend ran towards the building just as the air started to shake with power, a terrifying sight that I won't be able to forget for a long time.
I try to stand up from where I am, even more eager to search for her now. "Where is she? Did she die? Why are we all alive? This was a mushroom kind of explosion, it was supposed to be massive, we shouldnât be alive right now, no amount of power couldâve stopped that" I let out, eyes searching every face, every bodies before falling on where the building once was, the only thing gone in the area.
"Ahn Y/N. She removed her collar and saved you all. This explosion clearly wasn't of natural cause, such a strength of blast could never be contained in such a small building and she somehow sensed it before the sensors could" Eunwoo says, eyes solemnly watching as one ambulance goes away.
"She did? Just how strong is she that she could've stopped such a big explosion? Who is that girl?" Jin asks as he tries to stand up too and I move closer to him to help him up to his feet along with Eunwoo.
"Um... I don't know if it's my place to say, hyung, I donât even know that much. All I can tell you is that she's not wearing a collar for no reason and the fact that you're all alive right now is a miracle, in more ways than you know".
A fucking miracle it is. There's no way we would've survived without her.
"Which hospital is she going to? Was she badly injured?" Jin asks urgently, needing to know the state of our savior and Eunwoo sighs.
"The same one you'll be sent to, every one of you. Sung-kyung-ah was already taken there with her friend and more ambulances are on the way for the people who stayed too close to the area. Her releasing her magic was no joke, it caused a shock-wave like I've never seen before, it was felt on every sensors on a radius of thirty kilometers".
Holy shit.
"Come on you two, get in my car, I'll drive you there, thereâs no need to take one of the ambulances if you can walk" he says and we nod with a grunt, bodies really not liking being moved right now.
I get my phone out of my pocket only to find it broken and dead.
"Jin hyung, is your phone in better- guess not, shouldâve expected it. Eunwoo-ah, can you lend me yours? I need to call our soulmates, they must have seen the news already and I bet they're worried sick" I ask, already imagining them pacing around unable to join either of us after getting a live of the explosion.
The man nods and hands it to me as we sit inside the car.
They'll probably hurry over to see this girl once they hear just what it is that she did.
Your POV
Waking up is not a fun thing to experience when it brings with it pain, soreness and terrible memories.
The constant beeping of a monitor and the smell of cleaning products lets me where exactly it is that I am, which lets me know that it really is over, and Iâm not dead.
I'm not in prison so I guess I didn't kill anyone except for that guy, or they're just waiting for me to recover before throwing me in a cell. Two lovely possibilities.
I did unleash my magic when I wasnât supposed to. Not because people forbid me from using it but because Iâm wholeheartedly against it. We can't risk the same thing happening again and I just took a huge risk doing what I did.
Iâm lucky that my magic didnât do more than what it needed to do. Thereâs no telling what wouldâve happened if it had decided to go around and destroy everything on its path, I wouldnât have been able to stop it.
We were all very lucky.
Thinking about facing Sung-kyung and Bo-young scares me so much. Just remembering what I did to them... and to my two soulmates as well, I can't ignore the guilt that overwhelms me as a lump forms in my throat.
I hate this, I hate my magic so much. How it came to be the way it is... how wild it is... it makes me sick.
A magic that cannot be controlled. That's what I have.
Removing my collar was a really dangerous move on my part and I'm well aware of that, but I couldn't stand still and do nothing. Knowing my loved ones in danger, loved ones of dear friends, I just knew that my magic would cooperate, for it would never let its puzzle pieces die without at least trying to save them.
But thatâs the extent of it. My magic couldnât care any less for strangers, itâs shown that much in the past.
I can only hope that they're all fine. I slowly open my eyes to take in the room where I am and to my relief, I find it empty.
I wonder if I can make it out of here without being seen. Would that end up looking like a chase worthy of an action movie with police chasing after me? Now that sounds kind of fun.
But I doubt it would go that far, the hospital can just send me the receipt at home and I'll pay by sending a cheque back, I don't want the risk of being visited by anyone, I don't know how I could face any of them, especially not my soulmates.
My attempt to get out of bed makes me groan and that seems enough to alert whoever's walking by the door because soon, it opens quickly with a slam just as I'm falling down on the floor, my legs having completely given up on me.
A familiar small swear reaches my ears and I can't help an amused snort even though the situation is currently a shitty one considering Iâm ass up in the air, face to the floor.
"How can you even laugh in that position?! Do you know how worried Bo-young and I were? I tell her Iâll go visit you, make sure youâre fine and what do I see? My girl kissing the damn floor" Sung-kyung exclaims with exasperation, her voice too loud as it makes my ears ring but I only manage a giggle in response as she helps me back to the bed with a gentleness that warms my heart.
So much for wanting to avoid her, at least they healed her well, she doesnât even have a trace on her skin anymore, something that helps ease my mind. Iâm sure the others were all well taken care of as well, even my skin looks soft as a babyâs.
I avoid looking into her eyes as she stares at me, knowing that itâs only a matter of time before she understands how I came to fall out of bed and when she lets out a sound of disbelief, I turn my head away with my lips pressed tightly together.
"Don't tell me you were trying to run away?" she asks, but I know that she knows thatâs exactly what I was attempting to do and my turning my back to her only confirms her assumption.
"Y/N! Why the heck would you do that? After what happened, you need to rest, do you have any idea what you just did today? Do you realize the extent of what you have accomplished?" she asks as she sits on my bed behind me, a hand resting on my shoulder and patting it softly, as if to coax a child into looking up into their motherâs eyes.
I keep my eyes closed, unable to look at her as guilt rushes back at the mention of what happened.
"Because I'm ashamed. I hurt everyone, I hurt you twice, I hurt so many people without wanting to" I let out, unable to keep the truth from spilling out, not when she knows me so well, it would serve me nothing to keep quiet.
"Bubs... I'm fine, I really am. Do you know how many people you saved today? You saved more lives than we can count and everyone knows it, you avoided such a terrible nightmare from becoming reality, no one died thanks to you!" she says gently, proud of me, so proud.
I shake my head. "Someone did, Sungnie... I killed someone. The source of the explosion... he died, my fire ate him, my fucking magic absorbed him. I have the magic essence of a dead man in me right now and I'm so fucking disgusted with myself" I let out, voice shaking as I clench my fists tight, eyes burning with the tale of unshed tears.
She scoots closer to me and pulls me into her hold, her arms wrapping around me comfortingly, her magic soothing as it caresses me and itâs enough to make me break down as she gently shushes me, a kiss pressed to the back of my head.
"It's okay. That was self defence, Y/N, you did it to protect us, you saved more lives than you took, you have to remember that. The past... itâs behind you, Y/N, your magic didnât do anything bad this time" she whispers and I allow myself to believe, just for now.
To believe that this is fine. Because I know it's not.
The door suddenly opens and comes with it a new magic that responds to me.
As soon as I feel it extend to me, hoping for a response, for a connection, my magic whimpering because it can't reach out to this once again new soulmate of ours, I can't resist the hurt that spreads through my whole being and I start crying, face going to hide in the nook of her neck because I can't face this, I don't want to.
I'm just so tired of nothing going my way.
Namjoon's POV
I hum as I exit the room of a young girl who has a slight concussion and a broken rib, but otherwise nothing a healer canât take care of and head for the next room on my list, the one of the woman who saved my soulmates and all the people that currently fill the hospital.
Sheâs giving us a lot of work, but to know that all of them are walking again within the first hour of being here, the care brought to them by the healers enough to allow them to be discharged the very same day, itâs not nearly as bad as it couldâve been if not for her.
We couldâve received no bodies at all because of the explosion, they could all be dead, nothing but dust. I prefer much more working hard for a few hours than grieving the loss of all these people who I donât know. Once was enough and already too much.
I could never thank her enough for the way she protected my two soulmates, the two men thankfully fine and already out of the hospital for a few hours now, something relieving to our group because when we heard of the news, when we learned that it was happening right where they had said they would eat lunch at, we had all become a distressed group of nerves, unable to focus on anything as none of our calls would reach through.
When Jimin had sent a link to a live feed from the explosion area, we had all been holding our breath as weâd seen the way a dome of elemental magic restrained the explosion, a terrifying sight that gave us all the chills, yet we were fascinated all the same, this person who we couldnât see doing their best to save the day, to save everyone.
When I learned that she was even younger than Jungkook, that she was Jimin and Hoseokâs friend who fascinated them, I couldnât believe it, her frail body as she left the urgency department to reach a quiet room making me wonder just how this young woman could even manage something so incredible.
So itâs with badly restrained excitement, a heart singing praises for her that I open the door leading to her room, but my joy at seeing her awake dims down the hole when my arrival is accompanied with the sound of her crying, one that almost sounds like it was spurred by me.
It sounds so pained, so tired that my heart twists for her, wondering if the shock from the events is simply getting to her, if sheâs scared of the possibilities that couldâve taken place now that she has the time to think about them.
Sung-kyung, my soulmatesâ colleague, turns to me and offers me a tight smile, her eyes filled with worry for her friend, her hands softly rubbing her back to try and soothe her as her cries turn more to wailing than anything else.
It alerts me that it is possible she might be in pain and I join their side near the bed, feet only coming to an abrupt stop when she flinches away from me, as if simply sensing me near her was enough to hurt her.
Guilt fills me as I realize that I didnât even announce myself before entering, my eagerness to see her and thank her in person taking over my professionalism and I step back, pad clutched to my chest as I meet eyes with her friend again, the woman looking a little lost herself by her friendâs state.
My eyes fall on her collar and understanding takes place in my mind. Right, of course she would be in pain. Sheâd let her magic free only to lock it again, it would make anyone cry, would make any souls suffer.
Part of me wishes I could simply remove it for her, let it free so that she could rest easy, so that she could heal better, but I know it would be unbecoming of me, collars arenât meant to be removed outside of the wards used to keep it under check.
But her reaction seems somewhat abnormal. If she can remove it at home, then the collar shouldnât be hurting her that much right now. Could she be hurting, not from her soul but from her body after all?
I shake my head and clear my throat. I need to stop trying to guess the problem and just ask her, seeing her in that state breaks my heart and I wish nothing more than to put an end to her pain. I kneel by the bed and look up at her face that hides in her friendâs neck, as if hiding from me and for some reason, I really donât like that.
"Miss Y/N, Iâm Doctor Kim Namjoon, Iâm here to see how you are and if you need any special care, Iâm here to be of help, but for that, I need you to cooperate with me. Can you tell me if you are hurting anywhere? Is there anything you would like, anything to help you?" I ask her softly, only to sigh, a little defeated when she shakes her head and turns away from me to hide within the officer's embrace.
She shoots me an apologetic gaze.
"She's been through a lot, itâs a lot to process so I think it would be better to give her some time, maybe you should come back later" Sung-kyung says with a small smile as she runs a hand through Y/N's hair and I nod, sensing that there's nothing I can do right now, as disappointing as it is.
I canât get rid of the feeling of failure that fills me at seeing her reject me so clearly, but I understand how this could all be a lot to process, so I decide to focus on what I can do at the moment, as little as they are.
After quickly making sure that her IV injections are still good to go, I look around the room to make sure that everything is in order before making my way out of the room, a request to let me know when I can come back before closing the door in front of me.
I remain where I am, unsure of what to do now that my current list of patients is seen through, ears picking up every sounds of her sobs as they increase and my soul clenches with pain, a part of me needing to get to her, to do anything to make her stop crying and feeling utterly powerless that I canât.
I sense Hoseok and Jimin's magic before I see them and I hurry to them to stop them from coming any closer, overwhelming her the last thing she needs right now.Â
When they hear her crying even from a good distance, their eyes widen and I have to hold them both by the arms to keep them from rushing to her, eyes confused and worried for their friend whoâs having difficulty calming down.
Jimin turns to me with teary eyes, his hand holding Hoseokâs tightly, the two of them needing answers as they stare at me with glassy orbs.
"What's going on, hyung? Is she in pain? Why is she crying so much?" he asks with an anxious voice but I shake my head, unable to give him an answer as I donât know myself.Â
Sliding an arm around their back, I lead them away from the corridor with me, to give her some privacy and to keep my soulmates from hurting even more.
"She woke up not long ago, I think all the weight of the situation is overwhelming her at the moment. I tried asking her what was wrong but she didnât say anything, Sung-kyung is with her right now so let's give them some space, you two can visit her later" I explain to which they nod sadly, eyes gazing at the door one last time before it gets out of view as we turn right.
Hoseok hands me a lunchbox that screams Jin and I smile softly as I take it.
âGive it to her when she feels better, will you? Once Jin hyung made his way back home, he rushed to the kitchen to make her something healthy to help her recover faster, you know itâs his love language, he was hoping to thank her that way, even if he says that it barely covers a small portion of what she did for usâ he says, words that donât surprise me because thatâs indeed something he would do, even after what he went through himself today.
Itâs also his way of finally accomplishing something that heâs attempted often in the past.
Whenever Jimin and Hoseok would talk about her, we could all see the bright stars in their eyes as they would share how funny and kind she is, her laugh something they simply adore about her.
That resulted in all of us getting curious about her, we all wished on more than one occasion to get to know the woman who put such a smile on our soulmatesâ face and Jin offered a few times to invite her over for dinner so we could all meet her, but that has yet to happen even once so far.
It caused a lot of disappointment and confusion in our group so after a few refused attempts, I eventually had to tell them to stop because obviously, she wasnât comfortable with the idea, if the creative excuses she would come up with were anything to go by.
Because in all seriousness, who needs to go clean their dinosaur at the pet shop? Who goes to the shop to buy a clipper for their alpaca in the middle of the city? Who takes their car on a walk? She doesnât even have a car!
As funny as I had to admit her excuses were, it didnât change the fact that they were there to keep her from seeing us. Whether it was because meeting such a big soulmate group intimidated her or because sheâs not interested in having more friends, there was no reason to push and they eventually agreed with me, as sad as that reality made us feel.
Our two soulmates were sorry for us, because they could still see her whenever sheâd stop by the coffee shop, but we told them to enjoy it, that if she wanted to be only their friends, then itâs alright. Maybe one day in the future, thatâs something that will change and she will give us a chance but until then, we will not insist any further.
Once back in my office, we all sit down on the couch and sigh at the same time, the stress of the day weighing heavy on our body and mind. They both rest their head on my shoulders and I hum, allow the feeling of their magic intertwining with mine to soothe me, to make me relax.
"Except for her mental state... how is she, physically? Can we really not allow her to free her magic while sheâs here? It would help her, wouldnât it?" Hoseok asks after a while, eyes meeting mine in concern. I shake my head.
"You saw the videos of the explosion, what if the same thing happens here? We can't have the hospital destroyed, plus itâs not within our control, she can remove her collar only once she's at home" I tell him but he shakes his head.
"She doesnât remove her collar when at home, she keeps it on all the time. Her removing it today? It was to protect her friends, thatâs the only explanation for it" he insists and I look down with a frown at that knowledge.
Thatâs not good, she canât do that. âDoesnât she have the wards at home? I donât believe her to be a high criminal case, she should be allowed to remove her collar, she needs to, itâs very important to not sever the connection with her magicâ I say but those questions draw a blank on his face.
âI donât know hyung. Iâm sure she has them, but she doesnât want to remove her collar, she was very clear on that. Said once that the day she removes it is the day the world is ending, she was adamant on thatâ Jimin answers this time and I purse my lips, my worry for her only increasing.
That means no appointment to make sure that her magic remains healthy, no bonding with it, something extremely important for the soul. There are ways to get an appointment at her own home since the wards are there to help control her magic for her, but she doesnât take them.
If thatâs the case, if her crying earlier is really related to her soul being in pain, I suspect it might be because itâs trying to fight against the collar. If sheâs reaching that point, then she might lose full control if she doesnât give it a chance. She needs to bond with her magic if she wants to soothe it, it must be so confused and scared after what happened today.
"I'll try to explain the situation to her later but I honestly doubt that she'll listen to me. If sheâs so intent on keeping it locked away, her listening to a doctor is very unlikely to happen. Iâd need to know why exactly sheâs refusing to remove it at home to even have a chance at convincing her" I mumble, arms crossed over my chest as I lean back into the couch, eyes staring at the ceiling as I try to come up with a way to bring the subject forward.
The two of them sigh at my words, knowing that Iâm right. What could we possibly say to convince her? Itâs not like we know her that well. Maybe her friend Sung-kyung could inform me a little more on her situation, if itâs something that gets in the way of her recovery, then surely she would open up.
As her doctor, Ahn Y/N is under my responsibility, under my care. Iâm going to need answers if I want to be able to help her, but I'm going to have to be careful about this, it somehow feels like one wrong move could ruin everything.
The door suddenly opens and I see one of the nurses in my team entering the room out of breath. I get up quickly, not liking that look in her eyes, as if something bad just happened.
"Doctor Kim, your patient, Y/N, she... she's gone. That police officer told me to inform you before she rushed out of the hospital" she exclaims before leaning against the wall as if she ran a marathon, which I realize maybe she did since she didnât know where I was.
I tsk my tongue and roll my shoulders to try and get rid of some of the tension taking place in my body.
This day is really running out of control, isnât it?
She was born markless in a world ruled by soulmates. When she gives birth to a child created by a one-in-a-million soulmate phenomenon, she flees to Korea to return the baby and disappear. Instead, she finds seven men already bound to her daughterâand a fate that refuses to let her go. As the world closes in and the bond tightens, she must choose between running like she always has⌠or staying on her own terms. 9.8k
Ok so I know Iâm not the only one who love the Soulmate!au trope so this is my take on it with the one and only bts, along with bits and piece I have read, adapted and made my own. Iâve read so many different stories including them and this type of au so this is my version that I have lived through in my imagination.Â
As always please go into this knowing that these stories are mostly built from my maladaptive daydreams, knowing that most points that aren't described in detail are indications I didnât fascinate on it enough and others over explained because I hyper fixated on that certain point, but most importantly please know I do use AI as my unpaid employee to fix things and act as my co reader. Enjoy! Â
She learned early that wrists were dangerous things.
Children noticed them before they noticed her face.
Before her voice, which rarely came out anyway.
Before her name, which teachers said too loudly, as if volume could make her exist correctly.
They noticed her wrists.
Every child had something there. A mark, a symbol, inked beneath the skin like it had always belonged. Some glowed faintly when emotions ran high. Some were sharp and geometric. Others were soft, looping, abstract. A promise written into flesh before language ever formed.
Everyone had one.
Except her.
At six years old, she still believed the mark would come late. That she was simply slow. A late bloomer. Adults said things like that with careful smiles and pity soft voices, and she learned quickly that those words meant something is wrong but we donât want to say it.
At seven, the whispers started.
At eight, the staring.
At nine, the questions stopped and the conclusions began.
She learned to keep her sleeves down even in summer. Learned to tuck her hands under her thighs when she sat. Learned that if she didnât give people proof, they would invent it anyway.
âSheâs broken.â
âSheâs empty.â
âShe doesnât have one because no one wants her.â
The cruelest part wasnât that they said it.
It was that the world agreed.
Teachers avoided the topic. Doctors ran tests and frowned. Her mother held her wrist like she was waiting for something to appear, like warmth and belief might summon fate if she pressed hard enough.
Nothing ever did.
She didnât cry about it. Not openly. Crying required sound, and sound invited attention. Instead, she became small in ways that werenât physical. She spoke softly when spoken to. Observed everything. Learned peopleâs moods before they spoke. Learned where to stand so she wouldnât be in the way.
Quiet girls survived longer.
By the time she was fifteen, she stopped wondering who her soulmate might be.
She started wondering why she didnât deserve one.
âââââ
Adulthood didnât fix it. It just dressed it better.
At twenty two, she lived in a small, clean flat with white walls and furniture chosen for function, not feeling. She worked in tech, backend systems, infrastructure, things that worked quietly in the background without being seen. It suited her.
No one needed to look at her wrists anymore.
Everyone assumed.
She was British American by passport and accent, caught between cultures but belonging fully to neither. She had friends, technically. Colleagues who respected her competence. Men who liked her quietness, mistook it for mystery.
She didnât correct them.
Sex was easier than intimacy. It asked nothing of her wrists. Nothing of fate.
So when the nausea started, she ignored it.
When her period didnât come, she blamed stress.
When the test turned positive, she stared at it for a full five minutes before sitting down on the bathroom floor and breathing like she was underwater.
The timeline didnât make sense.
None of it did.
She counted backward. Recounted. Checked calendars. The dates didnât align with anyone. Biology didnât care about panic, though. Her body moved forward regardless of her understanding.
She went to work. Drank ginger tea. Kept quiet.
Fear made her jumpy. Sounds too loud. Touch too sharp. She slept with the light on without remembering when she started doing that.
On the morning she collapsed, she was halfway to work, one hand clutching her bag, the other pressed unconsciously to her stomach like apology.
She never felt herself fall.
âââââ
When she woke up, the world smelled like antiseptic and inevitability.
The doctor spoke carefully. Slowly. As if she might shatter if words were dropped too hard.
âYes. Youâre pregnant.â
She nodded. She already knew that part.
âThereâs⌠something else.â
That was when the word entered her life.
Soulmate pregnancy.
One in a million. Documented, but rare enough to be theoretical. A phenomenon where fate didnât wait for connection, consent, or marks.
The child carried the genetic material of all biological soulmates.
She laughed.
Once.
A sharp, broken sound that startled even her.
âI donât have soulmates,â she said softly. âYouâre wrong.â
They werenât.
The bloodwork didnât lie.
South Korean bloodlines. Seven distinct genetic contributors. All active. All present.
She stared at the results and felt something in her chest harden into resolve instead of wonder.
This wasnât a miracle.
It was theft.
âââââ
Two months after Sayori was born, tiny, warm, devastatingly real, she stood in Incheon Airport with exhaustion stitched into her bones.
Twelve hour flight. A newborn on her hip. A plan that involved leaving everything behind.
She didnât come to find love.
She came to give fate back what it had forced on her.
The stroller jammed. Her bags were too heavy. Sayori shifted against her chest, soft and warm and entirely unaware that she was the center of a cosmic mistake.
She felt it before she understood it.
A pull.
Not on her wrist.
On her spine.
She looked up.
Across the baggage conveyor, seven men stood frozen.
Seven wrists burned.
Seven hearts recognized something ancient and wrong and inevitable.
And he locked eyes with her first.
She swallowed.
For the first time in her life, she was being seen.
And she hated it.
â¡ââŞď¸ââŞď¸â¡â
She learned how to disappear without leaving.
It was a skill she perfected in adulthood, less about hiding and more about not being asked questions. She dressed neutrally. Spoke only when necessary. Let silence do the work of protection. In tech, this made her valuable. Systems didnât need charm. They needed precision. Reliability. Someone who didnât flinch when everything else went wrong.
Her colleagues trusted her because she never asked for anything.
They didnât know that was the point.
When the nausea first started, she treated it like an error log. An anomaly. Something to be debugged quietly before it caused a system wide failure. She adjusted her diet. Cut caffeine. Told herself stress did strange things to the body.
Stress had always been her excuse.
She didnât tell anyone when the test turned positive. She didnât cry. She didnât spiral. She sat on the edge of the bathtub and stared at the thin pink line like it might blink first.
It didnât.
The timeline didnât fit any partner. Not the man sheâd seen casually three months ago. Not the one before that. She opened her calendar, fingers steady, heart not. Counted days. Weeks. Did the math again and again until numbers lost meaning.
She was methodical even when she was afraid.
Her body, however, was not.
Sleep became fragmented. Sounds startled her. She flinched when strangers brushed past her on the tube. She started holding her stomach unconsciously, a protective reflex she refused to name.
She still went to work.
Still fixed bugs. Still deployed updates. Still answered emails with calm efficiency while something inside her quietly rewrote every assumption sheâd ever made about herself.
She had lived her whole life believing fate had skipped her.
Now it was inside her.
âââââ
The hospital room was too bright.
When the doctor said soulmate pregnancy, she didnât romanticise it. Didnât feel awe. She felt something closer to violation. As if the universe had reached into her body and made a decision without bothering to consult her.
âOne in a million,â the doctor said gently. âWe rarely see cases like this.â
She stared at the screen showing lines and numbers and proof she never asked for.
âI donât have soulmates,â she said again, quieter this time. Not defensive. Just factual.
The doctor hesitated. That was answer enough.
When they showed her the bloodwork, seven genetic contributors, all distinct, all active, she laughed because the alternative was screaming. South Korean bloodlines, every one of them. Not vague ancestry. Specific. Traceable.
Seven.
She went home afterward and sat on her bed in the dark, one hand resting flat against her stomach, the other clenched around her wrist where nothing had ever appeared.
âThis isnât real,â she whispered.
The silence didnât argue.
âââââ
Sayori arrived on a rainy Tuesday morning.
She didnât scream. Didnât cry. She endured labor the same way she endured everything else, with clenched teeth and a refusal to give the world the satisfaction of seeing her break.
When they placed the baby on her chest, warm and small and devastatingly alive, she felt something crack, not open, not heal, but fracture. A thin line through a wall sheâd built carefully over decades.
Sayoriâs eyes were dark. Curious. Too knowing for something that new.
She didnât cry much. She settled against her like she recognised her. Like this was inevitable.
She didnât name the feeling that bloomed in her chest.
Love was dangerous. Love implied staying.
She told herself this was temporary.
âââââ
Two months later, she booked a one way ticket.
Korea was not hope. It was closure.
She researched obsessively. Cultural norms. Legalities. The phenomenon. Everything except the men themselves. She refused to look them up. Refused to learn names, faces, music. If she didnât humanise them, leaving would be easier.
She told herself they would take the baby. That they would understand. That they had everything, money, support, each other.
She had a career about to take off. A life she hadnât sacrificed yet.
Sayori slept against her chest on the plane, small fist curled into her jumper like an anchor. She stared out the window for twelve hours and practiced not thinking about what it would feel like to let go.
âââââ
Incheon Airport was chaos wrapped in efficiency.
Announcements echoed. Wheels rattled. Languages layered over one another in a way that made her acutely aware of how out of place she was. She adjusted the baby carrier, reached for the stroller, fumbled with her bags.
She was tired. Bone deep tired.
That was when it happened.
Not a sound. Not a touch.
A pull.
Like gravity had shifted directions without warning.
She froze.
Across the baggage claim, seven men stood together, still as if time had stalled around them. Their expressions werenât awe or joy. They were sharp with something darker. Recognition without context. Instinct flaring into alarm.
She didnât know their faces.
But her body did.
Heat rippled through the air between them, invisible and undeniable. Her heart kicked hard against her ribs, not with longing, but with panic. Too many eyes. Not just theirs. Others noticing. Whispers starting.
Jimin, she hadnât known it then, was the one who met her gaze first.
His hand was clenched around his wrist like it hurt.
She swallowed, forced herself to move. She unfolded the stroller. Lifted her bags. Every instinct screamed at her to leave, to disappear the way she always had.
But this time, the world had noticed her.
And it wasnât letting go.
â¡ââŞď¸ââŞď¸â¡â
The bond did not announce itself with ceremony.
It did not ask permission.
It burned.
Jimin felt it first, sharp, sudden, like someone had pressed a brand into the inside of his wrist. He gasped before he could stop himself, fingers tightening reflexively around the mark heâd lived with his entire life. Heat pulsed beneath his skin, alive in a way it had never been before.
âWhatââ Taehyung started, then stopped.
Because they all felt it.
Seven men, seven soulmate marks, igniting at once.
Not glowing softly the way stories said they would. Not humming with warmth and affection. This was violent recognition. A pull so strong it tilted the world on its axis and made the air feel thick, charged.
Namjoonâs breath left him slowly, deliberately. âDo not move,â he said, instinctively, even as his eyes lifted.
Across the baggage claim stood a woman with exhaustion carved into her posture.
She was small in a way that wasnât fragile. Defensive. Shoulders slightly hunched like she was braced for impact. Her sleeves were long despite the warmth of the terminal, hands busy with bags and buckles and straps like motion itself was a shield.
And on her chestâ
A baby.
Jungkook swore under his breath.
The child was tiny. Dark haired. Peacefully asleep, cheek pressed against the womanâs collarbone like it belonged there. Like it had always known that spot.
Yoongiâs mind raced faster than his pulse. No. Thatâs not possible.
Hoseok felt it like vertigo. Jin like dread laced with awe.
Their marks burned hotter.
âShe doesnât have one,â Jimin said hoarsely.
It wasnât accusation. It was disbelief.
Namjoon saw it too.
The womanâs wrists were bare.
âââââ
She knew something was wrong the moment she felt the air change.
She didnât feel heat. Or magic. Or destiny.
She felt hunted.
Seven men. Too still. Too focused. The kind of attention sheâd spent her entire life avoiding because it meant questions. Demands. Expectations she could not meet.
Her heart hammered painfully as she forced herself to keep moving. Fold the stroller. Lift the bag. Adjust Sayoriâs weight. Her hands shook, but she refused to rush. Panic drew eyes.
And eyes were dangerous.
She risked another glance.
Big mistake.
The one with soft features and sharp eyes, Jimin, was staring at her like she was a wound he couldnât look away from. His hand was clenched around his wrist, knuckles white, jaw tight with something that looked disturbingly close to pain.
She didnât recognise him.
But some traitorous part of her brain whispered, You should.
âNo,â she breathed under her breath, more plea than word. âNo, no, no.â
Sayori stirred.
The moment the baby shifted, the pull intensified.
Jungkook took a half step forward without realizing it.
Namjoon caught his sleeve instantly. âNot here,â he said quietly, urgently. âWe donât know what this is yet.â
But they all knew.
Because the bond didnât care about logic.
It cared about proximity.
âââââ
She got her bags and turned away as quickly as she could without running.
She didnât look back.
She felt them instead, seven points of gravity dragging at her spine, at her ribs, at something deeper and older than fear. Her breath came shallow as she pushed the stroller forward, weaving through travellers and announcements and blinking screens.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket.
She ignored it.
Her chest felt tight. Too tight. The walls of the terminal felt closer than they should have been. She focused on Sayoriâs weight, the steady rise and fall of her tiny body.
âYouâre fine,â she whispered. âYouâre fine. Weâre fine.â
She didnât believe it.
Behind her, the seven men stood rooted in place, watching her go.
