#anyway hope you engoy

[piosplayhouse]

The immortal alliance conference

[askazulon]

...

(Well, hello again. I`m just fucked up with publication in first time when I posted this thing. Sorry) /Why he is acting like that? Well... He just started to hear some strange whishper and voice in his head. And this is bother him.

 You can send ask here but you can`t to do actions with Azulon (but who stop me for to do silly scetches?). Anyway he can hear you.  I hope you will engoy it!/ 

[gingerpeachtae]

Concentric [24]

masterlist

Words: 25.5k 🤡

Genres: fantasy!AU, angst, fluff, enemies to lovers, eventual smut

Warnings: angst, mentions of violence, blood, trauma, guilt

Summary: You had been ready for the end of the semester. You had been ready to spend time away from your best friend, Jimin, and finally move on from the feelings you harbored. Yet, after your friend was forced to reveal a secret, you found yourself in a new world that was chock full of magic, war, and wonder. So, here you were, basically thrown into your own fantasy novel, with your best friend on one side, and six male warriors on the other.

A/N: pls accept this long update as apology for making y’all wait 6 months 😭 also brace yourselves cuz whew this one is a doozy. ENGOY! 💙

The forest was a blur of green and brown in the Saeni’s eyes. Their feet pounded against the ground in controlled yet rushed footfalls. The air was filled with sounds of rustling leaves and creaking trees. Bird calls and trickling water. Ragged breaths and suppressed groans.

Wincing at his burning thighs, Tae slowed his pace ever so slightly to allow Jungkook to have the lead. The blue-eyed Saeni glanced to the side and took in the blood on his brother’s back. The crimson flower was getting bigger. Red flowed from the maknae’s back, trailed down his leg, and stained the earth behind him in small marks. Yet, Jungkook continued to press on.

Just as Tae went to open his mouth to try to reason with his brother again, to try to get Jungkook to stop and stay put while he went on and looked for Jimin and Y/N, a putrid smell floated over with the breeze.

The distinct smell of death and decay.

“Hyung,” Jungkook whispered in a raspy voice as he came to a stop and turned in the direction of the stench.

“I know, I know,” Tae said back quietly while also slowing down.

Both male’s chests heaved rapidly and their bodies felt heavy and sluggish from exhaustion. Tae rolled his shoulder and retrieved an arrow from his quiver before silently notching it. Then, they began to creep through the trees and shrubbery with soft steps. Neither of them could hear anyone or anything besides the forest… but they still went slowly.

Once the putrid smell was strong enough to make his eyes water, Jungkook grit his teeth and reached over his shoulder to unsheathe one of his short blades.

The metal flashed in the sunlight and Jungkook held it firmly, but Tae placed a hand on his arm and warned, “Don’t do anything stupid. You’re in no shape to charge in full force.”

Jungkook shook his head. “If it’s for her… for her and hyung… I can do it.”

Tae fought the urge to roll his eyes. “Shut up. We go in slow and see what we’re dealing with. Got it?”

The other male huffed, but after a few seconds he nodded.

About a minute later, when the smell almost made them want to gag, the two Saeni brushed through a collection of leaves and thin branches. And then they saw them. The bodies.

A quick count revealed there were thirteen in total. All dead. Some were riddled with arrows, others with stab wounds and slash marks. One of them was even speared to a tree.

But what made Tae and Jungkook freeze was that they recognized some of them.

Three of them, to be exact.

The female speared to the tree trunk, the male with an arrow impaled through his throat, and the male slumped against the base of a tree.

Jungkook released a shaky, uneven breath and whispered, “Hyung, they were the ones… the ones selected to go with-”

“Chim and Mingi. I know,” Tae answered in a quiet voice as his body started to tremble with both fatigue and fear.

As the burgundy head released a weak “fuck fuck fuck!” and stumbled to the side to brace himself on a low-hanging branch, Tae lowered his bow and stepped forward to silently walk through the gruesome scene. He inspected the other bodies strewn across the forest floor. All draikensu. No sign of Chim, Y/N, or Mingi. Exhaling, he went to walk back to Jungkook, but a disturbance on the ground caught his attention. Crouching down, the blue-eyed Saeni lightly trailed his fingertips over the overturned dead leaves and lifted his gaze slightly.

The same disturbance continued into the trees, leading away from the bodies.

A dull, thumping sound broke Tae’s attention and the noise made him quickly turn his head to the side. The Saeni saw Jungkook pull his arm back from the tree he was leaning against and pound his fist into the trunk again.

“What happened to them? Where are they? Where are they!?” The younger male squeezed his peridot eyes shut and ground his fist into the rough bark.

“Kook? Hey, calm down!” Tae shot to his feet and ran to his brother. Before the younger male could punch the tree a third time, Tae grabbed his wrist. “Jungkook! I checked the bodies. They’re not here… they’re not here.”

Jungkook whipped around to face his brother and pulled his arm free. “Then where are they?”

Tae had no answer. The male just opened his mouth and almost instantly closed it again.

“Hyung, where are they!?”

“I DON’T KNOW!” The older male shouted back in a stressed tone, his crimson-stained feather earring swaying erratically from the outburst. “I don’t know, okay? But I saw some tracks leading away from here, so I’m going to keep going.  You should stay here an-”

“I’m not fucking staying here.” Jungkook’s jaw ticked and he returned his short sword to its sheath with a grimace. “Let’s go.”

You tightly gripped the buckle on Jimin’s armor as you both limped forward over the stones and vegetation scattered on the creek bank. You were supporting each other as you took slow, heavy steps, and Jimin was clutching the strap of your quiver just as desperately as you were holding on to him. Neither of you were willing to let go of the other. It was almost like you both needed the physical reassurance that the other person was truly there and breathing.

That you both were.

Water splashed around your ankles and onto your legs as you both stumbled into the creek. The water was so cold it made you sharply inhale through your teeth and pause your explanation of why you’d left the field and how you’d arrived at the rift. Before you could return to your story, the stone you had begun to step on tilted dangerously to the side under the water and almost made you twist your ankle.

“Ah! Stupid fucking rock,” you muttered under your breath while defiantly kicking at the stone with your heel, causing water to spray into the air.

Jimin tugged on your quiver strap to get you moving again while asking if you were okay.

“Yeah yeah, I’m fine. I’m just…” You let out a lethargic sigh and looked up at the sky. “I’m really over today.”

Water sloshed over the sand, pebbles, and weeds on the bank as you both reached the other side of the creek and exited the stream. Resisting the urge to just drop your ass down on the sun-warmed rocks and never move again, you squeezed Jimin’s buckle and begrudgingly heaved yourself up and over a large tree root. As you looked down to see where you were stepping, you saw the wooden tendril was speckled with droplets of red. It was just a mere piece of the dotted trail you were forced to follow as you left the rift’s location, and although it was your umpteenth time catching sight of it, it still made your chest tighten painfully. You tore your gaze away from the blood, not wanting to think about who’s it was. Or how he was no longer with you.

You sniffed, cleared your throat, and raised your eyes in front of you. Through the sunlight filtering in between the leaves, you recognized a dark lump wedged between two rocks.

Remembering you were supposed to be sharing how you had found Jimin, you pointed your chin at the body of the wolf. “Anyway, I heard the howls an-”

“Jungkook, you need to slow down!”

Your body flinched at the sudden sound breaking the peaceful chirping and buzzing of the forest then stilled with one foot left raised in the air.

“Jungkook?” You whispered in disbelief and placed your foot down gently while Jimin asked, “Was that… Tae?”

Jungkook…? And… Tae…?

Apprehensive hope surged in your heart at the thought of the two Saeni being near, but… why would they be out here? Why weren’t they at the field? Or were you simply so tired that you’d imagined the voice? You slowly blinked then turned your head to look at Jimin in confusion. Your gaze met his brown eyes but he looked just as unsure as you felt.

Neither of you moved. You barely breathed. With your heart beating wildly in your chest, you waited to hear the voice again.

One… two… three seconds passed…

But you heard nothing besides the trickling of water, shifting of leaves, singing of birds and bugs, and light, anxious breathing coming from yourself and the half-Saeni next to you.

It was probably just the wind and my mind making shit up. There’s no way Kookie and TaeTae are actually here.

But…

Jimin heard it too.

Tentatively, you lifted your free hand and wrapped your fingers around the hilt of the dagger at your side as the wind picked up and blew strays wisps of hair in your face.

“For Exia’s sake, you’re going to pass out!”

Your eyes widened at the voice and you involuntarily tightened your grip on the dagger. At the same time, Jimin sharply inhaled and lifted his head in the direction it had come from, making his sweaty apricot hair shift over his forehead.

He nodded once to himself. “That-holy fuck-that’s definitely Tae.”

You had also verified the owner of the voice that time and before you knew it, you were hoarsely screaming the Saeni’s name into the dense trees. Jimin joined in moments later, your scratchy voices mixing and resounding into the air together. After your screams faded into dry coughs, you and Jimin gulped air back into your lungs while you let go of the dagger and adjusted your hold on the half-Saeni’s buckle. Then, you both surged forward. As fast as your wobbly legs could manage, you and your best friend limp-ran past the remainder of the blood trail, the dead wolf, and a couple of scattered, stray arrows to where the earth began to incline.

As you stepped over a large rock on the ground and started to climb out of the gully, the familiar deep voice shouted back in surprise, “Chim!? Little scorja!?”

Tae’s voice made you close your eyes for a second; you were just so happy to hear him, to know that he was alive. A tiny, relieved smile tugged at the corner of your lips and after sucking in a breath, you quickly yelled back that you were coming. Your voice echoed into the expanse of the forest as you grabbed on to thin tree trunk with your free hand. Using the tree to pull yourself up a few more steps, a hiss escaped past your lips in between your ragged inhales due to how much your thighs were burning and shaking. You were honestly shocked they were even still working, but you kept telling yourself you were minutes or possibly even seconds away from seeing Tae and Jungkook. You would be damned if your legs gave out before then. Likewise, Jimin was mumbling something that sounded suspiciously like “I think I can, I think I can” over and over again to keep himself motivated and moving through his own pain.

Less than a minute later, you were nearing the top of the gully. Impatience swelled inside you, and you somehow forced your aching body to move just a little faster and pulled Jimin with you. Though in your haste, you slipped on a clump of loose dirt and fell forward to your knee with a sharp curse.

“Come on. Come on.” Jimin reached over to grip your arm and heaved you back up with a subdued groan in his throat.

The two of you staggered the rest of the way up until the ground finally leveled out. Breathing heavily, you both paused and sagged against each other in exhaustion. But only a couple heartbeats later, you were tugging on each other to move again. Leaves and twigs crunched under your feet, thin branches whacked against your legs and hips, and the low shrubbery violently shook in your wake as you hurried through the trees.

While you shivered in the cool shade cast by the leaves and branches high above your head, you darted your eyes around to desperately search for signs of the Saeni. Your gaze flickered over the endless tree trunks, moss-covered boulders, thorny vines…

And then you saw it through the blur of leaves. The smallest splash of pinkish burgundy among the greens and browns of the forest.

Jungkook.

You whispered his name gently, feeling your eyes begin to sting as you fully made out his figure. In your peripherals, you saw Jimin look at you then follow your line of sight.

He let out a soft, breathy laugh and released his hold on your quiver strap. “Go on. I’ll catch up.”

Tearing your gaze away from the Saeni in the distance, you glanced at your best friend to see him smiling at you. The half-Saeni kept his warm brown eyes on you but tilted his head toward his younger brother, silently telling you to go on ahead. You pressed your lips together and peeked back at the burgundy-haired Saeni before returning your attention to Jimin. You stared at him for a split-second then nodded, your stiff hand falling away from his buckle.

After lightly squeezing Jimin’s arm, you turned back to Jungkook and took a step forward.

Then another.

And another.

And another and another and another until you were nearly running. You barely registered the throbbing pain in your legs. All you cared about was reaching him.

“JEON JUNGKOOK!” You screamed with a big, dumb smile on your face.

Immediately, his burgundy head was facing your direction and it almost looked like a shudder ran through his body. Not even a second later, though, he was sprinting toward you.

Somewhere to the right, you heard Tae’s deep voice call out. “Little scorja? Where is…? Chim? Chim! Oh, thank goddess.”

You didn’t even look to the side to see where your blue-eyed friend was. You were entirely too focused on who was in front of you. Who was almost to you.

Closer. Closer. Closer.

So close that when he ran through a ray of sunlight, you could see the gold flecks in his eyes flash brightly. You also noticed the dried blood coating his skin and armor but it didn’t faze you. You too were stained with crimson. It was just a nasty aftereffect of fighting for your life and taking others.

Lengthening your stride to avoid tripping over a bundle of roots in your path, you felt the stinging in your eyes turn into a waterier sensation as your tears threatened to spill over.

Closer. Closer. You got closer closer closer…

And then you collided with each other, the thudding impact nearly forcing you to lose your breath. The male stumbled back from your momentum and you both teetered on the uneven ground before he firmly planted his feet and wrapped his strong arms around you.

As you closed your eyes and leaned into him, a small voice in your head said it was strange how Jungkook had stumbled back. You’d launched yourself at him countless of times yet he’d never done that before. It was unusual, but you mentally told the small voice to fuck off. He’d just fought in a damn battle, for Exia’s sake. He was probably exhausted just like you were.

“Y/N, f-fuck. Fuck. I was so worried,” he murmured in your ear while holding you as close as possible. Like he though you would slip through his hands and disappear if he didn’t. “Y-You weren’t on the cliff anymore… you… you weren’t there. I thought you-goddess-I thought you died.”

The end of his sentence came out choked and he shakily breathed in. Your heart panged at the grief filling his voice, and a single tear slipped down your cheek and cut through the dirt and dust on your face. Once the lone tear met the crease of your lips and you tasted its salt, several more tears followed suit. As they trailed down your skin, his fingers moved up your spine until they found the back of your neck and lightly grazed over your mark.

“I’m sorry-I didn’t mean-Jimin needed help.”

Chuckling lowly at your stammering, Jungkook slightly pulled back to cup your face in his hands. While holding your gaze, he traced his thumb over your cheek to wipe away your tears before they could drip off your chin. Your lips parted slowly and you looked into those bright peridot eyes, finally feeling safe for the first time since the sun had peeked over the horizon. Finally feeling like you could let your guard down. Finally feeling like you could breathe easily. With a content sigh, you unwound your hands from Jungkook’s neck and went to gently hold his wrists.

But right as you touched his forearms, his legs suddenly buckled and he collapsed to a knee. With your face still caught in his hands, you involuntarily followed him by bending at the waist and your eyes widened in confusion. Lowering his head, Jungkook released a pained moan while you heard Tae and Jimin call out in concern. Worried, you opened your mouth to ask what was wrong, but it was then that you finally registered how pale his skin was. How colorless it looked compared to the deep red spattered across it.

Wha-?

Jungkook raised his peridot eyes to yours and gave you a strained smile while his grip on your face weakened. “I’m fine, sweetheart. Just a… a little tired, but I’m the best, remem-…rememb-” His words were cut off as his eyes rolled back into his head and he limply crumpled to the ground with a solid, dull thump.

A series of curses rose into the air from the other males while you frantically said Jungkook’s name and dropped to your knees. He was on his side, limbs loosely splayed out. Your breathing got faster as you placed one of your hands on his shoulder and the other near his hip. Tenderly but firmly, you shook Jungkook to get him to open his eyes. To move. To say something. To do anything. But nothing happened. He was utterly silent and still except for the smallest rise and fall of his chest. You swore, shifted your gaze to his face, and was wondering what the fuck you should do when realized one of your hands felt strangely warm… and wet. Body going rigid, you slowly drew your eyes down to your hand resting on Jungkook’s hip… and then you lifted it. Your palm and fingers were smeared with red. Blood. Fresh blood. And it was coming from Jungkook. Flinching at the sight, you felt your stomach drop and body go cold as full-fledged panic instantly rushed through your veins. Yet you couldn’t do anything but stare at the blood for a few seconds, completely frozen and scared. You watched as the crimson liquid gradually ran down your wrist in small, thin rivulets, and your hands began to tremble. Everything else in the world faded to some distant, fuzzy background. You couldn’t see anything but red. Couldn’t hear anything but your own pounding heartbeat. Couldn’t smell anything but the now familiar reek of iron. No trace of peridot or burgundy or florals mixed with hard steel. It almost felt like you weren’t even in your own body anymore. You were just in a suspended state of bloody shock and disbelief. It lasted for one… two… three… four seconds and then you were slammed back into reality. After gasping and pushing the unconscious male onto his back, you leaned over him to grab his ghastly face in your hands, causing his cheek to be painted with even more red.

“Jungkook? Jungkook!? Hey hey hey, come on. Come on, wake up.” Distress and fear laced your words. “You gotta wake up Kookie.”

“Shit, I told him not to push himself so hard!” You heard Tae’s frustrated voice carry over with the wind and it sounded closer than before.

Pressing your lips together to hold in a sob, your throat grew tight and your vision went blurry as tears started to drip onto Jungkook’s face. The droplets rolled off his cheeks and you shook your head while a whimper came from your lips.

Letting go of his face, you fisted your hands on top of his chest. “You need to hear what I wanted to say earlier. You said I could tell you later, right?”

But he still didn’t move. He didn’t even stir.

You couldn’t hold back anymore. After a single shuddering inhale, cries began to wrack your body and you collapsed forward until your forehead weakly laid against Jungkook’s armored chest.

Not even a second later, you heard Tae skid to a stop beside you and then felt him tugging at your arm. “Stab wound on his back. On his back. On his back.”

His words seeped into your brain and it threw your already overwhelmed mind into a daze. Your eyes grew unfocused and you blinked as you let the Saeni pull you away. Then you started replaying those words over and over again like a broken reel. Stab wound. Stab wound. Stab wound. On his back. Stab wound on his back.

“Fucking Exia! Why didn’t you stop when I told you to!?” The blue-eyed male shouted at Jungkook before rolling his unconscious brother back to his side and applying pressure to the wound.

You squeezed your eyes shut for a moment, forcing more tears to quickly stream down your cheeks, then crawled a few feet so you could gently lift Jungkook’s head into your lap.

After brushing his hair out of his face and tucking it behind his long ear, you quietly said, “You… You said I could tell you later.” You traced the edge of his ear to the tip as your voice cracked. “Well, it’s later so you gotta wake up, okay? You need to wake up so I can tell you.”

No response.

Your muscles tensed and your bottom lip quivered, but your body suddenly felt hot and your cheeks burned. “Don’t be a coconut-headed asshat and go back on your word! Wake up so I can tell you, dammit!”

Tell you that I love you. That I’m in love with you.

Please.

The snap of a breaking twig made you shoot your head up and you saw Jimin hurrying over with a handful of big leaves. He dropped to the ground between you and Tae and wordlessly shoved the leaves at the blue-eyed Saeni. After grabbing them with one hand, Tae hastily shoved them under his other palm that was pressing against Jungkook’s wound.

He was using them to help control the bleeding.

The apricot head then turned to you and abruptly requested that you give him Jungkook’s dagger. Too caught up in your mind-numbing hysteria and not understanding why he needed a blade right then, you slowly looked from your best friend to the ruby gemstone glittering at your hip in bewilderment.

“Dagger. Dagger now, Y/N!”

His sharp tone cut through the fog in your brain and you sniffled while shifting your hand over the dagger. Your fingers briefly hesitated; knowing how important the weapon was to Jungkook, you didn’t like the idea of someone using it without his permission. Even if it was his brother. But Jimin was also aware of the dagger’s history and you knew he wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t absolutely necessary, so you curled your fingers around the hilt and pulled the blade from its scabbard. Flipping it in your hand, you held it out to Jimin, who snatched it from your grasp and leaned over his legs. As blood continued to leak out around the leaves and Tae’s fingers, the half-Saeni yanked the hem of his pants out of one of his boots and maneuvered the blade underneath. Then, a ripping sound came from the fabric. A few more seconds and rips later, Jimin was holding a decently-sized chunk of the durable fabric and was giving the blade back to you. Quietly, you took it from him while steadying Jungkook’s head in your lap with your other hand. As you tightly squeezed the hilt, Jimin nudged Tae and told him to move aside. Somehow, they managed to smoothly transfer jobs and Jimin was now using the patch of fabric to try to staunch the bleeding as Tae stood up unsteadily. The male’s now blood-covered hands hung at his sides while his blood-soaked feather earring swayed in the breeze.

His blue eyes solemnly gazed down at Jungkook’s face before they suddenly sharpened with resolve. “I’m going back for help. Don’t let him die.” Then, after taking a deep breath and a final look at his brother, he pivoted on his heel and ran into the trees.

His soft footsteps swiftly melted into the symphony of the forest, and you prayed that he would come back quickly. Returning your attention to Jungkook, you gripped the dagger in your hand until your knuckles strained against your skin while hoping the familiarity of the action would bring you some sort of comfort. It made you think of glittering peridot eyes and cocky smirks. Nervous stammering and provoking comments. You tried to hold onto those memories as firmly as you could. Both the good and the bad ones. Memories filled with tender touches and shy words. Memories made of angry glares and heated emotions. Memories of him. Memories with him. But as you listened to Jimin try to coax Jungkook back to consciousness, you looked down at the unresponsive male and could only think of how you were on the verge of losing him.

Losing the person you loved.

While your breath stuttered as you tried to inhale deeply, you brushed your thumb up and down Jungkook’s strong jaw and silently pleaded with him to open his eyes.

Wake up… wake up… please please please, wake up.

Wake up.

Wake up.

Please wake up.

Your eyes shot open and your body flinched as you recoiled from the painful dream. But the attempt to get away was stopped short as you realized you were laying down and had nowhere to go. Then it hit you that it was completely dark. Head spinning and breathing rate rapidly increasing, you squinted into the blackness. It took you a few seconds for your eyes to come into focus, and you let out a relieved exhale when you registered the familiar room. Slowly unfurling your curled-up body, you pushed yourself into a sitting position on the bed and gazed out the window. The faint glow of the moon and distant tree lanterns came in through the open spaces where the branches were woven together, and a gentle yet warm breeze was floating into the room. But despite the warm air, you still had to hug yourself as you shivered from the dream.

No, not a dream. You reminded yourself and squeezed your arms around yourself more tightly. It actually happened.

It had been nearly two weeks since that day, or Draikiltho – The Dark Morning – as it was now being called. Two weeks since Amarok and the rift. Two weeks since Mingi sacrificed himself. Two weeks since you last saw Jungkook.

The dream was your memory of that day, and as much as you didn’t want to remember it… your brain began to recall what had happened next.

“You’re not allowed to die until I’ve made you watch all of ‘Ablatar,’ Spongebob, and Game of Thrones, you idiot,” you faintly whispered to the unconscious male while pressing down hard against the wound on his back.

Red stained your palms and wrists, and continued to slowly seep out around your hands and the patch of fabric beneath them. Jungkook was still breathing… but it seemed like his inhales were gradually getting weaker and further apart. Biting your lip, you looked over to Jimin, who now had his brother’s head in his lap and was running his hand through the male’s burgundy locks.

“It’s going to be fine, Kook. Tae will be back soon and he’s bringing help.” Brown eyes lifted to meet yours and he tried to smile reassuringly. “He’ll be back soon. It’s gonna be fine. Totally fine.”

A broken laugh that sounded more like a weak sob came from your lips. “Don’t make it sound like that damn meme.”

“It’s… It’s gonna be fine.” His eyes went back down to Jungkook’s face. “It’s gonna be fine.”

You pulled your knees up toward your chest and took long, deep breaths as the memory continued to play in your head.

You weren’t sure how long you had both been sitting there in uneasy silence. You were too focused, too worried, too scared to really have any insight into how much time was passing. It could have been five minutes, thirty minutes, over an hour since Tae had left. You had no idea.

Despite your arms trembling from applying constant pressure and your body shivering from the cool shade, you continued to press down against Jungkook’s back. Your tears had finally stopped some time ago, but you didn’t dare wipe at the dried tracks they had left on your cheeks. You were terrified that if you shifted even the barest amount, if you let up just the slightest amount of pressure on the wound, then Jungkook would be gone.

“Y/N, you’re shaking like crazy. Let me take over,” Jimin offered in a soft voice but you shook your head.

You were about to reply that you didn’t want to risk switching positions again when you heard a faint rhythmic sound rise up through the rustling leaves and creaking trees. It steadily grew louder and you stiffened while Jimin carefully lifted Jungkook’s head so he could stand. Out of the corner of your eye, you watched the half-Saeni limp forward a few steps until he was beside you.

“I hate to ask this, but I think I’m gonna need Kook’s dagger again.”

Slowly taking in a breath to try to ease your mind, you nodded. The sound was so close now that you could make out that they were footfalls. Someone or many someones were coming your way. Jimin muttered a curse and braced a hand on his knee to bend down and reach for the blade at your waist.

Please don’t be more trouble. You closed your eyes. Please be you, Tae.

The apricot head had just closed his fingers around the hilt when your prayer was answered.

The familiar grey-haired, blue-eyed Saeni burst through the dense thicket followed by three other Saeni you didn’t know.

Tae’s eyes widened in utter relief when he saw you. “Thank goddess,” he gasped out before collapsing to his knees and harshly sucking air into his lungs.

While Tae leaned over to support his body on his hands, the other Saeni kept moving forward. Blinking, you noticed one of them was carrying two long, thick branches and there was something that looked like cloth hanging between them.

They were next to you in the next second, and you did your best to keep up with the sudden barrage of movement and sound. The Saeni with the branches and cloth, which you realized was a makeshift stretcher now that it was up close, went to the side and laid the stretcher flat on the ground. The second roughly told Jimin to step aside while the third crouched beside you. The Saeni looked at you expectantly, but when you didn’t do anything, he nudged you with his arm. You didn’t move. You looked down at Jungkook’s pale face and shook your head. You were still too scared to move away. Even though the small part of your mind that was still coherent and not overwhelmed knew that you should, you couldn’t bring yourself to do it.

I can’t. I can’t just leave him. They’re going to take him away. I know they need to. I know they have to. But I… I…

You felt a light hand on your shoulder interrupt your mental discourse and your best friend quietly said your name. Pressing your lips together while you silently took in Jungkook’s face, you thought of his peridot eyes and crooked smiles. A gentle ache filled your heart. After hanging your head for a moment, you then scooted over an inch or so to let the Saeni know they could take over. In a flash, his hands replaced yours and you held your breath as the other two Saeni situated themselves at Jungkook’s head and feet, counted to three, picked him up, and transferred him onto the stretcher.

You didn’t want to leave him. You didn’t want him to leave you.

The Saeni lifted the stretcher.

I wouldn’t be able to keep up with them. I would just slow them down.

