#fantasy!bts

Before you could say a word though, she grabbed your arms and gave you a stern look, “Who took you, where did they took you, and when can I kick their ass?”

“Mom!”

“Y/N, dear, tell me.” For a woman of her size, she looked quite intimating at the moment.

You sighed as you lead her to the couch and sat down, “I don’t know where to begin—”

“From the beginning of course, silly.”

“—Or if you would believe me. Trust me, it’s some crazy stuff.”

Your mom squeezed your hand, “Try me.”

You took a deep breath, searching for the right words to say, “Well…to start off, grandma and I have been hiding something from you. Not on purpose,” you said quickly, “but because we didn’t know how to explain it or if we could tell other people.”

“You make it sound like you guys were in a cult. Wait, were you and mother in a cult and mother angered someone and they kidnapped you?”

“Wow, that actually sounds more believable than the truth.”, you admitted and she looked at you curiously.

“Just tell me, honey, I swear I’ll be as open-minded as possible.”

“Okay…”, you said, “…you know how grandma can sometimes tell the future and it’ll be weirdly accurate? Like the weather or a specific event in your day or something you just thought about? Or when she can pinpoint a person’s character by just looking at them?”

“Yeah, your grandma always had those eccentricities about her and she seemed to have taught them to you.”

“The reason she can do those things, among others, is because we are Seers. It’s not an official name or anything, just a name grandma came up with. Basically, our sixth sense is stronger than most people’s and we can see…usual things.”

“…I see.”

“You don’t believe me.” you accused.

“Hold on, I’m getting used to the idea! But it does make sense…still, it doesn’t explain why you were missing for weeks!”

“I’m getting there,” you answered, “well one of the things we can see is Death.”

“Death?”

“Actually his name is Namjoon, but don’t tell him I told you that. He’s a being that collects your soul when you die.”

“….and you lost me. So this Namjoon guy,”

“Death,” you corrected, regretting telling your mother his real name. He’s going to be so pissed.

“He collects souls when you die?”

“Correct. And takes you to his kingdom. Which is technically purgatory. And sentences you to work off your sins so you can enter Paradise.”

Your mother gave you a strange look, “Honey, you sure this isn’t a cult—”

“Please, mom, trust me,” you begged, “this is all real. I wish I could show you prove but the only way to do that is if you die—which I don’t want.”

“But you must understand that this is a bit hard to take in…”

“I get it, but that’s not even half of it.”

“There’s more?”

You nod, “So there’s this prophecy involving Namjoon and…me.”

“Now there’s a prophecy? Can’t you make it any more believable? Even the cult story is more believable than this!”

“I’m just telling you the truth.” You said defensively and your mom gave a sigh of resignation.

“What’s the prophecy?”

“What?”

“The prophecy. I’m assuming that’s why you were gone.”

You took a deep breath, “I’m not sure. I’ve only heard bits and pieces and what people have told me. It involves me marrying him—”

“What?” Your mother screeched, “You have to marry Namjoon?”

“…it’s complicated.”

“Do you even like each other?”

You made a face, do you? You know for sure he doesn’t, “Not really…but supposedly that’s the other part of the prophecy—that we’ll love each other or something like that.”

Then again, you couldn’t relay so much on the source since it was the traitor who said it after all. Thinking about it makes your blood boil.

“Still, for you to agree to that is ridiculous. Why would you do such a thing?”

You bit your lip, “I wanted to see grandma.”

“What?”

“I…just wanted to see her one last time. I figured that if I go with Namjoon I’ll have the opportunity to talk to grandma.”

“And did you?” Your mom perked up.

“No, I didn’t have the chance to yet. Everything is just so hectic and going on so fast.”

“I see. Did he manipulate you with your grandma to marry him?”

“Mani—no, it wasn’t like that. I mean, he did mention it—”

“That sounds like manipulation.”

“Okay, maybe he did a little bit, but he’s a victim of the prophecy as well. He’s tried to not follow it, but it never works out. Plus, in the end it was my decision. I do want to see grandma.”

You honestly didn’t know why you were defending Namjoon to your mother.

Her eyes softened, “I get that you wanted to see mother, but is it worth giving up your life here?”

You bit your lip, “Can I be honest, mom? It’s actually not so bad over there. Definitely boring, but not bad. I have a purpose. Here, I don’t really have a purpose. I’m not really good at anything and I don’t even like what I’m studying in school. I’m not particularly close to anyone here except for you and grandma so I wasn’t leaving much behind.”

“Oh honey,” She brought you to a hug, “How can you say that? Of course you have a purpose.”

“But maybe this is my purpose.” You answered, pulling away from her to look to her eyes. 

“If that’s what you think.” Your mom said with a sad smile, “I’ll support any decision you have.”

“Thanks mom.”

“So if you were happy there, how did you end up back here? Why aren’t you still wherever-the-hell-that-place-was?”

“Funny story….I, um, got kidnapped there.”

“You got kidnapped from your kidnapper?”

“I said I wasn’t kidnapped! I went there willingly. This time though…yeah it was kidnapped. Turned out it was Namjoon’s best friend and adviser, Jin, who wants revenge on Namjoon. I managed to escape, but got sent here so that I can be safe until Namjoon picks me up.”

Your mom stared at you, “That’s literally a soap opera.”

“Yes, well apparently I am now a main character in some soap opera.”

“This guy, Jin…is he dangerous?”

You frowned, “I’m not sure. But it didn’t seem like he was going to be making daisy chains with me though.”

“Did you got hurt?”

“Not really. I guess they were just waiting for Namjoon to arrive.”

“You know this sounds crazy.”

“I know.”

“And I’ll probably be a fool if I believe you.”

“Probably.”

She sighed, “But I trust you. You were never one for fantasies, always very logical. Maybe if I heard this from my mom I’ll be skeptical because she was always in the clouds and has a very vivid imagination, but you hold not one artistic bone in your body.”

“Hey!”

“It’s true, honey, don’t bother denying it. Remember when your grandmother tried to teach you to paint but it turned out to be a disaster?”

You winced, “She said it was fine, but it was a mess, huh?”

“The ugliest thing I ever saw.”

“Thanks, mom.”

“I’m only saying the truth. Don’t worry, your grandmother was disappointed when I didn’t inherit her passion for paint. I’m way too much like my father in that sense, I guess you got that too.”

You smiled, “So you believe me?”

“…tentatively. I will need evidence to support the truth, but I’ll let it be for now.”

“Thank you, mom.” You gave her a hug, “I really appreciate it.

“Oh!” Your mom suddenly let go and went to grab her phone, “I gotta call the police and tell them to call off the missing person case.”

“You went to the police?”

“Of course! You were missing, where else I’m to turn? Give me a minute.”

She started dialing a phone number as she walked out of the room.

“Officer Diaz? Yes this is Mrs. Y/L/N. Good news, my daughter is back home…”

Honestly that went better than I thought. I don’t think she believes me, but at least she’s humoring me and not sending me to an insane asylum or something.

You were innocently walking down the halls of your school when you heard a familiar voice.

“You have some explaining to do Y/N  Y/L/N !”

Lisa stalked the hall, narrowing her eyes at you.

You put on a cheerful smile, hoping to deter her, “Hey Lisa!”

“Don’t ‘hey Lisa’ me. What the hell happened to you?”

You sighed; your mom and you decided on a cover story for the police and anyone who asked.

“I don’t remember anything, Monica,” you said innocently, “the last thing I remember was going to the funeral.”

“They drugged you? What low-lives!” She exclaimed and pulled you into a hug, “I’m so glad you’re back though. It was really lonely without you here.”

Well that was easy, you thought.

You smiled and pulled away, “So what did I miss?”

“Besides that Spring Break is in a week? Jungkook and that long-term girlfriend of his broke up.”

“No way.”

“Yup, it just happened last week. It’s been the gossip of the school. Jungkook doesn’t seem so bothered by it.”

“Oh.”

It’s strange, if you heard this news before you left with Namjoon you would have been ecstatic. But you didn’t seem to feel much joy right now. Strange.

“Oh? Just oh? Hello, this can finally be your chance with him.”

“Me?” you asked, confused, “what about you?  I seemed to recall I wasn’t the only one to like Jungkook.”

“I’m willing to make the sacrifice for you. Also, I’m kind of seeing his friend Taehyung now so…”

You rolled your eyes as Lisa started to speak of how they met and how he asked her out.

“Anyway, never mind that right now, we need you to get ready for this party. I will not let you go in your usual getup.”

“What party?”

“What party? What party? Weren’t you listening to me just now? Jungkook is hosting a huge party at his house with his frat brothers and he invited me and you to come.”

“He asked me to come?” You asked, somehow not believing those words.

“Okay, he told me I could invite a friend but---:

You groaned, “Do I really have to do this?”

Parties really weren’t your thing. Especially frat parties. Even if Jungkook was there.

“Yes! And we are going to make you gorgeous. Come over my place tonight—”

“Wait, I thought the party was in a week?”

“And you think you are going to get Jungkook to notice you looking like that?”

“But I don’t—”

“We are so going to make Jungkook fall for you.”

You sighed, resigned to your fate. Maybe if you let her do this stupid ‘makeover’ on you she will leave you alone.

You checked yourself in the compact mirror Lisa gave you earlier and frowned. The “makeover” you had last night involved skin care, makeup, straightening your hair, and clothes for you to borrow. You honestly didn’t see the big deal, although you had to admit your face is pretty fucking smooth now.

“For the last time, you look amazing. Relax.” Lisa said as she snatched the mirror from you.

“I can’t relax when people are looking at me,” you answered back, “I keep thinking there’s something wrong with my face.”

Lisa just rolled her eyes and smiled brightly at a group of girls and walked over to them. You followed her and recognized them as part of her sorority.

“Hiya Lisa!”

“How’s it going, boo?”

“It’s been forever.”

“Lisa, you have to hear the latest news on Hyuna.”

The girls all greeted Lisa enthusiastically and Lisa was happily chatting with them. As for you, you just sort of lingered in the back since you didn’t really know these girls and weren’t quite comfortable. Yet it wasn’t long before one of the girls noticed your presence.

“Who’s this, Lisa?”

“Is she a new friend of yours?”

Everyone turned to you and Lisa was by your side.

“Girls, this is my friend, Y/N. She’s new to the scene so be nice.”

They smiled at you and began to ask you questions. They were nice enough but were a bit like Lisa in that they were boy-crazy.

“Do you have a boyfriend?” One of the girls, Rose, asked.

You thought of Namjoon but instantly pushed away that thought. We are not going out. It’s more like a…like an arranged marriage.

“No, not at the moment.” You answered and forced yourself to give a bright smile.

“Oh but you’re so cute.”

“We have to set you up with someone.”

“She’ll look cute with Yoongi.”

Inside you were panicking and looked at Lisa for help.

“Girls, I already have someone in mind for her.”

You nearly groaned, this was not the help I asked for.

“Really? Who?”

“Yeah, who?”

“Jungkook.”

They squealed.

“Good one.”

“Yeah, he’s pretty hot.”

“I heard he was a pretty good kisser and has a big dick.”

And I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that last remark, you thought. You looked at your phone and saw the time.

“Um, it was nice meeting you guys, but we have class in a few minutes.”

“Oh yeah, that’s right,” Lisa said as if she just remembered that she goes to school, “Well, see you girls later.”

“Bye Lisa, and good luck hooking them up.”

“Yeah, good luck. I heard a lot of girls are waiting to get their claws on Jungkook.”

You waited until you were a safe distance away before you spoke to Lisa.

“What was that?”

“What was what?”, Lisa asked innocently.

“You want to hook me up with Jungkook! Why?”

“Look, you’ve had a crush on him since forever and I want to help you out like the good friend that I am. Plus you two would look so good together.”

“This has nothing to do with the fact that you’re going out with his best friend, Taehyung?” You asked.

“I mean, we could have some pretty fun double dates. But Tae has been mentioning to me that Jungkook is lonely so this is the perfect opportunity for you.”

“Oh so it’s Tae now?” You teased and she blushed.

“Stop changing the subject. Shouldn’t you be happy? You like Jungkook.”

You didn’t know how to explain to her that whenever you tried to think of Jungkook in any sexual situation, Namjoon’s face would pop up instead. That maybe you don’t like Jungkook so much anymore…because you like someone else.

No! You tried to shake your thoughts, you don’t like Namjoon. You are merely…attracted to him. Yes, he is very hot. Also it doesn’t help that since Jin told you about the prophecy, you wondered what it’ll be like to be with Namjoon…

“Yeah, I’m happy. I just don’t know if I’m ready…”

“Jeesh girl, I’m not telling you to marry him or anything. Just go to the party with him and enjoy yourself, that’s it.”

You sighed, “Lisa, I hate to burst your bubble, but why would you think he’ll ask me to the party?”

She grinned, “You’ll see. We have biology now.”

You gave her a puzzled look, “And?”

“And Jungkook has that class with us.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

Lisa just gave you a confident smile, “Just sit in your seat and look pretty, I’ll fix everything up.”

You both walked into the class and took your seats. The professor came in and smiled at the class.

“Today is going to be another lab, so pair up with your lab partner and complete the lab sheet. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me.”

You turned to Lisa, who is normally your partner, but found she was no longer next to you. So you started to look around the room and noticed Jungkook coming towards you. You had to admit, as you watched him approach you, he really was easy on the eyes. Easily one of the handsomest man you’ve seen in your life.

“Hey.”, Jungkook smiled at you, looking all adorable. He didn’t have dimples though, like Namjoon.

Stop thinking about Namjoon!

“Hi.” You answered, not sure what to say. It’s not every day a very hot guy comes up and talks to you.

“What’s your name?”

“Y/N.”

“That’s a beautiful name, it suits you.”

You blushed, not used to being complimented, “Thanks, I was born with it.”

He laughed and you felt your face grow hotter from embarrassment. Oh my god, I really am an idiot.

“I mean, what’s your name?” You said and wanted to smack yourself in the head.

You already know his name you dumb-ass!

“Name’s Jungkook.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Jungkook.”

Why oh why am I so fucking awkward?, you lamented. If Jungkook wanted to go out with me before, he definitely doesn’t want to now.

“So do you want to be my lab partner? Yours seemed to have stolen mine today.”

You looked at the direction he was looking at and sure enough Lisa was flirting with Taehyung. You internally sighed, so this was her plan.

“Yeah, she seems really into your friend.”

“Tell me about, I can’t get him to shut up about her.”

“Me either.”

“So, partners?”

“Sure, partners. Sorry about Lisa, she sometimes does things without thinking.”

“Nah, don’t sweat it. It’s good to switch things up once in a while. Plus, I wouldn’t have such a cute girl as my partner.”

He complimented me again.

You blushed and looked down at you paper, at the assignment you were supposed to do, “Um, you want to start?”

“Sure.” Jungkook said as he looked at his paper and you guys started to do the assignment.

Jungkook was actually not a bad partner and was very easy to talk to. When you finished the assignment and handed in your lab sheets, you walked out of the class together.

“Do you have somewhere to be right now?” Jungkook asked.

You thought of going home to an empty house, without your grandma, and said, “Not particularly. Why?”

“You want to maybe grab a coffee together?”

You shrugged, “Why not? I need some caffeine in my life.”

And a distraction. Jungkook seems like a good distraction, you thought.

You went to the coffee shop in the campus and ordered your coffees. It was nice and relaxing and Jungkook was very easy to talk to. You talked about school and what classes you were taking. Jungkook studies politics, which you thought was very boring but did not say to him. You then briefly discussed politics and then there was a lull in the conversation.

Jungkook then broke the ice again, “So I’m holding a party in my house next week, you heard about it?”

You nodded, “Yeah, Lisa won’t shut up about it.”

“Oh right,” He laughed, “Are you coming?”

You took a sip of your coffee, “Yup, wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

You couldn’t stop the sarcasm from seeping into your voice, but he didn’t seem to notice.

“Do you want to come with me?”

“You mean like a date?”

My IQ must have lowered since Namjoon took me because that was pitiful.

“Sure, if you want to call it that.”

Lisa would be ecstatic to hear about this development.

You suddenly felt a strange sense of guilt; wouldn’t this be betraying Namjoon? No, wait, you’re not even dating Namjoon. You don’t even like him. Of course it’s not cheating.

“Sure, I’ll go with you.”

Your first impression when you walked into the house was that there were too many people and that it was way too loud; you can already feel the headache that’ll plague you tomorrow morning.

You scanned the room for Lisa or Jungkook but couldn’t find them in the sea of faces. You began to feel more and more anxious; you didn’t know what to do.

Slowly, you made your way to the table filled with food. You can’t go wrong with food.

You pulled up your dress that Lisa insisted you wore. She said you looked hot in it, and you had to admit it did show your figure nicely. Still, who were you trying to impress? Jungkook? Sure, maybe. But deep down, you were a tiny bit disappointed Namjoon can’t see you like this.

And there you go thinking about Namjoon again, get a grip girl.

You picked up a Dorito chip awkwardly and started to nibble on it.

“And why is a fine lady like yourself doing by yourself in a place like this?”

You felt a blush make its way to your face and quickly turned around.

“Jungkook!” You said in relief, mostly because you couldn’t stand being here alone anymore.

You then were able to see him properly. It was undeniable, he looked pretty hot. His button-down shirt was tight fitting and the top buttons were not buttoned. His sleeves were also rolled up to show his nice, toned arms. His hair was perfectly styled, his hair pushed back with a few strands dipping unto his forehead. He gave you a sexy smirk.

“Yes, that’s my name.” Jungkook teased as he stepped close to you. You could smell his cologne, which was a nice change from the weed and sweat you could smell in the room.

“You look very gorgeous tonight.”, he murmured in your ear.  

You felt yourself grow hotter by the minute and willed yourself to not stutter like a middle schooler, “T-thank you.”

You then heard your name being called. You scanned the room, wondering who could possibility call your name. You saw Lisa making her way towards you with seven-inch heels on.

“All I’m saying, Lisa, is how that takes real skill.” You commented dryly as you pointed to her shoes.

Lisa laughed, “This is a skill that took many years to perfect. Do you want a drink?’

She held two plastic cups and offered one to you. You smiled and accepted the drink, even though you weren’t that thirsty. Maybe some liquid courage can help. Lisa noticed Jungkook next to you.

“Nice party, Jungkook.” Lisa greeted him.

He smiled and took a drink from his beer, “Yeah, it is a nice party.”

“Do you know where Tae is?” Lisa asked and Jungkook shrugged.

“He might be out in the back playing beer pong with some of the other brothers. You might want to try there.”

“Alright, thanks.” Lisa said and turned to me, “You good?”

You force a smile; you hated it here but didn’t want to disappoint Lisa. Maybe being with Jungkook will make things better.

She took your smile as a ‘yes’ and said, “Okay, enjoy yourselves. I’ll see you later.”

Lisa gave a little wave and walked to the direction of the backyard.

You took a cautious sip of your drink. It took everything in your power to not cough; vodka was not really your style. It tastes like rubbing alcohol. You took another sip, not wanting to seem like a wimp in front of Jungkook, but you ended up coughing.

“You don’t have to drink that if you don’t want to.” Jungkook said and you blushed.

“Is it that obvious?”

“Kind of, but that’s okay; I’ll let you off the hook because you’re so cute. Do you want a beer instead?”

This caused your face to heat up further and you knew you couldn’t blame it at the alcohol. He offered you a beer and you took it.

“Thanks.” You said gratefully as you deposited the vodka cup on a nearby table, “So what does one do in these kind of parties?”

“Drink, flirt, dance, the usual.” Jungkook said casually, “Do you want to dance?”

You saw him finish his drink and grab another beer. You took a sip. Still tastes terrible, but at least it didn’t burn your throat like the vodka.

“Well I’m not such a big fan of dancing…”

“It’s really easy,” He said, “You just have to move your body to the music, it’s not like we are ballroom dancing or any of that shit.”

You bit your lip, debating on whether you want to be in a sweaty crowd of people with horrible music pounding in your ears. On the other hand, you don’t want Jungkook to get bored and leave you all by yourself.

He sensed your dilemma, “Look I can teach you, it won’t be that bad.”

“Alright.” You found yourself saying.

You frowned, I must not be thinking clearly, but followed him to the dance floor and drowned the rest of the beer.

It was hot; there were so many bodies in the dance floor you could barely move. Jungkook was pressed close to you and you weren’t sure if you liked it or hated it. He brought your hands around his neck.

“Place your arms here.” He said and you can feel his silky hair on the back of his neck. He then placed his hands on your hips and brought them against his. Oh my.

“Now just move your body to the beat of the music.” He murmured against your ear, sending shivers down your spine.

You tried to get into the mood of the music and move your body, but you just felt awkward. Jungkook gave you a few more pointers, but they didn’t seem to help. You were too self-conscious. 

“Just let loose, forget what anyone has to say.” Jungkook murmured, his hips grinding into yours and you dropped your hands from his neck to grip his shoulders. 

“I’m sorry, Jungkook,” you confessed, “I’m just comfortable bumping and grinding.”

“It’s okay, babe, you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do.”

Your smile was a bit forced as he tightened his hold on you and made you feel a bit uncomfortable. Jungkook was nice and all, but sometimes he would get carried away and you have to remind him to not get carried away. Like now.

“Jungkook?”

“Yeah?”

“Please remove your hands from my ass now.”

He quickly took them off, looking embarrassed.

“Sorry, I didn’t realize—”

“It’s okay, just don’t let it happen again.” You said.

Namjoon wouldn’t have pressured you to dance, that annoying little voice in your head said. He wouldn’t need to be reminded to keep his hands off of you.

Yeah, I highly doubt he dances or does any fun things at all, you argue back, Plus, he wouldn’t touch me because he doesn’t feel that way to me at all. At least I know Jungkook is attracted to me.

Dancing isn’t fun for you, so isn’t that a win-win?, the little voice continued, plus, according to the prophecy—

The prophecy is bullshit.

You ignored the voice, you didn’t want to think about Namjoon when you were with Jungkook. You danced for a bit more, but between the music and the alcohol you developed quite a headache.

“Jungkook, I have a headache. Can we stop dancing?”

“Sure, are you okay? Do you want me to take you home?” Jungkook asked, sounding very concerned as he led you away from the dance floor.

“Nah, I’m fine. I just need to sit down a bit.”

You looked around but all the chairs were taken and the couch was being used for…other stuff; you made a face.