Jin broke first. âSheâs leaving.â
Yoongi exhaled slowly. âShe was always going to.â
Namjoonâs eyes never left her retreating form. âNo,â he said, voice low and certain. âShe doesnât know what she is yet.â
Jimin swallowed hard. âThen why does it feel like sheâs already gone?â
Because she had spent her whole life surviving without fate.
And fate had just found her anyway.
â¡ââŞď¸ââŞď¸â¡â
She didnât stop moving until the taxi door slammed shut and the driver pulled into traffic.
Only then did her body betray her.
Her hands started shaking first. Then her breath hitched, shallow and fast, like sheâd been running even though she hadnât. She pressed her forehead briefly to the cool window, eyes squeezed shut, Sayori warm and solid against her chest.
âThat wasnât real,â she whispered.
Sayori made a small sound in her sleep, a soft sigh that felt like an answer anyway.
The city blurred past, signs she couldnât read, buildings too tall, too close together. Korea felt loud in a way that wasnât sound. She felt exposed, stripped of the anonymity sheâd been counting on.
She had planned for everything except them.
Not their faces. Not their eyes. Not the way the air had bent around them like the world itself had leaned in.
Most of all, she hadnât planned for the pull.
Not romance. Not longing.
Recognition.
And that terrified her far more.
âââââ
Across the city, seven men sat in a private conference room, the air thick with something that hadnât been there that morning.
Namjoon stood at the whiteboard, marker uncapped but unmoving. His wrist still burned, the symbol etched there alive in a way it had never been before. It pulsed faintly now, like it was waiting.
âThis aligns with the literature,â he said finally, voice steady even as his thoughts raced. âRare cases. Soulmate convergence events. Usually theoretical.â
Yoongi leaned back in his chair, arms crossed. âTheory doesnât explain why my wrist feels like itâs on fire.â
Jungkook hadnât said a word since the airport. He sat forward, elbows on his knees, hands clasped together as if holding himself in place. Every time he blinked, he saw her again, her guarded posture, the way she shielded the baby instinctively.
The baby.
âThere was a child,â Hoseok said quietly, like speaking too loudly might make it worse. âThat wasnât⌠normal.â
Jin rubbed his face slowly. âNo one looks at a stranger like that. Not unlessââ
âUnless the bond already happened,â Jimin finished.
The room fell silent.
Namjoon nodded once. âSoulmate pregnancy.â
The words settled like a weight.
Seven pairs of eyes snapped to him.
âThatâs notââ Jungkook started, then stopped. His mark flared sharply, heat spiking like it was offended by the denial. He hissed and grabbed his wrist.
Jimin did the same, breath stuttering. âShe doesnât have a mark,â he said again, quieter now. âI saw it clearly.â
âThatâs documented too,â Namjoon said. âExtremely rare. Markless carriers. The bond manifests through the child instead.â
Yoongi let out a low, humorless laugh. âSo fate skipped her and went straight to the baby.â
âAnd through the baby,â Hoseok added softly.
No one liked that.
âââââ
She didnât sleep that night.
The hotel room was clean, impersonal, too quiet. Sayori lay in the bassinet beside the bed, tiny chest rising and falling, blissfully unaware that her existence had just detonated seven lives.
She sat on the edge of the mattress, elbows on her knees, hands clenched together.
She replayed the airport over and over again.
The way theyâd frozen.
The way one of them, Jimin, had looked like heâd been punched in the chest.
The heat she hadnât felt, and yet somehow had.
Her wrist was still bare.
Always had been.
âI donât belong to anyone,â she murmured, as if the walls might argue.
Her phone buzzed.
She flinched hard enough to wake Sayori, who made a small, indignant sound before settling again when she lifted her automatically, pressing a kiss to her soft hair.
The message was from the hospital back home. Follow up. Documentation. A reminder that there were legal pathways for soulmate reunification cases.
She deleted it.
She hadnât come to reunite.
Sheâd come to return.
âââââ
By morning, the news had already started whispering.
Not names. Not yet. Just speculation. Grainy airport photos circulating on private forums. A woman. A baby. BTS present at the same terminal at the same time.
Fans noticed everything.
Namjoon knew it was only a matter of time before the whispers became questions.
âSheâs scared,â Jimin said suddenly.
Everyone looked at him.
He swallowed, fingers digging into his wrist. âShe wasnât running toward us. She was running away. Whatever this is, she didnât ask for it.â
Jungkook nodded slowly. âNeither did the baby.â
That changed something.
Namjoon capped the marker decisively. âWe donât approach her publicly. No pressure. No claims.â
Yoongi raised a brow. âAnd if she disappears?â
Namjoon met his gaze evenly. âThen we find her quietly.â
Taehyung walked the length of the room.
Possessive didnât mean careless.
It meant patient.
âââââ
She stood in the shower that evening, water scorching her skin like she could burn the feeling away.
She stared at her wrist as if daring it to betray her.
Nothing appeared.
No symbol. No heat. No proof.
Only the echo of seven pairs of eyes and a pull she couldnât explain.
âIâm not yours,â she said aloud.
But when she stepped out and wrapped Sayori against her chest again, the baby calmed instantly, faster than she ever had before.
She closed her eyes.
For the first time, she wondered if fate didnât need her permission at all.
â¡ââŞď¸ââŞď¸â¡â
Sayori cried at exactly 3:17 a.m.
She knew the time because sheâd been awake already, staring at the ceiling, cataloguing regrets she refused to call fears. The cry was sharp, brief but urgent, cutting through the quiet hotel room like a blade.
She was on her feet before the second sound left Sayoriâs mouth.
âI know,â she whispered automatically, scooping her up. âI know.â
Sayoriâs face was scrunched, tiny fists tight, her distress real but not panicked. She bounced gently, rocking side to side, murmuring nonsense words sheâd never planned to learn but now spoke fluently. Usually, this worked. Usually, Sayori settled within seconds, like sheâd been waiting only to confirm she was still there.
Tonight, she didnât.
The crying escalated, louder, more insistent. Sayori arched slightly, face flushing, distress climbing in a way that made her chest tighten.
âItâs okay,â She said, though her voice wavered. She checked the diaper. Dry. Offered a bottle. Refused. Walked the length of the room, then back again.
Nothing.
Panic crept in sideways, quiet but sharp.
She pressed her forehead briefly to Sayoriâs, grounding herself in the warmth, the reality. âPlease,â she murmured, not sure who she was speaking to. âPlease, justââ
Sayori stopped.
Not slowly. Not gradually.
Instantly.
Her body went slack with relief, a soft sigh leaving her mouth as her tiny hand unclenched and then she felt it.
A shift.
Not inside herself.
Outside.
Like the air had changed pressure.
She froze.
Sayori slept peacefully against her chest, completely calm now, breathing deep and even like nothing had happened.
She stood there for a full minute, heart pounding, listening to the quiet roar in her ears.
âThatâs not normal,â she whispered.
âââââ
Across the city, seven men jolted awake.
Jimin sat straight up in bed, gasping, his hand already gripping his wrist as heat flared sharply beneath the skin. His heart was racing like heâd been running, pulse loud in his ears.
âWhatââ he breathed.
In the adjacent rooms, the same thing happened.
Jungkook swore softly as the sensation hit him like a current, sharp and sudden. Yoongi cursed, sitting up with a scowl that didnât quite hide the way his hand trembled. Hoseokâs breath stuttered. Jinâs eyes flew open. Namjoon was already awake, staring at the ceiling as if heâd been waiting for this.
They felt it together.
Not pain.
Relief.
A settling. A warmth spreading outward instead of burning in.
âShe stopped crying,â Taehyung said aloud, though no one was in the room with him.
He knew it the way you knew when a storm had passed, without seeing it, without hearing it.
His wrist pulsed once, slow and satisfied.
âââââ
She didnât sleep after that.
She sat on the bed with Sayori tucked against her chest, eyes fixed on the door like it might open on its own. Every rational explanation felt flimsy. Coincidence didnât explain the timing. Or the suddenness. Or the way Sayori had gone from distress to peace like a switch had been flipped.
She had spent her life believing she was outside the system.
But systems had rules.
And this one was starting to show itself.
In the morning, she took Sayori out.
She needed air. Noise. Proof the world still worked the way it was supposed to. She dressed carefully, long sleeves, neutral colors, hat pulled low. She strapped Sayori into the stroller and pushed out into the street, heart thudding with every step.
The city buzzed around them. Vendors calling out. Cars honking. Conversations she couldnât understand washing over her in waves.
Sayori watched it all with wide, curious eyes.
She stopped at a cafe, ordered something by pointing, hands shaking only a little. She sat outside, one foot hooked through the stroller frame like an anchor.
For a moment, just a moment, it almost felt normal.
Then Sayori fussed.
A small sound at first. A wrinkle of her brow. She reached automatically, fingers brushing her tiny hand.
âItâs okay,â she said softly.
It wasnât.
Sayoriâs fussing escalated, tiny noises stacking into sharp distress. Heads turned. Her stomach dropped. She stood quickly, rocking the stroller, murmuring reassurance.
And then â
She felt it again.
That pull.
Closer this time.
Her breath caught.
Across the street, seven men had stopped walking.
They werenât dressed for the stage. No masks. No disguises. Just ordinary clothes on bodies that carried a kind of presence she couldnât ignore even if she tried.
Jiminâs eyes found her immediately.
Sayori went quiet.
Instantly.
Her crying cut off like it had never existed, her body relaxing in the stroller, eyes drifting shut as if lulled by something invisible and deeply familiar.
She stared.
The men stared back.
Jungkook looked stunned. Hoseokâs mouth had fallen open. Jinâs expression had softened into something dangerously gentle. Taehyung looked like he was bracing for impact. Namjoonâs gaze was sharp, calculating, already understanding what this meant.
Yoongi took a step forward.
She reacted without thinking.
âNo,â she said, the word sharp and sudden, cutting through the space between them.
She grabbed the stroller and turned away, heart hammering, pushing into the crowd with single minded determination. She didnât look back this time.
But she didnât need to.
She felt them.
Steady. Patient.
Following, not with their feet, but with something far more terrifying.
Instinct.
âââââ
That night, she held Sayori close and stared at the dark.
The pattern was undeniable now.
The bond didnât run through her.
It ran through the child.
And no matter how far she tried to go, seven people in this world would always know when Sayori cried.
She pressed her lips to her daughterâs soft hair, eyes burning.
âThis wasnât the deal,â she whispered.
But fate had never negotiated with her before.
â¡ââŞď¸ââŞď¸â¡â
She stared at the screen until the words stopped looking like language and started looking like threat.
Sheâd pulled the files back up at three in the morning, hospital records, genetic breakdowns, the documentation sheâd sworn she wouldnât read again once Sayori was born. She told herself she was checking details. Verifying. Looking for an out.
She was lying.
The truth was already lodged in her chest, heavy and immovable.
Seven contributors.
All active.
All necessary.
Soulmate pregnancies werenât additive. They were collective. The child didnât belong to one soulmate more than another. There was no primary. No hierarchy. Remove one, and the system destabilized.
She swallowed hard.
âYou canât,â she whispered to the empty room. âYou canât do that to me.â
Sayori slept beside her, tiny hand flung above her head, wrist bare, no mark, no symbol, nothing to betray the fate humming quietly under her skin. She watched her chest rise and fall, a rhythm sheâd learned to anchor herself to.
The reports were clinical. Cold. They didnât care that she was twenty three, exhausted, and had built her entire sense of safety around being alone. They didnât care that sheâd never asked for love, or destiny, or seven strangers bound to her through her child.
One line stood out, highlighted from a previous reading she didnât remember doing,Â
âSevering the bond prematurely can result in severe psychological distress to the child and all bonded parties.â
Severe.
Psychological.
Distress.
She closed the laptop like it might bite her.
So much for handing the baby over and disappearing.
âââââ
Namjoon sat with the same files spread across a table that had hosted far more comfortable conversations.
He read slowly. Carefully. Like the words might rearrange themselves if he rushed them.
âThis explains the reactions,â he said finally. âThe crying. The calming. The pull.â
Jin leaned forward, elbows on the table. âIt also explains why she looked like she wanted to bolt.â
Taehyung was still frozen in time, his brain not catching up to the reality presented to him.
âShe does want to bolt,â Yoongi said flatly. âSheâs been doing it her whole life.â
Jimin hadnât stopped thinking about the way she had said no.
Not shouted. Not hysterical.
Just⌠firm. Like someone drawing a line with the last of their strength.
âSheâs not rejecting the bond,â he said quietly. âSheâs rejecting us deciding for her.â
That earned him a look from Namjoon, thoughtful, approving.
Jungkook rubbed his hands together, restless. âSo what do we do?â
âWe wait,â Namjoon said.
Hoseok frowned. âThatâs it?â
âNo,â Namjoon corrected. âWe prepare. We protect the child without claiming ownership of the mother.â
Yoongi scoffed lightly. âGood luck explaining that to the universe.â
Namjoon didnât smile. âFate doesnât need convincing. People do.â
âââââ
She tried to live normally for three more days.
She failed spectacularly.
Sayori was fussier now, nothing dramatic, but different. She startled easier. Slept lighter. She noticed that she settled fastest near windows, like proximity to the outside world mattered now.
Like proximity to them mattered.
She changed hotels twice.
It didnât help.
Every time Sayori cried, she felt it, not relief when she calmed, but the anticipation of calm that didnât come from hermanymore. That hurt more than she expected.
She wasnât jealous.
She was terrified.
Terrified that her daughterâs first sense of safety wouldnât be her.
On the fourth day, her phone rang.
Unknown number. Korean country code.
She stared at it for a long moment, heart thudding, then let it go to voicemail.
A minute later, a message appeared.
Namjoon:
Iâm not calling to take anything from you.
I just want to talk.
For Sayori.
She breath caught.
Heâd used her daughterâs name.
She hadnât told anyone that name.
Her fingers trembled as she typed, deleted, typed again.
Her:
I didnât come here for this.
The reply came almost immediately.
Namjoon:
Neither did we.
She laughed once, sharp and humorless, tears burning behind her eyes.
The room felt too small. The walls too thin.
Sayori stirred, making a soft sound, and she scooped her up automatically, pressing her close like she could block the world out by force of will.
âIâm trying to protect you,â she whispered. âI donât know how else to do this.â
Sayoriâs fingers curled into the fabric of her shirt.
For now, that was enough.
But she knew, deep down, in the same quiet place sheâd always stored uncomfortable truths, that bloodlines had a way of pulling people back together.
Whether she was ready or not.
â¡ââŞď¸ââŞď¸â¡â
Sheâd agreed to meet them under three conditions.
One, public place.
Two, no touching the baby.
Three, this was temporary.
She wrote the last word twice, like repetition might make it real.
Namjoonâs reply was simple.
Agreed. On all three.
That unsettled her more than resistance would have.
âââââ
They met in a quiet cafe tucked between glass buildings and greenery, the kind of place designed to feel neutral. She arrived early, chose a corner table with her back to the wall, positioned the stroller so she could see the door and the street beyond it.
Control was survival.
Sayori slept, wrapped snug and oblivious, lashes resting against her cheeks. She kept one hand on the stroller handle at all times.
When they walked in, the room changed.
Not loudly. Not dramatically.
Just⌠weight.
Seven men, moving together without crowding one another, instinctively aware of space in a way that made her shoulders tense despite herself. They didnât wear masks. Didnât hide. But they didnât draw attention either, like the world unconsciously made room for them.
Jimin saw her first.
Again.
He slowed, something soft and restrained crossing his face before he caught himself. Namjoon followed his gaze and nodded once, subtly, like confirmation.
They approached carefully. No sudden movements. No reaching.
She noted all of it.
âSit,â she said before anyone could speak, her voice quiet but unyielding. âPlease.â
They did.
That unsettled her too.
âââââ
Up close, it was worse.
Not because they were beautiful, sheâd expected that, distantly, abstractly, but because there was nothing predatory about them. No entitlement. No smug certainty. Just seven different flavours of restraint, all held tightly in check.
Namjoon spoke first. âThank you for meeting us.â
âI didnât do it for you,â She replied.
His gaze flicked briefly to Sayori, then back to her face. âWe know.â
That honesty disarmed her more than flattery ever could.
Silence stretched.
Jungkook shifted, then stilled himself when Yoongi shot him a look. Jimin smiled faintly but didnât push. Jinâs attention lingered on Sayori with something painfully gentle in his eyes before he deliberately looked away.Â
Hoseok watched her.
Really watched her.
âYou donât feel it,â he said softly.
It wasnât a question.
Her jaw tightened. âNo.â
The word came out clean. Final.
Her wrist lay bare on the table, pale and unmarked.
Taehyung exhaled slowly. âBut you feel something.â
She stood abruptly, hand tightening on the stroller. âThat wasnât part of the agreement.â
Namjoon raised his hands immediately. âYouâre right. Iâm sorry.â
He paused, choosing his words with care. âWe arenât here to convince you of anything. We just need you to know what the doctors confirmed.â
She laughed under her breath. âConfirmed? Like this is a business deal?â
âNo,â Namjoon said. âLike this is a child.â
Her eyes flashed. âSheâs my child.â
Every single one of them nodded.
Jin spoke for the first time, voice steady and low. âAnd youâre her mother. Thatâs not in question.â
Something inside her twisted.
She hadnât expected that.
âââââ
Sayori stirred.
Not crying. Just waking.
The moment her eyes fluttered open, the air shifted.
She felt it, not the pull, but the attention. Seven pairs of it, instinctively orienting toward the stroller before they consciously stopped themselves.
Sayori blinked sleepily.
And smiled.
A slow, unfocused baby smile, her gaze drifting, past her shoulder, toward where the men sat.
Jiminâs breath hitched.
Her chest tightened painfully. âDonât,â she warned, quiet and sharp. âDonât do that.â
âWeâre not,â Hoseok said quickly. âWe swear.â
Sayori made a soft sound, content, and settled again.
Her hand shook as she adjusted the blanket.
âYou see the problem,â she said, voice rough. âThis isnât neutral. This isnât something I can just⌠manage.â
âHow long,â she asked quietly, âbefore temporary becomes permanent?â
No one answered.
Because none of them would lie to her.
âââââ
When she left the cafe, nothing was resolved.
And yet, everything had shifted.
She walked the streets for hours afterward, Sayori warm against her chest, thoughts looping and tangling until she was exhausted by them.
Temporary wasnât surrender.
Temporary was time.
And time, she knew, had a habit of changing things you swore never would.
â¡ââŞď¸ââŞď¸â¡â
She moved into the apartment on a Tuesday.
She told herself the day mattered because Tuesdays were neutral. Not beginnings. Not endings. Just something that happened in between.
The place was too nice. Clean lines. Soft lighting. A balcony overlooking a city that refused to slow down. It had been Namjoonâs suggestion, neutral territory, heâd said. Not theirs. Not hers. Somewhere temporary could pretend to exist without lying outright.
She hated how carefully theyâd thought of everything.
She arrived with two suitcases, a stroller, and a spine stiff with determination. Namjoon met her at the door alone, hands visible, posture deliberately nonthreatening.
âWeâll keep distance,â he said immediately. âYouâll have the master bedroom. We wonât enter unless invited.â
She brushed past him without replying.
Sayori slept through the move, blissfully ignorant of the negotiation happening around her existence. She set up the bassinet with mechanical precision, unpacked diapers, bottles, clothes. She worked like if she stopped moving, sheâd feel it, the way the air hummed differently here. The way her chest felt crowded.
The others arrived later.
One by one. Quiet. Respectful.
Jin left food in the kitchen and didnât say a word. Hoseok smiled gently and retreated. Yoongi nodded once, eyes sharp and assessing but not unkind. Jungkook hovered awkwardly in doorways like a guard dog unsure of his role. Taehyungâs gaze lingered a second too long on Sayori before he looked away, jaw tight. JiminâŚ
Jimin kept his distance.
Which somehow made everything worse.
âââââ
She enforced rules like law.
No holding Sayori.
No being alone with her.
No assumptions.
She spoke softly but without apology.
âThis isnât your home,â she said on the third night, exhaustion thinning her patience. âThis isnât your family.â
Jungkook flinched.
Jimin didnât look away. âWe know.â
âThen act like it.â
They did.
That was the problem.
They were careful to a fault. Polite. Contained. It felt like living with seven men holding their breath indefinitely, and she could feel the strain of it in the way wrists clenched, jaws tightened, eyes tracked Sayori unconsciously before snapping away.
Sayori, for her part, was thriving.
Sleeping longer. Crying less. Smiling more.
She noticed.
She hated herself for noticing.
âââââ
The first crack came on a night she didnât sleep at all.
Sayori had been fussy all evening, restless in a way she couldnât soothe. She paced the living room, bouncing gently, murmuring reassurances that felt increasingly hollow.
âIâm here,â she whispered, over and over. âIâm here.â
Sayori cried anyway.
The sound was sharp. Distressed.
Her heart lurched painfully.
Before she could stop herself, she snapped, âEveryone stay where you are.â
She didnât turn around, but she felt them freeze.
Her arms ached. Her head pounded. Tears burned hot behind her eyes, frustration clawing its way up her throat.
The kind that reminded her she wasnât alone in this, no matter how fiercely she tried to be.
She turned.
Jimin stood in the doorway, hands clenched at his sides, eyes dark with restraint. He hadnât moved closer. Hadnât reached out.
But Sayoriâs cries softened the moment she saw him.
Not stopped.
Softened.
Her breath caught.
âThatâs not fair,â she whispered.
Jiminâs voice was low, steady, aching. âI know.â
Something in her snapped.
âNo,â she said sharply. âNo. You donât get to look at her like that. You donât get to feel like that. You didnât carry her. You didnât wake up every hour. You didnâtââ
Her voice broke despite herself.
Jimin took a single step back.
âYouâre right,â he said. âWe didnât.â
Silence stretched, thick and heavy.
Sayori hiccupped, then slowly settled against her chest.
She sagged with relief and something dangerously close to grief.
âNot yours,â she said again, quieter this time. âSheâs not.â
Jimin nodded once. âOkay.â
He turned and left the room.
She sank onto the couch, shaking.
She hated fate.
She hated the bond.
And most of all, she hated how deeply she could feel seven people choosing restraint over instinct, for her.
âââââ
Later that night, long after the apartment had gone quiet, she stood on the balcony with Sayori asleep against her shoulder.
The city lights blurred through unshed tears.
She pressed a kiss to Sayoriâs hair, heart twisting painfully.
âI didnât ask for help,â she whispered. âBut I donât know how to do this alone.â
Inside, seven men lay awake, wrists warm, instincts coiled tight, learning the hardest lesson fate had ever given them,
Love didnât mean claiming.
It meant waiting.
â¡ââŞď¸ââŞď¸â¡â
She started tracking patterns she didnât want to admit existed.
She told herself it was habit, years in tech had wired her brain to notice systems, inputs, outputs. If something changed, there was always a reason. Always a variable.
But this wasnât code.
This was her life bending around seven people she refused to acknowledge as permanent.
Sayori slept best between 9:40 and 10:30 p.m. when the apartment was quiet and everyone was home.
She fussed more when Jungkook was out late.
She calmed instantly when Namjoon read aloud in the living room, even from another room.
She laughed, actually laughed, for the first time when Hoseok danced absentmindedly while waiting for water to boil.
She noticed.
She hated that she noticed.
She kept herself busy. Remote work during Sayoriâs naps. Noise cancelling headphones. Structured schedules. She minimised time in shared spaces, treated the apartment like a temporary office rather than a home.
Temporary. Temporary. Temporary.
The word began to feel thin.
âââââ
The pull changed shape.
At first it had been pressure, external, intrusive. Something acting on her.
Now it was⌠orientation.
She found herself unconsciously noting where each of them was. Not obsessively. Not emotionally. Just a quiet awareness, like knowing where exits were in a room.
Seven points of gravity.
She didnât feel drawn to them.
She felt steadied by them.
That terrified her.
âââââ
The first time she got sick, she tried to hide it.
It was a simple thing, a fever, probably from exhaustion, but she waved it off, insisted she was fine. She carried Sayori anyway. Made bottles. Answered emails. Pushed through the fog because that was what she did.
Until she nearly dropped the baby.
It happened in the kitchen.
Her vision went white around the edges, her grip slipping for half a second too long. Sayori startled, a sharp cry ripping out of her.
Seven bodies moved at once.
Not toward her.
Toward the baby.
She recovered instantly, clutching Sayori tight, heart slamming painfully. âIâve got her,â she snapped, panic sharpening her tone. âIâve got her.â
They stopped. Every one of them.
Hands hovering in midair. Breath held.
Jimin looked like he might be sick.
Namjoon spoke carefully. âWe know. But youâre not okay.â
âI am,â she insisted, though her legs shook. âI donât needââ
âYou,â Yoongi cut in, voice low and firm, âdonât get to decide that alone.â
Her eyes flashed. âWatch me.â
She turned away, retreating to her room and locking the door with a hand that trembled despite her best efforts.
Sayori quieted quickly once they were alone.
She sank onto the bed, fever-hot and furious, hugging her daughter close.
âI donât belong to them,â she whispered. âWe donât.â
Sayori made a soft, sleepy sound that felt suspiciously like disagreement.
âââââ
The world noticed anyway.
It always did.
First it was speculation, anonymous posts, blurry photos taken at unfortunate angles. A woman. A baby. Proximity. Timing. Patterns fans were very good at recognising.
Then came theories.
Not wild ones. Careful ones.
A foreign woman. A newborn. Repeated sightings. Increased security.
Someone found a hospital record leak. Someone else traced flight manifests. Someone with too much time and too much conviction noticed her accent in a video taken outside a cafe.
The phrase soulmate pregnancy appeared on a forum at 2:13 a.m.
By 9 a.m., it was trending.
She found out because her phone wouldnât stop vibrating.
She stared at the screen, heart sinking.
âThey know,â she whispered.
The apartment went very still.
Namjoon read the headlines without expression. Jin closed his eyes. Hoseok swore under his breath. Jimin paced like a caged animal. Taehyungâs jaw tightened dangerously.
Jungkook went to her door and stopped.
Didnât knock.
Just stood there.
She watched him through the crack in the door, chest tight.
âIâm not ready,â she said.
âI know,â he replied quietly. âBut they wonât wait.â
She swallowed hard. âI didnât ask for this.â
âNo,â Jungkook said, voice rough. âBut you shouldnât face it alone.â
She laughed bitterly. âThatâs funny. Iâve been doing that my whole life.â
Jungkook met her gaze, eyes dark with something fierce and unwavering.
âNot anymore.â
âââââ
That night, she sat awake while Sayori slept, scrolling through articles that tore her apart with speculation and entitlement.
Who was she?
Where was she from?
Was the baby real?
Was it theirs?
She felt stripped bare.
They dug into her past. Her schooling. Her career. The fact that she had no soulmate mark.
Broken.
Defective.
Opportunist.
The words burned.
She shut the phone off and pressed it into the mattress like she could suffocate the noise.
Her chest felt tight. Her breath shallow.
For the first time since Sayori was born, she let herself cry.
Not loudly.
Quietly.
The way she always had.
The door opened softly.
Jin stood there, hesitant. âMay I?â
She didnât trust her voice, so she nodded.
He didnât come closer than the foot of the bed. Just sat on the floor, back against the wall, close enough to be present but not invasive.
âTheyâll try to make you disappear,â he said gently. âOr make you into something youâre not.â
She wiped her face roughly. âI just wanted to give her back and leave.â
Jinâs eyes softened painfully. âSheâs not a package.â
âI know,â She snapped, then sighed, exhausted. âI know.â
Silence settled between them.
Finally, she whispered, âIf I run⌠will she be okay?â
Jin didnât answer immediately.
âNo,â he said at last. âNot without you.â
That landed harder than anything else had.
She looked down at Sayori, heart twisting painfully.
Running had always worked before.
This time, it wouldnât.Â
â¡ââŞď¸ââŞď¸â¡â
The morning she decided to leave, the city was already on fire.
She knew before she opened her phone. You could feel it in the air, tight, electric, humming with attention. The kind that made even closed curtains feel transparent.
She checked anyway.
That was her mistake.
Her name, her real name, was everywhere.
Not just speculation anymore. Screenshots of old LinkedIn profiles. University articles. A conference photo pulled from a forgotten blog, her wrist cropped and circled in red. Headlines translated badly but aggressively.
MARKLESS WOMAN LINKED TO BTS BABY
SOULMATE FRAUD OR FATE ERROR?
WHO IS SAYORIâS MOTHER REALLY?
Her stomach dropped.
They werenât asking questions.
They were assigning ownership.
She scrolled, numb.
Comments dissected her face, her clothes, her silence. Some were vicious. Others were worse, sympathetic in a way that erased her agency entirely.
She must be overwhelmed.
Theyâll take care of her.
She should be grateful.
Grateful.
She shut the phone off with shaking hands.
Sayori slept in the bassinet, blissfully unaware that she had become public property overnight.
She moved quickly.
She packed with ruthless efficiency, clothes folded tight, essentials only. No sentiment. No hesitation. This wasnât her first exit. Sheâd perfected the art of leaving before she could be cornered.
Her chest ached, but she ignored it.
The door opened.
Namjoon stood there, eyes dark and alert.
âYouâre leaving,â he said.
Not a question.
She didnât look at him. âI told you this was temporary.â
âItâs not safe.â
âFor me,â she shot back. âOr for you?â
âFor Sayori,â Namjoon replied calmly.
That made her pause.
âShe needs me,â she said, quieter now.
Namjoon nodded once. âYes. And she needs protection. Visibility just turned into a weapon.â
She scoffed. âYou think I didnât know that?â
âI think,â Namjoon said gently, âthat youâre about to do what you always do. And this time, it wonât work.â
Her hands clenched around a folded onesie. âYou donât get to decide that.â
âNo,â he agreed. âBut the world already has.â
As if summoned by his words, noise erupted outside, shouting, camera shutters, chanting voices bleeding through the walls.
Her breath hitched.
âTheyâre here,â she whispered.
Namjoon didnât move. âYes.â
Her chest tightened painfully. Panic surged, sharp and disorienting.
âI wonât do this,â she said, voice cracking. âI wonât be watched like this. I wonât let them decide who I am. I wonâtââ
Sayori cried.
The sound was sudden. Piercing.
