#ficwithluv

“Joonie, it’s okay! There’s still time and even if we don’t go this year there’s always the next.” You’re aware that your words impact little, the determination of your dimpled lover never easily swayed. He doesn’t respond, the crackling of fueled flames continuing to drift through the air around you. “Joonie?”

“Yeah, I’m here, sorry.” The taste his words leave are bitter, tone resigned to failure, the imagined drop of his shoulders causing your lips to do the same. “Um...I have to get to class soon. I’ll talk to you later?”

“You could come see me…” 

“I can’t, I’ve got a lot of work and...yeah.” Your suggestion is met with immediate hesitance, your heart plummeting at hurried rejection and a half baked explanation. Suddenly the comfort of drops against the misted glass are simply a reflection, demeanor greyed without pause. 

“O-Oh, that’s okay. I should probably do some shopping anyways, my cabinets are screaming to be filled.” Your attempt at a natural humor sounds flat in your own ears, chuckle falling short. “Okay, well I’ll talk to you later.”

“Yeah...I love you.” Even coated in sincerity it feels off, spine tingling with a discomforting chill. Even so you respond in hum, a ‘you too’ drifting down the line before it altogether goes dead.

Your phone is tossed, hands immediately falling to a trace against the edge of your mug half-filled. The cider is lukewarm, it’s spiced appeal now no more than a withering tang. Your eyes fall shut, immediate images of flowered fields and tandem bikes taking you back to the season long past. You begin to wonder if affection fled just as soon, phased like newlyweds though you were far from such fantastical slopes.

You push up with a sigh, though your words were dropped from a hat your cabinets remained rather bare. It was usually at Namjoon’s insistence and begged accompaniment that you would float through the aisles of the grocery, haphazardly filling the cart whilst he sifts through with care, making sure all of your bases are covered. Now as you step to the door, galoshes shoved to feet and windbreaker covering sleeved arms you can’t recall what the bases are.

Your drive is silent, radio filled with festive cheer left on mute as thoughts race and worries bubble over a surface left unsteady. Your trip through silent storelanes is much the same, the ringing at the register leaving you uncertain if your purchase contains any objects of use. 

When you’re pulling back into your lot, it’s the realization of fatigue. Your skin is heavy and the dragging of your heart has made it even more so. You’re not unaware of your own dramatic curve of emotion, but it’s a symptom unshakable. Your own autumn fever, a nonmedicinal cold. 

The beat of rain against the windshield keeps you firm, desire to lug bags through the spill less intriguing than the snug of heated leather. Your train of thought is derailed by the cup of hands against the driver side glass, familiar rounds staring through breathed fog. Your hand his quick to roll the window, Namjoon’s hooded head peeking through.

“What are you doing?” He immediately ponders, glancing at your door and back. 

“Me? What are you doing? I thought you had homework,” You counter flinching at the drop of cold seeping around Namjoon’s towering form. He regards you for only a moment, pupils tracing your features, attention tunneled. 

“You’re upset.”

“What?” Not false, but you feel the relax of your muscles, sure that nothing external gives way to your inner storm. 

“You didn’t say it back...you’re upset. Come on, it’s freezing out, I’ll help you take your things in.” 

“You don’t--” He doesn’t leave room for counter, already rounding to the boot of the vehicle, easily scooping up a hefty sum. You retrieve what little remains, legs hurrying to grant access to your darkened home. Namjoon’s navigation is quick, if not a little clumsy, the clatter of bags followed seamlessly by the flick of a switch. 

“Can I use your bathroom?” Namjoon floats near the doorframe, feet shifting beneath him. Your face pulls to a confused squint, question sudden if not completely ridiculous. 

“Um...yes?” He takes not a moment, dashing off without another word. Your focus shifts to the unbag and refill, almost forgetting altogether that Namjoon inhabits the depths of your home. It’s only when you’ve placed a solitary bag of rice that your attention shifts. 

You enter the living room, the expectations of a muscled giant occupying the better half of your couch left unfulfilled. You traverse to the bathroom in the far hall, muffled mutters and the knock of a bottle from the counter telling enough that Namjoon is still inside. You raise to knock at the door, hands daintily tapping at worn wood.

“Are you okay?” 

“Uh,,,yeah. Are you done with the groceries?” He sounds just beyond the barrier, as if he’s pressed to the frame much like yourself.

“Yeah, I just-you weren’t in the living room so I wanted to see if everything was--”

“Everything is fine!” Namjoon yanks at the door, the sound of his displeased grunts at his own lapsed memory accompanying the twist of the lock. In his reveal, he’s smiling down at you, cheeks stretched to capacity. “Come in.” 

You do as told, eyes on Namjoon as you enter the decently sized space. The spillage of goop beneath your shoe draws your gaze and from there the overflow of bubbles from your bathtub. You surprise yourself with the laughter that spills without pretense. 

“Joon, how much did you put in here? It’s not a swimming pool,” You tease, frame turning to him once more, the blush of his cheeks heightened under low lights. Your hands easily find purchase around his middle, face burying into the fabric of his tee. “You drew me a bath.”

“I wanted to make you feel better,” He explains in short, sizable hands tracing the line of your spine. You inhale, his pine-like scent mixed with the wash of rain and a hint of bubble bath fills your senses. You’re almost content, the stiff of your limbs still apparent, Namjoon’s hold on your shoulders telling you as much. 

His hands travel to the hem of your shirt, easily lifting it over your head to be tossed from view. He takes only a moment to absorb your bra clad form before the gentle pull at your shoulders turning you from view. His fingers expertly unhinge the clasp of your bra, the material falling to the floor. Your hands take it upon themselves, sliding into the waist of your bottoms, sending them and your panties to the tile flooring. 

You grip the tubs edge, feigned porcelain cool against your fingers. The gentle dip of a toe falling to rippled waters as you shiver with intention, the rest of your body eager to dive into the satisfying grips of liquid warmth. When you’re fully submerged you breathe with content, head pushed to a backward tilt and eyes closing for the briefest moment until the click of a shoe forces you back to current.

“Are you not getting in?” You stop Namjoon mid step in the opposing direction, his lips pulled into surprised pucker hand tracing hollowed cheeks. “Get in.” 

You create space behind you, Namjoon watching you for only a moment before quickly stripping himself bare, sliding in behind you, arms immediately pulling you against his chest. Like this you remain, silent, surrounded by warmth and worries respectively. It’s the tightening of arms against your waist that breaks the spell, Namjoon’s voice deep, his breath fanning your neck.

“Are you okay?” You feel his timber in your core, head falling against his shoulder. You can only hum, though it’s unsatisfactory, “You seemed off earlier and...you didn’t say it back.”

You force yourself to shift so his face falls to view, those same words from earlier peaking interest. “What are you talking about, what didn’t I say?”

“I said I love you earlier and you said ‘you too’” It had seemed inconsequential in current time, your own emotions plunging you into freefall, but you can hear the hurt in his words and the tension of his grip. “And you didn’t really seem happy to see me.” 

“I was-I am happy to see you,” You assure, loosening his hold to an interwoven hold of your hands. “I was just upset.”

“About the mill, I know.”

“No. I told you I wasn’t upset about that and I wasn’t lying. I was and am upset that you just shut down on me! You made up some lame excuse so you didn’t have to come over and it upsets me that you think you have to lie or that you can’t tell me how you’re feeling.”

It wasn’t planned, your spill of words, but there they sit, floating upon a sea of bubbles and a tender silence. It’s with regret that a fragment of you imagines the loosening of limbs and Namjoon leaving you to sulk. You’re aware of the issue, but resolution has yet to present and you’re unsure if it ever will.

“I’m sorry.” You sigh at repetitive words, the direction of conversation looking familiar. “I just wish I could be better for you.”

You start at the revelation, attempt to turn to him in comfort rejected as he hold you still in a grip soft and steady..

“Namjoon--”

“No. Just let me finish...please.” You settle once more, water already turning luke around you, a heavy silence stewing you in heavy thoughts. “You say that things are fine and that you’re happy and I believe you, I do, but I also know that you hide your struggles just as much as I do. You hide them better, but I know you’re struggling.” 

No response appears adequate, the words you wanted to speak not moments ago dead against your vocal chords. Your anger seems hypocritical when he says the words, your ability to cover your fears blinding even you to your two faces. 

“I know that you wanted to go to the mill because it’s something that makes you happy and when I couldn’t give that to you I guess I started questioning whether I could give you what you deserve.” Namjoon continues when he realizes you won’t speak. “I started to get in my head and I knew you wouldn’t tell me that you were hurting and figured it was my job to pull away.” 

“Well it’s not,” You breathe, finally finding the will to speak. “I don’t want you to pull away or feel like it’s your job to make me feel better because it’s not. Not to mention that you leaving or creating distance only makes me feel worse.”