The Saeni that had nudged you looked your way and gave you a sharp nod but your eyes never left Jungkook’s figure.

He needs to get help as soon as possible. That’s what’s important.

The Saeni at the head of the stretcher barked out an order to move out.

I’m sorry I didn’t tell you last night. I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry. Please stay alive. I need you.

A final brief glimmer of pinkish burgundy hair through the leaves and shadows…

I love you.

Then they were gone.

Jimin’s hand tightened on your shoulder and you clenched your own blood-coated hands into fists where they rested against your thighs. Breathing heavily, you tried to reign in your swarm of emotions but you felt like your heart was made of cracked glass that was ready to shatter at any moment.

“Oh, you’re going to shatter?” It was too easy for your mind to imagine Jungkook’s teasing voice and arrogant chuckle. “Is it too much for the little human to handle?”

Narrowing your eyes, you deeply inhaled through your nose then slapped a mental Band-Aid over the cracks. No… no, asshat, it’s fucking not.

Reaching up to cover Jimin’s hand on your shoulder, you let your eyes linger on where you had last seen Jungkook for only a few more seconds.

I’ll see you soon.

Then you shifted your gaze to Tae, who was struggling to catch his breath as he braced himself against the earth. Patting Jimin’s hand, you let out a long puff of air and pushed yourself up to your feet with a groan.

Hooking arms with Jimin, you both stumbled over the rocks, roots, and low shrubs until you made it Tae.

The male flicked his blue eyes up as you unsteadily approached. “The fighting is over… but no magic users… could come. Too many… injured… at the field… and many of them… are drained.”

Weakly smiling at the male, you ignored your shaking legs to bend down and offer him your hand. “Thank you for getting help TaeTae.”

Jimin did the same and you both helped the spent Saeni stand.

“He’s… He’s going to okay, right?” Tae asked in a small voice as his chest continued to heave rapidly.

Your teeth tugged on your bottom lip. His words made another fracture appear on your fragile heart and paralyzing worry started to seep into your mind again…

“Come on sweetheart, I thought you were tougher than that.”

Steeling yourself, you slapped yet another mental Band-Aid over the new crack before sniffing and raising your chin to look Tae in the eyes. “Kook’s a big boy, right? If anyone can survive getting stabbed, running around like crazy, and losing a shit-ton of blood, it’s that annoying, stubborn asshat.”

The boys stared at you in shock for a minute, thrown off by your sudden change in attitude, until Tae broke out in his signature boxy grin. The sight made you smile again, this time more brightly, and the corner of Jimin’s mouth pulled up too. The three of you looked at each other, grins slowly growing and growing and growing. And then you were all laughing. It was absurd and crazy and you didn’t even know why or how you were actually laughing, but there you were. The three of you wrapped your arms around each other as your sore bodies shook and your eyes got teary. You laughed until your stomach muscles hurt even more than they already did and kept laughing until your giggles transformed into hiccups and cries. You buried your head into Jimin’s chest and he muffled his sobs against your hair while Tae clung on to your arm and wept on his brother’s shoulder. Eventually, you all quieted down but you stayed in each other’s arms.

As you were sniveling and clearing your throats, Tae suddenly looked around the area then furrowed his brows and tilted his head. “I didn’t have time to ask earlier but where’s… where’s Mingi?”

You clutched at the bedsheets and pressed your lips together, telling yourself not to cry. After slowly counting to ten in your head, you looked over at the small table in the corner of the room. Even without sunlight, the ruby gemstone of Jungkook’s dagger seemed to shine brightly in your eyes from where it rested on the table. Your hand twitched, aching to hold the weapon, but you just sighed heavily instead and reached up to touched the silver feather and chain at your neck.

The sun was beginning to lower behind the treetops when the three of you finally made it back to camp a few hours later. It had been a slow, painful journey, and your nerves had only increased with every sluggish step you took. Your legs were cramping, your stomach was churning, and your eyelids wouldn’t stop drooping but you couldn’t let yourself rest. You needed to find Jungkook and the rest of the kiela.

Jungkook first. You told yourself while limping through the trees, Saeni, and campfires with Tae and Jimin. Make sure Jungkook is okay then go find the others.

You weren’t exactly sure where the medical area was set up but it wasn’t hard to pinpoint the direction it was in. The agonized screams and cries echoing through the forest sadly made it easy to know where to go.

You let out a tired exhale and lifted your eyes from the ground to take in the gloomy atmosphere of the camp. All around you, Saeni were in different states. Some were frantic and crying, some were staring blankly into the trees, and others were talking in hushed voices.

I wonder which one I’ll be like in thirty minutes. You thought while carefully stepping around a small scattering of white wildflowers in your path.

The wails and sobs had gotten louder, and you glanced sideways at the boys. They met your gaze and gave you weary nods, but in the process of doing so, Tae stubbed his toe on something hidden beneath the foliage and tripped. He nearly face-planted but Jimin was fast to grab his brother’s arm and steady him. The blue-eyed Saeni grumbled in annoyance before a small pout flashed across his face, which made you release an amused puff of air. As Jimin made sure Tae was alright, a fast, dark blur out of the corner of your eye suddenly caught your attention. Your brows furrowed and although you assumed it was just a bird of some sort, you turned your head to see what it was. That was when the blur raced past you and tackled Jimin and Tae in a hug. Sucking in air through your teeth, you watched as someone enveloped both the boys in their arms and your hand unthinkingly went to the dagger at your waist. You curled your fingers around the hilt without hesitation, ready to pull the blade free from its sheath, when you realized the person had simple silver hoops in his ears, dark, raven-black hair, and broad shoulders.

A smidge of tension left your weak body and your fingers fell away from the dagger as you lightly called out the male’s name in astonishment, “Jin?”

“Get in here little scorja.” The eldest of the kiela peered over Jimin’s apricot head with a smile and reached his hand out toward you.

“You scared the shit out of me,” you murmured and your body relaxed further as your brain fully registered there was no actual threat.

“At least you didn’t get slammed into without warning,” Tae tried to pointedly gripe but his voice came out muffled from being smushed against Jimin and Jin’s bodies.

“Sorry,” the raven-haired male said, but his face didn’t show any remorse. “I just got so excited when I saw you, I couldn’t stop myself.”

Rolling your eyes, you took a tiny step forward then yelped as Jin’s hand wrapped itself around your wrist and forcibly yanked you into the hug.

“You were taking too long,” he whispered as the boys shifted to accommodate you.

Sagging into the warmth of the hug, you clutched at whatever buckle or strap your unsteady fingers could find. The four of you slowly swayed back and forth with the gentle breeze, just holding each other. Blowing out a long breath, you rested your head against Tae’s back and closed your eyes. But instead of a calming darkness, you stiffened when a crimson-covered face with peridot orbs and burgundy hair appeared behind your eyelids.

“Wait. Wait.” You suddenly pushed yourself away from the embrace and your heartrate began to beat fast once again. “Jungkook. Jin, have you seen Jungkook? Do you know if he’s… um, if he’s…?” Your heart jumped into your throat and your voice got small as the unfinished question trailed off into silence.

You were too scared to finish forming the words. Too scared to hear the response you were dreading but also so desperate to know what happened.

As Jin’s dark eyes widened at your pleading tone, Jimin stepped back and searched his brother’s face for an answer while Tae quietly slipped his hand into yours. Grateful for something to hold onto, you gripped his hand like a lifeline as you waited.

Jin’s face then softened and he rested his hand on your shoulder to look straight into your eyes for a moment before moving his gaze over to his brothers as well. “He’s going to be okay.”

Your heart skipped a beat and you faintly gasped.

“What did you say?” Your best friend asked in a demanding yet bewildered tone.

“He’s going to be okay.” Jin gave you all a reassuring nod. “Jungkook’s going to live.”

He’s going to be okay. He’s going to live. I get to see him again. You slumped, the tension in your body disappearing, and you placed your palm over your racing heart. I get to see him again.

At the same time, you felt Tae give your hand a squeeze as he bowed his head and sighed. Jimin let out a shaky laugh and looked up at the sky through the leaves while muttering under his breath.

“I was just with him, actually. He’s sleeping and in a stable condition but he’ll be healing naturally, without magic.”

You listened intently as Jin explained there were simply too many Saeni with more serious and pressing injuries. The magic users couldn’t spare to use their energy to heal Jungkook completely, so they had only used a small amount to get him stabilized and sleeping. Then they had bandaged him up and were now letting him rest. The medical personnel were going to watch over him and change his bandages as his body healed itself but he probably wouldn’t be up and moving for at least a few days.

Feeling your heartbeat finally slowing down to a more normal pace, you moved your hand so your fingertips could lightly graze the ruby on the hilt of Jungkook’s dagger. “Can I see him? Please?”

Jin’s shoulders dropped and he shook his head. “I wish you could. I really, really do, but they’re only allowing in one member from a patient’s kiela at a time unless the wound is fatal.” He made an aggravated noise while removing his hand from your shoulder. “And although we view you as family, you’re not officially recognized as part of our kiela.”

“Oh…”

You looked down at your feet. I can’t see him?

“Why did they even make that rule?” The blue-eyed Saeni next to you complained, which drew your eyes back up. “It’s stupid.”

Jimin sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Even Illai agrees with that.”

“Huh?” Jin leaned forward to peer at his brother’s face in curiosity. “You can still hear the mother goddess?”

“Ah, yeah. She told me that she isn’t able to…”

You tuned out their conversation, too caught up in the thought that you couldn’t see him. You couldn’t see him. You couldn’t see him. Fuck, you couldn’t see him. You trusted Jin, of course, but you still wanted, no needed to see him.

What if he gets an infection? What if he never wakes up? What if-

Two firm pumped to your hand pulled you from your thoughts and you looked over to see blue eyes worriedly gazing at you.

“…you’d think them sharing a bond would be enough reason to bend the rules,” Jimin said with an irritated expression.

“You’d think.” The raven-haired male released a dry, condescending laugh before glancing your way and clearing his throat. “Maybe we can explain the situation once things are calmer.”

With a level voice, he then promised you that Jungkook was fine and no longer in danger. In response, your head jerked down in a small nod but you didn’t say anything else.

“Alright, well for now let’s get some rest. You all look like you really fucking need it.” The eldest Saeni gestured for you all to follow him as he swiveled on his heel. “Joon’s in a meeting with General Son but Hobi and Yoongi should still be at the fire we claimed a couple hours ago.”

“They’re all okay?” Tae asked almost timidly while stepping over a fallen log with stiff movements.

“Yoongi is passed out from using so much energy but he’ll be fine after a lot of sleep. Hobi almost died but Yoongi was able to save him, hence why he’s so exhausted. Joon is okay too, besides taking a knife to his thigh.”

They’re safe. Maybe not in perfect condition, but the whole kiela is safe.

Jin looked back over his shoulder. “By the way, what happened to Mingi? Did he go meet someone when you got back to camp or…?”

You, Tae, and Jimin all paused and uneasily looked at each other until you softly said that Mingi didn’t make it. You tried to ignore the heaviness in your heart by turning to look at the setting sun through the trees. The burning orange peeking through the leaves was beautiful but it didn’t do anything to ease the dull pang in your chest, so you returned your gaze to the forest before you. Meanwhile, Jin hadn’t said anything in response but you could see that his body went rigid and his hand was closed into a tight fist.

About ten more minutes passed of quietly weaving through the forest and the scattered fires. The sounds from the medical area could still be heard but they were starting to fade into the symphonic sounds of the birds, bugs, and leaves. The Saeni were the same, though. A haunting mix of mourning wails, empty gazes, and low whispers. You involuntarily flinched when a particularly violent sob screamed into your ears, yet you forced yourself to keep your eyes on Jin’s back. You didn’t want to see the face of the male who made the tormented noise.

I just spent the day experiencing so much death but somehow, it’s the aftermath that unsettles me the most.

You rubbed your temples then dragged your fingers down your face.

I guess sometimes death is more painful for the ones left alive.

The memory of hazel eyes flashed in your mind but you hastily blinked it away while ducking below a branch.

The sky was getting darker and darker; only a thin stretch of orange sunlight was still visible on the horizon. Within a few minutes, the forest quickly became a blend of cool darkness and pockets of warm, flickering light.

Although he was only a few steps ahead of you, Jin peeked back to make sure you were all still with him before he turned left behind a thick tree. You, Jimin, and Tae followed and you had to contain a moan as you suddenly felt the soothing heat of a fire.

“This is us,” Jin said with a gesture to the small area illuminated by the flames.

The fire snapped and crackled as Jin crouched down and poked the embers with a stick, and through the flames you could see the silhouettes of two people against the base of a tree. A bloody and bruised Hobi had his back to the tree trunk with his legs stretched out in front of him. In one hand, he absentmindedly twirled a small blade in his fingers while his other hand rested on the torso of the male curled up on his thighs. Yoongi was facing away from you but you guessed the magic user was deep asleep from the slow rise and fall of his shoulder.

At your arrival, Hobi’s eyes lifted from where they had been looking down at the other male and his face lit up. A dimpled smile appeared and he cheerfully waved with his blade.

His body isn’t shiny like it usually is. You noted with a tilt of your head as you and the boys staggered around the fire.

As you moved closer and squinted through the flickering light you realized it was because most of the sheathes strapped across his body were empty. You also saw there was a large gash in his armor at his side and while the area was stained red, the skin itself was unmarred. The sight made you recall Jin’s words of how Hobi had almost died and the thought made you frown.

The male must have misunderstood your expression through because he looked down at Yoongi then back up apologetically. “Sorry, I can’t get up for a hug.”

“You’ll owe me one later, hyung!” Tae warned with a grin as he ungracefully sat down.

Meanwhile, you raised your hands. “No, no don’t worry about it, I’m just glad you’re okay.”

Hobi’s light brown eyes softened. “You too, little scorja. You too.” The Saeni then transferred his gaze to the apricot head beside you. “You did good Chim. I’m proud of you.”

The kiela’s spy proceeded to shut his eyes and angle his head back to rest it against the tree trunk. He resumed flipping his blade and his thumb began to gently move up and down Yoongi’s abdomen. You didn’t miss the gesture but all you did was send the two Saeni an earnest smile.

Shuffling closer to the fire’s warmth, you then plopped down to the earth with a tight wince. Your feet cried with relief and the feeling of utter fatigue settled over your body. You tiredly began massaging your spasming leg muscles as Jimin awkwardly made his way to the ground beside you. After glancing at your best friend and releasing a drawn-out exhale, you realized you didn’t know what to do now. Your mind had been on high alert for so long it was like it couldn’t not be wary of every miniscule sight and sound. You just couldn’t let yourself fully relax. The battle was over, you knew that… but you were still scared a sudden attack would erupt out of the vast darkness of the forest.

Am I-are we really safe? You squeezed your thighs.

In the end, you just sat there and stared at the luminous embers of the fire as they ate away at the wood. Your eyes bore into the mesmerizing red-orange glow until your eyes stung and watered. Then, a sniffling sound moved your attention to your best friend and you saw him harshly wiping at his cheek with his palms.

Blinking quickly to counter the dry, stinging pain in your eyes, you quietly asked if he was crying.

“Oh, it’s, uh, ‘cuz of the smoke.” The apricot head let out an exaggerated cough and waved his hand in front of his face.

You lightly bumped his shoulder with yours. “It’s okay, you know. To cry.”

“…I know.”

After a couple of minutes, Jimin lowered his hands and placed them on the ground behind him. Wordlessly, he caught your gaze then nodded at his legs.  You pursed your lips, subtly shook your head, and adjusted your body so your forearm could rest against your knee. Jimin merely shrugged at your choice and was about to change positions when Tae made a whining noise, drowsily crawled over, and subsequently trapped the half-Saeni’s legs underneath his silver-grey head. The corner of your mouth went up as you watched Jimin squint down at the male for a few moments before letting out a stuffy snort and beginning to pat Tae’s head.

“Hey…” Hobi lightly said and you turned your head toward the spy to see his brow was furrowed. “Where’s Mingi?”

Body stiffening, you braced yourself to answer the painful question yet again but Jin gently called Hobi’s name from across the fire then sadly shook his head.

Hobi’s light brown eyes widened and he halted his movements with the knife. “Oh.”

The male sharply cursed in a whisper as you somberly looked back into the burning embers.

“Uh, Chim,” Jin hurriedly spoke up, “tell us how you closed the rift.”

Pulling your legs up toward your chest, you rested your forehead against your knees. Everyone had begun sharing their experiences from the hellish day one by one. It wasn’t pleasant hearing about what they had each gone through, and it only got worse when Jungkook was brought up. A shudder ran through your body as you remembered listening to Jin describe how he and Joon had ran into an injured and panicking Jungkook on the field. The eldest Saeni in the kiela had said he’d never seen the youngest so distraught and out of it before.

You breathed out through your nose and shut your eyes. You sometimes wondered what would have happened if you hadn’t left your position on the cliff to search for Jimin. Would Jungkook have come out of the battle unscathed? Would your best friend have been able to defeat Amarok and close the rift? Would Mingi still be alive?

You lightly banged your head on your knee twice then the vivid memory continued playing.

A branch collapsed in the fire, sending a handful of sparks into the air, as Hobi depicted the matchup between him and Yoongi versus a draikensu magic user.

“We went up against the one with purple magic,” the male shifted uncomfortably before resuming his gentle caresses on top of Yoongi’s mint-blue head.

Oh, that one. You remembered the magic user who had seemed to stare directly at you while you were on the cliff.

Hobi’s jaw clenched in the firelight as he described her magic, and you were stunned by how wicked her abilities sounded. You had reasoned she was strong from what you had seen on the cliff, but it was insane hearing how Hobi and Yoongi had struggled against her. Your brows even lifted in surprise when Hobi detailed how he had gone to deliver the final blow but was instead struck by the draikensu’s magic. A grimace appeared on the male’s face and his hand went to his side like he could feel a ghost of the pain he’d endured.

“I remember looking at hyung for a split second before I colla-”

“Fucking Exia, I thought that meeting would never fucking end.”

Immediately, all your heads swiveled over to the new yet familiar voice, and you saw Joon frozen-mid step. The leader of the kiela was staring at you, Jimin, and Tae, and he slowly brought his hand up to cover his open mouth.

“You’re okay… you’re actually oka-wait…” His yellow eyes flitted around the fire. “Where’s-”

“Medical area but he’s going to be alright,” Jin interrupted the leader with an easy smile.

At the news, Joon trailed his gaze over the group and blinked as if he was in a daze. “We all… made it?”

“Not everyone,” Tae whispered so faintly it could barely be heard over the crackling flames.

Joon’s yellow eyes narrowed then went big in realization.

You hugged yourself more securely for a minute, seeking brief comfort for the ache in your chest. Any relief you found would be temporary, though. You knew this and accepted it. There was nothing you could do to stop the memory of hazel eyes from weighing heavily on your heart, so you just let the emotions course through you.

When the dull pain finally faded, you lifted your head from your knees and opened your eyes. The morning sun was beginning to peek through the thin branches of the window and illuminate the bedroom. The pale light reminded you of Joon’s bright eyes.

You listened as the leader of the kiela explained how the surviving draikensu had been detained and were being closely watched at a separate camp nearby. They would be interviewed over the upcoming days then the king would decide what would be done with them. Originally, you would have hoped for them all to burn in hell, but the situation turned out to be more complicated than that. While some draikensu still believed in Uzjuk’s mission of chaos and death even after the god’s disappearance, there seemed to be others who had been acting against their will. Those draikensu had unknowingly fallen under Uzjuk’s influence and had become mere puppets for the god to use as he pleased.

You had no idea how the king would come to a decision for such a fucked-up situation, but you were just glad you didn’t have to worry about such things.

Cheers to not being politically important. You mentally raised an imaginary shot glass and saluted yourself.

“I also received a message from King Bang.” Joon momentarily rubbed his forehead and sighed before continuing. “He sent an order for our kiela to return to the palace.”

Jin blew out an annoyed raspberry and poked at the fire with his stick again. “Well, we can all head out in a few days once Kook is up and moving again.”

“We were told to return without delay except for Yoongi hyung who will stay to help the wounded.” The yellow-eyed Saeni lifted his tired gaze to watch the smoke whirl around in the air. “Jungkook will have to stay as well since he physically cannot go at the moment.”

You scoffed, but in the next second your jaw dropped in surprise when none of the Saeni let out similar reactions. Not even Jimin said anything against it. Your best friend just opened his mouth, hesitated, then finally conceded by hanging his head.

“You’re kidding, right?” You asked in disbelief which caused Joon to wear an apologetic expression, and you let out a cynical laugh in response. “Sweet Neptune, they can wait a few days… we just fought, for fuck’s sake!”

And Jungkook is here… I don’t want to leave him.

Hobi sleepily flipped his blade in the air then caught it. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t work like that little scorja.”

“The king calls, you go,” Tae mumbled but his tone revealed that he obviously didn’t like the idea very much.

“Well, he’s not my damn king.”

You crossed your arms defiantly, but a small movement made you glance to the side and you saw your best friend’s shoulders weakly shaking with quiet laughter.

“How did I know you would say something like that?” he whispered to himself.

You glared at the half-Saeni before huffing and tilting your head toward the unconscious magic user on Hobi’s lap. “I can just stay here with Yoongi.”

“Ah.” Joon awkwardly coughed. “The king requested your presence as well.”

‘Requested’ my ass. You rolled your eyes while stretching out your legs and arms. More like demanded my presence for just one damn meeting.

“Stupid,” you mumbled before letting your body relax and flopping back down onto the bed.

That one, singular meeting had been exhausting. You had to explain what you’d seen, heard, and done down to the smallest detail. You were asked to repeat yourself numerous times and describe scenes you didn’t wish to recall. Then, you had to answer question after question, mostly about Amarok, Uzjuk, and the rift. It seemed like the process went on for hours. Once you’d expelled everything in your brain, you had been dismissed and were no longer “requested” to attend any meetings. The boys weren’t as lucky, though. They were being called into meetings every day since returning to the palace, which quite honestly sucked. For both them and you. You’d grown so used to being surrounded by the kiela night and day, and it was fairly jarring to suddenly be alone. It felt wrong not having them around. Simply put, you didn’t like it. On Earth, you might’ve delt with this by hunkering down on the couch and binge-watching Netflix to fill the hole, but that wasn’t exactly an option in this world. The lack of internet meant all you could do was just keep yourself as busy as possible.

The first thing you did was take up practicing with the BTS trainees every morning. Training was familiar. It was routine. Over the past couple of months, your days always began with training and you didn’t want to change that. It was also nice to see Soobin, Yeonjun, Beomgyu, and Heuning Kai again. They had all grown taller and stronger since you last saw them… but you managed to kick each of their asses every time you sparred. They never complained or sulked at the result, they were just eager and excited to train with “the disciple of the Jeon Jungkook.” The name made you snort but spending your mornings with the younger boys helped ease the loneliness you were feeling.

After exerting yourself at training, you would usually have lunch with Jiae if she was free. When she had nothing scheduled, she would wait at the edge of the training grounds with Chungha silently watching over her. Once you were finished, the lilac-haired Saeni would march over, hook her arm through yours despite your sweaty body, and drag you to the kitchen regardless of your desire to shower before eating. After arriving at the kitchen, one of the palace chefs would kindly instruct you both to sit down then inspect your appearances for a moment before grunting and starting to cook. A short wait later, edible heaven would be placed before you on a plate. Yours would always have more carbohydrates and protein than the princess’, and your sore, tired body would eagerly welcome it. As you and Jiae ate, you would talk about the boys and how annoying it was to not see them much. You also spoke of the differences between your worlds, and what you and Jimin were doing before coming to Illain. There was another topic you had been wanting to bring up. Something you wanted to apologize for. But every time you went to finally say it, you would hesitate, glance at Chungha sitting to the side, and snap your mouth closed. The guard hadn’t changed the way she interacted with you, but… how could you bring up Mingi in front of her?

You couldn’t find the courage to breach that topic just yet.

You’d also started to explore the palace grounds by yourself. There was so much you had missed out on when you first came to the palace, and you figured now was the best time to see it all. Unfortunately, you weren’t allowed to venture into the nearby village or its market due to “security reasons,” but there was still a lot within the expansive palace grounds to discover. You would blindly walk down the countless paths, hoping one of them would lead you to something captivating. So far, you’d found several courtyards with glittering streams and tiny waterfalls weaving through them, as well as a few gardens with flowers bursting with fragrance and excited little bugs buzzing around in the air. On the third day, deep in the trees, you found a collection of stalls holding some sort of unknown creature. You had been and still were curious as to what was kept inside, but the shrill hissing and reverberating growling coming from within the stalls ultimately made you keep your distance. It sounded like something that shouldn’t be fucked with, meaning you weren’t about to go poking your head in like some ditsy horror movie character. As you had warily backed away from the stalls, you saw devices similar to saddles on the walls, so you thought they might be some sort of overly aggressive horse. Whether they were only horses or not, you weren’t about to find out yourself and you reasoned you could just ask one of the kiela members if your curiosity continued.

Your favorite discovery, though, was a tiny clearing you stumbled upon while walking off the main path earlier in the week. You had been following a bubbling stream through the forest and found it ran into a small, secluded pond before spilling over in a narrow cascade and disappearing into the trees. There was a single weeping willow tree at the edge of the clear pool of water and coiled around its trunk was a vine covered in vibrant orange flowers. The area was peaceful and quiet and made you feel at ease. Somehow, you didn’t really mind being alone while you were there. It was a comfortable solitude, and you often napped curled up beneath the thin swaying branches of the weeping willow.

That was how you had been spending your days: training, eating, exploring, and relaxing. Whenever one of the boys was free from the meetings, they would join you while they could. Hobi was getting leaf messages from Yoongi about every other day, and they would usually include a small update on Jungkook’s condition. The kiela’s spy was always sure to stop by and share the news with you when he had time to spare. The two of you would talk for a while about the absent Saeni, and it commonly ended with either one or both of you showing burning cheeks and embarrassed smiles. In the mornings, Jin and Tae would sometimes join you for training. At first, it had only been your dear blue-eyed friend, but once word came that the head instructor did not survive Draikiltho, Jin began showing up too. The eldest kiela member turned out to be a great mentor, and you wondered why he never helped train you. It would’ve been a nice change of pace to be smacked with a joke rather than a glare in the wee hours of the morning on some days. With Joon, you would have pleasant conversations about what things you found around the palace grounds and he would give you suggestions of places to check out. He even promised to take you to his favorite vendor and weapon seller in the market when clearance to leave the grounds was finally given. You barely saw Jimin, but the brief moments you spent with him were remarkably normal. You would have your passionate rants about some random topic and your best friend would listen and chuckle before saying something to get you worked up even more.