“I can take you upstairs since all the seats down here are taken?”

You bit your lip and nodded, the alcohol not helping with this headache of yours, “Okay then.”

You rubbed your temples, reminder: don’t drink alcohol, it seems to not agree with me.

As you start up the stairs, you thought you saw Namjoon’s concerned face in the crowd but when you looked again you didn’t see him.

I must be imagining him since I’ve been thinking about him, you thought, what’s wrong with you? You have a perfectly hot boy in your reach and you’re thinking about some magical being who doesn’t even like you? Grow up.

You were on the second floor and there were several people around—mainly couples making out—and you started to grow a little wary.

“Maybe we should go back downstairs.” You tried to get out of his grasp but he held on.

“Are you sure?”

A little voice in your head said that this was a very bad idea, but it was very faint. The pounding in your head was making it hard to hear that faint voice.

“…I don’t know.” You said truthfully as you looked at a couple making out next to you. You didn’t really want to go back down there with all those people.

He noticed that you were uncomfortable by this atmosphere and said, “We can go to my room, if you want to. There shouldn’t be anyone there and you can rest.”

Some peace and quiet sounded pretty good right now, so you nodded. He led you to a more secluded part of the house and opened the door to what you assume was his room. He fumbled for the light switch and turned it on.

The light wasn’t good for your headache and you winced. Jungkook noticed.

“Would you rather I turned off the lights?”

“Maybe.” You admitted and he turned off the lights. The was a little light coming from the window, so you weren’t in complete darkness. Your head felt like it was splitting in half and you walked to the bed so you can sit down. Jungkook followed and sat next to you.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” He brought his hand to your forehead and your face started to heat up at the contact, “Do you want an aspirin or something?”

“I’m not sure if I should have an aspirin if I had alcohol..” You admit, “But maybe if I just drank water it’ll be fine.”

“Oh, I think I have a bottle here.”

He got up and search around his desk to find an unopened bottle of water.

“Here you go.”

You gave him a grateful smile, “Thanks. You should probably head back to the party though, they probably miss you out there.”

“Nah, they’ll be fine.” He smiled and you opened the bottle and drank it.

Water did help, but your mind was still fuzzy from the alcohol.

“Did that help?”

“A little, thanks.”

“That’s good”, Jungkook leaned closer and you just realized how close he was to you.

You nodded, “Yeah.”

He pushed a strand of your hair behind your ear and he let his hand linger on your chin. His hands were soft and you didn’t necessarily hate the touch. He then leaned forward and brushed his lips against yours. You didn’t respond, frozen and not sure what to do. Should I kiss him? Should I slap him away? You were confused and you couldn’t keep your thoughts straight. He figured your frozen state must have been some sort of consent because he added pressure unto your lips, which your mouth automatically responded to. He let out a hum of approval and his hand traveled from your chin to the back of your head, bringing you closer.

Jungkook broke the kiss, his eyes filled with lust as he licked his lips.

“You taste so good.”

You couldn’t think straight between the alcohol and the lust, your breath heavy and your heart racing.

He kissed along your clavicle and found a sensitive spot. You made a noise as started to lick and suck that spot.

“Namjoon.” You moaned and Jungkook stopped.

“Who’s Namjoon?”

Oh shit. That sobered you up a little.

You blushed, embarrassed at your slip up, “He’s no one.”

“Doesn’t sound like no one.” He murmured against your neck and you bit your lip.

“It’s…complicated.”

“Well I don’t like it when I’m with a woman and she says some other man’s name. But don’t worry, soon I’ll have it that the only name you can even think of is mine.”

He brought his hand to your bare knee and started to stroke your skin, reaching higher and higher—

“Jungkook, stop it.” You said, grabbing his hand to push it away, but he used his other hand to hold you hand down.

“C’mon, just a moment ago you really liked it.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t in my right mind.” Finally, your head was clearing up and you realized you got yourself in a tricky situation.

He pulled away and frowned at you, “What do you mean?”

“I…I’m not sure I want to do this.”

Jungkook brought his hand to stroke your face, “Is it because of that Namjoon? Do you like him?”

“No, I just—”

“Then don’t worry, I’m going to make you feel so good.”

His free hand grabbed your breast and started to knead them harshly from on top of your thin dress. You gasped.

“Please—”

“You’re not even wearing a bra. It’s like you were expecting something to happen tonight.”

More like Lisa told you that none of your bras fit this dress, you thought bitterly and were about to say so when he kissed you again.

He pinched your nipple and you yelped, trying to shove him away from you but he was really strong. Guess those muscles are legit.

“Jungkook, I—”

“Shh,” He murmured, pressing his fingers against your lips, “Don’t talk too much.”

You started to get angry, if he doesn’t get his hands off you—

You heard the door slam open and you both jumped.

“Get off her.”

You blinked.

You didn’t imagine that voice.

You slowly turned to the door and saw Namjoon standing at the doorway, looking furious.

“Dude, chill.” Jungkook said, a bit annoyed, “You’re sort of interrupting something.”

“I said let her go.” Namjoon repeated, walking towards us.

“Fuck off man, this is none of your business—”

Namjoon grabbed Jungkook by the collar, “It is my business what you do to my bride.”

“Your bride?”

“Namjoon, stop.” You said.

“Oh so this is Namjoon?”, Jungkook laughed.

You blushed, remembering your slip up. You were also a bit scared; this was the angriest you’ve ever seen Namjoon; he looked so scary. And hot. Wow, the alcohol must still be in my system because what the fuck.  

“I’m warning you.” Namjoon said.

“What? Obviously you can’t satisfy her if she’s coming to me for some—"

Before he had a chance to finish his sentence, Namjoon peeled Jungkook off you and punched him in the face. Jungkook tries to fight back, but this seemed to agitate Namjoon further and he doesn’t stop hitting him. 

“This should teach you the meaning of consent.”, Namjoon growled as he landed another punch on Jungkook and you winced. You realize that if Namjoon doesn’t stop now, he’ll legit kill Jungkook.

“Namjoon! Stop!” You grab his arm, trying to calm him down.

Namjoon turned to you, about to yell at you for stopping him, when he sees the tears in your eyes. You didn’t even realize you were crying. His gaze immediately softens and brings you to arms, trying to comfort you.

“Let’s go home.”

You nod, realizing that you have started considering his palace as your home.

“Let’s go.” You said softly and he teleports you back, holding you firmly in his arms.

When you arrive, he let’s you go, much to your disappointment. He studied you.

“Are you alright? Did he hurt you?”, he asked softly and you were struck at this different side to him. Since when was he so...gentle?

“I’m fine.” You said simply and his eyes narrowed to a spot on your neck.

“What’s that?”

You brought your hand up to hide it, but he took your hand and moved it away. He studied the mark, which probably started to bruise already, and lightly touched it with his fingertips. You couldn’t help but shiver at the light touch.

“I could kill him for that.”, his tone was hard.

“Don’t.” You said, “It’s not worth it.”

He looked at you, nodded, then looked away.            

“Well, I should be g—"

You then remembered something.

“Wait, why am I here? What happened to me being ‘safer on earth’?”

“I didn’t count the dangers of humans.”, Namjoon muttered, “If you’re here with me I can protect you better anyway.”

You couldn’t help it, your heart warmed at those words.

“Thank you for saving me,” You murmured, “I don’t know what would have happened if you didn’t come.”

He gave you a small smile and you could see those adorable dimples, “Of course I came for you, you’re my bride.”

A/N

On the other hand, there was a part of your powers that had been acting up almost every day – or night – lately. Your boss, Miss Black – a middle aged witch who owned the magical trinkets store and didn’t look a day over thirty – was telling Rose a funny story from the time when she had just opened her store. They were both sitting in a sunlit corner of the back yard of the store, enjoying the lunch break, while you spent your free time a few feet away from them, bent over the pots with magical plants, studying them. Miss Black had just reached a point in the story, where her regular customer, who had betrayed her and started getting supplies in another store, came back and was too embarrassed to admit why, because-

“They sold him black glass instead of Onyx and he couldn’t tell,” the words left your mouth at the same time as your bosses and both her and Rose were now staring at you wide eyed.

“Have I told you this story before?” The older witch asked just to make sure, though you had a feeling she already knew by now – these episodes were getting frequent, especially at work, since you spent most of your time there.

“No, I dreamt about this conversation before…” You went back to examining a pot of wolfsbane, struggling to survive outside of its natural environment. You already knew the question that would follow and it left a bitter taste in your mouth even before you could answer.

“You didn’t remember the dream until now?”

“No.”

“Strange… I mean it’s perfectly normal to not remember all the dreams about future, but usually they should leave a bigger impression on you than the usual ones and you should at least-“ You stopped listening to her monologue, all of it already heard a million times. You should start differentiating between regular dreams and magical ones by now. At least some of them. You should also remember your dreams before they came true. At least some of them. You didn’t. At least not to an extent where you could say you had some control over the magic within you. Like this your power was pretty much useless and you knew it – what was the use of dreaming future if you couldn’t remember it. Even when situations like this, where you’d suddenly remember a few seconds of what will happen next, happened daily, a few times a day even, you didn’t feel like it was much of an improvement. Every time you would feel like you were a traveler, who had finally found the city he’s been looking for, only for it to burn down to the ashes the next second, meanwhile if you were actually able to control your power, you could have enjoyed that city from the beginning, instead of wasting time searching.

You needed a teacher. Desperately. However there was one major problem – only another seer could really understand your power and teach you anything, and you didn’t know any other seers. In fact you had never met another one before. Even Miss Black had only met a couple in her lifetime, and it has already been years since the last one. All kinds of witches, wizards, mages and other magic users lived in your town, beings like fairies and faes, veelas and nymphs and even some shapeshifters hid in the forests and mountains around, and if you were unlucky enough to wander into the darker parts of said forests, you could even meet some magical creatures usually reserved for your nightmares. The fact that there wasn’t a single other seer in town was as inconvenient to you as it was a mystery. And an even bigger mystery was the fact that the only kind of magic users who could help you search for a seer – mediums – were also only but rare passing guests in this area. The moment you had moved there, you were excited to find a local medium and ask them to talk to some ghosts and spirits – see whether they knew any seers around. It was a disappointment, to say the least, when your searches for both a seer and a medium turned out to be fruitless, leaving you no other choice than to try and figure everything out on your own.

“They’ll be coming to town tomorrow,” Yoongi grumbled while entering the library where Namjoon and Jimin were hunched over some old book, discussing something.

“Tomorrow? What for? Where exactly? Should we disappear?” Yoongi’s increasingly annoyed face didn’t help Namjoon shut up as he poured questions one after another, amusing the youngest one in the room.

“They aren’t coming for us, they’re just visiting that magic trinkets store in town – ‘Black Cat’ or something?” The last part got Jimin’s attention, for reasons unknown to himself. “In fact it’s just Sunggyu and Sungjong coming so they’re probably just doing some regular check up. If they got a whiff of us being here the whole squad would be coming, if not more.”

“Still, why visit that one store? You sure there wasn’t anything more to your dream?” Yoongi’s annoyed grumble was enough to answer Namjoon’s question, so the latter turned to Jimin instead. “Are you sure you took care of the employee’s memories?”

“Positive. There were only the two girls working - the witch and the seer, and I took care of both of their memo-“

“A SEER?” Yoongi’s explosive reaction cut Jimin short and Namjoon’s exasperated sigh told him he was missing something. “You mean to tell me you found a seer in town and neglected to mention it to me?!”

“Umm, was I supposed to? I mean she’s quite new, I haven’t even seen her yet, but I’ve smelt her working in the back room…” Jimin looked around confused, very much unlike his usual confident self. Namjoon was the one kind enough to explain while Yoongi seemed to be seething in disbelief.

“Jimin, it’s very much unlikely that a seer would get affected by my memory charms. She’s probably the reason they’re visiting, they know that if any of us happened to show up, she’d know.”

“But… she hasn’t even seen me? And she’s not local, even if she saw me, how would she know anything about who I am?” Jimin tried to convince himself more than his friends.

“She’s a seer, dumbass, she could possibly know more than you can ever imagine. Maybe it’s not even a coincidence, maybe they’re the ones who put her here to spy? It would make more sense than a random seer stumbling into this little town. After all, they are controlling most of the seers that are still alive...” Yoongi’s words made Jimin’s blood run cold as he got his usual alfa demeanor back on.

“I’ll take care of her, one way or another.” He said, making his way out of the library.

“I hope you realize what one way or another means in this situation?” Yoongi mumbled behind him.

“I’m aware.”

The little bell above the door chimed signaling two seemingly young men entering the shop. You caught a glimpse of them before taking your exit to the back yard intending to water the lemon balms, but soon enough Rose emerged after you.

“Come to the front, the men are here for you,” the confusion was written all over your face while you put down the water and hesitantly followed Rose back inside. Except for Rose and Miss Black you didn’t really know anyone around here, why would anyone ask for you? Were you in some kind of trouble? But the only kind of trouble you could think of is an unhappy customer, and you couldn’t remember seeing those two men before.

The older looking of the two was leaning against the counter, looking confident yet stern, while the younger looking skinny one was walking around the store, his hands gloved and held in each other as if avoiding any sort of touch. You couldn’t help thinking that he looked arrogant, and the both of them oozed authority.

“How may I help you?”

“My name is Sunggyu and over there is my partner Sungjong. We’re from a special magical investigation squad and we just wanted to ask some questions regarding a customer.” Sunggyu explained monotonically, the manner of a man of law now obviously written all over his manners.

“Umm, sure, but Rose is the one who usually serves the customers, maybe she’ll remember better?” You desperately wished to escape and call Rose back but the skinny man – Sungjong – scoffed, while Sunggyu smirked.

“Oh, I’m sure your co-worker doesn’t remember.” The way he said it rang all the bells in your head and suddenly you remembered the weird encounter with the forgotten customer and that hand full of rings. An unexplainable feeling came over you and, as if some sixth sense was whispering in your ear, you suddenly knew you shouldn’t tell those men anything. Why would you even hide something about a possibly dangerous customer? You had no idea and it scared you, but you went on nonetheless.

“Well, in that case, you sirs will have to be more specific.”

“Was there ever a customer that your co-worker didn’t seem to remember?” Sunggyu pressed on.

“There was a situation where I thought so, but later I realized I was just dozing off.” You lied smoothly, deciding to not deny it all – if they had come here to find you, they must have already known something.

“Is that so? Could you elaborate?” He didn’t let go that easy.

“Like I said, I believe I was just dozing off and heard someone speaking, but I don’t remember anything else. Maybe it was one of the magical stones or herbs in the storage room affecting me. Anyways, when I came out there was no one there, and Rose hadn’t seen anyone, so there couldn’t have been a customer. Other than that I don’t remember anything strange. Why, is there a problem, sirs?” You hoped you sounded as innocent to them as you did to yourself. The lies came to you easier than they ever did before and you would have pondered how strange it was if you weren’t under the scrutinizing gaze of Sunggyu, who was eyeing your Rose Quartz pendant as if it had personally insulted him.

“No there’s no problem, just following up on an investigation, but it seems there’s nothing to be found here.” Sunggyu squeezed out a small polite smile and turned on his heel, motioning for Sungjong to follow along, which he did, without a second glance in your direction.

“Alright little human, let’s settle down and not say things we aren’t capable of.”

“Hey! I’m being serious!” You tried saying it as hard as you could, but a hint of pout managed to creep its way into your voice.

“Mhmm. Sure you are.” Jungkook laughed. “And going off whatever you’ve been singing, I’m going to say that ‘Ablatar’ thing is horrible.”

You slowly lifted your head off your arm to regard the male you couldn’t see.

Welcome to hell, buddy.

You unwound your arms, lightly gliding your fingers against his neck as you did so. The slight touch of your fingertips ghosting across his skin caused a shiver to run down his body that you couldn’t see but definitely felt. You smiled to yourself as you moved your hands lower to hover above his torso. To keep your balance, though, you had to tighten your legs around his waist and lean your front further into his back.

“Wh-what are you doing?” His voice came out breathy.

“I told you what would happen if you disrespected Avatar again…”

With that, you attacked.

Digging your fingers into his sides, you began to viciously tickle the male. Immediately, his entire body tensed up for a heartbeat before wiggling and squirming violently. All the while, you cackled manically.

“Ahh! St-stop! Y/N! Fuck-ahh-ing stop!” In an attempt to dislodge your hands, Jungkook threw his elbows out wide.

His efforts were futile, though, because you were determined, dammit. Nobody gets away with insulting the great Avatar the Last Airbender. Not in this house cave. Not on your watch.

“This… is… what… you… get!” You half-screeched, half-laughed.

With his elbows lifted, you changed course to attack the delicate flesh just below his armpits. The sensitive area made Jungkook yell even louder. Abruptly, he let go of your thighs, letting your body drop. With a yelp, you stopped tickling him and tried to blindly grab at his arms so that you wouldn’t fall on your ass.

Also, you had no idea what was beneath you and being penetrated by a stalagmite was really not on your bucket list.

Unfortunately, you didn’t manage to grasp the male’s arms in time, so you fell to the cold, damp ground in a heap of splayed limbs. Groaning, you rolled to your side and began massaging your poor bottom.

As you rubbed the tender meat that was your bruised peach, you heard Jungkook breathing heavily above you.

“That… that was mean!” He whined, still gasping for breath.

You rolled your eyes while snorting. “So is disregarding Avatar and doubting me.”

You heard him shift closer and you stilled, praying that he wouldn’t retaliate and tickle you back. You would be at a severe disadvantage in fighting him off since you were below him and you couldn’t see.

Maybe I’ll get lucky and hit him in the balls if I flail enough…

As you were mentally planning your defensive maneuvers, you suddenly felt arms snake underneath you. Then, you were easily heaved up. The action made you yelp again, which in turn caused Jungkook to chuckle as he placed you over his shoulder.

“Let me down, you heathen!” You gave his body a smack.

Your eyes widened when your hand, instead of his back as you anticipated, met the firm plumpness of what had to have been Jungkook’s booty.

“Oh, so you would rather walk around… in the dark… on your own?” You could hear the teasing smirk seeping into his voice.

You huffed before placing your elbows on his back and resting your face in your hands. “No.”

“Good girl.” He gave your own butt two gentle pats and set out walking again.

“Hmmpf. This is so not as comfortable as before, I just want that to be known.”

“Too bad, sweetheart,” he said lightly. “This is your punishment for playing around. Deal with it.”

“Ugh, whatever. Just find an exit, would you? I don’t want to look at your nasty butt for long.”

“First, my butt is not nasty. It’s spectacular. Second, you can’t even see my ass right now so be quiet.”

“Its ugliness penetrates the dark.” You began to tap your hands against his butt as if the cheeks were drums.

You had to do something to keep yourself entertained.

Jungkook just laughed and shook his head, continuing his march through the cave as he muttered about how it was at least better than that atrocious (amazing) song.

“It’s been four hours!” Tae gripped his hair and pulled it in frustration. “They should be back by now!”

Jin walked over and placed a gentle hand on Tae’s shoulder to get him to stop stressfully pacing. The younger Saeni turned and clung to his brother’s frame, who began to rub Tae’s back soothingly.

“Maybe they got lost on the way back?” Jiae spoke up softly.

Hobi scoffed and crossed his arms, the metal from all his blades clinking. “Kookie? Lost? That would never happen.”

“Hey, you don’t have to dismiss her like that. She’s just trying to help.” Jimin frowned and stepped up behind the lilac-haired girl in a protective manner.

The kiela’s spy raised a single brow. “I didn’t dismiss her. I just stated a fact we all know.”

Namjoon was quick to step between his brothers, his yellow eyes flashing with warning. “Calm down. Your bickering isn’t helping.”

Jiae turned and placed a hand on Jimin’s bicep, murmuring that Hobi wasn’t being rude and that he should listen to Namjoon.

Jimin met Hobi’s eyes over their leader’s shoulder and sighed before lowering his head. “Sorry, hyung.”

Then, they heard the unmistakable sounds of someone approaching. With a jolt, they all swiveled their heads in the direction of the footsteps, thinking that maybe, just maybe, it was their missing friends.

But it was only Suho, Mingi, and Chungha returning from their search. As the trio slowed their jogging to a walk, the kiela and Jiae still looked to them with held breaths and hopeful eyes… but the court guards shook their heads. No sign of you or Jungkook.

With a tiny yell of frustration, Jimin then looked toward Yoongi, who was lounging on the ground with his back against a tree. “Hyung, can’t you find them?”

His pink eyes slowly rose to meet the half-Saeni’s brown ones. “No… I’ve tried but I can’t feel Kook’s energy. It’s like nothing’s there.”

“The draikensu…” Tae looked up to Jin’s face, his blue eyes wide and glossy with sudden fear. “What if they-”

The eldest was quick to shush him, not wanting the worried Saeni to consider such things.

“Kook wouldn’t let any of those bastards do shit,” Hobi said with conviction. “Honestly, neither would Y/N.”

Most of the kiela nodded their heads in agreement, but Jimin ran a hand through his apricot locks. “But then, where are they!?”

“He said he wanted to take Y/N  to the cave we passed by yesterday.” The mint-haired magic user stood up and brushed off his pants.

Tae whipped his head toward Yoongi, hope dancing in his eyes, while Namjoon sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose before replying. “And you decided to wait until now to mention that.”

Yoongi only shrugged in response.

Namjoon mumbled a curse under his breath directed at the male before trotting over to where his mace rested on the earthy ground next to his sleeping mat. Once the heavy weapon was securely strapped behind his back, he addressed the other Saeni and ordered them to quickly gather their things.

“So, you’re telling me that there’s this creature… with red eyes and large wings… and your people call it Mothman?”

After approximately twenty or so minutes of you non-stop drumming on Jungkook’s butt cheeks and the male complaining that his rear was going numb, he finally let you return to his back. You eagerly climbed up, glad to not have to hold your head up to keep from passing out anymore.

“Mhmm!” You rapidly nodded your head in excitement and leaned your face forward, so it was closer to his. The metal of his earrings touched your neck and you briefly recoiled from how cold they were before leaning back in. “And it’s supposed to be able to fly faster than a hundred miles an hour!”

“Is that… fast?”

Oof, right. He probably has no idea what that measurement equates to.

“Yes, it’s very fast. Super fast. Like ZOOM fast!” You emphasized your words by making a weird upward slashing gesture with your hand.

“Zoom… fast…?” He whispered in a confused, yet amused, tone. “I just don’t understand why you call it Mothman.”