“I’m--”

“Don’t.” You stop him before he can conjure the words. “Don’t be sorry, I don’t ever want you to be sorry. Just be here. Be here for me and know that I’m always here for you.”

“Okay,” His lips find your shoulders, a series of kisses against smooth skin. After a moment he speaks once more in a hush, “I love you.”

Hoseok felt foolish pulling that stunt in front of everyone. He felt like he tainted a good day with doing something so stupid. Once the party returned home, Hoseok straightaway moved his body along the perimeter of the palace. Finding the marble staircase that descended down to the beach where the ocean laid.

He knew the initial contact of the ocean will help him much faster. Stepping down into the first crested wave that touched his feet, he almost felt the immense pleasure of vibrating liberation. The water quivered his knees to bend, landing into a kneeling position into the shallow bay. As long as he was in the water, he was better.

“Aqua?” A bittersweet voice yelled out. “Aqua, where did you go?”

There was no reason to try to grab the princess’s attention, for he cannot yell back. So, he sat still, basking in the waves that drew up to his waist and sank back into the sea.

“Hey… what’s the matter?” The princess’s voice was soft as she stood behind Hoseok. She was confused how come the man was drenching his clothes in the tide. Why was he sitting down in the sand…

Hoseok hung his head, hair falling around his profile. There was no way he can explain everything he wants to talk about. There wasn’t any gestures or sign language that could come up with the answers for Y/n either.

A pair of feet showed up within Hoseok’s peripheral, they mushed into the wet sand. With surprise Hoseok looked up to see Y/n staring down at him curiously. Her wide shining eyes connected back with his.

“You must enjoy the water a lot.” She sighs, lifting the skirt of her dress a bit higher just in time for the tide to rise up around her ankles. “I like it too.”

There was a bubbling of excitement forming within Hoseok’s stomach. Relatively it would be the feeling of butterflies fluttering around, feeling lighter. He watched her gaze focus out towards the sea that stretched far and wide.

“In all the times I have visited other kingdoms, my mind never has changed about these waters. They are my favorite. Nothing could compare.” The princess’s face remained firm, her voice spoke earnestly.

Hoseok couldn’t help the corners of his lips from upturning, he felt the immense emotions of satisfaction. These were his waters. This was his sea. And she loved it the most.

When Hoseok stared off into the distance, he noticed something treading below the water. A ripple of waves lingered over to the side, a green figure popping its head out – Kiko!?

Erratically Hoseok thrusted himself forward into the waves, causing a splash and frantic waving of arms. He wasn’t sure why Kiko was levitated herself above water, so easily to be seen. And completely uncommon for a seahorse to be found this close to the shore. Hoseok’s poor attempt to shoo away his buddy failed completely, instead she swiftly made her way to him. Uttering out apologies and apologies.

Only Hoseok, who is still somewhat part-fish, can understand Kiko clear as day. But the princess didn’t, her ears weren’t trained or spelled with gifted hearing for creatures of the underwater realms.

The princess gawked down at the leafy creature now swiveling itself around Hoseok in patterns, but to her it looked like the creature was trying to play with him. “Is that a sea horse?! It’s so pretty!” She bit her lip, almost attempted to step further into the water but refused to get her dress wet.

Hoseok’s alarmed face met hers, shyly nodded to her as he couldn’t explain anything. Just toying around the leaves of Kiko’s fins.

As the princess stared in wonder, pressing her curiosity further, Hoseok can all but listen to the pleading expressions of regret from Kiko. He gave her a dirty glance, a look of ‘what the clams are you talking about?’

“Sir, I’m so so so sorry!” Kiko winced, rustling herself up against his body. “He came looking for you, you guys were supposed to discuss trades! When you weren’t there. And he – he put two and two together! I swear!” The poor sea dragon panted, “I had nothing else to cover you up with I had to tell him! I am so sorry!”

There was a hint of skepticism from Hoseok, puzzlement knitted on his forehead. He didn’t fully understand his scaly friend’s panic-stricken concerns, what she was talking about. Not until a crustacean coated in white and purple scurried itself next to the princess’s feet. Getting awfully close.

Hoseok jumped again, this time actually splashing the princess meanwhile cupping the crab that was mere inches away from the princess. He knew who this was, who he belonged to. Hoseok mentally sighed to himself, pulling the crab up to his face and criticizing him with his eyes.

“Put me down!” it whined, threatening with a pinch of his claw.

“What a cute little crab!” The princess cooed, now bending down to take a closer look. She ignored her dress, partially because Hoseok already messed it up, and submerged the bottom of her skirt into the water as she stepped closer. “I haven’t seen one before with these colors!”

Hoseok gingerly put on an innocent smile as he stared back at the princess. He hid his worried look when he glanced around the ocean, looking for him.

Namjoon was here.

Once the princess had enough of her clothes soaking up the salty water, she receded back into the palace. Of course, she had urged Hoseok to join her in her return, but he properly declined. Hopefully she understood that he will come back when he was ready.

Now, about 50 feet out away from the marble steps to the palace, Hoseok stepped further and further away by the directions of the white crab, Surf.

“I can’t believe how selfish you are, such a difficult prince you are.” Surf complained, “Further.”

Hoseok walked towards a headland that obtained a natural arch, drifting farther away from the palace. Once he made his way under the bridge, he was met with a cold icy stare. Eyes piercing straight through Hoseok’s from just above the water, silver hair slicked back against his scalp.

The sun was low, dimming the surrounding areas slowly. Surf jumped off Hoseok into the water, scurrying himself over to Namjoon who remained still. Eerily still.

There was an unspeakable battle between the two brothers – only the sound of the environment filling up the void between them. Namjoon rose, gesturing Hoseok to sit down with a pointed chin. Bottom lip jutted out, and a swift cock of his eyebrow that told Hoseok instantly that he was in for a harsh scolding.

He obeyed, plopping himself on a rock that sat in the water. Kiko swam freely around his feet.

“What have you done? No – never mind that. I know what you did. I know you can’t speak.” Namjoon points accusingly, drifting his body closer to Hoseok. “And you have these things? What has gotten into you?” His fingers tapped onto Hoseok’s knees, face in disgust. The purple-to-silver tailed man sneered down at Hoseok who hung his head.

Namjoon’s inner rage was holding him hostage, he wanted to lash out on his younger brother. Reprimand him into oblivion. With clutched fists he retained himself, as much as possible while wearing a sour scowl.

Hoseok wanted to explain, he wanted to be able to voice his opinions and thoughts. Even apologize for doing something so reckless because that’s what Namjoon would like to hear – but he couldn’t find the regret in him. Instead, Hoseok looked back at his brother with sadness. Not sad that he was being yelled at – sad that he wasn’t ever understood.

“When father finds out – I can’t even imagine.” Namjoon pinches his fingers between the bridge of his nose, clenching his teeth together. He was furious, upset, disappointed all the same time. The slap of his tail whacking the water was his signal of agitation – causing a startled Hoseok to lean back.

Hoseok sat frozen, watching the merman of the Antarctic chill over the surrounding areas with his icy personality. After Namjoon recollected his thoughts, pushing his emotions down the drain, he stared back at Hoseok. “We can’t settle this now, can we? You like that woman.”

Namjoon murmured under his breath, trying to understand the infatuation Hoseok gained for the world above. It just didn’t make any sense to him – maybe because near his realm, there wasn’t many environments like this. But Namjoon adored his environment, his clean unpolluted waters, crystal clear ocean to swim freely around. Beautiful deep blues in the cracks and corners of his realm, and the complimented purples of his region.

Hoseok ran his hand behind his neck, shy to admit to his brother that what he was stating was correct. There was something about this women that called to Hoseok, something he yearned for and wanted – no – had to get to know her better.

Namjoon placed his hand on Hoseok’s shoulder, leaning towards him as if his next words were to be secret. Whispering he spoke, “We can’t lose you – I… I can’t lose you Hoseok.” The casual uninviting front that Namjoon’s eyes originally generate now showed distress, he was scared.

There was a weight, a heavy weight, weighing down on Hoseok’s chest. It tightened, as if he couldn’t breathe the fresh ocean air anymore. The impact of his brother’s words hitting him – he never understood the importance he had towards his family. Better yet, he didn’t understand how his careless behavior was affecting his brothers.

It was then that Hoseok remembered the deal he made, what actually needed to be done. For him to remain human, he needed to be with the princess. If he didn’t, he will return back to a merman, tail and all – but he had to surrender over his kingdom… Nobody knows of this deal, besides the sea witch and him as there was no way for him to explain it.

“I’ll have to figure something out. We – we have to figure something out. I’m going to gather the others; I don’t want father knowing of this.” Namjoon’s thoughts came rushing in waves, murmuring out loud to himself. “We’ll maintain your kingdom. Leaving your palace unattended with no explanation doesn’t help the folk who live there.”

Hoseok tried to hold Namjoon from leaving so suddenly, had to figure out something to tell him, anything to tell him. But it was too late. The reflective moonlight shimmer of Namjoon’s tail flipped away, diving deeper into the depts where he could no longer see him.