The one thing you hadn’t done was tell anyone about the place you’d found with the pond and willow tree. Not even Jimin or Tae knew about it. You weren’t entirely sure why, but you kind of wanted to keep that small, calming place to yourself.

Maybe I’ll go there again today. I just have training and-SHIT! Your eyes bugged out when you noticed how much sunlight was now peeking in through the branches and you threw the covers off your body. I’m gonna be late!

An amused grin broke out on your face as you chewed on an apple slice and watched Jiae mist an orange peel in your best friend’s face. Jimin reeled back, sputtering in surprise, before trying to grab the princess. Jiae nimbly danced away from Jimin’s hands while giggling, making the half-Saeni playfully narrow his eyes.

The lilac-haired Saeni just waggled her fingers, causing Jimin to turn back to you with a sigh of defeat. “Anyways, as I was saying before I was attacked, we decided to wait until after the ceremony to make sure things are settled down.”

“It’s so weird that she’s just chilling in your head,” you quipped and went to cut off another slice from the fruit in your hand but the knife froze as you realized you had yet to greet the goddess. “Shit, um, good morning Illai!”

Jimin rubbed his temples as he listened to the voice nobody else could hear then swept his hand through his hair and grumbled out, “She says good morning to you too and she hopes you trained well today.”

“Geez, it’s even weirder that she’s watching us like a damn movie,” you whispered to yourself before flashing a quick thumbs up. “Thank you Illai, hope you have a swell day doing whatever it is you’re doing!”

Well, watching whatever it is Slim Jim is doing.

Then a thought dawned on you and your eyes flashed mischievously while you leaned closer to Jimin. “Wait, so does she watch when you and Jiae are fuc-”

“Y/NNN!” Jimin lunged forward and covered your mouth before mumbling, “It’s already uncomfortable, please don’t make it worse. And Illai please stop talking.”

You snickered and looked to the side to meet Jiae’s gaze out of curiosity, but the lilac-haired princess just shrugged.

Okay, damn girl. Maybe she’s into voyeurism.

Raising your apple and knife into the air in surrender, you waited for Jimin to move his hand, but he just blatantly ignored you while exclaiming that the atmosphere had suddenly become so quiet and peaceful. After pursing your lips for a moment, you licked the boy’s palm which caused him to pull away with a disgusted gasp. Rolling your eyes at his dramatics, you then asked when said ceremony would be.

Two nights ago, you’d spoken to Joon for a bit and he mentioned the king was planning a ceremony to honor those who’d fought and lost their lives at Draikiltho. At the time, there was no set date for the event, but you figured that must have changed.

Jimin didn’t respond to your question right away. Instead, he shared a knowing look with Jiae before beginning to smirk at you. One of your brows lifted as you scrutinized the suspicious action.

“It’ll be in a week… the same day the med facility from the field will arrive at the palace.”

Excitement pulsed through your veins and your heart pounded in anticipation as you made your way through the palace hallways with light steps and fidgeting fingers. It was quite early in the morning, but there was an unusual amount of Saeni bustling about.

You skirted to the side to avoid being run over by a very stressed-looking male and breathily laughed to yourself. It may be a magical world, but I guess they can’t escape hectic last-minute preparations either.

After a week that had lagged on and on, it was finally the day you’d been eagerly waiting for. The day you and the boys would be reunited with Jungkook and Yoongi. Although you had no clue as to when they would be arriving, a frenzy of emotions had relentlessly crashed over you throughout the entire night. The result was a fitful night’s sleep full of tossing and turning, but you somehow didn’t feel tired. Whatever weariness you would normally feel from little to no sleep was overwhelmed by the intensity of your excitation. It even made you to ignore the rare opportunity you had to sleep in since training was cancelled for the ceremony. You simply had too many thoughts to lay still in bed, and too many feelings to sit around and do nothing. So, when your internal clock had alerted you it was the usual time to get up for training, you had swiftly flipped the covers off your body to allow a surge of cool air to sharpen your senses. Your mind was wired, body itching to do something, and you had hastily racked your brain for what that something would be. Ultimately, since the training grounds were closed, you had decided eating a big breakfast was the best option.

Continuing your journey to the kitchen, you tapped your fingertips against the ruby hilt of the dagger strapped to your side.

He’s coming back today. You looked down at the blade and changed your tapping to more of a gentle pat. You only need to put up with me for a little longer.

“Little scorja!” A distant, muffled voice gasped out.

Your head lifted, and you saw Tae walking toward you while smiling around a pastry that was shoved against his lips.

“TaeTae!” You exclaimed brightly as he crammed the rest of the pastry in his mouth and skipped over.

The blue-eyed male slid to a stop beside you and gave you a light nudge accompanied by a wink. “Well, someone’s looking quite happy this morning.”

“I’m about to eat, you know how that gets me going.” You affectionately knocked your shoulder into his while reaching down to hold his hand.

He giggled and sent a sly smile your way. “I’m sure you’re just famished after last night if those red and puffy eyes are anything to go by.”

“Ah yes,” you replied dreamily while rolling your red and puffy eyes, “that’s just what every girl wants to hear in the morning.”

You weren’t entirely sure what being famished had to do with sleep deprivation but you decided it wasn’t important enough to wallow on, so you switched topics by asking what time he thought they would be arriving.

“Who?”

You gently flicked the male’s chest while rolling your eyes. “Uh, who else? Kook and Mr. Sparkle Hands.”

Slowly, Tae’s boxy grin vanished and was replaced with a look of confusion while he cocked his head to the side. “Wait, you have you not seen him?”

“Who?” You echoed the male with furrowed brows.

The Saeni nervously cleared his throat, the playfulness in his eyes evaporating into unease. “They arrived a few hours ago… Kook hasn’t gone to see you?”

You stilled, quietly absorbing the news, before withdrawing your hand from Tae’s so you could grab onto your own arm. “Oh… um, no. He hasn’t.”

The male frowned but was fast to shake his head and give you a reassuring grin. “Maybe he fell asleep! He did seem really tired at the meeting earlier.”

“Yeah… maybe.” You pressed your lips together and looked at the floor.

The bright, elated feeling in your chest began to wilt into something heavy and stinging, but before it could completely wither away, you made your brain call a timeout. Okay. Okay. Okay. He’s here… he’s been here for a few hours. And he hasn’t come to see me, but let’s not think too much into it. Tae’s right. He could be tired, still recovering, wanting to get his energy back up… Though it’s not like it takes much to do a quick check-in. Wait. He probably doesn’t even know what room I’m in… but he could’ve just asked one of the bo-

“Want me to take you to his room?” Tae’s soft voice interrupted your rambling, conflicted thoughts.

You lifted your head at the idea and parted your lips, a “yes” dancing on the edge of your tongue. Yet you couldn’t bring yourself to say it. You couldn’t remove the splinter of disappointment that was now lodged in your chest. Jungkook didn’t want to see you right now. If he did, he would have found you. The thought pushed the splinter deeper into your heart and you winced. Shaking your head at both the tiny, piercing pain and your friend, you told Tae that he was probably right and that you wouldn’t want to disturb Jungkook if he was resting.

“I… Are you sure?” The blue-eyed male tugged on his feather earring as his brows drew close together, but you didn’t say anything else. “Want to spar for a bit then? I know the training grounds are closed today, but we’re used to doing it in the forest anyway, right? Or! Or I can walk you to the garden where Yoongi hyung and Hobi hyung are!”

Sliding your hand down your arm to hold your wrist, you kept yourself from reaching for the glinting blade at your side. “Thanks TaeTae, but I’m sure Yoongi and Hobi want some alone time… and I’m actually pretty sore from training yesterday, so…” You were lying and you knew that he knew it. You could visibly see the worry plastered on the Saeni’s face, but you forced a tight smile and told him you were going to head back to your room to lay down. “It’s going to be crazy later, so I think I’m just gonna relax before getting ready for the ceremony.”

Tae’s eyes scanned your face, uncertainty consuming his features, until he gently exhaled and said he would walk you to your room.

You could easily tell Tae wanted to say something else, but he surprisingly held himself back and kept quiet. When you made it to your door, the Saeni pulled you into a hug to squish you close for several seconds. He left a light kiss to your cheek then stepped away. With a pointed look that silently told you to get him if you needed anything, the male swiveled around and strode away. You watched his receding figure until he disappeared around the corner then blew out a long puff of air and went inside your room. After the door weaved itself back together behind you, you squeezed your eyes shut and leaned against the branches. You felt somewhat empty, the hurricane of excitement from earlier now dull and washed out. A knot was also gradually forming in your stomach, the unpleasant and tight feeling reminding you that you never did make it to the kitchen and likely wouldn’t for the rest of the day. Not that you thought it would matter much. You’d lost your appetite anyway.

Pulling the fabric behind your back, you blindly formed a bow over your spine. You secured the knot while internally praying the result wasn’t too lopsided. You were never particularly good at making bows look nice and pretty. It was usually Jimin’s job to laugh at your poor attempts until he took pity and provided help. Unfortunately, the apricot head was nowhere in sight.

No Slim Jim… and no coconut-headed asshat either. You sighed and smoothed your hand over the light, gossamer-like fabric draped on your body.

The dress was long, loosely falling to your ankles, with asymmetrical bell sleeves that stopped just below your elbows. The garment was courtesy of Jiae, who had it delivered a couple days ago alongside a note specifying she had had it made for you since you didn’t have any of Illain’s custom mourning clothing. Of course, your human ass had seen “mourning” and expected black or some other dark color, but it turned out to be quite the opposite. The fabric was a pale yellow and green that was so light and soft it was reminiscent of morning sunlight peeking through tree leaves. The material was sheer but not entirely see-through, giving the dress an almost milky translucence. The neckline stopped at your collarbones, allowing your silver necklace to be displayed. You would have been feeling graceful if not for the worn boots that were laced over your feet. They roughed up the entire look, but you merely shrugged before tugging them on. They were the only footwear you had since you didn’t know what had happened to your sneakers after you’d switched shoes during your first visit to the palace.

At least they’re comfy and won’t make me suffer. You gently knocked one boot against the other.

“Unlike some people,” you mumbled as you plopped down on your bed.

You still hadn’t seen Jungkook, or rather, Jungkook still hadn’t come to see you. You had been holed up in your room since the morning, not wanting to leave in case he showed up but… he never did.

Blowing out a raspberry, you hung your head and allowed yourself exactly ten seconds of moping before slapping your hands against your thighs and standing back up. Stepping over to the table in the corner, you picked up Jungkook’s dagger and its sheath.

Thankfully the brown leather will match the boots. You slipped the belt around your waist just below the bow at your back.

Just as you were threading the strap through the buckle, a short rap came from your door. Your fingers froze while your head darted up and your breath got caught in your throat. Hastily crossing the room, you tightly gripped the leather in your hands as your heart swelled with hope. But as the door’s branches untwisted, you came face to face with a lilac-haired princess instead of your boyfriend. Your chest twinged but you swallowed down the disappointment to smile at the female.

“Hey Jiae-whoa.” You openly gawked at her dress because it was seriously fancy.

Like yours, it was a pale yellow and green, but it was more elaborate and detailed with embellishments, sparkling jewels, and an airy cape that covered her otherwise bare shoulders.

“Ah… yeah…” She followed your gaze to her dress and pulled at the fabric of her cape with a tiny roll of her eyes. “It’s excessive, I know, but it’s what comes with being a princess.”

“Sure, it’s excessive, but you look good as hell.” You nodded approvingly as you moved to finish buckling the dagger to your body. “Slim Jim’s nose is gonna bleed… if it hasn’t already, that is.”

The female’s nose scrunched. “His nose… is going to… bleed?”

“It’s a good thing, I promise.” You smirked then casually leaned against the doorframe and crossed your ankles. “So, what brings you here? I would’ve thought you’d already be in the ceremony room.”

“I’m about to head there, but I wanted to see if you would like to walk down together?” Jiae asked with kind eyes and a hopeful smile.

You blinked in surprise. “You’re actually asking and not just dragging me there?”

“Hey! Don’t make it sounds like I kidnap you for our lunch dates!”

“I’m kidding. I’m kidding.” You laughed, pushed off the frame, and took a step forward so your door would weave itself back together. “Let’s go then.”

You forced yourself to not look down at the ruby gemstone on the dagger as you shoved your desire to have Jungkook be the one to pick you up and take you to the ceremony to the far recesses of your mind. You had been wishing for Jungkook to show up all day. You had been waiting for him. But no more. You still desperately wanted to see him, hold him, kiss him… but you refused to sit around and twiddle your thumbs for another minute.

The princess beamed at you then hooked her arm through yours to begin leading you down the hallway. A few doors down, Chungha was watching you both approach with her usual serious expression. She was also wearing pale yellow and green, but in contrast to you and Jiae’s delicate and nearly sheer fabric, her outfit was thick and armored. As she started to walk beside Jiae, you pressed your lips together and gave the female guard a polite nod which she returned. Meeting Chungha’s eyes made your guilt flare up again, though, so you quickly averted your gaze and swallowed hard. Taking a shaky, deep breath, you rolled your shoulders to try to rid yourself of the tension while the three of you strolled toward the ceremony room. Minutes and corridors passed by, but none of you spoke. The event you were going to wasn’t exactly something to giggle excitedly about. Instead, the only sounds came from you and Chungha’s boots thumping against the wooden floor and Jiae’s low humming. Eventually, you found yourself in the midst of other Saeni also heading to the ceremony, and you merged into their yellow and green stream that was filled with hushed murmurs.

A short while later, you were finally entering the room hosting the ceremony. The space was like the throne room you had seen the first time you entered the palace, with spaced out trees serving as the walls and swaying leaves creating an open-air roof. The difference was this room was bigger and more spacious. Plus, there was a huge, blazing fire in the middle of the room that was sending swirling tufts of white smoke through the leaves. All around you, there was an abundance of light. Not only was the fire burning brightly, but the sun shone through the gaps between the tree trunks and full leaves, and there were also multitudes of lanterns hanging from the branches that casted a soft glow throughout the room. Altogether, it created a stunning blend of shifting lights and shadows. The room was crowded too. So many Saeni, all wearing pale yellow and green, were already packed into the space and were milling about.

A small tug on your arm made your feet come to a stop, and then Jiae was speaking into your ear about how she needed to go find her father. Before moving away, she also said she believed the boys should be toward the far side of the room if you wanted to look for them. You half-smiled in understanding and she tenderly touched your shoulder before pulling away and following Chungha into the sea of Saeni.

You stood still for a minute, just taking in the atmosphere surrounding you. Breathing deeply, you tilted your head back and stared at the treetops gently moving back and forth.

Alright. You blew out a long exhale and releveled your gaze. Let’s go find the boys.

Suddenly, your palms grew sweaty at the prospect of seeing Jungkook. You were nervous, antsy, and worried about how you would interact. Would things be normal? Would they be different? Were you completely overthinking it all? A small part of you was even tempted to hide and avoid the encounter. But you also wanted to see Yoongi. And you really did want to see Jungkook, you were just a little jittery. Chastising yourself, you told your brain to pull up its big girl panties and get itself together.

The other side of the room. You recalled Jiae’s words and went on your tippy toes to try to see over the crowed for any glimpse of the kiela, but you couldn’t make out much. It was like being at the very back of the pit during a concert and having several people shift into your line of sight. It wasn’t anyone’s fault, really, but it still made you want to grit your teeth in frustration. With a huff, you brought your heels back to the floor and plunged into the throng of Saeni. Blindly, you began to work your way towards the opposite end of the very large room. While shouldering your way through the crowd as politely as you could, you kept trying to get a peek of the kiela members, but you weren’t having any luck.

You were craning your neck and standing on your toes for yet another mostly obscured scan of the room when someone bumped into your side. It wasn’t a hard hit by any means, but the angle of the contact made you stumble. You internally sighed, knowing you were either about to fall on your ass or into an unsuspecting Saeni, when hands miraculously grasped your shoulders and kept you upright. Steadying your feet and letting out a relieved breath, you looked over to thank your savior, but the words got stuck when you recognized the Saeni. You’d interacted with him only once before, and you didn’t know if you could really count exchanging punches and kicks as an interaction, but you still remembered the male’s face and how his originally shy smile had turned serious.

Narrowing your gaze at the Saeni, you cleared your throat and lifted your chin. “You.”

The male, whose name was Yoo Yong-something, stared at you then flashed you that damn shy smile. “Um, do I know you?”

“You kicked my ass at the sparring matches. The ones with Jeon Jungkook officiating. I’d like a rematch.”

Recognition finally flickered in the male’s eyes and he let go of your shoulders. “Ah! That’s why you look familiar. Sorry I didn’t remember you at first, my mind was kind of overwhelmed with the Jeon Jungkook being there that day. He’s a freaking legend.”

Yeah, a legendary pain in the ass. You rolled your eyes at the return of the asshat’s ridiculous fanclub as Saeni continued to shift and move all around you.

“But sure, we can have a rematch if you want.” The male crossed his arms over his chest and studied you briefly. “Though the outcome will be the same as last time.”

You only hummed thoughtfully and gave him a once-over in response, but the sound contained such a sharp edge that the male blinked in surprise. You smirked at his reaction then morphed your lips into a genuine grin. “Thanks for catching me by the way.”

Before he could say anything else, you pivoted on your heel and began to move away while calling over your shoulder, “Well, I’ll see you around soon then. I’m looking forward to our rematch!”

You dove back into the crowd and continued your search for the “legend” and the other boys. To your right, the fire was snapping loudly. Above you, the lanterns swayed, and the leaves rustled soothingly. All around you, conversations at respectful volumes floated into the air. And up ahead, after somehow breaking into a less populated area of the room, was what appeared to be a refreshment table. It was lined with small snacks on tiered plates and tall silver pitchers were next to stemmed glasses. The sight of food made your stomach grumble, and you were reminded that you hadn’t eaten anything all day. After a moment of contemplation, you decided it was worthwhile to give the spread a quick inspection. You approached the table and scanned its contents but unfortunately none of the dainty finger foods or fancily decorated desserts called out “Eat me! Eat me!”

Dammit. Is a singular mini corn dog too much to ask for?

While you pouted and wished for some simple fried comfort food, a Saeni passed you to snatch up one of the silver pitchers at the end of the table. You watched, mouth suddenly going dry, as they poured a clear liquid into a glass, downed the drink in three big gulps and a hiccup, then poured another glassful before shuffling away.

Water is better than nothing, I guess. Smacking your lips together, you moved down the table, selected a glass, then picked up a pitcher.

“I wouldn’t recommend the viitulx unless you want to numb yourself to reality.” A voice filled with warning came from across the table.

Your actions halted and you lifted your head to see a merlot-haired Saeni regarding you with soft eyes.

“Yugyeom!”

“Hi there, Y/N.” The male’s lips twitched at the corners before he put his hand over yours to gently guide the pitcher back to the table. “It’s one of the strongest alcohols in Illain. Believe me when I say it will put you on your ass.”

You frowned at the pitcher and its clear contents. “I thought it was water.”

Yugyeom withdrew his hand and said you wouldn’t be finding any water at the ceremony. Tilting your head, you tried to piece together why there wouldn’t be any water, but he didn’t elaborate so you ultimately just accepted the information. As you pushed the pitcher back to where you’d found it, Yugyeom trekked around the table to your side and held his arm out toward you. You blankly stared at his arm for several seconds until he thrust it toward you a little more. Finally, you got that he was wanting to do that forearm grasp greeting thing you’d seen the boys do before. Making a noise of realization, you belatedly slapped your hand against the male’s forearm while he suppressed an amused chuckle and told you how nice it was to see you again.

“You, too. I’m really glad you’re okay Yugyeom.” You looked at him sincerely and noticed the violet in his hair stood out more vibrantly against the color of the mourning clothes.

“I heard that Kook was injured…” The easy-going expression on the male’s face faltered for a moment before he let out a soft laugh. “But I’m sure he healed up fast, right? Nothing can keep that bastard down for long.”

All you did was slowly move your head in agreement, feeling somewhat awkward since you actually didn’t know how Jungkook had healed besides what Yoongi had written in his messages.

“You know, I’m actually surprised he isn’t with you.” The Saeni stepped back and his eyes dropped to your waist. “Especially since you have that damn dagger of his strapped to your side.”

Resisting the urge to tap the handle of the weapon, you instead toyed with the frabric of your dress. “I, ah, just haven’t had the chance to return it to him yet.”

I mean, that is the truth.

“Heh, have you two been that busy?” Yugyeom chortled to himself then looked at you curiously. “Tell me, did he finally choke you properly?”

Now that made you choke on your own spit, which in turn made you cough and gasp for air. “You-You think I haven’t given him back his dagger ‘cuz we’ve been too busy canoodling!?”

“Well, I’m not wrong, am I?”

“As a matter of fact, you are. I, um…” Your voice trailed off and you gripped at the fabric under your hands. “I actually haven’t seen him since that day. Since Draikiltho.”

“Didn’t he arrive at the palace this morning?”

You flashed him your best finger gun alongside a self-deprecating laugh. “That’s a bingo.”

As Yugyeom’s brows knit together, a Saeni with swollen eyes quietly excused himself past you to reach for the viitulx. You slid out of the Saeni’s way and turned back to Yugyeom, who was studying you. The male silently looked at you for a couple heartbeats, sort of making you feel fidgety, before randomly saying there were some people he wanted to introduce you to.

“We can ask if they’ve seen Kook or the other members of your kiela too.”

A warmth rapidly spread across your chest. Your kiela. The thought had the corners of your lips turning up, and Yugyeom must have seen it since his own eyes softened.

“Okay then.” You motioned for him to move while trying to calm your happy heart. “Lead the way.”

He took your wrist in his hand and pulled you back into the dense crowd. A couple minutes later, you were standing beside Yugyeom with a group of six males before you.

“Everyone, I’d like you to meet Y/N,” Yugyeom called out to the males to get their attention then gestured toward them as he spoke to you. “Y/N, this my kiela.”

Surprised, you jostled him with your arm. “Hey, I didn’t know you had a kiela.”

“Who you got there Yugyeom?” A male with long, icy blue hair asked with narrowed eyes but an intrigued tone.

Another Saeni with olive-colored orbs that were glinting teasingly slug his arm over the blue-haired male’s shoulders. “Wow, is it finally the day he has us meet a girlfriend? I’m not going to lie, though, it’s kind of a bad event to do it at.”

“Shit, do we need to act over-protective?” A bleach-blonde head started to panic but then he caught sight of your face and looked at you funnily.

“No way.” The male with short pink hair denied as his gaze stopped on the dagger at your side. “She seems too badass to be with him.”

The last two males didn’t say anything, just trailed both their deep red eyes over you in a way that made you feel like you were being thoroughly inspected.

“Um, hi? I’m Y/N, nice to meet you all.” You habitually raised your hand to wave but cursed and hastily placed your thumb over your chest and drew it down.

“Well, that was weird,” the pink-haired one muttered with an openly judgmental look.

“The rude one there is BamBam,” Yugyeom informed you, causing BamBam to send you a wink accompanied by a finger salute.

“My name is Mark.” The olive-eyed male used his free arm to perform the greeting gesture.

The rest of the group introduced themselves one by one. Youngjae and Jinyoung were the males with red eyes, and it was Jackson with the bleach-blonde hair. Finally, the icy-haired male stepped forward and dragged his thumb down in his chest and said his name was Jaebeom. Politely smiling, you shifted your gaze over each male while mentally matching them with their names.

Beside you, Yugeyeom cracked his knuckles. “Alright, now that that’s out of the way, have any of you see-”

“Ughhhh, I just can’t believe she doesn’t recognize us!” Jackson suddenly wailed, interrupting the merlot-haired Saeni.

You peered at the now sullen male. “I’m sorry? Am I supposed to…?”

“Yes!”

At a complete loss, you glanced at Yugyeom but he mirrored your look of confusion.

“Jackson, Youngjae, and I have briefly encountered you before,” Jinyoung offered helpfully… but it still didn’t ring any bells.

That must be why the three of them were looking at me oddly.

You squinted at the three males to try to place where you had supposedly met them before, but you kept drawing blanks, so you could only wince apologetically. “Fuck, I’m sorry, I really don’t remember.”

Jackson gasped and looked downright offended while Youngjae sighed and added, “You were with Namjoon’s kiela. We stopped you right outside the palace grounds a few months ago.”

A hazy memory came to mind. A small group of Saeni had indeed stopped you and the boys. One of them had blonde hair and Hobi said something about training with him in the past. You couldn’t remember the faces or names, but if it was a blonde then you figured it must have been Jackson.

Sheepishly, you told them that was all you recalled.

“Aha! You do remember me!”

Jinyoung slapped Jackson on the back. “Congratulations. She remembers your hair.”

“And probably only because you were the one who spoke,” Youngjae quipped dryly.

“Whatever. It counts.”

Their banter made you stifle a laugh. It reminded you of your boys and their crazy antics, yet you didn’t linger on the thought for long, instead refocusing on Yugyeom’s kiela because there was one thing you were wondering about.

“Why weren’t you with Yugyeom at the field?” You asked to none of the males in particular.

BamBam let out an annoyed exhale. “You could say we weren’t invited.”

“Er, sort of,” Jaebeom said shyly before explaining they had been told to stay back to protect the palace and village in case any draikensu showed up. Yugyeom, though, had been ordered to go with the troops because of his speed and endurance.

“Our Yugyeom is perfect for being a messenger boy.” BamBam strolled up to said male and tickled his fingers under Yugyeom’s jaw, making the Saeni squirm away in agitation.

“So, Y/N…” Mark abruptly yet coyly said, making you hum questioningly. “How’d you start dating our sprout?”

You blanched. They actually think we’re dating!?

Luckily, Yugyeom pushed BamBam away and saved you from having to clarify your mutually platonic relationship yourself.

“Oh my goddess, we are not dating! I met her right before Draikiltho, and she’s actually with Jungkook, so please don’t say that again or he will try to kill me.”

Understanding dawned on the males’ faces and some of them even had the audacity to look at you aghast, as if they couldn’t believe it. You just raised a brow, daring them to say something about you or your boyfriend.

Jackson whistled and jerked his chin toward you. “So that’s Jungkook’s dagger then? I knew I had seen it somewhere before.”

“Yeah yeah, it is,” Yugyeom answered for you in a dismissive tone. “Anyway, have any of you seen that bastard? Y/N hasn’t seen him since the field, and I would like to be the one to kickstart their beautiful reunion.”

“You haven’t seen him at all?” Jinyoung asked.

Grimacing, you told the males that Jungkook had been injured at Draikiltho so he hadn’t returned to the palace with you. Then, even though he had finally arrived at the palace this morning, you still hadn’t seen him once.