She rushed to her, heart in her throat, scooping her up instinctively. âI know, baby, I know.â
But Sayori didnât calm.
The cries escalated, sharp and distressed in a way she hadnât heard before. Her small body trembled, fists clenched tight.
She rocked, paced, whispered, nothing worked.
Outside, the noise grew louder.
Inside, seven wrists burned.
They felt it instantly, panic rippling through the bond like a shockwave. Jungkook swore under his breath. Hoseokâs face went pale. Jin moved without thinking, stopping himself only inches closer than she had allowed before.
Sayoriâs cries softened, but didnât stop.
Her eyes filled with tears.
âThis isnât fair,â she whispered. âSheâs not supposed to need you.â
Jinâs voice was low, steady, devastating. âShe doesnât need us.â
He gestured gently, to her chest.
âShe needs you. But she needs you safe.â
The word landed like a blow.
Safe.
She laughed weakly. âIâve never been that.â
Jin met her gaze, unwavering. âYou are now.â
Outside, security began moving people back. Inside, the apartment felt like a bunker.
She sank onto the couch, Sayori still crying softly against her chest. Her hands trembled, exhaustion finally crashing through the adrenaline.
âI canât do this,â she whispered.
Seven men didnât speak.
They didnât rush her.
They simply stayed.
Minutes passed. Then more.
Sayoriâs cries slowed. Softened. Stopped.
She slept.
She sagged with her, tears slipping free at last.
âI just wanted my life,â she said hoarsely.
Namjoon crouched in front of her, careful, respectful. âYou still get one. It just⌠doesnât look like what you planned.â
She looked down at her daughter, then up at the seven men who had become her shield without ever demanding the right.
The world had found her.
Running wasnât an option anymore.
And for the first time since fate had carved itself into her life, she didnât feel alone in the fallout.
â¡ââŞď¸ââŞď¸â¡â
The backlash didnât crest.
It collapsed inward.
What the media couldnât get from she directly, they dug for elsewhere, with shovels and teeth and no sense of mercy. Old classmates. Former coworkers. A distant aunt who liked the sound of her own voice too much. Anyone with even a passing proximity to her became a source.
âShe was always quiet.â
âKept to herself.â
âSmart, but strange.â
âNo soulmate mark? Yeah, people talked.â
The narrative formed quickly, efficiently, cruelly.
She was framed as an anomaly that had finally become useful.
A glitch fate corrected.
She read none of it.
She didnât have to.
She felt it instead, in the way security doubled, then tripled. In the way her phone stayed off permanently. In the way the apartment became a sealed world where even sunlight felt filtered.
Sayori sensed it.
She was clingier now. Startled easily. She startled toward her, tiny body pressing closer whenever voices rose or footsteps echoed too loudly in the hall.
She stopped pretending she wasnât unraveling.
She slept in snatches. Ate when reminded. Existed in a constant state of hypervigilance that left her hands trembling even when she was still.
One night, long past midnight, it all caught up to her.
Sayori wouldnât settle.
Not crying, just restless. Whimpering softly like she was trying to say something her body didnât have the language for yet. She paced the length of the apartment, heart racing, head pounding.
âItâs okay,â she whispered. âItâs okay, itâs okayââ
It wasnât.
The pressure built fast and merciless.
Her breath hitched. Her vision tunnelled. The walls felt too close, the air too thin.
She sat down hard on the couch, clutching Sayori to her chest like an anchor, like a shield, like the only real thing left.
âI canât,â she gasped. âI canât do this.â
The words tore out of her without permission.
Seven men were there within seconds, not crowding, not overwhelming, but present. A wall at her back. A perimeter around her panic.
Hoseok knelt in front of her.
Not close enough to touch.
Close enough to be seen.
âLook at me,â he said softly.
She tried.
Her chest seized, breath refusing to cooperate.
âIâm losing control,â she whispered. âI donâtâ I donât know how to stop.â
Hoseokâs eyes never left hers. âYou donât have to.â
Her hands shook violently now. Tears spilled unchecked, hot and humiliating. âI donât belong here. I never did. I wasnât meant for this. I wasnât meant for you.â
The words tasted like failure.
Hoseokâs voice was quiet but unyielding. âYou donât get to decide what you were meant for while youâre drowning.â
She laughed weakly, hysterically. âThatâs rich.â
Namjoon spoke from behind her, steady as a spine. âWeâre not asking you to be anything. Weâre asking you to rest.â
Rest.
The word felt foreign.
She shook her head. âIf I stopâif I let goâI wonât get back up.â
Hoseok hesitated only a second.
âMay I?â he asked.
She looked at him through tears, then down at Sayoriâs tiny fist tangled in her shirt.
Her shoulders slumped.
âOkay,â she whispered.
Hoseok moved slowly, deliberately. He didnât take Sayori. He didnât crowd her.
He wrapped his arms around both of them.
The moment he did, something inside her broke cleanly in half.
Not pain.
Relief.
She collapsed forward with a sob that had been building for years, clutching at his shirt like she might fall apart without it. Her body shook violently, breath coming in broken gasps as the world finally stopped demanding she hold it together.
Hoseok held her.
Firm. Steady. No pressure. No claiming.
Just arms around a storm.
Sayori settled instantly, her small body relaxing like sheâd been waiting for this exact configuration all along.
She cried until there was nothing left but quiet.
âââââ
When she woke, her face was pressed into fabric that smelled faintly like laundry soap and something warm and human. Her body felt heavy in a way that wasnât painful.
Safe heavy.
She blinked.
Hoseok sat on the couch, back against the cushions, eyes half closed. One arm around her shoulders. The other cradling Sayori, who slept peacefully against his chest.
She froze.
He noticed immediately.
âI didnât move,â he said quietly. âYou fell asleep first.â
Her throat tightened. âIââ
âYou donât owe me anything,â Hoseok continued gently. âYou didnât choose this moment. You needed it.â
She swallowed hard.
For the first time since arriving in Korea, she didnât pull away.
She just stayed.
Behind them, the others watched from a distance, Namjoonâs gaze thoughtful, Jinâs expression soft, Yoongiâs posture protective without being intrusive, Jimin blinking rapidly like heâd just witnessed something sacred, Jungkook gripping the doorframe to keep himself in check, Taehyungâs eyes dark with something ancient and fierce.
She rested her head back against Hoseokâs shoulder.
Just for a second.
Just long enough to breathe.
The storm outside raged on.
But inside, for the first time, she wasnât alone in it.
â¡ââŞď¸ââŞď¸â¡â
Morning arrived softly.
Not with sirens or headlines or the low hum of panic that had become her constant companion, but with light. Pale, hesitant sunlight slipping through the curtains like it was asking permission.
She woke slowly.
Her body ached in the way it did after a long cry, but it was an honest ache. Clean. Like something had finally been released instead of compressed tighter.
She was still on the couch.
Hoseok had shifted sometime in the night, careful even in sleep. His arm was still around her, loose now, respectful. Sayori lay between them, warm and solid, tiny chest rising and falling in deep, content sleep.
She stared at her daughter for a long moment.
Not with panic.
Not with denial.
Just⌠recognition.
âIâm still here,â she whispered, more to herself than anyone else.
Hoseok stirred slightly but didnât wake.
She carefully extricated herself, heart racing even though nothing was wrong, and stood. She expected the familiar pull, the panic, the urge to retreat, the instinct to run.
It didnât come.
Instead, she felt something quieter.
Choice.
âââââ
The apartment was awake by degrees.
Namjoon stood at the counter making coffee, sleeves pushed up, wrist mark faintly glowing like it was finally at peace. He looked up when she entered, surprise flickering briefly across his face before he schooled it into calm.
âGood morning,â he said gently.
She nodded. âMorning.â
No tension. No negotiation.
Just a greeting.
Jin appeared next, hair rumpled, eyes soft. Jimin followed, offering a small, hopeful smile. Yoongi leaned against the doorframe, assessing her with the sharp care of someone who had already decided to defend her whether she asked for it or not. Jungkook hovered behind them, restless but contained. Taehyung watched from the corner, gaze steady, unreadable, but undeniably there.
Seven men.
Not looming.
Waiting.
She noticed that.
âIâm not staying because Iâm cornered,â she said quietly.
No one interrupted.
âIâm not staying because the world is loud or because youâre⌠you,â she continued, gesturing vaguely. âIâm staying because my daughter deserves stability. And because running doesnât work anymore.â
Namjoon inclined his head slightly. âUnderstood.â
She exhaled. âThis doesnât mean I belong to you.â
Hoseok, now awake and standing a respectful distance away, met her eyes. âWe know.â
âAnd I may never feel what you feel,â she added, glancing down at her bare wrist. âI may never have a mark. I may never wake up one day and suddenly believe in fate.â
Jimin shrugged lightly. âLove doesnât need symmetry.â
That startled her more than anything else had.
She looked down at Sayori, now awake and blinking sleepily in her arms. Her daughter yawned, then smiled, wide and unguarded, at the room, at the people she had already accepted without question.
Her chest tightened.
âIâm choosing this,â she said, voice firmer now. âDay by day. And if I choose to leave somedayââ
Namjoon cut in gently, ââwe will still protect her.â
âAnd you,â Jin added softly.
She swallowed.
For the first time, that didnât feel like a threat.
It felt like a promise she hadnât been forced into.
âââââ
Later, alone in the bedroom, she sat on the edge of the bed and rolled up her sleeve.
Her wrist was still bare.
No symbol.
No glow.
No mark of destiny carving itself into her skin.
She traced the place absently with her thumb, then let her arm fall.
She smiled, small, tired, real.
Still markless.
Still chosen.
Still choosing.
Outside, seven people laughed quietly over burnt toast and strong coffee. Sayoriâs giggle rang out, bright and fearless, anchoring something ancient and new into place.
The world would keep watching.
The storm would return in different shapes.
Nothing was resolved forever.
But she stayed.
Not because fate demanded it.
Because this timeâ
she decided to.
If you have read this far, thank you! Please don't be a silent reader let me know what you liked and didn't like and please feel free to browse the other works I have released.
I'm still contemplating on if I should continue this piece or leave it how it is because it seems like it came to a calm but resolved end and I kinda like it.
genre. non-idol au, omegaverse (a/b/o), polyamory, red string theory, painful slow burn, a not so meet cute in this one
what does a promise, a rainy day, and a beta have in common? nothing. the universe just happened to be on your side for once.
word count. 2,169 (not beta read)
warnings. no major warnings, more world building, introductions to important background characters, lowkey the first like 5k words is just about m/c sorry not sorry, out of nowhere rain that could ruin anyone's mood, art curator!taehyung, again inaccuracies when describing stuff all i have i google <3, the forming of a friendship, this really can't be categorized as anything but i'm just putting fluff
SERIES MASTERLIST.
CHAPTER ONE. MOMENATRE
Just a few weeks ago you had gotten a random and surprising urge to purge your entire closet in the middle of the night. Not getting any sleep until the early morning when you had gone through and thoroughly thought through every piece of clothing. Pressing the fabrics up against your chest or doing the neck trick with a old pair of jeans from high school. And it always failed to do this because you always eventually ended up trying on the piece of clothing, then you had to go back and try to attempt to salvage the piece of clothing by seeing if you can create an absurd but wearable outfit with it. Because yes, a skirt from middle school does go with a random going out top. But the skirt just happens to no longer reach the ground but now it touches your mid calf from the growth spurt you had towards the end of middle school and you no longer have time to go out to parties like you did in college, so both pieces ended up getting thrown into the donate pile. This cycle continued until you had two distinct piles, no longer giving yourself the mercy of a third maybe-keep-maybe-donate pile, you're being cutthroat this time around.
That is exactly how you end up on the L with a stuffed trash bag, and end up carry said trash bag down and up steps and through city streets just to reach a Goodwill. And for an errand to be so quick it sure was treacherous having to stop and knee the bag up when it started slipping in your arms, or having to accept defeat when your tote bag slid down your shoulder and into the crook of your elbow just a few a block away from the Goodwill. And you really could've not been so adamant about donating your clothes to a Goodwill and instead to a local thrift store closer to your apartment. But those thrift stores always have an image to keep up with and just won't accept any piece of clothing that walks through their doors. You also had a hunch they would hate it if you come in with a trash bag of clothes, some that's a decade and some older and it isn't vintage galore. So the trek to Goodwill seems worth it.
And worth it is when your in and out with an errand done already. But just as quick as the errand was over, it also took no time for the clear skies to become muddle blob of grey as you continue walking. Thinking to yourself over and over that it better not start down pouring as you speed up your walking. Extending your arm to let a strap of your tote bag fall over your shoulder as you haphazardly scramble around the items in your tote, hoping that a random umbrella spawns inside of it. When it doesn't you grumble, you're usually the person with everything possible in your bag, you practically revel in being one of the most prepared person ever. But of course the self proclaimed 'most prepared person ever' isn't really who they say they are.
Excepting defeat you open up your phone before it does actually start raining and it'll be unusable to use and open up the Maps app and look up Momenatre Gallery, clicking the top suggesting and seeing the bright directions telling you where to go. Looking farther ahead on the directs to notice the street names and turns you turn your phone off, the gallery isn't too far away, and you're sure since it is a galley there will be indications of it when you get closer.
But the you get the darker it gets, and not even five minutes pass when you feel a warm droplet splash against your head. It's just a droplet you think, but then more droplets fall, and a steady drizzle picks up. Regretting the lack thereof a coverup, no cardigan, no nothing, because you said you wouldn't need it, deceived by the Weather app's prediction of perfect weather. And now you find your walking speed turning into a jog, because you're adamant to reach that gallery.
And almost on que, just as you round the corner there it is, Momenatre Gallery in it's glory and along with it, torrential downpour and the crosswalk signals turn to a little orange walking man. At this moment your only worry is about seeking shelter within the gallery as you run across the crosswalk clutching your tote bag and to the doors of the gallery, thankful to whoever designed the building for having a little ledge just above the entrance as you no longer feel the warm pellets against your skin as you open up the heavy door, trying your best to wipe off your feet and shake yourself off before entering the gallery.
You don't know what you expected as you walked into the gallery, but you almost expected it to be the size of an art museum naively, much like the Art Institute of Chicago. Standing in the lobby, taking in the tasteful decor and plum red accent wall you're met with you fist walk in.
"Would you like a map of the gallery, Ma'am?"
Turning around you're greeted with an doorman you can only assume from his attire, an older Beta you confirm from his mild basil scent as he steps forward to extended a map towards you from the small pile in his hand.
You take the map, looking down at it as your fingers stick to the glossy material of it from then still being damp from your encounter with the downpour. "Thank you-" Your eyes adverting to his silver name tag over his heart, "Bernard." Exchanging polite smiles, eyes shifting back down to open up the map to figure out where the exhibit Jamie is apart of is located.
"Sorry I wasn't there to open up open the door for you, Ma'am, I was a little distracted," Bernard apologizes and your head whips up at both the fact you are getting an apology right now and the abrupt cough the echos throughout the gallery. Looking over your shoulder to the front desk to see the coughing culprit, an older woman with bright copper hair and thin wire glasses who eyes the doorman, but looks back to her monitor screen when she catches you looking at her as well. And when you look back at Bernard, whose eyes are still on the front desk worker despite her trying to busy herself, your eyebrows raise, you interrupted workplace flirting.
When Bernard focuses on you again he gives you a shy smile that accentuates his wrinkles of his eyes and his smile lines and you just give a wide smile back to him. "Promise I won't hold it against you," You muse.
"Very well then, I'll let you see the art now."
Nodding you turn and begin to walk, shifting your tote up your shoulder once more with the hand that holds the open gallery map. Eyeing the front desk worker when you past by it, her eyes peeking over the top of the monitor, giving her the same wide smile you gave the doorman.
It seems the way the gallery floor plan is, is that the exhibit Jamie is apart of is in the very back of the gallery, or well wind of the gallery as the various rooms surround the off-centered outside courtyard. As you enter the first room of art displays you take in how quiet the gallery is, albeit it's weekday, but it's also a weekday that had an outburst of rain. Feeling a little pep in your still squishily damp sneaker knowing that you won't have to brush shoulder with anyone or have to get frustrated from getting caught behind someone who has no awareness that other people around them since you're the only person who took refuge in the gallery and the few other visitors who you sometimes cross paths with who were here prior to you.
Floating through the first few rooms, slow walking past each art piece. You occasionally stopped to read the artist descriptors next to pieces that piqued your interest until you felt bad for not reading every other's descriptors, all worthy art that deserves to be seen and known. When you finished reading the last descriptor of this specific exhibit you floated to the next, a noticeable shift upon entering the new room at all for walls are painted a navy blue, lights cascading upon a massive sculpture made of twisted, rusted metal in the center of the room. Eyes darting around only for the sculpture to be the only thing in the room, and you admire the galleries trust in it's visitors as the sculpture is only on a slightly raised podium that you can only assume it's bolted into so no accidents occur. But other than that, no protective measures of the art are made, no elegant rope fencing it off, just a small stand next to the sculpture that reads at the top in capitalized and bold wording, "PLEASE DO NOT TOUCH". And just below it is the title along with the author's name and descriptor, 'Despair' you read out loud, looking back up towards the sculpture and you can't help but chuckle. Because, yeah, it really does perfectly encapsulate the feeling of despair as you eyes rake over the twist and crooks of the metal, getting lost as you try to follow where the sculpture eventually becomes one.
You were staring at it, trying to find some deeper meaning, when a smooth, low voice startled you.
âItâs a bit much, isnât it?â A smooth, low voice startles you from behind.
You flinch, shoulders raising to touch your ears as you turn around to see a man standing behind you, now facing him face to face. He was tall, with smooth jet black hair that looks both meticulously but carelessly styled from the glasses pushed on top of his dead, his stature is softened by a cream-colored buttoned up, the sleeve pushed up to his elbows and the length of the button up tucked into brown slacks. Brown almond eyes and a sense of knowing that he had just frazzle you pulling at the corners of his mouth. He smells like the ocean, not salty bad, but salty good, like you just ran along the beach, and something else, something cleaner and neutral. A beta.
âI, uh," Losing you train of thoughts when the man's eyes widen, waiting for your answer, but you can only shift back and forth on your heels as you try to straighten yourself out and not try to visibly cringe from your socks still being damp. "I was just trying to figure out if it was supposed to be a tree or aâŚ" Turning around you look back to the sculpture, hands gesturing towards it, and now you're made very away the galleries map is still in your hand. "very abstract octopus,â you admitted, flustered. Turning back around to expect the man's eyes to be on the sculpture trying to also determine what it is, but instead when you do do his eyes are still on you, so you just wiggle your lips, trying to configure them into a small smile.
When he lets out a soft, airy laugh your shoulders deflate. "The artist said it represents the weight of modern existence, trying to do too many people in one body to please others." He pauses, now looking past you and to the sculpture, his eyes narrowing and eyebrows furrowing. "But personally," He begins, a quick peek of tongue swipes over his lips, his chin is now lifted, eyes no longer narrowed, but his eyebrows are still furrowed. Coming up with his own interpretation of the piece. "I think you're right. It looks like a depressed octopus. But it also looks like an elephant standing on it's hind legs if you look at it like this."
Now it's time for your eyebrows to furrow, looking over your shoulder before you get his hint and you move to stand beside him. A final look at him to note how he's standing and imitate your body to do the same, lifting you chin and look a the sculpture in its entirety. You eyebrows relax when you start to see the elephant take shape.
"Yeah, I can see it," You agree, taking the gallery map in the other hand of the side that your tote bag is on, so you're now free hand can trace the figure of the elephant. Laughing as you, because it constantly amazes you how art can take multiple shapes. "That actually makes me feel less stupid now, thanks."
Your arm falls to your side to take a look at the man once more, only to notice that he has a glimmering silver name tag like the doorman, Bernard. Only his reads "Taehyung".
a/n. be on the look out for chapter two's teaser tomorrow!
Summary: After one fateful night, you find yourself transmigrated into your favorite novel as the Empress that shares the same name as you. As a bookworm, most would think youâd be happy, but how could you be happy when the Empress youâve become is expected to be killed in three months. The only thing on your mind now is to learn how to survive.
Warning: May contain depictions of violence and mentions of abuse throughout the story. Multiple people crying in this one.
Masterlist
<< previous chapter | ⥠| next chapter >>
âY/N!â
The boys lurch forward to grab hold of you, any part of you to bring you back. With sheer desperation they reach their arms out as far as their body can let them. But before they could even grab you, the portal flashes once more, blinding them momentarily before it disappears in the darkness. Bringing you along with it.Â
Jungkook gasps loudly as he falls to the ground where he last saw you, âY/n! Y/n! Come back!â he wails out, tears streaming down his face now. âNo, no, no,â he repeatedly mutters, choking back a sob, flailing his arms out as if that could miraculously bring you back to him.Â
Namjoon steps forward to grab onto his shoulders tightly, âJungkook calm down!â
âLet go of me!â He roars loudly as he attempts to free himself, but in his current state, Namjoon easily overpowers him.
âJungkook, stop it!â Namjoon yells, trying to pull him up from the ground, âYouâre going to hurt yourself!â he continues to shout as he knows his knees are probably suffering from the gravel and small stones from the ground. With how heâs flailing his body, he has no doubt there are small cuts present on his legs.
âI donât care hyung!â Jungkook sobs, nothing could hurt him more than the pain heâs feeling in his heart right now, âs-sheâs gone,â he whimpers out, unable to grasp the situation fully as all he could see was the pain and hurt on your face. He canât even begin to imagine how much you suffered throughout the week.Â
âScreaming wonât bring her back,â Namjoon tells him, holding his own tears for the sake of his youngest friend. God only knows how much he wants to scream and cry out just like him, but he knows itâll only worsen the situation even more. He needed to stay strong for them, is what he tells himself. Â
âYou donât know that,â Jungkook snaps, whipping his head to look at him with crazed eyes, âmaybe if I yell loud enough sheâll hear me wherever she is! S-Sheâll know how much I want her here! She has to!â All rational thought out the door as he was just so desperate to bring you back. He was willing to do anything even if that meant he would have to suffer in order to do so. Nothing else mattered to him other than you at the moment.Â
âI-I never even got to tell her I love her,â he wails as he buries his head in his hands. Regret written all over his face as he just wishes to turn back the time, maybe if he reacted differently to the situation, you wouldnât want to leave them. Leave him.
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Summary: After one fateful night, you find yourself transmigrated into your favorite novel as the Empress that shares the same name as you. As a bookworm, most would think youâd be happy, but how could you be happy when the Empress youâve become is expected to be killed in three months. The only thing on your mind now is to learn how to survive.
Warning: May contain depictions of violence and mentions of abuse throughout the story.
Masterlist
<< previous chapter | ⥠| next chapter >>
âSorry for grabbing you back there, but the portal only opens at midnight for a short amount of time and you were taking forever.â
The empress stretches out her arm towards you, but when you donât grab it, too awestruck to move a muscle, she raises a brow, âare you just going to lay on the floor the whole time or would you like to sit on one of the couches?â
You get out of your trance-like state as you blush and accept her hand as she helps pull you off the ground. You clear your throat as you follow her to what you assume would be the living room, choosing to sit on the couch directly across from her, âyouâre Empress Y/n?â you breathe out.
You still couldnât believe your eyes. The empress is in your body, and now is talking to you. You donât know whether to fangirl now or later as you stare up at her in awe. Granted, youâre just staring at your actual face, which you still havenât gotten used to, but itâs the fact youâre in the presence of your favorite character that causes you to freeze from shock.
Though, you see her visibly wince at the name as she lets out a sigh, âplease donât call me by that name,â she lets out a disgusted noise, âI refuse to be called the name given to me by the man that ruined my life,â she spats out, the mere thought of Jasper making her angry.
You gulp nervously, although you knew her anger wasnât directed towards you, you still felt scared by her murderous aura. Jasper sure knows how to create scary women, you think as you recall Joyâs explosive reaction a few hours before. âThen what should I call you?â
âCall me Kiara,â she answers instantly, âI saw the name in a book,â she explains with a nod of her head.
âKiara,â you repeat, amazed that she somehow managed to find a name that fits her and her strong presence, âis there a particular reason that you chose that name?â
She hesitates for a moment before nodding her head, âit means first rays of sun,â she shrugs her shoulders, âI figured it would be fitting considering I was the empireâs star, even if I do have unhappy memories from that place, itâs still something I cherish dearly. And the âfirst rays of sunâ indicates a new beginning. A new day. And for me, a new life,â she explains slowly. And now youâre even more in awe at the woman sitting before you. A powerful aura surrounding her.
âYouâre amazing,â you let out in a hushed tone as though you hadnât meant to reveal your thoughts to her out loud
Summary: After one fateful night, you find yourself transmigrated into your favorite novel as the Empress that shares the same name as you. As a bookworm, most would think youâd be happy, but how could you be happy when the Empress youâve become is expected to be killed in three months. The only thing on your mind now is to learn how to survive.
Warning: May contain depictions of violence and mentions of abuse throughout the story.
Masterlist
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âYou ready?â
You let out chuckle, your heels echoing in the hallway as they click against the newly polished floor, âas ready as Iâll ever be,â you say, letting out a huff of air as you turn to look at Jimin, who was walking beside you with his hands in his pockets.Â
The boys mustâve noticed your unease as Jungkook turns to you, âNervous?â he asks softly, his gaze a mixture of concern and reassurance.
You give him a small smile, âOnly a little,â you say, but who were you kidding, the boys could practically see you shaking from your nerves.
Jimin chuckles as he gently pats your shoulder, âYouâll be fine, I believe in you,â he reassures you as he affectionately smiles down your nervous figure.
You let out a shaky breath you didnât realize you were holding as you turn to look at Jimin with a grateful expression, âThank you,â you reply softly.Â
âAnd besides,â Taehyung interjects, gaining your attention, âYou have the rest of us looking out for you, your majesty. Youâre not alone in this, I hope you know that,â Taehyung says seriously, meaning every word that came out his mouth.
You genuinely smile at that already feeling slightly better, âI donât know what Iâd do without you guys,â and you meant it since you know you wouldâve never made it this far so quickly without their help. You send them a wide smile, to which the boys grin just as brightly right back to you.Â
Am I the only one that gets turned off from reading fanfiction that has ai covers? Like there are billions of pictures on the internet of hot men and women... and you chose to participate in killing the earth to generate it, for what?
Summary: Y/n thought her life was ordinary until a wounded panther hybrid appeared in her shed. With six more brothers waiting in the shadows, sheâs pulled into a hidden world of creatures, loyalty, and danger she never knew existed. Y/n must navigate a reality where instincts rule, and no one is what they seem.
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You stand by the kitchen counter, coffee already between your hands. You had called out of work today. Using the excuse of not feeling well in order to deal with what you invited into your home.
You hadnât slept much. Every time you closed your eyes, you saw flashes from yesterday. The blood, the way Yoongiâs eyes would glow, the slow rise and fall of his chest as he fought for breath. Youâd bandaged both of them the best you could, then left them to rest in the guest room.
Youâd tried to offer food. All kinds of meat, both raw and cooked, fruit, soup. Just about anything to show that you were trying. But every time youâd checked, the tray was still sitting there untouched. Only the cup of water had been touched.
You had just finished cooking breakfast. Eggs, bacon, some blueberries, and some home fries. You also made instant ramen, thinking that maybe Yoongi would want something hot. You prepare the plates for them and slowly make your way to the guest room, hoping theyâre still in there and haven't run away in the middle of the night.Â
Now, sunlight spills faintly through the hallway as you stand outside the guest room door. You tell yourself youâre just checking on them. Just making sure theyâre still alive.
Your hand lingers on the doorknob longer than it should.
The air changes the second you open the door. Itâs cooler in here, heavy with the faint metallic tang of dried blood. The curtains are still drawn, throwing the room into a dim half-light.
Yoongiâs still in bed, half-sitting against the wall, the faint shadow of exhaustion under his eyes. His fever seemed to have died down, the flush face from yesterday replaced by pallor. He watches you enter, silent, his gaze sharp despite the weariness in it.
Taehyung lays lazily by the foot of the bed. Heâs awake too. The bandage around his ribs is clean, though you can tell by the stiffness in his movements that heâs still in pain. Even like this, in his tiger form, you can feel the alertness behind his stillness. Ears twitching at every small noise. Eyes half-lidded but tracking your every move.
You stop just inside the doorway. âMorning,â you say quietly.
Neither of them answers.
You set the tray down on the dresser and glance between them. âYou should try eating. Itâll help you heal better.â
Yoongiâs gaze flickers briefly toward the tray, then back to you. âYou keep saying that,â he says, his tone low but not unkind, âyou think itâll make us trust you?â
The words catch you off guard. âI just think itâs better than starving.â
He studies you for a long moment, eyes narrowing just a little, as if searching for the catch. âYou humans and your kindness,â he mutters. âIt always comes with a price.â
You bite the inside of your cheek before answering. âIf thereâs a price, itâs just making sure no one dies in my house.â
For a moment, neither of you speak.Â
Finally, Yoongi exhales, shifting slightly in the sheets. âWe didnât ask to be here.â
âI know,â you reply. âBut you are. And until you can walk without looking like youâre about to pass out, it kinda looks like youâre staying.â
He studies you for a long moment, eyes narrowing just a little. When he finally looks away, you canât tell if itâs in acceptance or restraint.
Finally he breaks the silence. âYou shouldnât keep the curtains open,â he says quietly. âToo easy to spot movement from outside.â
You glance toward the thin strip of light spilling through the gap in the fabric. âAre you saying someoneâs watching?â
He shrugs, âthey could be. You have two hybrids in your house. Iâm sure youâre smart enough to tell we were being hunted.â
You swallow hard and force yourself to breathe evenly. The word hunted sits heavy in the air.
âThen Iâll close them,â you say softly, and move to do just that.
Neither stops you. But you can feel their eyes follow you until the very last sliver of daylight disappears behind the fabric.
You gulp before turning back around, âwhoâs hunting you?âÂ
Yoongi doesnât answer right away. He looks tired, worn in a way that no amount of sleep could fix. âIf youâre lucky,â he says, voice quiet enough to barely carry, âyou wonât have to find out.â
The room falls silent again. Only the soft tick of the clock fills the air, slow and steady. You think about the untouched food, the drawn curtains, the way Taehyung hasnât taken his eyes off the window.