He needed to figure out how to break the news.

Over the course of a few days, Hoseok and Y/n bonded. He assisted around the castle, partially for learning measures and also for making up his share of the King’s and Queen’s generosity. There was a day he had spent alongside the King, listening to his lengthy lectures about history and the kingdom back in his day. Thankfully for the King, Hoseok had no choice but to be a great listener.

Another lovely day where the princess and aqua prince studied the garden, planting fresh greens and tiny bulbs of plants, messing around in the dirt, and rearranging the agriculture. Sipping tea quietly along  a tuneful record. Days they scoped the beach together to gather shells and miscellaneous ocean trinkets. And lending a helping hand in the selection of the princess’s custom-made dresses. He always favored the fancy blues, tying the beautiful color with rich gold jewelry.

Their stares lingered on another from time to time. Longer than normal, but nothing was mentioned besides the appreciative bashful smiles in return. Hoseok remained a true gentleman, assisting the princess with whatever activity she desired to participate in. Board games, drawing and painting, even more carriage rides out to the town. The subtle glow between them grew brighter, and at times Hoseok had to cease his actions when it came to accidentally brushing up against the princess’s skin.

He’s been learning many new things, so much so that it was hard for him to retain everything. Certain trinkets he had back in his personal study now had proper names addressed to them, the fork, the spoon, a globe, and so on. His favorite time of the day were when they met up outside, routine now, to dip their feet in the cooling ocean waters. Each passing second he grew more and more in love with her.

During these days, which soon turned to weeks, Hoseok would meet up with his brothers at night when he snuck back outside for once last dip. One by one another brother and their pet added to the group, greeting, scolding, and slowly trying to figure out what was going on with this huge dilemma. Nagging, bickering, consulting and more. Seeing his brothers is bittersweet, and he was realizing it would be hard to live without them.

Some days, Hoseok would purposely be forced out of the princess’s company for lengthy periods of time. As suitors from kingdoms came to visit, spend time with the young beauty. It was her duty, her parent’s orders as well. Meanwhile Hoseok would sneak his way through the inners of the palace whenever he had the chance, he grew to know the layout pretty well by now. Sometimes even leaving little painted notes in the rooms he’d know the princess would be occupying, making her think of him when she was being bothered by another royal.

Oh, he wishes to be in their shoes. He is a royal no doubt, but of a different world. His princess doesn’t know this, nor does any other human. If he had his way, he’d be able to swoon Y/n the moment he could show her his world. Teach her the ways of the water, indulge her in his plants and beautiful riches no humans could even imagine of.

As time continued to tick, admirers continued to show up and Hoseok found better ways to communicate. He would gather paper, paints, brushes, and sketch himself figures. Painting out a storyboard filled with images of what Hoseok needed to tell his brothers. Sadly, there wasn’t any script for mer-folk. Nothing was read, nothing had symbols that represent words and sounds. They just had music.

Hoseok lost track of days and the time, not realizing how long he has gone without his underwater realm. How long his brothers have been vacating theirs as well. It was unhealthy, they had responsibilities, yet they decided to stay as close as possible to help their brother.

Jungkook, bless his young ethos, even offered to contact the sea witch herself – to reverse the spell. But all of the others insisted that wasn’t the wisest of choices.

“Who’d know what that conniving being would do to one of us if we went there!” Spoke Jimin with an unsettling aura. The disappearance of his pearl still remained unnoticed by the others – to Hoseok’s surprise. Jimin did decorate his waist with many accessories already, a flashy distraction from the missing stone.

“But she knows what’s going on! She could help!” retorted Jungkook.

As the bickering continued, the orange tail spoke up with a stern tone. “Enough you two. It’s almost sundown. We should be heading up.” He brushed pass the others, leading the pack.

Yoongi was unsettled, disgruntled – completely upset when he heard the news of Hoseok. Firstly, he was the last of them to know. With Seokjin and Namjoon figuring out that Yoongi would be the hardest to tell, as he resembled a lot of qualities their father composed of.

He puffed up large like a lionfish, his coal black eyes scanned his surrounding brothers with a reproachful glare. The group waited for the venomous lash out, a poison quill drilling into each and every one of them – metaphorically speaking. What came next was unexpected.

Yoongi met the eyes of his worried brothers, seeking for affirmation that what they said was true, that Hoseok left them for the upper world. It shattered him, his sharp eyes turned bleak, body hunched over and supported his weight with his hand on the nearest wall. He couldn’t breathe the water around him, he felt his body shaking – and each brother watched their fiery brother completely break down in front of them all. Tears cannot be formed or shed underwater – mermaids and merman simple do not cry. But they can resound vocally, physically – in which that’s what Yoongi did.

The six of the princes swam up together, meeting at their usual isolated location where Hoseok met them every single night. Kiko sought comfort with the youngest, connecting herself by his side at all times until she was able to see Hoseok. Each of the mermen found purchase on miscellaneous fixtures, Jimin and Jungkook daringly lay in the shallow waters. Over time, they grew slightly more comfortable being above the water.

They chattered among another in hushed tones, Seokjin and Yoongi always keeping their eyes on the outskirts of the area just in case they see a potential threat approaching. On schedule Hoseok peers his head around the corner of the headland arch cautiously – checking to see if everyone was there and didn’t want to startle them.

Hoseok stepped through, feet sinking into the sands beneath him as he carried a lantern in one hand and a variety of utensils in his other arm. He greeted with his wide boisterous smile, nodding, and waving to his fellow brothers.

“What do you have there?” Jungkook’s large eyes stared at Hoseok with interest as he dragged his body further up the shore. The light within the lantern flickered, incased in glass so the wind didn’t snuff out the flame. It emitted enough light, enough warmth for the night and what Hoseok had planned.

Hoseok remained a bit up the sand, not wanting to get his belongings wet from the water as he diligently set himself up a place to plop down.

“That’s fire, Jungkook-ah.” Yoongi spoke up, he’s also gazing at the small flare in the odd mechanism. “It’s a small one.”

Hoseok flipped his notebook over, carding through pages until he found the one that illustrated the beginning of his story. He spent the times away from the princess to paint photos into his book, trying to decipher his story. None of the other princes knew what Hoseok needed to do to come back to them or to stay up on land – until now.

His storyboard idea was working, with some confusion on pictures and their meanings along the way. Hoseok gestured positive and negative praises giving his brothers a sure tell sign of the direction their guesses were headed.

“Marriage?!” Shouted Seokjin, staring at a photo Hoseok held up of a sketched male in blue holding hands with a woman – which was deemed as the princess with a tiara on top of her head. The picture represented unison, conjoining together. He didn’t know how marriage up on land was like, what was required and traditional. But in their world, a marriage showed coddling, a decorative garland looping around the two beings – tails intertwined.

“Wait –“ Namjoon interrupted, bemused by Seokjin’s assertive claim. “Hoseok? You have to marry her?”

Hoseok slowly nodded with hesitation. He stood up fast, shaking his hands in the air erratically once he saw the first reaction of Jimin’s face turning into a jaw dropping frown. Hoseok pointed to the picture, and then to his legs – and repeat. He needed to get this point across, he needed to show them to keep his legs need needed to marry this woman.

They seem to get it, even commenting on the fact that if that is the case then Hoseok still wouldn’t have a voice. And his feet would be a massive burden having to handle the sharp pain for the rest of his life. Why would he do all this, his desire for this woman must have been so grave.

“Why would you go through with that?” Questioned the deep green merman. His stare looked blank, almost drifting away from Hoseok and speaking into the abyss. “Do you really think you could live like that? Honestly?” His fingers fiddled with the pearl on his earring as Taehyung pondered his next words. “We can’t keep visiting you like this if you continue, we have our kingdoms to control and protect. We have lives as well. You’re tearing yourself away from us, and who knows what hell will break loose once Father…”

“Taehyung.” Yoongi’s voice bit, snapping Taehyung out of his complex trance. He blinked, looking around until he noticed Hoseok standing still, eyes shifting away from everyone. Taehyung’s words hurt, but they were true. The severity of this situation wrenched a split between everyone.

Jimin sighed loudly, only he could feel the most sympathy towards Hoseok because he shared a similar secret with him. But not quite as serious. He bit his lip before spilling the words that were on the tip of his tongue, “Don’t we want Hoseok to be happy?”

Silence.

Jimin turned with a flushed face, “I know we all have feelings about this. Many are negative, but we’re here for him – aren’t we? He’s our brother. We love him. We want to support him, and by no means will he be removed from our family.” His atypical bubbly self was depleted, no light tone to his voice as he sneered his words towards Taehyung.

The two stared at another, provoking and edging each other on to dare say the next thing. Even Hoseok could feel the static tension of the water between the two without actually touching the surface.