You shrugged and started to swing your legs, praying you wouldn’t accidentally ram your foot into a rock formation. “It’s big, grey-brown, and has massive wings. Allegedly, it’s like an abnormally large, humanoid moth. Hence, Mothman.”

Jungkook made a noise of slight disgust. “Sounds like something that should be squished.”

“Hey!” You slapped your hand against his chest. “Let Mothman live in peace! It just wants to fly around and be a happy, lil moth!”

“You said it’s supposed to be taller than Namjoon…”

“And your point?”

“That’s not ‘lil,’” he said pointedly.

You hummed, thinking, before replying. “Eh, it can be.”

“How in Illai’s name can that ever be considered little?”

“Compared to Godzilla, he’s a very smol bean,” you responded matter-of-factly.

“Who?”

“Godzilla! He’s this big, spiky, powerful lizard thing! And I mean really big. Like seventy Namjoons stacked on top of each other big.”

“Seventy Namjoons… whoa…”

You giggled at his wonderous tone. “Yup. He’s a big boy.”

“You know who else is a big boy?”

You rolled your eyes.

This guy…

You decided to mess with him a bit.

“Namjoon? I mean we are using him as a measurement tool.”

“What? No. Try again.”

“Hmmm… Jin? He’s got those wide shoulders.”

You felt him release a deep breath. “Try again.”

“Tae? He’s a sweetie pie but can probably get down to business, if you know what I mean.” You wiggled your brows, disregarding that he was not facing you.

“No.” You heard a sliver of annoyance begin to creep into his voice, making you snicker internally.

“Well, Hobi dresses like an NSFW enthusiast, so-”

“Not him.” He paused for a second before adding, “And what does that even mean?”

“Not Safe for Work.”

“What the-”

“If I need to explain what that means, then you’re probably too young to need to know my dear child,” you informed with a grin.

Laughing at his blubbering, frustrated attempts at protesting your statement, you suddenly gasped and tightened your hold on him in fake realization.

“Oh, I know who you’re talking about! It’s Yoongi! He radiates big dick energy.”

With a long, sharp inhale that signaled he was at the end of his patience with you, he slowly let the air out of his lungs. “I’ll give you one last try.”

You hummed, pretending to think hard before lifting your shoulders and dropping them. “There’s nobody else that comes to mind.”

“You really love being difficult, don’t you?” Jungkook huffed, which made you laugh, the sound echoing off the cavern walls.

“What can I say?” You teased, sending a puff of air to the back of his head to ruffle his hair. “You’re just not ‘big boy’ material Coco.”

“That’s not what you said before your first sparing match.” The males voice was laced with knowing.

It was your turn to protest; whining that for the last time, those were Tae’s words, not yours.

He only made a skeptical noise in response.

You opened your mouth to defend your honor more, but instead squealed in happiness when you saw a small dot of white appear far in front of you.

“You really think they’re okay?” Tae asked his mint-haired brother while brushing his damp locks out of his face.

Luckily, the rain had let up to the point where it was only drizzling now. It wasn’t enough to make Yoongi bother to convert the magic shield he had placed over the camp into individual ones for each party member as they made their way to the cave, though it was still enough to get their clothes and hair a little wet.

The magic user turned to look at the grey-haired Saeni, who was usually so aloof and exploding with joy, but now filled to the brim with worry for you and their youngest brother. Dark eyebrows drawn close together, sharp blue eyes downcast, hands fiddling with each other. Yoongi knew that both you and Jungkook were extremely close to Tae, so he could understand why the male was worried sick. The older Saeni took in Tae’s wilted appearance and sighed before subtly waving his fingers. They briefly glowed a light, mint blue as his magic placed an invisible barrier over Tae’s head that kept the lazy rain off and sent a gentle warmth down.

To other magic users, it wasn’t the most “responsible” or “proper” use of his magic. They would have thought it was below them to do such a thing, but Yoongi didn’t give a shit. He just wanted his little brother to feel better. Even if it was only by a little bit.

“Like Hobi said, they wouldn’t let anything happen. To themselves or each other.”

Tae looked at is brother and gave him a small smile and nod, really hoping those words were proven true.

Yoongi then saw a blur of orange walk up beside him and waited for Jimin to ask yet again.

“Can you try just one more time hyung?”

Yoongi knew it was useless. He had already tried to locate Jungkook through their kiela bond numerous times and each attempt came back empty. But he nodded and did it again anyway. Hands glowing once more, Yoongi closed his eyes and concentrated. Trying to focus in on his brother’s energy and location… but got nothing. Not even a whisper or a trace. Releasing the air from his lungs, he opened his eyes and looked into Jimin’s brown orbs, not saying anything. Just shook his head slightly. The apricot male groaned  in response and ran a hand through his hair, averting his eyes from Yoongi’s sorry ones.

Jimin’s chest began to heave in panic as he began to spout out how he had told Y/N to stay behind because he was worried something like this would happen.

“Hyung!”

Yoongi’s head snapped up toward Namjoon, who was gesturing at him to come to the front of the pack. Leaving a panicking Jimin to be consoled by the others, the mint-haired Saeni jogged forward to meet his leader. As he approached, his eyes widened as he took in the mass of fallen rocks.

“That’s why you can’t feel him, right? Your magic can’t reach that far underground.” Namjoon said tentatively.

Yoongi nodded. “Well, what the fuck are we supposed to do now? Dig those idiots out?”

Namjoon shook his head as the others finally arrived at the collapsed entrance, gaping at the massive pile of rock.

Crossing his arms and walking up to the crumpled entrance, Jin asked the group whether anyone saw another opening that might lead into the system.

When no one spoke up, the eldest released a deep breath and fixated his dark eyes on one Saeni. “What do we do Joon?”

You were practically vibrating as you neared closer and closer to that patch of light.

Please, please, PLEASE be a way out.

Jungkook’s back was comfy and all, but you wanted light for fuck’s sake.

As you got even closer, you were able to make out that it was an opening in the ceiling of the cave, letting in a beam of soft sunlight as well as a tiny waterfall of rainwater.

With a gasp, you pushed at Jungkook’s back and wiggled out from his hold until you were on your feet.

“Y/N!” The male called after you as you went to rush forward.

He shot an arm out and grabbed your wrist, stopping you before you could run ahead and possibly hurt yourself. You still couldn’t see directly in front of you, after all. You could only see that beam of freedom.

“Jungkooooooook!” You whined as you tried to yank your wrist away.

When that didn’t work, you began trying to simply drag the Saeni with you.

The male planted his feet firmly on the cavern floor and tugged you back to him. “Y/N, stop! You still can’t see properly, am I right?”

Throwing your head back with a groan akin to a temper tantrum, you replied, “Yes, you’re right, but what does that matter? It’s right there. Let’s go already!” You reached out and grabbed his hand holding your wrist with your free hand and tried to pull him along again.

“It matters because there’s a bunch of fucking holes in the floor between us and the exit. So, unless you want to enjoy a natural, underground slide, I suggest you wait patiently while I lead you.”

At his words, your body stilled as you pictured yourself taking a plunge down into the rocky bowels of the earth.

“Mhmmm, that’s what I thought. Now, hold my hand and waist and follow me. Slowly.”

You let Jungkook move in front of you then did as he instructed; slipping one hand into his and interlocking your fingers while the other fumbled against his torso until it settled on the tiny curve of his waist. Without a sound, Jungkook reached down with his free hand until it rested over yours lightly touching his side. He gently curled his fingers so that you were forced to grip onto the fabric and straps underneath your palm. Satisfied that you had a firm hold on him, he reminded you to stay close before taking a step forward.

He weaved around all the holes and protruding rock formations, though to you, it just felt like mindless wandering. But, minute by minute, that beam of light came closer and closer. It was basically taunting you.

Come here, baby. I’m ready for you!

Within the next thirty seconds, you were finally ten feet from the light. Squinting, you reckoned that the opening was about eight feet above you. Not very far, but way higher than you could jump up to. Then, you were plunged into brightness.

With a yelp, you quickly squished your eyes closed and threw a hand over them for good measure. “Ah, fuck. MY EYES!”

“Stop being so dramatic and come here so I can hoist you up.”

You peeled your hand away from your face, keeping your eyes tightly closed. Then ever so slowly you opened your lids, still squinting a bit. You were going to mouth off to Jungkook for his comment. He didn’t know what it was like to be in complete darkness then thrown into a ray of fucking sunshine suddenly, but when you saw his good-natured smile you just had to smile back. Crouching down a bit, he let you put one foot into his cupped hands while your arms went to his shoulders for balance as he easily lifted you up.

“Don’t drop me Coco.” You warned the male.

“For Exia’s sake, I’m not going to drop your ass.” He huffed and rolled his green eyes before his expression morphed into a pout. “And why aren’t you calling me Kookie?”

You looked down at him in confusion, tilting your head to the side but being careful not to knock into the rock beside your head. “You… told me not to call you that?”

A blush took over his face as he stammered out, “Y-you don’t remember?”

“Remember what?” You breathed out as you slowly eased your head up and out of the opening.

Hissing at having a full barrage of light attacking your eye balls, you squeezed your eyes shut again until you felt like you could peek out without dying. With your eyelids half-closed, you settled your hands on the ground by your head and told Jungkook to give you a boost up as you pushed with your arms. With an awkward squirm from your lower body, you heaved yourself all the way out of the cave and on to the forest floor. Rolling over to your back, you took in a deep breath and let your limbs splay out. Seconds later, you heard a grunt and you looked back to the opening in time to see Jungkook pulling himself out of the cave. Taking after you, he flopped down on the earth beside you, though unlike you, he wasn’t breathing heavily from exertion.

“I, uh, said you could call me that, but you were really sleepy at the time. It was right before the first quigta… I guess you were more out of it than I realized, but um, yeah, you can call me Kookie… if you want…”

“Wow. I don’t remember that conversation at all, I must have been totally out of it.” You laughed and lolled your head to the side to meet his eyes, but he was staring straight at the sky. “Honestly, I’m kinda partial to Coco at this point, but I guess I can pepper Kookie into my vocab from now on…”

“Okay.” He tried to say it nonchalantly, like he didn’t care one way or the other, but you didn’t miss the tiny smile that teased at the corners of his lips.

Cute.

Your eyes widened at the thought and you quickly rolled your head to look up at the sky and leaves too.

You are not going there, Y/N. You are not going to think he’s cute.

It was one thing to think he was hot and attractive, but cute? That shit was borderline crush territory and you most definitely did not want to go there. You already received verbal confirmation that he wasn’t attracted to you, so you did not need yet another useless pining situation on your hands. You sat up suddenly, which caused Jungkook to turn his head toward you questioningly. You just pretended to crack your back before standing up and looking at the scenery around you. All you could see was an endless green forest that was collecting and dripping rivulets of rainwater.

“Where are we?”

Jungkook sat up and rested his forearms against his knees, taking a look around as well. “No idea.”

Fantastic.

Yoongi froze when he felt a slight nudge of Jungkook’s energy on the edge of his magic. He had been randomly turning the magical radar on and off since they left the collapsed entrance, but he swore he felt something right before he turned it off again. Though he didn’t want to say anything until he was sure because he didn’t want to give the others false hope. As the rest continued walking ahead to try to find another opening into the underground system, Yoongi slowed his steps with a deep breath. Closing his eyes, he let his magic flare up yet again. Fingers glowing, he reached out with his mind to search where that nudge came from.

Then, all at once, it was as if Jungkook appeared like a marker on a map. There was no mistaking it now. He must have resurfaced.

Yoongi found his brother.

He sucked in a breath, mint hair rustling as he whipped his head up, petal pink eyes shining. “Wait, guys! I got him! I feel Kook!”

You hummed your favorite song as you walked through the dense forest, brushing branches out of your face and tilting your head to follow the occasional bird that flew by.

You heard a series of laughter erupting to your right. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Tae, Hobi, and Kookie still running around the group and weaving between trees as they played their version of tag. You say their version because instead of a gentle shoulder tap to switch who was “it,” those boys were straight up tackling each other into trees or on to the ground.

Boys will be boys, I guess.

Yesterday, after popping out of the ground like a flower and Jungkook replying that he had no idea where the two of you were, you started to wonder if you would ever find your way back to the others. Fortunately, they found you.

Illai knew how far you traveled while underground, so you could be anywhere at this point. You started to picture your Tarzan-esque future with Jungkook and shuddered at the thought of the male doing the Tarzan yell while swinging through the trees. It was such a disturbing thought that you broke out into a somewhat deranged laughter. The image of Jungkook yelling as he swooped through the trees in a loincloth being too much for your chickpea brain to handle at the moment.

“You good?” You heard the subject of your thoughts ask you curiously.

You deeply inhaled through your nose and let out a few hyperventilated breaths as you tried to calm yourself down and rid your brain of those mental pictures. “Hooooo. Okay, yeah. Just thought of something I never want to think of ever again.” With one last big exhale, you looked toward the male. “How are you not worried about finding the kiela?”

He maintained his lazy posture, just shrugged his shoulders and lifted his hands briefly. “Eh, by now Yoongi should be able to find our location through the kiela bond. Might as well just wait for them here.”

“Just… wait… for them?”

He hummed his confirmation, which made you plop back down on the ground. No point in standing if you’re just going to be waiting around. A cool breeze rushed past your face as you did so, causing some of your hair to tease your cheekbones. You brushed it back in place before laying down on your back. You squirmed slightly as the cold, damp ground seeped into your clothes, but with the sun shining down on you, you couldn’t find the shits to give.

“How long do you reckon until they get here?”

“Meh, I’m not going to worry about it. They’ll get here when they get here. Let’s just enjoy the quiet while we still can.”

It took them about three and a half hours, at least you think. You really had no clue no long you and Jungkook had been laying down, motionless and soundless. If anyone had been watching from afar, they probably would’ve thought you two were dead as hell.

All you know was that after a phat minute of waiting, you suddenly heard an elated yell consisting of you and Jungkook’s names. You raised your head with a groan but was suddenly squashed back down by a tall boy with grey hair.

“T-Tae?” The male looked up from where he was smushed against your chest and you saw his big, boxy smile that you loved dearly. “TaeTae!”

You threw your arms around the male and smothered him with cheek kisses.

“For Exia’s sake, you’d think you were long lost lovers or some shit.” You heard Jungkook grumble.

His voice made Tae wiggle out of your arms and run to latch himself on his brother. “Kookie!”

You smiled fondly at the two Saeni hugging each other when you yanked upright without warning and pulled into another bone-crushing hug.

“I was so worried!” You felt Jimin bury his head into the crook of your neck.

You rubbed his back soothingly, trying not to giggle. “I’m alright, Slim Jim. Kookie took good care of me.”

You looked up and locked eyes with the green-eyed male and smiled, though it was quickly knocked off your face when another body slammed into you and Jimin with a cry.

Stumbling back a bit, you grunted but didn’t even bother looking to see who it was because there was only one other person in the kiela who would have jumped on you like that.

“Hi there, Hobi.” You gasped out while laughing and trying to keep your balance.

“Hey, kids. Glad you’re safe and all that nice shit.” You heard somewhere over your left shoulder.

You snorted. “Thanks, Mr. Sparkle Hands. Glad you found us and all that nice shit.”

Finally, Jimin and Hobi released you and went over to greet Jungkook. You saw them grasp each other’s forearms before pulling into a bro-hug.

Why do so many guys hug like that? Is it instinctual?

You chuckled as you observed their reunion. Out of the corner of your eye, you caught sight of two males standing on the outskirts, watching everything unfold with relieved faces. You turned and walked over, smiling and nodding at Jiae and her guards as you passed them on the way.

When you were a few feet from Namjoon and Jin, the latter surprised you by reaching out and tugging you into a short hug, voicing how he was happy that you and Jungkook were okay.

You pulled back and grinned at him. “Thanks, Papa.”

The raven-haired Saeni sent you a smile back and nodded once before leaving to go see his youngest brother. After Jin stepped around you, you turned to Namjoon and did your best to mimic the forearm grasping hand shake thing with confidence. The Saeni just lightly laughed and pulled you into a brief hug as well.

“Hopefully you didn’t run into too much trouble,” he said with warm yellow eyes.

You just shrugged and looked over your shoulder, eyes landing on the male with light green eyes and burgundy hair before murmuring, “It wasn’t too bad.”

Nobody had wanted to walk anymore after that, so you had decided to just set up camp where they found you and Jungkook. You had settled down on your mat (Jimin had grabbed and carried your things while Tae had taken Jungkook’s), feeling exhaustion take over your body and mind. It had been a long and eventful day, to say the least. With Tae on one side of you and Jungkook on the other, you had been ready and eager to get a good night’s sleep. That plan had been thrown out the window maybe two hours later, when Jimin woke and began freaking out about how he felt something strange. His outburst effectively roused everyone up in an instant. After speaking with Namjoon, Yoongi, and Jiae, they all concluded that he was feeling a pull toward a draeva, something he had obviously never experienced before. Once informed of that news, you had too much excitement flooding through you to go back to sleep. There would be no more mindless wandering!  And maybe you’d be able to find his father’s draeva fast, since Jimin had a vague idea as to which direction to go in.

And that’s how the group was travelling now. After completing your morning training with sluggish movements, everyone had packed their things and set out with Jimin acting as the compass.

Your eyes darted over to where Jimin was walking with Jiae, her three guards trailing directly behind them like hawks circling overhead.

Geez, they really need to relax. Let loose with some drinks or get laid or something.

Although Jimin was trying to pay attention to Jiae and be involved in their conversation, you could tell that he wanted to play with his brothers. The way he glanced over every time one of them screamed in joy or frustration with a longing look on his face was a dead giveaway if you’d ever seen one.

With an amused shake of your head, you walked past the guards and began strolling next to them, giving them both a small wave when they saw you approach.

“Why don’t you go hang out with them, Slim Jim? I can tell you want to.”

His face flushed, and he ran a hand through his hair as he stammered, “N-no, it’s fine. I really don’t want to.”

You rolled your eyes. “Yes, you do.”

“But I don’t want to leave Jiae alone…”

The lilac-haired girl began to defiantly say, “I’ll be fine! You don’t hav-”

“She won’t be alone, dummy. I’ll stay with her.” You tilted your chin in the direction the boys were running. “Now hurry up and go.”

He sent you a grateful look and ran off to join his brothers, who screamed in elation at his arrival.

Those boys… You thought as you watched them act like fools.

Adorable fools, but still fools nonetheless.

Jiae giggled at them then turned her eyes on you, her pale blue eyes bright and wisps of her lilac hair flying in the breeze. “Thank you, Y/N. I kept trying to tell him I would be fine by myself, but he wouldn’t listen!”

“Yeah, he can be a stubborn pain in the ass like that sometimes.” You laughed before giving her a serious look. “But if you do want to be alone, just say the word and I’ll yeet myself outta here.”

She was quick to hook her arm through yours, tethering you to her. “No! I’ve been wanting to talk to you actually…”

You sent her a half smile and nodded, already knowing why. “About Jimin.”

Because why else would you want to talk to me?

Her eyebrows furrowed as she shook her head with a tiny grin. “Nah, not about that tangerine head. We really haven’t gotten the chance to know each other yet, so I was hoping we could, you know… get to know each other finally.

You stared at her, looking to see if she was telling the truth. When you saw that her face was genuine, you blinked at her a couple times.

Huh… really wasn’t expecting that.

“Sure, I’d like that,” you said.

So, you talked. Everything from describing your childhoods and the first time you both met Jimin, to how annoying it was to always be “prim and proper” around court officials at the palace. Eventually, the conversation morphed into what your favorites were. Fruits, words, plants, hobbies, and other things. She was easy to talk to, funny and sweet. You don’t think you could become super close with her, like you were with Jimin and Tae, but you could see yourself being friends with the girl. You could see why Jimin liked her.

All of the sudden, she smirked at you, a wicked glint erupting behind her eyes. “Who’s your favorite member in the keila?”

Because the gods of Illain apparently liked to make your life difficult, she asked at the exact fucking time Tae, Jimin, Hobi, and Jungkook ran past you, shrieking like people who werejust told they could stop by McDonald’s on the way home. Having their dumb heightened senses, they heard her question through their screams and came to screeching halt, their game temporarily forgotten as they looked at you expectantly.

“Go run along children.” You tried to shoo them away.

Jimin laughed and looked at his brothers, raising his chin as he met their gazes. “It’s obviously me, guys. I’ve known her the longest and I am her best friend after all.”

You locked eyes with his soft brown ones.

Try me, bitch.

“It’s TaeTae.”

“Yaaaaaas!” The grey-haired Saeni yanked his headband off and began swinging it around in victory with a boxy smile overtaking his face.

Jimin’s face, on the other hand, dropped in exaggerated shock and disappointment as he clutched at his heart. “Betrayed by my own best friend. How could you!? You wound me!”

Hobi merely shrugged, not very surprised by your answer nor the other’s reactions.

Jungkook narrowed his eyes and looked between you and Tae a couple times before huffing and stalking away.

From your left, you heard Jin’s voice shout out, “Yah! How could you, Y/N!? No more food for you!”

You froze as his words reached your ears. “WAIT! Papa, I’m sorry! You’re the best, I swear!”

“It’s too late now, little scorja!”

“Fuck,” you murmured under your breath.

You knew Jin was joking, but you wouldn’t put it past the male to not whack you with one of his spoons later that night.

“You know,” Jiae leaned over to whisper in your ear. “I really thought you would’ve said Jungkook. You two seem really close.”

As she pulled back, she wiggled her light purple brows at you.

The insinuation of her words made you cough as you felt heat rush to your cheeks. “Ah, uh, no. Nothing there. I mean, yes, we are friends… good friends, surprisingly. But nothing more!”

She gave you a look that implied that she didn’t believe you one bit but didn’t press it further.

CAN THESE PEOPLE STOP THINKING THAT SOMETHING IS GOING ON BETWEEN US!!??

It’s kinda making it harder to ignore-

You were snapped out of your thoughts as Tae cried out behind you. “Ow! What the fuck, Kookie!? You didn’t have to hit me that hard!”

You rolled your eyes and chuckled to yourself.

Boys will be boys.

Two days later, you found yourself staring at a skinny, yet super tall tree gently swaying in the wind as sunlight filtered through its green leaves. You wouldn’t call yourself a tree expert by any means, but it looked like a birch tree. The white, paper-like bark had the same flashes of brownish-black running up the trunk that you’d seen on white birch trees on Earth.