Then, cutting through the heavy quiet, comes a low, unmistakable sound.
Your eyes flick toward Yoongi. His stomach growls softly, breaking the silence like a fragile thread snapping.
He exhales through his nose, almost embarrassed, looking away. âIgnore that,â he mutters.
You blink. âYou havenât eaten since you got here.â
âIâm fine.â
âYouâre not,â you say before you can stop yourself. âI can practically hear your stomach begging you to be reasonable.â
His jaw tightens, but he doesnât answer.
From the corner, Taehyung lifts his head slightly, golden eyes watching the exchange with quiet awareness. His tail flicks once, slow and deliberate, like heâs judging the situation and finding both of you equally foolish.
You cross your arms. âYou donât have to trust me. But at least trust the fact that youâre still alive because I didnât let you die in my shed.â
Yoongiâs gaze meets yours again, sharp despite the fatigue in it. âAnd what do you expect me to do? Sit here and pretend everythingâs normal? That youâre helping out of kindness?â
âI expect you to eat,â you say simply. âThatâs it.â
For a long moment, neither of you move. The sound of the clock down the hall ticks faintly between your words.
Finally, Yoongi sighs. âYou donât give up easily, do you?â
You send him a smile, ânope. If youâre gonna be here awhile youâre gonna have to get used to it.â
His eyes narrow, but in the next moment he reaches out for the bowl of ramen on the tray. His hand trembles just slightly as he lifts it, and you notice him glance toward Taehyung before taking a small cautious sip.
Taehyungâs ears twitch, but he doesnât move closer. He just keeps watching, chest rising and falling with slow, steady breaths.
For a while, the only sound in the room is the faint clink of the spoon against the bowl. Yoongi doesnât eat much, but itâs more than nothing and for now, thatâs enough for you. You watch the lines in his face ease slightly as the warmth settles into him.
Then, from beside the bed, thereâs a low huff.
You turn, and thereâs Taehyung. You hadnât realized he hopped off the bed until heâs right next to you. His fur brushing lightly against your leg as he nudges you with the side of his head. The movement startles you at first but thereâs no aggression in it. Just a slow, deliberate push, like heâs trying to get your attention.
You blink, unsure what to do, âwhat is it?â
Yoongi makes a low sound that might be a sigh. âHe wants you to feed him.â
You glance between them. âYouâre serious?â
Yoongi lifts one shoulder lazily, leaning back against the wall.
You look back at Taehyung. His eyes meet yours and then he nudges the tray of food gently with his nose, a soft rumble vibrating in his chest.
You canât help the small smile that tugs at your lips. âYouâre just one giant house cat,â you mutter under your breath, reaching for the plate.
You hold out two strips of bacon, and he moves forward with surprising gentleness for something so large. His nose brushes your fingers before he takes it carefully like he knows he could hurt you if heâs not. His tongue grazes your hand, warm and rough, before he pulls back to chew.
Another quiet rumble rises from his chest, deep and content.
âSee?â you murmur, handing him another piece. âNot so scary when youâre fed.â
Yoongi watches from the bed, his expression unreadable. âYou shouldnât get too comfortable with him,â he says after a moment. âHeâs still a predator.â
You glance up at him. âSo are you.âÂ
For a heartbeat, neither of you look away. Then Yoongi exhales softly, looking toward the window instead.
Taehyung finishes the last piece and nudges your hand once more, a quiet, grateful sound rumbling low in his throat.
You canât help the faint smile that slips through. âYeah, yeah. Youâre welcome.â You brush your fingers against his fur; âby the way⌠why is he a tiger?â you finally ask, glancing at Yoongi. âI thought hybrids were⌠half human, half animal.â
Yoongi leans back against the pillows. âWe can shapeshift,â he says simply. âIâm just too weak right now to shift. It takes too much energy.â
You frown, glancing at Taehyung. âSo⌠heâs keeping this form because he doesn't want to change?â
Yoongi nods slowly. âWeâre stronger in our animal form. Sometimes we choose to stay in these forms because weâre scared.â
You glance at Yoongi, his golden eyes fixed on you, sharp and probing despite the fatigue and fever that still lingers in his features. Taehyungâs massive head rests lightly against the floor by your feet.
âWhy are you helping us?â Yoongi asks, breaking the silence
You blink caught off guard by the question, setting the plate down slowly, careful not to make any sudden movements. âBecause⌠Iâm a nurse,â you say, voice tentative but steady. âItâs what I do. I donât care what species you are. Hurt people need help. Thatâs it.â
He doesnât answer immediately. The silence stretches again, heavy and cautious, punctuated only by the soft hiss of the wind outside. You can feel the weight of his scrutiny, but it doesnât feel hostile. Just⌠uncertain.
Suddenly a thought crossed your mind.Â
You push yourself up slowly, stretching your legs. âIâm going outside for a bit,â you say, your voice careful, almost casual.
You glance at him, then at Taehyung whoâs still lying low, watching. âI need to clean the blood from the shed. If someoneâs been hunting you⌠having that out there isnât helping anyone. Weâre practically asking for them to come find you.â
His eyes widen in surprise. Taehyung, still in his tiger form, shifts slightly, ears pricked forward. Neither of them expected you to care this much.
You donât notice their reactions, too focused on creating a mental checklist on what to buy from the store.Â
Yoongiâs voice, quieter than usual, cuts through the air: âYou⌠really mean that?â
You pause, rags in hand, and glance toward the window. âI mean it,â you reply firmly. âI donât know whoâs out there, but Iâm not leaving this for them to find.â
The quiet that follows is telling. Even Taehyung doesnât move, his massive head tilting slightly as if trying to process that a humanâyouâwould care enough to act, even for hybrids like them.
You step out, shutting the guest room door behind you with care, leaving them watching from the safety of the room. The crisp morning air hits your face, filling your lungs as you move toward the shed. Every footstep feels deliberate, not just because of the blood youâre about to clean, but because you know theyâre watching, waiting to see if youâll actually follow through.
By the time you reach the shed, the full weight of the situation hits. âOkay,â you mutter, mostly to yourself, âletâs get this done.â
You kneel to inspect them, frowning. The woodâs rough texture has already absorbed too much. You realize you donât have everything you need. All you had was a rag and some dish soap. No hydrogen peroxide, no scrub brush, nothing to really get it deep into the wood grain.
Still, you do your best. Dipping the rag into soapy water, you scrub at the worst spots, rinsing and wringing repeatedly. It doesnât disappear completely, but at least the surface looks cleaner, and the sharp metallic smell fades slightly. Itâs not perfect, but itâs better than leaving it untouched.
A sigh escapes you. Looks like a trip to the store is unavoidable. You glance back toward the window where Yoongi and Taehyung watch silently. âDonât move. Iâll be back in an hour,â you call, trying to keep your voice calm, though your stomach knots at the thought of leaving them even for a few minutes.
The two of them remain still, their eyes tracking your movements as you head toward the car, determined to come back armed with the right tools to erase every trace.
The drive to the store is quiet. By the time you park, youâve already made a mental list: bleach, gloves, scrub brush, disinfectant spray. Everything that will let you clean the shed properly without leaving traces behind.
You step through the sliding doors of the store, the fluorescent lights buzzing overhead. A part of you canât help but glance around nervously. Each aisle feels like it could be a stage, every other shopper a silent observer of your secret.
Grabbing a shopping cart, you start moving down the cleaning aisle. Bleach, disinfectant spray, hydroxideâyou check off the items quickly. You mutter under your breath, âgod, I hope no one thinks Iâm covering up a murder sceneâŚâ
Pushing the cart toward the meat section, your mind drifts back to Yoongi and Taehyung. Not that you need to worry about normal grocery decisions for yourself, but⌠what kind of meat does a panther like Yoongi prefer? Or a tiger like Taehyung? You stare at the rows of beef, chicken, and pork, trying to imagine what would appeal to them in their current state.
Yoongi, still weak, probably wonât have a big appetite but you want something he can actually eat. Something familiar, something that will make him feel a little more like himself.Â
You pick up a few pounds of steak and some raw chicken. You pause, feeling a sense of surrealism. Shopping for meat for wild creatures in your own house wasnât something you ever imagined youâd be doing.
Just as you reach for a package of chicken, two men step into your aisle. Their uniforms catch the fluorescent light, and your stomach drops.Â
One of them steps closer, eyes scanning you carefully. âEvening,â he says, voice clipped. âDo you live around here?â
You nod, keeping your tone calm. âYeah, just down the street,â you lie.
The other man tilts his head, studying you carefully. âWe had reports of large animals. Seen or heard near your property?â
You tilt your head, âlarge animals? You mean like large wild animals?â
They exchange a quick glance. âYeah exactly. Itâs nothing to worry about but you see we just wanted to ask a few questions.â
Your heart pounds in your chest, but you keep your expression neutral. âI understand,â you say evenly. âAsk away.â
The taller man leans slightly closer, his eyes scanning you with a measured curiosity. âDid you notice anything unusual around here lately? Any signs of large animals that arenât native in these parts of the world?â
You shrug, keeping your tone calm. âNo. I havenât seen anything like that. Just shopping, thatâs all.â
His partner flips open a small notebook, jotting something down. âAnd youâre certain? No sounds, no tracks, nothing odd?â
âIâm certain,â you reply, keeping your hands visible on the counter. âI didnât see anything.â
The men exchange a brief look, then nod. âAlright. Thank you Miss.â
You offer a polite nod. âOf course.â
You keep your distance, pretending to browse the meat, but your eyes follow them. The two men approach another shopper, asking similar questions. You notice the person flinch slightly at their presence, but quickly nod and answer.
You let out a quiet breath you hadnât realized you were holding, your shoulders easing slightly. Glancing back at the meat section, your focus sharpens. The stakes are higher than ever, but for now, the men have moved on, and your priorities are clear: pick the right food and get back to Yoongi and Taehyung.
You shove the last grocery bag into the trunk, the plastic crackling under your hands. You pull out of the parking lot and onto the road leading toward the outskirts of town. The city slowly fades behind you, replaced by fields, then scattered houses, then the familiar thick wall of forest that closes in around the winding road.
You thought the drive home would be uneventful. That was until something massive lunged from the trees.
âShitâ!â
You slam the brakes.
Your car screeches. Your body snaps forward, seatbelt digging into your chest. You can hear what sound like all of your groceries tumbling in the back seat.
But you barely pay any attention to that. Because right in front of your car stands a bear
Your heart stops. Sure you live in the woods but youâve never come across an actual bear before.Â
The bear turns his head slowly toward you. And your eyes lock. Thatâs when it dawns on you.
This isnât a wild animal staring at your car. This is something intelligent. Something aware. And thatâs when you see itâ
The unmistakable glint of metal tag, one that looked identical to the one you found in your backyard.
Your breath catches.
Then, without warning, he darts across the rest of the road and disappears into the trees, his massive form swallowed by the underbrush.
You sit there in the middle of the lane, stunned, hands trembling against the steering wheel.
âAm I dreaming?â you breathe, voice barely audible. But the skid marks on the road say otherwise. Before you can piece your thoughts together, branches snap loudly from the same direction the bear came.
You tense, expecting another big animal to make an appearance.Â
Two men burst out from between the trees, panting hard, their clothes snagged with twigs and leaves. You narrow your eyes, those arenât officers, or trackers, or anyone official-looking.
Just regular men. Late thirties maybe. Work boots.
One spits into the dirt. âI told you it went this way,â he huffs.
The other mutters, âDamn thingâs faster than it looksâŚâ
As they straighten up, one of them finally notices your car. A clear view of your pale face behind the windshield along with your car angled awkwardly across the road.
He nudges his friend and points toward you. The men exchange a quick look before walking toward your car, not slowly, not cautiously.
Your pulse spikes.
One of them stops by your window, leaning down just enough for you to see the sweat on his forehead. He gently knocks at your window, motioning for you to roll it down. You open your window just a crack, just enough to communicate without your whole face being exposed.
âEvening Miss,â he says, trying to sound casual but failing. âYou, uh⌠you see something run through here just now?â
The other man stays a few steps back, scanning the trees, looking impatient, like theyâre terrified of losing the trail.
Your hand tightens on the steering wheel, knuckles pale against the leather. The two men stare at you, waiting for your answer.
You force your voice out, thin but steady enough. âI⌠yeah. I saw a bear.â
The men exchange a look and something about that expression makes your stomach twist.
But in that split second, an image flashes through your mind:
The silver tag glinting at the bearâs neck.Â
You glance at the woods, heart hammering. If you tell them the truth, theyâll cut straight into the brush where he vanished. Theyâll find him. Theyâll corner him. And they wonât treat him like anything but a trophy.
You lift a shaky hand and gesture in the opposite direction of where the bear actually fled.
âI think it ran that way,â you say, pointing down the road, toward a shallow ditch.
The men whip their heads in that direction. âYou sure?â the taller one asks.
âYeah. Positive. He almost hit my car and bolted that way.â
They donât question it further.
The shorter man exhales hard. âDamn. We mustâve scared him off. Thanks for the heads-up.â
You nod quickly, hoping your face doesnât betray what a bad liar you are.
âBe careful driving,â the taller one adds. âDonât wanna hit the thing if it circles back.â
Then they hurry off, not into the woods where you saw the hybrid disappear⌠But down the road in the direction you pointed.
Their heavy boots thud against the pavement, echoing until they fade into the distance. Only when theyâre gone, when the forest is quiet again and the road is empty, do you finally let out the breath youâd been holding.
You tell yourself you need to keep moving and get back home. You reach for the gear shift, ready to pull forward, when something on the pavement ahead of your bumper catches the light.
You lean forward, squinting through the windshield. A small metal item lies on the asphalt, reflecting a thin stripe of sunlight.Â
Itâs the tag.
The same one you saw hanging from the bearâs neck only moments ago, and the same style as the tag you found in your backyard the day Yoongi and Taehyung first appeared. Your heart sinks with the realization that he must have lost it in the scramble across the road.
You put the car in park and step out carefully, the gravel crunching beneath your shoes as you walk toward it. When you crouch down, the metal feels faintly warm from the animalâs body heat. You turn it over in your hand and recognize the faint scratches and worn edges you had seen before. It truly is the same tag.
However, something new catches your attention. When you flip it to the back, an engraving you didnât notice before stares up at you. A clean, deliberate marking that stands out sharply against the metal surface: 903.
You stare at the number for a long moment, unsure how to process it. The inscription looks official and systematic. Whoever this bear is, someone assigned him a number. Someone gave him this identifier.Â
Standing in the quiet road with the metal tag clenched in your hand, you feel a shifting awareness settle over you. Whatever is happening with hybrids is far more organized and far more unsettling than you initially understood. The idea that these creatures are being cataloged or controlled in some way makes your skin prickle.
You finally straighten, the forest still pressing in around you. The bear is long gone, lost somewhere among the trees, but the lingering impression in his eyes stays with you in a way you canât shake. You take a slow, steady breath, glance once more into the woods, and hold the tag tightly before returning to your car.
Once your hands stop trembling enough to hold the wheel, you start the engine again. The tires roll slowly over the asphalt as you ease back onto the road, casting one last glance at the tree line.Â
As your house finally comes into view through the trees, your chest tightens. You donât see anything unusual from the outside, but you still feel the lingering tension of earlier events prickling along your skin. You pull into the driveway, kill the engine, and glance again at the silver tag sitting on the passenger seat. The number 903 reflects faintly in the dim light.
You grab the groceries, tuck the tag safely into your pocket, and step out of the car with a single thought running through your mind.
You need to check on Yoongi and Taehyung before anything else happens.
You unlock the door and slip inside, closing it behind you as quietly as possible.
You set the grocery bags down in the kitchen, not bothering to put anything away yet. Your focus is fixed on the hallway leading to the guest room.
Your footsteps soften instinctively as you make your way down the hall. The closer you get, the more aware you become of the tension coiling in your stomach. What if they tried to leave, even in their condition? What if the hunters followed the scent? What if something happened while you were gone?
You reach the guest room door and pause for a moment, your fingers brushing the handle. You push the door open gently.
The room is still cool, shadows stretching across the floor. Yoongi is awake, still propped against the wall. His eyes lift immediately when you enter.
Taehyung is lying near the bed, still in his tiger form. His ears twitch the moment the hinges creak, and his head lifts. Golden eyes fixed on you as if scanning you from head to toe for any sign of injury.
You take one step inside and Yoongiâs gaze sharpens. âYou took longer than you said you would,â he grumbles.
You close the door behind you. âI know Iâm sorry. Something happened on the way here.â
Yoongi studies your expression, his eyes narrowing slightly at the tension in your shoulders.
Before he can ask anything else, thereâs a low, rumbling sound beside the bed.
Taehyung slowly pushes himself up from his resting spot, wincing a little but determined. His tiger form is massive up close, and the sudden movement makes your breath catch for a moment. You still arenât completely used to having a creature his size so near, especially one capable of flattening you with a single swipe if he ever wanted to.
But instead of acting threatening, he pads toward you with slow, deliberate steps. His head lowers, his whiskers brushing your hip as he starts sniffing around your side.
You stiffen, confused, your hand hovering uncertainly in the air. âWhat⌠what are you doing?â
Taehyung doesnât answer, of course, but he nudges more insistently at your pocket. His ears flick in concentration, nostrils flaring as he inhales again, deeper this time. Yoongi watches the scene from the bed, his brows pulling together.
Taehyung nudges your pocket once more, then lets out a low rumble that sounds almost impatient.
Only then does realization strike you.
You reach inside, fingers closing around the cool piece of metal you almost forgot was there. When you pull the tag out and hold it up, Taehyungâs pupils expand immediately, his tail going still behind him.
Yoongi doesnât react at first.
But then he sees the tag fully.
His eyes widened.
The change is subtle but unmistakable. âWhere,â Yoongi says quietly, âdid you get that?â
You glance between him and the tag, suddenly getting nervous at how shaken he suddenly looks. âI⌠found it on the road. A bear ran in front of my car and dropped it. I think itâs the same one I saw in the yard before.â
Yoongiâs stare doesnât soften.
If anything, it grows heavier.
Yoongi doesnât move at first. He simply stares at the tag in your hand as if the sight of it reaches somewhere far deeper than pain or exhaustion.Â
Taehyung steps closer, lowering his head beside your hand. He sniffs the metal again, and a low, uneasy rumble vibrates through his chest. It isnât aggressive; it sounds like recognition laced with worry.
Yoongiâs hands tighten in the sheets. His voice, when it finally comes, is quiet in a way that feels almost dangerous. âThat tagâŚâ He swallows, his jaw tense. âIt belonged to one of my brothers.â
The words settle heavily in the room.
Your breath catches. âYour brother?â
Yoongi nods slowly, eyes locked on the tag. âThere were seven of us.â His gaze softens for the briefest moment, though the exhaustion in his face turns that softness into something mournful. âWe were always kept together⌠until the night everything fell apart.â
Taehyung shifts beside you, his large body leaning in slightly, confirming Yoongiâs statement without words. His ears flatten in quiet distress.
You stare down at the tag, suddenly aware of how cold itâs become in your hand. âThis number⌠903,â you murmur, turning it over gently, âthat belonged to your brother?â
Yoongiâs jaw clenches. âYes. Heâs the youngest.â He exhales shakily, and you realize heâs not just tired. Heâs rattled in a way he canât fully hide. âHis name is Jungkook.â
Taehyung lets out a soft, low chuff that sounds painfully sad.
A chill spreads down your spine.
Your grip tightens around the small metal disc as the weight of the situation sinks in. The bear you nearly hit wasnât just a random hybrid. He was their family.
Yoongi looks back at you, the intensity in his gaze returning with startling force. âYou need to tell me exactly what happened on that road,â he says quietly. âEvery detail.â
You sit down slowly at the edge of the bed, the tag resting in your hand like it weighs far more than a scrap of metal should. Yoongiâs gaze stays fixed on you with a level of focus that cuts straight through the fatigue youâd seen in him moments ago. Taehyung settles beside you, still in his tiger form, his presence warm and tense at your side as if bracing himself for what youâre about to say.
You clear your throat. âI was coming back from the store. I had just gotten past the city and into the tree line when a bear ran out of the forest and almost hit my car.â
You continue, speaking carefully so you donât miss anything. âI stopped in the middle of the road. He stood right in front of me. And when he turned his head⌠I saw the tag.â
You swallow, âhe got scared and bolted into the woods. And a few seconds later, two men came running out from the same spot. They werenât in uniforms. They just looked like regular people whoâd run themselves ragged chasing something through the forest.â
Yoongiâs eyes sharpen, darkening with something colder than anger. âHunters.â
âYeah,â you whisper. âIâm pretty sure they were hunting him.â
You pull in a breath, remembering the way the men stared you down. âThey came to my car and asked if Iâd seen anything. I panicked and just told them I saw a bear run across the road. But I pointed them in the wrong direction so they wouldnât follow him.â
Yoongi's eyes widen slightly, and for a moment his face softens, âthank you.â
You continue softly, âHe dropped the tag when he ran. Thatâs how I found it.â You carefully present the tag to him. He hesitates but with trembling hands he reaches out nonetheless and clenches it tightly in the palm of his hand.Â
Yoongiâs jaw tightens again, but his voice steadies as he asks, âHow did he look?â
You hesitate. âHe looked exhausted. Scared. Like heâd been running for a long time.â
Taehyung lowers his head, resting his chin lightly on the edge of your knee, a gesture that is both grounding and heartbreaking. His tail curls close to his body.
The moment stretches uncomfortably, and a knot tightens in your stomach. You suddenly feel small standing in the middle of something you barely understandâhybrids, hunters, escaped family members, numbers engraved into cold metal. Everything feels too big, too dangerous.
Your fingers close around the tag again, gripping it until the metal presses into your palm.
âYoongiâŚâ you say, voice softer now, almost unsure. âI donât know what to do here.â
Yoongiâs eyes shift to you immediately.
âI meanââ you continue, swallowing hard, âI donât know how to help you. Or him. Or if I even should. I donât know the rules, or whatâs too risky, or what could get all of us killed. Hell, just a few days ago I didnât even think your kind actually existed. I thought maybe it couldâve all just been one big conspiracy theory.â
You force yourself to meet his gaze.
âJust tell me⌠what should I do?â
For the first time since youâve met him his gaze seemed to have softened. Then, almost painfully slow, he looks away. His shoulders sink just a little. The sadness on his face is quiet, restrained, but unmistakable.
âI donât think you want to be involved with our kind,â he murmurs.
The words arenât sharp or defensive. Theyâre tired, almost defeated, like heâs already bracing himself for disappointment. Taehyung lowers his head beside you again, watching Yoongi with ears slightly back, as if he disagrees but doesnât know how to argue.
âThe humans we have met,â he pauses, choosing his words carefully. âThey donât know the meaning of kindness. Theyâre powerful and dangerous individuals.âÂ
He still refuses to look at you, his eyes fixed on the floor as though the truth is easier to say when heâs not facing your reaction.
âI donât want you caught in that,â he finishes quietly. âNot because youâre weak⌠but because you donât deserve the consequences that follow hybrids like us.â
His expression stays turned away from you, but the room feels heavier now.
His words hang in the air between you. Itâs not meant to push you out, but to protect you from something heâs certain you canât handle. Taehyung stays close, his presence warm against your side, and you feel the slow, steady rise and fall of his breathing.
You swallow hard.
âI am scared,â you admit, your voice low but honest. âAll of this is⌠a lot. You, Taehyung, your brother, the hunters. This entire world of hybrids that barely anyone even knows exists. Itâs terrifying.â
Yoongiâs shoulders tense, and for a brief moment he closes his eyes, as if bracing himself for you to pull away from everything entirely.
âBut,â you continue softly, âbeing scared doesnât mean Iâm just going to walk away.â
His eyes open again at that, lifting slightly in your direction though he still doesnât fully turn to face you.
âI didnât ask to find you,â you say, fingers brushing lightly over Taheyungâs fur, âbut I did. And you werenât dangerous. You were hurt. Taehyung was hurt. Whoever your brother is⌠he looked terrified out there. And I canât pretend I didnât see that.â
You draw a slow breath, your heart pounding, but the words come easier now.
âIâm scared because I donât know what Iâm doing. I donât know how to help you or what the right move is, and Iâm worried Iâll make things worse.â You glance between the two hybrids, your expression softening. âBut Iâm even more scared of what might happen to you if I donât do anything at all.â
Taehyungâs ears perk at that, a small surprised flick.Â
Yoongi finally turns his head enough to truly look at you. His expression is still guarded, but something in it eases.
âYou shouldnât be afraid on our behalf,â he says quietly.
You manage a small, shaky exhale. âI think itâs a little late for that.â
The corner of his mouth twitches. Itâs not a smile, but something close to one.
You continue before your nerve slips. âSo⌠if Iâm already involved, and Iâm not walking away⌠just tell me what I need to do. I donât want to make decisions blindly.â
Yoongi studies you for a long moment, his golden eyes steady and unreadable. Then, for the first time, he nods.
âAlright,â he murmurs, voice softer than before. âIf you truly want to help⌠then we need to track our brother.â
You freeze for a moment, the weight of Yoongiâs words sinking into your chest. Tracking him down. That isnât a small task. But the look on Yoongiâs face tells you this isnât optional for them. This is family.
You take a slow breath. âOkay⌠but how? I donât even know where to start.â
Yoongiâs gaze flicks toward Taehyung, who responds before he even speaks. The tiger pushes himself to stand, muscles trembling slightly from the effort. He tilts his head toward the door as if already preparing to leave.
âWe follow his scent,â Yoongi says. âTaehyung can track better in his animal form. Even injured, heâll know where Jungkook went.â
You glance at Taehyung, who is now watching you with expectant golden eyes. Even in his tiger form, thereâs a sharp intelligence there, and a quiet plea tucked beneath it.
âBut you can barely walk,â you whisper.
Yoongi clenches his jaw. âThat doesnât matter. Heâs alone. And if those hunters catch him before we doâŚâ He trails off, but he doesnât need to finish. The implication burns in the silence.
You shift your weight, thinking fast. âThen Iâll drive. Itâll be faster than walking, and Taehyung can guide us.â
Taehyungâs ears perk up at that, and he gives a firm, approving chuff.
Yoongi hesitates, tension pulling across his shoulders. ââŚYouâre sure?â
âNo,â you admit honestly, voice quiet but steady. âIâm terrified. But we canât leave your brother out there. Not after what I saw.â
Yoongi looks away for a brief moment. But not in rejection this time, but in something fragile, like heâs trying to swallow a sudden surge of emotion he hasnât let himself feel in a long time.
When he meets your eyes again, he looks more grounded. More certain. âThen we go now,â he says.
Taehyung steps forward, brushing his head lightly against your side as if urging you toward the door.
You nod, your heart pounding, and grab the tag from the bed. âOkay. Letâs go find him.â
The three of you move down the hallway, each step echoing with a mixture of urgency and unease. Yoongi keeps one hand against the wall for balance, refusing to let his exhaustion slow him down. Taehyung stays close at his side, his shoulder brushing Yoongiâs hip every few steps as if silently offering support.
You grab your keys from the counter and push open the front door, the cool air brushing across your skin like a reminder that the outside world is still unpredictable.
Taehyung steps out first. The moment his paws touch the porch, his demeanor changes. His shoulders lift, ears angling forward, nostrils flaring as he draws in a deep breath of the open air. Heâs searching already.
Yoongi steadies himself against the doorframe and takes in the scene outside. âHeâll pick up Jungkookâs scent faster out here,â he murmurs.Â
You glance back at him. âAre you going to be okay walking to the car?â
He lifts his gaze to meet yours, and thereâs a faint dryness in his voice when he answers, âIâve been through worse.â But when he takes a step forward, his legs tremble more than he wants to admit.
You instinctively reach your hand out to hold his waist. His whole body tenses. You half expected for him to growl at you, but instead, his body eases just slightly and with your support he begins to walk towards your car.Â
You try not to react, but internally youâre freaking out and considering this a win.Â
Taehyung notices immediately. He lets out a quiet huff.
You walk ahead, unlocking the car and opening the back door. âYoongi, you should sit in the front. Taehyung can take the space on the floor or the backseat if he fits.â
Taehyung lets out a soft snort, as if offended at the idea of not fitting but he squeezes himself in with surprising grace, lowering his huge body onto the floor behind the front seats, curling his legs beneath him. His tail flicks once, tapping the seat lightly before going still.
Yoongi climbs into the back with effort, gripping the door frame to ease the strain on his injured ribs. Once inside, he presses a hand against his side, breathing slowly until the pain settles.Â
You slide into the driverâs seat and start the engine. You pull away from the house, the engine humming low beneath you as the tires press into the gravel. The trees are tall enough that they swallow most of the remaining daylight. You keep your eyes on the winding road while the weight of Taehyungâs breathing and Yoongiâs quiet presence fills the car.
Neither of them speaks at first. Taehyung shifts occasionally behind you, his claws gently tapping the floor as he adjusts his position to smell the air more clearly. Yoongi watches the passing trees through the window, his posture tense but focused.
You tighten your grip on the wheel and guide the car toward the stretch of road where youâd nearly collided with the bear earlier. Every bend feels familiar now, every shadow pulling at your memory. The closer you get, the heavier the atmosphere becomes inside the car.
Taehyung stiffens before you even reach the exact spot. His head lifts, ears angling sharply forward. He presses his nose near the cracked window, drawing in long, deliberate breaths. His pupils narrow, body leaning subtly toward the right side of the car.
Yoongi notices immediately. âSlow down,â he murmurs, voice steady despite the tension behind it. âWeâre close.â
You ease your foot off the gas and let the vehicle roll gently forward. âThere,â you whisper, recognizing the section of pavement instantly.
The skid marks from your sudden stop are still faintly visible, stretched across the asphalt like a reminder of what happened. A few disturbed branches and crushed leaves line the edge of the road where the bear had fled into the forest.
You bring the car to a slow stop right where your tires had screeched before. The forest on either side stands unnervingly still, the night pressing in deeper now that the sun has dropped lower behind the trees.
Taehyung rises partway onto his feet, bracing himself against the seat with surprising grace for his size. He leans closer to the window, nostrils flaring again, more urgently this time.