“Cut it out!” Namjoon demanded, slapping his tail in annoyance. “Don’t argue this, stop the accusatory assumptions and pointing fingers. We need to work together.”

They’re all hurt. They are all torn. As much as they wish the safety and security of their aqua prince coming back to them, they wished him happiness – whether he found it up here or down below.

The brief commotion was halted when a splash of water combusted from the center of their mer-circle. A large rock chucked into the water to gain attention – it was Hoseok. His nostrils flared, brows weaved together tight, and eyes glowered with pain. They looked shiny and wet. Tiny streams leaking from the brims of his eyes.

The salty liquid dripped off his face, but he remained unphased. Aggressively grabbing hold of his notebook, he flickered through the pages until he came to his design resembling him coming back to the sea. He flashed it to them – it consisted of the princess being wed to another. As Hoseok looks up from the ocean with his blue tail intact.

He angrily stepped knee deep into the ocean, getting closer to his mer-brothers. Jungkook and Jimin, who were closest, leaned closer towards him and latched their arms around each of Hoseok’s legs. The three dancers, a special bond along another. They missed him, they love him, they looked up to him.

“You’re saying that if she marries someone else, you’ll be turned back into a mermaid?” Yoongi and Namjoon inspected, scanning over the artwork. “Assuming you’ll have your tail and voice back?”

Hoseok gave a closed-lipped smile, fury still present. He felt his emotions overwhelm him, watching his brothers one by one have some sort of sign of relief on their faces. It upset him, though it shouldn’t. Because they don’t know what’s yet to come…

The gears in Seokjin’s, Namjoon’s and Yoongi’s heads were working fast. All instantly hoping for this result, to get their aqua brother back safe and sound. Don’t let him marry her. He belongs to the sea.

Before Seokjin’s mouth fully opened to speak, Hoseok was quick to point his finger at him – cutting off his chance. He held his finger up in a ‘hold on, just wait’ with a defeated look in his eyes.

He flipped the page. Showing a creative piece of blues and yellows, a structure under the water. It looks vaguely close to Hoseok’s palace, and with a nod and a point to his personal pearl, he confirmed it was.

Then, with a quick motion, Hoseok ripped the page clean from the notebook. Crumbling it up in his fist as his eyes glistened with pain. The page underneath showed a blackened creature with tentacles and a sinister eerie smile. He shoved the notebook towards each of them, emphasizing the importance of the sheet. Holding the crumpled piece of paper up in the air, he tossed it as far out into the sea as possible.

“Huh?” they all simultaneously voiced.

They were confused, of course. What does it mean? What was Hoseok saying? Goodbye? The palace is gone? The witch?

But Yoongi knew exactly what it was. Ciphering the artwork and charades like an expert in cryptograms. His face drew pale, eyes wide in shock. It clicked straight away, and his eyes met Hoseok’s.

“It means if he comes back to us, he must surrender his kingdom to the sea witch.”

Hoseok was sitting himself at his vanity in his guest quarters, staring into the mirror at his reflection. He noted how the wave of his hair seem to have dulled down slightly, probably from lack of the saltwater teasing it up. He stared back into his almond brown eyes, the deep blue twisting within his iris’. There was something unnerving today, he can sense it.

His brothers all have assured him that his realm is perfectly undamaged, clean as a whistle. Even though his servants and staff all have noticed his prolonged disappearance. They excused him, claiming that Hoseok was accompanying the Mer-King for family business. Though that excuse is fading fast the longer he’s been away. Surprisingly there hasn’t been any mandatory obligations for a festival, no reason for the King to show his presence among the several regions.

It was midafternoon when Hoseok relieved himself from daily events. Isolating himself back in his reserved guest quarters. He didn’t feel well, there was something persistent in the back of his mind that told him there was something off.

A small piece of paper folded over off to the side of his mirror caught his attention, drawing his mind out of his clouded aura. He placed it here for good keeping, knowing where to find it when he needed it. And he found himself looking at this piece of paper more often than he can admit.

Unfolded, it showed a painting of a sun with shades of yellow in the center. Small lines of black in angles representing a flock of birds flying. And strokes of blues in wave-like formations below it. The princess painted this small piece, giving it to Hoseok as a kind gesture but it meant so much to him. She was sweet, delicate, attentive, and kind. A curious being – just like himself.

He sighed with his shoulders, adoring the token of gratitude. He’ll never forget it as it was special to him.

Until a riled commotion fumed from outside – perking Hoseok’s ears up. It sounded far within the palace, undistinctive. His feet followed the voices down the hallway into the opening of the staircase, from here he can look down into the foyer from above. The ruckus is coming from the vestibule, hearing several voices arguing as they walked into the room. The princess is along the group, chattering away with pleas.

“Please!” She protested; her voice was laced with full distraught.

Gretta was holding her back by her shoulders, the princess arguing towards her mother who walked swiftly away. “Please mother!”

“There’s no more excuses, my child. You must grow up.” The queen departed coldly.

Princess Y/n stood there with her maid, her shoulders shaking heavily. Hoseok managed to stay out of view, looking between the railing posts to see what was going on. He couldn’t quite understand what the uproar was about, but he knew it left the princess disturbed, enough to make her shed tears.

Later in the day, Hoseok found himself in the garden terrace, pacing back and forth along the grass with bare feet. It felt better to not confine his toes in those snug boots anyways. He hasn’t seen the princess after the event earlier and he was growing concerned. He wanted to know why she was upset, what happened.

Hoseok perched himself against a marble stone statue, nothing marvelous compared to the one he has laying in his gardens back at home. His intentions told him something was wrong; he couldn’t ignore it. It had to deal with the princess – but what happened?

“Aqua?” A sweet innocent voice called to him.

Hoseok’s eyes fluttered over the princess, she was wearing a cream-colored day dress that flowed just below her kneecaps. His soft smile welcomed her to approach him. She looked effortlessly breathless, and he couldn’t bear to think how her face was just twisted with sadness only a few hours ago.

He held out his hand towards her, beckoning her to reach for him. Y/n gladly accepted walking towards Hoseok with her hand in his. It was warm – hand soft, and thankfully she was too preoccupied maintaining contact with his stunning eyes that she did not notice the glow radiating between the contact of their skin.

She leaned against the statue along with him; as much as he would love to intertwine their fingers together, regretfully Hoseok dropped her hand once she was comfortably next to him.

There was silence as they gazed up at the surrounding sky, watching the clouds slowly drift. It was peaceful and calming. The breeze swayed leaves and blades of grass, petals of the flowers dancing with the wind.

Princess Y/n heaved a deep breath, an obvious sign that she has something burdening her. There was clearly a difficult situation she was managing internally, but her walls were diminishing the longer she stood with the man she grew well acquainted with over a short period of time.

Hoseok looked down to her with eyes that spoke ‘speak to me’. He was concerned, she doesn’t know he heard the incident earlier and dreadfully he couldn’t talk to her, only listen.

“Aqua…” She sighs again. “I’m not sure if you could understand. Coming from a royal family has its perks and benefits, but it really isn’t all that amazing.” Her eyes wondered around the garden, the one Hoseok had helped maintain and make look wonderful.

“It’s quite unfair most times. You don’t choose things; you run on the law. And rarely ever do you agree with the stuff you’re forced to deal with. Royalty is a movement, there’s always demand after demand. And most of the time, you don’t get what your heart wants.” She verified with choked words, her voice faltering ever so slightly. “Earlier today, I was told that I must marry a prince from a faraway kingdom. One my parents found appropriate, not bothering to ask me for my own say.”

Her words cut through Hoseok like a blade, it wasn’t intentional – she doesn’t know his side of the story. His fists balled up on his sides though he maintained his composure for the sake of his beloved. They’re both hurting inside now – for separate reasons.

Y/n eyes glossed over with a watery shine. “I know it is my duty. I know it will help the kingdom and my family. But I – I won’t be happy. I can’t feel my heart with it. And I’ve ran out of time I’m afraid.”

It takes everything in Hoseok to push back his anxieties, no longer able to look down at the beautiful princess he stared straight ahead. It’s selfish of him to worry about going back to his realm, his family, and knowing his kingdom has to be handled over to the sea witch on a silver platter. It’s inconsiderate to worry about himself while the princess is nearly weeping besides him.

Hoseok swallowed back whatever bit of pride he had, to focus on the one he learned to love. Taking his thumb to swipe away the tears that caught on her rosy cheeks. It felt so natural and serene how such tiny of an action felt to him.

Bashful, she profusely apologized for her sobbing, laughing at how ridiculous she might have made herself look. “Please, I’m so sorry. I know I mustn’t cry.” Hoseok responds with a reassuring look, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. The pull on his heart strings forcing him to look at her until she relaxes.