BamBam suddenly snorted, drawing your attention, and he gazed at you pitifully. “You got deciduoued.”

The other males whipped their heads in BamBam’s direction to send him warning glares. A couple of them even whispered at him to shut up.

Meanwhile, you just blinked at him and cocked your head to the side. “I got Dewey Decimal what now?”

“Deciduoued.” The pink-hiared male ignored his kiela and gave you an incredulous look when you continued to blink at him. “As is deciduous? Like the trees that shed their leaves? How have you never heard of this?” He scoffed at you in astonishment while you frowned at his attitude.

Considering I am from another world and don’t have an extensive list of horticulture terms in my chickpea brain, it’s pretty fucking reasonable I haven’t heard of this.

You were about to tell the male off when the meaning of the word registered and caused you to stiffen.

Shedding leaves? Don’t tell me this is… Saeni slang for ghosting? Is Jungkook… ghosting me?

At the same time you bit your lip at the possibility, Jaebeom strode over and smacked BamBam upside the head while Yugyeom elbowed him in the gut.

BamBam promptly whined and rubbed his side, and Yugyeom turned to you and told you to disregard the male. “He’s just an asshole sometimes.”

You released hollow chuckle and were about to reply that you could deal with BamBam. He wasn’t the only asshole you knew, after all. Yet before you could say so, a loud chime-like sound flooded the the air. You perked up as a hush fell around the room in the chime’s wake. The Saeni started to move, and you could just barely make out them leaving a wide circle open around the fire. Then, little by little, everyone’s attention turned toward the side of the room you had been trying to get to. Following suit, you also looked over. Through the heads and shoulders, you could see King Bang standing on a platform of sorts with Jiae at his side.

The king, outfitted in yellow and green armor, took a step forward. “Three weeks ago, there was a morning that was not kissed by light. Rather, it was a morning tainted by blood and death. Many lives… too many lives… were lost that morning. We are here to honor those lives.

“Tonight, we pray to our mother goddess, Illai, to tenderly watch over the Saeni from that morning. Tonight, we thank Exia for giving those Saeni the courage to fight and the will to protect who and what they love.

“Every Saeni who has met the mother goddess because of Draikiltho will be named. Those that wish to honor them may do so.” The king extended his hand toward the fire roaring in the center of the room before lowering it. “There will also be fires outside if you prefer a more private setting.”

The king then called for one, cohesive prayer to begin the ceremony. While he and Jiae bowed their heads, all the other Saeni shifted to face the fire. Yugyeom gently guided you to do the same with his fingers. You held your breath, waiting for what would come next. The entire room seemed to go stagnant. None of the Saeni moved. The breeze died down, the leaves went motionless, the lanterns stopped swaying. All was still except for the snapping flames licking at the warm air.

Then…

“To our Saeni, who lived and fought bravely and are now resting with the mother goddess!” The king’s voice loudly resonated throughout the space and drove the world back into motion.

The Saeni echoed his words with passionate shouts, many of them even throwing their heads back to scream it into the sky that was visible through the tree branches. Once the remnants of their voices were carried away by the wind, the Saeni lowered their heads and began to murmur under their breath. Inhaling deeply through your nose, you closed your eyes and repeated the king’s words as a whisper while feeling your chest pinch with emotion.

You stayed that way for some time, just emitting as much gratitude as you could, before Jiae’s light voice soothed over the room. “We will begin the individual prayers in a few minutes.”

Slowly, the Saeni lifted their heads and started to move. A large portion of the crowd dispersed, spilling out between the gaps of the tree trunks and toward what you assumed were the fires outside. Craning your neck and shifting your weight from side to side, you once again tried to spot the boys through the crisscrossing bodies.

“Yugyeom?” You heard BamBam approach and you glanced over while trying to keep your footing against all the moving Saeni.

“Yeah?” the merlot-haired Saeni replied with wary eyes and blocked his throat with his hand.

“You said you were looking for Jungkook?”

Yugyeom apprehensively dropped his hand. “Yes…?”

“To the right of the dais by maybe seventeen steps.” With that, BamBam met your gaze, gave you a small nod, and wandered back to his other members.

As the males started razzing him, your head swiveled to the right of where the king and Jiae were still standing and began to search. Filtering through the faces and modge-podge rainbow of hair colors, your eyes carefully scanned the area… and saw a glimpse of apricot-orange next to mint-blue.

In the next second, you could see the entire kiela. None of them were wearing armor and it was almost shocking to see them sans weapons, but it was them without a doubt. A small gasp came from your lips and your heart thudded and skipped when you locked onto Jungkook’s profile. Maybe you were only imagining it, but you could feel your nape tingling and growing warm too. Scouring your eyes over his figure, you exhaled a relieved sigh that he no longer looked hurt. He was back to standing in that infuriatingly cocky yet intimidating way of his. You wished you could see his stupidly cute smile and his bright, glittering eyes, but the angle didn’t allow you to see his face very well. You did, however, that his jaw was clenched in what seemed like a scowl.

I’ve been on the receiving end of his glare enough times to know when he isn’t pleased… but why is he upset?

You watched as his hands formed fists and he walked away from his brothers to disappear into the crowd, making Yoongi throw his hands into the air in frustration. Without thinking, your foot lifted off the floor and your body readied itself to go after Jungkook, but you paused. You didn’t know where he went and had no idea where he was going. Not to mention, the other boys were right there.

Kookie’s made me wait this long to see him, so now he can wait until I’m finished seeing the other boys. You decided somewhat pettily.

“Let me know if you need me to kick his ass later.”

You tore your gaze from the kiela to side-eye Yugyeom skeptically.

“What!?” His jaw dropped in shock as if he’d been betrayed. “I could totally kick his ass!”

“Mhmm. That sparring session I witnessed says otherwise,” you deadpanned.

The Saeni grumbled then dismally told you to get going before the ceremony started back up. After thanking the male for his help, you cracked a smile when he made you promise to organize a hangout between both kielas. Peeking over Yugyeom’s shoulder, you waved to the rest of his kiela and let out a small laugh at how Jackson was shaking his fists at you in encouragement. Then, you turned around, gave the ruby gemstone on Jungkook’s dagger a light tap, and started making your way over to the boys.

You squeezed through Saeni, bumped into a handful more, and tripped over a few stray feet, but you finally found yourself closing in on the kiela. You were weaving between several more Saeni when you saw Tae’s face light up and he began pushing his way through the crowd while lightly calling your name. He moved fast, getting to you in no time to excitedly sweep you into a hug. Rocking you back and forth and not caring if he knocked into other Saeni as he did so, the male gushed about how beautiful you looked. Humming in content, you leaned back and squished his cheeks between your palms. You giggled at his smooshed face as the ends of his grey hair tickled your fingers despite his trademark headband still resting above his forehead. Wordlessly, Tae reached up to grab one of your hands and tugged you through the Saeni to the kiela. When you were a few yards out from his brothers, you pulled yourself from Tae’s grasp and rushed over to Yoongi, who was trying to act nonchalant and like he wasn’t totally watching your approach out of the corner of his eye. Hurrying over and waving at the other boys as they happily greeted you, you threw your arms around Yoongi. The male’s petal pink eyes widened in surprise and he even tried to raise his hands to ward off your sudden attack, but there was no real intent behind the movement as you easily enveloped him.

“I missed you, Mr. Sparkle Hands.”

“Well, I didn’t miss you,” he said grouchily but then wrapped his own arms tightly around you. After a couple seconds of peaceful silence, he whispered in your ear, “You’re going to need to talk to him. He’s being a fucking idiot.”

You sighed into his shoulder, not needing to ask who he was talking about.

“I will later,” you whispered back, “Once the ceremony is over, I’ll find him.”

Yoongi grunted in acknowledgement and rubbed your back twice before separating from you to let Jimin hug you from the side. As the apricot head heavily draped himself over you and dropped one of his arms to poke at your ribs, you breathed out comfortably and surveyed the kiela. It was still jarring not seeing them with their weapons or armor, but they were all here and they were safe. Instead of being prepared to fight and wreck anyone who stood in their way, they were empty-handed and dressed in casual shirts and loose-fitting pants that were tucked into their boots. It was a different but nice change to see.

Blocking Jimin’s next poke without looking, you hooked your elbow around his and grinned at everyone. ��The gang’s all here… Mostly.”

“Idiot.” You heard Yoongi mumble while your best friend muttered something about running out of Spongebob references one day.

Simultaneously, Namjoon winced at the reminder of Jungkook’s absence while the other members tried to hide their grimaces. You knew exactly how they felt. It didn’t feel right without the youngest member of the kiela. It made your fingers twitch and your senses more alert. Tempted your eyes to scan your surroundings for enemies. Tricked your mind into thinking it was the night after the battle when you were emotionally and physically drained but so scared and on edge that you couldn’t rest. Fighting back a shiver, you ran your hands down your dress. It was obviously doing no good for you or the boys to dwell on the lack of the asshat’s presence, especially when it was his choice to not be here, so you decided to forcefully change the topic.

You jabbed your elbow into your best friend’s ribs. “So, did your nose bleed when you saw Jiae?”

The half-Saeni wheezed, though you weren’t sure whether it was from your hit or question. Jimin deliberately looked away as you waited for an answer, causing Tae to snicker and his blue eyes to flash naughtily. This made Jimin dart his head toward his brother and subtly shake his head.

The blue-eyed male payed no mind to the plead, instead turning to you cheerfully and declaring, “His nose didn’t bleed but something else sure made its presence known!”

Something else?

…

…

.. OH.

You gaped at the now blushing apricot head before saying his name in the most “scandalized” tone you could muster. While your willpower barely kept your laughter at bay, the announcement rippled through the kiela with varying degrees of reactions.

“I don’t want any more sprouts!” Jin cried out, earning a few looks from bystanders, and Namjoon simply pinched the bridge of his nose. The eldest of the kiela then pointed at Jimin’s crotch with a fearful expression. “I don’t care that Yoongi makes us that potion, make sure you keep that thing in your pants. Kookie alone is enough to deal with.”

Knees growing weak, you had to smack a hand over your mouth to muffle your cackle while Yoongi looked unimpressed and Hobi just coughed into his fist and casually shifted a couple inches away from the group. A whine rose into the air and Jimin begged for you all to stop with flushed ears. Lucky for him, he was saved from more teasing by the same chime sound from before softly ringing throughout the room, causing you and all the Saeni to quickly quiet down and redirect your attention to the dais.

After a few moments, King Bang’s voice once again took over the room. “Every Saeni who was lost to Draikiltho will be remembered and revered until the day our trees are uprooted from the earth and our sun goes into a permanent slumber… but because of their courage, that day will not arrive in this liftetime! We will cry their names to the setting sun! We will sing of their valor to the treetops! We will make them feel our recognition even as they rest with the mother goddess!”

The king took a moment to calm his voice and you leaned forward on your toes.

“All who were present that day were vital to our prevail over darkness. But there were a select few who’s daring actions and selfless spirits directly influenced our victory and allowed us all to continue feeling the sun’s warmth. Let us honor them first.”

A plume of sparks went up in your peripherals right as King Bang raised his chin.

“Kim ‘Suho’ Junmyeon!”

Your body jerked, muscles involuntarily spasming at the name. You scarcely registered that Jiae was stepping down from the dais and that Chungha was following as the princess strode to the fire. Hardly noticed that the kiela was also moving. Your vision was only filled with the recollection of a twisting blade and eyes becoming dull and glossy.

“Little scorja?”

Blinking, you refocused on the room and saw Namjoon looking back at you, waiting. The rest of the kiela were already heading toward the fire, but the yellow-eyed male stood still and sadly smiled in a way that said he understood and was there with you.

Then he lifted his hand out to you. “It’s okay. Come on.”

Exhaling, you took his hand and Namjoon began to lead you through the crowd. Once you finally broke through the circle of Saeni surrounding the fire, the male let go of your hand as you both joined his brothers in front of the flames. Sweltering heat thrummed out from the burning wood in constant waves, making your skin feel like it would surely be scorched if you went any closer. Peering side to side, you saw Jiae and Chungha standing before the fire as well as several other Saeni you didn’t know. Many of them were in the same guard uniform as Chungha too. Tilting your head, you followed the dense smoke whirling above you and listened to the leaves tremble in the breeze.

“To Suho, who lived and fought bravely and is now resting with the mother goddess!”

Sucking in air through your teeth, you shouted the words back alongside everyone else in your small, separated circle around the fire. Lowering your gaze to the sizzling embers, you rubbed your thumb over the ruby gemstone at your side and remembered the guard.

In a soft voice, you spoke, “I know Namjoon said that sometimes there’s nothing we can do, but I’m still sorry for not being able to save you. Thank you for fighting with us, and I hope you’ve been able to rest peacefully.”

A minute later, the group honoring the guard broke apart and you all returned to the crowd. Despite the warm air flowing through the open walls, you felt a chill go through you as you followed the boys and left the roaring fire behind.

King Bang then called two other names in succession, and while you didn’t recognize them, Jimin went to the fire with guilt and regret in his light brown eyes for each one. You reasoned they must have been Saeni who had escorted him to the rift. Your assumption was proven correct when the next name called included ‘Stem.’

You didn’t hesitate this time. Immediately, you joined Jimin and pushed through the fire with him. Standing beside your best friend, you repeated the commemorating phrase with a yell. The memory of the male’s life bleeding out as a consequence of your fingers made you flinch, but you steadied yourself and told Stem that you finished the favor he had asked of you. You had helped and saved your friend, and you had only been able to do so because of him.

“Thank you for helping me.”

Two more names came after you went back to the kiela, and you watched as Jimin honored them both. Your best friend returned with stiff limbs and languid breaths. You reached for him, ready to offer whatever comfort you could provide…

But then the name came that was like a jagged stake to your heart.

“Song Mingi.”

All your movements froze, the ache you had grown familiar with blooming once more in your chest, before you squeezed your eyes tightly shut and slowly counted to three. Opening your eyes, you then marched toward the fire with the entire kiela on your heels. A glance sideways confirmed Jiae and Chungha were both at the fire again, but you moved your gaze off them quickly. You still couldn’t bear to look at Chungha. Especially not right now. As Tae and Jimin settled on either side of you, you noticed a group of males gathered on the other side of the fire as well. Half of them were blocked from view by the dancing flames, but for some reason, your eyes locked onto those you could see and wouldn’t look away. The males held on to each other, grief overtaking their faces in the glowing, flickering light. Their eyes welling up with tears and lips quivering.

“To Mingi, who lived and fought bravely and is now resting with the mother goddess!”

Without pause, you repeated the king’s words and they erupted from your throat in a scream. It was a wild sound full of remorse but also respect and gratitude. It blended with the Saeni’s shouts and the smoke to soar past the leaves and into the sky. The aching in your chest panged as everyone’s voices scattered in the wind and your fingers automatically shifted, searching out Jungkook’s dagger. Breathing out with tensed muscles when your fingertips touched the warming gemstone, you continued watching the group across the fire. Strangely, you didn’t feel compelled to whisper to the hazel-eyed Saeni even as you could faintly hear the kiela doing so. Illai had said Mingi would only know peace now, and you didn’t want to bother him with more of your dreary apologies. Instead, an idea began to form in your mind as you stared at the unknown group of males and how they were sniffling and struggling to keep themselves together.

I don’t know who they are or who they were to you, Mingi, but you are obviously very important to them… so I’m willing to bet they are just as important to you.

The prayer for Mingi ended, yet you didn’t go back with the boys. Rather, you hurried around the blazing fire and toward the group of males. You trailed after them, trying to catch up without making a scene as the king announced the next Saeni to honor. Some of the males had their heads down and were stumbling, but they moved fast, and it took you nearly a minute to reach them.

“Um, excuse me?” You tentatively stretched your arm out to the closest one but wavered just before you touched their back.

Although you didn’t make physical contact with the male, he must have sensed your proximity because he abruptly stopped. This in turn made the others in the group come to halt one by one, and then they all turned around.

You faltered slightly at their broken expressions but stammered out, “M-Mingi saved my life. He sacrificed himself to save my life. I’m still here only because of him and-”

The tallest Saeni in the middle of the pack suddenly sobbed into his hand. His whole body shuddered, and his red eyes grew glassy before he placed the palm of his free hand over his forehead to hide his face.  He took a shaky step backwards, then spun around and hastily raced away. In a heartbeat, most of the other males went after him. All except for two. The shorter male left had strawberry-red hair, and the other was a dirty blonde with one side shaved.

What did I just do? You moved to cover your mouth, shocked by the insensitivity of your own words.

“I-I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I just thought you deserved to know.”

You poured all the sincerity you could into your apology, feeling so ashamed of yourself. You approached them thinking Mingi would appreciate you checking in on them… but here you were making them hurt and cry even more.

“Thank you,” the strawberry head replied somberly but there was no anger lacing his tone. “We’re all taking it hard, but Yunho… Yunho is taking it the worst.”

The male shifted, misery etched on his features, and the blonde male clenched his jaw and glared at the floor while yells rose into the air behind you.

“If you… if you ever want to talk or know more about what happened…”

I want to be there for you. For Mingi. And this is the only way I can think of doing that right now.

The shorter male sharply inhaled, and his companion was quick to place a steadying hand on his back.

Sniffling loudly, the strawberry-haired Saeni raised a knuckle and bit down on it which made his eyes clearer. “I think that might be good for us, just…”

“Not right now,” you finished for him gently, acknowledging the shit timing.

The male sent you a sad, miniscule smile, and you told them your name and to find you whenever they were ready.

“Thank you, Y/N.” The strawberry head lowered his head slightly as the other male guided him to pivot his feet.

Then they left, and all the sudden it felt like the wind was knocked out you. Your arms went around your middle and your breathing picked up and went uneven as your shoulders heaved. When your throat started to constrict, you briskly pushed through the Saeni to get back to the boys.

Just as your lungs were becoming too tight, the kiela came in sight.

Jin perked up at your arrival. “We were wondering where you we-oh shit.” The male’s dark eyes bugged out at your distraught appearance.

“Y/N?” Jimin hurried to your side and pulled you against his chest.

You were also smothered from behind and the worried noises you heard told you it was none other than Tae sandwiching you. Your head turned to the side, and you saw Hobi’s gaze narrow and flit around as his hands traveled over his front. The white-haired Saeni looked down confused before he sighed and leaned over to whisper in Yoongi’s ear. Whatever he said made the magic user’s face twist. Consequently, Yoongi called Namjoon and Jin over as Jimin and Tae continued trying to calm you down. You felt a little better being held by both of your closest friends, but the entire situation was becoming too much. The memories, the guilt, the hurt, the disappointment. They had been building and building and you felt like they were about to spray out like an over shaken soda bottle any second.

You breathed deeply, trying to screw the cap on over your emotions more securely, when Namjoon trotted over and instructed you to follow him. Both Jimin and Tae unwrapped themselves from you and while the latter switched to holding your hand, your best friend told you to grab onto the back of his shirt. The apricot head began to trail after his leader and other kiela members, safely towing you and Tae through the crowd until you exited the room between the tree trunks. You nearly stumbled at the sudden openness and gasped at how it instantly helped you breathe easier, but the spaciousness also allowed your tears to well up and begin rolling down your cheeks.

Pouting, Tae came close and wiped them away with his sleeves while you clutched at Jimin’s shirt.

I want Kookie.

Tae studied you as he dried your tears. “Does anyone see Kook?” he asked his brothers, as if he could read your mind.

The kiela did a quick three-sixty, looking around the Saei, trees, and visible fires, but nobody spotted the burgundy head. With a tired groan, Yoongi stalked over and nudged Jimin and Tae out of the way so that he could place his hands on your shoulders. The magic user swiftly turned you around and began to steer you through the trees from behind. He guided you down the first path you came across, past countless occupied fires, and under the shade and sunlight until he found an empty fire to his liking. Leading you off the path to where it was warm and out of the smoke, Yoongi pushed down so you were forced to sit. In the next second, Tae situated himself beside you. He stayed silent, just being there for you as you leaned into him and slowly settled down now that you were away from the commotion. Meanwhile, once they were satisfied you were going to be okay, the boys made a loose circle around the fire and started to honor more Saeni.

Several prayers went by and you kept hearing quiet whispering by your head, so you mumbled, “You should go and honor those you need to TaeTae.”

“Don’t you worry about me, little scorja.” His voice contained a smile and he shifted to lightly poke your cheek. “I can honor them all just fine from right here.”

After some time, you got a grip on yourself and the boys finished their prayers. The Saeni rested on the ground and you all listened to the forest and nearby fires. It was an orchestra of buzzing, creaking, snapping, and distant shouting. The symphony went on and on, never ending, until the busy silence was interrupted by someone saying your name in surprise. Jerking your gaze to the path, you saw five young Saeni waving at you.

While you were shocked at the unexpected appearance of your training buddies, Jin grinned and gestured for them to come sit.

“Are you sure?” Soobin asked in an awestruck but unsure tone. “We wouldn’t want to overstep.”

“Just get your asses over here baby BTS Saeni,” Tae called to them.

Shyly, they made their way to the fire and sat down next to each other, as if they were scared to spread out and take up too much room. Jin just laughed and asked how they were doing while Tae purposefully matched over to squat directly in the middle of their safety nest. The younger Saeni jumped at the intrusion but began to relax as Tae and Jin brought the others into the conversation.

“You all remember them, right?” The eldest member of the kiela crossed his arms and scrutinized his brothers. “Little scorja’s friends from the sparring match?”

As Hobi defended his memory, Soobin scooted over to you and flicked your knee to get your attention. “Hey, I saw Jungkook sitting by himself. Is everything okay?”

Despite your pulse spiking at the mention of the male, you whispered back that you didn’t know if everything was okay. You peered down at Jungkook’s dagger, it’s presence on your body light yet undeniable, before focusing back on the chocolate-haired Saeni and asking if he could point you in the direction he had seen the male. Once verifying the general route from his index finger, you thanked Soobin and gently rustled his hair, making the young male complain and yank his head away with a grumpy expression. Suppressing a snort, you stood as all the other males were distracted by their conversations. Observant as ever, though, Yoongi managed to catch the movement but he merely rolled his eyes and faintly shooed you away with his hand while never looking away from the speaking Taehyun.

Besides the delicate shaking of the shrubbery, you quietly made your way back to the path. You shivered in the absence of the warm fire, but you rubbed your arms up and down and set off in the direction Soobin had pointed in. Following the path, you wandered past a few careening Saeni that were slurring and babbling as well as numerous fires with bodies gathered all around the flames. Although Soobin said Jungkook was alone, you still paused long enough to make sure he wasn’t at any of the fires before moving along the path. Plunging further into the trees, the shade was cool on your skin and the breeze left goosebumps where it blew against your open arms and collarbones. You continued to meander down the winding path. You listened to the bugs click and the birds chirp… but for the last minute, all the fires you walked by were deserted and dying out. Any prayers you could hear were distant echoes. There was no one around and you started doubting you were going to find Jungkook. Clenching your hands into fists in frustration, you told yourself just a little further. Just a little more and then you would turn back.

What if he’s at the next fire and I turn back now?

What if he’s just ahead?

What if he’s right around this curve?

Then you saw a fire through the trees that was burning more brightly than any you’d passed in several minutes. Holding your breath, you approached the glowing area with quiet footfalls. Hope surged in your heart, making the muscle pound in your chest, while the shadows and rays of sunlight shifted with the swaying trees.

And through the leaves and branches you saw him.

He was in front of the flames with his back to you and one forearm resting against his propped-up knee. His body was partially covered by the low foliage, but burgundy consumed your vision. It was him. For a moment, you didn’t make any movements. For a moment, you simply looked at him. For a moment, you let your body fill with the ache how much you had missed him. As you took him in, you noticed his fist was against his hip and the hand was constantly tightening and relaxing. It was right where his dagger was usually strapped to his side. Without thinking, your fingers went straight to the sheath at your waist and undid the buckle before your feet moved on their own accord. Almost as soon as your boots were off the path, Jungkook was twisting around at the sound of crunching leaves. Your stomach fluttered as you finally saw his aggravatingly handsome face and the way his peridot eyes brightened at the sight of you.

Neither of you said anything as you walked through the vegetation, but you smiled knowingly and extended the dagger and sheath in your hand out toward him, fully expecting him to flush cutely and rub the back of his neck before reclaiming the weapon and tugging you down onto his lap.

What you didn’t expect was for his eyes to darken angrily and for him to turn to face the crackling fire.

You smile faltered, as did your steps, so you stopped and stared at Jungkook’s back with your arm still outstretched.

“It’s yours. I gave it to you,” Jungkook lowly said and you recoiled at how detached he sounded.

Your arm dropped to your side. Jungkook’s muscles tensed, but his mouth didn’t open again.

Why won’t he look at me? Why does he sound like that?

The breeze picked up, rustling the forest, and you slightly tremored along with the leaves. You felt yourself growing hot with both confusion and frustration, but in the end, you tightly gripped the dagger and marched over to the male.

This isn’t the first time I’ve dealt with asshat Kook. I can handle this. It’ll be okay.

Wordlessly, you sat down next to him and placed the blade on the ground between your bodies. Schooling your face into a normal expression, you folded your hands over your lap but there was nothing you could do to fully hide the shaking of your body. You were startled by his words and actions, especially because you didn’t know why he was being like that, but you ignored it the best you could and glanced at Jungkook whose gaze bore into the blazing embers.

Sighing and spreading your skirt while you crossed your legs to sit more comfortably, you picked up a tiny twig and tossed it into the flames. “So, uh, how’s your back?”

“It’s fine,” he replied bluntly and free of any emotions.

Your brow twitched as you watched the twig warp and blacken. “You know you scared the shit out me then.”

“Yeah well, so did you.” Jungkook’s voice was abruptly soft, so much so that you almost didn’t hear him over the sounds of the forest and the snapping flames.

You looked at the burgundy head again as the already meager conversation came to a standstill. His face was shrouded in both shadows and glowing light… and his expression was completely empty and void. You could see the fire reflecting his hardened gaze, but his green orbs were dim. There was no teasing glint or cocky confidence illuminating them. It made your heart hurt. Why the hell was it like this? What had happened? What should you say?

While playing with the hem of your dress, you swallowed and gingerly spoke up again, “I… I think I’m gonna go back to Earth soon.”

It was something you had been debating over the recent weeks. No matter how much you loved this world, you still had a life back there. You had a family, who currently had no idea where you were or if you were even alive. You had bills and school and obligations and so many things you would have to take care of before you coul-

Jungkook let out a rough scoff but just continued glaring into the fire.

You looked at him with wide eyes. “That’s it?”

That’s his only reaction? A laugh?