Yoongi leans forward slightly, eyes fixed where Taehyung is focused. âHis scent should still be strongest here.â
You take a slow breath and open your door, the cool air immediately brushing across your skin as you step out onto the road. The forest feels different now that youâre returning to it on purpose.Â
Taehyung slips out right behind you, landing on the asphalt with a soft thud. His size is impressive out in the open; even crouched low, he looks powerful and alert. He keeps close to your side for a moment, his shoulder brushing your hip, before instinct pulls him forward. His nose goes straight to the ground near the crushed leaves and disturbed brush.
Yoongi climbs out slower, deliberate in each movement as he keeps a hand against the car for balance. He winces when he straightens, but the moment Taehyung lets out a short, sharp huff, Yoongi pushes himself upright despite the pain.
Taehyung sniffs the same patch of ground again, then moves a few feet to the left, following something only he can detect. His ears flick, his tail stiffens, and he makes a soft chuff â a sound youâre beginning to understand as a signal.
âHeâs got it,â Yoongi says quietly, moving to stand beside you. âThe trail starts here.â
You crouch down near the place where the bear had lingered earlier, noticing details you hadnât before. The ground is scuffed where something large skidded briefly, leaving long grooves in the dirt. A few strands of dark fur cling to the edge of a low branch, fluttering faintly with the breeze.
âShedding?â you murmur.
Yoongi shakes his head. âNo. Pulled out, probably when he crashed through.â His expression tightens slightly.Â
That adds a new layer of urgency to the air.
Taehyung moves toward the tree line, and for a moment you think heâll charge straight in, but he pauses and turns to look back at you with wide golden eyes. Theyâre expectant, waiting, almost asking permission.
Yoongi notices and lets out a quiet breath. âHe wants you close. If anything happens, you need to be near him or me.â
You take a small step forward. âAre you sure itâs safe for me to be in the woods with hunters nearby?â
âNo,â Yoongi answers honestly, âbut leaving you alone is worse.â
That does nothing to calm your nerves, but the truth in it feels grounding.
Taehyung dips his head once before turning back toward the forest. He pushes through the first line of branches, weaving silently into the underbrush.
You meet Yoongiâs eyes, and without speaking, the two of you follow.
The moment you cross into the trees, the world changes. The forest floor muffles your footsteps, and the canopy above swallows most of the remaining light. Taehyung moves several paces ahead, his tail brushing leaves aside as he follows the trail, but he never goes far enough to lose sight of you.
You duck under a low branch, your shoulder brushing Yoongiâs briefly as he steadies himself on a nearby tree trunk. His breathing is tight, but he keeps moving.
âJust a little farther,â he mutters, more to himself than to you.
Suddenly Taehyung freezes, every muscle in his body coiled tight. Yoongiâs hand shoots out, lightly grabbing your wrist before you can take another step.
Before you could even begin to ask, in the distance, itâs faint but unmistakable, you hear something shift. A soft rustling, like something heavy dragging across leaves.
You listen again.
Another rustle.
But now the sound is clearer. Theyâre heavy footsteps, uneven, slower than before. Not an animal. Not a hybrid struggling to move.
Voices drift through the trees, low and frustrated.
You tense. âIs thatâ?â
Yoongi nods once, sharply, âhunters.â
Taehyung immediately drops low to the ground, his body melting into the brush so smoothly you almost lose sight of him. Yoongi pulls you downward beside him, crouching behind a fallen log thick with moss. His breathing quickens, strain tugging at the edges of his voice.
âStay quiet,â he whispers.
You nod, heart pounding so loudly youâre terrified theyâll hear it.
The footsteps get closer.
Through the dense leaves, you finally see them. Itâs the same two men who approached your car earlier. Their shoulders sag now, their clothes dirtier, their faces flushed with irritation and exhaustion. One drags a branch out of his way with unnecessary force, tossing it aside like it personally offended him.
âNo tracks. Nothing,â the first mutters, kicking at a pile of leaves. âDamn thing vanished.â
The second wipes sweat from his brow. âThat damn bitch mustâve lied to us.â
Your stomach flips.
Yoongiâs grip on your wrist tightens slightly, not painful, but protective.
The second man snorts. âThis whole hybrid nonsense is getting out of hand. Dangerous animals, mutations, whatever you wanna call it⌠Someoneâs gotta get ahead of this before they breed or something.â
Taehyungâs ears flatten, a low rumble forming deep in his chest, vibrating through the ground. Yoongi reaches out and touches his fur, the contact grounding him instantly.
The first man shakes his head, âyeah but that bounty money will make all of this worth it.â
The hunters move slower now, dragging their feet through the underbrush, not searching anymore. Just irritated. Just tired. Their failure hangs around them like a thick fog.
They never even look in your direction.
Still, you barely breathe.
When the men finally pass out of sight, their voices fading into the distance, Yoongi doesnât rise immediately. He waits. Listens. Judges the timing with careful, practiced instinct.
Only when the forest grows quiet again does he release a slow breath and ease his hold on you.
âThey didnât find him,â you whisper, your voice shaking just a little.
âNo,â Yoongi replies, his gaze scanning the trees. âBut they might come back.â
Taehyung lifts his head slightly, nostrils flaring again, and looks toward the deeper part of the forest that the hunters didnât check.
Itâs an unspoken message.
Yoongi meets your eyes. âIf Jungkookâs still out here⌠heâll be hiding where they werenât.â
You nod, the adrenaline still buzzing under your skin.
âThen we need to move before they circle back.â
Yoongi exhales slowly and braces a hand against the moss-covered log before pushing himself upright. You move with him, careful not to snap a twig or rustle a leaf.Â
Taehyung steps ahead, lowering his head to the forest floor. His nose sweeps through the scattered leaves, tracking invisible lines of scent only he can understand. He moves a few paces in one direction, pauses, pivots, then moves in another, more decisive direction.
Yoongi follows him with a wince as he adjusts his stance, and you stay close, matching his pace.
âHeâs picking up the trail again,â Yoongi murmurs. âJungkook mustâve gone this way after he left the road.â
âHow can you tell?â you whisper, stepping carefully around a fallen branch.
Yoongi nods toward Taehyung. âHeâs calmer now. Focused. If Jungkookâs trail had gone cold, heâd be restless or frustrated. But heâs tracking with confidence.â
You watch Taehyung move, his movements sharper now, more purposeful. His tail remains still behind himâa clear sign of concentration.
When he stops suddenly, you almost bump into him. He lowers his head toward a cluster of ferns, gently nosing them aside. As he pushes deeper, something catches your eye.
A patch of dark fur tangled in the brush.
You crouch down, brushing the leaves aside with trembling fingers. The fur matches the bearâs coloring exactlyâthick, coarse, slightly curled at the tips. But what catches your attention more is the faint smudge of something staining the leaves.
Not fresh.
But unmistakably blood.
Your chest tightens. âHeâs hurtâŚâ
Yoongi crouches beside you with visible effort and examines the spot. âItâs not enough to be life-threatening,â he murmurs. âProbably scraped himself trying to get away. But it means weâre close. He didnât have much energy left when he passed through here.â
Taehyung lifts his head, ears pricked, eyes locked on a narrow break in the trees ahead. He gives a soft, urgent chuff and glances back at the two of you.
Yoongi nods. âHe went deeper. Toward the creek.â
You straighten and look between the path ahead that was slowly beginning to darken as the sun was slowly starting to go down. âWill the hunters come this way?â
Yoongi shakes his head. âNot unless they find a reason. They stuck to the easier routes. Jungkook always knew how to avoid human patterns.â
Taehyung flicks his tail, waiting.
You take another breath and step forward.
âThen letâs keep going.â
The three of you slip deeper into the forest, following the narrow trail Jungkook madeâbroken branches, disturbed ferns, faint prints in the soft earth. As the trees thicken and the sound of distant running water grows louder, the tension shifts.
Something is close.
Taehyung stops again, his entire body going still, head turned sharply toward the right. His ears flatten, not in fear, but recognition.
Yoongi stiffens beside you.
Taehyung stands completely still, every muscle pulled taut as he listens. His ears twitch once, twiceâthen angle sharply toward the right, deeper into the trees where the canopy thickens.
Yoongi steps closer to him, his posture shifting instinctively into something protective despite the pain etched across his features. His hands curl slightly at his sides, and his breath comes shallow, controlled.
You swallow hard. âDo you see something?â
Yoongi shakes his head. âNot see. Hear.â He nods toward Taehyung. âAnd he smells it.â
Taehyung takes one slow step forward, then another, drifting toward the sound of running water in the distance. His body moves with a different kind of urgency now, heâs no longer searching, but closing in.
You follow without hesitation, keeping your steps light and careful. Yoongi moves beside you, one hand brushing tree trunks here and there as he steadies himself. The deeper you go, the colder the forest feels, as if the temperature drops with every footstep.
The murmur of water grows louder. The trees thin slightly.
And thenâ
Taehyung stops again, but this time the motion is abrupt, his claws digging slightly into the earth to anchor himself. His chest expands with a deep inhale, and a quiet, almost pained sound rumbles from him.
Yoongi freezes.
Your heartbeat thunders in your ears.
âWhat does that mean?â you whisper.
Yoongiâs voice is barely audible. âHe found something.â
You exchange a quick glance before the three of you push past a dense cluster of ferns. The forest opens into a small clearing near the edge of a shallow creek.Â
Your breath catches.
Something is lying near the waterâs edge.
A large body, dark fur matted with dirt and leaves, chest rising and falling in slow, uneven pulls. One foreleg is tucked awkwardly beneath the body, the other stretched forward as if it had collapsed mid-step. The water near his paws is disturbed, ripples spreading outward from where he must have stumbled.
Itâs the bear.
The same one you saw earlier.
But now that youâre closer, the truth becomes impossible to ignore. The trembling in his flank, the labored breaths, the way his head barely manages to lift when Taehyung steps forward.
He tries to lift his head, but the strength seems to drain out of him halfway through the motion. His eyes land on Taehyung first, dull but aware, filled with exhaustion and relief that flickers weakly beneath the fear. Then his gaze drifts toward Yoongi, widening the slightest bit in recognition.
Taehyung moves first, inching forward with soft, careful steps. He lowers his head until his forehead touches Jungkookâs, a gentle greeting that carries more comfort than words ever could. A faint chuff escapes Jungkookâs throat in return.
Yoongiâs breath shudders as he drops to one knee, ignoring the pain it sends through him. âJungkookâŚâ he whispers, voice cracking under the weight of it.
Finally Jungkookâs gaze drifts toward you, slow and hazy, his vision struggling to focus. At first, thereâs nothing but exhaustion in his expression, but the moment he realizes youâre not a hybrid, not one of his own, everything inside him tenses.
His pupils widen.
His breathing quickens.
A soft, rattled sound escapes his throat.
He tries to pull back even though he barely has the strength to lift his head. His claws dig weakly into the dirt as he attempts to shift away from you, fear overriding his exhaustion.
Yoongi reacts instantly.
âJungkookâhey. Hey,â he says softly, leaning closer despite the sharp pain it causes him. He places a steadying hand near his shoulder without touching him yet, careful and grounding. âItâs alright. Sheâs not going to hurt you.â
Taehyung steps in next, lowering his tiger form beside his brother. He presses his forehead gently against Jungkookâs jaw, a reassuring gesture that sends a low, soothing rumble through the ground. Then he turns his head and nudges toward you as if telling Jungkook this human is safe.
But Jungkookâs gaze stays locked on you, his fear flickering beneath the exhaustion. His breaths come quicker, shallow and uneven, the instinct to flee warring with the reality that he can barely move.
You take the smallest step back, hands raised slightly to show you mean no harm. âItâs okay,â you murmur, voice as soft as the forest around you. âIâm not here to hurt you. I just⌠want to help.â
Yoongi hears the tremor in your voice and turns to Jungkooks again. âShe saved us,â he says, his tone thick with an honesty that leaves no room for doubt. âIf it wasnât for her, Taehyung and I wouldnât be here.â
Jungkookâs trembling slows, if only barely. His gaze flickers to Taehyung, who nudges him again, more insistently this time, before looking at you and letting out a short but reassuring chuff.
Yoongi follows that silently with, âYou can trust her. Sheâs on our side.â
Yoongiâs words settle over the clearing with a kind of quiet weight. Sheâs on our side.
Hearing him say it out loud makes your chest tighten in a strange, unexpected way.Â
Jungkookâs frightened gaze keeps flicking back to you, searching for a threat heâs expecting to find. You feel your breath catch as you meet his eyes. The fear there isnât sharp or aggressive. Itâs raw, wounded, the kind youâve seen on patients whoâve been mistreated and donât know who to trust.
You swallow and speak softly, keeping your tone warm even though your heart is beating too fast. âI know you donât know me. I know this is scary. I promise Iâm not here to hurt you.â
Your voice wavers a little on the last word, and Yoongi notices, his eyes soften just slightly, though he tries to hide it.
Taehyung nudges Jungkook again, urging him to look at you, to listen, to feel that youâre not a threat. His breathing slows another fraction, but he still looks unsure and you canât blame him.
You take a slow breath and lower yourself a little more, not close enough to overwhelm him, but not so far that you seem afraid. âYou donât have to trust me yet,â you say gently, âbut Iâm going to help you anyway. I wonât let them find you.â
Jungkookâs ears twitch at that. His muscles loosen by a degree, and the tension in his shoulders eases when Taehyung presses his forehead to his again.
Yoongi watches you quietly, something flickering across his face, not quite gratitude, not quite relief, but something in-between. Something he isnât used to showing.
You straighten very carefully, keeping your movements slow. âJust tell me what you need from me. Whatever it is⌠weâll figure it out.â
Jungkook watches you again, but this time, his fear doesnât spike. His eyes soften just a little, the smallest shift, but enough for you to know heâs starting to believe Yoongi and Taehyung.
You wrap your arms around yourself for a moment, more to keep your hands from shaking than for warmth. Jungkookâs fear is no longer pointed directly at you, but itâs still there.
âAlright,â you murmur, mostly to ground yourself, âhow are we getting him to my car.â
Yoongi adjusts his position next to Jungkook and winces, one hand pressed lightly to his ribs. His voice is steady, but the strain behind it is unmistakable. âFirst, we need to see if he can shift back. We canât move him like this. Heâs too heavy, and Taehyung and I arenât in any condition to carry him far. And you definitely canât carry him.â
âOk ouch.â
He rolls his eyes, a tired but unmistakably sarcastic gesture. âPlease. Go on and prove me wrong.â He stretches out his hand in a sweeping motion toward the enormous bear lying in the grass. âPick him up.â
You stare at Yoongi.
Then at Jungkook.
Then back at Yoongi.
âHe weighs likeâwhatâsix hundred pounds?â you whisper in disbelief.
âSeven-twenty last time he shifted,â Yoongi mutters.
Taehyung huffs in agreement, as if backing the math.
You cross your arms. âRight. So clearly I could lift him, Iâm just choosing not to.â
Yoongi lifts a brow. âOf course.â
Jungkook watches the exchange with wide, exhausted eyes, clearly not following every word but definitely aware that he is the subject of discussion.
Taehyung steps closer, brushing his head against Jungkookâs jaw in a slow, comforting gesture. The deep rumble vibrating from him seems to settle his trembling a little, but only just.
Yoongi leans in, bracing himself on one knee. âJungkook,â he says quietly, voice softer than youâve ever heard it, âyou need to try. Just once. If you can shift itâll make this easier on all of us.â
Jungkook opens his eyes at that, the emotion in them raw and too heavy for someone his size. He looks at Yoongi first, then Taehyung⌠and finally at you.
He tries.
You can see itâthe tension along his back, the way the fur ripples unevenly, the faint shimmer beneath his skin like something is trying to change shape. But it lasts only a few seconds before his body shudders and the effort collapses. His sides heave with the strain, a weak groan slipping out of him.
Taehyung lowers himself beside his brother again, pressing close in quiet support.
Yoongi looks at Jungkook with pain written clearly in his expression, and when he finally speaks, his voice is tight but controlled. âAlright. Thatâs enough. Donât try again.â
He turns his gaze to you.
âWell,â he sighs, rubbing his temples, âweâre going to have to figure out another way to get him back.â
You nod slowly. âOkay. So⌠whatâs Plan B?â
Yoongi opens his mouth to answerâ
But then Taehyungâs head snaps up. His body goes rigid.
You freeze, glancing between him and Yoongi.
Yoongiâs face darkens immediately. âThatâs not good.â
You swallow. âWhat is it?â
Taehyung rumbles low in his chestâa warning, not a greeting.
Yoongi meets your eyes. The exhaustion is gone.
âTheyâre coming back.â
Taehyungâs low warning rumble vibrates through the ground, deeper and sharper now. He rises to his feet despite the stiffness in his ribs, positioning himself between the trees and his nearly unconscious brother. His tail lowers, sweeping behind him in a slow, tense arc.
You whip your head toward the forest line, heart hammering.
You donât see anyone yet. But you hear it. Branches cracking. Leaves shifting under heavy boots.
Yoongiâs jaw clenches. âThey mustâve come back to check. Maybe they picked up on him.â He presses a hand against his ribs and forces himself upright, moving to stand on the opposite side of Jungkook.
You rise too, adrenaline sparking under your skin. âOkayâokay, what do we do? We canât move him. Theyâll see him any secondââ
âStay low,â Yoongi instructs, grabbing your wrist and pulling you down behind the nearest thicket of brush. âIf they see you with usââ
He doesnât finish, but the implication sends a chill down your spine.
Taehyung doesnât hide. He stays in front of Jungkook, massive body low to the ground, ears pinned back, ready to lunge if he has to. He wonât leave his brother exposed. Not for anything.
The footsteps are getting closer now.
You huddle lower, keeping your breathing as steady as possible. Yoongi crouches beside you, face pale from pain but eyes sharp and focused. His gaze flicks constantly between the approaching direction and Jungkookâs unmoving form.
The voices sharpen.
ââŚI swear it came through hereââ
âWeâre not leaving empty-handedââ
âIf it came back, itâs hurt. It canât be farââ
Your pulse spikes in your throat. âWe need a distraction.â
âDonât,â he whispers harshly, his grip on your wrist tightening. âDonât even think about it.â
You glance at the hunters again. Theyâre too close. If they take even ten more steps, theyâll see Jungkook lying in the open, unable to move. Taehyung could hide, Yoongi could hide â but Jungkook canât.
âWe donât have time,â you whisper back. âIf we donât stall them now, theyâre going to walk right into the clearing.â
Yoongi pulls you closer, desperation in the shake of his breath. Thereâs fear in his eyes now.Â
âListen, earlier they didnât suspect anything when I talked to them on the road,â you remind him quietly. âThey saw me as just⌠another person doing errands. Someone normal. Someone harmless.â
âThatâs exactly why itâs dangerous,â Yoongi hisses, keeping his voice as low as possible. âHumans like them react unpredictably when theyâre desperate. Theyâre angry, tired, frustrated. They wonât think straight. If they think you saw something, or if they even suspect youâre hiding somethingââ
He breaks off, his voice tightening like something painful is stuck in his throat.
You inhale slowly. âI wonât let them walk right into this clearing. I canât.â
Jungkookâs huge form trembles faintly behind you. Heâs trying to lift his head again, but it drops back heavily against the dirt. His breaths are too shallow. Too fast. He wonât survive being discovered.
Taehyung shifts closer to him, almost shielding him with his body.
You look back at Yoongi â at the fear in his eyes.
âItâs me or Jungkook,â you whisper. âAnd Iâm the only one who can walk up to them without starting a fight.â
Yoongi shakes his head, jaw clenched. âI canât let youââ
âYou donât get to âletâ me,â you whisper back, not harsh, but steady. âThis is the only option we have.â
His grip loosens, but only because his hand is shaking. His eyes burn into yours, the panic there unmistakable.
âYouâre human,â he murmurs, voice rough with fear he canât hide. âI donât want anything happening to you because of us.â
You reach out, gently placing your hand over his. âAnd I donât want anything happening to your brother because we were too scared to do something.â
Yoongiâs breath stutters. He looks at you like heâs caught between a dozen conflicting instincts. But the hunters are almost at the clearing now, and thereâs no more time to hesitate.
You squeeze his hand once, softly. âIâll be fine.â
He swallows hard, visibly fighting himself.
Then, barely audible, he whispers, âPlease⌠be careful.â
You nod, slip free of the brush, and step out into the trees. You walk toward the hunters with your heart pounding so hard it hurts.
Behind you, Yoongi and Taehyung lower themselves deeper into the shadows, watching every move with terror and hope tangled into one. The darkening sky provides some protection.
You step out from the brush, forcing your breathing into some kind of steady rhythm even though your pulse is racing so fast you can feel it in your fingertips. The forest opens slightly ahead, and the huntersâ flashlights swing in sporadic, frustrated arcs across the trees.
They hear your footsteps before they see you.
âWhat theâ?â one of them snaps, jerking his light in your direction.
You lift your hands a little, palms open, trying to look harmless. âHiâsorry! Didnât mean to scare you.â
Both men tense immediately. Their shoulders stiffen, their grips tighten, not on weapons yet, but close enough that your stomach drops.
âWhat are you doing out here?â the taller one demands, stepping forward. âThis isnât a place you should be wandering alone.â
You swallow, keeping your expression confused but not panicked. âI know⌠I know. I saw flashlights and voices, and I thought maybe someone was lost. I didnât want to just ignore it.â
The shorter man squints at you. âYou again? From the road?â
Your heart lurches, but you force a nervous laugh. âYeah. I live around these woods. I come across a lot of lost hikers all the time. Wanted to make sure everythingâs okay.â
Behind the brush, Yoongi stiffens so sharply the leaves rustle. Taehyungâs low, rumbling growl vibrates faintly through the ground, warning but contained as he stays curled protectively around Jungkook.
The tall hunter narrows his eyes. âYou followed us into the woods?â
âNoâno, I didnât follow you,â you say quickly. âI thought I heard something, so I called out. I guess I wandered a little farther in than I meant to.â
They exchange a look. You canât tell if itâs suspicion or annoyance, but neither reaction is good.
âWhatâd you hear?â the shorter one asks, stepping closer. His light flicks behind you, toward the clearing you just left. Toward the direction of Jungkook.
Your stomach tightens painfully.
You force yourself to stall. âHonestly? I thought it was a dog at first. Or maybe a big raccoon.â You give an awkward shrug. âI donât know animals very well.â
The taller hunter doesnât laugh. His eyes scan the ground around you. âHear anything heavy? Big branches moving? Something with weight?â
âUh⌠no?â you lie smoothly. âI mean, unless you count me tripping over a root.â
The shorter hunter sighs loudly, running a hand through his hair. âGreat. Another false lead.â
He looks tired, irritated, and your goal is to keep him in that emotional space. Annoyed and ready to leave.
You push gently. âSo⌠did you guys ever find the bear? Or whatever you were tracking?â
The taller one steps forward, too close, his flashlight hitting your face. âWhat did you see earlier exactly? Describe it again.â
Your heartbeat spikes.
âA big bear,â you say honestly enough that your voice doesnât shake. âBrown. Fast. Scared.â
âBrown?â he presses. âNot black? Not mottled? No strange things on him?â
âNo,â you say, steadying your breath. âJust⌠a bear. I think.â
The shorter one groans again. âI told you she probably saw a normal animal. Weâre wasting daylight.â
You feel Yoongi watching you from the shadows behind.
âLook,â you say gently, forcing your shoulders to relax, âmaybe you should call it for tonight. You both look exhausted.â
The tall hunter eyes you once more, but something in his posture shifts. The exhaustion is winning out. The uncertainty. The doubt.
Finally, he mutters, âWeâll sweep the creek and head out.â
Your stomach drops. The creek is exactly where Jungkook is. You need to redirect them now.
âYou mean the creek down that way?â you ask, pointing confidently, but in the completely wrong direction, deeper into the woods and far from Jungkook.
They both turn to look.
âYeah,â the shorter one says slowly. âDown that ridge.â
You nod. âI thought I heard splashing earlier, but⌠it was probably nothing.â
He curses under his breath. âWhatever. Weâll check it.â
âThanks,â you say with a weak smile. âAnd be careful. Itâs getting dark.â
The tall one nods curtly and gestures to his partner. âCome on. Letâs sweep the ridge.â
You watch them go.
Their flashlights fade.
Their voices become distant.
Only when youâre sure theyâre far enough does the breath youâve been holding collapse out of you.
You glance back at the clearing.
Jungkook is still lying in the grass, trembling faintly but no longer panicking. His eyes are half-open, watching you with a dazed mixture of confusion and gratitude he canât quite express.
Taehyung emerges beside him, still in his tiger form, staying low and protective over him. His ears flick back as he looks at you, as if checking with his own eyes that youâre actually safe.
Yoongi moves first.
He closes the distance in a few quick, pained steps, grabbing your forearm, his hand trembling just enough for you to feel it.
âThat was dangerous.â he whispers, anger thinly layered over raw fear. âI canât believe you walked straight up to armed hunters alone.â
âYoongi⌠the alternative was letting them walk right into this clearing.â
He shakes his head sharply. âNo. You donât get it. Theyâre not just regular humans. Theyâre hunters. If they found out you were lyingââ
âYouâre safe,â you say quietly. âAll three of you and thatâs all that matters.â
Yoongiâs jaw tightens. He finally releases your arm⌠only to take your hand instead. The gesture is small but intentional, his thumb brushing once across your palm as if he needs the reassurance that youâre real and unhurt.
âPlease don't do that again,â he says softly, the anger fading into something rawer.
You swallow, realizing he isnât scolding you. Heâs scared. For you. âI had to,â you whisper. âIâd do it again.â
He closes his eyes briefly like the answer both frustrates him and shatters him a little.
Before he can respond, Taehyung nudges him sharply, then looks down at Jungkook, letting out a low, meaningful rumble.
Yoongiâs eyes snap open. âRight. We need to move him before they circle back.â
You nod, grounding yourself with a deep breath. âIâm ready.â
Yoongi squeezes your hand once before letting go, turning his focus back to Jungkook. âThen we move fast,â he says, voice firm again. âAnd we do it together.â
Yoongi crouches beside Jungkook again, ignoring the flare of pain in his ribs. You kneel on the other side, close enough for Jungkook to see your face clearly. His eyes flutter open at your movement, still cloudy with exhaustion, still scared⌠but not as much as before.
You smile at him gently. âWeâre gonna get you somewhere safe, okay? But we need your help too.â
Jungkook lets out a faint, trembling huff.
Yoongi nods at him, his expression softening in a way youâve never seen. âWe just need you to stand. No shifting. Just get your feet under you.â
Jungkook closes his eyes for a second, gathering strength from somewhere deep and then he tries. His huge paws press into the dirt, claws digging in, muscles bunching with effort. His legs tremble violently. His shoulder nearly collapses.
Taehyung moves instantly, bracing himself beneath Jungkookâs weight so the bear can lean against him. Yoongi reaches out as well, placing both hands on his fur to steady him, though you can see the strain it costs him.
You rise and place a hand lightly against Jungkookâs stomach, steadying him from the other side. âYouâre okay. Iâve got you.â
He lifts his head a few inches. It wobbles, but it stays up.
âThatâs it,â Yoongi murmurs.Â
It takes nearly a full minute, but Jungkook manages to shift himself into a weak, unsteady stand. His breathing is ragged, but his body holds.
Barely.
You look at Yoongi. âCan he walk?â
âNot far,â Yoongi admits. His eyes flick to the darkness behind you where the hunters disappeared. âBut he doesnât have to. We just need to get him close enough to the road. Taehyung and I can lift the rest.â
You nod. âThen letâs move.â
Taehyung positions himself under Jungkookâs injured side, taking most of his brotherâs weight with a soft grunt of effort. Jungkook leans heavily into him, almost collapsing twice before Taehyung steadies him with a bump of his shoulder.
Yoongi limps to the other side, jaw clenching each time he braces Jungkook. You can tell heâs in pain, but he refuses to acknowledge it.
You take the spot behind them, keeping your hands near his back and flank, ready to catch or support him if he falters.
âAlright,â Yoongi mutters, voice tight. âSlow and steady. Follow Taehyung.â
Taehyung starts forward, guiding Jungkook with careful, measured steps. The forest path is uneven, and each shift of his weight sends tremors through his legs. You stay close, murmuring quiet reassurances whenever he stumbles.
Jungkook struggles, but he keeps going, driven by the closeness of his brothers, the pressure of Taehyungâs side against his, the soft rhythm of your voice beside him.
Yoongi glances at you once, the faintest expression flickering across his features before he looks away again.
You walk for several painstaking minutes, Jungkookâs steps dragging deeper into the forest floor. Every rustle of leaves feels too loud. Every distant crack of a branch makes all three hybrids stiffen.
Finally, Taehyung stops and flicks his ears toward the right.
Yoongi lets out a shaky breath. âWeâre close to the road.â
You step ahead and push through a thin line of brush and there it is. The narrow forest road where you parked earlier. Your car sits only a dozen yards away, half-hidden behind the trees, waiting.
You turn back, relief flooding through you.
âWe made it.â
Jungkook sways, nearly collapsing, but Taehyung catches him before he can fall. Yoongi stabilizes him from the other side, though the strain on his face makes it clear he canât take much more.
You rush forward and open the trunk door of your SUV. âOkay â Taehyung, Yoongi, how do we get him in?â
Yoongi wipes sweat from his brow, breathing hard. âWeâll guide him up. You get in the front and help pull if we need it.â
You hesitate. âAre you sure?â
He gives you a tired but certain nod. âWeâll manage. Just be ready.â
Guiding Jungkook to the car is a slow, excruciating process. Every few steps, his legs wobble, and Taehyung braces under him, taking the strain without hesitation. Yoongi presses a steadying hand to Jungkookâs side, wincing each time the weight shifts toward him.
âEasyâŚâ Yoongi murmurs, voice strained. âJust a little closer.â
You scramble into the front seat and twist around, reaching back to offer your hands as Taehyung and Yoongi maneuver Jungkook toward the back door.
Jungkook hesitates, his huge frame trembling at the unfamiliar shape of the car.
You lean forward, voice steady. âItâs okay. Itâs just for a moment. Then weâll go home. I promise.â
His eyes meet yours, they look tired, scared, but trusting. And slowly, leaning heavily into Taehyungâs strength, Jungkook steps toward the car. His huge form towers at the edge of the car, and for a brief moment it seems impossible. Heâs simply too big, too heavy, too exhausted.