“I need to tell you something – please don’t think I’m crazy.” She avoided eye contact with him, afraid to catch herself getting lost into his tangled brown eyes. “I had a goal, a hope. A while back, we were celebrating my birthday among a beautiful ship just outside these waters. My parents found it very fitting since I’ve expressed my interests of the ocean one too many times.” She laughed. “It was a great celebratory event; I was having fun! But unfortunately, an oncoming storm approached out of nowhere forcing the vessel to be wrecked during the process.” She started to express her story through body movements, the swing of her arms.

“I was very lucky to have not drowned. I honestly don’t know how I am here today. But they found me washed up on the beach, a bit of a ways down the shore. My birthday gown all tattered and soaked from the previous night.” She paused her rant, contemplating the next thing she was about to say. “I know… deep down I know somebody saved me from the shipwreck. But when my guards and Toby found me, there was no one in sight.”

Her eyes looked back at Hoseok’s who seemed unreadable, almost intense. And she interpreted his look as guilt flooded her senses, she thought she was sounding absurd. “I know this sounds comical, and you can laugh or mock me all you need, but I swear when I woke up, I saw a man over me! I couldn’t see or recognize him because the sun was blaring into my vision! He was all a blur, but I know – I know he was real! I can still hear his voice ringing through my ears.” The princess could recollect how vividly that voice impressed upon her memory.

Hoseok’s eyebrows shot up as high as they could, almost kissing his hairline when the princess claimed these notions. She knows, she knows he helped her! Wait – no… she doesn’t. She has no clue. But she remembers his voice. Hoseok’s voice. He wanted to gesture to her frantically, lose his balance over the fact that he was the one who saved her from that terrible storm. But something stopped him.

Princess Y/n’s voice trailed on, “… and now I ran out of time to find him. To thank whoever it was who had saved me. I tried visiting that area many times after the wreck because now there’s something so sentimental about it. I know nobody will believe me. And now I have to marry in the next few days.”

That’s when Hoseok felt the pit of his stomach churn, that’s what prevented him from hopelessly trying to tell the princess it was him all along. The realization of Y/n being forced to wed by obligation, not her choice what-so-ever. There’s nothing he can do, and even if she did figure it out – then what?

She had thanked him in subtle ways. She took him in, treated him kindly. Fed him, bathed him, gave him a warm place to stay and the clothes on his back. Indirectly the princess thanked him all along, and he thanks her for so much more. Teaching him about the land, the intriguing structures of humankind. Hoseok gained a friendship with the one human he was interested in; he can tell through the shiny glow that radiates between them. She is good, he trusts her with everything.

Without hesitation, Hoseok grab hold the princess’s hand within his. His other briskly reaches for his lonely pearl, slipping the earring out of his lobe and placing it inside her up-facing palm. Her breath hitched; her eyes wide at the sight before her. Y/n’s hand gleamed around his, and his unique decorative pearl glimmered inside her palm. The luminesce vanished the moment Hoseok withdrew, leaving her to stare down at the aqua pearl. “What was – “

Hoseok placed his hands on each side of the princess’s warming face. This was the only way he knew how to properly thank her, and he knew she would keep his precious bead safe from any harm. Her eyes sparkled back into his, whether she understands the circumstance or not, she couldn’t help but stare in awe. He leaned in pressing her fondly in his arms, placing a sweet innocent kiss atop the crown of her head, then bowed gracefully.

“That light?” She whispered, eyes dropping back to her hand. “Where does it come from?”

He met her at eye level with a soft smile, placing his finger over his lips. Shh.

“This must be a dream.

This can’t be real.

This can’t be happening in reality.

I must be dreaming. I have to be dreaming.”

Last night when you went to bed, you were so exhausted from hectic schedules of university life that you couldn’t sleep. You try to count sheep in your mind but that didn’t help. Deciding to try something else, you play your favorite guided meditation audio that can somehow always put you at ease. Putting your headphones on, you lie down on your bed again. Trying to relax your body to the maximum and notice your breathing, you can’t help but feel restless. Even the audio comes to no use today. After several failed attempts at trying to sleep, you turn to porn to please yourself. Switching between different sites to find the right video to get off to, you wish you had someone to fulfill your desires instead of some crappy porn. Guess that’s what life’s about when your love life doesn’t exist. Not that you were complaining, single life has its benefits and silver linings. It's just that your last heartbreak two years ago was a major burnout in your soul. And even though the lessons learned from that experience was life-changing and truly elevating. You can’t help but miss having someone to talk to 24x7.  Someone who can talk you to sleep. Guess you miss the messiness of the entire process or the entire life cycle that goes on from meeting a new person to getting to know the person to talk to that person 24x7 to the inevitable heartbreak. Maybe you need someone.

So when you couldn’t find the right video to get off to, you decided to open Instagram and go through your DM's. To find someone worthy enough to fill your lonely voids both emotionally and physically. But that was useless too. That’s when you decide that it was about time for you to get out of your head and start testing the waters again. Go back to the field and start fishing again. And to test the waters, you decide to go to the place where the water is really fresh, you download Tinder. Desperate times call for desperate measures. It is half-past 12, in the middle of Thursday night and you are unavailable to sleep. Run! BTS is running in the background on your laptop while you are busy scrolling through Twitter. Its been a busy week at the university as finals are approaching soon. That means you don’t get enough time to watch Run! BTS right away when they are uploaded. As a result, you are now catching up with the last to last week’s episode.

Download complete. The notification popped up.

Quickly opening the app, you set your profile first. You fill the basic details first. Name, age, gender, preference, location, and other things.  The something about you column has always been a pain in the ass, going with whatever random gibberish that comes to your mind, you complete your profile. Now the media section. You can upload up to 9 pictures. Only if you had 9 good pictures. Going through your gallery, you choose a candid picture of you standing on a beach, 2 other selfies taken in your room and one that was taken on your university campus as display pictures. The last one was a genuine candid and you kinda looked cute in it. Trying to figure out how the app works, you start swiping left-right without thinking much. Don’t get you wrong, you were just checking the app out, trying to make the maximum out of it. But after the initial 5 minutes, you were bored, declaring it overrated.

Just when you were swiping through the various profiles, you stumble across a profile that you were too familiar with. It was a picture of a tall Asian guy getting out of a car. An HD picture of an HD quality man. He is the same person who sits proudly on your phone’s wallpaper.

Kim Seokjin, 27

South Korea.

Nickname: the car door guy

Something about me: Famously known as the third guy from the left, Kim Seokjin is responsible for stealing the hearts of millions of fans across the globe. The worldwide handsome guy is a part of the rainbow international K-pop sensation traditional transfer USB hub shrimp BTS. The oldest of the team can sing and dance to the rhythm of your heartbeats. He is the CEO of Jinhit entertainment (formerly known as Bighit). Swipe right to get a chance to go on a date with the worldwide cutie guy.

Rolling your eyes, you give him a super like and swipe right. If only it was this easy to win a chance to go on a date with your favorite idol. When you installed Tinder, you never thought you'll find Jin here. Having heard thousands of stories of how so many people catfish the locals, using K-pop idols pseudo profile, its an old trick in the book, in fact, a famous one. Sometimes they don’t even change the details and just go with the real one. This profile, for example, is one of them. The bio looks like something a fan came up in his/her sleep. Having swiped right, you wonder how many naïve people would fall for this façade and actually believe that they are talking to the real Jin. The visual of all visuals, the singer of all singers, Your Kim Seokjin. With that thought, you continue to explore the app.

“Why do people waste time on these stupid apps. If a person could that easily find his/her soul mate on this app, astrologers from all over the world would be already moving inside it.” You sighed.

“Maybe I should just go back to counting sheep instead” Closing the app you turn to your laptop where the latest episode of Run! BTS was playing providing perfect background music. You were so caught up with swiping left and right, exploring the new app, that you didn’t even take a single glance at the screen.

“I should have just watched the episode instead!” With that thought mentally apologizing to your favorite seven idols, you shut down the laptop and switch the lights off your room. Covering your face with your favorite blanket you turn to sleep, wishing that you could finally get some rest. And just when you were about to drift to the dreamland, the notification bell ring, hinting that you have a new notification.

Mentally cursing whoever it was that interpreted your almost sleep, you open your phone. Too bright for your liking, you couldn’t make out who it was. Until your eyes adjusted and your eyes read,

Kim Seokjin and you have matched. Take it easy from here.

Message from Kim Seokjin: Hi.

Your heart stops beating. It can’t be him. Can he? No. You know better than this. Why would he be on Tinder? If he wanted to date anybody, he can just announce it to the world and millions of fans from all gender identities would line up for him. Why would he need tinder? And even if he was on tinder why would he match with me? There are millions of beautiful girls out there who are way better than you look.  Why would he text you? Why would he choose you? Ignoring the newly arrived notification, you quickly open tinder. You are going through your profile once again. Basic. The profile screams basic. With just your name, age, gender and preference your profile doesn’t say much about you. With a quote “Chaos is a ladder” sitting on your bio you know pretty well your profile is darned. You can’t fathom why would he, out of all the people out there, text you. You know it danm well he didn’t. If only you were that naïve to fall for the façade but you knew better. This is an imposter. He is an imposter. Or maybe she is. You don’t know who it is, that has texted you. But you know its not Jin.