“I’m not sure what you’re wanting from me.”

You flinched, a new splinter of pain digging into your chest to cut past your ribcage and gouge into your heart.

Your gaze lowered to your trembling hands. I want you to ask me to stay… Biting your lip, you raised your head to plead with Jungkook’s profile.

But his peridot eyes never shifted over to you and it was suddenly difficult for you to form words.

You grasped at your dress in a poor attempt to stabilize yourself. “I, um-okay.” Your voice was tight. “I’ll leave you alone then since you don’t want me around.”

He didn’t negate you.

Standing up on unsteady legs, you willed yourself not to react as you brushed the earth from your bottom and left the fire.

Don’t react. Stay calm. Don’t react. Stay calm. Don’t react. Don’t react. Don’t react.

But once you got back on the path, your pace became faster and faster and faster until you were hurrying away as fast as you could while your mind fell into disarray.

He doesn’t want me. He doesn’t want me. He doesn’t want me. Did his feelings change? Were they ever real in the first place? Was I just some sort of sick challenge for him?

A stray pebble ricocheted into the forest after being kicked by your foot.

It hurts.

Your hand pressed down over your heart in an attempt to relieve some of the pain.

It hurts so much more than it ever did with Jimin. Your upper body curled in on itself. Why does it hurt so much?

You hardly registered where you were going or what you were walking past. You had no clear destination in mind, you just knew you needed to get away.

But how could you get away from your own heartache?

You couldn’t wrap your head around it. You and Jungkook had been physically apart for weeks, you both had practically hated each other at first even, but this… this moment was the furthest you had ever felt from him. Even when you would be at his throat and vice versa, he would still interact with you. He would talk to you and glare at you and…

Fuck…

It felt like your body was concurrently freezing cold and burning hot, and there was a deep, throbbing pang resonating across your chest. It coiled up into your airway, making you struggle to breathe. It crawled up into your eyes, making them blur and go in and out of focus. Leaves and twigs were suddenly crunching loudly under your boots and you realized you had strayed off the path with your bleary vision. You hiccupped and just kept going. Occasionally tripping over roots and the uneven ground, you plunged deeper in the forest. A small stream eventually appeared by your side and you listened to the lull of flowing water as you followed its bends. The sun was beginning to dip below the tree line, casting a golden light on the world and causing the shadows to grow longer and darker. Your vision slowly cleared, and you sniffled while forcefully wiping at your cheeks. Then the forest opened, and you paused. You knew exactly where you were.

Good job guys. You tenderly patted your legs before walking around the small pond with heavy steps. The light of the setting sun bounced off the pond’s rippling surface, and you admired the beauty of it out of the corner of your eye as you made your way to the willow tree. Gently brushing past the thin, scratchy branches with your hands, you collapsed beneath the tree’s canopy. Your eyes traveled over the pretty floral vine twisting around the trunk before shifting to watch the tree’s elegant limbs move back and forth in the wind. The familiarity of the scene dulled some of the hurt, but you couldn’t help the broken laugh that spilled from your lips.

Weeping willow… how fitting right now.

Beyond the leaves and branches, you could see the darkening blue sky become mixed with a vivid array of colors around the setting sun. You tried to appreciate it, but… it only reminded you of a rainy night on a cliff. The night when Jungkook…

No. Stop. Fuck, I can’t sit here and wallow on memories. I should go back to the boys. Or maybe find Yugyeom and take him up on his offer. No… if anyone is kicking that asshat’s ass it’s me.

The impulse to fight briefly flared in your veins but it died out just as quickly.

I don’t want to kick his ass. I just… want him to…

You harshly pinched yourself, making you hiss through your teeth.

The thin branches lurched in the wind, the water flowed and gurgled, and the sunlight gleamed through the forest, reminding you of golden flecks in perido-

You pinched yourself again and whimpered.

I’ll just keep thinking about him if I’m alone.

What you desperately needed was a comforting distraction, and you knew exactly who could provide that. It might be a little awkward since they were Jungkook’s brothers, but Jimin was your best friend and the other boys were like family now. They would take care of you.

With your decision made, you soaked up the calm ambiance for one final minute before picking yourself up and trudging back to the tree line. Your feet moved more sluggishly; your energy sapped. As your boots practically dragged, you wondered what Yoongi was going to say when he saw you.

I hope he isn’t disappointed. I don’t know if I can handle more of that today.

You sighed and stepped around a sapling to reenter the thick forest. I just want TaeTae cuddles and some of that viitulx. And food. Maybe Jin will be willing to ma-

The loud crack of a branch snapping came from up ahead. You flinched and went on alert as you scanned your surroundings. Inhaling quietly, you reached over your shoulder but froze as you remembered you didn’t have your bow and quiver. You cursed and prayed it was just a branch falling to the ground or an animal on a casual evening stroll. That prayer was instantly revoked as you noticed a figure stumbling through the trees as they followed the stream.

Shit. You panicked, frantically looking around for something to use as a weapon when you finally came to your senses. You weren’t at the field. You weren’t in danger. It wasn’t a draikensu.

Fucking hell, it’s probably just some lost drunk.

Your shoulders slumped and you breathed deeply to try to calm your racing heart. You looked back to the person, contemplating if you should approach them or not when your body stiffened.

Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me…

It was fucking Jeon Jungkook.

The burgundy head was looking down and shuffling through the forest with both his hands up to his head. One of them held his dagger and pressed the weapon against his temple. You gaped at the male, watching his mouth move as if he was mumbling to himself. He was straight ahead of you and coming closer with every passing second but he hadn’t noticed you yet.

It felt as if you were caught in a headlight. You couldn’t bring yourself to move and weren’t sure what you should do.

Jungkook continued nearing and he got close enough that you could hear him groan, “I’m such a fucking idiot. Why did I do that?” He tugged at his hair and lifted his head to look up at the blackening sky… but froze as his gaze locked on to you standing there.

“Y/N?” he whispered, so heartachingly soft, but you ducked your head to avoid his peridot eyes.

You thought maybe you could hide him if you pretended he wasn’t there.

You squeezed your hands into fists and took slow, measured breaths.

“Y/N…” he said your name again, this time closer and more choked up.

Yet, you still didn’t move. Neither to walk away or to look up at him.

You heard him come even closer. He was so near that you could find traces of his scent in the air, but you continued to stay still.

“I fucked up. I hurt you… again.”

You could sense his body right in front of you. Feel his warmth. See his boots almost touching the toes of yours. You didn’t move your head, but you lifted your eyes a bit. You could see his hand gripping the dagger at his side while his other went to reach for you before hesitating and dropping back down.

“I… At first, I was embarrassed,” the male said quietly, “Embarrassed that I got injured when I said nothing would happen, which is so stupid, but I was worried you would think less of me.”

You forced yourself to breathe slowly.

“And then I was healing, and I was so anxious to get back to you, to hold you, to be with you… but then I started thinking of how you only came to Illain for hyung and how you might leave me now that everything was over.”

Your chest tightened and you noticed Jungkook’s hand that was holding the dagger was starting to tremble. Against your better judgement, you steeled yourself and raised your head.

Jungkook’s face was highlighted by the glow of the setting sun, the golden light enveloping him like a halo… but his peridot eyes were burning with panic and shame. His breathing was ragged and his eyebrows were drawn close together. His entire demeanor was meek and small and so unlike him that you almost took a step back.

As you finally looked at him, Jungkook lips pressed together while he made a noise in his throat, and he momentarily flicked his gaze up to the treetops before exhaling heavily. “Every time I thought of you leaving, I could barely breathe. It hurt… it hurt so much and I fucking hated it.” Jungkook’s voice was getting increasingly weak and his eyes glistened with as they lowered to focus on your neck. “But there’s no way I could ask you to leave your entire life on Earth behind, so I thought it might hurt less if I pushed you away before you could just… vanish from my life.” The corner of his mouth twitched into a melancholic ghost of a smile. “Then you said you were going back to Earth and the exact thing I was terrified of was suddenly happening. Next thing I know, I was watching you walk away…”

Your hammering heart was barraged by a swarm of confused and conflicted feelings, and you could only stare at the male while you tried to process through them all.

The leaves rustled all around you, and Jungkook shook his head firmly as his peridot eyes suddenly brightened with determination and he looked straight at you. “I shouldn’t… I know I shouldn’t… but I’m going to be selfish. I have to be. I love you too much to just let you walk away. So please… please stay. Stay in Illain. Stay with me.”

A single sentence blew through your crazed, jumbled emotions like a rifle shot.

I love you too much to just let you walk away.

A rush of heat traveled through your body and your breath hitched. “You love me?”

You heard a gentle thud then Jungkook was cupping your face with both his hands. “I love you. I am in love with you, Y/N. Please stay.”

Your entire body tingled, your face grew warm, and you silently regarded the male for several seconds. The way the tips of his long ears were burning, the way you could feel his body shaking, the way his lips lightly parted as he nervously waited your response.

Slowly, you reached up to encircle one of his wrists in your hand. “Remember how I wanted to tell you something before the battle, but you said to wait?”

He hummed, anxious hope swimming in his eyes.

Tenderly brushing your thumb against his skin, you deeply inhaled then whispered, “I love you Jeon Jungkook.”

The trees shook, the stream burbled, and Jungkook’s hold on your face became stronger so he could pull you in closer.

“Really?” he asked in a small whisper as his eyes searched yours.

You smiled and gave him a tiny nod, making Jungkook immediately wound his arms around you to bury his face in the crook of your neck. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m an idiot for thinking I should try to protect my heart-”

“More of an asshat, actually.” You declared, still smiling as warmth swirled through you.

The male pulled back to glare at you, but it contained a playful heat. “Well, my idiotic heart is entirely yours. Break it, stab it, do whatever you desire with it.”

Shifting forward, you placed a gentle kiss on his chest right over his heart. “I desire to love it.”

“So, you’ll stay?”

You leaned back into him and gripped at his shirt while breathing in that intoxicating scent of his. Humming in content, you whispered you would stay… but that you did also need to go to Earth for a bit to settle some things before permanently moving to a different world.

The ending of your answer made the male whine loudly in your ear and sag most of his weight on you.

Staggering a step, you rolled your eyes and patted Jungkook’s back. “You’re a big boy, you can handle it.”

The Saeni chuckled against your neck before straightening and sending you a cocky smirk. “You know what I bet you can’t handle?”

“If you’re about to say your dick, I’m changing my mi-”

“My love!” he blurted out a little too quickly, a blush spreading across his cheeks. “You can’t handle my love for you.”

You raised at brow at the flushing male that was now pointedly averting his eyes, not believing for one second that “his love” was what he originally intended to say.

While you fondly looked at the male, Jungkook began shifting his gaze from behind you to your face to behind you repeatedly until he asked how you were there. “Did hyung tell you about it?”

Your brows furrowed. You had no idea what he was talking about. “Tell me about what?”

“The pond and… the willow tree.”

You pursed your lips, still not understanding his initial question. “No? I found this place last week while wandering around. It makes me feel safe and calm when I sit under the willo-wait. Why are you here? Did you follow me?... Why are you smiling like that?”

The burgundy-haired Saeni was grinning happily, as if he knew something you didn’t. “Do you remember when Tae hyung did your morning training because I said I had to check on something?”

You tilted your head to the side. How could you forget that morning? It was the day you learned about Tae’s draeva.

“I had to come here.”

“Why? So you could jack off in extremely secluded privacy?”

“I-… no.” The Saeni gave you an exasperated look which soon transformed into an enamored smile and he shifted to lightly touch the mark on your nape, making you shiver lightly. “The willow tree is my draeva.”

You jaw dropped. “Your… draeva…”

Laughing, Jungkook grasped your hand and he excitedly tugged you out of the tree line and back toward the pond and willow tree. “I’ll show you my handprint!” Stunned by the sudden knowledge, you let him pull you along as he pleased. Not that you wouldn’t have gone anyway. “Also, I guess you could say it’s our draeva now…”

You gaped at the area, in disbelief that you had inadvertently found Jungkook’s draeva. The stream continued to flow leisurely. The pond was shimmering with the fading sun and rising moonlight. The willow tree was standing tall and its thin branches were gently swaying. You were so distracted that you ran into Jungkook’s firm back. Letting out a surprised noise, you hastily grabbed his waist so you wouldn’t fall. Huffing, you went to complain to the male for stopping so suddenly, but you noticed he was fixated on the willow tree. Specifically, he was staring at the orange flowers wrapped around its trunk.

“Scorja,” he murmured.

“Hmm?”

“No, the flowers,” he said in wonder, “There are scorja flowers on my draeva, our draeva.”

He swiveled to face you, and you only got a glimpse of the lustful delight on his features before he yanked you close and pressed his lips against yours.

previous [23] — next [25]

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[hornetstabber]

Hello I hope you are the op of the slutty little canadian post bcause if you are not this was a weird sentence to start out with but anyways H

ello! You have been mangoe'd via @/i-give-mangos-to-people 's main account! Engoy your mango!

fuck yeah

[beenis98]

another fic i don’t want to post on main because it’s short LOLZ. i was in the mood for some angst :))

anyway GSMGSG IDK ENGOY

quackity x reader btw

The fireworks illuminated the sky, drowning out all other sound. They were beautiful. But you couldn’t see them - you could only stare at the face in front of you, almost resembling a stranger’s, tears blurring your vision. 

“Y/N...” You could barely hear him over the now dying fireworks, only for the rest of his words to be silenced by another boom. 

You turned around. You turned around and didn’t hesitate as you walked away from him, hating to even look at him. Someone grabbed your arm. 

Your body felt hot against the cool wind that nipped at your exposed skin, his hand around your wrist burning you. 

“What, Alex?” You sounded cold - you hoped he could hear every emotion you put in your words. “What? What do you have to say? Are you gonna try to give me some excuse?”  You glanced behind him, eyes landing on the same girl he had kissed moments before. She was so pretty under the light of the fireworks. 

Alex’s grip loosened, cloudy eyes mirroring your own. “No...I...Can we talk somewhere else?” His voice was raised to reach your ears, but you refused to listen. 

“No, Alex! No!” You backed away from him, arm fully out of his grasp. His hand fell to his side pathetically. “I don’t want to talk to you! Enjoy your night.”

You looked back at the girl who’s name you didn’t know. She had been looking your way, probably looking for your boyfriend - might as well give her what she wanted.

“Go back to her.” You walked away. You heard another firework go off. Alex stayed in the same spot you left him, watching you leave him with tear-filed eyes. 

Out of everyone in the world, you never imagined Alex would be the one to hurt you. Not like this. He was the one you were supposed to have a future with, the one different from the rest. You put too much hope in him.

He was supposed to be your savior. Now, he was simply another memory; someone to get over. 

[vainisart]

PawS the social game!

Hello every one, I'm made the base for my game! :3 Hope engoy it, I will try to update here somethings but I will submit more updates in the patreon of the game: https://www.patreon.com/pawsociety You can support us if you want, Anyways, The base for the beta are: Human (3 skin tones), Cat (3 skin tones) And dog (3 skin tones) We add more tones and species when we open the beta in six months!!! n.n In the game you can: Play and chat in the town Play roulets to get items and wear it, like, hair styles, hats, outfits, diferents tails, faces and mounts, shoes, underwear, and other stuffs! Play events with uniques items Goin groups Trade items And more!

[pawsciety]

Hello every one, I'm made the base for my game! :3 Hope engoy it, I will try to update here somethings but I will submit more updates in the patreon of the game: https://www.patreon.com/pawsociety You can support us if you want, Anyways, The base for the beta are: Human (3 skin tones), Cat (3 skin tones) And dog (3 skin tones) We add more tones and species when we open the beta in six months!!! n.n In the game you can: Play and chat in the town Play roulets to get items and wear it, like, hair styles, hats, outfits, diferents tails, faces and mounts, shoes, underwear, and other stuffs! Play events with uniques items Goin groups Trade items And more!

[gingerpeachtae]

Concentric [18]

masterlist

Words: 4.3k

Genres: fantasy!AU, angst, fluff, enemies to lovers, eventual smut (?)

Warnings: n/a

Summary: You had been ready for the end of the semester. You had been ready to spend time away from your best friend, Jimin, and finally move on from the feelings you harbored. Yet, after your friend was forced to reveal a secret, you found yourself in a new world that was chock full of magic, war, and wonder. So, here you were, basically thrown into your own fantasy novel, with your best friend on one side, and six male warriors on the other.

A/N: Everyone say thank you to my momma’s moonshine for helping my writing juices flow lol. Pls engoy! 💙 

“And every single day you make me want you even more.”

His words echoed in your head. Overwhelmed every other thought. Consumed your mind.

Three hours later and you still couldn’t think of anything else.

Not when the boy who said those very words had his arms wrapped around you as he slept soundly. His front pressed against your back. His legs tangled with yours. His warm breath fanning across your neck and shoulder.

“And every single day you make me want you even more.”

You smiled softly to yourself as you recalled how shy he had gotten after confessing. How his cheeks had flushed, and his peridot eyes had widened. The way he had pulled back from you to stammer out a nervous apology as you stared at him in silent shock.

But before he could utter one more ‘oh my goddess, I’m so sorry sweetheart,’ you had grabbed his face in your hands and pressed your lips against his.

Gently. Slowly.

Until he had seemed to understand that you weren’t mad at him and he eagerly reciprocated.

“And every single day you make me want you even more.”

Raising your hand, you grazed your fingertips over your lips and let out a shaky exhale as you remembered how the kiss had turned much more urgent and passionate after that. Full of tongues and teeth and heady breaths.

Eventually, Jungkook had placed one final, prolonged kiss to your lips and, in a raspy voice that made you want to push him down and crawl on top of him, had told you that you both should get back to camp. He had even joked that his brothers might think he had murdered you if you didn’t show up soon. You had rolled your eyes and shoved him lightly for his comment while giggling. In response, he had caught your hand and leaned in to capture your swollen lips once more… but stopped halfway.

His eyes had flickered up from your mouth to meet your puzzled, lidded gaze and his shoulders had drooped slightly. He had begun pouting in the moonlight, muttering to himself about how he didn’t want to go but how he also didn’t want his brothers to show up and interrupt the two of you. While you bit your lip to keep from laughing at the cute burgundy head, he had groaned and reluctantly stood up from the cliff’s edge. Which meant you had involuntarily followed suit since your hand was still caught in his. Once you were on your feet again, his fingers had linked through yours and tightened their grip. Sending you a soft smile, he had tucked some of your hair behind your ear, causing a fluttering feeling to erupt in your heart.

Then, with stars twinkling above your head and tingles surging within your body, you had maneuvered yourself onto his back and crossed your arms over his chest. After verifying that you were good and bracing his hands underneath your thighs, he had stepped back into the trees. Trading the cliff’s edge and clear view of the moon for a seemingly endless maze of trees and shadows.

Both of you had stayed quiet throughout the walk back, simply enjoying the other’s presence instead of talking. Though, if you were being honest, you had had no idea what to say anyway. Part of you had thought you were dreaming, it all seemed too unreal. And if it was a dream, you didn’t want to wake up anytime soon, so you had just snuggled further into Jungkook’s warm body. Breathing in his intoxicating scent and feeling the strong, comforting beating of his heart beneath your palms as he continued to make his way back to camp without a sound.

By the time the dark outline of the temple appeared, the moon had risen high in the sky and most of the Saeni were already tucked in the for the night. As Jungkook walked over toward your sleeping mats, you saw three figures lounging by the still-burning fire. The flames and moon had both been just bright enough to allow you to make out that it was Yoongi, Hobi, and Jin. You had waved to the trio while Jungkook simply nodded his head in their direction. In the flickering firelight, you caught sight of Yoongi and Hobi smirking at you and although there was no way of them knowing what had just occurred between you and their brother you had still buried your face into Jungkook’s back, feeling embarrassed for some reason.

You had heard their chuckles at your reaction mix in with the clicking of bugs and whistling of wind as Jungkook finally made it to where your things were. The Saeni had lowered you down gently and once your feet were safely on the ground, he had turned around to face you and stepped closer so his chest was brushing against yours. In the low light of the night, you could just make out his features and you had wrapped your arms around his lean torso as you fought off a yawn that had suddenly attacked you. He had scrunched his nose and shook his head at you fondly before tugging you down to lay on top of your mats. Letting out a moan at the heavenly feeling, you had flopped around, trying to find a comfortable position as Jungkook just watched you with a smile. Your movements had caused Tae to stir, and the grey-haired Saeni shifted, murmuring your name and going to cuddle you as he usually did in his sleep. But just as he had placed one arm on your tummy, Jungkook had made a noise suspiciously reminiscent of a growl and threw his brother’s hand off. With a huff, he had brought you closer to him and folded your bodies together. The action had made your breath hitch and your heart to thud crazily as he secured you in his arms.

“Go to sleep, sweetheart. We’ll talk in the morning,” he had whispered in your ear.

Soon after, his breaths had evened out and you were left alone with a brain that wouldn’t shut off.

“Because of this.”

“You have no idea what you do to me.”

“You’re the most beautiful flower I’ve ever seen.”

“Every single day you make me want you even more.”

But… what did he mean by talk in the morning?

You sighed and peered up at the dark sky for what must have been the millionth time tonight. You tried everything to calm yourself down so you could get some sleep. Counting the stars. Focusing on the symphony of wind dancing through tree leaves. Timing your breaths to Jungkook’s slow, heavy ones. But nothing was working. You were too wound up.

“And every single day you make me want you even more.”

He said he wants me, but he didn’t say in what way…

He only said he was attracted to me… but that could mean that he still doesn’t actually like me the way I like him…

Fuck, you were tired. But you just couldn’t stop thinking.

About his lips, handsome face, or beautiful voice. Or his words that both elated you and left you in this confused, worried state.

Am I getting my hopes up for nothing?

You wished you could just flop onto your stomach and dig your head into the ground in frustration, but you couldn’t move much within Jungkook’s steel embrace. Your eyes darted around aimlessly, searching for something that could finally ease your mind and let sleep overtake you. Failing to find that magical thing, you released an annoyed exhale and wiggled and wormed until you managed to face the male holding you. With effort, you were able to free one of your arms from its muscle-y constraints and you lifted it until your hand was only mere inches away Jungkook’s face. The moonlight kissed his features, highlighting his cheekbone and making his earrings shimmer faintly.

Gently, you traced the extension of his elongated ear and followed the curve of his jaw with your fingertips. “You have no idea what you do to me either…”

As hundreds of draikensu marched through the night, Amarok watched them pass with a content expression. His wolves were prowling throughout the ranks, watching intently for anyone to step out of line. If they did, they would become the predators’ next meal.

Amarok crossed his arms over his chest. Although he had been furious to hear the key was still alive, he was delighted because it meant he would be the one to severe the lifeforce from the boy. And doing so would bring him immense pleasure. Soon, he would kill the key for his master and the driakensu would execute anyone who defied them as they took over Illain in Uzjuk’s name. Amarok’s lips twisted into a satisfied smile. The world would finally be in the state it was to meant to be in.

Chaos.

Uzjuk taught him the genuine nature of the world. How anarchy is the true way of things. Adjusting the straps of his weapons, he tightened them harshly as he recalled the snow, smoke, and pain. The blood, claws, and revenge. The cave, pups, and appearance of his master. The beginning of his awakening to the true order of the world. To the demanding truth of all that Uzjuk stood for.

As Amarok remembered the savagery of that winter, a frozen talon abruptly scraped against his mind, causing a chilling shiver to trail down his spine. Alerting him of his master’s arrival  The shadows caused by the moonlight expanded and pulsed, curling down towards the male and surrounding him as he closed his eyes and welcomed the wispy darkness.

“Master.”

“Why hasn’t the key been disposed of yet?” His master’s raw and hoarse voice echoed in Amarok’s mind.

The male sighed, knowing his master was not happy. “I shall deal with the boy myself. The magic tracker Eltoc placed on him when he first arrived back in Illain has not faded so we still know his location.”

“Well, deal with him quickly.” His master hissed impatiently. “And don’t disappoint me.”

Amarok raised a brow. “When have I?”

An all too familiar pain erupted in the male’s mind, gouging and searing. Though it was more agonizing than previous times. Hotter, deeper, more intense.

“Don’t get cheeky with me. Only a portion of my will may be able to invade this world, but my presence is growing stronger every day.”

The darkness swirled around Amarok wildly as the pain drilled further into his mind, making his vision blur. Gritting his teeth, the male endured the pain for one, two, three more seconds until his master released him.

As Amarok caught his breath, his master croaked out, “I tried latching onto the mind of one of the key’s companions again.”

“Were you successful?”

“No. I didn’t have enough time to work my way in before he was woken.” Uzjuk growled in annoyance.

“What a shame. That would have made things quite easy.” Amarok returned his gaze to the draikensu making their way past and sneered. “But this way will be more fun.”

Jungkook hovered over you, his hands placed at either side of your head he leaned down ever so slowly, teasing you. You arched upwards, aching to reach his body. To touch his lips. To have him ruin you.

He chuckled deeply, pleased to see you so desperate for him.

Ghosting his lips against your jawline, you mewled and tilted your chin to give him more access to your skin as he settled between your hips. He rocked against you lightly and attacked your neck with his sensual mouth, making you crave him even more. But suddenly he collapsed his body on top of you, the drop of his weight causing you to grunt and gasp for air. Then he began to poke your sides.

“Wake up, little scorja!”

Huh?

Jungkook wrapped his arms around you and snuggled into your form whilst still poking you.

What the fuc-

Your eyes popped open at a particularly hard jab, and you saw a tuft of grey hair underneath your chin instead of burgundy.

Tae.

“Little scorja it’s time to get up!” His voice was muffled by your chest.

You sighed and lifted a hand drowsily to pat his head. “Mmmmmorning TaeTae… now get off me, you’re heavy.”

And you ruined my good dream dammit. You pouted internally.

With a sulky expression, the male rolled off you and cuddled into your side. “Where did you and Kookie go last night? You were gone for a while…”

Heat rushed to your cheeks as you coughed and looked up into the light blue, cloudy sky.

Shit, should I tell him? He’ll most definitely blab to his brothers, but if I don’t tell him, he’ll get so sad…

“Um, he told me that you all wanted to make me an honorary kiela member.” You paused briefly, taking a deep breath to brace yourself, before continuing. “And he, uh, alsomayhavekissedme… anyway, wow, what time is it? Let’s get something to eat!”

You went to get up, but has hand darted out and gripped your arm strongly, ensuring you weren’t going anywhere.

“He WHAT!?”

You peeked over at the male and saw that he had his head propped up with his free hand and his blue eyes were shining. His mouth, which was initially dropped open in surprise morphed to display his signature wide, boxy smile.