This was the tree that Jimin was drawn to, his father’s draeva. You watched as your best friend slowly approached the tree with bated breath. It all seemed too easy.

You hadn’t run into any draikensu along the way. You had been wary when you passed through a village at the base of the mountain you were currently on, thinking that there might be a spy or draikensu follower lurking in the shadows. It didn’t help that it felt like someone had been watching you all afternoon, so you voiced your concern to the Saeni. The kiela had assured you that those people were peaceful and of no trouble. You still weren’t able to shake the feeling but did your best to ignore it since the boys said it was all okay.

Jimin’s inner compass had proven to be reliable. He felt a steady pull in the same direction over the past couple of days as your traveled. Occasionally, you had run into problems when there had been a body of water or other obstruction in the way, but for the most part, it had been a pretty standard GPS situation.

I wonder if he got a “you have arrived at your destination” message when they reached the draeva because he had stopped really abruptly.

Overall, though, there had been absolutely no trouble. It just felt like there had to be some catch. It shouldn’t have been this easy. It was never this easy in the books or movies.

Jimin paused, looking up at the limbs rocking back and forth high up in the air before looking back at you and the others. “What, uh… what am I supposed to do?”

“Maybe find your father’s handprint?” Jiae suggested.

He nodded and turned back to the draeva, inspecting the branches and walking around the trunk with a concentrated face.

After a couple trips around the tree while murmuring to himself, he stopped and said, “I can’t find it. I’m gonna have to climb.”

You opened your mouth to tell him to be careful as he placed one hand on the trunk to steady himself. Your words trailed off as he just stood there… not moving.

You heard Namjoon whisper, “Ah, so that’s what it is…”

You were going to ask what he meant, when suddenly, Jimin gasped and his back straightened like a rod. You called out his name and went to move toward him, but Jungkook was quick to stop you by wrapping an arm around your waist and tugging you back.

You glared at him over your shoulder. “Why di-”

“Shhh, just wait.” He had a soft smile playing at his lips as he kept his eyes pinned on his orange-haired brother.

Your eyes moved sideways to look at the other Saeni. They all had similar, knowing expressions on their faces. You turned back to look at your friend, who’s shoulder blades were now shifting below his clothes as black smoke drifted out from underneath his hand to curl and dance in the light breeze.

What the…

You could see Jimin begin to breath heavily as more smoke poured out between his fingers.

What the fuck is going on!?

“Oh…” You heard Jiae delicately say beside you as a shudder ran through her body.

You thought you saw her eyes glow slightly.

Your eyes bugged out when Jimin slowly removed his hand from the white bark. Left behind was a mark in the exact shape of his hand, like it had been burned into the wood. Chest rising and falling rapidly, Jimin kept his gaze on his hand as he turned back to the group. When he finally lifted his head, he was smiling so hard his eyes were squished closed. Small tracks of tears ran down his cheeks and dripped off his jaw.

“It’s not my father’s… it… it’s mine. My draeva.”

You were sitting next to the fire in the middle of village, watching from the sidelines as Jimin still celebrated with the others.

“My draeva.”

As soon as he finished speaking, his brothers rushed forward and tackled him in giant group hug. Even Yoongi joined in. They all tugged at his shirt, and he laughed joyously as he yanked it off over his head and turned around. Right between his shoulder blades were three concentric circles. His draeva mark.

You felt a tear slip down your cheek.

Jimin looked over to where you, Jiae, and the guards were still standing in awe, and he ran over and scooped Jiae up in his arms.

“Can you feel it? The connection?” He asked in a hopeful voice as he buried his head in her lilac hair.

She wrapped her arms around him tightly. “I can feel it.”

He sobbed into her hair, but it was a cry of pure happiness. He let go of her slowly and turned to you, his grin almost splitting his face in two.

“Y-you found your draeva… Jimin, I’m… I’m so fucking happy for you!” You launched yourself into his open arms, squeezing him with everything you had in you.

A loud cheer roused you from the recent memory. It was dark out, but the moonlight was bright enough for you to see that even the locals were in on the celebration now. You wondered if they questioned why Jimin was receiving his mark so much later than usual. If they did, you were sure one of the boys would conjure a quick lie to explain why.

Besides the three rings now imprinted on his back, Jimin didn’t appear to be any different physically, but there was definitely a change in him. Maybe it was the way his eyes seemed more alive, the amber flecks in his irises vibrant. Maybe it was the way his skin seemed to be perfectly clear and glowing. Maybe it was the way his breathing seemed to come easier. Or the way he seemed more sensitive to sounds and touch. The way he seemed to be finally and entirely be who he was meant to be. Like he was previously missing a part of him and he hadn’t realized it.

In a way, it was true.

You tried to smile as you watched him excitedly converse with Jiae, there heads close together as their eyes drank each other in. You felt a pang in your heart, but not because of them being together. If you were being honest with yourself, you hadn’t felt any negative emotions when you saw them side by side for the past couple of days. You only felt happiness… for both of them. Maybe getting to know Jiae was the final hurdle you had needed to let go of your feelings for your best friend.

But was it even love if I got over it so easily?

You shook your head at yourself. You truly did not know the answer to that question. It had felt like love. At least, it felt how you thought love was supposed to feel. The way your heart would pound, and your breathing would quicken.

Or was I just in love with the idea of being in love with my best friend?

Maybe Jimin had been right. You needed to stop reading smut online, specifically best friends to lovers smut. There was no chance you were going to stop with the tentacle fics. That shit was just too nice.

You peeked at the unofficial couple again and saw Jiae tuck some of her hair behind her ear, giving you full view of her extended elf-like ears. Then, you felt another twang of hurt course through you. The discovery of Jimin’s draeva made you realize just how different you were. How entirely human and normal you were. You would never have elf-like ears or heightened senses and abilities, you were just… you. Human and normal and different from them. Looking at his squished eyes, you couldn’t help but think how he looked like he belonged here. With a sharp inhale, you realized that was the reason for your hurt.

You felt like you were losing your best friend.

You didn’t blame him in the slightest, though. He found a girl, his connection to Illain, and his brothers were all here. There was no reason for him to come back to Earth with you at the end of all this. Maybe now you would be the one to see him only a few months out of the year. He wouldn’t be with you all the time anymore. You felt your throat choke up and tears begin to form in your eyes. You blinked rapidly to keep them at bay, but the urge to cry just kept building and building and building. You fisted your hands and dug them into your thighs as you continued to think of a life without a constant Park Jimin. Switching tactics, you glared straight into the fire beside you, hoping the light and heat would simply burn away your tears.

It didn’t.

You dropped your head into your hands, trying your damn best to will away your sadness. This was supposed to be a happy occasion, for fuck’s sake.

Be happy, you dumb bitch! You scolded yourself, but it only made you feel worse since it wasn’t working.

You didn’t think he would, since he was too wrapped up in the festivities, but you didn’t want Jimin to see you like this. You didn’t want him to look over and see you wallowing in your tears. With one last look in his direction, you inhaled deeply before standing and walking off into the darkness of the tree line.

You fisted your hands as you stalked further into the dark. All you wanted to do was shut your eyes and walk in a silent oblivion, but you didn’t think you could safely navigate the forest that way, so you instead let the soft moonlight guide you through the trees.

You walked and walked and walked, every once in a while, stumbling in the dark. You kept going, just needing to get away and be alone. You kept going until your felt like you could finally breath. You stepped through a pattern of branches and entered a meadow-like clearing. The moon supplying just enough light that you could make admire the tall grass and wildflowers dotting the landscape.

“You had to walk fucking far, huh?”

You whipped your head to the side to look over your shoulder at the sudden voice, body tense as you loudly gasped. You relaxed when you saw it was just Jungkook standing there with an annoyed yet concerned face.

“What are you doing here?”

He took slow steps toward you, like he was worried you would run off if he moved too quickly. “I followed you.”

You gave him an “are you serious?” face because no shit he followed you.

When he didn’t say anything else, you groaned and crossed your arms. “Then why did you follow me?”

By now he was directly in front of you, his mouth slightly downturned. “You looked upset. I wanted to make sure you were okay.”

You sighed and looked away from his eyes, focusing on the open clearing instead. “I’ll be fine, I just needed to clear my head.”

He studied you for a few moments, observing the heaviness of your breaths and your clenched jaw.

“Hit me.”

You turned back to gawk at him. “What?”

“You obviously have something on your mind, and you need to work off some steam, so hit me.”

You opened and closed your mouth a few times, completely thrown off by his words. “N-no! I’m not going to just hit y-ahhh! What the hell!?” You had to jump backwards to avoid his fist aimed at your gut.

Immediately and automatically, you fell into your fighting stance. Feet planted on the ground but still light on the balls of your feet, legs shoulder width apart, and arms raised with fisted hands.

An exact mirror image of how Jungkook was now standing.

“Like I said, you need to work off some steam. What better way to do that than sparing?”

Does he ever think of anything besides fighting?

You were silent and still for several heartbeats as you debated his offer.

To hell with it. Just go punch him.

You inhaled and narrowed your eyes, readying your limbs. He noticed the slight change in your demeanor and smirked before initiating the fight with a kick.

You don’t know how long the two of you went at it, exchanging hits and blocking attacks. It was a pleasant surprise to you that you managed to land a hit on Jungkook numerous times. Either he was going easy on you, or you had just gotten that much better.

I hope it’s that I’ve gotten better.

And you thought it surely had to be that because with every hit you landed, brief shock and awe would flash across Jungkook’s face.

You were sweating, hair sticking to your skin. You didn’t have the best vision, either. It being nighttime and all. But you applied every note Jungkook had given you about fighting with obscured vision. You listened, paid attention to the shifts in the air, and relied on your instincts.

You were somehow holding your own against the one and only Jeon Jungkook.

That made pride bubble up inside of you.

But that was your mistake.

You got confident and forgot, just for a moment, how good Jungkook was.

How he was the best.

You reached a little too far with your attack.

Your balance shifted a little too much to one side.

He took advantage of that slip up.

Dropping below your arm, he sent a leg out and knocked you down.

In an instant, he was above you.

You were going to be pinned.

Making a split-second decision, you lifted your arm and rammed your elbow into the side of his jaw.

He reared back ever so slightly, and that flinch let you grab him by his straps and roll the two of you over.

Now it was you hovering above him.

You were straddling his waist, breathing heavily as you leaned down over him. One hand wrapped around his throat while the other held down his shoulder. Your eyes traced over his pinned figure, taking in his straining muscles that, for some reason, were allowing you to hold him to the ground. Your eyes went up past his heaving chest, beyond his large, rough hand wrapped around your wrist at his throat, past the smooth expanse of his neck, and further than the sweat plastering his burgundy hair to the sides of his face. Up until you locked gazes with his peridot-green eyes. If it were possible, the intensity of his stare made you breath even harder. He was looking at you in both shock and surprise, but it was the pride burning in his eyes that quickened your breaths. The pride… and something else. Something dark and angry and lustful. It danced at the edge of Jungkook’s expression. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths, as if he was trying to calm himself down or control himself.

Is he mad that I clipped him in the jaw?

Adrenaline was rushing through your veins as you gasped out, “I… told you… I would… beat… you… someday.”

Jungkook didn’t bother to open his eyes. “You only won because I let you.”

Probably, most definitely true.

With a pout, you let go of his throat and shoulder and moved your torso upright, yet doing so inadvertently caused your hips to roll against his lap. Before you could register what you just did, Jungkook’s hands shot out and gripped your waist. Hard.

You gasped as he forced your hips down, making your core press directly against him. You looked back up to his face to see his eyes open once again, but with a sinful glint overtaking his expression. The veins in his neck were prominent as he lustfully glared up at you. You might have been the one on top, but his appearance signaled that he was about to be the one in charge. Ever so slightly, you felt him thrust up into you, the action eliciting a tiny whimper to escape past your lips. Jungkook groaned at the sound, eyelids briefly fluttering closed before he locked his gaze on you again. Digging his fingers into your sides, he did the motion again and again and again. Each time just a little more forceful than the last. 

With each second that passed by you could feel his bulge growing underneath you. 

And with each upward rock of his hips, he made sure to hit the very center of you perfectly. 

The sensations left you lightheaded and gasping for air, though you were doing your best to quiet your moans. Much to his displeasure.

“I want to hear you, sweetheart.” He forced your hips down as he sent a wrecking thrust upward.

You mewled, sucking in more air harshly. Whether it was his words, his commanding aura, or his actions, you had no idea. Maybe it was all of it, but whatever it was, you liked it.

Loved it.

“More,” he demanded.

Your mewls finally changed into breathy moans as you began to meet every one of his thrusts with a roll of your hips.

“More.” He growled.

There was no way you were going to deny him. Not when he was making you feel like this.

“J-jung… ngh… Jungkook-ahhh.”

“That’s it, sweetheart.” His voice was deep and raspy and utterly addictive. “Be loud for me.”

“Mmm. I want… ngh… more!”

“So needy,” he remarked roughly.

He used his tight hold on your waist to quickly flip the two of you over so that you now laid underneath him on the soft grass. Completely at his mercy. With rattling breaths, he let go of your waist to slip his hands to your legs and wrap them around his torso. The angle allowing your core to once again be pressed directly to his front.

The sweet sensation was too much, but at the same time, not enough. You moaned his name and arched your back, wanting more, more, more. You felt drunk off him. Off his weight on top of you. His hands sliding against your body. His intoxicating scent. His dominating presence. Off his everything.

After securing your legs around his waist, his hands drifted up your thighs and past your hips and chest until they settled gently against your neck. He lightly stroked your skin, making you inhale sharply as waves of pleasure wracked your body.

“J-jungkook. Please.” You desperately tried to pull him down to you fully, but he resisted with a tsk.

His green eyes were completely blown out and they bore into yours as he peeled our hands off him and pinned them to the ground beside your head. “You need to be patient, sweetheart.”

He leaned down and ran the tip of his nose from the base of your throat all the way up to your ear, lightly sucking at the delicate skin up there. You moaned and writhed beneath him as he continued nipping just below your jawline. The cold silver of his earrings dragging against your skin made you shiver. The scorching trail of his hot tongue made you pant.

You were about to release another sweet moan as he ground against you, but the sound of a twig snapping made you cease all actions.

“Is that… oh, shit! Run, hyung! Abort! Abort! Abort!”

IS THAT FUCKING TAE!?

Jungkook, who had also frozen at the sound, slowly turned his head in the direction of the panicking voice.

“You idiot! I think they heard you!”

HOBI!?

With wide eyes, you shoved Jungkook off you and quickly stood up while tugging at your clothes and running your fingers through your hair. When you rose to your feet, you saw Tae and Hobi trying to backtrack out of the clearing.

Jungkook, stood up as well, an absolutely pissed off expression consuming his face. “What the fuck are you two doing?”

The two Saeni yelped and sheepishly turned around to face you. As subtly as you could, you inched away from Jungkook so that you weren’t so close together.

Tae had the audacity to act surprised. “H-hey, Kook. Little scorja. Crazy seeing you guys out here!”

“Again, what the fuck are you doing?”

Hobi just let Tae take the heat, and you could see him start to slowly take a step back toward the tree line.

Tae just pouted at Jungkook’s question. “I was just looking out for my little scorja-”

“She’s not yours.”

Tae ignored Jungkook’s interruption, just smirked slightly. “-because the last time you followed her alone, you yelled at her.”

Okay, maybe we all should just calm down and then give ourselves concussions, so we can forget what was just happening.

Also… WHAT THE FUCK WAS JUST HAPPENING!?

You laughed nervously. “I’m, uh, just gonna let you two duke this out. I’m gonna leave with Hobi!”

You went to take a step forward, but Jungkook grabbed your shirt and pulled you back. “I’m not letting you leave this time.”

That made Hobi stop his quiet exit. “This time?”

Tae gasped. “Wait… has this happened before!? Are you two together!?”

Realizing what he said, Jungkook let go of you and even gave you a tiny push away from him, his green eyes wide with sudden panic. “Hyung, come on now. As if.”

Excuse me?

“Oh, Kookie, you come on now. You can’t lie and say that Y/N isn’t a beautiful girl.”

“Guys…” you tried to get their attention.

I appreciate the sentiment Tae, but I really don’t want to hear his answer.

“I-you-she-she’s human and it was nothing. We were just sparing.” He avoided looking your way.

Annnnd that’s why.

You stared at him, unable to comprehend anything that just happened. Why did he do that? Why did you go along with it? Why would he do that if he didn’t find you attractive? Why would you go along with it when you knew how felt toward you? Why did he say it was nothing? Why did that suck to hear? What in the everlasting fuck is going on inside of his stupid head!?

Hobi and Tae didn’t say anything else, just blinked and looked back and forth between you and the burgundy-haired Saeni next to you.

It was painfully quiet for the next several seconds until Jungkook mumbled to you. “Don’t be late for training in the morning.”

Then, he left in a hurry; walking into the trees without a single glance back.

“So what?” You tried to sound nonchalant, but you knew that you were failing miserably. “You heard him. We were… sparing.”

Tae frowned while Hobi sighed and returned his blade to its sheath before crossing his arms and raising his chin so that he was looking slightly down at you. It was a daunting look and so different from his typically cheerful expression. For the first time, you felt like his demeanor matched his outfit.

You gulped and looked down, not wanting to face his intimidating stare that was obviously calling your bullshit. You didn’t elaborate, though. It wasn’t exactly easy to say you had almost canoodled with their brother not once, but twice. That both times left you extremely confused yet turned on. That regardless of him being a rude asshat and basically insulting you, you were wanting more. That you had no idea what either of you were doing, let alone feeling.

How could you explain something that you couldn’t begin to understand yourself?

Noticing your lack of response, Tae came up to you and grabbed your hand before suggesting heading back to the village to go to sleep. “And you can tell us what happened on the way, okay?”

You nodded your consent and he gave your hand a gentle squeeze.

The three of you began walking away from the moon-lit clearing and into the darkness of the trees. Hobi came up to your other side and snatched your free hand in his. He started swinging your clasped hands back and forth through the air but didn’t ask you any more questions. Both he and Tae just held your hands and walked in silence, waiting until you were ready to talk.

After raking your brain for several minutes for the best way to approach and word the situation, you hesitantly opened your mouth and told them what happened. But only the basics and none of the explicit details. So essentially, you told them how you and Jungkook had gotten, erm, close after the training seminar but were interrupted like how you were just were again and afterwards, he keeps highlighting how he doesn’t find you attractive because your human and blah blah blah.

“Aish, that kid.” Hobi grumbled and blew a raspberry.

You expelled a puff of air and removed your hands from theirs so you could press them against your head stressfully. “I mean… it’s okay if he doesn’t think I’m pretty or whatever, I just…”

The white-haired Saeni nodded in understanding. “You’re just confused because his actions differ from his words.”

You gave your hair a tug in frustration as you confirmed Hobi’s statement.

“I think he may just be scared,” the other Saeni with you said.

You peeked at Tae curiously. “Of what?”

Since your eyes were no longer watching where you were going, you tripped over who knows what and quickly grabbed his arm to steady yourself.

“Of you,” he replied with a smile as he helped you regain your footing.

“Why the heck would he be scared of me?”

The two males gave each other a knowing look before Tae said that Jungkook should be the person to tell you why.

You huffed and stepped over a pile of twigs, wondering how much further until you made it back to the village.

Why did I have to walk so fucking far?

All you wanted to do was cuddle with Tae and be lulled to sleep by his soft snores and the sound of a crackling fire. That was all you fucking wanted right now. But alas, you just had to make things difficult for yourself and walk eons away from the village.

You licked your lips as you moved a branch out of your face. You decided you didn’t want to talk about him anymore. You were tired, pretty much emotionally drained, and he was so annoying you were this close to getting a migraine.

Glancing at the male beside you, you coughed before lightly clapping your hands together as you stepped around a tree inconveniently in your way. “Since we’re on the lovely topic of, uh, feelings and being confused and whatnot… how are things going with you, Hobi?”

He sighed deeply and brought out another knife, twirling it in his hand.

Tae, on the other hand, drew his eyebrows in a curious manner. “How’s what going?”

Shit, does Tae not know?

You sent a sheepish look to the older Saeni, raising your shoulders a bit apologetically, but he just glumly hummed.

“I… I don’t know. He’s been acting weird lately and fidgeting a lot. Maybe he found out and is uncomfortable with me now.” He picked at his nails with the knife, a frown evident on his face.

Fucking hell, Mr. Sparkle Hands. Looks like I need to have a talk with him and his shitty flirting technique.

“Wait… what are we talking about?”

You went over to Tae, who had stopped walking in his confusion, and grabbed his arm to get him moving again. “Um, it’s nothing you need to worry about TaeTae. Promise.”

You could sense Tae pouting; he didn’t like being kept out of the loop, but he also knew when to leave something be.

You then turned to Hobi and gave him the best reassuring smile you could muster. “I’m sure everything will be okay.”

He sent you a smile back, but it wasn’t quite as sunny as it usually was. Then, he returned the blade to its home and braced his hands on a fallen log before jumping over the obstacle, you and Tae soon following suit.

The three of you walked on in relative silence after that until you finally made it back to the village. The low light of the many fires spread throughout the area alerting you of your arrival. As you neared, you looked around to see where everyone was. First, you caught sight of Jin and Namjoon speaking and laughing with some of the villagers straight ahead. You let your gaze shift to the right, where you saw the one and only asshat sitting in front of one of the fires, his arms resting against his knees with his head hanging low. The orange light from the fire flickered across his features, but you couldn’t make out his expression. Across from him, Yoongi sat with his back to you. From your angle you couldn’t tell for sure, but it looked like they were having a serious conversation since Yoongi kept gesturing and Jungkook was continuously huffing. You stilled as you watched them, wondering what they were discussing. Beside you, you heard Hobi take in a deep breath as he squared his shoulders then began making his way toward them. At his approach, Jungkook lazily tilted his head up to greet his brother, but saw you standing in the background. His head shot upright and he opened his mouth slightly like he wanted to say something, but you abruptly turned away, acting like you hadn’t seen him.

The new scene you were looking at, though, wasn’t much better. Your eyes landed on Jimin and Jiae, who were still huddled close while her guards watched them from behind. Seeing them together made you remember why you left in the first place as you felt a fresh flood of hurt stab your chest. Quickly averting your gaze to the ground, you tried to subdue the internal pain.