You lean over the seat, extending your hand. âJungkook⌠we need you to climb in, okay? Weâre almost done. Just this last part.â
Jungkook breathes hard, his sides heaving, but his eyes meet yours. He listens. Slowly, he lifts one massive paw and sets it inside the vehicle. The car groans underneath the shift in weight.
Taehyung shifts position and nudges his brother from the side, offering silent encouragement. Jungkook lifts his other front paw in, his body sagging with effort. As his weight shifts into the backseat, the car dips sharply, the suspension dropping several inches with a heavy, low creak.
You wince. âMy poor carâŚâ
Taehyung, squeezing in behind Jungkook, adds his weight too. The vehicle dips again. Itâs almost comical, a small SUV sagging under the mass of two hybrids in one cramped space, but the worry in the moment overshadows any humor.
Yoongi huffs a weak breath through his nose. âShouldâve bought a truck.â
âYeah, well, I wasnât exactly planning for⌠hybrid transport,â you whisper back.
Taehyung curls around Jungkook protectively, positioning himself so he can lean against him, his large head resting on Taehyungâs shoulder. The tiger adjusts until Jungkook is wedged securely, no risk of him sliding if you brake too suddenly.
Jungkook gives one soft, exhausted huff before his eyes close.
Yoongi limps around to the passenger side. He lowers himself into the seat with a shaky exhale, reclining it halfway until he finds a position that doesnât make him grimace.
You close all the doors, circle back to the driverâs side, and climb in behind the wheel. The carâs back end still sits noticeably low, the weight of two fully-grown hybrids making your headlights tilt a little higher than usual.
You glance into the rearview mirror.
Jungkook is unmoving, breathing shallow but steady.
Taehyungâs golden eyes stare back at you, protective and alert from behind Jungkookâs massive form.
Yoongi watches the road ahead, jaw clenched, one hand pressed lightly against his ribs.
âReady?â you ask.
Taehyung gives a slow, firm chuff.
Yoongi nods once.
You grip the wheel, exhale shakily, and put the car in drive.
âHold on and lay low,â you whisper.
With everyone finally inside the car, you pressed your foot to the gas and left the forest behind, hoping the night wouldnât catch up to you before you made it home.
A/N: Thanks for reading!! Let me know how you think of the story so far! As always have a wonderful day!
synopsis: The big bang signified the universes creation, but also it's destruction. Regardless of the side of history you lie on, you are the catalyst either way.
ot7 bts x f.reader (poly)
㨠: wc: 10.7k
㨠: genre: yandere au, a/b/o au, zombie apocalypse au, survival thriller, dark âromanceâ, dark content
㨠: content: alpha bts!, omega!reader, post apocalyptic themes, hiding of second gender, light panic attacks, unreliable narrators, one flashback (1st scene), light torture in a flashback, references to dead bodies, namjoon kills someone, yoongi is a lil angsty, delusional jk (weâre never escaping him), major character injury (!!), bombs, explosions, light angst, light fluff, mostly action, omega stereotypes (omegaphobia? lol), hoseok is insane i fear, omg reader is back too i missed her, light religious symbolism, hoseok is a sadist and a masochist lowk, blood, guns, general violence, referenced masturbation, lowk i thought there were more? Lmk if i missed anything!! -> series warnings here
㨠: notes: HAPPY ARIRANG I AM OBSESSED WITH THE ALBUM AND ALSO SORRY FOR HOSEOK HE'S A BIT OF A MESS <3 Our little reader gets to meet the pack soon! Yippee!
㨠: chapter 4 <- index -> chapter 6
18+ -> minors / blank blogs dni
THEN.
BANG!
Seokjinâs form crouches low to the ground, his thighs spread while his arms hang precariously over his knees, wrists limp as they settle angling towards the ground. He simply just stares.
Well, the business deal Seokjinâs alpha was trying to procure had certainly gone south, that much is clear enough.Â
In front of him, lying on the floor, is one of the Jeon clanâs higher upsâ clanâs beta, if Seokjinâs sources were correct
They were.
Though now, he looks like nothing more than a neutered puppy. The man's whimpering certainly doesnât help with the picture either. It almost makes Seokjin want to laugh.
Namjoon is crouched on the other side of the bodyâ body because that is simply what this man is, if he doesnât start to give them answers. He doesnât have much of a face left now anyway, so he might as well be.
The pack alphaâs hand is fisted into the betas hair, the tendon in his arms twitching from the effort of forcing the man's head into the ground over, and over, and over again. Slamming his head into the cold hardwood floor of the office, other bodies scattered around their forms.Â
The pool of red is still growing.
The pack alpha is huffing, there is a glorious fire in his eyes. Seokjin thinks he looks beautiful.Â
âShould I ask you again?â Seokjin questions, head tilting to the side. A small, placid smile dotting the corner of his lips, condescension radiating from his entire being as Namjoon pulls the man's head up just high enough once more.
What an ugly thing he has become. Maybe heâs the unlucky one, the lucky ones are probably the corpses scattered across the floor. At least they didnât have to undergo their combined fury.Â
He should have just given Seokjin the answers he wanted already.Â
Seokjin sighs once more, looking up at Namjoon, âIt doesnât seem like he wants to, does it?â
Seokjin registers the opening of the office door. Huh, he really did not think anyone else was in the house today. Not that it matters much, Seokjin will deal with them the exact same way.Â
He sighs, closing his eyes as he stands. His arms feel tight in his suit, but he raises one anyway. Cresting it on the same side of his neck where Namjoon had left his bite, using its force to aid him in cracking his neck.Â
Seokjin doesnât have time to dilly dally. Heâll be sure to make this quick.Â
The intruder relieves a sharp gasp from his lungs, the lazy drawl of Seokjinâs lids to draw upwards, taking him in for the very first time.
Soft, perfectly cut straight brown hair. Large doe eyes. Perfectly sculpted nose with little moles dotting around his face in constallations.
Seokjinâs recognition of him is instantaneous.Â
Jeon Jeongguk. 23. Important.Â
The Jeon pack alphaâs only child. The last progeny remaining in their all-alpha familial line.Â
Well damn, Seokjin was sure he wasnât here. From the information Seokjin gathered before setting out to the groups's territory, the kid was practically treated as royalty. Spoiled rotten, coddled. There were even rumours he had never gone outside before.Â
Seokjin didnât believe them, of course not, that would be a rather auspicious thing to do. But with how much he had heard about Jeonggukâs treatment, he didn't think they would just let the kid wander around on his own in a clan meeting house like this. He doubted Jeongguk would be involved in territorial conflicts at all. He was a member of the familial pack, not the territorial one like Seokjin⌠interogates⌠now. The distinction is clear as clear as day.Â
Looks like his intel may have been wrong.Â
Not only is he here and involved with them, he looks like a deer in headlights. His cheeks are turning a bright shade of red. It looks as though there are sparkles in his eyes. To be honest, Seokjin is taken aback. He isnât sure what reaction he was expecting, but not something so⌠passionate. Something so devoted.Â
IsâŚ. is this kid staring at Namjoon with⌠admirationâŚ? While Namjoon has Jeonggukâs momâs right hand is in a bloodied heap on the floor?
Huh. Well, this is certainly a surprising change of tune.
âS-Sir! Please leave! Donât get yourself involved with this!â Huh, so the body still did have a voice. He was sure Namjoon had squeezed it out of him by now. Regardless, the words have Seokjin turning his head back towards the mess on the floor, back towards his alpha.Â
Oh. Seokjinâs eyes go wide.Â
Namjoon is staring right back at Jeongguk, that same star-crossed lovers expression on his face. Looking at him like the universe just changed for the better.Â
Turning back towards the younger, Seokjin confirms itâ they are simply enamoured with one another.
When he makes the motion, when all the attention in the room is directly only at Jeongguk, it is clear the kid notices. His posture straightens, his chest puffing out just slightly. The most determined look that Seokjin has ever seen is as obvious as ever written across his features.Â
One of his arms raises upâ certainly not the arms of someone who has had experience fightingâ a single finger pointing towards both Seokjin and Namjoon. A cocksure smile on the pure alphas lips.Â
The world spins. This is nothing like Seokjin had been expecting out of the day.Â
âI want you.â He pauses, the determined smile blooming brighter. Seokjin doesnât know how the kid could be so positive in such a thingâ Seokjin needs time to fall, he guesses Jeongguk doesnât. âBoth of you.â
A sickening crack sounds throughout the room, the betas death as clear as day, though no one really pays attention. Instead, everything revolves around Namjoon rising to a stand right next to Seokjin, a similar smile on his own face.
âI feel like there are a few questions you should be asking instead of just saying something so bold.â All the rage Namjoon spoke with before the entry of Jeongguk is gone, a similar confident air in his tone. âLike who are we, why are we in your office. Why we just killed your clans beta.âÂ
âI donât care.â Jeongguk, though Seokjin just met him, looks like heâs never been more sure of anything in his life. âI didnât like him anyway. He was shitty at taking care of me.âÂ
Spoiled.Â
Namjoon hums, âShouldnât you be worried weâre going to kill you, too?â
Jeongguk thinks for a second, eyes looking up at the ceiling as he considers. âNo. You want me.âÂ
Maybe not spoiled. Maybe just sheltered if he thinks that simply about such things. Â
âYouâll have to deal with a few more than just us.â Namjoon leans forward a bit, the air around him bending to his will. Haughty. Attractive. âWe have 4 other mates.âÂ
Oh. Jeongguk now looks as though he is simply vibrating with delight. His teethâ ones Seokjin notices look like a bunniesâ make an appearance, biting his lower lip.Â
âI want them, too.âÂ
Well, Seokjinâs dealings are certain to become a lot more smooth from this point onwards.Â
NOW.
Jeongguk hasnât slept.Â
Well, okay, to be honest, heâs not sure he remembers the last time he actually had a full nights rest.Â
Waitâ no, that isnât true either. The last night he did it was the night after he saw you for the first time, he remembers it clearly, actually. He would rather die than forget it. He would never in a million years forget dreaming of you.Â
He was in the woods, you were there too, obviously. Scampering between trees, looking so cute and playful. God, you were so fucking adorableâ calling out to him, asking him to chase you.Â
Fuck, who was he to say no? He simply he complied. He would be an idiot to deny you of anything ever.Â
When he caught you? It felt like the last of his dreams had finally come true.Â
You were giggling underneath him, his body pinning you down by your shoulders. Your eyes in the prettiest little crests that he kissed over and over again.Â
He remembers the end, where you made him promise to find you when he woke up, too.Â
âŚYeah.
He hasnât had a full night's rest since then. But especially last night, last night he didnât get a wink. Not even the half-hearted nap he usually gets by on.Â
How was he supposed to sleep after Joon broke the news that they would be going to your house the very next day? The house that he knows belongs to you now, all thanks to Yoongi. The house whereâ whereâ
Jeongguk clenches his fist, lets his nails dig into the skin of his palms as a way to manage the putrid smell that was already beginning to leak from his pores. In the tight confines of the armoured truck, he knows everyone else will be able to smell it.Â
Should he really care? Probably not. But he doesnât want the secondâ first?-- time you smell him to be so⌠so unpleasant. He wants you to smell the real him. The alpha who your heart and soul belong to, the one youâll build a future with. The one that can provide for you, that can take you out of whatever hell youâve been keeping yourself inâ
How long would it take before you let him give you a bite? How long will it take for you to give one to him?
Soon, hopefully. God, he canât even count how many times heâs stroked his cock to the thought of your cute little fangs piercing the skin of his neck. How blown out your eyes would be with pretty red dotting your mouth. Do you even know that he saved the left side of his neck for you? Waited so many years just for his perfect omega to leave tangible evidence on his skin of your simple belonging to one another.Â
⌠Well, he hasnât thought about it in awhile, but the point still stands. He hasnât been able to, not since your face began to retain the essence of a shadowless blob whenever you appear in his mind, when you appear in front of him. JustâŚjust out of reach.Â
Fucking had been in reach for over two weeks.Â
His top lip curls at the thought. He reminds himself to stop thinking such shitty things.Â
It doesnât work.
He just needs to see you, and then everything will be right again. Heâll be able to protect you. His pack will be complete. The last piece of his soul, the part that felt like it has been missing will finally click into place.Â
Everything will be perfect.Â
Youâll be perfect.
Jeongguk forces his head back into reality as the wheels of the vehicle roll to a stop. His neck cocking to the side, deep eyes locking on Seokjin in the driver's seat. The clicking of metal registers in his ears, his hand clenching around the barrel of his semi-automatic a little tighter, the gun propped up against the floor, muzzle facing the sky.
âWe're here.â Seokjin hums, completely carefree. Jeongguk isnât sure how, to be honest. âWe have a bit of a hike, if Jiminâs map is right.âÂ
Today determines the rest of his future⌠do they not get that? Of course they donât. They donât understand what you and him have, no matter how much they might try to. They donât understand the levels at which his entirety calls out to you.Â
Heâs already reaching for the handle of the door, his entire body itching to leave, when another voice stops himâ Joonsâ, âGguk-ah, do a scan for us.â
His nose scrunches up while a little wrinkle finds itself between his brows, âHuh? Why me?âÂ
That isnât his job. Heâs not good at that sort of thing.Â
At that, Joon only shrugs, handing the binoculars back behind him, âI trust you more to do it.âÂ
Heat washes over Jeongguk instantly. The simple words have an even simpler effect on his bodyâ his ears and eyes perk up a bit more, right alone with his chest swelling. No matter how much he just wants to get moving, that line has Jeongguk already hauling his upper half through the sunroof of the armoured vehicle, eyes scanning the distance.Â
From the top of the hill the pack has managed to find themself on, looking off into the distance is an easy task. Any subtle clearing is discovered, especially the very one they think contains your cabin.Â
Jeongguk sees it easily, mentally comparing it to the map he had been studying the entire ride overâ the piece of paper that Jimin and Taehyung marked your approximate location on. Seems like they were paying enough attention to get that right, at least. Even if they might have messed up your potential first meeting.Â
No. As much as Jeongguk is angry at them, heâs even more upset with Yoongi. At least Jimin and Tae could plead ignorance. What they did was only a reaction to Yoongi.
What Yoongi did to him was straight malice.Â
Hiding you. Keeping you after he found out you were an omega. Only confirming it after Jeongguk was on the verge of a breakdown because he couldnât fucking rememberâ
He takes another deep breath, centering himself. Heâs lucky heâs been practicing the breathing exercises Seokjin-hyung has been prescribing and that the thought of meeting you soon is somewhat settling.
âYeah. House is where Jimin said.â Jeongguk states, plain as day. Giving one final sweep before getting ready to hop down. Nothing much falling along the dense forest tree line.Â
Lucky that autumn was on their sideâ if it was any warmer out, the tree leafs may have kept you covered.Â
âIt looksââ Wait, what was that?Â
Out of the corner of his eye, he sees a flash of light in the distance. Too solid to be a solar flare, too obvious to be a trick of the mind. Twisting the lens to make it focus, something different comes into view.
A truck, hardly hidden at all against the trees. Standing out so loudly it might as well be a homing beacon to anyone who wanted to discover its presence.Â
âWait, hyung, I thinkââ Jeongguk scrunches his eyes, the hard plastic of the binoculars digging into his skin as he pushes his face into them deeper, like that will help him see better. âI think there's a truck over there?âÂ
âMm.â He hears the shifting of guns, probably Joon following the direction of his pointed finger from where the first car had already unloaded onto the ground. âAbout the same distance away as the house?âÂ
Fuck if he knows, Jeongguk has always been shit with distances. Itâs normally Yoongiâs job to take note of the perimeters like thisâ he still doesnât know why heâs been put on the case instead. Why has he been given a job when all he wants to do is think about you. It's annoying.Â
He doesnât need to be managed. He doesnât need to be distracted.Â
âYeah, looks like it.â Jeongguk pulls the binoculars from his face before taking a second to inhale, tasting the scent of the wind on his tongue. He wonât make the same mistake again.Â
He pulls himself the rest of the way out of the sunroof, heavy gun clattering against his shoulder as he jumps to the ground with a practiced ease only gained from experience. His form landing with a thud, both feet on the ground as he squats, one balled hand taking the brunt of the force not received by his knees.Â
He stands, eyes glued into the distance.Â
âWe didnât see any cars out here before.â Jiminâs voice is in his ears, but he half ignores it. Heâs not focused on the conversation of his mates right now, all he can think about is the alpha in his head. The one telling him that these are your woods.Â
âTracks.â Taehyung is supplying his mate, just like he always does.Â
âYeah, there were tire tracks, but they didnât lead to a car or anything.âÂ
âHm.â Joon is too analytical. Seokjin, too.Â
âDoes it really matter?â Hoseok groans out the wordsâ Jeongguk hears him cracking his knuckles, âWe donât have all fucking day, and if these two donât stop laying it on thick there wonât be hiding from the little doe.âÂ
Jeongguk knows Hoseok is referring to the pheromones heâs releasing, but he really doesnât give a shit. At least the alpha is speeding the whole thing upâ Jeongguk can feel his muscles burning. Itâs only a matter of time before he leaves and just goes to get you himself.Â
His patience is a tether that is not withstanding gale force winds.Â
âWe're triangled right between them.â Jeonggukâs eyes roll, unable to stop himself at the sound of Yoongiâs gruff voice chiming in. He guesses at some point he set up shop looking out of the top of the other car with his sniper. âAbout 750 meters that way is the car, 875 to the house. 1000 between âem, too.âÂ
Soon, Jeongguk hears the footfalls of Yoongi jumping, followed by the scribbling of a pen on a map. Heâs starting to get frustrated with all these semantics. These alleged important parts of the job.Â
He still doesnât understand why they have to be so careful about this.Â
Youâre his soulmate, youâll understand even if you are a little scared at first.Â
âIt would be worth it to check it out, at least.â Seokjinâs voice is thereâ one of Jeonggukâs only hyungs along with Joon that seems to care about how hungry Jeongguk is to have you already. âIf Jimin and Taehyung wrecked her house, she could be staying there for cover.âÂ
What? Jeonggukâs alpha is howling in pain. How could he let his omega live inside of a car?! Even if itâs just for the night, thatâs too much for you to go through. Itâs just too much.Â
You deserve to be in a nice big house, bundled up in his clothesâ not anyone elses right nowâ relaxing in his big bed, the softest blankets surrounding you while he feeds you the meat heâs hunted.
Joon nods his head, arms crossed over his broad chest. âJimin, Taehyung, Jeongguk, you go to the truck. Radio us with what you see.â
. . . Jeongguk blinks.Â
He blinks again.Â
Heâs not half listening to the conversation anymore.Â
âWhat?!â His head snaps before his brain can process the words, eyes finally leaving the distant trees you resided in for so long. So long, all alone. So long without him.Â
âŚYou missed him, right? Donât worry, you wonât have to for much longer.Â
They want him to go with them to the fucking car?! To the fucking car instead of your house?! Theyâre insane. Fucking insane. The growl is already in his tone before he can manage to stop it. âNo.â
Hoseokâs expression is bored, Namjoonâs is blank, Seokjinâs is sympathetic. Jeongguk couldnât give any less of a shit.Â
âGguk-ahâŚâ Seokjin is using that tone of voice he always does when Jeongguk gets riled up like this, the one that means heâs treating him like a pup. Sometimes he likes it. Today is not one of those days. âWe need Yoongi with us at the main houseâŚâ
Wrong thing to say.Â
Jeongguk scoffs, âSo he gets to see her before me? Are you joking?âÂ
His bonds pangâ the internal urge of half of him wanting to soothe the others displeasure combating with his temperament still burning from the night before. The rest are lucky Hoseok managed to calm him down before he took off on his own last night.Â
âNo.â There could be something more to it, something theyâre not telling him. They never tell him things. Or maybe they doâ either way, it doesnât matter. Heâs pissed right now. All he can feel is that. âWe justâŚâÂ
âThey donât want you to see what the others did and freak out.â Jeongguk has never been more thankful for Hoseokâs blunt toneâ at least someone will tell it to him like it is, even when he is worked up like this.Â
âThatsâŚâ He would like to argue against their stanceâ that he totally would not blow up and pounce seeing what Jimin and Tae had doneâ but the words die on his tongue. He knows it's more than likely, so⌠he chooses a different route to argue his case.Â
He stands a little taller, âI just want to see. I should get to know how my mates been living.âÂ
âYou can see that after, canât you?â Jimin grumbles, finally merging himself back into the main conversation from where Taehyung had him dragged away before.Â
Oh, of course, it would be Jimin saying that very thing. The one who wants to avoid Jeongguk seeing whatever state they left his soulmate's den in.Â
âJimin, be quiet.â Seokjin sighs, trying once again to be the mediator. Jeongguk normally thinks itâs an incredible skill to have. He respects Seokjin a lot for him stepping up as second in command of the pack, but heâs having trouble retaining any of that sense now as he feels the biting breeze against his cheeks. As he feels the woods trying to speak to him.Â
âWe need you to take the lead here, okay? Manage these 2 and direct them if sheâs at the truck instead of the house.âÂ
He feels like heâs going to scream.Â
See, the issue here is that Gguk doesnât give a shit about pack dynamics.Â
He feels like a broken record due to how often he repeats it, but all he cares about is you.Â
He doesnât give a shit that more people are needed to case a house than a truck. He doesnât care that Jimin and Yoongi canât be in a group together out of fear of them fighting. Doesnât care that he canât be with Yoongi either due to the fact he will definitely be fighting him.Â
Hell, it doesnât bother him that Hoseok doesnât see the point in getting you, or that Seokjin is only following along because of Joonâs lead. Sure, heâs frustrated by the way Yoongiâs eyes light up whenever you are discussed, and by the way that Tae shrinks away at the same mention. He didnât even argue last night when he was excluded from Namjoon, Hoseok, and Seokjinâs meeting last night while they were plotting today out.
He doesnât care that the groups split makes the most logical senseâ that the packs 3 highest in command should all be at the larger site. He doesnât even care that the rest of them probably donât even realise that he understands all of itâ that he accounts for every minor detail, too.
He doesnât give a shit about fucking anything other than getting to you and it feels like the others just arenât listening to how his wolf howls for you.Â
He feels like heâs going in circles.Â
His head certainly is.Â
He should just go. He should just start listening to his instincts just like everyone else does. He shouldâÂ
Namjoonâs solid hand comes down on his shoulder, his frame leaning down just slightly to look in Jeonggukâs eyes. âGguk-ah. Iâm counting on you. If you find her, youâll catch her.âÂ
Fuck. Jeongguk does care about that.Â
Cares about Joon. About the other pure-alphas approval.Â
As his heart begins to beat a little faster, he takes a step back while tossing the strap of his gun over his shoulder. His boots crunch against the solid soil as he turns his back to the rest of the pack, making sure his face is hidden before any sort of blush tries to rise to his cheeks.Â
Joon always makes fun of him for that.
âWhatever.â He grunts out, trying to keep it a secret how affected by his pack alpha he is. Heâs not the packâs pup anymore. He shouldnât get so worked up over little things. âLetâs go.â
âIf you see anything, radio.â Hoseok reminds, a slight strain in his voice from what Jeongguk can only imagine is another stretch. Another part of the generals routine. âKill anything you see, infected people or alive ones. Doesnât matter to me.âÂ
As if Jeongguk doesnât know that already.Â
He grunts, marching off down the unbeaten path with his two elder packmates in tow. His brain tuning out the words of the other four as his brain already moves onto the next thing. As the woods start to feel more and more familiar the deeper he finds himself going inside.
âŚHeâs going to make sure the promise he made to the you in his dreams stays alive and well.
Yoongi's pace meanders a few behind the rest of the group, the heavy metal of his favourite gun thunking against his back with every step he takes. The smell of the damp forest floor invades his nostrils with every small pant he takes, the morning dew making the floor wet as mud decides to cling to his boots.Â
He never thought he would be out in the woods again.Â
His head tilts towards the sky as he thinks, lets his mind wander away from the sounds of birds while he has a moment to do so. His body instinctively following the guidance of the rest of his mates without having to put any conscious effort into doing so, something in him knowing they would keep him safe even if he got a little distracted.Â
The last time Yoongi stepped foot into the forest⌠into any woods like these⌠it had to be at least 10 years ago.
He doesnât know how you live in them. How you survive it.
He knows the crushing weight of the trees. Â
Heâs been trying to figure out how since last night, to be honest. Ever since Jimin mapped out roughly where you had been staying, heâs been wondering why you forced yourself out here. How long youâve been managing.
The woods are so tall, how do you fight against them all on your own?Â
Yoongi couldnât. Still canât, probably.Â
Logically, he has to remind himself, something dense like this is probably safer from intrudersâ not safe enough, if Jimin and Taehyung were able to find youâ  and zombies. There were far less out here than there were constantly battering against the walls of their compound. Hoseok had only managed to spot 2 on their hike so far, both are double-dead now. So comes safety from others in isolation, he guesses. Maybe thatâs how you view it. He almost wishes he could, too.Â
Still not safe enough.Â
Yeah, for once Yoongi has to agree with his inner alpha. Youâre not safe enough. Not if two of his pack mates were able to track you down. Not if what they say is true about you having been out here alone for who knows how long.Â
As much as he hates the idea of taking that decision away from you, he hates the idea of you dying even more. He hates the idea of not being able to keep you safe from pain, from letting you rot out here.
Thatâs all forests do. They infest your brain with rot.Â
Yoongi canât stand the idea of stumbling upon you, fungus covering your skin.Â
He can give you back other freedoms later. Itâs what heâs promised himself. Youâllâ okay, you probably wonât like his pack at first. He would be the first person to admit that, regardless of how much he cares for them. But⌠but eventually you might come around. You might like hiâ
Yoongi shakes his head, forcing himself away from the train of thought his alpha keeps forcing him down.Â
Heâs coming to get you, to protect you as a friend. Someone he considers a friend, even if it was only one night spent together under fictional stars. Even if he did just plan to let it all blur away.
Heâs not coming to you as an alpha with a prerogative. He just⌠he wants you to be okay. Especially after what Jimin and Taehyung did. He just wants to make sure that you're safe. That youâre not spiralling like he would be under the same circumstances.Â
Yoongi hates the woods.Â
âŚYoongi wants Jeongguk to forgive him.Â
He probably wonât.Â
He should probably stop worrying himself over it. He has more pressing matters to deal withâ ones that are only a few meters away, not in an entirely different group, heading to another location.Â
The guilty part of him hopes Jeongguk will find you first, but the selfish part of him, the ever present one that seems intertwined with his wolf, hopes that he will get the honour.
It isnât good for you to be alone. You shouldnât have to suffer through it.
Yoongi is projecting, he knows it. He also canât stop it, and honestly, doesnât want to. He wants to feel connected to you. Maybe heâs being selfish again by allowing himself to do so.
âŚWell, he is the only one whoâs actually met you. Heâs the one you feltâ feel safe with.
 His fingers twitch, he wants to just hurry up with it all, already. He wants to get you out of here, bring you to the house. Comfort you, if youâd let him.
âŚWould you let him?Â
His heart starts beating a little bit faster. That canât be good.Â
âYouâre thinking too much.â Hoseoksâs hushed voice makes its way into his muddled mind, a broad shoulder bumping into his unsteady frame.Â
Yoongiâs eyes slowly draw back from the sky, instead finding their place upon Hoseoksâs handsome face instead. Too handsome. It looks like it was carved by one of the greats. It isnât fair.Â
âThatâs rich coming from you.â Yoongi deadpans like he definitely wasnât just admiring the pack's chief of combat.Â
He totally wasnât. âYou never think when Namjoonsâ âround.â
God, theyâve been together how many years and Yoongi still pretends to be coy. He knows Hoseok sees through it, though, so thereâs really no harm. Not like when the Jeongguk first joined the pack and became acquainted with Yoongiâs sharp, unrelenting tongue. Yoongi will never forget the complete embarrassment of having to explain what Jimin dubbed his âcuteness aggression.âÂ
Bleh.
It was the most embarrassing day of his life.Â
Thankfully, Hoseok likes it when Yoongi gets mean. Says it âgets him goingâ.Â
Hmph.Â
âYeah, well itâs their job. Iâm not on the clock right now.â Hoseok smiles, both of his arms raising up to hold the back of his head up. âLet Seokjin deal with it. Looks like he has a stick up his ass, anyway.â
Yeah, Yoongi guesses thatâs true. Hoseok isnât leading the packâs recruits on any kind of clearing mission, nor is he leading anyone into war. Still, he doesnât know how he is just so relaxed about everything when Yoongi feels like heâs dying inside.Â
Still, he doesnât think he agrees with the idea of it being anyone else's job, especially not Seokjinsâ.
Yoongi hazards at the body next to the pack alphas. He still doesnât understand why Seokjin acts like a saint. Their rooms are next to each other, heâs heard the elderâs rants. Yoongiâs one of the few other than the pack alpha that knows his position.Â
Huh, maybe Seokjin never realised how thin the walls are.Â
âBullshit. Youâre a control freak.â Yoongi grunts, âIf Namjoon didnât force you out of taking the lead, youâd be up there instead.âÂ
Hoseok simply hums, acknowledging Yoongi. Probably agreeing that it's true in his head.
âJin!â Hoseok calls up ahead, pulling Seokjin back towards the tail end rather than the front. Yoongi watches as he turns, as he lets his footsteps slow to allow for Yoongi and Hoseok to catch up.Â
Yoongi feels Hoseokâs hands on his shoulders, forcing him up in front, a big heart-shaped smile on his lips, âThis oneâs thinking too much. Calm him down.â Â
âYah. Stop it.â Yoongi tries to shrug off the younger, but fails miserably. Hoseokâs grip is tight, his fists massaging the flesh, âThatâs not his job.â
The conversation feels easy. Too easy, for the current conditions. Zfor the way Yoongi is feeling. He doesnât fully feel like he deserves their care.