You couldn’t help but smile back at the endearing sight, but then you pursed your lips in uncertainty. “He… yeah, we kissed… but we haven’t talked about it yet, so don’t say anything, okay?”

He puffed out his cheeks with air as if he had to physically restrain himself from asking more, but after a few seconds he blew the air out and nodded. You gifted him a kiss on his cheek and pulled your backpack over to you so you could dig out your daily petals.

As you shivered from the assault of their magic, you tapped Tae’s shoulder. “Where is he anyway? We’re supposed to talk this morning.”

Whatever that means.

Tae’s blue eyes widened dramatically, and he quickly, but gently ushered you to stand as he informed you that Jungkook was with Yoongi getting something ready for the marking, the rest of the hyungs were waiting for you to arrive at the ceremony location, Mingi was watching Jiae, and Chungha was interrogating the draikensu prisoner.

“Oh, that poor bastard. Chungha’s probabl-wait. Did you say waiting at the ceremony location!? It’s today!?”

You blinked at Tae, who rapidly nodded. “Yup! I was in charge of bringing you and we’re going there now! Yoongi hyung said it would be better to do it sooner rather than later since it’ll help heal you.”

“I-now-what-hold on-Tae!”

But the Saeni already began dragging you into the trees. Though, in his excitement, he must’ve forgotten about your injured leg that still wasn’t completely healed because he was flat-out booking it. You did your best to keep up with him and not trip over every tree root you came across, but it wasn’t very elegant. Luckily, he didn’t take you very far into the forest, so you only had to aggressively penguin waddle for just a minute or so.

Through the greenery and shrubs up ahead, you saw the kiela, minus Yoongi and Jungkook, standing in a tiny, open space. As you and Tae broke through the trees, they all turned and smiled, though a certain apricot head hastily looked down at the ground after you met his gaze.

Jimin…

Your own smile faltered as you watched him avoid your eyes, but Hobi rushed over and tackled you into a hug before you could say anything.

“Hey there, little scorja. Kook told you what this is all for, right? I mean, you two were gone for a good while, so he had to have mentioned it. Unless, of course, you got preoccupied with other things…” He leaned back and winked at you, a teasing glint in his light brown eyes.

Your eyes widened and you felt like squeaking under his mischievous gaze, so you shoved him away fast, but he just laughed and took out a knife to fiddle with.

“He told me!” You said and crossed your arms defiantly.

Hobi began walking backwards away from you while waggling his brows. “Must have been quite the long and detailed explanation.”

He twirled his blade and used the hilt to scratch an itch on his silver-white head while pivoting on his heels and walking over to Jimin, not allowing you the opportunity to make a retort. While he lightly punched Jimin’s shoulder, Namjoon and Jin came over to greet you, both of them loudly exclaiming how excited they were to have you as part of the kiela. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Tae not so slyly skirt around you and jog over to Hobi and Jimin to whisper in their ears.

That little… for fuck’s sake, he really is the biggest gossip head I’ve ever met.

With a disappointed, yet not surprised type of sigh, you brought your eyes back to the two males before you and smiled sweetly as you told them how honored you felt as well as how thankful you were to have met and befriended them all. The three of you continued to talk while the clouds lazily floated by high above you until the two remaining members of the kiela finally showed up.

You saw Yoongi first, who just gave you a curt nod before making his way over to Tae, Jimin, and Hobi. The three Saeni grabbed his arm when he got close and yanked him into their little circle, no doubt spilling the new tea regarding you and Jungkook.

“Hey, sweetheart.”

Speaking of the devil, you turned and saw him standing a few feet away from you, shifting back and forth on his feet as he rubbed the back of his neck.

“H-Hey,” you stammered out shyly, not really sure how you should act with him.

Should I be casual? How can I even be casual after last night? Should I ask him about it? Though this really doesn’t seem like the right time…

At your nervous response, his green eyes lit up and he sent you a cocky smile while dropping the hand from behind his neck and approaching you.

The morning sunlight gleamed off his burgundy hair, emphasizing the pink highlights. Though there wasn’t the usual metallic glint coming from his ears. Cocking your head to the side, you wondered where two of the earrings from his left side had gone.

“What happened to-”

“Alrighty,” Yoongi clapped his hands together, causing sparks of blue to flare up, and walked over to you. “Just in case our Kookie did a shit job explaining-”

“Hyung.” Jungkook whined.

“-I will graciously explain it as well.” Yoongi finished without even glancing at his youngest brother.

The magic user looked to you. “Since you have proven your skills on the battlefield, saved some of our sorry asses, become part of our tiny family, and other sappy shit I’m not going to say, we would like to make you an honorary member of the kiela. Do you accept?”

You blinked. That was… a very Yoongi way of putting things.

You felt Jungkook nudge you.

“Oh, uh, yes. I accept.”

Yoongi nodded and continued. “To induct you, Jungkook is sharing part of his draeva connection with you. The mark will be on the back of your neck. In addition to becoming connected to Illain and receiving heightened senses from the mark, I am also infusing it with the petal magic, so you won’t need to take them anymore.”

Well, that’s gonna be mighty convenient.

“So… what do I need to do?” You asked, not entirely sure how this whole magic connection thing actually worked.

Yoongi instructed you to just stand still and look directly into Jungkook’s eyes. They would take care of the rest.

That’s… easy. I can do that.

As Jungkook positioned himself in front of you, the kiela spread out into a semi-circle behind you. Yoongi stayed at your side and began cracking his knuckles and stretching his arms. After catching your glance, he shrugged and mumbled something about not wanting to get a cramp.

“You need to look at me for this to work.”

You returned your gaze to Jungkook, who had his arms crossed and you noticed his jaw tick once. Rolling your eyes, you stuck your tongue out at him, and the action made him blow out a puff of air. If you weren’t mistaken, he also tried to hide a tiny smile because he pressed his lips together firmly after expelling the air. But before you could comment on it, the wind suddenly picked up and sent some of your hair flying. And of course, a few strands got caught in your mouth. You went to push your hair out of your face, but Jungkook stepped closer and softly brushed the strands away for you. His peridot eyes lingered on your lips, and you swear you saw them dilate a bit as they flickered back up to yours. The world seemed to pause around you and all you could see was green. Green trees and green eyes. You wanted to get lost in it.

The sound of a clearing throat startled you back to reality and you felt your face grow warm for getting a little lost in Jungkook with everyone around you. You whispered an apology to Yoongi as Jungkook also cleared his throat and moved his hand under your hair, so his palm rested on the back of your neck.

It was utterly silent in the small clearing besides the sounds of your and Jungkook’s breathing and the natural sounds of the forest. Shadows danced across Jungkook’s face as the leaves swayed in the wind and you admired the way it made the green of his eyes appear even lighter as you stared into them.

Yoongi took a deep breath, and it hit you that you were actually about to do this, and you had no idea how it was going to affect you and holy shit what if it killed your ass?

Uh, death registration? It’s me… again. Don’t know if you’ve gotten my previous messages but here’s a new one.

“Wait wait wait!” You gasped out and Jungkook looked at you in concern. “Um, what if the mark harms me since I’m not Saeni? Since it’s not intended for humans? I’ve read The Mortal Instruments, you know, and I don’t want to become an unforsaken zombie thing!”

Jungkook pursed his lips as Yoongi rolled his pink eyes. Behind you, Tae softly asked what a zombie was and Jimin told him not to worry about it since it was ‘just another human thing.’

“Y/N, if that were the case, you would have been hurt the first time you took a petal back on Earth. It’ll be fine.”

“O-Okay.”

“Don’t be scared sweetheart.” Jungkook smiled at you and you let out a breath, feeling yourself relax, trusting him completely. “I got you.”

You took one more deep breath and nodded, signaling to Yoongi that you were ready. The magic user then placed his hand over Jungkook’s at your nape and began murmuring.

You continued gazing directly into peridot eyes as the back of your neck began to get warm…

Then hot…

Then scorching.

You started to pant as the heat drifted over your skin and sunk down into your body, making you wince in discomfort.

“You’re okay… I got you.” Jungkook whispered reassuringly, though his own voice sounded a little strained.

Then your vision darkened and darkened and darkened until the galaxy you see every time you taken the pink petal exploded behind your eyes. But it was much more vivid than it had ever been before. More bright. More alive. You could feel the universe moving beneath your fingertips as if it were a ripple in a pond. You could hear the stars scream, the moons sob, and the comets sing. Could see all the cosmos intertwine and separate from one another. Constantly mingling and parting. And then they crashed over you. You gasped at the cool feeling, reminiscent of an ocean wave. Slowly, it transformed into a heavy, warm, and comforting blanket. It draped over you. Enwrapped your entire being. You smelled your favorite homecooked meal. Tasted the sweetest fruit on your tongue. Heard the tinkering of rain and the sound of masculine laughter. Felt the euphoria of being content with yourself and being held in someone’s arms.

The heat in your body travelled until it was all collected at your nape. Then, as it began to fade, so did the galaxy and comforting feelings. It all dimmed and dimmed and dimmed until your vision cleared.

But it was different.

More vivid. More bright. More alive.

Everything was sharper. Your sight, hearing, smell, touch. You blinked slowly, trying to process all these new sensations.

You inhaled and through the sweet air and dewiness of the morning, you could easily make out the scent of florets and steel as well as an unfamiliar but familiar combination of ashes and smoke that reminded you of a certain magic user.

The sunlight was even more radiant and as you gazed into Jungkook’s peridot eyes, you could see flecks of gold you hadn’t noticed before.

You could hear him swallow dryly through his labored breathing as he returned your stare.

Could feel his heartbeat through his fingertips at the back of your neck.

And if you focused beyond all of that, you could still faintly feel the expanse of the universe, as if its energy was thrumming through you.

In a way, you guess it was. You were now connected to it all.

To the universe.

To Illain.

To Jungkook. 

And you never wanted it to fade away.

previous [17] — next [19]

taglist: @cookied-dreams @apurpledheart @james-herondale023 @lorengarcia-yut @kittycuptea @toddsgirl27 @a-feeling-of-euphoria @treatpeoplewithkindnesshoe @kthdior @taigaajin​ @lylanie12​ @kassandravictoria​

[gingerpeachtae]

Concentric [14]

masterlist

Words: 7.1k

Genres: fantasy!AU, angst, fluff, enemies to lovers, eventual smut (?)

Warnings: none (maybe just a brief violent description)

Summary: You had been ready for the end of the semester. You had been ready to spend time away from your best friend, Jimin, and finally move on from the feelings you harbored. Yet, after your friend was forced to reveal a secret, you found yourself in a new world that was chock full of magic, war, and wonder. So, here you were, basically thrown into your own fantasy novel, with your best friend on one side, and six male warriors on the other.

A/N: Reminder that I am moving to a biweekly posting schedule due to classes and work starting up again! Hope you all engoy the chapter! 💙

He remembered the cold landscape invading his body, starting at his fingertips and creeping over his skin until it enwrapped his heart. Turning him empty and barren.

He remembered the black smoke clogging his lungs. The scattered remains of his home burnt to the ground just like his soul. Turning him bitter and savage.

He remembered the glint of moonlight on metal. The yelps and cries of dying wolves. The lack of mercy. Turning him hateful and deadly.

The beginning of his descent into the harsh reality of the world.

His cruel awakening.

Amarok reminisced the euphoria he felt the first time he and his three wolves ransacked a lonely village in the night. The screams of pain and gushing of blood that embraced him and encouraged him to continue. The snapping of his wolves’ jaws. The tearing of flesh. The slicing of muscle and sinew. The squelch of his blade entering warm bodies. The destruction. The chaos.

All for Uzjuk.

He recalled gathering more to serve the cause appointed to him. Bringing in those who had felt the world’s suffering and had a desire to inflict it upon others. Those who knew of Illai’s unfairness. Those who hated the goddess just as he did.

Amarok leaned back in his chair, smiling to himself as he thought of the army he curated for his master. The people willing to expend their lives for the rise of anarchy. The people willing to kill and be killed without hesitation or remorse. The draikensu.

It was dark in his tent, save for two candles lit on a small table in the corner. The bare trace of flickering light being just enough to see the vague outline of the contents within the temporary room.

As he reclined in his seat, the male felt a claw rake against his mind as the darkness around him began to grow murky and curl toward him in wisps. A disturbing, chill-inducing feeling that crept to the very edges of his being. But he no longer shivered at it. Not anymore. It was now a familiar and welcomed sensation that signaled the arrival of his master.

Leaning his head back, Amarok closed his eyes and relished in the darkness coiling around and inside of him.

“What is taking so long?” The deep, guttural voice of his master croaked out.

Amarok sighed, knowing his master would not like his answer. “There have been… complications.”

A searing pain swiftly drilled into Amarok’s mind, causing him to groan and clutch his head. It felt like a heated knife was dragging through the contents of his brain, severing and cutting and cauterizing.  His fingers dug into his skull, trying to add pressure to relieve the pain.

“I do not like complications.” His master hissed.

Gasping, Amarok apologized, telling his master that two large groups of draikensu had been sent after the key. The second being a reserve in case the first failed their mission.

The agony bestowed on Amarok’s mind lessened just a smidge as his master contemplated his words. Another minute of painful suffering went by, with the male gritting his teeth and containing his whimpers so as to not appear weak in front of his master. Then, finally, it gradually dissipated until Amarok’s mind was free from the burning, imaginary knife. Letting out a slightly shaky breath, he removed his hands from where they had been clawing at the arm rests of his chair.

“Prepare the rest of the subordinates anyway,” his master uttered throatily, his voice rough and frigid. “If those two little groups of yours do not succeed, then you will personally deal with the boy. The key within the bloodline must be killed. Understood?”

Amarok grinned, a sickening and unsettling thing as his eyes darkened with delight at the thought of being the one to carve out the key’s heart.

The male shut his eyes, envisioning himself thrusting his sword deep into the key’s chest so that he was speared to the earth. “The boy will die soon… I can assure you of that.”

“He better.”

The eldest of the kiela sat down on the ground next to the leader, sighing and leaning his head against a tree while they both observed the mess before them.

Jimin and Jiae were sitting so close their noses were basically touching. Both of them were squishing each other’s cheeks with adoring smiles plastered to their faces.

Mingi was on his back, rolling side to side like an overturned beetle while his eyes darted around frantically.

You were still wrapped in Jungkook’s arms, your back to his chest and his chin on your shoulder. He hummed softly in your ear as he rocked the two of you back and forth in a comforting manner.

Then, there was Tae. The grey-haired Saeni was continuously crawling around; whining that nobody would cuddle with him.

You would have smooshed him to your chest if you weren’t already snatched up in someone else’s arms. Shifting slightly on the ground, you exhaled and lifted your gaze to the swirling mass of treetops above you. You smiled at the whirlpool of stars and leaves and night. Shivered at the contact of Jungkook’s lips brushing against your neck. You kept looking up, you didn’t know exactly how long, but long enough for your head to start spinning with the sky. With a content sigh, you lowered your eyes back down and turned your attention to the two males that seemed different from the rest of the group. You wondered what they were so serious and why they looked so tired.

Maybe their neighbor was throwing a party all night long so they couldn’t sleep…

“Is there really nothing we can do except sit here and wait?” Jin asked the male beside him.

As the raven-haired male continued ogling at the pandemonium, he noticed your eyes on him and sent you a weird, questioning look. In return, you wiggled your fingers at him while your eyes went in and out of focus.

“Not really… unless you would like to pile everyone on your shoulders and carry them back,” Namjoon responded.

You suddenly perked up with a gasp, jolting Jungkook in the process. “You could do it Jin! You know why!? ‘Cuz you got the Better Ingredients. Better Shoulders. Papa Jin’s!”

You fell back into Jungkook as a fit of giggles overtook your body. Though Jin and Namjoon just stared at you in complete befuddlement.

“WAIT. IS THERE PIZZA!?” Jimin screamed at you in excitement, which caused everyone to fall quiet and gawk at the half-Saeni.

Well, everyone except for you. Instead, you pouted and shook your head; giggles fading into silent disappointment.

Jimin’s shoulders slumped with yours, but he still replied in a hopeful tone, “Can we order some, though?”

You went to nod, but your expression quickly morphed into a full frown as you realized that there was no way for you to order it. The Saeni didn’t have cell phones, so you couldn’t call in the order. And even if they did, you doubted they could deliver this far out into the forest. You sniffled at the thought of your delectable yet unattainable pizza pie.

I just want some greasy cheese.

Jungkook, hearing the tiny noise escape past your lips, nuzzled into your neck while murmuring that although he had no idea what you were talking about, he would get you one later. His promising words caused a new grin to appear on your face… but you weren’t sure if it was from Jungkook’s statement or just Jungkook himself. Regardless of the reason, you just leaned further into the male behind you and held onto the arms that protectively caged you in.

“Ugh, how much longer until the toxin is out of their bloodstreams?” You heard Jin ask.

“It should be soon… hopefully.”

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw Tae collapse on top of Mingi and order the guard to cuddle him. You tilted your head so it rested on Jungkook’s shoulder as you watched Mingi lay motionless underneath the male the clung to his long body. He stayed that way for several moments until he finally gave in and embraced the Saeni on top of him, causing Tae to squirm and cheer in joy.

“Oh my goddess, please let it be soon.” Jin released a deep, overworked sigh.

Smiling to yourself, you closed your eyes and adjusted so you could lean your head back onto Jungkook’s solid chest. The male resumed his soft humming and the low, pleasant sound vibrated from his body into yours. It felt soothing and comforting. It was so relaxing. Without meaning to, your breaths started to slow… slow… slow down until you slipped into an easy sleep.

You were jostled awake by someone gently shaking you. As your mind was forced to return to reality, you moaned lightly and tried to squeeze your eyes shut.

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

The voice said something else, but you were still too groggy to comprehend what it was.

Why does this seem familiar…?

The voice whispered another apology in your ear and gave you another shake.

Familiar. Why is this so familiar? And why do I feel so light like a balloon?

Lips that must be attached to the voice grazed your skin and you felt the ghost of a hand caress your face.

All of the sudden, you remembered, and your eyes snapped open. You remembered the lump forming in your throat, the smoke pulsating toward you, the earth swallowing you whole, his face breaking apart.

You shoved him off you while simultaneously turning around and bracing your hands on the dirt behind you. Jungkook stared at you with worried eyes and confused eyebrows drawn together. He reached a hand out to you, but you lurched backwards with sluggish limbs and a fuzzy mind. You wanted to get away from him before he cracked and became twisted and wrong… but you also wanted to hold him and ward off the smoky darkness. You didn’t know what to do. The world seemed to weave and spin around you, and you looked at the concerned burgundy head with panicking eyes.

You flinched as he tried reaching out to you again, but you didn’t move away. “Is your face gonna sh-shatter again?”

In the moonlight, you saw his green eyes narrow at you as he stopped his hand. You heard the wind blow through the leaves and the wildlife chirp around you. You heard him gently say you name, but all you could focus on was the black expanse behind Jungkook’s head. You just stared at it.

Waiting for it to start.

Terrified it would.

You began to rapidly suck in air as your eyes bore into the darkness. You felt a pain in your heart as all you felt you could do was wait for the black to begin growing and curling around his form. For it to ruin him and infiltrate you.

“Sweetheart…” Jungkook hesitantly said but continued when you didn’t shy away. “You’re okay… you’re just still feeling the effects of the lillaf toxin.”

You cocked your head to the side and brought your eyes back to the male’s face. Why isn’t he crumbling like a Nature Valley bar? And why is talking about leaf toxin? What he should be talking about is Toxic by Britney, bitch.

Before you knew it, he was by your side and was tenderly helping you to your feet. With a small smile, he tucked a stray piece of hair behind your ear and took your hand in his. The action made the corners of your mouth upturn ever so slightly. Then, he slowly began leading you toward a group of Saeni you hadn’t realized was there. Your unfocused eyes made it difficult to see where you were placing your feet and your body wavered side to side as you made your way forward. You let out a small laugh and other random noises with each slip of your feet, but thankfully, Jungkook’s grip helped keep yourself upright and somewhat stable.

“Why is she still like that?” You heard a voice you would know anywhere say.

Your eyes brightened as you took in his apricot head and then the rest of the group. You listened as Jungkook explained that it must be because you were human… whatever that meant. You giggled as their puzzled expressions almost instantaneously transformed into those of understanding while a gust of wind danced through the trees. The cool air caused you to shiver and shuffle closer to Jungkook and the warmth emitting from his strong body.

“Aw, is my little scorja cold? Come here, you!” Tae cooed and tried to gather you in his arms.

But he did not succeed because of one Jeon Jungkook.

The maknae tugged you closer to him, expelling a laugh that didn’t sound like his normal one before turning to Namjoon and JIn. “Time to go, right hyungs?”

The two Saeni just rolled their eyes and nodded; turning around and starting to walk away while muttering about how lucky Yoongi and Chungha were to not have to deal with this.

I wonder what issue they’re dealing with? Everything seems fine to me! It’s all gumdrops and rainbows and stars.

The others began to trail after them, albeit at a much slower pace as they groaned about headaches and queasy stomachs.

“Why do they look so poopy?” You asked the male beside you with a teeny tiny smile at your word choice, but it fell when you noticed him wince and wrap an arm around his torso. “A-Are you okay?”

He flashed you a smile with tired, green eyes and reassured you that he was fine. Then, he gave you a small nudge to signal it was time to start following everyone.

You walked, or more accurately stumbled, after the other Saeni for several minutes. Veering side to side, Jungkook kept having to tug you back to him when you would meander a little too far away and risk pulling your hand out of his. But it was just so hard to keep your path straight and your head up. You could barely keep your eyes open, and when you did, the world was a mass of blurred lines and swirls. Your legs felt heavy and you kept tripping over things since your feet basically dragged along the forest floor.

“You good there, sweetheart?”

“Mhmm. Just… really snoozy…” You whined back almost incoherently. “I want… cuddles.”

You were so drowsy you almost couldn’t move your lips to form words. Everything just felt too cumbersome.

Where’s my cuddle buddy? Where’s my TaeTae?

You practically tumbled over some sort of obstacle on the ground, but Jungkook was quick to catch you. You mumbled a thank you with a sleepy sigh and went to move again but he stopped you.

“Want to get on my back?”

You paused, body tilting and swaying with the trees, but ultimately, you stuck out your bottom lip a bit and slowly nodded. The green-eyed male smiled and asked if you would be able to jump up on his back on your own, which made you rear back and release a tiny scoff.

He doubts my abilities? Who does this cute, handsome, tall glass of water think he is!?

With his eyebrows raised skeptically, he turned around to present you his back and you thumped your hands down on his shoulders to steady yourself. You counted to three out loud before launching yourself at him. He grunted from the sheer, unrestrained force of your jump and scrambled to place his hands underneath your thighs. Once he had a safe and secure grip on you, he bounced you once, twice, and a third time to make sure you were fully hoisted.

“See?” You wrapped your arms around him and interlocked your hands over his chest. “I can do it.”

Jungkook just snorted and began hiking through the trees again.

You settled against him, careful not to bump into the swords strapped to his back as you pressed your cheek to his neck. “You’re warm and comfy. And you smell good.”

Like earth and iron and steel, but also fresh rain and flowers and sunshine.

He chuckled lightly, the sound singing in your ears. “Just go to sleep.”

“M’kay… thank you… Kookie…”

You felt your lids finally droop closed and your muscles completely relax.

“You’re welcome, sweetheart,” he whispered back.

That was the last thing you heard before you drifted off.

When you woke up later that morning, it wasn’t because of someone shaking you or a hand tracing against your skin or a body squishing you flat. It was actually because of a sharp, bright ray of morning light beaming straight down into your face. With your eyes still closed, you deeply inhaled and stretched your arms above your head, enjoying the warmth cascading around you. Once you finished your morning cat stretch, you went to open your eyes but immediately recoiled and brought the blanket over your head.

Fucking hell, that’s bright.

Bracing yourself, you gingerly lowered the blanket and let your eyes adjust to golden rays of late morning through squinted lids.

Hold up… it’s already light out which means… SHIT I’M LATE FOR TRAINING, COCO IS GONNA KILL ME.

You threw the blanket off and sat up quickly, but the abrupt movement caused a wave of nausea to erupt in your stomach. Clutching your tummy, you stumbled to your feet with a moan and began digging through your backpack. As you rifled through the contents for your daily petals, a pounding headache began to steadily build in your noggin.

Great. Just fucking fantastic. That’s exactly what I need right now.

You began muttering to yourself. “Why didn’t anybody wake me up!? Oh bloody hell, training is going to be an absolute bitch now. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck! Where are they!?”

You paused your search to look around you, finally noting through your panic and headache that you were completely alone. The other Saeni’s belongings were neatly packed and leaning against various trees and rocks, but the owners were nowhere to be found. The bonfire from last night was dead; the remnants still smoking but only in small, tiny wisps.

“Wait. Where is everyone?” You cocked your head to the side for a second before returning to your backpack. “Argh! Why can’t I find these damn motherfucking pe-Yes!”

You snatched up the objects and shoved them into your mouth to let them dissolve. Your body trembled from the magic and it made your headache pulsate even harder. Wincing, you located your bottle of aspirin and popped two pills into your mouth while the galaxies and comforting sense dimmed and disappeared. You swallowed the pills dry, wrinkling your nose a bit when you did so due to the bitter taste.

Not looking up, you swept the ground with your eyes until you spotted your bow a few feet away. You quickly shuffled over to it on your knees while talking to yourself about how you felt like utter crap and how you knew Jungkook wouldn’t show you a hint of mercy because you were late.

As you picked up the bow, you let out a pathetic wail. “I don’t even know where he is! What the heck am I supposed to do!?”

You suddenly heard a snicker from behind you and your entire body froze before slowly turning around. There was the entire kiela, plus Jiae and Mingi, all looking at you in amusement. Chungha, on the other hand, seemed completely disinterested as she picked at her nails. You blinked at them and opened your mouth, but no sound came out.

How did they…? Where did they come from?

Seeing your helplessly confused expression, Hobi laughed. “We’ve been here the whole time, little scorja.”

“It’s later than you usually get up, so yesterday’s petals were expired,” Tae added.

“So, you couldn’t see us because of the glamour,” Namjoon finished.

You crumpled to the ground in sheer embarrassment as your face grew hot. As you did so, another wave of nausea rippled through you and you released a groan.

Resting a hand on your abdomen in hopes the extra body heat would help alleviate some of the pain, you cried out. “Why do I feel like shit?”

Jin walked over to your folded body and offered you an apple with a sweet smile. “That would be your body dealing with the last bits of toxin still in your system.”

Brief memories from last night flashed across your mind. Walking. Screaming. Little red devils. More screaming. Swirling skies. Softness against your fingers. Tears. Humming. Warmth. Sleep.