Tae nudged you tenderly. “Hey, come on, little scorja. Let’s go to bed.”

You let him tug you away from the others and over to the fire where you had left your things in a dazed state. You snapped out of it when he started rolling out your sleeping mat and blanket, protesting that you could do it yourself. He just shushed you and told you to wait and let him do it.

Once finished, he instructed you to lay down and get comfortable while he got his things. Following his orders, you nestled into your blanket and put one arm behind your head to stare up at the night sky. You started counting the stars, hoping it would distract your mind and make you drowsy.

Sixteen. Seventeen. Eighteen. Nineteen…

You felt Tae drop down beside you and ask if you were good. You gave him a limp thumbs up in response, not looking away from the stars, and he murmured a sweet good night before wrapping his arms around you and letting his breaths grow heavy. As you felt his arms around you relax into sleep, you let your head loll to the side and take in the empty space next to you. You did nothing but look at the empty spot for several seconds, just thinking. Then, with a deep inhale through your nose, you returned your gaze to the endless black expanse high above you.

Twenty. Twenty-one. Twenty-two…

Some hours later, you were roused from your magnificent dream of eating copious amounts of mozzarella sticks by a gentle sensation trailing against your jaw. You stirred, groaning slightly, and went to wiggle your body to the side to return to your cheesy dream, but something held you down. You were forced to remain on your back, but you didn’t think much of it. It was probably just Tae clinging to you. After a few seconds of trying and failing to fall back into a slumber, the sensation against your jaw became heavier and more familiar. You stirred once more and began to register a presence looming above you.

“I’m sorry…” You heard a voice you recognized whisper.

Cracking your eyes open, you saw a blur of burgundy and a flash of peridot in the low light of the fire’s dying embers.

Jungkook?

You couldn’t make out anything else besides him. He was all you could see; everything else was absorbed in a dark, rich black. You couldn’t even make out the moon or the stars. He was beside you, in the spot he usually took up that was empty when you went to sleep. In the back of your mind, you wondered why he even bothered coming over after he left you earlier. But the thought was lost as he brought a hand up to thread through your hair and cradle the back of your head. Although your mind was still cloudy, you automatically tilted your head into his hand to give his mouth better access to your skin.

You knew you shouldn’t be letting him do this. You really, really shouldn’t. You knew that. But you couldn’t find the will to push him away. You couldn’t bring yourself to make him stop.

“I’m sorry.” He continued to work his lips against your jaw, kissing the skin gently.

It was warm outside, though you couldn’t help but shiver with every movement of his mouth. Occasionally, he nipped at your throat before smoothing his tongue over the bitten skin, making your breath hitch. He was probably leaving marks, but you couldn’t bring yourself to care. Instead, you wanted to reach up and touch him too, but your limbs felt sluggish, like you were dragging them underwater through a current. Maybe it was because you were just brought out of a deep sleep? You closed your eyes to concentrate, but you still felt like you were lagging. You just weren’t able to raise your hands.

His sinful ministrations weren’t helping you focus either. The hot air of his ragged breaths hit your skin as his lips dragged until they hit a certain sweet spot that left you gasping and trembling. He paused briefly, most likely smirking to himself, before diving back in.

Cocky asshat… but what is he…? Isn’t Tae right next to us?

You tried to turn your head to check, but his hand held you firmly in place as he sucked harshly at that one spot. The feeling made your eyes roll back in your head and you released a delicate whimper.

“I’m sorry…” He bit down gently, no doubt leaving another mark to join the others. “I’m sorry I can’t give you what you want… it’s just that I…”

He stilled his actions and you felt him pull back.

“… I don’t want you.”

All the air in your lungs was suddenly expelled as you snapped your eyes open to look at him in disbelief. His green eyes were already locked on yours, staring at you deeply, but it seemed like there was no emotion behind his. It didn’t look right.

He stared directly at you as he continued. “Nobody does.”

You felt a lash of pain course through you and borough into your heart. With eyes wide in shock, you tried to push him off, but you still couldn’t move your arms. The more you struggled, the heavier and more sluggish they became. You couldn’t move your arms, your legs, your head. You couldn’t look away from his gaze. Dead green eyes and a never-ending blackness behind him. That was all you could see. It was suffocating.

“Even your own best friend doesn’t want you. He has no need for you anymore.”

A lump formed in your throat and tears began to prick at the corners of your eyes.

No… stop…

“Nobody needs you. Nobody wants you.”

You wanted to shrink and hide, but you couldn’t. You were trapped. Unable to move. Caught in his arms and gaze. From behind his head, the endless black background began to grow and pulsate. Tendrils of black smoke began to curl around the edge of his handsome face and enwrap his form. It moved as if it had a mind of its own. As if it was alive. With each beat of your heart, it expanded. You felt like you couldn’t catch your breath, not past your choked-up throat and the increasing pace of your inhales. You were stuck looking at Jungkook’s face as it began to crack and reveal small rivers of smoky darkness underneath his skin. His mouth slowly morphed into a small, manic smile as the cracks traveled across the expanse of his face and reached his eyes. The white of his sclera was shattered by rivulets of night as the cracks and smoke invaded his orbs. In mere seconds, the green of his irises was gone, and he stared at you with obsidian eyes. You watched in horror as he began to cry a semi-translucent black. The liquid trailed down his cheeks, some of it branching off and following the cracks in his face. It trailed down, down, down until it dripped off his chin. You flinched, expecting to feel the drops hit your face, but when they fell, they turned back into wisps of smoke.

Which then began to curl down toward you.

The entire time, Jungkook just maintained that twisted grin on his face while observing you with blank, dark eyes.

“J-jungkook…” You tried to break free from the heaviness weighing you down, but you had no progress.

His unhinged smile grew wider, causing more cracks to appear on his skin.

More smoke.

More struggle.

“Jungkook, stop!” Your body shook as you tried to move away.

The smoke was almost touching you now, dancing just above your nose, and he was still just looking down at you with dead, onyx eyes. With a jolt, you felt yourself start to sink into the ground, like the earth was pulling you down.

“Jungkook! Kookie!” Tears leaked down the side of your face as you begged. “Please!”

His unnerving smile faded until his lips were set in a straight line and he tilted his head to the side. “You need to wake up and realize that nobody wants you.”

All you could do was sob as you were drowned in smoke and earth. You weren’t even struggling anymore. What was the point? You just cried as you were swallowed by the dark. The obscuring black overtaking your vision. You could barely make out Jungkook.

“You need to wake up, Y/N.” His voice echoed down to you.

Nobody needs me…

“Wake up!”

Nobody wants me…

“Y/N, wake the fuck up!”

You jolted awake, upper body rising from the ground quickly as you gasped for breath and felt the solid earth beneath you. No smoke. No sinking.

A dream. It was just a dream…

Your eyes darting around, trying to get your bearings but not able to fixate on anything. All you could make out was blurs of brown, black, red, green, blue, white, grey, and orange. You felt a weight on each of your shoulders give you a hard shake and you blinked numerous times as you registered a person in front of you. Burgundy hair. Green eyes. Jungkook.

“What’s g-”

He gave you another forceful shake, rattling your brain. “Fucking Illai, would you get up!? They’re coming!”

Huh?

You blinked a few more times, finally focusing fully on the male and your surroundings. The first thing you saw was his steeled face, then his worried eyes. He moved to cradle your face with both hands but looked away from you as someone called his name. You realized there was yelling all around you. Frantic and rushed.

“What’s going on?”

He looked back at you and whipped the blanket off your legs, allowing the cool air of the early morning to attack your lower limbs.

The sun was just beginning to break over the horizon and you could see the other members of the kiela grabbing their weapons and running further into the village.

“You need to get up. Get your bow and follow me. Now.”

He let go of your face and you haphazardly made it to your feet as he explained, “Some villagers spotted a large group of draikensu headed this way.”

Oh… oh SHIT.

You placed the strap for your quiver over your head and on your shoulder, grabbed your bow, and dug through your backpack as fast as possible to find your daily petals. Ripping the small side pocket open, you grabbed them and stuffed the delicate objects into your mouth, shaking slightly as their magic assaulted your freshly awakened and still freaked out mind. Before the effects even subsided, you rose and nodded at the male, who grabbed your hand and began pulling you along. As you marched past the various shacks, animal pens, and structures, you saw the villagers hurriedly gathering their belongings and trying to reinforce their homes. Some were grabbing whatever rustic weapons they could find, and others were trying to help direct the flow of scared Saeni rushing down the paths. At the heart of the village, you saw the kiela grouped together as they listened to Namjoon. The leader was pointing in various directions and at various members, probably giving them orders.

Much to your surprise, Jungkook led you past them and toward a large shack that was being filled with the village’s children and parents who were unable to fight. Their frightened screams and cries began to full your ears and you looked to Jungkook in absolute disbelief as he brought you toward the doorway.

You tried to yank your hand out of his. “You can’t be serious! I’m not going to hide in there while you’re out here figh-”

He cut your words off as he yanked you around to face him and grasped your biceps. “Shut up and listen. You’re not going in there, you’re going to guard it. You and Mingi.” He tipped his chin toward Jiae’s guard, who you hadn’t noticed before.

He was helping direct the children and parents into the wooden structure. He appeared calm, but you could tell he was trying to get them to move their asses a bit faster. Jungkook suddenly gave you a shake, bringing your attention back to him.

“Jiae is in there too, part of the reason Mingi is watching it while the others help us. Just find a hiding spot and take out any fuckers who try to get close. But do not… do not engage with anyone who isn’t an immediate threat to you or the kids, okay? Don’t draw attention to yourself.”

His green eyes softened momentarily, and he opened his mouth to say something else, but you heard Namjoon calling for him.

With a sigh, his eyes hardened once more and he whispered, “Just be careful.”

Then, he turned and ran back in the direction of the kiela, leaving you to deal with a lot of panicking Saeni.

As you stared after him, you felt someone bump into you. Quickly, you broke your eyes away and reached out to steady the frantic female holding a small baby in her arms. She locked her eyes with yours and began hyperventilating, asking what she should do, where she should go. With a gentle hand and comforting words, you guided her to the entrance of the shack. Once safely inside, you turned to Mingi and gave him a questioning look. He described how two young villagers spotted the draikensu while hunting this morning and ran back to alert everyone. With how far away they had been when they saw them and how much time had passed since, they should be arriving at any minute.

Okay. Cool cool cool cool cool. Let’s keep it calm and composed, Y/N.

A few more Saeni and their children arrived at the shack while others were still running around with weapons or toward their homes. You had no idea where the kiela was or what they were doing. Hell, you had no idea what you were doing.

“Y/N!”

You looked up through the doorway and saw Jiae with a young boy in her arms looking at you over the crowd. You met her wide, frightened eyes and did your best to send her a reassuring smile as she was forced further into the back to make room for the last arriving additions. With how your mind was reeling and emotions were running, your smile might have come out as a grimace, though.

“Everyone get inside!” You heard someone yell in the distance, making the worried kids and parents stuffed inside the building cry out.

Shit. Shit. Shit. They must be here.

Ushering in the last Saeni, a father holding the hand of his daughter, you waved your arms frantically to get everyone’s attention. It took several seconds, though, as many of them were too scared to focus properly.

Once you had most of their eyes on you, you brought a finger to your lips and softly said, “You all need to stay very quiet, okay? I know you’re scared and it’s going to sound scary too, but it’s very important that you stay quiet.”

Jiae, majority of the parents, and a few of the older kids nodded, and they began trying to console and hush those who were blubbering and shrieking. Knowing you didn’t have the time to do or say anything else, you hastily closed the door and you heard someone bar it on the other side. Stepping away from the door, you locked eyes with Mingi, who gave you a curt nod and unsheathed his sword before taking up a position directly in front of the shack.

Alright, find a hiding spot. Find a hiding spot. Come on.

You did a 360-degree turn, taking in the now barren village and trying to decide where you should go. Spotting an opening with a protected back, you jogged to a nearby building and crouched down behind a pile of empty, wooden crates. They were stacked in an ‘L’ shape, providing you a clear view of Mingi as well as the pathway to the right of the shack. Your back was covered by the building itself and if you needed to, you could retreat further into the corner so that your front and left sides were protected too.

Let’s hope that years of camping in Call of Duty will come in handy here. You thought as you reached back to grab an arrow and loosely notch it.

You shifted on your feet as you heard yells and strikes of metal against metal start to erupt around you. The unmistakable screams of dying people already echoing in your ears. You lightly practiced your draw as the soft morning light was occasionally broken up by brief flashes of mint blue. You couldn’t see what was happening from your position, you could only hear the rising chaos. You didn’t know how many draikensu there were, in which direction they were attacking from, or what the kiela’s plan was. You could only stay where you were and listen. You tilted your head up to look over the crates to see if Mingi had any sort of plan, but he was focused on observing his surroundings.

Apparently, his plan was just to wait and take down whoever came by.

Okay, breathe. You can do that. Just get ready.

You felt your heart start to beat harder and harder and harder as you waited. Your palms began to sweat as you took deep breaths, trying to calm your raging pulse as the world went to shit around you.

Suddenly, you heard the sound of feet racing against the earth and through the slits in the crates to your left, you saw a smudge dart past. Peeking over the crates, you mentally prepared yourself to pull your bowstring back, but found it unnecessary as Mingi cleaved through the Saeni in one, powerful stroke of his sword. He slashed down diagonally, causing blood to spill onto the dirt while the Saeni spun as she fell with a pained cry. She collapsed and twitched once before stilling permanently; her blood pooling beneath her and soaking into the earth. Hearing an outraged yell from your right, you whipped your head in that direction and saw a male charging down the path toward Mingi.

Fuck!

Luckily, he hadn’t seen you yet, as you were tucked into the corner and his eyes were only fixated on his dead comrade. You turned your body, still crouched down, and drew your bowstring back. You did your best to breath out slowly and focus your aim despite the adrenaline and fear singing through your veins. With a shaky breath, you released the arrow and gasped as it thumped into the male’s lower abdomen. A blossom of crimson immediately sprouted on his torso. He staggered back from the impact but did not fall. Instead, he slowly raised his eyes from the shaft protruding from his body until he saw you huddled in the corner.

Ohhh shit. New arrow. New arrow!

Hastily, you pulled another arrow out, notched it, and took aim as he broke the shaft off with an angry, pained yell and began stalking toward you. To your side, you heard the harsh clanging of metal. Mingi must be fighting another draikensu. You needed to finish off this one fast and help him. You sent the second arrow flying into the male, this time hitting the right side of his chest. You watched as his steps slowed and he brought a hand up to brush against the shaft extending out from his body as he gulped for air. Blood cascaded past his fingers as he gingerly touched the wound. Metal in flesh, wood sticking out from skin, blood overflowing. He fell to his knees and leaned one hand on the ground as the other continued to clutch at his maimed body. He began coughing and bloody spit dribbled onto his chin as he continued to collapse. You just watched with wide eyes as his arm gave out and he finally and fully sagged to the ground, his mouth still trying to gasp for breath.

A defiant outcry captured your attention away from the slowly dying Saeni and you glanced to the left to see Mingi fighting two draikensu. You grabbed another arrow from over your shoulder and went to shoot one of them, but the sight of a new Saeni rushing down the pathway made you shift aim. Swiveling to your new target, you fired off the arrow. You missed. You weren’t even close. She was moving too fast. Cursing, you quickly sent another flying. Compensating for her speed this time, it hit her directly in the chest; the force of your shot caused her to land on her back as blood bubbled up from the entry point.

You heard garbled cries and grunts of exertion and you once again peeked over to check in on Jiae’s guard. He had several dead Saeni surrounding him as he breathed raggedly. Blood coated his sword and dripped off the tip. His face and body were painted crimson. From the shack, you could hear the whimpers from the children, but you were glad they were inside. You were glad they couldn’t see the carnage happening around them.

The ringing and crashing sounds of fights occurring throughout the village was still loud and clear, though you primarily heard your shaky and labored breathing. It almost muffled everything else. Your heart was frantically beating, and you swear it was about to jump out of your chest. Pure adrenaline was thrumming through you, making your hands tremble as you unsteadily reached back to grab yet another arrow.

Stay calm and don’t die. Stay calm and don’t die. Stay calm and don’t die. You repeated the mantra over and over and over in your head.

You perked up as a new Saeni began making his way down the path. He was going slowly, kicking in doors and upturning crates and baskets. You inhaled and raised your bow, narrowing your eyes on his chest as he rummaged through the contents of a smashed box. Waiting for him to go upright. You were so focused on him, though, that you failed to see his buddy turn the corner and lock his eyes on you. He called his comrade’s name before charging straight at you. With a yelp, you switched aim and messily shot at him, but he easily evaded the shot and rammed his body straight into yours like a fucking linebacker.

His tackle forced you through the crates and you felt the air in your lungs get knocked out. Shattered wood littered the dirt underneath and around you. Struggling to regain control of your body, you felt yourself spasm briefly as the Saeni leaned back from where he straddled your waist and grabbed a knife from his belt. Without a second thought, you let your bow drop to the ground and you thrust your forearm up to block his arm that was descending toward you with the blade. The low morning light glinted off the weapon. Your arm shook as you strained to keep the knife away from you. With a strangled grunt you sent your other fist straight into the male’s stomach then genital area. As he wheezed and went limp on top of you, you managed to bring a knee up and buck him off you. The action made a piece of broken wood dig into your side, and you winced from the sharp, stabbing pain. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Mingi attack the Saeni you had initially targeted, their blades locking. Heaving your body to your knees, you grabbed the male’s wrist holding the knife while he was still disoriented and twisted as hard as you could. He hissed in pain as your maneuver caused him to release the weapon. It landed on the ground softly a few feet away. Panting, you went to grab it, but the male grabbed your leg and dragged you backward. Your hands fought for purchase on the ground, but found none, so you tightened your hand around a jagged piece of wood. Splinters dug into your palm. The pain helped you focus. He flipped your body over and crawled on top of you once more. He leaned down to try to wrap his hands around your throat. Striking out with your makeshift weapon, you scratched his hands and wrists deeply. Pulling back, you roared before thrusting it into his side. He shrieked in pain and reared back. You were able to scramble out from underneath him. While he slowly wrapped his hand around the wood stake buried in him, you turned back over and dug your fingers through the dirt to propel your body toward the knife. You had just closed your hand around the hilt when you felt him grab you again. With a scream, you slashed at his stomach with the blade, knocking into the wood in his side you did so. The arc of the knife opened his gut, making him release you to clutch at the severed flesh. Breathing heavily, you rose to your feet and adjusted your grip on the knife’s handle before plunging the serrated metal into the junction of the male’s neck and shoulder. Then you ripped it out. Blood spilled out from the wound and drenched the male’s body. It flew through the air after the blade and spattered against your skin and clothes. Once again, it surprised you how easily the metal entered the body. How simple it was for the cold blade to puncture warm flesh and how effortlessly it could be removed.

With a rasping wheeze, the male collapsed forward. He died with a face full of wood, dirt, and blood.

The scent of iron filled your nose and made your head light. As you backed away from the corpse, you looked up to see Mingi shove his sword through the middle of the other Saeni. He met your eyes as he pulled the sword out from the Saeni’s body, and you nodded at him to signal you were okay before letting go of the bloody knife. You quickly scanned the ground before bending down to retrieve your bow, pushing your sweaty and blood-coated hair out of your face as you did so.

You sighed and looked at your destroyed camping spot. Most of the crates had been demolished. There was no way you could hide there anymore. That left you with standing out in the open or… you glanced up then at the few crates left intact. There weren’t many but maybe…

You hurriedly stacked four of them and stood on top of the wobbly structure. You took a deep breath and counted to three before jumping up and grabbing the edge of the roof. You squirmed, your lower half flailing, as you dragged your body onto the top of the building. Luckily, all the morning training with Jungkook had started strengthening your arms so while it hurt it wasn’t an impossible feat. After successfully pulling your body all the way up, you leaned your weight forward so that you wouldn’t fall off. It was an open gable roof, so you had to compensate for the slant. The last thing you wanted or needed was to tumble off the damn thing.

Now that you were higher, you had a much better view. Not only for defending the shack and helping Mingi, but for seeing what was going on around you. Plus, nobody could freaking tackle you from up here.

Up ahead, you saw eruptions of blue light at the edge of the village and you could make out a Saeni with orange hair standing on top of a building much like yourself. Jimin. He was sending arrows down into the blue light, no doubt to assist Yoongi. As you trailed your eyes to the left, you saw some villagers engaging a group of draikensu, but they were not faring well. They were quickly being cut down, red flooding the pathway. You wanted to help, but you were too far away. You could only watch helplessly as they fell one after another. Close by, you saw Taw and Jin fighting, quickly disposing their opponents. The way they fought was almost… beautiful. Their attacks were fluid and they moved as a unit. But there was too much gore and chaos to truly appreciate their grace. Thankfully, they didn’t seem hurt, and you watched as they ran to aid the villagers. Turning your feet carefully, you shifted to look behind you, and caught glimpses of white and burgundy running between the shacks. Hobi and Jungkook. You heard chokes of pain following their path, the two of them a deadly and efficient combo.

Turning back around, you looked to the right and saw Namjoon running down a path in your direction. His brown hair was matted down from sweat and blood and his hammer was at the ready in his hand. Close behind and holding a short sword was Suho, another one of Jiae’s guards. They were checking each crossroad as they made their way toward you and Mingi when, all of the sudden, three draikensu charged into view from around a corner behind them. Namjoon immediately wrecked one of them with his hammer, the impact making the Saeni fly back into a building and slump to the ground. He then turned his attention to the second opponent, who slid below his next swing. You sucked in a breath as the third draikensu, who had gone after Suho, thrust her sword deep into his belly. You froze as you watched her place a hand on his shoulder to steady herself as she sickeningly twisted her blade inside him. With a laugh, she yanked the blade out and kicked Suho to the ground, the light in his eyes dimming to a dull glossiness. Smiling, she turned to Namjoon, who’s back was to her as he focused on the Saeni before him.

Just as Namjoon slammed the head of his hammer into the chest of the Saeni in front of him, the female behind raised her sword. Time seemed to slow down as you watched her prepare the strike. You didn’t even think, you just acted. Notched an arrow and sent it flying past Namjoon’s brown hair and into the body of the female draikensu. The thump caused the Saeni to stagger back and gaze at the arrow now implanted in her thigh in shock. It also alerted Namjoon to her presence. He quickly turned on his heel and crushed her with a yell. You swear you could hear the crunching of her bones from your position, a good thirty-five feet away. You felt your shoulders relax slightly and you released a breath you hadn’t realized you were holding as you acknowledged that Namjoon wasn’t about to be gutted before your eyes.