It can’t be him.

You can’t help but sulk further when you realize how much you wanted it to be him. A message from Jin. A chance to get to know the person who has not only graced your life with his beautiful face, soulful voice and a windshield laugh that could light up the whole town. You also wanted to thank him. For all that he has done. He along with his other 6 band members have helped you in the most difficult times of your life. There were days when BTS was the only reason that kept you going. You wanted to thank him for his contributions to your life. You wanted him to know you as you know him.

You wanted it to be him.

You look at the clock, it was 1:37 AM. With the excitement of Jin's message and the realization followed by it that it is not him, you have completely lost your sleep. You were already struggling to fall asleep earlier and now with his message lying unread on your notification bar, you are wide awake.

Maybe you should reply to him at least. To the imposter of course. And know what it feels like to even talk to his imposter. Maybe you'll make good friends with him. Maybe you’ll become best friends with him who later fall in love with each other. Get married in Paris then move to Egypt, have 3 children and live happily ever after.

“I should reply to him.”

1:40 AM

[Y/N]: Hi.

You finally tap the send option after glaring at the two words greeting for an eternity now. Suddenly you become more conscious of your environment than you have ever been. It's almost like you can notice the minute actions that are going in your surroundings. From the clock ticking to the vehicle noises coming from the main road far away, you can notice it all.

Ding. With the notification bell, you are pulled out of your mind.

1:44 AM

[Kim Seokjin]: How are you?

Your heart started beating again. This time its 140 BPH. You can't help but get excited seeing his name flash on your phone.

1:45 AM

So then, why were you here? You half blamed Annabeth for dragging you here, but you couldn’t entirely blame her either. Instead, you took it as is and moved forwards. Overall, you were enjoying your junior year so far. Metting Annabeth was the highlight of it, but some lows came with it. 

You were a new transfer student from a community college. You wanted to get your general education taken care of before you started to move straight into your degree. You knew taking that path would be less expensive than going to a university, but it still left you behind from most juniors. However, that wasn’t going to stop you now, nor was it going to stop you ever. 

The only problem was, you didn’t know anybody. One of the downfalls of being a transfer student is that you didn’t get to interact with most of the already enrolled university students of your age. It was like an elementary school all over again but on a much higher level. 

You often felt lost and misplaced, and one of the more significant reasons why you stayed inside. But over time, you grew to enjoy your surroundings and eventually met Annabeth, as previously mentioned. 

Now with the sappy backstory complete, you should have at least expected something like this to happen. Annabeth was a party girl, you knew it. You were smart enough to smell it from a thousand yards away but wasn’t smart enough to put that she would do something like this. 

You almost kicked yourself for allowing it to happen, but would you be angry at her? Not in a million years. Maybe for the time being, but that was about it honestly. You sighed into your typical red solo cup. You didn’t put anything alcoholic inside as you weren’t going to get drunk. Instead, you simply put some fruity juice in and called it a day. 

Annabeth had found herself wrapped around several football players, and you were sitting in the corner of the living room. The party she took you too was a frat party celebrating midterms. Or so you thought it was because that’s what Annabeth told you. But you just simply assumed it was a party to be a party. 

You were enjoying your juice, and for whatever reason, someone stopped in front of you. Looking at their build, you would assume they were an athlete. They wore dark clothes that fit perfectly and some accessories around their wrist, fingers, and ears. 

When you got a better look, the person in front of you was a man. His dark eyes bore into yours, and his sculpted face was eye appealing. His hair swished to the left as it covered his entire forehead. The length itself wasn’t long, but it wasn’t short either. 

To spice his hair up, he had his ends dyed red. What was striking was how much of a bunny he looked like to you. His nose was rounded and smile enough to make your heart melt. But there was something about this guy that turned you off. 

“Hello toots,” You were taken back by this because who would introduce themselves like this? What kind of romance novel where you in? 

“What is this, the fifties?” You questioned, cocking an eyebrow. The man in front of you laughed slightly, his smile expanding and his eyes crinkling. 

“No, but it got your attention, didn’t it?” he asks, moving to sit beside you. As he did, you smelt his cologne as it was a mixture of pine and something else. You shrugged your shoulders, silently answering his question. 

“Let’s start off with introductions. I’m Jungkook,” he says, his accent thickening when he says his name. Your mouth thinned as you watched him reach out to take your hand. 

“Y/n,” you answered wearily, pulling your hand back to set back in your lap. It went silent again as you didn’t know why this man suddenly started talking to you. Jungkook seemed as if he wanted to do something more with you, and you could instantly tell by the way he held himself. 

Or was that just a woman’s intuition? You brought the solo cup back up to your lips and took a sip from it. You felt his eyes on you the entire time, which kind of creep you out, but you weren’t going to say anything. When it came to conflict, you were the type of person that tried their hardest to stay the hell away from it. 

“So, what brings you here tonight?” Jungkook finally asks, watching as you set the cup back in your lap. Turning your attention towards him, you shrugged your shoulders. 

“Dragged here.” 

“Oh, really?” 

“Yeah, my friend wanted me to get out of my apartment. Try something new.” Jungkook whistles at your answer, taking you back by surprise a little. Uncrossing your legs, you turned to look at him. 

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” You asked, suddenly getting defensive. 

“Nothing toots,” he answers, turning to look back at you, grinning widely. “But if we're honest here, you don’t really look like the partying type.” You placed a hand on your chest to act like you were offended. His tone was playful, and you knew it was, but you weren’t going to allow him to simply read you like an open book. 

First off, in the back of your mind, you knew that this was some sort of romance novel. It was ugly and straightforward. Some hot guy starts talking you up out of nowhere? Yeah seems fishy. On top of that, he starts flirting with you none the less, and you were playing, right into his cards? Yeah, something was certainly off about all of this. 

“Well then,” You finally answered after smacking your lips. “You would be correct, I’m not the partying type,” Jungkook smirked behind his own cup as he too took a swallow from it. You bit the inside of your cheek, turning away to look forward again. 

This time, you couldn’t find Annabeth, so you only assumed she had gone off with those football players. You were left in Jungkook’s company and were starting to get a little too comfortable. 

“Well, then Ms.Y/n,” Jungkook says in a confident tone, raising himself up. “Would you like to party with me?” That’s when you reached out and smacked his hand away gently. 

“Oh no, you don’t,” you begin waggling your finger in his direction. Jungkook raises an eyebrow at your response as he assumed you would answer him. You clucked your tongue and leaned back. “This is all too good to be true. It’s like a cheesy romance novel.” You simply answered. 

Jungkook scrunched his eyebrows together, not correctly understanding where you were coming from. With his expression, you gave a deep sigh and answered him. “Some random dude comes walking up to the introvert, tries to play his little game, and somehow she ends up falling in love with him while he fucks the shit out of her,” you answered, shrugging your shoulders. 

“It’s wattpad material right there. Plain and simple.” you finished setting your now empty solo cup down and looking back at the confused Jungkook. He then laughs, his shoulders bouncing up and down. His eyes scrunch, and his bunny expression only widens. 

After he got his fit-out, Jungkook wiped a few tears from his eyes. “Wattpad material, such an interesting way to put it.” Jungkook leans in now, his hands stuffed in his pockets. “So what you’re trying to tell me is that you won’t come party with me because you think I’m going to reel your heart in?” he questions, tilting his head to the side. 

You confidently cross your arms over your chest and answer him right away. “Yup.” 

But you were the fool now because you did exactly what you knew would come from it. It was that damn bunny smile that reeled you in. Jungkook had somehow convinced you to party with him. You took that offer shortly after that small conversation and did precisely what you didn’t want to. 

He even made you a mixed drink that got you to relax. Eventually, Jungkook pulled you off to the side and lead you down a hallway. He began explaining to you that he lived here with a few people and was apart of a fraternity. You joked about it with him and eventually told him it was complete bullshit. 

Jungkook pulled you into a dark closet as it was your idea to hide from Annabeth. It was already past midnight, but you didn’t care because it was a Friday night. It wasn’t like you had anything to do the next day. 

“God, this is such a romance novel...” You grumbled, holding onto his shirt as the closet space wasn’t big enough to where you could lean against the wall. 

“You’ve mentioned that more than once tonight Y/n,” Jungkook kids placing his hands on your hips. You rolled your eyes, pushing your cheek into his chest. As you stood there, you felt his friend start to say hello. Now let’s get a few things straight. 

You were a virgin, but you weren’t an idiot. With what little alcohol you had, you pressed yourself against him. Jungkook let out a small groan, his eyes rolling back for a split second. Then, his attention now locked on you and what you were doing. 