You sat yourself back up and narrowed you eyes at the Saeni you were with last night. “Why am I the only one feeling, and I’m sure looking, like I was run over by a truck.”

Laboriously, you reached out and grabbed the apple before holding it against your mouth to try to muster the energy to bite into it.

Jungkook shrugged, his peridot eyes glittering in bemusement. “Maybe because you’re human? Chim hyung took longer to snap out of it too, but not as long as you.”

You massaged your temples, grumbling about dumb heightened sense and abilities which apparently included flushing out toxins.

Jungkook continued, his tone almost proud. “Which is why I didn’t wake you up for training. I knew you needed to rest as much as possible.”

Rolling your eyes, you bit into the crunchy apple, and spoke with your mouth full. “Wow, someone give him an award for being considerate.”

Mingi snorted, causing Jungkook to glare at the guard as everyone went back to doing whatever they had been before you roused from your slumber. Jimin came over and helped you to your feet. You munched on the fruit, enjoying the refreshing taste, but not being particularly pleased at how each chew made your head pound even more.

“You look even worse than after that Halloween party that one ye-”

You poked the apricot head in the chest. “We do not speak of that day.”

Your best friend laughed and held his hands up in surrender before running one of them through his hair. He proceeded to tell you that after he sobered up last night, he started feeling another pull toward a draeva. Jiae confirmed this morning that it wasn’t his own connection flaring up either… it was an entirely new feeling.

“It’s different this time. I think it’s my father’s.”

You nodded and took another bite of your fruity breakfast.

Back to GPS Slim Jim, I guess.

You and he talked for a few more minutes about what the pull felt like and how far away he thought it was coming from. Then, after giving your hair a ruffle, he left to go back to Jiae. Once he was gone, you sat down on the ground heavily, praying the aspirin would kick in soon. Moaning a bit at your hurting body, you began to roll your blanket up and gather your belongings to leave.

Hours later, you were strolling next to Yoongi and speaking in a hushed tone as you tried your best to coach him on fixing his flirting. Thankfully, you finally felt normal… no more headache or aching tummy. You were able to enjoy the cool, sunshiny day and give the mint-haired Saeni your full attention.

You skipped around a mass of broken tree limbs that littered the ground. “He said you’ve been acting weird so… I don’t know. Stop that.”

You still never referred to his crush by name, even though he most definitely knew that you knew who it was. But you didn’t want Yoongi to become embarrassed and cease coming to you for help, so you just continued using “him” so the male would feel more comfortable.

His pink eyes swiveled to you and he scowled before whisper-shouting back. “I have not been weird! I’ve been totally and fully calm and collected.”

You met his eyes and raised a single brow as you stepped up and over a half-rotten and moss-covered log.

The Saeni dropped his gaze and tapped his fingers together, causing tiny sparks of blue. “O-okay, so maybe I’ve been muttering a lot and, uh, sort of running away if he touches me.”

Your body slightly spasmed as you pursed your lips and resisted the urge to flick his forehead. “Yeah… you need to stop that. Like immediately.”

He let out a long puff of air, head slumping to look at the ground as he described how he couldn’t help it. He just got so flustered and overthought things every time he was near the other. He ultimately thought it was better to leave than make a fool of himself.

You touched his arm lightly with your fingertips. “But doing that might make him think you’re mad at him.”

His head darted up in panic. “But I’m not!”

You nodded understandingly, but told him that while you knew that, he didn’t.

As you jumped onto a large rock that was basking in the sun, a burst of shouts and giggles to your right caused you to peer through the maze of trees. Through the greenery, you saw Jungkook and Tae holding branches and using them as weapons in a mock sword fight. They rushed through the forest, chasing and attacking each other. You smiled warmly at the duo before hopping down and returning your eyes to the magic user..

You watched as the mint-haired Saeni moved his hands and made little tendrils of blue light grow and fade. He sighed and shook his head while ducking below a bundle of leaves, and you saw his bone earrings shake with the movement.

“This is too much for me to handle. Between you helping me with this and me helping Kook wi-” He suddenly cut off his words so fast you heard his teeth clack together.

You looked at him in confusion as he whipped his head to his youngest brother briefly before bringing his wide eyes to you.

“I-I mean with-nothing… I’m not helping anyone,” he stuttered.

Wait. But didn’t he…?

You pushed your lips forward and raised a palm in question. “I thought Jungkook said you helped him realize why we fight a lot?”

Yoongi sputtered, pressing his hands together. “Oh… oh! You mean that! Yeah, you’re right. I, uh, told him to explain shit to you. That’s it, though. Nothing else.”

“Right… okay…” You slowly nodded and regarded him with squinted eyes.

Brushing some leaves out of the way, Yoongi replied, “Ha ha. Yeah… so, anyways! Um, what should I do besides just ‘stop that?’”

Lifting the same leafy branch out of your way, you said, “Maybe try sitting close to him at dinner. Not like on top of him, you know, but closer than usual.”

The Saeni agreed and proceeded to ask you more questions and inquire what he should do about this and that. You continued trying to answer to the best of your abilities, keeping what you knew about both Yoongi and Hobi in mind as you did. Every once in a while, though, you couldn’t help but look over to the right. To where your dear sweet angel of a friend and your aggravating, but passionate and uplifting… friend… were still playing.

A little while later, Namjoon called for a short break when you broke through the trees and entered a small clearing. You slumped to the ground in a sunlight patch, rubbing your sore and tired legs before stretching them out. Most of the other Saeni were doing the same, although Jungkook and Tae yanked Hobi and Jimin to their feet and pulled them into a game of aggressive tackle tag. You chuckled and shook your head at them, in disbelief that they didn’t want to rest for even a second. As you swept your eyes over the relaxing Saeni, you stopped your gaze on the one person you have yet to hold a substantial conversation with.

Chungha.

Maybe since Mingi and I are cool now, she’ll want to be friends too…

Grunting from your protesting leg muscles, you stood and trekked over to the female guard. She had an expressionless face as she surveyed the area and surrounding environment. Turning to you as you approached, her face morphed into something that looked almost… unimpressed?

Oookay, not a good start.

“Um, hey, Chungha! How, uh, how are you today?”

Her eyes flickered to yours briefly before looking away. “Fine.”

Alright, so that’s strike one for you, Y/N.

“Oh, good! That’s… good.” You forced a laugh and tucked some hair behind your ears. “So, how long have you been a guard?”

The girl let out a bored exhale and flipped her dark green hair over her shoulder. “Longer than Mingi but not as long as Suho had been.”

You bit your lip and nodded. That’s probably strike two.

“Okay, cool! Cool cool cool cool cool. Um, so how-”

“Are we done?” She didn’t say it harshly, just extremely disinterested.

You snapped your jaw closed before rapidly nodding and walking away to leave her be.

Strike three, you’re out. No new friends for you.

You shrugged to yourself as you retreated, not really upset about it. You couldn’t be friends with everyone, so oh well. You did your part and tried at least.

“Don’t take it personally, she’s like that with basically everyone.”

You looked up to see Mingi standing in front of you. His arms were crossed over his chest and his hazel eyes were soft. You smiled and told him you didn’t, and that it was fine. Then, you began laughing uncontrollably as you recalled the events from the previous night. He gave you a questioning look as you tried to calm down.

“It’s just… you didn’t even want to go on a walk last night and then we all got bitten and… and…” You lost yourself in laughter, folding over and wrapping your arms around your middle.

The guard groaned while cracking a smile. “Just… let’s not ever mention that incident to the king. I don’t think he would be happy to hear I wasn’t doing a good job protecting his daughter.”

You sent him a wink. “My lips are sealed, but Tae though…” You tsked. “He tends to be a bit of a blabber mouth so…”

Mingi’s smile fell while his body froze, and you couldn’t contain your serious façade. Smiling again, you fake punched him on the shoulder and said you were just joking… maybe.

The male rolled his hazel eyes and went to say something else but stopped when a certain Saeni appeared out of nowhere and began tugging on your arm.

“Come play with us!” Jungkook pleaded.

You jumped at his sudden proximity before turning your eyes on him. The burgundy male was breathing heavily and repeatedly pulling on your arm, trying to get you to come with him. You heard another voice yelling out, coming closer with each passing second. Looking beyond Jungkook, you saw Hobi barreling toward you as he targeted the green-eyed male beside you. Following your gaze, Jungkook cursed when he saw the kiela’s spy charging after him and he renewed his efforts of persuading you.

“Come on, sweetheart. Please?” He sent you a smile that made you melt while stepping closer to you.

“Uh… okay, yeah, sure,” you said as you stared at the eager boy with the dashing face that was just so close to you.

With a satisfied grunt, Jungkook slid his hand down to yours and took off in the direction away from an arriving Hobi. Which meant you were dragged after him with a yelp.

As you tried to keep up with Jungkook’s strides, you screamed back, “Sorry Mingi! Talk to you later!”

The green-eyed Saeni looked behind him and smiled at you before sending a smirk over your head and gripping your hand tighter.

You, Jungkook, Hobi, and Tae continued your game of tag even after Namjoon told everyone it was time to start moving again. Jimin, unfortunately, was called back up to the front of the group to resume his job as the GPS.

The boys were being generous enough to not body slam you into trees or onto the ground like they would each other. And whenever they would tag you, it was usually just a big smack to your back that caused you to stumble forward, but not lose your footing entirely. Then, they were nice enough to run a bit slower when you were “it” so you would actually have a chance at tagging one of them.

Currently, you were hiding behind a large trunk that provided substantial cover for your entire body. The rest of the group was maybe a good seventy yards ahead of you, but you kept your eyes peeled and ears alert for Jungkook, who was “it.” You were breathing deeply, and your body screamed at you for the unnecessary exertion. But you sent a nice fat mental middle finger to the sore pain thrumming through you because you were really enjoying yourself and having fun.

Peeking around the trunk, you flinched as you heard Tae shriek in the nearby distance, but you didn’t see a single flash of burgundy against the greenery of the forest. Letting out a sigh in relief, you began jogging forward as quietly as you could. You made it about thirty yards when a blur ran past you screeching.

“RUN, LITTLE SCORJA!”

Tae.

You whipped your head in the direction he had come from and saw Jungkook sprinting after him.

Shit!

You pivoted on your feet, gearing to run after Tae and away from the extremely competitive maknae, but it was too late. He’d already noticed you. Smirking, Jungkook changed course, forgetting about his previous target. You watched, sort of like a deer in headlights and almost in awe, as his metal earrings glinted in the sunlight and his muscles flexed with each stride he took toward you.

Toward me? Oh fuck, run you dumb bitch!

You took off, pumping your legs and weaving around trees and vaulting over fallen timber. Obviously, you weren’t faster than he was, and it was only a matter of seconds before he caught you. A small part of you did hope that maybe Hobi or Tae would show up and save you, though.

You sucked air into your lungs and briefly peeked over your shoulder, expecting to see the boy right on your heels.

But he wasn’t there.

You put on the brakes, breathing heavily as you slowed to a stop. Turning your body in a circle numerous times, you tried to find where he went.

A twig snapping you made you still before letting out a defeated sigh. Hesitantly, you swiveled to see Jungkook step out from behind a tree and begin to jog to you with a shit eating grin on his face.

You closed your eyes tightly as you accepted your loss. Feeling his presence come closer and closer, you prepared yourself to be rammed into. You held your breath, waiting for impact.

Your body jolted when you felt something touch your waist, but a slamming force never came. Instead, the weight on your waist began to gently press into you, making you move backwards. Relaxing your face and opening your eyes, you saw Jungkook staring at you with smug, green eyes and a smirk dancing on his lips.

“Hey, sweetheart.”

“H-Hi.”

He kept moving you backwards until your back softly connected with a tree, but he didn’t let you go. Rather, he pressed even further into you so that your chests were flush, and your faces were only centimeters apart. You looked at him with wide eyes as your hands gripped his forearms. He tilted his head to the side and leaned in so that his lips were teasing the shell of your ear. You suddenly had difficulty breathing normally as you waited for him to move or do something.

He let his hot breath fan over you for several heartbeats until he murmured, “You’re it.”

Leaning back, he displayed a cocky smile at your surprised face before letting go of your waist and taking several steps back. Then, he sent you a wink… a bloody wink!... before turning around and striding away. You shook your head and glued your eyes to his back.

Oh, you’re gonna get it!

Quickly, you called after him in the breathiest tone you could muster and moved your feet forward. The male’s steps faltered, and he looked over his shoulder just as you jumped on him and sent both of your bodies tumbling to the ground. As you descended, he twisted so that he landed on his back, not his face. He hit the forest floor with a thud, slightly grunting from the impact. He glared up at you as you sent him a smirk of your own, pleased with yourself. You were straddling his lean waist, one hand braced on the leaves and twigs beside his head and the other resting against his chest. Pushing against him and the dirt, you raised your top half and allowed your hands to move so they settled on his torso.

You raised an eyebrow as you laughed mockingly since you knew it would rile him up. “No, Coco. You’re still it.”

You gave his body a couple pats before going to stand up and run away. Though as you went to move, he narrowed his eyes at you and promptly sat up. Grabbing you, he flipped you down to the ground and rolled on top of you.

He held your wrists firmly above your head. “No. You’re it.”

You shivered involuntarily at the low tone of his voice and awkwardly laughed to hide the heat beginning to rise to your cheeks. The position you were in was not helping you succeed, though. You looked away from his serious eyes and focused on a nearby rock that now seemed extremely fascinating.

“O-Okay. Now please get off.”

He squeezed our wrists a little more. “Not until I hear you say it.”

You rolled your eyes at the rock. He was such a little shit sometimes.

“I’m it. Happy? Okay, now get off.”

You saw him smile in your peripherals before nodding once. “That’s a good girl.”

Oh. You sucked in a breath and fought with yourself to not release it unevenly.

“Alright, up we go.” You heard him say in a soft, yet teasing voice that made your body go limp and gooey.

Geez. What is he doing to me?

Suddenly, something clicked inside of you and it caused you to gasp quietly. Your eyes widened in incredulity as your heart swelled in realization.

Oh, fuck. This can’t be happening.

Then, you were pulled to your feet and you blinked at the male. He laughed, scrunching his nose in such an adorable way, and gave you a solid pat on the head before sprinting away, leaving you in an unmoving, flustered daze.

This can’t be happening.

The days following were a mess. You hadn’t run into any draikensu. Nobody had gotten hurt or sick. Nobody was brewing drama. No, it was none of those things.

It was because of a much more mundane matter. Something that plagued your mind and made you overthink every single detail during the days and nights. Something that both excited you and wrecked you. Something you still weren’t ready to face or accept… for many reasons.

Calm down, Y/N. It is not that. You’re just… sexually frustrated or something.

But as you glanced at a certain Saeni and a warm feeling bubbled up and spread throughout your body, you knew you were fucked. It had been like this since you played that stupid game of tag. You didn’t know why, but after that everything just felt… different. You had always thought he was insanely attractive and… even cute at times… but this was something else. Every time he looked in your direction you felt yourself automatically smiling. Every time he touched you in passing or even merely corrected your form during training, goosebumps raised along your skin and your breath hitched. You always found yourself looking his way and being drawn to his voice.

You chewed on your lip as you walked next to Tae, debating whether you should tell your friend about your recent revelation. You didn’t want him to freak out and start screaming. Not when you knew there wasn’t a chance for anything to happen between you and him. Not when you knew how he felt about you.

Why do I always put myself through this?

You sighed dejectedly and kicked a branch on the ground.

“You okay, little scorja?”

You looked up from the branch and into sharp blue eyes.

Forcing a tiny, half-assed smile, you replied, “Yeah, just thinking about some stuff.”

The grey-haired Saeni frowned and peered at your face. “No, you’re not, but whenever you’re ready to talk just come find me. You know I’m always here for you.”

You pulled the Saeni into an abrupt embrace, squeezing him tightly as he wrapped his arms around you and did the same. “I know. Thank you, TaeTae. I really don’t know what I’d do without you sometimes.”

Tae smacked a big kiss to your cheek and grabbed your hand to make you start walking again. You smiled at him before sweeping your eyes over your surroundings. Mingi and Hobi were joking with each other, though the spy kept sneaking glances to his left where Yoongi was. The mint-haired Saeni was strolling with Jin and Namjoon. The latter two were speaking loudly, but Yoongi ignored them in favor of watching the trees and occasionally letting his eyes linger to his right. Behind them, Chungha walked alone, enjoying her solitude. And behind her, Jungkook was animatedly talking to Jimin and Jiae. The burgundy head was using grand gestures to highlight whatever story he was telling, making the others laugh. Without realizing it, you found that the corners of your mouth had upturned as you watched him. You couldn’t help it. Hastily, you wiped the tiny grin off your face by reminding yourself that he had no feelings for you. The thought made you sigh once more and clutch Tae’s hand tigher.

Don’t think of him like that. Don’t think of him like that. Don’t think of him like that. He doesn’t like you. He doesn’t like you. HE DOESN’T LIKE YOU SO STOP THINKING OF HIM LIKE THAT.

You looked at the laughing boy, taking in the way his burgundy hair gleamed in the sunlight, showing off those pink highlights while his peridot eyes glittered with excitement. The way he radiated protection and power and happiness. The way he was so strong yet so caring and tender when he wanted to be.

Before you knew it, you were smiling once more.

Groaning to yourself, you banged the heel of your palm against your forehead. I am so utterly fucked.

previous [13] — next [15]

[gingerpeachtae]

Concentric [10]

masterlist

Words: 8.4k

Genres: fantasy!AU, angst, fluff, enemies to lovers, eventual smut (?)

Warnings: past abuse; dismemberment; spoiler for final season of Game of Thrones

Summary: You had been ready for the end of the semester. You had been ready to spend time away from your best friend, Jimin, and finally move on from the feelings you harbored. Yet, after your friend was forced to reveal a secret, you found yourself in a new world that was chock full of magic, war, and wonder. So, here you were, basically thrown into your own fantasy novel, with your best friend on one side, and six male warriors on the other.

A/N: this turned out so much longer than I was anticipating. Like my poor back hurts from editing for so long lol. Anyways, ion know how I feel about this one folks, but engoy! 🥰

You groaned while walking down the stairs on your way to the back entrance of the palace. It was early. Way too fucking early. In fact, it was about two and half hours before you would usually get up for training, which you already struggled with doing. The only reason you were able to flip open your toasty covers and crawl out of bed was that it was the day you were finally leaving the palace.

Grunting as the last step jostled your cloudy head, you rubbed your eyes and adjusted the strap of the backpack hanging off your shoulder. You trudged down the empty hallways, keeping your steps as quiet as your half-asleep and stumbling body could manage.

What I would give for some caffeine right now…

When you finally reached the entrance, you mentally thanked the magic-users who constructed the doorways. You don’t think you could have opened a normal door in your drowsy state. While the wood unwound and unwove to create an open space to walk through, you gave your cheek a quick smack to wake yourself up more. Once the pathway was clear, you massaged your stinging face while breathing in the sweet, fresh air of the dark morning. You stepped out from the entrance and began making your way to the designated meeting spot. The tree with seven lanterns.

That one…? Nope that’s five lanterns. You walked some more.

That one! Shit, there’s only six. I could have sworn I counted seven. You had to admit that it was much harder to find the right tree without the help of sunlight.

You continued to walk further off the pathway and into the trees, counting the swaying lanterns and wondering who was already out here.

“Y/N!” You heard a deep voice excitedly and loudly whisper.

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.

previous [9] — next [11]

[gingerpeachtae]

Concentric [2]

masterlist

Words: 7k

Genres: fantasy!AU, angst, fluff, enemies to lovers, eventual smut (?)

Warnings: references to/after-effects of being choked

Summary: You had been ready for the end of the semester. You had been ready to spend time away from your best friend, Jimin, and finally move on from the feelings you harbored. Yet, after your friend was forced to reveal a secret, you found yourself in a new world that was chock full of magic, war, and wonder. So, here you were, basically thrown into your own fantasy novel, with your best friend on one side, and six male warriors on the other.

A/N: Here it is! I most likely won’t be able to update as fast as this in the future since my internship starts next week, but I will do my best to not have you guys waiting around for too long. Again, a big thanks to everyone reading Concentric, ya’ll are rockstars! Anyways, I hope you engoy the update 🥰

Neither of you spoke as you walked back to the parking lot. After you made your statement, Jimin had simply hung his head and limply consented. With a regret-filled sigh, he had turned to the Saeni and, you assumed, informed them that you would be joining the trip. Once he was finished speaking, he had quickly ushered you out of the clearing before you could get a glimpse of their reactions.

The two of you were walking side by side, and although you had questions writhing inside of your head, you remained quiet. For the moment, you were content just walking the trail. To hear the crunch of gravel and shift of dirt beneath your sneakers. To listen to the creaking sway of trees in the wind. To feel the sunlight filter through the leaves and onto your face. To absorb that silent, yet alive feeling of the forest. Jimin, on the other hand, did not seem content in the slightest. His eyes remained downcast on the earthy ground, refusing to look your way. You could tell that he was wary about you finally knowing the truth, and even more uneasy at the thought of you coming along with him and the others. He was, understandably, concerned about, so you tried to not take his avoidance to heart.

When the cars became visible through the foliage, you looked to Jimin once more, hoping he would finally return the favor. He just kept walking. Starting to feel a wee bit of rejection, you trailed behind him. With a jolt, you realized that he did not make a sound while making his way along the path. Not a kicking of rocks or snapping of twigs. Just a shift in the air as he marched on.

How many clues had you been blind to?

As you pulled your keys out of your jacket, you stilled as you saw the white glint of the dreamcatcher through his dark windshield. No longer sensing your immediate presence behind him, Jimin paused to turn around. When he saw you looking beyond him, he followed your line of sight and flinched slightly when he realized what you were staring at.

Sharply he said, “Go straight to my house,” but added in a pained whisper, “Please.”

Eyes flicking back to him, you noticed his wrecked expression. You gave him a nod because you still did not trust your voice to withhold the questions building inside of you. You unlocked your car and waited for him to leave, not wanting to arrive at his house before him. Usually, you wouldn’t have given it a second thought since you had a key to his place. However, this was a tricky situation and you wanted to tread carefully.

Noting that Jimin began backing out of his space, you turned on the ignition and put it in reverse, not bothering to plug your phone into the aux cord. Your mind was still reeling a little too much to consider listening to music. Instead, you lowered your windows and continued to listen to the forest, the sounds comforting you as you started to drive.

You gently knocked on his weathered, white door to alert him that you were there as you softly opened it and stepped through the threshold. Entering the living room, you saw Jimin sitting on the couch with his head in his hands. Your heart ached, never having seen him appear so lost before. Sitting down beside him, you waited silently until he was ready.

He cursed, running a hand through his hair. “I don’t know where to start.”

“Wherever you’re comfortable with.” You reached out to grab his hand and he clung back tightly.

“Okay, um, I guess I’ll start with Illain first…

It’s a world that doesn’t exist in our universe, but it is connected to Earth. Think of it like a parallel universe without having replicated people. What happens to one doesn’t directly affect the other, but they are still linked. Does that make sense?”

You nodded even though it didn’t, at least not completely. You let it go, though, because you weren’t concerned about those specifics.

“It’s named after the mother goddess, Illai, and it’s not as… industrialized as Earth is. Most of it is still covered in forests and natural landscapes. Saeni are the people who inhabit it. They are similar to humans, but, as you saw, have elongated ears, as well as a few other, ah, differences.”

You pulled your hand back as you blurted, “Oh god. Don’t tell me they have tentacles!? Holy shit, do they? Wait, do you!?”

“What the fuck? No. There’re no tentacles. You seriously need to stop reading weird smut online.”

“Yes, because it’s the tentacles that would’ve made this whole situation completely ridiculous.”

After seeing Jimin’s stressed-out expression, you let out a small apology and allowed him to continue.

“There’s differences like heightened senses and reflexes, as well as some other stuff.”

“The ‘other stuff’ sure sounds like some tentacles,” you mumbled to yourself before shutting up.

“A handful of Saeni are able to tap into an energy that flows through Illain and they get certain abilities from harnessing it. It’s basically magic. The petal I gave you was a form of that energy; it allows the recipients to see and hear the Saeni when they are glamoured. Which is why it seemed like we were alone until you took it. There’s another petal, a yellow one, that offers the ability to understand the Saeni language and speak it. You’ll have to take both petals every day when we cross over to Illain.”

“So, is one of the Saeni from the park able to manipulate the energy into magic?”

“Yeah, Yoongi. You’ll get to know each of them. They’re… very special to me. They’re my brothers.”

Your eyes widened, wondering how they were his siblings when they looked nothing alike. Maybe genetics worked differently for Saeni?

Seeing your reaction, Jimin said, “Not my actual brothers! We’re not related, but they’re brothers to me in every sense of the word except biologically.”

“I get it.” You grabbed his hand again and gave it a squeeze. “Family isn’t always blood.” 

It was quiet for a few heartbeats.

“So… how do you fit into everything?”

You were exhausted by the time you unlocked your front door. You were hungry, dirty, and sore. You briefly wondered whether the entire thing had actually even occurred. But it did. The two hours you spent talking with Jimin was evidence enough.

He had told you how his mother somehow ended up crossing over to Illain one day, and there she met his father and they fell in love. Though, shortly after Jimin was born, his father died, and his mom returned to Earth with a half-human, half-Saeni baby.

Knowing it would be wrong to keep his true heritage a secret, his mom told him what he really was when he was young. One of his dad’s friends would come to check on them every year until he was seven. After that, Jimin started going with him to Illain for a few months out of the year to train as a warrior, as many Saeni did at that age. It was during this training that he met the other Saeni from the park. The seven of them stuck together throughout the years and eventually formed their own kiela, which Jimin explained was the Saeni word for seven, and it was considered a sacred number. When seven warriors become indescribably close, they take a vow to stick with one another and form a permanent group, a kiela. You weren’t sure how it worked with Jimin being gone most of the time, but you didn’t bring that up since it seemed like a sensitive topic.

You sighed as you made your way through your apartment, clutching the list of items Jimin had written down that he suggested you bring on the trip. Reading through it, you noted that you had all the materials, hence, you decided that packing could wait until post-shower and food.  You yanked off your shoes and clothes before dragging your tired body to the bathroom. Promptly after flipping on the light, you looked into the mirror and flinched at your reflection. You looked like shit.

Hair tangled, skin scraped, and dirt underneath your nails. The worst part was your neck, though. Red marks and purple bruises lined your throat in a vague shape of a hand. You sharply inhaled as you gingerly prodded at the tender area, and you grimaced at the thought of leaving it unconcealed to heal. You weren’t bringing make up with you, therefore, there would be nothing to hide the brutal marks. It was a done deal and there was nothing to be done about, so with one last look at your disheveled appearance, you turned on the hot water and stepped into the shower.