The leader of the kiela took in Suho’s lifeless body for a few moments, then turned and raised his eyes to see you staring at him. Before either of you could do or say anything, you registered movement to your left. Shifting your crouched figure, you saw more draikensu making their way through the village. You flexed your fingers and shook your hand out, trying to control your shaking as you drew out another arrow and readied yourself.

Fuck hiding and waiting for them to come to me. If I see one of those fuckers and they get close enough, they’re dead.

The dark thought didn’t mortify you as you steeled your nerves for the next wave of onslaughts. You probably should have been a little more repulsed by the idea of killing these people, but you weren’t. You felt no guilt in sending arrows toward their hearts and blades into their bodies. They were trying to hurt not only innocents, but people you cared for. You felt no remorse. They could all go to fucking hell.

You gritted your teeth and breathed in through your nose as the draikensu neared closer.

You never thought you could be a killer, but you just wanted to protect the kiela, Jiae, the remainder of her guards, and the villagers. If getting your hands bloody accomplished that, then so be it. You’ll be a killer if it meant keeping them safe.

Maybe, once it was all over, you’ll look back at your actions and become nauseous and disgusted at yourself. But for now, you simply narrowed your eyes and looked for your next target.

It wasn’t that much later that you slipped down from the rooftop. It had been several minutes since you saw any draikensu and you hadn’t heard any residual sounds of fighting in that time, so both you and Mingi agreed the battle was done. It was good thing, too, because you only had two arrows left in your quiver. As your feet hit the ground, you stumbled awkwardly over the broken crate pieces. Mingi was quick to limp over and steady you before you both silently took in the bodies littering the area. Pushing your dirty hair out of your face, you squinted in the rising sunlight as you braced your hands on your knees to inspect the slash on Mingi’s upper thigh. He sustained the injury after flinging himself in front of a draikensu that was getting ready to throw a dagger at you from behind. You prodded at the wound, grimacing as you did so and causing him to suck in air sharply. Thankfully, the cut didn’t go deep, and the bone wasn’t showing, meaning Yoongi would be able to easily heal it with his magic.

You looked up into Mingi’s eyes, taking note for the first time that they were a soft hazel before sending him a tiny smile. “I’m sorry you got hurt because of me, but… thank you.”

He shook his head and told you to not worry about it before limping over to the shack that held the parents and children. He knocked of the door three times and voiced who he was so that they would unbar the door on the inside. He opened it just a crack and spoke to someone in a hushed tone before reclosing it and making his way back to you.

“I told them to wait until we cleared the bodies out, so the kids don’t see.”

You inhaled deeply and nodded your head in agreement. “I’ll start doing that lovely job. You sit down and wait for Yoongi to get here.”

The male opened his mouth to protest, but you placed your hands on your hips and raised a brow, just daring him to challenge you. Now that everything had calmed down, your adrenaline was starting to wear off, and you realized just how tired and sore you were. You back hurt like a bitch from being body slammed into the ground. Your arms ached from using your bow. You mind was heavy from exhaustion. In other words, you were cranky and was not someone to be arguing with at the moment. You and Mingi stared at each other for several heartbeats until he huffed and sat down on the ground. He stretched his injured leg out in front of him and applied pressure to the bleeding wound with his hand.

Satisfied he complied and wouldn’t be walking on his leg anymore, you pursed your lips and looked at the mess of blood and lifeless flesh scattered around you. With a sigh, you figured you might as well get started. The sooner it was over, the better. Walking over to the nearest one, you bent down and grabbed the Saeni’s leg before beginning to drag the body around the corner to start a pile of corpses.

She only made another noise of aggravation as she sent a sloppy punch toward your face, leaving her torso completely defenseless. After blocking her attack with your forearm, you sent your other arm swinging into her stomach. You couldn’t help but send her a smug look when your fist caused her to groan and fold over a bit, knowing that doing so would irritate her even more.

You flashed back to when Jungkook would make infuriating comments at you during your first training sessions to try to elicit an emotional reaction from you. It had taken you a while to realize he was doing it for a reason, to distract you and make you lose focus. You decided to take a page out of your teacher’s book and apply the same tactic to Jennie since she seemed to be driven emotionally.

And so you continued. Dancing out of the way of her attacks and antagonizing her with your words and actions. Eventually she would get so annoyed she would throw and arm or leg out blindly, just wanting to hit you in the face, but not executing it well. That’s when you would sneak in a hit of your own to the area she left open.

It felt like you had been fighting for such a long time, but you knew it had to have only been two minutes at the most. You were focused. You controlled your breathing. Maintained proper form. Kept your eyes forward to watch Jennie’s entire body for signs of her next move. At some point, you think you heard Jungkook release an exasperated sigh and mumble something after one of your poking comments, but you paid him no attention. You just continued distracting your opponent and letting her emotions direct her attacks.

“So, what is the secret to your secret weaponry?” You inhaled, and side stepped away from the heel of Jennie’s palm that was targeting your nose. “Can you go Super Saiyan? Because that would be pretty cool.”

“Just… SHUT UP WILL YOU!?”

You bent your knees to duck below Jennie’s kick and swung your right leg in an arc, knocking her off her feet.

Sweat dripping.

Limbs aching.

Muscles burning.

It wasn’t exactly dance, but it was similar, and the rush of exertion and elation was all too familiar. You lived for this feeling.

Straddling Jennie’s slim waist, you pinned her to the ground. You used one hand to hold her right arm down and one foot to hold the other. She wiggled beneath you to try to knock you off, so you pressed your weight down further. You raised your right fist, aiming it at her face and her eyes widened in panic. She continued to squirm underneath you while her legs spasmed, desperate to shake you off. It was futile, though. She was locked down. You didn’t hit her either, just waited for five… four… three… two… one…

Jungkook blew the whistle.

Game over.

You released your hold on the girl beneath you and stood up, stepping to the side of her body. You held out a hand to her, but she only huffed and rose on her own, blatantly ignoring your hand. Shrugging off her poor sportsmanship, you turned to Jungkook with a proud grin. He ignored you too, though, and addressed Jennie with an authoritative tone.

“You lost because you were over-confident. You let your emotions control your actions. It’s not that Y/N is the better fighter, she just kept a level head and exploited your openings.”

This time, it was you who huffed and pouted. You won fair and square, didn’t you? So why was he basically calling your win a fluke? Dumb asshat.

Jennie gave Jungkook a weak nod before sniffling and slunking away in disappointment.

Once she was gone, you placed your hands on your hips and said, “Isn’t keeping a level head and exploiting her openings kind of the definition of being the better fighter?”

He looked at you questioningly before answering in an honest tone. “She has the better technique when she’s focused, which isn’t surprising. She’s been training much longer than you have. You just got lucky because she was too cocky.”

“Sounds like someone else I know.” You raised a brow at him.

Jungkook released a bark of laughter. “You can mouth off to me when and if you ever beat me. Now hurry along, I need to start the next match.”

“Ay ay Captain.” You saluted the Saeni and began walking back to the kiela. “See you in a bit.”

As you sashayed away, Jungkook watched your retreating figure and whispered, “Good job, little human.”

Then he called up the next name, which happened to be Yeonjun. You gave the young Saeni a big thumbs up and wished him luck as you passed each other.

You grinned as you arrived at the spot where the others were sitting due to their cheers and congratulations. You giggled as Hobi and Tae squashed you in a hug and made you jump up and down with them. After the boys released you and you thanked the rest, you sat back down under a patch of shade to rest a bit before your next fight.

You were getting your ass kicked.

This round, you were up against some guy named Yoo Yongha. When the tall male entered the ring and greeted you, he had a shy smile on his cute face and had spoken softly. It made you think you possibly had a chance at winning again. But then the whistle blew, and he did a complete 180. His cute face turned serious. His shy smile morphed into a flat line of concentration. His soft voice changed to grunts and exhales of power as he went on the offensive.

All you could think in the moment the match started was how fucked you were.

Currently, you were doing your best to block and evade his assaults. You, ducked, twirled, jumped, shifted, and stepped out of the way as best as you could but it wasn’t enough. As soon as you thought you could breath after dodging his fist or kick, another was being sent. You had already been hit several times and fuck, it was not fun. You just couldn’t catch a break. You couldn’t come up with a plan. It was happening too fast. All you could think of was evade, block, move. Over and over and over. Nothing else. It was the only thing you could do.

At the start of the match, you had attempted to put him in a headlock, recognizing that if you didn’t finish the fight quickly then you wouldn’t have a chance at winning. Not with how skilled your opponent turned out to be. Following the steps Jungkook had taught you, you got his neck between your thighs and squeezed while lifting your hips high off the ground. You held it for approximately two seconds before Yongha had reached back and sent a punch into your unprotected side. You cried out but managed to maintain the choke until his fist hit you again. With a strangled gasp, you had released the hold and scrambled to your feet before he could pin you. Your chance at winning… gone.

Now, you were moving backwards to try to put some space between you but he kept coming and coming and coming. Never relenting in his attacks. The only thing you could do was defend yourself, but you were getting tired and he knew it.

Blocked his punch coming to your right side.

Stepped back.

Ducked below his right hook.

Stepped back.

Grunted as his leg made contact with your left side.

Pressed your hand against the throbbing area.

Stepped back.

Breathed heavily.

Tried to refocus.

Blocked his fist coming toward your face.

Failed to see his punch aimed at your stomach.

Gasped and clutched your abdomen.

Barely managed to evade his knee.

You took another step backwards but cursed when your balance faltered because of the uneven sand. Your stumble left you in an awkward crouch. Your eyes bugged out when you saw that the kick Yongha intended for your side was now in route to be gifted to your face.

Shit! You dropped to your back as fast as you could.

Somehow you were able to do so in time to save your beautiful face, although you still felt a slight breeze whisper across your cheek since it had been so close.

Get up and keep going, Y/N.

You were slowing down, eyesight blurring and muscles sore and aching. All the morning training sessions and the previous fight were catching up with you, but there was no way in hell you were going to give up. You were going to keep fighting until Yongha pinned you or knocked you out… because in all honesty, there was no possibility of you winning. You couldn’t get by on luck and taunting this time.

Unfortunately, your drive to keep going was cut short because as soon as your body hit the warm sand you heard a shrill whistle.

You were trudging down an empty hallway on your way to your room for a shower while grumbling to yourself.

“Stupid Jungkook. Who does he think he is? Sure, I was getting my ass beat, but it wasn’t over yet! I could have done… well, something! Ugh! Stupid fucking coconut-headed, limp, clammy handshake of a person!”

Yeah, Jungkook had called the match once your back hit the sand. And you were still pissed about it hours later. There was no reason he should have ended it! The only explanation he had given you was that Yongha was the clear winner before he was calling up the next round of fighters. Yongha himself had a confused look on his face while glancing between you and Jungkook before thanking you both and excusing himself from the ring. Jungkook, on the other hand, hadn’t even looked at you. Like he was too appalled by your efforts to give you the time of day.

You had been astounded. What was he thinking!? Yes, you agreed that Yongha was going to win… but he hadn’t actually won yet when Jungkook blew the damn whistle! You had been breathing heavily from both exertion and anger as you stomped away from the ring. You approached the kiela and your new friends, who questioned you as to what happened. You spat out that Jungkook decided to throw the towel in for you. You were trembling from how mad it made you.

With a noise of pure aggravation, you had sat down next to Yoongi, knowing the grumpy male wouldn’t try to cheer you up. You didn’t want to be cheered up. You wanted to hit something. You wanted to hit someone. A certain green-eyed asshat specifically.

Yoongi simply commented on the other matches, pointing out mistakes and missed opportunities in a soothing, almost disinterested voice. After a couple rounds, you were finally able to calm down to a functioning level. It was then that Yoongi informed you that Yongha was actually the number one trainee, and that you did well lasting as long as you had.

The knowledge gave you some more comfort, but it still didn’t ease your frustration directed at the match’s referee.

That frustration was still coursing through your veins, almost a full forty minutes after the seminar had ended.

As your muttering continued, you spotted a flash of burgundy hair through a doorway to your left.

Is that…? Oh, this fucker is gonna get it!

You immediately altered your steps to enter the room and you marched up to the unsuspecting Saeni, who’s back was to you as he walked toward a chair.

“What the fuck Jungkook!?”

The male turned around and groaned when he saw you. “What now, little human?”

You moved forward until you stood flush against his sturdy chest and gave him a harsh poke. “How could you call the match like that!? I wasn’t pinned and I wasn’t KO’d; there was no reason to stop it!”

You weren’t yelling, but you were seething through your teeth. You didn’t care about losing the match, per say, but you were still so pissed he ended it early. You wanted to know why he had.

Jungkook slowly looked down at your finger digging into his chest before raising his head and a brow at you. “You weren’t going to win.”

“Wow,” you exclaimed sarcastically, stepping back and crossing your arms, “glad to know my teacher believes in me.”

“You were obviously losing. End of story.” His voice turned serious.

“Maybe, but I-”

“You weren’t going to win, and you know it. Stop acting like a brat.”

“But I migh-”

Your words were cut off as Jungkook suddenly grabbed your waist and pushed until your back was against the wall. You gasped when you were gently slammed into the wood, one hand gripping his forearm while the other rested against his lean stomach. Jungkook’s hands gripped your hips tightly while he leaned in. Burgundy hair fell over his forehead, threatening to cover his green eyes which had grown dark, the pupils blown out.

Their attention captivated you and commanded your undivided attention.

“I told you to stop.”

He spoke in a low, gravelly voice that caused you to shiver. Heat began to burn through your body and linger in your core. Subconsciously, you tried to squeeze your thighs shut, but of course, Jungkook noticed. With a smirk, he forced his own thigh between yours.

“I swear to Illai, you’re so aggravating sometimes it drives me crazy.

“F-fuck off, Coco,” you weakly said, trying to gain a sliver of control back.

You still couldn’t look away from those dark, green orbs.

His hands roughly gripped your waist even tighter, causing you to sharply inhale. You wouldn’t be surprised if he left bruises from how hard he was holding you.

Hearing your pained gasp, Jungkook quickly released your waist and brought his hands up to the wall on either side of your head, completely caging you in. No escape. All you could feel was him. All you could see was him. All you could smell was him. Just him. Just Jungkook.

“I thought I told you to stop being a brat, sweetheart.”

Your mouth dropped open and you breathed in shakily. The way he spoke was both rough and honeyed. It was utterly masculine and entirely sensual.

Your head was spinning. What the fuck was going on? This wasn’t you. You weren’t one to become submissive so easily. You had to get ahold of yourself. You were a scorja, for Exia’s sake!

You steeled yourself and replied in the most teasing tone you could muster, “Well, why should I listen to a coconut head like you?”

Your attempt at regaining some control failed, though, because even though you didn’t stutter, you had to look away when you said it.

So much for not being submissive.

Jungkook growled and grabbed your chin, forcing you to face him. “Look me in the eye and say that again.”

The sheer dominance in his tone made another flash of heat shoot through you. You shut your eyes and desperately tried to close your legs again, seeking out friction to appease the desire thrumming through you. That failed too, though, because Jungkook blocked the way. He raked his eyes over you and with a hum, pushed his thigh further between your legs until it pressed against your core. You tried to stifle your moan, not wanting to give him the satisfaction, but you only partially succeeded. The whining noise that escaped from your mouth made him press even harder into you, and you had to restrain yourself from moving your hips.

But it still didn’t make you look him in the eye.

You didn’t know if you could repeat what you said if you did.

His grip on your chin tightened slightly. “I’m waiting.”

Okay. Okay. Breath, Y/N. You can do it. It’s easy. Ignore what’s going on... down there. Just look him in the eye and say it.

You took a couple deep breaths and slowly shifted your eyes back to him, but you instantly lost yourself in a sea of green. You were swallowed whole. Frozen. All you could do was look at him. Not able to do anything besides stare into his lidded eyes, your shaky breaths slowly grew heavy. With a jolt, you realized that his breathing was just as labored.

“J-Jungkook…?” You licked your lips and his eyes dropped to follow the movement, giving you a brief reprieve from his intense stare.

“Yeah, sweetheart?” His breaths became even more ragged, and he shifted his eyes back up to yours again.

“I…” You had no idea what you wanted to say.

You had no idea if you wanted to pull him closer or push him far away. Besides, you were supposed to be mad at him right now, not… not this.

He let go of your chin and caressed your cheek, rubbing the rough pad of his thumb over your skin softly. “What do you want?”

You gasped at the gentleness of his hand, it contrasted so much with the rest of him. “I…”

Your head was cloudy from a combination of anger, desire, fatigue, and logic, but his presence was overtaking every one of your senses. And it was addicting. You wanted more. You wanted him closer. Needed him closer.

With your decision made, you fisted his shirt in your hands and went to tug him fully to you.

At least, you were going to until you heard someone cough from the doorway.

That sudden interruption let you break through to the surface of your confused thoughts. You blinked then released Jungkook’s shirt and shoved him away as fast as possible.

What the hell was I doing!?

With a shocked face, you looked over to the doorway to see your best friend with the biggest shit-eating grin on his face.

Oh. Oh, FUCK. Of all people why did it have to be him!?

“Hey guys, am I interrupting something?”

You hastily squeaked out a “No!” just as Jungkook growled, “Yes, so get out.”

Jimin’s grin grew even wider but he kept quiet.

Frantically, you shook your head with wide eyes. “No. No. No. Nothing was going on.” You looked at Jungkook desperately, who was staring at you angrily, eyes still dark. “I, uh, just had a question for him!”

You turned back to Jimin, unable to keep looking Jungkook’s glare, with a fake smile plastered on your face. He only hummed skeptically in response and leaned against the entryway.

After a few seconds of very awkward silence that made you want to crawl in a hole and wither away, you cleared your throat. “Um. Yeah. So anyways, where you going Slim Jim? I’ll come with!”

Before you had finished your sentence, you had begun moving toward the threshold. You had to get out. You had to get away from Jungkook and his dark eyes and whatever the fuck just happened. Yet, you had only taken a couple steps before a hand wrapped around your wrist and stopped you.

You whipped your head over your shoulder to see Jungkook gripping your wrist with a look on his face that you couldn’t decipher. That made you nervous.

Your eyes widened once more. “I… I’ll see you in the morning for training. Bye!” You yanked yourself free and practically ran out of the room, grabbing Jimin’s hand and dragging him with you.

“Can you believe him!? Ugh! And he still didn’t give me a valid reason! Only said I was going to lose and that was the end of it.” You threw your arms up in frustration to emphasize its ridiculousness as you and Jimin continued to walk down the palace hallways.

You just finished explaining how Jungkook had called the match early to your friend, who was regarding you with an amused glint in his brown eyes.

“Maybe he saw something you didn’t and thought it was for the best to end the fight?” He replied, trying to think optimistically.

You only drew in a deep breath and dramatically expelled it before glaring at the apricot head.

Jimin chuckled and rolled his eyes at your antics. “I mean ‘Argh! How dare he end my precious best friend’s match early!? What a scumbag!” He gave you a nudge with his shoulder. “Was that better, your highness?”

You made a satisfied noise and nodded. “Yes, thank you very much. Glad to have you on my side. But speaking of highnesses, um, how was your picnic with Jiae?”

He looked at you quizzically. “How’d you know about that?”

“I saw her this morning.” You shrugged.

“Oh, well, it was really nice and relaxing. Hey… um… what do you think of her?”

“Me? I mean we’ve only spoken briefly, but she seems really nice. She’s really pretty too.” You answered honestly.

“Yeah she is. It’s so good to see her again.”

“How long have you known her?”

“Since I first began coming to Illain. She’s always been a great friend, but she’s…” He took a deep breath and smiled at nothing but the thought of the lilac-haired girl. “She’s just amazing, you know? Beautiful, kind, smart. I could spend the whole day with her and still not want to leave.”

I’ve always been a great friend too… You glumly thought before mentally giving yourself a smack.

You were supposed to stop thinking about that. You had to. It’s not going to happen. It’s never going to happen. You just needed to be happy for him.

When you realized you hadn’t responded yet, you punched him lightly on the arm. “Seems like someone’s smitten.”

“I am,” he said, a blush rising to his cheeks, “I think… I think I really like her.”

He exhaled dreamily and beamed, causing his eyes to squish close.

You forced a bright smile back at him while internally sighing. Those damn squishy eyes…

“I’m happy for you, Slim Jim.”

You were. You truly were. You loved seeing him all bubbly and blushing. It was adorable, and he deserved happiness. It just sort of sucked for you until you got over him.

“Just don’t forget about me, okay?” You said it in a joking manner, but the truth is that you were terrified that he would toss you aside if he got with Jiae.

As if he could sense your underlying worry, he stopped you and placed his hands on your shoulders. “I could never forget about you, Y/N. I’m always going to be here for you. You’re not just my best friend, you’re my family.”

He reiterated his words with a gentle but reassuring squeeze of his hands.

You smiled, genuinely this time. Family. I like that.

The two of you continued your stroll throughout the palace, talking about anything and everything. From whether or not Jimin was the best archer in the kiela (he swears he is, but his members had different opinions, especially Tae). To wondering how your family and friends were doing back home. Well, your home. You weren’t sure which place Jimin considered to be his. Regardless, it was the most time you spent together since leaving Earth. It made you feel grounded and normal. It was nice.

After a while, you cried out when you remembered that you never showered, and you turned to Jimin with a grimace. “I can’t believe you haven’t said anything about my sweaty stench, but I’m gross and can literally feel the salt on my skin, so I’m going to go take a shower. I’ll see you later, yeah?”

He nodded but it quickly changed to a rapid shaking of his head when you held out your arms for a goodbye hug. “Fuck no! You just said it yourself! You’re stinky!”

“Oh, come on! You know you want some of this.” You gave him a teasing grin while absurdly gesturing to yourself.

“Ew, I really don’t.” He laughed loudly but ran a hand through his hair when he saw your pout. “But, fine. Come here, you sweaty scorja.”

You rushed into his open arms and hugged him tight. “I think that’s the first time you’ve called me that.”

“Well, the boys are right. It suits you.”

“Thanks, Slim Jim.”