âAish! What are you talking about! Itâs what I was recruited for!â Seokjin huffs, a fake glare directed at Namjoonâs back steady across his features. Â
âReceuited?â Yoongi almost wants to laugh, âNot the story I heard.âÂ
As much as Yoongi likes to feign disinterest, he certainly does not miss the colouring of red rising to Seokjinâs ears. The corners of his hips curl, already completely aware the elder is going to go on one of his tirades.Â
Cute. Seokjin is cute.Â
âYah!â The elders whisper raises a hair, his lips pouting out a bit more as his words increase in pace. âThat brat wouldnât leave me aloneâ what did you expect me to do?! He wasnât even in my departmentââ
Yoongi shakes his head, eyes staring at the ground. Yoongi doesnât even try to deny the expression is out of fondness. âYou trying to let the whole forest know weâre here?â
âIââ Seokjin pauses, eyes going wide as he realises just how loud he was getting. His ears get just a bit darker, but he doesnât acknowledge it. Instead, the eldest in the pack just clears his throat, standing a bit straighter. âWhat were we discussing?âÂ
The corner of Yoongiâs mouth quirks, âHow Namjoon pursued you for years before you gave into him.â
âOther than that.âÂ
He shrugs, not really remembering. He wasnât paying much attention, more so looking for a distraction.Â
âAh,â The weight of Seokjinâs arm is dropped over Yoongiâs shoulder, his head shaking along with the addition. âThatâs right. You were thinking too hard. Is it being out here?â There's a slight pause before Seokjin continues, âYou donât need to think about back then anymore.âÂ
He wishes it was that easy.Â
Hoseokâs echo of the past blinks fresh in his mindâ âLive in the moment with me.â Thatâs what Hoseok had said back then.Â
Seokjinâs smile feels warm when itâs directed just at Yoongi, âJust let hyung take care of it, okay? Weâll be home soon.âÂ
Now he is sure his heart is moving at a faster pace than before.Â
Hyung.
Yoongi never used those sort of honorifics with Seokjinâ it just wasnât in the nature of their relationship. The elder never outwardly seemed to care, anyway, other than in half-assed jokes. Itâs only in times like these that it felt like it mattered.Â
Suddenly, Seokjinâs face loses all sense of peace, a cold mask of stone falling over it at the exact same time his body freezes in place, the hike coming to a close. Namjoonâs hand in the air being the direct cause.Â
Well, it was nice while it lasted. It is time for action now.Â
Namjoon's fingertips curl towards his palm in a silent instruction to lower their frames closer to the ground. The slow, controlled approach to the house already having been planned out since the night before.
Namjoon sends a glance towards the packâs general, signalling the change of power between them, Hoseok taking over direction.
Yoongi follows it silently without question, waiting for Hoseokâs motion to continue the pursuit forward. Heâs always been in awe of the way Hoseok is able to direct everything, to make the motions of a unit seem fluid and conjoined rather than just heaping bodies following orders.
It only takes a glance from Hoseok before Namjoon is movingâ the pack alpha gliding through the underbrush as he makes his way around the back of the cabin where he is meant to be stationed in case you try to make a quick exit from the rear.Â
Yoongiâs job is a lot more simple than the rest of theirs, he is only meant to be a lookout. Honestly, heâs thankful for it. Heâs not sure he could manage much more upon seeing you again. Upon seeing the new conditions of your home.
A few seconds pass, a soft cooing whistle from Hoseok along with the tilt of his head telling Yoongi itâs his turn to move. He does as ordered, moving up from his squat, though certainly not returning to full height as he takes a light jog through the underbrush. Only settling himself down when he finds the angle he was looking for.Â
Checking left, checking rightâ yeah, here will do just fine. He can see your front door, as well as both sides of your house. Heâll be able to spot you if you try to make it through a window. With fewer guys, it might be a little more difficult to catch you, but Yoongi knows Hoseok enjoys the chase.
⌠He hopes it doesnât come down to that, but if he does, heâll try his best to comfort you even if he isnât the best at it.Â
Carefully, Yoongi lowers himself down to the forest floor, pulling the gun off his shoulder right along with the action. He clicks the legs of it down, lowering himself to his stomach to check the view.Â
Just as he suspected, itâs perfect. He can see everything. Will definitely be able to spot you if you try to move.Â
Fucking hell. Those goddamn assholes broke most of your windowsâ he can only assume they werenât like that before.Â
It isnât long before Hoseok and Seokjin come into view, their bodies doing similar low jogs to the ones Yoongi just performed himself. Though their angle was towards the doorâ if you were here, they were going to get to you first.
Yoongi shakes his head, forcing the jealousy out of his gut. Itâs fucking stupid. There isnât any guarantee youâre still here, anyway. Yoongi knows he would have cleared out first thing if it was hiâ
His breath stops in his throat, his head raising from his site. Pupils darting around the scene in front of him.Â
Fuck. Fuck. No, no no. Why is this happening now? Why?
Everything should be fine. Everything is going smoothly. Namjoon should be positioned around the rear of the building by now, Hoseok and Seokjin are counting down in front of your door, ready to make their move. Yoongi is keeping an eye out as he lays against the forest as Hoseokâs hand raises, starting from 5. There are no zombies around, nor other people that Yoongi can smell.
So why why why why why is this happening right now?
Why is something wrong?
That same sensation that settled over him yesterday has returned at a ten-fold.Â
Yoongi feels an overwhelming sense of dread in his gut. Worse than heâs felt in a decade.Â
Panic starts to take over before heâs able to calm it down, his body rising to a stand. Something shakes against his thigh, but he canât comprehend it. Not when he knows something is about to go wrong, but he doesnât know what yet.
The universe had to curse him with the ability to know, but not with the ability to do anything about it before itâs too late.
His legs are moving before his mind can catch up, his body rushing towards the door to stop them. He canât breathe, he canât think. Words are willing themselves to leave him. They have to regroup, they would understand. They trust him. They trust his judgment.Â
Just a little bit further. A little bit further.
He should have said something.Â
The last of Hoseokâs fingers fall, Seokjinâs shoulder slams into the door, breaking it from its hinges. He thinks another figure swoops in, but he isn't really sure.Â
The entire world has just become red.Â
Yoongi, he canât move. He canât do anything. The world stops rotating on its axis, everything moves to a standstill right along with Yoongiâs form. Heâs positive things are happening around him, but he canât process a single one. He canât.
One second, everything is red. The next, itâs white.
He canât hear anything, he can only feel red hot pain blossoming in his gut as something hits him. As he is tossed backwards several feet.Â
The trees quake due to the force.
Boom.
It doesnât take Jeongguk long to get to the truckâ or maybe it does. He doesnât remember half of the journey.Â
He remembers splitting off from the pack, Jimin and Taehyung trailing behind him. He remembers hearing something reminiscent to a giggle beyond that was similar to the ones in his dreams. Remembers deciding that they meant he was on the right track to find you, that his alpha would never steer him wrong.
He didnât talk at all the entire journey there, staying focused on the prize. There isnât time for any distractions. He needs to see if youâre at the truck, then rush over to the cabin in case youâre there instead. He needs to hold you, tell you that youâre safe now, and bring you home.
Simple enough. There isnât really much to do but actually do it. He can stop fantasizing about you once youâre actually in his arms. Maybe then the wolf inside of him will finally settle.
He just wants to breathe you in. For you to build a nest in his room.
He promises he wonât go in it! Not until you give him permission to. But just knowing you feel safe enough around him, safe enough around his scent, shit he wants it more than anything else.Â
He even has the perfect corner picked out for you already, heâs cleared out space in his closet, too, if youâd rather go there. Sure, he did that forever ago when he still remembered your face, but heâs been keeping it open ever since. Heâll keep it open forever waiting forâ
A large hand tugs at the back of his shirt, halting him in his advance forward. The heat of it is almost blinding, but Jeongguk doesnât let himself get distracted. Of course not, heâs an alpha on a mission.
A haphazard glance over his shoulder is the only thing he offers, finding Taehyung standing there, Jimin still quite a ways away, keeping himself separated. Hm. Heâs been like that since yesterday, keeping himself a bit more closed off.Â
Good. He should feel bad, even if it was a mistake. Even if Jimin didnât know you were his. Â
Another tug and Jeongguk is brought back to the moment again, a grunt signalling from his throat as a question meant to ask Taehyung what he wants.Â
Taehyungâs tongue comes out to lick at his bottom lip lazily, his eyes moving from their stare on Jeongguk to farther ahead on the path. It doesnât take a genius to figure out that Taehyung wants him to look, too.
His head turns back to the main trail, vision narrowing.Â
Fuck. He didnât notice that.
Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.
Jeonggukâs heart swells, hope filling him to the very brim. Butterflies already dancing in his gut as his eyes go wide, as he feels a gentle heat curve into his cheeks.Â
Footprints. There are footprints on the same path theyâre following now.Â
If Taehyungâs insistence is anything to go by, shit, it means your scent still dots the trees, too. Means that recently you followed the same path Jeongguk trails now. That you might just be living in the very truck Jeongguk is called towards now.Â
Youâ are you really waiting at the truck for him?Â
God, his entire being in inflating. His alpha is howling at him to go get youâ that something as perfect as you shouldnât be living out here. You shouldnât be subjected to living in your truck because of what his idiot mates did.Â
Jeonggukâs legs are moving faster than beforeâ he doesnât really know when his pace picked up, but he knows the others are close to follow. 3 pairs of heavy thuds are marking up the forest floor, along with the sound of clanging guns against shoulders.Â
Within a few minutes heâs there. Heâs standing in front of something you call your own.Â
It takes his breath away. Of course his omega would drive something cute like thisâ it makes perfect sense for you. Even if he doesnât know you well yet, heâs sure of it. Oh, or wait⌠maybe you only use this one cause itâs convenient? Maybe another vehicle style suits you better?
Heâll get you a hundred cars, if you want. That way you can know what all of them feel like. Itâll feel so good to provide for you.Â
He moves in without really thinking, stalking towards the car, his noise unable to stop itself from the constant sniffing, attempting to weed out your scent from the rest of the woods. Itâs difficult for him to, if heâs being honest. He always gets overwhelmed when so many different odours surround him, but he tries for you anyways.Â
He thinks he gets some of it, something that smells like betaâ he knows better, he knows that even if you smell wrong, youâre still an omegaâ with hints of eucalyptus. Like some kind of herb used for healing, if he were to guess.Â
He frowns.Â
Now, standing only a few feet away from your truck, away from the source, he can tell itâs at least a day old. There isnât anything that smells more fresh, thereâs no sign of life within the cabin even with how forgetful he was at the volume of his approach.
It isnât his fault though! He knows he was supposed to be quiet just in case but you distracted him. It doesnât look like it matters anyway, youâre clearly nowhere to be found.Â
Jeonggukâs shoulders dropâ all that hope that had been welling up drifts out. A laboured sigh from Jimin behind him, along with a kick to somethingâ when Jeongguk turns his head, he identifies it as a fishing net with brush interlaced with the ropeâ signals that the others are sure of the same thing.Â
âSheâs not here.â Even though Jeongguk is on better terms with Jimin than Yoongi, he still would rather not hear him talk right now. Itâs not really any fault of his own, but stating the obvious when itâs clear Jeongguk is already irritated? When he can clearly see that youâre not here? It just makes Jeonggukâs teeth clench together a little tighter.
âI can see that.â Jeongguk rolls his eyes, one hand closing around the passenger cabin handle. The muscle in his arm straining in preparation for it to resist the movement, for the door to jerk back.Â
It doesnât. Itâs unlocked.Â
Jeongguk grunts as he stumbles just slightly, not enough to cause worry or for him to actually fall, but enough for his eyes to go wide. One hand reaching to steady himself on the top of the interior doorframe. His shoulders hunching just slightly while a small, growled âfuckâ slips from the back of his throat.Â
Thank god you arenât here. That wouldâve looked totally uncool.
He grunts, forcing himself to stand straight and only give half checks to his right and left to re-confirm your absence. Even if he wants to see you, he doesnât want to look so lame. âWeâre still checking. Maybe she left something to say where sheâs going.â
âOr maybe sheâs at her house.â Jeonggukâs eyebrows furrow, the back of his throat itching with a warning growl that wants to be let through. Didnât Jimin hear Joon? Jeongguk is in charge, he shouldnât beâ
Jeongguk hears a sniffing sound right next to his ear, distracting him. Itâs Taehyung taking the chance to scent the inside of the cabin, he guesses. Doesnât really know what the other is looking for though. All he can smell is a slightly distressed undercurrent to your betaâ itâs okay, he knows what you actually are, even if your scent is trying to lie to himâ scent, most significantly clinging to the bag lying right across the passenger seat in a heap.
His frown deepens. Probably those two that made you smell like that. Made you scared with no one around to comfort you. There is a 0% chance Jeongguk is going to feel less bitter about it any time soon.
In the back of his head, Jeongguk realises the sniffing has stoppedÂ
He doesnât offer Jimin any kind of response, instead focusing on the bag. Maybe you had left a map in there? Some supplies? Maybe just anything that would make him feel closer to you?
He should take it, right? That way, when you come home, you wonât be missing whatever's inside.Â
His lips purse just slightly, head nodding in agreement as his hand reaches out to grab it.Â
Well, he was grabbing it. Now, heâs on the forest floor, his head banging against the surface. Taehyung on top of him, his head pressed into Jeonggukâs throat, not even thinking about letting him up.Â
The growls begin to leave Jeongguk instantly, a second nature swelling up to the top.Â
âWhat the fuck are you doing? Get off of me!â He still wonât let up. Heâs keeping Jeongguk pinned with everything he has. Jeongguk canât see Jimin either. Can only feel the pounding in his head and shoulders from being throttled to the ground.Â
Is this a fucking coup or something? Were they just waiting to get Jeongguk alone so he wouldnât be there to protect you anymore?Â
Jeonggukâs growls increase in volume, his limbs thrashing to try and get out from underneath Taehyung. He canât believe this. He canât believe they would fucking try something like this.
âBomb.â Taehyungâs panicked baritone sends a lightning bolt through Jeonggukâs spine. Heâs not fighting anymore. âBomb inside. Bomb in bag. Donât touch. Donât touch! Can smell it! Intentional! Bomb! Donât touch! Donât!â
ThereâsâŚ? You left aâŚ?Â
Jeongguk looks back towards the car, his entire face morphing into that of complete disbelief. Â
You were trying to protect yourself⌠did youâŚ? They said they didnât see your car yesterday.. The covering was pulled off to the side, making the truck noticeable. Your footprints were in a clear line in the mud when you could just have easily veered off the beaten path, covered up your trail.
This was on purpose. You were trying to protect yourself if Jimin and Taehyung cameâÂ
What would have happened if Taehyung wasnât there?
Jeonggukâs blood runs cold.Â
Joon doesnât have a Taehyung at the house.Â
His mates canât smell if the same trap has been laid just beyond the door.
Jeongguk shoves Taehyung off of him, adrenaline pumping through his veins. A newfound strength adorning his features as he manages to rattle the big puppy off. His frame rolling onto its stomach, reaching for the radio in his belt loop as he looks towards the direction of your cottage, his pupils shaky.Â
âJoonâ Joon! There was a bomb in the truck! Abort the pursuit! Abort it!â His voice is yelling, crackling as it bounces through the radio.Â
Time feels like itâs extending itself, 30 seconds morphing into half an hour as he waits for a response.Â
There is none.
Shit. Shit. Shit! Shit! SHIT!Â
Jeongguk bolts upright, forgetting about the car, leaving it in the past while his mates are in danger in the present. âFuck! Go! We have to go now!âÂ
His pheromones, the same ones Joon used last night are unintentionally leaking from his pores, his body already beginning to rush through the tense trees. His head is spinningâ he doesnât know if the others followed. Only that he has to get to the rest of his mates before, beforeâ
The sound rattles the trees, a deep ball of red rising above them.Â
Jeongguk freezes, his mind blank as he stares towards the distance in awe.Â
If it wasnât his mates you were targeting, he would think youâre incredible. But right now, youâre not a thought in his mind. Heâll be upset with himself later over that fact. The fact of the matter, he knows where his bonds lie. He knows how much theyâre in pain. Â
You didnât know it was them. You donât know itâs your soulmates. Youâre just so scared, just soâŚÂ everything hurts. His body is on fire. 4 spots across his form are radiating a pain heâs never felt before.Â
It hurts so bad.Â
So bad.Â
He wants to crumple to the floor. He wants to sob. He doesnât know what to do.Â
âGet a fucking hold of yourself!!â Oh, Jiminâs screaming at him. He wonders when that started. When the shorter of the two grabbed his shoulders and began shaking him, when the look in his eyes became so deadly that they lost all of their spark.
The slap to his face stings, but heâs thankful for it. It finally brings him back to the moment, finally forces him to do what he needs to do.Â
âStupid purebred! Fucking move! Youâre useless to them if you canât even do that!â Jiminâs shouting should sting, but it doesnât in the slightest. He knows the words are true.Â
Jeongguk is running again, faster than he thinks heâs run in his entire life. He doesnât really remember the rest of the interaction with Jimin, his memories feel jumbled. He knows at one point Jimin began dragging him towards the house, then he remembers overtaking Taehyung on his own while running.Â
The sight he sees when he finally reaches the cabin is one heâll never forget.Â
Heâs so lucky heâs never had the experience of his mates being in abject danger before. He doesnât know if he could ever take feeling like this again.
The house, what's left of it, is up in flames. Wood panels have been blown off the side, half of the covered porch has caved in upon itself.Â
His chest heaves as he finally spots his pack. His soulmates. The ones he loves the most in the world. Namjoonâs form is on top of Seokjin and Hoseokâs bodies, looking like he pushed them out of the way just in time. Wood scattered debris lays around them still burning bright, though none directly on top.
A whizz of air passes by Jeongguk, Jiminâs shorter form running past him in the direction of Yoongi.
Yoongi.Â
Jimin is hauling a piece of burning wood off Yoongiâs stomach, his hands shaking his shoulders. His voice is yelling, but Jeongguk canât really hear it. At some point he began to move, too. His body acting for him while his mind remains scattered.Â
His arms haul Namjoon off of the others, itâs clear all of them are injuredâ theyâll need to get medical attention when they get home. Seokjin, as much as he wants to, likely wonât be in the state to provide it. Jeongguk will yell at him if he tries.
Taehyung frame finally joins Joengguk too, following his lead in grabbing Seokjin instead, propping his body up rather than continuing to let him lay against the forest floor. From Jeonggukâs extremely limited medical knowledge, he knows his knee looks bad. But so does Hoseokâs shoulder. And god, Jeongguk has never been more thankful for the fire-resistant lining of the gear they wore today. He canât imagine what the state of Namjoonâs back would be without it.Â
âHyung! Hyung!â Jeongguk hears his voice, but he doesnât remember willing it to sound. He finds himself in the same place as Jimin, his hands shaking the pack alpha's shoulders, trying to wake him from his passed out state.
Fuck. If only he was faster getting to the truck, if only Taehyung was able to tell him sooner none of this would have happened! He would have been able to tell them and, and, andâÂ
ââM fine.â Jeongguk feels air enter him for the first time at the sound of Joonâs voice, even if it does sound a little weak. When Joon wheezes, his heart still pangs, ââM fine. No one died. Take care of the others, they need it more.âÂ
Jeongguk has never wanted to sob more in his life from relief.Â
The relief is short-lived when his eyes shift towards Seokjin being coddled by Taehyung.
Hoseok has propped himself up, too. Heâs looking off in the distance.Â
Heâs smiling.Â
You know, when Hoseok said he wasnât interested in having an omega, you didnât have to go and be such a fucking brat about it.Â
Yeah, yeah. Sure. Whatever. He was going to let his packmates have their new little toy until they got bored of itâ he didnât mind. Pretty pussy is pretty pussy, and alphas have their urges. Hoseok has never minded sharing a beta between a few of them for a night in the past, though that stopped when Jimin joined and started killing them.Â
Hoseok still didnât really care.Â
He didnât have any loyalties to them. Didnât wanna bite them. They were just for fun.
If the youngest wanted a new pet, he wouldnât deny him. He bets he would look cute staring at you like you were the world. Teetering after you while Hoseok had his.. Fun.Â
He wouldnât deny himself the pleasure of playing with you, too. Again, pretty pussy.Â
And sure, Hoseok never really cared much for the second gender that seems soâ his upper lip wants to curlâ mystifying, almost like mythical creatures with their decline. He remembers even back in school when he was learning about them, being bored out of his mind.Â
Everything about them just seemed so boring.
Helpless.Â
Culling.Â
Too much work for what? Something that just likes to sit around the house all day pretty? God, sounds like his fucking nightmare.
Hoseok has always thrived on the exciting. On whatever could get his blood pumping the fastest.Â
Itâs what Namjoon promised him. The alpha never did disappoint.Â
Months ago, when Namjoon first came to him about the idea of getting an omega, Hoseok thought that it might be the first time he would. He never expected a desire so⌠simple, baseline⌠traditional, from the pack alpha. He agreed, sure, but he didnât expect anything from it. Thought that the alpha might finally be becoming boring.Â
He should be admonishing his past self for ever doubting him, but his present self feels high as a kite.Â
This is certainly a motherfucking treat.
Even with the pain radiating from his shoulder socketâ itâs definitely popped outâ he doesnât deny it. His tongue, despite its pain from biting through the meaty flesh during the blast, runs over his teeth. Copper tang in every breath he breathes.Â
Awwwww, and you planned it all yourself, huh? Laid out a little bomb to catch the wolves in a trap? What an adorable little doe, thinking you could be big.Â
He raises himself up on his forearms, flinching a little at the weight put onto his shoulder. He should be screaming from it now, right? Thatâs what anyone else would do. His cock is hard.
âHyung! Hyung!â Shit. He really canât hear now. Most of it just rings. Call it love the way he was still able to hear Jeongguk through it. Whatever. Itâll come back soon. Heâs got other things to focus on.Â
His eyes continue to scan the tree line, looking for something. Heâs not sure what.Â
Heâll find out soon.Â
Ha, you really did a number on all of them, huh? Did alllllllll of this just for them? Wow, you must really care. You must really want Hoseok to think youâre worth it, huh? That youâre better than all those other little omegas out there?
You want him? That's the message you were trying to send, huh? That you want a chase?Â
Youâre fucking lucky Hoseok loves them. You want him to love you, too? Are you ready for something like that? You really think so?
His lips crack open, a splash of red coating the inside edge. Another trail of blood running down his cheek from where he nosedived into the dirt.Â
You wanted his attention? Thatâs why you pulled this bratty little stunt? Well now you have it.Â
He sees a glint of light in the distance, way beyond the trees. Light reflecting off of glass. Binoculars, huh? Cute.Â
His smile grows, blood on his teeth. The taste of copper still coming through on his punctured tongue. His canines have never been more excited to bite.Â
Found you, baby.Â
Letâs play red riding hood.Â
âBoom.âÂ
Your voice is soft, cusping just on the edge of the wind. Certainly nowhere near as loud as the sound that just permeated the forest, but felt as though it was even greater than it. A beautiful, radiating fire lighting the trees in the distance, a new glow.
On your face rests a satisfied, self serving smile.Â
You, and your predictions, had been right. They came back.Â
Now, there was no way you could be certain it was the same alphas that came to destroy you yesterday, of course not. It would be silly to completely presume but⌠it was nice to think it was, anyway. Had your legs feeling lighter as they rest against the wooden edge of the fire escape, your body slumped against the high-back stool that you just so happened to find in the fire tower.Â
Ha. Fire tower. Ironic.Â
Either way, you knew they would be back, and now they knew the consequences of doing such a thing, even if it is a pity the second bomb hadnât gone off alongside the first.
The corner of your lips quirk a little higher, hand finally reaching to grab the binoculars from their place hanging against the chair. The cool metal raising to your eyes, allowing you to see even more of the beauty you had just created.Â
Mmm, the view isnât too much betterâ you suppose you did walk pretty farâ but still. The act of seeing everything is divine. Your house, the place you had crafted for years, may now be in shambles, but so are the alphas. Poor things.Â
Well, youâll build your life back better, anyway. Every new start has become more and more easy. Lessons have taught you the proper steps, especially the steps to properly disappear. That everyone should have the tools and the knowledge to make an out if need be.Â
Your bottom lip perks out in a bit of a mocking pout, head tilting to the side as the fire begins to grow. It wonât make it far, you know that. The conditions arenât great for it to actually spiral, but it feels prophetic almost. It feels perfect.
Leave no witnesses.
Mhm, and after they saw your nest, you knew you had to. Fixed up the house to make it look like you were planning on trying to stay, left your car uncovered as a second honeypot. Disabled your trip wires to make it seem like you didnât know what you were doing. Packed all the suppressants you could. Made sure to leave a little trail to each.Â
Agitated clucking sounds from your left, drawing you out of your thoughts. The binoculars leaving your eyes as your head twists down towards her, instead.Â
Ah. Of course, there was Cheryl, too.Â
To be honest, you tried to leave her. To let her go back to the woods and live with the wild flock but⌠she wouldnât stop following you.
Pack has to stick together, you suppose.
âShhhh, shhh shhâŚâ Your fingers slowly stroke down Cheryl's back, her plumage puffed up from the noise that rang throughout the forest. âYou gotta be quiet. They could be watching us back.âÂ
You stand from your spot, moving back towards the interior of the little fire tower. One hand scooping up Cheryl from her tummy, the other slinging your pack over your shoulder. A continued soft hushing leaving as you walk.Â
You have no plans of unpacking, youâd be leaving this location soon enough.Â
A small buzzing sensation runs through your entire being, the aftereffects of your successful plan still migrating through every one of your nerves, lighting each up like little stars in little galaxies.Â
Your lips curl once again, little sharpened canines hanging from below your upper lip, the corner of your smile tweaking upwards. âWell, if theyâre still alive, that is.â
chapter 4 <- index -> chapter 6
⏠: notes:
"oh, these weren't homemade. they were made in a factory. a bomb factory."
đ§ââď¸
ha..haha.. right guys?
*a tomato is thrown at me*
DAMN! Fine! Lemme just pack my shit and--- lmaooooo I'm joking!! Seriously though, I am desperate to hear what you guys think about this chapter. What I have been teasing for awhile has finally kicked off!! Like i said, reader still had a few things up her sleeve. She's crafty, huh? Either way, it isn't too much longer before she meets the guys!! it should be happening next chapter, isn't that exciting? It is to me!!
I am desperate to hear all of your thoughts on this chapter-- it really is my favourite one that I've written so far. Especially now that we have 6/8 povs unlocked for the main cast... mwahahah, hoseok is certainly a treat, isn't he? I have full confidence you will either hate him, or think he is entirely too hot (i am of the later group lmao, I know what I am) (a freak, if that wasn't clear LMAO)
Jeongguk too, with how desperate he is to have you :'< poor guy. Plus a look into the way he joined thep pack ?! Either way!! As always, please let me know any and all of your thoughts, I absolutely love hearing them!! Everything coming together, and the objects set in motion are rolling super fast now, even if it doesn't totally seem like it yet.
Ahhh, anyway, this is entirely too long! As always, thank you for reading and falling into the story of summer rain just like I have!!! We have officially hit 100 pages in my google doc! See you guys when the next chapter finishes out!! MWAH!!!
Š all rights reserved to ctrlhope ; do not copy, plagiarise, or translate.
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bts fanfics i think shakespeare would enlist himself into the military just to show the boys.
chapter iv. ⡠chapter vi.
KEYS ON SEVERITY OF SHAKESPEAREâS STATE:
( ⎠) â heâs not really thinking about enlisting, is he?
( ⏠) â what do you mean shakespeare shaved his head?.. oh no.
( â ) â donât military bases have security? how the hell did that man get inside?
( â ) â heâs proper pulling a cross country right now. the boys look confused. and horrified.
THE SHAKESPEARE SERIES.
WARNING: keep in mind, some of these authors are very strict on the rule that no minors should read their work if theyâre underage, and i will honour that. but, at the end of the day, i am not your parent. so, thereâs that. but heed my warning wisely. any smut or 18+ content is highlighted in bold.
NOTE: dear readers, did you miss me? itâs been a while since iâve shared my secret recommendations with you. but, since the two year anniversary of this special series has recently passed, i thought it was about time i spoiled you again. iâve had quite a while to think about this one. so, i hope youâre ready. letâs give shakespeare something to enlist for.
( â ) AMALTHEA â by @daechwitatamic
!! seokjin x reader | 40k !!
best friendâs older brother!au, smut (18+), fluff, angst.
bfb! bfb! my best friendâs brother, my friendâs brother! bfb! bfb! my best friendâs brother, my best friendâs brother!
this is one of the BEST seokjin fics iâve ever read. straight to the point but there is no other way to put it. got to the point i would wake up earlier just to read another chapter before work. i was always present, bitch.
alike most of you, as someone who reads A LOT (re: i have no credentials for this, just my mum), i can tell when someone pours their every blood, sweat and tears (ha.) into writing. and for me, this is one of those writers.
this writer really shocked me at how much i connected to this story whilst reading n how attached i felt after finishing. caught me off guard, but so did death to shakespeare⌠sooo, what can i say.
âitâs been over a decade since that night, and you still don't know if he meant his family, or you.â dude i wish you couldâve seen my face. lmfao.
letâs just say thereâs a reason this oneâs first. amazed. truly.
âand he calls me mooonlight toooooo,â she sings into the empty crowd with tears in her eyes. she meaning me.
now i know iâm known for having a sweet tooth, but damn! youse are gonna eventually turn me into an elizabethan england commoner. yâknow, the crap dental hygiene n all. (re: shakespeareâs teeth.)
but, you know me. i looooove a good âol fantasy inspired fic, so i guess iâm willing to risk a little here. and this one was worth risking for.
slams hand onto the table. the world building! this writer was not playing around when it came to painting us a picture of the world they wanted to create. i wanna live in this fic iâm not joking. get me in touch with namjoon asap for some of that moon magic shit. ok, rolls credits.
perfect in every single way. this is my first run-in with this writer, but am i swimming (sorry.) my way over to their masterlist? yeeees.
âhe laughs and tells you that, actually, it's probably the youngest three princes that are most beloved by all.â
yea girl. not on my watch. enjoy!