“You really want this cheesy romance thing to play out, to don’t you?” He questions, pushing his hips back. You shrugged, giggling at his answer. This wasn’t something that was supposed to happen, but it just did. Where you probably going to regret it? 

Yes. But at the moment, you could care less about what was about to happen. You could feel Jungkook’s fingers twitching to touch you, and it was amusing at first. Considering that he was trying his best to be a gentleman, thinking you were under the influence. But that whole gentleman approach was quickly thrown away when you pressed your knee in between his legs. 

Jungkook growls low in his throat, the sound itself turning you on. He grips your hips tightly, pushing you back and into the other side of the closet. Jungkook didn’t take your leggings off. No, instead, he slips one hand inside them and presses his fingers against your wet core. 

Your body twitches at the contact. No one has ever touched you there but yourself. You didn’t have to say anything because Jungkook already knew what you were thinking. It was written all over your face. 

“Oh, ho?” He says, his accent thickening. You gulped at his dark voice, eyes almost fully dilated. “Someone’s a virgin,” he muses, curling his fingers to press harder on your clit. You mewl at the small action, thighs twitching as your body waits in anticipation. 

“Don’t worry, love,” he says, leaning in closer. “I’ll treat you right.” then captures your lips in a kiss. Your fingers dug into his shirt in hopes of holding yourself upright. But his movements were enough to make your knees buckle. 

Jungkook started off by circling his fingers against your clit above the fabric. He teased you in hopes to get you wetter than you already were. Then, pushing the material aside after a few minutes. His fingers start to stride up and down your lips, feeling the wetness against the pads of his fingers. 

The kiss was enough to keep you distracted. Jungkook’s lips were soft against yours, but his mouth was dominating. Immediately poking his tongue into yours and exploring what he could. What you didn’t realize was how into his small bites you would be. 

Jungkook hadn’t even put his fingers inside, and you already wanted him to take you. What would it feel like raw? No lubrication, no prepping, would you enjoy it? You were the first to pull back, the flush on your cheeks deepening, and your lips were swollen by his kiss. 

Jungkook’s eyes bore into yours again, the playfulness erased completely. You were left with someone who was solely looking to pleasure. You weren’t upset with it at all; instead you welcomed it. 

“Spread your legs just a little,” Jungkook commands. You listen to him, doing exactly what he asks. As you do so, Jungkook reaches down to wrap one arm around your waist to hold you because what happened next would’ve made you fall. 

Jungkook slips his two fingers in, stretching you right away. At first, you were concerned that it would hurt and God it certainly did. But, due to his quick thinking and quicker fingers, you were a moaning mess. Jungkook had to shush you a few times because he didn’t want someone walking in. 

Two fingers turned into three, which turned into four. Eventually, your leggings were by your ankles along with your underwear. Due to how close you two where you could smell your arousal and hear it. Jungkook’s thumb moved just a tad slower than his fingers against your clit, but it was still enough stimulation to have you begging for him. 

You unraveled under his fingers. Nobody had ever touched you like this, not even yourself. How Jungkook knew your body like he had been dating you for years amazed you. In a short time, you were already cumming over his fingers, body shaking due to the first wave. 

However, Jungkook didn’t stop there. Instead, he made you cum more than once, just by his fingers. He stretched you further and further, even going as far as to stick a few fingers in your ass. By the time your third wave crashed your system, you had thought Jungkook would be done with you. 

Instead, he pulled his wet fingers back and undid his own pants. Slipping them down in a heartbeat and pressing his tip against your folds. He didn’t ask if you were on birth control, nor did he ask for a condom. You knew it was a stupid idea, but you were on birth control, so you weren’t wholly concerned. Yet, because you were so hazy with overstimulation, the words never came out. 

“Do you think you’re ready for me?” Jungkook whispers, craning his head back to look at you. The sight in front of him was enough to make his dick twitch against your folds. Your lips were still swollen from the multiple kisses you shared, along with the countless small bite marks around your neck. 

Your eyes were half-lidded, and your mouth opens with a slight trail of drool escaping the corners of your mouth. You looked utterly submissive to him, something Jungkook had to seem multiple times from multiple women. We were known to sleep around, so he knew what he was doing. 

“Put your large cock inside of me already, Jungkook,” you answered, reaching out to grasp his shoulders. Your fingers digging into the fabric of his shirt. “Take my fucking virginity..” 

Jungkook laughs at your last comment, the statement amusing him. “As you wish,” he states pushing himself in. Since he prepped you, it didn’t hurt as much as you expected it to. Although it was a little uncomfortable at first, you got used to it. Just like his fingers, Jungkook didn’t wait for you to get adjusted. He held your legs under his hands and used the wall to sturdy you. 

Then, using his lower back muscles and planting his feet on the ground, he thrusts up into you. This particular position wasn’t Jungkook’s favorite as it used a lot of “manpower” to keep his partner steady. But, he used his own strength to his advantage. 

You dug your fingers into his shoulders, eventually bringing a hand up to cover your mouth. Compared to his fingers, this was much different. The way his skin felt against yours, and the small connection you had was already driving you to your own end. You hadn’t realized how overstimulated you were, and you didn’t want him to stop. 

Jungkook refused to touch your clit because he knew you were going to unravel before he even got close to being done. You moaned in his ear, begging him to continue to fuck you. 

“That’s what I’m doing toots,” he grunts, pulling out to put you in a new position. With what little room, Jungkook bends you over and spreads your legs. Pushing his cock back where you wanted it and fucked you into the wall. This time, he snuck his fingers down your sides and in between your legs again. 

Using the pads of his fingers to slowly circle around your clit. On the other hand, he holds your hips tightly so that you wouldn’t fall. Just like before, Jungkook uses his lower back muscles and plants his feet to fuck you. With each thrust, it felt like he achieved his goal of getting deeper inside. 

“Fuck..” You drag pushing back against the wall in your own attempts to keep him inside longer. You could feel yourself getting closer to your end, your breath quickening as your body started to squeeze around his cock. 

“You going to cum again?” Jungkook teases, pulling his hand back and smacking your ass. 

“Fuck!” Your answer, another amuse laugh escaping Jungkook’s lips. 

“Then do it,” Jungkook muses, finding your clit and pinching it in between his index and middle finger. Out of all of the orgasms, this was the most powerful of them all. So much so that you saw stars in your eyes and your knees eventually gave in. Jungkook had to quickly wrap his arms around your waist so you wouldn’t fall.

Shortly after, he pulled himself out and shot his seed against your leg. You felt it trickle down your calf, a stupid smile spreading across your face. Eventually, Jungkook helped you out of the position and set you against the wall. He tilted your chin up with his two fingers, his own smug look on his face. 

“What to do now,” he muses, brushing his thumb against your chin. “Was that anything like your cheesy romance novels?” 

Seokjin slaps the paper down on his manager’s desk, looking like the perfect picture of confusion and exasperation. The phone is ringing in the background, as it has for the past twenty-four hours, slowly dragging him ring by ring down into insanity.

“Why are you showing me this? How is that any different than all the other times?”

Yoongi sighs deeply, not looking away from the new lamp on his desk; the fifth one this month.

Some people stress-clean, some stress-bake; Yoongi stress-shops light fixtures.

“This,-” he stresses, “is very different than all the other times” He purses his lips for a moment, finally sparring him a look after wiping away at an imaginary dust from the lampshade. “You made Jeon Jungkook cry.-”

“ Allegedly! ”

“- He’s the nation’s baby. The public wants your head” He says, picking up the magazine and waving it lethargically around for emphasis. “There will be blood to pay”.

He throws the magazine back at Jin, Jin catching it in extremis. On the first page is in big bold yellow letters: Celebrity chef Kim Seokjin bullies nation’s sweetheart Jeon Jungkook. Then in smaller characters: Has fame gotten to his head? There’s a screenshot of the tweet taking up most of the front page, looking very dramatic for what it really is.

“He asked me to rate his cooking and showed me dog vomit, what was I supposed to do?!” Jin asks, voice reaching high proportions. He doesn’t whine. He’s an adult. 

“Not asking him if this was the digested version would have been a good start.”

“And be kind to someone with an anime profile picture? In which universe?

“Couldn’t you see the little blue verified sign by his name?”

“ Anime. profile. picture. ”

Yoongi doesn’t answer, and Seokjin can’t hold back a groan. All of this happened because of the devil that is Jeon Jungkook. He knew exactly what he was doing, faking those tears during that live. Now his fans are onto him, making his life miserable.

“I merely told him his food looked like shit, but his fanbase- they’re” He pauses, shivers. Yoongi gets this unfocused faraway look in his eyes, probably going through some serious PTSD of all the time Jin set off idol’s fans. 

The phone rings, cutting through what probably is some very violent flashbacks. Yoongi fiddles at the lamp switch nervously, turning it on and off a few times to help keep his calm.

It’s the ring too many, and Jin rips the cord out of the phone in a flare of exasperation.