With a tiny smile, you stepped back and gave your best friend a final wave before turning and skipping down the hall toward your room.

Three days later, Jimin found himself walking through the palace with his youngest brother. The former was on his way to meet Jiae for an evening walk through the courtyard while Jungkook was hungry and wanted to make himself a sandwich in the kitchens. They ran into each other on their respective routes and decided to walk together since they hadn’t seen each other much since arriving at the palace.

They were almost to the exit that opened up to the courtyard paths, so Jimin decided to investigate a bit before he and Jungkook parted ways.

“So… Y/N told me you stopped her match early the other day. She wasn’t too happy about that.” Jimin look at his brother out of the corner of his eye and caught the younger’s exasperated eye roll.

“Trust me, I know.”

“Why’d you stop it?”

The duo rounded a corner, but Jungkook suddenly stopped and crossed his arms defiantly. “She wasn’t going to win. She was just going to injure herself.”

Jimin followed suit, stopping as well and looking Jungkook in the eye questioningly. “Since when did you care?”

The green-eyed Saeni scoffed and looked away. “I don’t.”

“Mhmm. Sure Jan.”

“The fuck does that mean, hyung?” Jungkook faced his brother once again and narrowed his eyes.

“It means I’m calling your bullshit.”

“It’s n-”

“Shut up and listen because I’m only going to say this once.” Jimin was quick to speak over Jungkook in a serious tone. “You’re my brother, Kook, and I’ll always love you, but if you hurt her I’m going to beat your ass.”

“Of course she’s going to get hurt. You know how training is, Chim.”

“I’m not talking about training…”

“Then what the fuck are you talking about? We get along fine now. Really well, actually. And I don’t yell at her anymore.” Jungkook was starting to get annoyed with the conversation.

He just wanted his damn sandwich.

The burgundy-haired Saeni sighed, picturing himself biting into the most beautiful and tasty sandwich to ever grace Illain. Shamefully, the heavenly image was quickly shattered due to Jimin raising his voice suddenly.

“You used to yell at her!?”

Jungkook saw the anger in his hyung’s eyes and widened his own. Jimin may be smaller than him, but Illai knows that he’s downright terrifying when upset.

Jungkook laughed nervously, food briefly forgotten, while rubbing the back of his neck. “Ah, fuck. Um, so, I might’ve yelled at her this one time while you were getting kidnapped.”

The male suddenly became quite interested in the ornate carvings on the walls, doing his best to avoid Jimin’s murderous glare.

“Yeah… do that again and I’m sending an arrow straight to your balls.” Jimin ran a hand through his apricot-colored locks. “But that’s not what I’m talking about either.”

It was silent for several heartbeats as Jungkook wondered what Jimin could possibly be referring to. On the other hand, Jimin waited patiently for his point to get through his brother’s handsome, but oftentimes dense, coconut of a head.

Finally, it clicked.

With green eyes wide in utter disbelief, Jungkook whipped his head back to Jimin. “Oh my goddess, you think I like her?” He chuckled dryly at the, in his opinion, ridiculous thought. “For Exia’s sake, she’s human. I could never like her.”

“Sure, Kookie, keep telling yourself that.” Jimin patted the younger male on his shoulder in a pitying way. “Just remember what I said.”

“Yeah, whatever.” Jungkook shrugged the hand off in annoyance. “You better get going, Chim. Your princess is probably waiting for you.”

After the elder jogged away to meet Jiae, Jungkook huffed and turned around, walking back the way they had come. In the opposite direction of the kitchens. The conversation had effectively caused the Saeni to lose his appetite. His perfect sandwich would have to wait for another day.

You were walking through the palace, admiring the construction, carvings, and décor while making your way to the kitchens for a snack. It amazed you how something like this had been created. You let out a sigh of wonder as you tilted your head back to look at all the beautiful lanterns hanging from the tall ceiling. Doing so made you groan, though. Your neck, and every other inch of your body, was sore as hell. Because after the seminar, Jungkook decided to bump up your training.

“Since we aren’t walking all day anymore, I want to increase your sessions to three hours, twice a day.”

“Oh, dear lord,” you mumbled to yourself but then shrugged. “Alright, sounds good. It’s not like I have anything better to do, so might as well.”

“It wasn’t a suggestion.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know.” You waved him off and continued your stretches.

You tilted your head to the side to watch the Saeni out of the corner of your eye as he fiddled with the straps on his armor. You hadn’t brought up what happened yesterday when you arrived this morning, and thankfully, neither did he. It wasn’t awkward between the two of you, but it was apparent that it was a topic neither of you wanted to discuss.

Hallelujah. You gotta love the little things in life.

But while you watched him, you had to admire his figure. How lean and muscular it was. How powerful it was. How it had felt to be pressed against you. How those hands had felt while holding you. You wondered how it would feel if-

Nope. Nope. No. Absolutely not. We are not going there, Y/N.

You forced yourself to look away and finish your stretches, making sure to only look at the ground, the trees, or the sky.

“But that’s not what I’m talking about either.”

You were brought out of your memories when you heard Jimin’s voice echo down the hallway. It sounded liked he was up ahead around the corner. You gleefully approached, not having seen your best friend since he interrupted you and Jungkook’s… moment a few days ago. Quickly, you shook your head, not wanting to think about it again. You had just reached the corner and was about to turn it when a second voice made you pause.

“Oh my goddess, you think I like her?”

Jungkook.

Who are they talking about? You crept closer to the corner’s edge like the eavesdropper you were.

“For Exia’s sake, she’s human. I could never like her.”

Your breathing stopped while your eyes widened and your body stilled. They were talking about you. You didn’t even hear the rest of their conversation as you slowly backed away, you were too busy replaying Jungkook’s words in your head.

I could never like her. I could never like her. I could never like her.

Abruptly, you pivoted and briskly walked back the way you came. You could feel your chest rising and falling rapidly. Your breaths growing uneven.

I could never like her.

Disappointment blossomed in your heart and you felt it spread throughout your entire body.

I could never like her.

Your hands began to tremble slightly as the disappointment transformed into hurt.

I could never like her.

Fuck, why does it hurt?

You ducked into an open doorway, relieved to see that the dim room was empty. Letting your back hit the wall, you slid down until you were fully seated on the floor, legs tucked in close. You wrapped your arms around your bent legs and allowed your head to droop until you were completely curled into yourself.

I could never like her.

I could never like her.

I could never like her.

Why does it hurt so much?

You had truly thought that you and Jungkook had become friends. You had thought that all the bullshit and hate was behind you guys. You thought that his jokes and teasing came from a good place. You though that his smiles and laughs were genuine. Yes, you still bickered like crazy and considered him a grade-A asshole, but… but you… you had thought…

I guess it was all an act…

Brushing a bundle of leaves out of your face, you squinted in the low light until you were able to see a group of figures huddled together up ahead. The kiela.

You heard other quiet hellos as you meandered over to them, but you only grumbled and lazily saluted in return. You were way too tired to provide a livelier response.

You rubbed your eyes once more, wiping away some of the leftover sleep goop you had missed earlier.

“Good morning, little human.”

Annnnnnd just like that, you felt like a bucket of ice-cold water was dumped over your head, fully waking you up.

I could never like her.

Fuck. Him.

You weren’t even upset anymore. You were just done. Done with him and whatever dumb game he was playing. He could continue playing the fake nice guy, but you weren’t going to waste any more of yoru energy on him.

At least, that’s what you kept telling yourself.

“Hi,” you said in a disinterested, but mostly angry, tone while walking past him.

You didn’t even spare a glance his way.

“Well, someone’s grumpy this morning,” he teased, but his soft smile morphed into a frown when you never quipped back.

You leaned back against a tree while taking off your backpack and beginning to rummage through it to double-check you had everything. The act would have been normal, if not for the aggressive way you shoved things aside as you dug through the contents. Being so focused on the task, you missed the looks of concern and nervous “what the fucks” the others sent your way.

Tae, being the angel he is, gingerly approached your huffing form and placed a hand on your shoulder.

“Everything okay…?”

You jumped at his voice, darting your head up with narrowed eyes, but relaxed when you saw it was only your friend. Your actual friend.

“Yeah. I’m perfectly fine,” you replied in a tight voice as you swept your eyes over the group, only counting five Saeni and one asshole. “Where’s Slim Jim?”

“On his way… Y/N, I’m not going to push you, but I can tell you’re not fine.” He spoke gently, worried about you.

It would be so easy to tell him. To let him know that Jungkook was a liar. But you didn’t.

Instead, you looked away from Tae’s soft eyes and said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Okay.” Tae hung his head and stepped back from you, understanding that you weren’t going to talk about it.

You felt horrible. You hated seeing him look glum like that, but you weren’t going to talk shit about his brother to his face. Whatever game Jungkook was playing was between the two of you. You wouldn’t drag the others into it.

As your grey-haired friend retreated, Jungkook continued frowning in your direction. You, on the other hand, did all you could to avoid looking at the burgundy-haired Saeni as you continued to rummage through your bag. Satisfied you had all your belongings, you yanked the zipper closed and shouldered the backpack before walking over to Namjoon and Jin.

“Hey, Y/N.” Namjoon welcomed you with a dimpled smile.

You sent him a half-smile back before tilting your head to the side and asking, “So, I know we’re trying to find Jimin’s dad’s tree, but how the heck are we supposed to do that when nobody knows where it is?”

Jin’s dark brown eyes regarded you quizzically. “Nobody told you she’s coming?”

“She?” It was your turn to look confused.

“Princess Jiae.”

“Huh? Why would she be coming? Isn’t that a liability to the throne?”

Namjoon took over the reins, his yellow eyes glowing bright in the lantern light. “She might be able to help up find the draeva so she’s coming too.”

“Uh… what now?”

Does she have a draeva GPS or something?

“She was born on the spring equinox, so she can channel Illain’s energy.”

“Like Yoongi,” Jin added.

“Yes,” Namjoon nodded at his brother before turning back to you, “but not exactly in the same way.”

Apparently, the lilac-haired female was able to sense the connection between a Saeni and their respective draeva as well the strength of the connection. She could even identify where the tree was located and what species it was just by touching the person. Although Jimin did not have a direct connection to his father’s tree, both the king and Namjoon believed that due to the unique qualities of Jimin’s bloodline, there might be a chance for Jiae to feel a connection. Therefore, the princess as well as three court guards would be accompanying you and the kiela.

“So you’re telling me the plan is stroll through the forest until either Jimin or Jiae feel a pull in a particular direction and we just hope for the best?”

Both Saeni grimaced, “Well, when you put it like that it sounds pretty bad… but yeah, that’s basically the plan.”

Great.

Sure enough, as soon as both boys winced under your skeptical gaze, you heard the sound of footsteps approaching. With a sigh, you turned around and saw your best friend, Jiae, and three randos walking up to the group.

You didn’t miss how close Jimin and Jiae were, their arms were pressed against each other. Though, the second Jiae locked eyes with you, she left Jimin’s side and ran up to you, grabbing your hands.

Your eyes widened as you looked into her pale blue ones up close. “Uh…”

“Y/N! You have no idea how happy I am that you’re going to be with us!” She smiled and leaned in to whisper in your ear. “This would have been such a sausage party otherwise.”

She said it with such honest enthusiasm, you couldn’t help but snort and smile back.

“Ya! I could hear that, you know!” Jin protested.

Jiae sent him a wink. “I know.”

You began to flat out laugh at her playful retort and Jin’s gaping face. Namjoon simply shook his head with a small, lopsided grin.

“I mean it though, Y/N. I’m glad you’re here. I’m looking forward to getting to know you better.” Jiae gave your hands a final squeeze and rushed back to Jimin and her guards, lilac hair trailing behind her like a banner.

As you watched her talk animatedly to your best friend, you found yourself thinking optimistically.

Maybe it won’t hurt to get to know her.

It was now late morning, and you were still walking underneath the sun, shade, and trees by yourself. You had been ever since you all left the palace hours ago. But it was by choice.

You just wanted to be alone today.

Between Jungkook sending confused frowns your way, Jimin and Jiae continuously brushing hands and giggling, the court guards (whose names you learned were Suho, Mingi, and Chungha) being the most stiff and unrelaxed people you’d ever come across, and countless other reasons, you were feeling overwhelmed. You needed some space.

You didn’t feel that excited for the trip anymore. Nor mad, upset, sad, or happy. You just sort of felt empty…

Not even the sun shining through the leaves onto your face was making you smile today.

You took the time alone to process your thoughts and feelings toward everything. How you felt about Jimin and Jiae. How you felt about Jimin in general. If you should confront Jungkook. If you should continue your lessons with him. Whether or not you should have stayed back at the palace. If you should have ever come to Illain in the first place.

You sighed and rubbed your temples while stepping over a fallen tree.

Be happy for Jimin. Move on from him. Ignore the asshat. Continue the lessons so you can beat the asshat one day and rub it in his face. You should be here. On this mission and in Illain. You are not a liability or a burden. You can help.

While you were lost in your head, Tae kept glancing at you in concern as he walked with Jungkook. He so badly wanted to walk with you. He wanted to cheer you up. But you told him earlier that you were in a mood and it was best to leave you be for a while. As much as he didn’t want to leave you alone, he was going to respect your wishes. The blue-eyed Saeni had to sternly tell his youngest brother to do the same, though, because Jungkook kept wanting to go up to you and demand what was wrong.

You sighed pitiably again and looked up at the swaying trees, hoping they would reveal something that would help you sort through your shit.

“You better watch where you’re going or else you’ll stub your toe or whack your face into a tree.”

You darted your eyes back down to see a mint-haired Saeni strutting next to you.

“Yoongi…” You looked down at your feet while you grimaced internally, unsure how to tell him to politely leave.

He quickly held his hands up. “I’m not here to pry. Trust me, I know what it looks like when someone doesn’t want to talk. I’ve been there enough times myself.” He released a soft, self-deprecating chuckle before continuing. “But I also know it’s sometimes nice to have a distraction from your thoughts.”

You turned your head to stare at him, but he was facing forward, his pink eyes trained on the terrain ahead.

You hummed, mentally debating his offer before replying. “Okay, I’ll bite. Distract me then, Mr. Sparkle Hands.”

That made him shift his attention to you and you almost giggled at the withering glare his petal pink eyes directed toward you. Almost.

He suddenly brought his face forward again and you just about missed the way his eyes softened as he hesitantly spoke in a very quiet voice. “There’s… uh, there’s this person that I like. That I care about.”

Oh… OH SHIT. HE BETTER BE TALKING ABOUT MY MAN HOBI.

Contrary to how you were internally screaming, you waited patiently for him to finish. “I don’t know if they care about me in the same way I care for them. I think they only like me as a friend. But I figured you’d be the best person to ask for advice since you’re female.”

Wait… female!?

You coughed to hide your shock. “Oh, um… I’m glad you trust me to help. She’s uh… she’s going to be really lucky to have you.”

Hobi… I’m so sorry…

His mint hair swayed as his head whipped around to look at you as his eyes went wide. “She?” He laughed to himself while shaking his head and then looking down at his hands. “I don’t like girls, Y/N.”

You let out a breath you hadn’t realized you were holding. Oh, thank the gods.

Smiling at the male, you corrected your statement. “Well, he is going to extremely lucky to have you.”

He sent a closed-lipped smile to his hands as he walked around a sapling.

“But why do you want a female’s advice then?”

He stopped his feet and deadpanned at you. “You’re seriously going to ask me that when you know the only other option is these idiots?” He gestured to the group spread out around you.

“I… yeah, that’s a good point. They don’t know shit about romance.” You released a bark of laughter as you ducked underneath a tree branch. “You really did have me confused for a second there, though.”

He hummed in puzzlement, so you elaborated and described how you’ve seen the way he talks about and acts around a certain someone, causing him to blush and look away.

“I know what it looks like when you care for someone from a far.” You echoed his own words from before as you nudged his shoulder with yours. “I’ve been there enough times myself.”

The Saeni slowly nodded and tilted his head to the right… exactly in the direction where Jimin was walking. “With him, right?”

You blanched and went to open your mouth to deny it, but he cut you off with a knowing side eye. “Don’t even try. I’m not blind, and we can all see it… well, everyone but him apparently. Dumbass.”

Your shoulders sagged in defeat. “Fine. You’re right. But I’m… I’m trying to get over it. Over him.”

You didn’t bother asking him to not say anything. If he hadn’t by now, you figured he wasn’t going to.

“Enough of that, though! We are here to talk about you not me!” You abruptly threw your arms out dramatically in front of you to visually clarify the topic change.

And so you walked on with Yoongi alongside you, discussing ways for him to possibly confess to his crush. Not once did he ever name exactly who it was, and you never inquired. You were already 99% sure you knew who it was, and you didn’t want to make the magic-user uncomfortable and leave. You could tell he was already embarrassed talking about it to begin with.

Most of your ideas he immediately shot down or complained that they were too fluffy. Regardless, his distraction turned out to be just what you needed to feel better and forget your troubles for a while. He made you laugh and giggle and focus on something positive.

Once again, you found yourself thanking the one and only Mr. Sparkle Hands.

Fortunately, everyone else was too far away to hear you and Yoongi’s hushed conversation. Actually, majority of the group wasn’t even paying a lick of attention to the two of you. Everyone except for two Saeni.

As Tae watched you interact with his brother, his blue eyes brightened. He was so glad that Yoongi was able to help you feel better.

The same couldn’t be said for the Saeni next to Tae. Jungkook was glowering at Yoongi, wondering what made him so damn special. What allowed his hyung to go up to you when he couldn’t. He rolled his eyes when he saw you fold over in laughter for the umpteenth time.

Noticing Jungkook’s agitation, Tae tapped his shoulder. “What’s wrong Kookie?”

“Nothing. I’m fine.” The younger Saeni spat out before huffing and quickening his pace, leaving a confused Taehyung staring after him.

“What’s going on with everyone today?”

You notched an arrow and drew back, breathing evenly as you focused on the target carved into the trunk about 20 yards ahead of you. You were almost finished with your training for the day; you probably needed to send two more arrows before Jungkook called it.

You managed to avoid interacting with him for most of the morning. Every time he asked a question, you would curtly respond, but not look at him. For every technique he demonstrated, you would gaze solely at the part of his body showcasing the move.

You could tell he wasn’t exactly happy about it.

Screw him.

Thirty minutes ago, he had instructed you to practice shooting. You hadn’t given him a verbal response but had immediately picked up your bow and silently waited while he etched a circular target into a trunk.

As you raised your elbow just a wee bit higher to steady your aim, you heard him hesitantly speak up. “Did you, um, did you sleep well last night?”

No. “Yes.”

“Oh, that’s good. So… what were you and Yoongi hyung talking about yesterday?”

“None of your business.” You replied in a short tone.

You slowly breathed out and released the bow’s string, sending the arrow flying until it thumped just left of the center of the target. You smiled to yourself. Your aim had gotten better. Much better.

Jungkook sighed, frustration leaking into his demeanor. “Why are you avoiding me?”

“I’m not.”

“You didn’t sit next to me last night during dinner.”

That was true. Recently, you had taken to sitting in between Tae and Jungkook while eating, but not anymore. Last night, you walked past your normal dinner buddies, approached the court guards, and spoke with them while eating. Well, you tried to. They were insanely boring, and the number of times they interrupted the conversation to check in with the princess made you want to rip your hair out. You understood that it was their job and all, but damn they needed to relax a little.

You pulled another arrow out of your quiver, scoffing at the Saeni’s words before muttering, “Wow. Someone better call the police.”

“Stop ignoring me!”

“I am literally responding to you.”

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw his hand start to creep down toward his dagger, but he stopped halfway and instead ran a hand through his burgundy hair.

“Sweetheart, what’s been going on with you?” He almost sounded desperate now.

Anger began to bubble up inside of you, making you sheathe the arrow and finally address him directly. “Don’t call me that.”

“What?” His green eyes met yours in shock.

“You always talk about your superior hearing and shit, so I know you heard me.”

“Okay,” he looked at you with drawn eyebrows, his face half in and out of the morning sunlight, “what the fuck is up with you?”

“Stop pretending to be my friend Jungkook.” You aggravatingly tapped your fingers against your bow, appalled that he was still keeping up his stupid act.

“Um, but we are friends…?”

You laughed humorlessly and rolled your eyes. “Friends don’t say the shit you said.”

“And what might that be? Because I have no idea what you’re talking about and I’m getting tired of your attitude.” You saw his hand sneak down and, this time, fully grip the ruby hilt of his dagger.

You sneered at his action while crossing your arms defensively. “I overhead you, Jungkook. When you were talking with Jimin back at the palace.”

His green eyes widened in what appeared to be panic. “Y-you heard-”

“Yes, asshole. I heard you blatantly say you don’t like me. ‘She’s human. I could never like her,’ to be exact.” You’re anger suddenly dissolved and you looked down at your crossed arms. “It’s fine. Just… stop pretending, okay?”

“Wait… that’s all you heard?”

You snapped your head up and sent him a weak glare. “If there were other insults I missed I don’t really want to hear them.”

“No! Oh my goddess, no. You have it all wrong.” He let go of the dagger strapped to his side and began toying with the straps of his armor.

You couldn’t help your disbelieving snort at his words. “Oh, do I?”

“Jimin thought… um…” the male began to blush, and he reached up to rub the back of his neck. “He thought I liked-liked you. Like I was crushing on you.”

Huh!?

“That’s why I said that. I like you as a person, Y/N, but I could never like you, you know… romantically.” He avoided your dumbfounded gaze and focused on the tree leaves floating above his head.

So, he did like you… but just as a friend. You didn’t know how to feel about that. On one side, it was relieving to hear that he wasn’t faking his friendliness to you. But on the other, it was still kind of crappy to hear that it was apparently absurd for him to think of you as more than a friend.

But then why…

Your eyebrows furrowed as you thought back to past interactions with the male. You could have sworn he had felt at least some sort of attraction to you. If anything, you thought he had felt at least sexual attraction to you. Especially with how he’d acted after the training seminar. But what if it had all been in your head? Had you just projected your unfulfilled feelings toward Jimin onto Jungkook? Or did Jungkook act that way with every female he came across?

“I’m just not attracted to you like that. Because you’re… human.”

“O-oh… right. Of… of course!” You laughed awkwardly before dropping your head and clearing your throat. “I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions. I really shouldn’t have done that.”