( â ) ALL GROWN UP â by @btsgotjams27
!! jungkook x reader | 64k !!
friends to lovers, older woman/younger man, smut (18+).
the fact this fic was loosely inspired by one of my all-time comfort kdramas⌠i didnât even have to question adding it to my list. it felt like i was watching it for the first time again⌠deeply sighs. ahhh the nostalgiaâŚ
i had this fic bookmarked on my ao3 for the looongest time, but it was only recently that i got round to actually reading it. and iâm so glad i did. bless her, she was waiting for her moment to shine. and itâs now.
youngest kids in the family please raise your hands! all in attendance! you are welcome and appreciated here. the feeling of desperation, trying to get people to see you as your current age rather than the little kid theyâll forever remember. i think thatâs why i loved this fic so much: i could relate to it.
alike this story, most fics on here are on the older side of things. but honestly, if itâs good and genuine, itâll last forever. no matter how much time has gone by. feelings stay - perhaps even grow?
the same for our adorable pair over here. could time play in their favour?
you let me know when you finish it.
( ⎠) ALIVE AHA FXCK â by @softyoongiionly
!! vampire!yoongi x human!reader | 42k !!
vampire!au, smut (18+), soulmate!au (you know i had to), please read the trigger warnings.
devoured. no pun intended. though other vampire synonyms include but are not limited to: consumed, ate, guzzled, feasted etc⌠thank you google, after a few questionable internet searches.
i cannot tell you how glad i am that shakespeare never wrote about vampires. cuz he wouldâve written my ass into that damn thing and killed me off from the things iâve said about that guy. and the things i will continue to sayâŚ
i love this fic on a personal level. it reminds me of being fourteen again, curled up in my sheets as the sun reaches the tip of my windowsill and the morning chill settles in after a night of fighting sleep to finish a fanfic. itâs safe - iâm safe.
i genuinely had so much fun reading this story. the characterisation of both the reader and yoongi is so unhinged and playful and iâm obsessed. if i could recommend it to anyone, it would be my younger self cuz i know sheâd love it :,). n she did!
yâknow, sometimes you just gotta read a silly - infused with twilight puns - vampire-themed yoongi fic for the world to feel alright again.
and it did - for me. n now - for you.
( â ) OLDER â by @lovieku
!! dilf!jk x inexperienced!reader | 18.2k !!
smut (18+), dilf!au, best friendâs father, age gap.
pure, undeniable and utter filth. in the best fuckinâ way possible. yea, if you could crawl into my mind, plunge into the inky depths of whatever lurks there.. this is what youâd find lying on the sand floor. unadulterated sin.
i am so disgustingly obsessed with this fic i canât explain it, hence why itâs ended up on my shelf of recommendations. it scratches and pleases a deep, desperate itch in my brain. maybe itâs the age gap, who knows?
this writer has a talent for making us - or, me. - claw at something forbidden in an almost hungry advance. the sinner doing the sinning. and goddamn, iâm impressed. n i bet shakespeare is too. well, he fuckinâ better be.
the characters are imperfect and selfish and lustful, but oh my god i love them. add on dilf!jk with his slutty, unbuttoned shirts and you have me sold.
@lovieku you are such an amazing writer. you have such a way with how you express. do not underestimate that. i am beyond excited to see your future works :)
masterpiece. but what the fuck was that ending.
( â ) HABITS OF A CLANDESTINE NATURE â by @alphabetboyluvr
!! college!jk x female!oc | 16k !!
rich!jk, waitress!oc, enemies to lovers, smut (18+).
he got, he got away! he got away! he got away! heâs got a way, heâs got a way! awayyyyheyeyyyyheyyy! yea, but didnât manage to escape a 460-year-old poet, nor me.. so..
clementines, fruit trees, the sound of innocent laughter, wind chimes, a sheer blur of colour, soft hands. things that come to mind whenever i am reminded of this fic. a solid and beautiful depiction of hurt and love and everything in between.
this writer knew straight off the bat how to sell this pair to the audience. how to capture us and string us along for the journey of two hurting, longing and hurting all over again. shakespeare bought the hanging fruit thatâs for damn sure⌠me too then, perhaps.
the vision for this story is perfect to me. i almost want to give the writer a kiss on the forehead.
i did write down one quote; used from the story. a way to sum it all up. âthe perfect place to get lost. the perfect place to get found, too.â
if youâre looking for somewhere to get lost, i hope this satisfies that need. i also hope i come back to read this every once in a while. for old times sake. to get found again.
( ⏠) GUILTY AS SIN â by @gldrushh
!! brother in law!jungkook x widow!reader | 32k !!
forbidden love!au, smut (18+), angst.
âit began to lose its meaning. healing. as if it were somethingâa destination you could stumble upon.â oh, donât even talk to me. people died. shakepeare died. april 23rd 1616.
god, this story is just so raw in and of itself - perfectly depicting the human experience of love and loss. inevitable and sometimes unexpected. i was - n still remain - in awe.
i crossed by this fic unexpectedly and iâm so glad that whatever butterfly effect led me to finding this succeeded, but damn that action also had consequences⌠like real bad⌠hahaâŚ.
i want to cry every time this fic crosses my mind. dramatic? lil bit. but when you read it, holy shit - this will make sense to you youngâuns. in due time.
well, to be even more dramatic as such⌠my wounds from reading this are still fresh (i will sob donât test me), so i hand the torch over to you to make of this story what you will.
please go into this fic with no expectations. go in willingly and just⌠fall into it. i will be on the other side when you resurface and i will definitely say something ironic.
like i told you so. xx.
( â ) CALLING PRODUCER MIN YOONGI â by @bangtan-dreamland
!! yoongi x reader | 4.6k !!
strangers to lovers, just fluff all around.
now this is the bitch i aspire to be. dials random ass numbers of random ass strangers just to yap. oh yea, thatâs my kinda girl. i just hope she knows sheâs the coolest person ever to exist to me. i want to buy a star for her. a big, bright one.
i think i have said this before, but never ever underestimate the power of a drabble. a short fic of little can hold the weight of ten times that amount. especially this one (which i read that long ago but has ultimately ended up here - says it all tbh).
this fic is everything and more to me. i miss it when iâm not reading it, and i miss it when itâs right in front of me. it has me wanting to ring up random people in hopes of meeting my true love - which i wonât, but who knows what might happen?
also, to point out - the immense chemistry between these characters is off the charts. felt like i was intruding on my own phone call.
good dialogue? tick. amazing characterisation? tick. interesting plot? tick. has shakespeare wanting to never learn how to use a phone in case he puts this fic to shame? tick.
can i be honest? yâall stress me the fuck out! and you know who you are! starts with âjâ ends with âkâ. the other one being âsâ ends with âeâ. but one of you i like more and itâs not you, shakespeare.
the time it took me to finish this insanely crafted three-parter was embarrassingly short. (i think i formed a dent in my bed). so when i finished i was - obviously - heartbroken, so i did what every sane person does. i read all the drabbles. aaaand the tlp social media extras. and listened to the playlist. and cried. duh.
whilst all the fics on here deserve their own kdrama, i feel this one would ruin me completely. itâs weightlifting fairy kim bok joo all over again. itâs potential is there. like, câmon screenwriters. i know you want to. or just pay me to do it.
the characters, the yearning, the friendship - immediately gets flashbacks⌠- tenâs across the board!
@awrkive is one to look out for. for real. i - along with everyone else here - will be tuning in. full volume.
oh yea, whilst weâre all still here. fuck that other guy. you know who you are! (no spoilers here).
( â ) LETâS GET QUIZZICAL â by @taleasnewastime
!! jimin x f!reader | 28.6k !!
friends to lovers, angst, smut (18+).
sooooo⌠what iâm hearing is.. we all werenât aware flo ridaâs stage name is just florida with a space..? right? right.? cuz when you say it like that..
having been a victim of multiple pub quizzes in my past (havenât won - yet!) the dialogue in this story was fucking perfect and scary real, depicting the anxiety, thrill and pure adrenaline running through your body as you rack your brain of every dumb fact youâve ever read and hope itâs made a home somewhere up there.
not to mention you gotta trust your teammates like your life depends on it - cuz it fuckinâ does. n park jimin being one of them? the rest of the teams⌠yâall better not even bother showing up atp.
i thought the manor of the story being told through its settings was.. a slice of genius. so so cool and helped set the tone too. every time we transported back to the quiz i clutched my pearls in sheer relief.
also, i wish i couldâve highlighted angst in bold cause damn! you really hit us round the head with that one. and ofc i loved it, but damn. take notes, shakespeare. we donât have to be killing characters off to ruin mkâs life. hm?
nothing less than spectacular from our @taleasnewastime.
( ⏠) TRICKS OF THE TRADE â by @stutterfly
!! yoongi x reader | 24.1k !!
body swap!au, soulmates!au (you know me), smut (18+), humour.
peers down through speckled glasses, whatâs next..? âŚoh god. sighs heavily and licks pen.
so i knew from the moment i read âbody swapâ within the tags that this concept was gonna be so fuckinâ weird but so damn good. and low n behold, it didnât disappoint. luckily i am a lover of fuckinâ weird.
this concept is so difficult to write. the foreign sensation of a different body and trying to channel each thought n emotions involved is complicated to convey, but this author did it so incredibly well.
also, not to be that person⌠but that smut⌠iâm gonâ be sleeping soooo well tonight letâs just say that lmfao. 100/10. might go back n read it when iâm done with this.
blushing⌠X
shakespeare couldnât even fathom a story such as this - and weâre talking about the guy who once wrote about an incestuous relationship between a king and his daughter.
crazy work. you are so cool @stutterfly.
( â ) TRIVIA LOVE â by @luxekook
!! namjoon x reader | 5.4k !!
non idol!au, smut (18+).
to quote myself from my reblog on feb 26 2020, âwhy was i smiling the whole way throughout this??â n you know what? hell yea i still stand by that!
this is the second pub quiz fic i have within this chapter (surprisingly, but not disappointing), but the circumstances cannot be more different.
the first group i would join, perhaps even rally with a little. but if iâm ever attending a pub night and these mother fuckers are in tow, best believe iâm leaving. theyâre not ones to fuck with yo. they have $20 to win. they mean war.
since weâre at the end, and iâm 100% convinced nobody is still reading these, soooo⌠i can speak my truth. someone get me on joonâs lap. you gonâ be calling me cinderella cuz itâs gonna fit perfectly by midnight bro. on the dot.
this is - n will always be - a classic to me. one that i will always return to eventually. i can dress up all i want with these big fics, but these smaller ones are always a guilty pleasure.
like cinderella returning to her mice friends (or whatever), i will always come back to @luxekook and their stories.
forever xoxo.
MARKNEEâS SPECIAL MENTIONS:
caught my attention, and deserve their flowers.
( ⏠) THE DEVIL SKATES ON THIN ICE â by @vankoya
!! yoongi x reader | 60.5k !!
winter sports!au, fluff, angst, humour.
my love life also skates on thin ice. lmfao. especially after this.
( â ) KNOCKED â by @sailoryooons
!! streamer!seokjin x f!reader | 10.6k !!
roommates to lovers, smut (18+), humour.
more like sheâs about to knock him out.
( ⏠) NEFARIOUS â by @yoonia
!! jimin x f!reader | 39.2k !!
sex club!au, gentlemen club!au, smut (18+).
lets out a long sigh. wonât be in a rush to forget this one.
Pairing: Nerd Alpha Kim Seokjin x Popular Omega Reader
Genre: A/B/O ⢠Enemies to Lovers ⢠(Sorta) College AU ⢠Best Friend's Brother AU (Who is surprised? No one?)
Teaser Word Count: 3.6K
Teaser Warnings: A/B/O sexual dynamics ⢠suggestive content
Rating: Explicit (18+) (Teaser is PG-13)
Summary: In the modern world, alphas are almost unheard of so why even bother learning about them? After all, as a spoiled (but reasonably kind-hearted) omega who is used to getting whatever she wants, you have better things to do. However, when unexpected circumstances throw you in the path of (extremely) nerdy and (probably?) shy Kim Seokjin, you're shocked to discover that he won't be wrapped around your little finger as easily as all the rest. Bringing that infuriating geek to his knees quickly becomes your personal mission in life... But it turns out that Kim Seokjin is not what he appears to be and the mean omega who eats beta boys for breakfast is about to get way more than she bargained for...
Authorâs Note: This story would not be here without the love, support and friendship of my incredible support system. You talk with me, you laugh with me, you listen when Iâm crying, and you read my chaotic drafts when I am ready to pull my hair out of my head in frustration. I love you all. @ppersonna @xjoonchildx @untaemedqueen @lemonjoonah. ALSO thank you to each and every one of you who encouraged me to post this story. This fic is dedicated to all of you as a token of my love and appreciation. Your support keeps me writing. Never doubt that for a second.
â...due to discriminatory anti-alpha policies in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, alphas were nearly eliminated from the general populationâŚâ
You heaved a weary sigh and rolled your shouldersâstretching the buttons of your high-end Oxford shirt to their limit. The beta sophomore to your right whined audibly and you smirked.
â...despite efforts to restore the genetic balance of designations, alphas currently comprise less than one percent of the populationâŚâ
Your back arched slightly as you crossed your legs, letting the absurdly short hem of your skirt ride up even higher. The poor boy you were tormenting shifted miserably in his seat.
How was he supposed to focus on a Human Biology and Designation Studies lecture when the living breathing embodiment of every sweaty undergradâs fantasies was twisting her fingers in her hair and wrapping her pretty pink tongue around a strawberry lollipop right there in the middle of class?
â...unlike betas and omegas, alphas possess enhanced strength and the ability to compel other designations with their voice. Unmated alphas especially were often baselessly feared and distrusted...â
You knew exactly how you affected boys like him. You were a shameless tease who relished their attention and the power it brought you. Who needed drugs when driving a man mad with desire was a rush more potent than any high?
â...and thatâs all for today so please read pages 450-466 in the text over break and remember to turn in your essay on scent and consent in intimacyââ
That poor sophomore looked like he had finally worked up the courage to speak to you, but you were already out the door and tearing down the hall toward your beautiful (and entirely platonic) counterpart, Kim Taehyung.
âDo you think Professor Moore is unaware that class is over at 3:25 or is he just torturing us for science?â
Taehyung shrugged, falling into step beside you with practiced ease.
âI mean I would torture you for free so itâs hard to say.â
The corner of your mouth quirked up at his characteristic dry humor, but the irritation at being held in that sweltering lecture hall for an extra ten minutes had frayed your temper.
âItâs the last class before spring break, Iâm sure he was on some sort of twisted power trip.â You dug around in your purse for some chapstick, ignoring Taeâs amused snorting, âAlphas barely exist anymore and none of us are likely to meet one. Why bother learning what they can do?â
Taehyung tilted his head in amusement.
âYou might be surprised.â
The final party before the beginning of spring break was always a laid back affair.
Many people had already caught planes to their various destinations, but your flight was scheduled for early tomorrow morningâleaving you with some time to kill.
Taehyung pressed his newest experimental concoction into your hand within minutes of entering the house (a surprisingly neat bachelor pad owned by two seniors, Jung Hoseok and Min Yoongi) and then darted back to the kitchen to craft more questionable alcohol potions like a deranged party warlock.
You had just found a comfortable place on the couch and were contemplating whether sampling your best friendâs mad scientist elixir would be worth the probable damage to your body whenâ
âH-Hello...â
It was that sophomore from your Designations Studies class. What was his name again? Jungwoo? Jinwook?
âJungkook,â you smiled, delighted to have remembered before it became awkward. âTo what do I owe the pleasure?â
You motioned to the empty cushion next to you and the man in question scrambled over like heâd won the lottery.
âIâI know we donât know each other well, but I noticed you were absent during Professor Mooreâs lecture on intimacy and scent consent so Iââ he blushed deeply, âI wrote the essay for youâand I brought a copy on my flash drive if-if you want it.â
Your heart melted immediately.
âOh my gosh Jungkook, that is so sweet of you!â
Your gaze darted over his muscular form and thick brown curls.
Sweet indeed.
âI donât want to miss out on the learning though,â you pouted, placing a hand on his tattooed bicep. âCan you explain it to me?â
Jungkook nodded vigorously even as his wide eyes fell to where your fingers were sliding slowly over his chest.
Scent consent was a pretty basic and universally known concept, but you really were touched by the handsome sophomore's consideration.
Why not give him (and yourself) a little reward?
âUm so basically if two people are involved in...intimate activitiesââ
You leaned forward to nip his ear lightly and he whimpered.
âLike this?â you asked innocently.
âY-Yes. Like that.â He gulped. âIn an intimate situation consent or refusal can be smelled. The scent of refusal or reluctance in intimacy is strong, unmistakable, and has a high chemical potency.â
âIs that so?â you drawled, sliding over onto his lap. Jungkookâs eyes rolled back into his head and you bit back a grin.
He was adorable.
âUh-huhâitâoh my gawd,â (you were nibbling on his ear again) âit can immediately block sexual arousal and performance in the other partner. Meaning, if consent is not present, then it becomes difficult orâahhâ (his voice began to waver under your continued attention) ââor even impossible to continue with intimate acts.â
Your hand slid up to his cheek, bringing him closer till your lips were almost touching.
âThen what does it mean if Iâm still so turned on right now?â
âIt means,â Jungkook shudderedânearly delirious with your scent, âthat I really really want you.â
Across the room, Park Jimin chuckled as he watched you seduce his enthusiastic friend.
Jeon Jungkook was such a sweet kid.
Hopefully he wouldnât get too attached.
âWow... Some people are genuinely born blessed I suppose.â
Jimin turned to see Jung Hoseok eyeing the dimly lit corner where you and the eager young sophomore were exploring each other.
It was a rather...provocative spectacle. Not quite raunchy (you werenât truly an exhibitionist)âjust insanely sexy.
Jiminâs gaze lingered on the smooth curve of your thigh where Jeon Jungkook was currently holding on for dear life.
Lucky bastard.
âAh you know how she is,â he sighed. âThat boy isnât going to get any farther than anyone else.â
It was relatively common knowledge that you liked to mess around but rarelyâif everâ fully hooked up with anyone.
Jimin asked you about it once during a drunken game of truth or dare and you had just shrugged, mumbling something along the lines of avoiding STDs (whichâto be fairâwas at least part of your motivation), but the truth was a little more complicated than that.
In terms of experience, you werenât a virgin, but... you hadnât actually had sex in years.
You loved the chase, the foreplay, the build-upâthe game of cat-and-mouse between two people who were attracted to one another.
But the final consummation was always soâŚ
Wildly unfulfilling.
Every encounter left you frustrated. Empty.
Grumpyâeven.
So you stopped bothering with it all together. (That was what sex toys were for after all.)
At the end of the day you were perfectly content being labeled a teaseâit meant that people tended to know what they were (or rather werenât) getting into when they rolled the dice with you.
BesidesâŚit hadnât even put a dent in your throng of admirers.
You were sunny, spoiled, indulgent, almost universally adoredâ
And you loved every minute of it.
âYou knowâŚâ Hoseok took a long sip of his drink. âI always thought she would end up with Taehyung, but itâs been three years.â
Like you, Kim Taehyung was a trust fund brat and it was only natural that two beautiful and absurdly privileged people would gravitate to one another. You met at a freshman pledge party and had been an inseparable (and formidable) dynamic duo ever since.
The undisputed king and queen of campus.
Yesâmaybe the two of you were a little self-absorbed at times, but it was hardly your fault that people tended to instinctively cater to the force of your combined looks, wealth, and charisma.
And it didnât hurt that neither of you were ever intentionally cruel or unkind.
Just... habitually thoughtless.
(Though not when it came to each other. If anything your friendship was one area where you were both a little more human.)
Jimin shook his head.
âNah thatâs never gonna happen.â He tapped his nose. âTheyâre scent-crossed.â
Hoseokâs eyes widened.
âReally?â
Scent-crossed pairs didnât smell sexually attractive to each other.
Like. At all.
No matter how physically or visually appealing an individual might be, it would be near impossible to form a sexual or romantic attachment to them if you were scent-crossed. Alphas, betas, and omegas were all subject to their noses first and foremost in the realm of attraction.
You and Taehyung smelled like comfort and home to one another...
But you were more turned on by a crisp cup of apple juice than you were his scent and the feeling was quite mutual.
He might as well have been your actual brother.
âThat explains so much.â Hoseok snorted as he watched a drunken Taehyung do a flying leap on top of both you and Jungkook.
âWhy is sunlight so offensive?â you croaked, dragging yourself and your luggage toward the boarding ramp next to an equally miserable Taehyung.
âThe next time I book a flight before 9 AM, please shoot me,â he grunted.
Your parents were celebrating their twenty-fifth wedding anniversary with a month-long European cruise so your best friend had graciously invited you to spend two glorious weeks of spring vacation at his family estate.
The invitation had actually come as somewhat of a surprise becauseâfor all your closenessâTaehyung was uncharacteristically tight-lipped about his family.
Not that he was deliberately withholding information per se⌠It was just that he never really brought them up beyond an occasional passing comment.
The one time you did ask him about them directly he sighed and saidâ
âWeâre very close, but⌠I suppose weâve just gotten used to being very private.â
There was clearly more to the story, but you were confident that Tae would share it if and when he was ready.
âMy parents are in Seoul opening a new branch of the company. They took my little sister with them and my older brother has his own house so it will be just us.â He snuggled deeper into the first class seat directly next to yours. âWeâll hang out by the pool and chill during the day, then hit up some of the new clubs or whatever at night.â
âSo⌠No one from your family will be there?â
Perhaps the invitation was not so surprising after all.
âNope. Just you and me and thirty acres of ocean front property.â
You grinned.
âPerfect.â
âWhose room is that?â
The two of you were lugging your bags down the main hall of Taehyungâs expansive mansion when a strange hint of...something caught you right by the nose.
Your friend turned to find you frozen and staring curiously at a familiar door near the balcony.
His eyes widened, but you were too preoccupied to notice his momentary concern.
âThatâs just Jinâs room.â
A firm hand wrapped around your wrist and dragged you away, but your eyes stayed glued to the source of the mysterious scent until you were around the corner and out of sight.
Your suite for the next two weeks was right across the hall from Taehyungâs. There was a whirlpool, a full bath, a balcony, and an ocean view that would rival the cover spread of any travel magazine.
Tae headed for the shower (to âwash the airplane offâ) immediately after showing you the room and you were thinking of doing the same exceptâŚ
Your mind kept going back to that door and the hint of scent you detected.
There was something⌠different about it.
It was faintâand far from fresh (which made sense considering that one of the few things you did know about Kim Seokjin was that he hadnât lived in this house for years).
But stillâŚ
The need to smell it again pressed insistently at the back of your mind.
Suddenly the sound of Taehyung singing raunchy lyrics in the shower carried over through the walls and you found your feet moving almost of their own accord.
What Tae doesnât know wonât hurt him, you rationalized, making your way down the hall toward Jinâs door. Besidesâitâs not as if Iâm going to steal anythingâŚ
You just needed to find that scent again.
By the time your fingers closed over the knob every one of your nerves was strangelyâacutelyâalert but nothing could have prepared you for what was waiting behind the door.
Oh. My. Gosh.
âWhat a colossal nerd.â
The room was covered floor to ceiling in Nintendo memorabilia.
Bright primary colors assaulted your eyes from all directions in the form of action figures, posters, pillows, and every other conceivable merch variety known to man.
In the center of the suite stood a large king-sized bed covered in a custom black couture toile-style Mario-verse bed set (that looked every bit as expensive as it was geeky) and a mountain of high quality Nintendo character plush toys.
Everything was simultaneously luxe and nostalgicâa rare combination of sophisticated aesthetic balance and childlike indulgence.
And the scent was there.
It was faint and covered under layers of cleaner and air fresheners, but still lingering just below the surfaceâtoo weak for you to get a really good whiff, yet potent enough to torment you.
You moved forward unconsciously toward the strongest source of the hypnotic smellâthe strangely inviting expanse of Kim Seokjinâs mattress.
Suddenly the urge to climbâno crawlâacross the bed itself and roll around in it like a kitten in catnip gripped you out of nowhere.
âWhat the hell?â you muttered, rubbing absently over the mating gland at the base of your neck.
Something very odd was going on with your body.
Your restless gaze zeroed in on one of the stuffed toys piled atop his pillows. It was a cute little mushroom man your brain recognized as a Mario character named âToadâ.
Take it.
Your mouth dropped open in shock.
You need it.
âAm I going insane?â you wondered aloud.
You have to take it.
Muscles in your hand began to twitch involuntarily. You bit your lip.
Bring it back with you.
Several minutes later a freshly washed Taehyung wandered over to your room and found you sitting perfectly still on your bed while staring off into space.
His head tilted in curious concern.
âEverything ok?â
You started a bit at the sound of his voice, but recovered quickly.
âNever better!â you chirpedâalmost too brightly. âLetâs go get some dinner, Iâm starving.â
Then you grabbed his hand and pulled him down the hall toward the kitchenâshutting the door before he could catch a glimpse of his brotherâs stuffed Toad doll stashed underneath your pillow
â...a critical water main rupture in the cityâs New Market district early this morning has forced several residents out of their homes as flood water swelled up to nearly two feet. The governor declared a state of emergency and ordered hotels around the city to accommodate the displaced citizens. Crews are still clearing the water and assessing damages. We expectâ
âHey!â you shouted through a mouthful of cereal, after Your best friend switched off the television, âI was watching that!â
âAnd what you should be doing is getting ready for the pool.â Tae snatched your cereal bowl and dragged you by your shirt collar toward the stairs. âIt is the first morning of our vacation. Iâm not trying to waste any time. Now go.â He shoved you forward, smacking your ass for good measure.
You swatted back at him half-heartedly as jogged back up to the room where you enjoyed a surprisingly restful sleep last night.
Kim Seokjinâs door glared at you accusingly as you shuffled pastâunable to let you forget that you had kidnapped itâs little mushroom man in an unexplained fit of kleptomania, but that was a problem for your future self.
The you of right now was going to zen out in the Kim family's premium glass-enclosed indoor pool (it was still a little chilly for the outdoor pool) with her best friend and bask in the simple joys of good company and no responsibility.
...Or not.
A few minutes later you bounced into the living room wearing a simple black tankini with a cute floral cover only to find Taehyung on the phone with his head in his hands.
âYes, sir. I understand⌠I...I know this is my responsibility...â
That didnât sound good.
After a few more tense moments, Tae hung up and collapsed backward into the couch with a heavy sigh.
âThat water main break you heard about on TV this morning was the last straw between the province and its current contractor. They called an emergency meeting for new bids.â
Your heart dropped as you sank down beside him.
âYour dad wants you to go...doesnât he.â
Taehyung nodded miserably.
âHe canât leave the Seoul opening on such short notice and managing government construction contracts is part of what Iâve been training for. This could be huge for our company.â
âWell...why doesnât your brother go?â
âJin is the brains behind most of our patented gaming and tech innovations. He wouldnât even know where to begin with this sort of thing. Besides,â his lips quirked up in a rueful grin, âmy brother doesnât have the patience to stroke entitled geriatric egos for hours on endâwhich is likely what Iâm going to have to do.â
The two of you headed back to Taehyungâs room where you helped him pack some suits and toiletries for his trip.
Naturally you were disappointed but...this was a great opportunity for your best friend to prove himself in his chosen field and you both knew it. In fact, he was already starting to brighten a bit.
âThe meeting is about a hundred miles north of here. My dadâs secretary already handled the flight and hotel room.â His eyes darted around the suite to see if he was forgetting anything.
It was clear he was nervous, though you were sure he didnât need to be. Kim Taehyung was a trust fund brat, but he was also talented and deeply passionate about his familyâs company.
Someday this would be the norm. The two of you were stealing time in college, determined to live a little before the expectations of your powerful families transferred fully onto your shoulders.
It was becoming more and more clear, however, that your carefree time was slowly running out.
Mother had already spoken to you about potential marriage alliances and your father expected you to intern with his Vice President this summer just as your elder sister had...
Taehyungâs voice suddenly interrupted your bittersweet introspection and you couldnât help but smile at how grown-up he looked in his suit and briefcase ensemble.
Everything was going to change, but not quite yet.
âThey estimate negotiations should take around a week or soâŚâ He walked over and pulled you into a tight hug. âThere should still be some vacation left for us when I get back.â
âHurry back then,â you mumbled grumpily into his chest and he chuckled.
âI will.â
Taehyung had been gone for less than twenty minutes when you decided that the best use of your time would be to eat more snacks.
The last thing you expected when you skipped merrily into the kitchen was to find it occupied by a shaggy-haired homeless man in glasses.
Your first instinct was to scream which caused the homeless man to drop the apple he was biting right onto the floor where it rolled around for a small eternity before coming to rest at his ankles.
Your second instinct was to grab a butcherâs cleaver from the nearby knife block and wave it chaotically at the intruder while shouting something along the lines ofâ
âYouâve made a huge mistake! My boyfriend is the biggest, meanest mafia boss in Seoul! Leave now and he might let you live!â
The homeless man continued to stare at you with a mixture of confusion and shock, but made no move to run away in terror like you were hoping.
So you tried again.
âDidnât you hear what I said?! The last man who touched me drinks his steak through a straw now! Do the smart thing and leave before my boyfriend comes down those stairs and itâs too late!â
Infuriatingly, the homeless man was still not fleeing for his life and frankly you were starting to get frustrated. You drew in a deep cleansing breath and were prepared to issue another grandiose threat when he finally spoke.
âIâm sorry, miss. I... think thereâs been some sort of mistake. Who is your boyfriend?â
There was no rational explanation for what came out of your mouth next, but it rolled off your tongue so smoothly and you didnât even flinch.
âKim Seokjin.â
For the first time in your entire exchange, the intruder looked truly alarmed.
Now thatâs more like it.
âYouâve heard of him I see. Heâs a dangerous man and my body belongs to him.â You slammed the cleaver down onto the countertop with a (hopefully) menacing slash. âKim Seokjin doesnât like when other men put their hands on what belongs to him.â
There was a long, unpardonably tense moment of silenceâŚThen the stranger slowly reached forward and picked up a mobile phone from the table in front of him.
His eyes remained locked with yours as he pressed a quick series of buttons, brought the phone to his ear, waited a few seconds and saidâ
âTaehyung⌠Would you mind telling me why there is a half-naked, knife-wielding omega in our kitchen claiming to be my girlfriend?â
Hello! Please comment on this post if you would like to be added to the taglist!
You guys were all so wonderful, and encouraging, and excited that I literally got this teaser out in three days! If you like what you read so far, please let me know! I cannot put into words how meaningful and valuable feedback is to me. I truly treasure it! It fuels my creativity and keeps me writing. I would love to hear from you!
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