Under Yoongi’s startled stare, he lets his body sag on one of the couches, using the magazine to shield his eyes. Artfully, mind you; he’s not being dramatic, he’s being emotionally expressive. This situation is emotionally draining, and he needs to lay down for a sec. This probably the biggest crisis since he started gaining popularity, bigger than the time he accidentally asked Brad Pitt for nudes on twitter (Accidentally meaning he was drunk. Or so that’s what the public believes).

There’s a stretch of silence, both men contemplating every decision that led them here, in this office, with this pesky problem that is Jeon Jungkook faking tears on one of his lives to get back at Seokjin for calling his food ‘ animal regurgitation ’.

“Do you think this is the right hue for my office?” Yoongi asks distractedly, breaking the contemplating silence.

Jin sits up, letting his weight rest back on his elbow. “In all honesty it makes your head look big.” 

Yoongi’s eyes go sharp, taking badly to Jin’s criticism. He purses his lips, eyebrow arching to complete the look.

“Anyways, I found a solution.” he says, an evil glint appearing in his eyes.

“You did?” Seokjin asks, fully sitting up as confusion and worry mix in his guts. His agent waited all this time to bring it up, that just can’t be good.

Yoongi nods slowly, a mean smile stretching his lips. “I was unsure if it was the right one until now, but I think it just might be the thing to help us out of our little situation.”

“Oh?” Jin says, gulping loudly.

    “Oh, no.” Namjoon says, looking quite pale. “Absolutely not. I’ll get sued. We’ll get sued.”

“Come on now, Joonie. Think about it. It would be a good opportunity to promote your new album-”

“Playlist.” Namjoon corrects Hoseok, who ignores him.

“-Plus it’ll make you look relatable in the public’s eyes.” 

“How is me being an agent of destruction in the kitchen relatable in anyone’s eyes?”

“Look, all you have to do is go there, try not to chop your fingers off, make sure at least one of your dimples is visible at all times, and then you’re done.”

“Ok but what about my dignity? How can I ever rap about having an automatic dick if the whole nation learns I’m a useless adult.”

“Oh baby,” Hoseok says, a playful glint in his eyes. “You broke three pair of sunglasses in front of your fans last month. They already know.”

Namjoon grimaces.

“This is on a whole other level of public humiliation, Hyung. Me, in a kitchen, cooking.”

Hoseok sighs, rounding his desk he was leaning on to ruffle through the papers covering it. He’s usually a neat freak but they’ve been very busy with his last release. He grabs something from under a pile of paperwork, letting out a victorious ‘hah!’.

“There,” He says, holding out a brown envelope to Namjoon. “-It’s the proposal. Read it, and think about it, but I sincerely believe this could be a good way to promote your album.”

“Playlist.” He corrects, more resigned this time. 

His album hasn’t been doing too well; not bad, but not good either. They’re having trouble gaining traction, his agency on the smaller side and struggling to be taken seriously. He’s grateful for everything Hoseok is doing, and this is no exception. He knows he needs to do this, dignity or not.

Until something catches his eyes in the first few lines. There’s the title of the show, the producer name, the dates of filming, a slight summary of what the show is about, and then:

MC: Kim Seokjin

Because life hates him. 

His heart goes double his regular rate, hands becoming sweaty under half a second. His clothes seem suddenly too tight, too warm.

He can still remember, on that faithful pre-debut evening, lounging in his bunk bed while watching his favorite youtuber talk about himself.

It was before Kim Seokjin went mainstream and landed himself his own cooking show. Back when Eat Jin, his channel, had under 400k subscribers, and it was mostly videos of him cooking his favorite food and then gorging himself. This particular video was a Q&A, and for some reason he couldn’t understand, Namjoon was fascinated by this man, so of course he was watching it attentively. He was funny, handsome, charmingly witty in his answers. 

But it only took one sentence from Jin for Namjoon to finally understand exactly why he was so obsessed with the man:

“I like it. When my mouth is full of food. Because when I swallow, a large amount of food goes down and it feels like I’m almost going to choke- I really like that feeling.”

Namjoon had dropped his phone from the top bunk, too busy having an epiphany to even notice the sound of it smashing on the floor.

His sexual orientation was never the same after that night. 

Sweating, panting, with your heart kicking a beat against your ribcage. You fought to keep quiet because the last thing you wanted? Was your roommate, and BFF, to hear you losing your shit on a nightly basis.

Jungkook had been your roommate for about five years now. You guys had the perfect arrangement. You didn’t bring ‘conquests’ home, both of you loved video games, and eating. He often paid rent in quarterly lumps. Actually, it was to the point where sometimes - you didn’t need to? You managed to handle the utility bills leaving you with healthy savings. 

That financial stability made you pleasant - and you decided to learn more than the basics about your roomie. He had an excellent job, but his hobbies involved music. You’d hear him singing in the shower in the early morning hours. What is he doing in your apartment with a voice like that?! Some days he’d sing something light-hearted, almost goofy, and you couldn’t help but giggle. 

But, over the years, as he’s matured? His songs have as well. You noticed the change in his vocal tone. How he utilized his lower register. Matter of fact? The first time you heard him singing in that lower register? You had to make sure it was him. 

And that was the first of many mishaps. 

You thought someone had snuck into your apartment - so you walked in Jungkook. 

…in mid-song. 

Naked.

There was a moment where you got more than an eyeful of each other. Because you thought the tank-top and boy-short matching set, plus a baseball bat, would be enough to protect you. 

"O-oh, god! I’m so sorry!” You shrieked as his face turned three shades of red as you closed the door. 

That was as close to naked as he’s ever seen you since becoming your roommate. It was too much for him to handle as he shifted his shower to cold. He shuddered, fighting the blood, trying to stir the partial erection he already had. It took you two weeks before you could look at each other in the eye. It took you both another three weeks to dump your visual spank banks. Every time Jungkook showered and sang, you ruined another pair of panties. You’d given up on them by second post bust in. That’s because that voice had infiltrated your dreams, and that crushing anxiety that lingered in your brain was held at bay. That night you woke up in a quiet, cold sweat. The thought of his hands running against your skin, your fingers playing along the ripples of his abs had you leaving wet spots on your sheets.  Strangely enough, his voice helped you to sleep. 

So much so, that you’ve made a habit of going to sleep when he gets in from work. The one night he doesn’t come home on time, you fall asleep on the couch. The same creeping nightmare catches you off-guard. You wake up screaming while Jungkook holds your trembling form against his. 

Jungkook rarely was late, but some last-minute issues kept him at the office late. He could have kicked himself for not messaging you. When he got home in the early morning hours to see you asleep on the couch? He did everything to not disturb you. He was well aware of your night terrors. He could, at least, tell that the intensity had died down over the years. 

He remembered the very first time he heard you screaming in the middle of the night. He knocked furiously at your bedroom door before barging in. You looked so small covered in sweat, your eyes wide and unseeing. He waved a hand in front of your face, scared to touch your body as it began to regulate. He watched you shake your head, blink rapidly, and become mortified over the state he found you in. He insisted on helping you get cleaned up. He changed your bedding while you showered. He made you a calming tea, and you chatted until you couldn’t keep your eyes open. He watched you fall into a gentle slumber, hanging around enough to make sure you didn’t stir.

It happened a few more times, him coming to your rescue, regardless of your embarrassment. And he’d sit at your bedside, each time, making sure you fell asleep. Then you were less disturbed by his assistance, but it didn’t stop you from trying to calm your noises. 

And now? The sound of his heartbeat against your ears is a soothing melody that helps you wake up completely. You felt the point of his chin atop your head as you realized you were curled into the shadow of his body. 

“W-what happened?” You murmured quietly. There was a quiet, deep, inhale that made his chest puff against your ear. “I came home late. You fell asleep on the couch.” That said, more than needed explaining. You frown softly, taking advantage of this sudden closeness.

“You didn’t have to do this.” Your voice sounded smaller than you wanted it to.

Your gaze meets his, and that disappointed tilt to his mouth. “Why wouldn’t I?” A brow ticked upward as he questioned you.

“I feel like I’m a burden. I mean, we’re only roomm-..” You didn’t finish your sentence. 

His lips grazed yours, stopping all brain function momentarily. Your eyes were wide as you gasped, giving him an opening. The tip of his tongue traced your lips as your hands crumpled the fabric of his shirt. 

You pushed - he pulled. His tongue prodded deeper, causing you to moan. Your mind spun on the implications of this kiss - and then he broke it.

You could swear your heart was beating in time as he nuzzled his face against yours. 

He made a satisfied sound low in his throat. “I’ve been wanting to do that for a while now.” The sound of his laugh sliding over your skin, giving you goosebumps.

“Why didn’t you?” You spoke in an airy whisper. “I’d probably have the best sleep of my life.” You pouted playfully.

He chuckled, that dark gaze lowering to your own. “You know? If you can’t sleep - We can always have sex?”