Jungkook lowered his gaze back to you and sighed before making his way over and bringing a finger underneath your chin to raise your head. “That’s why we shouldn’t eavesdrop, sweetheart. I’m glad we were able to clear it up, though.”

You punched his shoulder lightly but still hard enough to make his hand fall from your chin. “I didn’t listen in on purpose!”

A smile teased at his lips. “Mhmm. Sure.”

“Ugh, whatever. But likewise, I don’t think I could ever be attracted to a coconut-headed asshat.

I’m such a liar.

His green eyes widened a fraction before narrowing and his transformed into a smirk. “Please, you’d be blessed by the mother goddess if you ever got lucky enough to have a piece of this ass.” He crossed his arms and looked at you expectantly.

You leaned to the side to get a nice eyeful of his firm, perky bubble butt. “Well, it is a nice ass…”

He raised his chin and his smirk grew even more cocky, so you decided to knock him down a peg or two. “But not as nice as mine. Don’t think I’ve forgotten how much you like my gremlin booty.”

His face instantly fell, and he grumbled out how he was delirious from dehydration when he said that.

“Sure, Coco, sure.” You released a stream of giggles and left to go retrieve your arrows from where they were embedded in the tree.

It amazed you how fast the two of you fell back into your usual banter. The complexities of your relationship were one of the most exciting, exhilarating, and exhausting things you’d ever experienced. But you were glad to be on good terms with him again. Yes, you were embarrassed and felt like shit for the way you had been treating him, but you hoped that both of you could forget about it and move on.

However, as you tugged arrow after arrow out from the wood, you found yourself thinking about his explanation. How he said he could never be attracted to you because you were human. What did that mean exactly?

And why does it hurt to hear? It’s not like I like him. I like Jimin… right?

You shook your head and placed the arrows back into your quiver. Your ego was probably just a bit bruised. You would get over it. Nodding to yourself, you made sure all the arrows were secured before turning around and heading back to a grinning Jungkook.

Amarok sat back in his chair while he lazily watched two of his wolves tear apart one of the messengers who had brought him such displeasing news. His third and final wolf was still snarling in the face of the second messenger as she shook with absolute fear. The image of her friend being gouged by teeth and claw was imprinted behind her eyelids. The sounds of his broken screams while he was mauled rang in her ears. The blood that spattered across her face when his limbs were ripped away from his body stained her skin. Her breaths were short and erratic as she tried to stay as still as possible in front of the beast before her.

She heard him clear his throat in a bored, yet expectant manner. Somehow, she managed to raise her head and look past the menacing wolf and gore and guts in front of her. A sob escaped beyond her lips as she met Amarok’s cold, disappointed eyes.

He only raised a brow in response, waiting for her to answer.

“I’m s-s-sorry s-sir. We didn’t know s-sooner because there was nobody left alive after the failed attempt.” She whimpered as the sharp teeth of the wolf shifted closer, the growling animal only mere inches from her face.

“I don’t like excuses, I like results.’ Amarok rose from his chair, slowly approached the whimpering Saeni, and crouched down before her.

The wolf stepped aside for his master and went to join his brother and sister in feeding on the fresh flesh.

Bringing a hand to the back of the female’s head, Amarok grabbed a fistful of her hair and forced her to look up at him. “Uzjuk is getting impatient. He will not be pleased with this. You will have only one chance to redeem yourself in his eyes…” He yanked her head to the side so that she could clearly see the wolves engorging themselves on the crimson meat of what was once her friend, causing more tears to leak down her face. “That is what will become of you if you fail. So, tell me… where is the key heading?”

You woke up early as hell like you always did for training, though this morning it wasn’t with your usually alarm. Usually, Tae would come and simply lay down on top of you and squish you until you were awake. This time, though, it was a gentle hand shaking your shoulder. You slowly opened your eyes and saw Jungkook’s face leaning down close to yours. Seeing that it was just him, you shut your eyes and stretched your arms above your head, the action causing you to softly moan as your shirt lifted ever so slightly at the bottom. Suddenly, your hands were grabbed, and you were heaved upright into Jungkook’s arms. Your eyes widened as you took in the darkened state of the male’s green ones, but he quickly let go of you before you could question him why they were like that.

Maybe it was just the low light…

You grumbled at him, muttering about how you just wanted one more minute of peace and quiet before you got up. He didn’t offer a retort as you squatted down to dig through your backpack for your morning petals and a breakfast bar. Instead, he only observed your morning drowsiness with soft, amused eyes.

After successfully finding all three items and shoving them into your mouth, you grabbed your bow and quiver from where they laid on the ground next to your things and looked at Jungkook expectantly, waiting for him to lead the way. He just stood there, though, looking at back you, a tiny smile playing at the corner of his mouth.

“Ya! Coco!” You whispered and poked him with your bow, causing him to jump and blink a few times. “What are we waiting around for? Let’s go!”

He paused, listening to the forest as he looked into the distance with squinted eyes like he was Legolas or some shit.

You were just about to quip a nice “Jungkook, what do your elf eyes see?” before he finally whispered back. “Ilto is going to cry soon.”

“What? Oh, you mean rain…?” You tilted your head to the side.

“I want to try something different today. We passed a cave entrance yesterday. I want to go over how to fight with obscured vision. You good with that?”

You shrugged. “Sure.”

An angry voice floated over from the other side of sleeping figures. “For Exia’s sake, just LEAVE already! I know you worked out your shit, but yap and be friends somewhere else.”

Yoongi.

“Sorry, hyung!” With that, Jungkook began walking into the trees, not bothering to gesture to you to follow because he knew you automatically would like the good student you were.

You sent an apologetic look in Yoongi’s direction before rushing after the burgundy-haired Saeni, rolling your eyes at both yourself and him as you did so.

Lo and behold, not even seven minutes into your march toward the cave, it started pouring down rain. Torrential downpouring. You were soaked through in seconds and could barely see your hand in front of your face. After another twenty minutes or so of stumbling through the rain while the lucky son of a bitch next to you gracefully glided along, you reached the cave entrance and darted inside. You wrung out your hair clothes wherever you could, though you felt like it really didn’t help much. Then, the two of you ventured further into the cave until it was too dark to see properly.

Jungkook described how hearing and intuition was just, if not more, important in a fight as sight was. So, you began your lesson. Jungkook testing your hearing in the dark as well as reaction time. Thankfully, the exertion was enough to keep your body temperature warm enough in the cold cavern.

You had been going at it for about an hour when you heard a deep rumbling echo down the rocky hallways.

Oh shit.

Before you could do or say anything, the loud, distinctive sound of falling rocks reached your ears. Your breath hitched in your throat and your body stilled in horror as you waited for your inevitable death to arrive.

Uhhhhh. Death registration? It’s me. Again.

Can’t believe I’m going to die the same shitty way as Jamie and Cersei. We deserved better.

You held your breath and waited. And waited. And waited. And…

“Why are just standing there all stiff and weird?”

“Oh, fuck. Am I already dead? I really thought I’d feel something. I guess it’s better this way, though. Wait. Does that mean you’re dead too, Coco!?”

“We aren’t dead, dumbass. The entrance just collapsed,” he replied in a calm manner.

“Oh… Are you sure?” You were still a little skeptical that you hadn’t just been squashed.

“For Exia’s sake, do you want me to double-check for you?”

“… Yes.”

And so, he did.

And he was right.

The entrance was nada, zip, zero, no more.

“Well, this is just fucking fantastic. What are we going to do!?”

“Not freak out, for starters.”

“Oh, I’m sorry that getting TRAPPED IN A CAVE DOESN’T FUCKING BOTHER YOU!”

“It does bother me. But mainly because I’m stuck here with your ass for Illai knows how long. Also, don’t yell do loud.”

“If I could see you right now-” You started to threaten, but he spoke over you in a pitying tone.

“Hmmm. But you can’t. What a shame that is.”

You sent a glare in the direction of his voice. “Will you ever let the superior senses thing go? Like damn, honey, it’s getting a little overused.”

“The only thing overused here is your…” He trailed off and suddenly coughed. “Um, never mind. We should probably start moving to find another way out.

“No, wait. What were you going to say?” You challenged him.

“I’ve already experienced getting kicked in the balls by you once. I really am not about to go through that again for some tasteless joke.”

You crossed your arms and smirked. “Good decision.”

“Not like you would be able to hit me in the dark, anyways.”

“Wanna find out?” You raised a brow, hoping it was directed at his face.

It was completely silent for several breaths as you waited.

“… No.”

“Oh, come on!” You laughed. “You could see if your ‘sightless training’ worked out or not.”

“I’d rather not know.”

“Coward,” you muttered teasingly.

You heard him scoff before he told you that it was time to start looking for another exit deeper in the cave. Then, you heard him start to walk away from you.

You gulped and called out his name in a worried tone.

“Mhmm?”

Even though it was pitch black, you still felt shy asking but you forced yourself to say it. “Could you maybe, um, hold my hand?”

He didn’t respond right away, probably because he was too busy gaping at you with a flushed face. But since all you could see was an endless black, his silence made you flustered.

“It’s not-I don’t-I’m not afraid of the dark or anything! A-and I don’t really want to hold your hand! I just don’t want to lose you since I can’t see an-”

Your words grew quiet as his large, rough palm slide against your skin and he interlocked his fingers with yours.

“Thanks…” you timidly said.

You only got a grunt in response before he began tugging you forward.

“Hey, Coco?”

It had been approximately thirty minutes since you began holding hands and wandering further into the damp cave. The entire time, the only sounds had been you and Jungkook’s breathing, your shoes scuffing the ground as you tried not to trip, and the occasional drip of water falling from stalactites.

He squeezed your hand in response.

You waited several breaths before saying, “Um. Was that a go-ahead squeeze or a shut up before I kill you squeeze?”

“For Exia’s sake, just spit it out.”

You paused to regain your balance after stumbling over a lump on the ground. “… It’s a personal question. Is that okay?”

You heard the male leading you take a deep breath. “Oh my goddess. What is it?”

Under his breath, you heard him mumble, “And why bother getting permission? Your crazy ass would’ve still asked even if I said no.”

You smacked his arm with your free hand (though it did take you a few swipes of your hand to make contact). “I heard that, asshat.”

“Yet, you don’t deny it.” You could hear the amusement dripping from his voice.

You softly smiled at how well he’s come to know you as he continued to lead you through the dark.

Taking a deep breath, you steeled yourself to ask the question that’s toyed with you since you met him. “What’s up with you and your dagger?”

Jungkook didn’t just flinch at your question, you felt his entire body stop moving.

“Oh, shit. Okay, you seriously do not have to answer that. I can see, well not really see right now, but I can tell that it must be a sensitive topic, so I’m sorry for bringing it up, and holy fuck I’m rambling so badly, just forget I ever asked and I’m going to shut up now and I’m sorry again.”

Heat rose to your cheeks as you mentally slapped the crap out of yourself for both asking a sensitive question and for rambling on like a bumbling fool. You went to pull your hand out of his in humiliation, but he didn’t let you.

“Whoa, it’s okay. I just wasn’t expecting that to be your question. How did you even know it was important to me?”

You shrugged. “How could I not when you would grab it all the time when I annoyed you? Like you were seriously just firmly grasping the thing constantly when we first met.”

“Yeah… it’s, uh, a bit of a habit. It’s a gift from my parents.” His voice had turned tense. “You saw the inscription that day, right?”

You nodded your head, remembering when he inspected the blade to try to intimidate you the day you left Earth.

Jungkook sighed and his hand holding yours dropped until it rested against his leg. “It means ‘your death is my mercy.’”

You let that sink in for a few moments before responding. “Wow. Your parents are, um, a little hardcore.”

“You have no idea.” He spoke through his teeth, barely containing an old anger.

He explained that both his parents had been high-ranking BTS Saeni and were expecting great things from their son. Perfect things. Where most Saeni began training at seven, his parents decided to start him early and train him themselves when he turned four years old. Even at such a young age, they would beat him if he made the smallest of mistakes. Would punish him if his technique was too lazy. Would starve him if he took too long to finish an exercise. They pushed him until his bones broke and his body bled. They didn’t allow him to interact with other children, telling him that he needed to focus on training. Only training. They conditioned him to think that if things went wrong, it was all his fault. Always his fault and solely his fault. That he should have control in every situation. That he needed to be the best in all of Illain. That he should always come out victorious, and if he didn’t, then he was a failure and did not deserve to call himself their son.

“By the time I was sent to official training, I believed every word they said.”

After arriving, it was, without a doubt, obvious that he was the best in his class. Three years of prior training will do that. He relished in the awe of his fellow trainees and amazement of his teachers. He was only seven but was already making a name for himself. He was making his parents proud.

Then, he came across the one and only Min Yoongi. The older took one look at the younger Saeni and sneered at his cocky attitude. Jungkook, being the little shit he was (is), challenged Yoongi to a fight. Jungkook had already beaten older trainees before, so how could he not win against this mint-haired boy?

The difference was that Yoongi was a bloody magic-user and defeated Jungkook almost instantly.

“I laid on the ground in a daze as blood crept out of the corner of my mouth, unable to comprehend that I had lost. I never lost. I couldn’t. My parents wouldn’t allow it. Illai forbid that it would ruin their perfect fucking image.”

Terrified of what his parents would do if they found out, he had stumbled to his feet and ran after the older Saeni. His parents wouldn’t care that he had lost to an elder. They wouldn’t care that he had lost to a magic-user. They would only focus on the fact that their son did not win. Jungkook had grabbed Yoongi’s arm and begged him not to tell anyone.

“At first, Yoongi thought I was only worried about my reputation among my classmates. But the more I begged, the more he saw that there was something else to the story.”

After endlessly pleading, Yoongi finally agreed to not say a word if Jungkook told him why it was so important. And the younger did.

“That was the first time I had told anyone about my parents. It was the first time I let myself be vulnerable in front of another person.” Jungkook’s voice was drowning in sadness, so you tightened your fingers around his.

Yoongi, who knew what it was like to not be loved by your own parents, took Jungkook under his wing afterwards and introduced him to Hobi. The three of them creating a close bond like brothers. Eventually, over the years of training, the three of them met each of the other members and they all become permanently bonded together.

“The kiela… they saved me. Showed me that there was more to life than just being an emotionless soldier. They’re my real family. They’re who I fight to protect and… and I hate it when I can’t.” He was breathing heavily, the burden of painful memories weighing down on him.

“And that’s why you disliked me at first. You blamed me because you didn’t want to admit that you had no control over Jimin’s situation. You felt like it was your fault that he had to leave Illain. Like you couldn’t protect him.”

“Partly, yeah… The other reason was because I thought you were going to somehow steal my family away from me. I’m sorry.”

You raised your free hand to your linked ones before trailing it up and down his arm in what you hoped was a comforting manner. “You don’t have to apologize, Jungkook. But… but why do you carry around the dagger? Why would you want that reminder?”

His breathing slowly evened out as you continued to soothe him to the best of your abilities. “It’s… hard to forget something that’s been installed in you since birth. To always have control. To always be in control. So, I wear it to remember that when I don’t have control over a situation, I still have control over myself. Over my actions.

I never… I never use it. The inscription disgusts me. But, I can’t… I can’t seem to let it go. It’s fucked up. For Exia’s sake, I know it’s fucked up. But it’s comforting to hold on to it when I feel like I’m losing control.”

“Okay.” You replied in a gentle voice.

“That’s it? You’re not… you’re not disgusted by me?” The barest amount of hope creeped into his voice and it broke your heart to think he thought that his story would change your opinion of him.

“Of course not Jungkook. If anything, I understand you better now.” You softly smiled at the male. “Thank you.”

“For…?”

“For telling me. You didn’t have to do that, but I’m grateful you did.”

He deeply inhaled and readjusted his grip on your hand so it was tighter before turning and going back to leading you through the dark.

You swung your legs as Jungkook carried you on his back, trying to find some joy in this utterly sucky situation.

You had been tripping almost every other second over a rock or the uneven ground as Jungkook led you through the cavernous maze by hand. You had also been shaking like a leaf in the wind from how cold you were. There was essentially no heat this deep into the cave and your wet clothes were not helping you maintain your body heat. After stumbling over something for the hundredth time, Jungkook had stopped with a sigh and told you to get on his back. You resisted at first, not wanting to be an even bigger burden, but eventually, the green-eyed Saeni had gotten his way.

And you were happy he had been so adamant about it, because as soon as you pressed your front to his back, you expelled a sigh at how warm his body was.

How the hell is he warm? Maybe it’s a Saeni perk?

You snuggled closer into his delightfully toasty back, which caused him to chuckle as he secured his grip underneath your thighs and started walking again. The combination of pure darkness, warmth, and the easy sway of Jungkook’s steps quickly began to lull you to sleep.

“Coco?” You yawned.

It took him several breaths to respond in a quiet voice. “… Kookie.”

“Hmm?”

“You can call me Kookie… if you want…” He sounded timid and small, but his pace never faltered.

It was a something you had been hoping to one day have the permission to call him. That day had finally come, and a lot sooner than you expected.

Unfortunately, in your sleep-induced state, your mind couldn’t help but murmur out, “Huh. I honestly thought the next name you’d want me to call you would be ‘Daddy.’”

You heard the male choke on his spit for a second as you nuzzled further into his back. “What!? You think I have a...? Okay, nope. ‘Kookie’ privileges have already been revoked.”

“Awwww,” you whined out sadly, “but I like that name.”

“You are such a mess right now, I don’t think you even know what you’re saying.” Jungkook laughed fondly. “I can’t believe you thought I have a daddy kink. If anyone in the kiela does, it would be Joon hyung.”

You pouted and dug your forehead into the seam of his neck and shoulder, breathing deeply. Although you were who knows how far in a cave, covered in rainwater, sweat, and dirt, your mind decided that this was what it wanted to do. You didn’t even register the fact that Jungkook definitely just outed Namjoon for having a daddy kink.

He smells so good…

Jungkook, on the other hand, breathed out shakily and gripped your thighs harder.

Lips still on his hot skin, you mumbled in a sleepy tone, “You like being in control. It fits.”

“There are… other kinks for being in control, sweetheart.”

Your eyelids began drifting shut and you turned your head to rest against his shoulder. “Mmmmm. Like wha-”

Out of nowhere, an ear-splitting shriek resonated throughout the cave and echoed down the walls, causing you to jerk your head up in surprise. It sounded like a mix between a dolphin, a gorilla, and someone getting murdered. So basically, downright terrifying.

It was safe to say that your ass was now completely awake.

Jungkook, who briefly froze when the sound erupted, began moving sideways. You jumped you’re your leg touched something cold and wet, but you registered that it must be the cavern wall.

At least you really prayed it was.

You leaned forward so that your mouth was next to Jungkook’s ear, or you hoped that’s where your mouth was since you still couldn’t see, and whispered, “What was that!?”

Your eyes widened when the Saeni lowered you to the ground and pushed at your shoulders until your back hit the cold wall. You shivered once he leaned away, the sheer cold of the cave once again hitting you in full force.

Come back.

Jungkook finally whispered, “I think it’s a quigta.”

“A… a what!?” You felt an empty breeze rush past you, and you realized that he was no longer next to you, “J-jungkook?”

Your breathing started coming faster and your mind began imagining every horrible scenario that was possible. Jungkook leaving you. That thing finding you. Jungkook being eaten. You being eaten. Jungkook leaving you, you dying from starvation, and then that thing eating your shriveled corpse.

Needless to say, you were not enjoying the current predicament.

There’s nothing quite like being alone with a monster in a cold, dark cave when you couldn’t see squat.

Ah yes, sounds like my ideal vacation.

“It is a quigta!” You started to scream at Jungkook’s sudden reappearance, but he slapped a hand over your mouth to muffle the sound. “Oh my goddess, this is perfect for today’s lesson!”

You gawked at his excited tone, but his next statement left you even more befuddled.

“Alright, Y/N, go kill it.”

You clawed his hand away from your mouth and screeched at him in the dark. “What!? I can’t see!”

“That’s the point, sweetheart.”

“I don’t even know what it looks like, how the fuck do you expect me to fight it!?” You blindly reached forward until you touched his warm body and you clutched at his arm, the solid feeling helping you calm down a bit.

“Shall I describe it to you?” You could hear his eager smile.”

Rapidly shaking your head, you whimpered. “Please don’t.”

“Well, it had a long body, sort of like a worm, but with a bunch of legs and-”

“Stop!” You really, really did not want a visual.

“-it’s sort of translucent with a big mandible, but it oddly has a mouth filled with tiny teeth too-”

“Stop…”

Your head began re-imagining each horrific scenario in even more detail.

“-and the mouth shoots out from the mandible kinda like a snake, oh, and it has these sharp quills running down its back-”

You pictured yourself getting snapped up by those giant mandibles and being held in front of its nasty, horrifying, scrunched up face. Looking into its beady, black eyes as its mouth shot out and gutted you like a fucking xenomorph.

Oh FUCK. It’s just like Alien but in a cave. Fuck fuck fuck fuckity fuck FUCK.

“Jungkook, please… please stop.” You begged in a weak voice.

“-that leads to this spiky tail and… are you okay?”

You shook your head and with a jolt, he realized your entire body was trembling. You were basically hyperventilating, your eyes squeezed shut, and the hand that wasn’t clutching at him was wrapped around your middle. You looked scared, terrified even. And here he was, being an asshole and describing the creature in fucking detail. He felt a twinge in his heart. You were usually so confident and strong and ready to take on the world. He didn’t like seeing you this way.

“Hey, I’m sorry… just wait here. I’ll take care of it.”

You scrambled to maintain your hold on him. You thrust your other hand out and grabbed his shirt before using both arms to pull him closer to you. “That’s what every horror movie character says before someone dies. Please don’t go. Let’s just go around!”

“We can’t.” He gently pried your grip off him, but you simply adapted to clutch at his hand. “There’s no other route. We have to go this way.”

“But…”

“Y/N, sweetheart, just stay here. Don’t move, don’t make a sound. I’ll be right back.”

“B-but… you could get hurt.”

You couldn’t see his fond smile, but you felt him softly move some of your hair out of your face before he brushed his knuckles lightly against your cheek. “I know you’re scared, but have some trust in your teacher, would ya? I’ve fought much worse things.”

You slowly let go of him and fisted your hands to try to stop them from shaking now that they had nothing to hold. “Okay. Please just hurry. I want to get out here.”

“I will, I promise.” And then you felt his warmth leave you and all you were left to do was wait in anxious darkness.