Groaning at the sound of your alarm the next morning, you were temporarily confused as to why you were waking up at five in the morning.

Fucking hell, this is worse than accounting.

You caught sight of the backpack you had carefully packed last night when you leaned over to slap off the shrill alarm. The events from the prior day came rushing back to you. Throwing the comforter off of you, you groaned again as cold air hit your body. But you forced yourself up to prepare for your departure. You made the bed, double-checked the contents of the backpack, went to the bathroom, ate the rest of the fruit in your fridge and made sure all the items with an expiration date had been thrown out, and filled up your giant water bottle. Glancing at the clock, you saw that it was 5:38. You needed to meet Jimin at his house at 6, so you only had a few more minutes left before you had to leave. Hurriedly, you grabbed the note you had written that was addressed to your parents, and gently placed it on your bed along with your cell phone. No point in bringing it when you would have no service. Also, since you were essentially disappearing and couldn’t exactly tell your parents what you were doing or where you were going, you had decided to write them a letter explaining that Jimin had an issue and needed help resolving it. You typically contacted your parents at least once a day, so they immediately would know something was up when you didn’t reply anymore. You just hoped that they would come check your apartment and see the letter. Taking a last look at your home, you took a deep breath before shouldering the backpack and closing the front door behind you.

You reached Jimin’s house with four minutes to spare. Sitting down on the steps leading to his porch, you waited for him to come out. Promptly, at 6 AM you heard him walk out and plop down next to you.

“The Uber will be here in two.”

Both of you agreed that Ubering would be for the best. Neither of you had wanted to leave your car sitting at the park. It would raise suspicion and you didn’t need a manhunt looking for you when you would be nowhere to be found. Also, you were both broke college students and that was not a good combination with parking tickets.

An hour and ten minutes had passed since you had gotten into the car that pulled up to Jimin’s house, and you now found yourself entering the same clearing as yesterday. As you emerged from the branches and shrubs, you saw that the Saeni were already waiting for you. Before acknowledging them, you stuck your tongue out at the tree you had the pleasure of being pinned to, noticing that it was a huge, old oak tree. When you moved your gaze back to the Saeni, you saw that they all had thick hoods pulled over their heads. It made it impossible to discern which were the ones you had interacted with. Some of them leaned back against trees casually, one sat cross legged on the ground, and another was curled up underneath a tree napping. Tilting your head, you wondered if it was the mint-haired one who did the same thing yesterday. As you looked curiously at the sleeping lump, you heard a voice directed at you.

“Hi, I’m Namjoon. I’m sort of the leader of the group.”

You turned on your heel to see the tall Saeni with yellow eyes introducing himself while he pulled back his hood. You leaned your head back to take in his face and features. His brown hair was shorter on the sides, and his hoop earrings each had a dark bead hanging from the metal. The heavy head of his mace was visible over his right shoulder. His face lit up with happiness as you looked at him. He raised his hand to his chest, but suddenly jerked and brought his hand to the side in a small wave. Jimin watched him with amusement, while you just smiled at the endearing male and gave him a small wave of your own.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Namjoon. I’m Y/N. Are you the lucky recipient of a yellow petal today?”

“Hmm? Oh, no! This is actually all me,” he said sheepishly. “I really like learning, so I had Jimin teach me when he had spare time.”

“Why are you embarrassed about that? It’s really impressive!” You gawked at him.

We stan an intellectual in this house!

Namjoon let out a shy but grateful, “Thank you.

“So, obviously we aren’t glamoured right now since you can see us, but we will be when we cross over to Illain so here are your daily petals,” he said as he reached into a pocket and pulled out the delicate, magical objects.

“Ah, yes, here we go. Thank you for supplying my drugs,” you sarcastically retorted as you took the petals from his hand.

“Oh, and you’ll be glamoured too! No offense, but if you weren’t, you would be really suspicious and kind of attract unwanted attention…”

You let out a laugh and nodded in agreement.

“Well, please let me know if you need anything or have any questions, okay? I want you to feel as comfortable as we can make you.”

Your heart fluttered at his kind words. You were really touched that he went out of his way to make you feel welcomed and included.

“I will. Thank you Namjoon!” You told him.

As he walked away from you to converse with another Saeni, you popped the pink petal into your mouth. Stars and galaxies once again erupted behind your eyes. You could see an entire universe in front of you, expanding and unfurling with desire. Bright lights were born that kissed the edge of your vision. You could hear the cosmos sing and the moons weep. Sweet as cream on the tip of your tongue. Secretive as lovers under a dark sky. And it was wanting something. It was anxious and coiling with ambition. There was something in those lights that demanded your attention. It grabbed at you, gripped your focus, and then released all at once. The stars dimmed, and the galaxies died. Their blinding music fading to the calm psithurism of the wild forest around you.

You had to blink to get your senses back to normal before you were able to ready yourself for the next petal. You tensed your limbs as you moved the yellow object toward your mouth. But when you finally dropped the delicate thing onto your tongue, it did not expel a grand universe. Rather, it was a cocoon of sensation that was gently draped over you. Slow as honey, and thick and heavy like a winter blanket. It was sitting on a porch during a thunderstorm drinking tea. It was eating cookies fresh out of the oven. It was the feeling of being alone and content and tiny. It was raw happiness and understanding. And then it was just… gone. Like the galaxies were.

You sighed, eliciting a questioning look from your best friend. You shook your head with a small smile to let him know that you were fine. He moved to direct you to the start of the journey, but you held up a hand. There was something to take care of first.

You inhaled deeply and quickly expelled the air, mentally giving yourself a hype session of how your Momma didn’t raise no bitch before turning the Saeni.

“Before we go, I do want to know one thing.” You addressed the group.

A couple nodded in acknowledgement, and the others did object. So, ignoring the urge to rub your sore and bruised neck, you raised your chin, looked directly at them, and said, “I want to know which one of you tried to kill me.”

Jimin stiffly coughed and stared at you like you were going insane.

You head tilted in the direction of that stupid, old oak, in case they had forgotten that wonderful moment from yesterday, and you waited. It wasn’t like you were asking because you were scared or wanted to avoid the person. Jimin had told you that they were cautious around strangers, and the way you had raised your voice had ended up setting them over the edge. A simple, though brutal and unfortunate, misunderstanding. As a result, you were honestly just curious.

The six warriors were quiet for several breaths until one stepped forward. He reached up to the rich brown hood that shadowed his face, his hands hesitating for only a heartbeat before pulling back the thick fabric. His right hand returned to rest on the glittering red stone atop his dagger.

“That would have been me,” the burgundy head claimed with cold eyes.

And why were you not surprised at that? After all, he was the one that had glared at you like you had stolen his favorite toy. Or maybe it was because you kicked him in the balls? Though in your defense, he did choke you, so you had just gotten even.

You rolled your eyes then met his gaze straight on. “May I be privileged enough to know your name?”

Jimin leaned over and inquired what you were doing with a whisper. You held back a shiver at his warm breath on your neck and voice in your ear, and only gave a mere shrug in response. You were on a mission, so you were accepting no distractions.

“It’s only fair that I know the name of my attacker, don’t you think?” You added innocently, cocking your head to side.

“Jungkook,” he spit out through his teeth like the reveal physically pained him.

His hand shifted to grip the handle of the dagger tightly. He had done the same thing yesterday after you started returning his glare, so you suspected it was a habit of his when he got peeved. Yet, from the action, you didn’t miss the scars that adorned the back of his hand. Nor the cautionary look Jimin gave him. You pursed your lips when Jungkook gave the handle one final squeeze before loosening his grip. Whoever your Slim Jim was in this new world, he apparently carried some weight if he was obeyed whenever he threw those looks around. The others were all watching the exchange with intrigue, except for the one still resting under a tree.

Geez, does nothing excite that dude? I mean I like sleep too buddy, so Big Mood, but still.

Moseying your way over to the annoyed male, you gave him a sweet smile. “Well, Jungkook, just know that since I can see, hear, and understand you now, I won’t be as helpless next time.”

You glanced down at the area that had been throttled with your leg not 24 hours ago and converted your smile to a smirk.

“And I won’t need to resort to cheating to win either.”

From behind you, you could hear Jimin swear in an exasperated tone.

Jungkook’s eyes caught sight of your ravaged neck and they momentarily softened. You thought you even saw a flash of guilt, but they quickly turned cold once more. Being right in front of him, you noticed that they were a piercing light green rimmed in a darker shade of emerald. If you weren’t so fed up with the guy’s antics, you would have likened them to peridot. But since you were, you decided to settle on old peas. He, too, had piercings in his ears, just one silver hoop on his right side and three on the left. Your attention was brought back to the matter at hand when he pulled out the short blade from the scabbard at his hip. He closely inspected the cunning dagger. You would have admired the beauty of the weapon, if not for the fact that it was intimidatingly close to your face. Your eyes were stuck on the blade, watching as he slowly turned it in the rising sunlight. While the light was refracting off the polished metal, you could see that there was an inscription on the dagger, but you couldn’t make out what it was.

Not even bothering to look up from his weapon, he challenged with a sharp tone that matched the edge of the blade, “Oh, do you really think so little human?”

You blinked at his serrated voice, wondering how you should respond.

What would Steve Rogers do?

Well, he would never back the fuck down from a fight. So, neither would you.

You accepted his challenge by returning your eyes to his face. His own flickering up when he felt the weight of your unfaltering stare.

When his eyes met yours, you slapped on a cute smirk. “Mmmm before I forget…”

You leaned in as close as you dared with his wicked blade still in front of you while maintaining eye contact with his green orbs. “I may be into choking, but if you’re going to do it, you should really learn the proper technique.”

You trailed your eyes down and back up his physique as you finished. “I’m a simple girl, but I can be hard to please and I expect my partners to know how to handle themselves.”

Pulling back from Jungkook and returning your attention to Jimin, you beamed and clapped your hands together. Not before noting how stiff the burgundy-haired asshat had gone at your words. God this guy. His damn ego couldn’t even take some valid constructive criticism. Well, it wouldn’t be your fault when he killed someone mid-thrust. Unless he was celibate, which would really explain why he was so uptight. Glancing at the rest of the Saeni, they were a mix of complete shock and struggle to withhold their laughter. Their struggle becoming more strained when Jungkook abruptly marched away from you.

“Alrighty! What are we waiting around for? Let’s go!” You called out to the group.

Jimin pushed a hand through his hair and grabbed your wrist, tugging you along while he chuckled and shook his head at you.

“I’m going on an adventure!” You said as you allowed yourself to be led to a new world.

“Really?” You dragged the word out. “I thought we were finally going.”

The beginning of your adventure ended a mere 15 feet away. Right in front of that big, old oak tree you were well acquainted with.

“Stupid tree,” you muttered beneath your breath, “I hope you never grow leaves again so you’re permanently naked.”

You continued the creative curses at the ancient being until they trailed off into silence.

“Uhhh. Hey, Slim Jim? What’re they doing?” You questioned as the six warriors began climbing up the tree’s study branches. “Shouldn’t they be doing an spell or something? Isn’t that how it usually works?”

“Not in real life.” He smiled, giving you a push toward to the tree.

This is so not as cool. Or fun.

You hoisted yourself limb from limb and up and up and up. You were sweating by the time you finally caught up with the Saeni. Jimin climbed right behind you, keeping a hand either on your back or leg to hold you steady during your ascent. He had warned you not to look down when you began pulling your body up through the branches.

It seemed he really enjoyed his warnings nowadays.

But, you couldn’t help yourself and shifted to look downward for a moment. And another moment. And another. You couldn’t look away. You were so high up. And you loved it. The wind thrashed through the leaves and unbound stands of your hair from where you had pulled it back. They danced across your face like they had never felt a true breeze before. You felt your body sway with the thick branch you were crouched on, and you threw a wild smile at the boy beneath you, y/e/c eyes glittering with awe. You heard some of the Saeni give an approving hum at your wonder.

Okay, so maybe this wasn’t so bad.

Your grin grew bigger when you saw the mint-haired Saeni raise his hands and speak low and fast. His palms began emanating a blue, glittering light that matched the strands on his head. He was doing an incantation! Or something. You weren’t sure what was going on, but it made you bounce on your branch in anticipation. Your best friend quickly grabbed your calf firmly, silently telling you to calm the fuck down.

You whispered a sorry to him, but you couldn’t bring yourself to hide your excitement. The blue glow faded and was replaced by a rapid snapping sound that was eerily similar to that of a branch breaking. You look to Jimin in panic, hands tightening around the limb you were perched on. He looked back at you coolly, and none of the other members of the party appeared to be disturbed by the noise. Apparently, everything was fine? You cautiously released your clenched muscles and eased the grip of your hands. You looked back up to the Saeni and your draw dropped when you saw Namjoon wink at you before stepping forward and disappearing down the center of the tree.

“There are certain trees whose roots connect between Earth and Illain. This is one of them. Yoongi can use it to form a bridge of sorts that we can travel through. The bridge just happens to be straight down the middle of the tree itself,” Jimin explained beneath you.

“Whoa… Hey, so Yoongi is Mr. Sparkle Hands?”

“Er. Uh. Yes. Yoongi has the sparkle hands.”

“Thank you for the show Mr. Sparkle Hands!” You called up to the Saeni, who shot you a withering look.

As you patiently waited for your turn to travel through the tree bridge, you swung your legs in the air as you watched the other warriors jump down one after the other.

Hell, this is tons better than a muddy rabbit hole. Take that Alice.

After a couple of minutes, it was just you, Jimin, and Yoongi left at the top of the tree. You heaved yourself up the last few limbs until you were next to Yoongi and peered down at the hole he had opened. It looked like someone has taken a giant drill to the oak, as the innards of the bridge still looked like plain, old wood.

Straightening out, you smiled brightly at the mint-haired male. His petal pink eyes gave you a judgmental glance before looking away, so you were left smiling at his bone ear piercings instead of his face. Undeterred, you gave the earrings a good wink as if they had feelings before you let out a tinkling laugh at the Saeni’s actions.

Jimin climbed up behind you and leaned over your shoulder to gaze at the hole.

“Aww Yoongi. You’re always so thoughtful.” Jimin gave him an appreciative look.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the Saeni grumbled before leaping down the hole himself.

“What was that about?” You asked Jimin.

“Ah, don’t worry about it,” he dismissed, “Look there are some very convenient grooves in the wood on this side, so you can climb down instead of jumping like a maniac.”

“You say maniac as if you’re not about to do the same thing.” You raised a knowing eyebrow at him.

“Yeah, yeah. You know I love a good adrenaline rush. Just get your ass climbing down already.”

While it certainly looked badass, you were in no place to break your leg, or worse, by jumping down to who knows where. Hence, you heeded your friend’s advice and decided on the more practical route. You took a look at the sky and leaves and whispered a goodbye before starting your descent. You made your way down, down, down. Minutes passed, and it became harder to see where to place your hands and feet. The entrance only a small circle far above your head, meaning there was basically zero light at your current position. You began relying on your sense of touch rather than sight, praying that you wouldn’t miss a groove and plummet. It’s an interesting thought: thinking about dying inside of a tree. Which would absolutely blow because the adventure hadn’t even truly begun. Plus, the dying part itself would be a real Debbie Downer on your day.

To whatever higher power is out there, please don’t let me die inside of a damn tree trunk.

“Don’t fret little scorja, you’re not going to die.” A deep, masculine voice echoed up to you.

Shit. Did you say that out loud? You winced with embarrassment, your body briefly locking up before your legs found the next step and kept moving. You couldn’t see anything at this point and you were glad that you did not fear the dark because you don’t think you could have even twitched a muscle if you did. Continuing your descent, you lowered your body until a hand lightly touched your ankle. The unsuspected contact caused you to let out a soft yelp.

“It’s alright. You just have a few more steps to go.” The same deep voice from before comforted you.

A few grooves later, strong hands gripped your waist and eased you onto solid ground.

“Um… thank you, whoever you are,” you said.

“You’re very welcome, little scorja.”

One hand moved from your waist to settle on your shoulder, and you felt the presence of whomever held you lean down to say, “My name is Taehyung.”

Seconds later the seventh and final member of the Kiela had his feet on the ground. The sound of his sudden entrance made you jerk away from Taehyung in surprise. The self-proclaimed adrenaline junkie had jumped after all.

“Fucking maniac,” you joked at your friend, who in turn scooped you into a big hug.

Although you giggled at his affection, you had to internally yell at your heart for getting so excited at his touch. Taking a step out of his embrace to resettle yourself, you wondered how he was able to find you so fast. It was pitch black, the entrance like a small star high above you and you couldn’t see a damned thing. However, everyone else seemed to get around just fine.

“So, do you guys have night vision or something?”

An unknown voice, one that you strongly suspected to be Jungkook’s, replied, “What? The little human can’t see in the dark? What a shame.”

You rolled your eyes, hoping that his “superior” vision allowed him to see it.

“Kookieeee,” Taehyung whined beside you, “why are you being so mean?”

Kookie?

There was a noise that suspiciously sounded like someone had just gotten smacked upside the head. You would bet some money and your next bag french fries (you know when you think you’re all out and huzzah! there’s still more at the bottom of the bag) that one, precious Kookie was on the receiving end.

“Ya! Where are your manners!? I didn’t raise you like this!” A voice shouted.

Jungkook only growled in response.

“Seriously Kook, you need to stop. You’re acting like a child,” another voice said sternly. Namjoon maybe?

With that, his growl turned into a pouty groan. “Hyung!”

Um… why is speaking Korean all of the sudden?

“I teach them a few basic words every summer,” Jimin informed you after sensing your internal question.

“Huh.”

“If you’re all done, can we please get going? The dark is making me tired.” Yet another voice interrupted the situation.

When nobody said anything else, the same voice cursed, “Thank fucking Exia.”

With that, a mint-blue glow lit up the dark and you watched Yoongi crouch down with both hands pointed toward the floor. Several recitations later, another hole was created at your feet. You could see a clear blue sky, thick branches, and fluttering leaves when you curiously tilted up on your tip toes to look through it. You pursed your lips, wondering how the hell you were looking up through the bottom of the floor. You observed as Namjoon got onto his hands and knees and reached out to grab a hold of a tree branch to hoist himself through the hole, or was it down? Or up? You weren’t sure which preposition was correct for the action, but no matter what was right, you were amazed at the process. Once Namjoon was safely settled on a thick branch, the yellow-eyed Saeni reached his hand out to aid the rest of the group in transferring over to the other side.

After you popped out of the hole like a newborn baby, you noticed that you recognized the layout of wooden limbs. You realized that the tree you were on was identical to the one of Earth. The second thing you realized was how sweet and fresh the air smelled. Jimin had mentioned how Illain was more nature than buildings, and you could immediately appreciate the difference that made to the air quality. You continued deeply breathing in the glorious air as you scrambled down the tree to the earthy ground to wait for Jimin to emerge from the tree bridge.

Once everyone had their feet on the dirt, Namjoon gave the order to start moving. Jimin made sure you were doing okay before jogging to catch up and walk with the leader. You mentally cursed your chickpea brain because you still had no idea where you were headed or why the Saeni needed Jimin. You had literally forgotten to ask one of the most important things.

It’s okay chickpea brain, I’m sure you’ll have the chance to ask at some point.

A male came up beside you as you walked. When he reached your side, he flipped off his hood and revealed a bright face with silvery white hair and light brown eyes. He moved with grace, easily evading the natural obstructions in his way. The fluidity of his movements reminded you of something, but you couldn’t put your finger on what. You were trying to rack your chickpea brain for graceful creatures in an effort to pinpoint what it was, when you caught sight of Jimin in front of you. His dancer’s body weaving around trees and fallen logs.

That’s what it is!

The male beside you had the grace of a dancer. You momentarily felt like a walnut since you hadn’t realized it immediately even though you, too, were a dancer, but the thought fled your mind when he spoke.

“You’ve got a pair of gojcha, girl. Going after Jungkook like that.”

You kept your stride but gave him a side glace. His huge smile hit you in the face and caught you off guard, as did his prominent dimples. Although you didn’t know him at all, you go the feeling that he was a very warm and genuine person. That smile would be a damn waste if he weren’t. As the male turned to face forward again, you caught the glint of a single metal earring dangling from his ear. They all liked their piercings, huh? You couldn’t lie and say that it looked bad on him, because good lord, it suited him well. The piercings suited all of them well. Or, you assumed all of them since you had yet to meet the sixth and final full Saeni of the group. Shit… was every Saeni attractive like them? You didn’t know if you could mentally, or physically, handle that.

Peeking another look at him, you saw that he did not carry a sword, but had knives and daggers strapped to almost every accessible inch of his body. Harnesses crossed this way and that to carry them all. In all honesty, it was super hardcore and even borderline NSFW. Basically, it was a fantasy come to life wrapped in one, hot male package for anyone with a knife and BDSM kink. He removed a small, thin blade from its home on his arm and began flipping it around his hand, causing your face to lose color. You didn’t like the thought of pissing this guy off, his nimble movements hinting at his impressive skill with the weapon. But you relaxed when you looked back up to his dimpled smile again.

Damn, his outfit seriously contrasts with his sweet and pretty face. You noted before replying to his comment.

“Well, something’s telling me that his whole show with the dagger is just because he’s, uh, lacking, in other areas.” You let out a laugh. “My leg wasn’t too impressed with Kookie’s lil Biscoff yesterday.”

The male began hacking as he tried to stifle his laughter. Shoulders shaking even harder when the two of you saw Jungkook give you a scowl. You responded with a handsome middle finger, which just riled him up further, causing him to stalk over to you. You were surprised he recognized the gesture and was in the middle of wondering if Jimin taught them the meaning of it when Jungkook stuck his face in yours.

“You don’t get to call me that,” he snarled.

Without a hint of remorse, you replied, “Oh, sorry, I didn’t mean to overstep my boundaries. I’ll just stick with Coco from here on out.”

He furrowed his eyebrows. “Coco?”

“Your hair cut makes your head look like a damn coconut, but Coconut Head takes too long to say so… Coco.” You sent out a puff of air to rustle the hair on his forehead to really drive your point home.

The Saeni you had been talking to grabbed Jungkook around the waist as he lunged for you. The scene made the entire group stop and look back at the commotion. Jimin called the furious Jungkook up to him and sent you and apologetic face. Waving it off, you looked back at the Saeni next to you who struggled to maintain a somewhat decent composure.

“Aish. I’m sorry about him. He gets shy around newcomers and forgets how to act properly. Also, I have no clue what a ‘Biscoff’ is, but… I can get what you’re referring to.”

“You call that shy?” You skeptically raised a brow.

He let out a snort before finally gathering himself together. Quieter now, he traced a thumb down the center of his chest toward his stomach, his amber eyes flashing with amusement.

“My name’s Hoseok and well, whatever he may be lacking, it sure isn’t in fighting. He may be our maknae, but he’s our best, and not just out of us,” he indicated to the others, “but in the entire Saeni ranks too. Nobody can beat him.”

“Not for the lack of trying, Hobi.” The grey-headed warrior with the headband from yesterday came over and threw an arm around Hoseok’s shoulders. “Though you did get a good hit in there, little scorja.”

“Taehyung?” You slowly questioned, wondering if it was the same male from inside the tree since he used the same name for you that that male had.

He grinned at you and did the same motion Hoseok had done moments earlier. Thumb traced down the center of his chest. It must be their version of a handshake or wave.

“You can just call me Tae like the rest of the guys do!”

“Tae. Okay. So, you can speak English sometimes?”

“You’re damn right, little scorja. Just like how you’re speaking my language now.”

“Scorja, what does that mean? You keep calling me that.”

It was Hoseok who spoke, “Scorjas are flowers that grow on a vine. Sturdy plants and one of the most beautiful in Illain. They have an innate ability to sense who you are as a person and how pure your intentions are. If your soul pleases the scorja, it will do you no harm. If it does not, then the flower secretes a poison that can cause death if not treated. Not everyone is able to pass the test and safely touch them.”

“Beautiful and gentle until someone tries to mess with it, just like you,” Tae added.

You felt your checks grow warm at his comment and you held your face in your hands to hide any evidence that his words affected you.

“But you don’t know me. I may turn out to be rude and manipulative,” you said with a teasing lilt.

Both males looked at you with fond smiles, like they did, in fact, know you. Which was downright crazy.

“Jimin talks about you a lot when he’s here. What you’re like and how much he misses you. So, in a way, we do know you, little scorja. Beautiful, gentle, and just a tad bit ferocious. The name fits…”

“So, the name stays,” Hoseok finished, dimples emerging again.

Your eyes went wide, and you nearly tripped over the root you were stepping over.

Jimin talks about me?

You and Jimin were obviously great friends, but the fact that he shared you with these people shocked you. These people who he described as his brothers. He shared you with his Kiela, those he considered to be closer than family. Even though you had no idea that they had existed, he still wanted them to know about you. You were that special to him.

Your eyes began to get misty and you quickly blinked to keep the tears at bay. You hummed at the males to acknowledge their words, but you couldn’t look at them. Not when your eyes were locked onto a certain half-human, half-Saeni as he walked ahead of you, oblivious to your soft eyes on his back.

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[gingerpeachtae]

Concentric [3]

masterlist

Words: 8.9k

Genres: fantasy!AU, angst, fluff, enemies to lovers, eventual smut (?)

Warnings: blood, decapitation (yikes), violence

Summary: You had been ready for the end of the semester. You had been ready to spend time away from your best friend, Jimin, and finally move on from the feelings you harbored. Yet, after your friend was forced to reveal a secret, you found yourself in a new world that was chock full of magic, war, and wonder. So, here you were, basically thrown into your own fantasy novel, with your best friend on one side, and six male warriors on the other.

A/N: here ya go ya peach heads! pls engoy & I would luv to hear any feedback you have for me! 

“…and then he tried fighting with swords, but he would either completely shatter the blade or the handle would fall off!” Tae was laughing so hard while he told the story that he fell on his side, clutching his stomach.

“Don’t forget the time he threw the knife behind him instead of at the target when I tried to teach him!” Hoseok chimed in.

“I-it’s not-it wasn’t that bad!” The male of subject tried to defend his actions before looking to you with pleading eyes. “I swear! It wasn’t my fault!”

You tried, you really did, to withhold your laughter for his sake. But one look at Tae rolling on the ground and you couldn’t hold back any longer.

Sounding defeated, he proceeded to whisper, “I would pick them up and they’d just break or go flying on their own.”

“Nope, you’re just a god of destruction. Our leader is too strong!” Tae exclaimed.

He had been explaining why Namjoon was the only one who fought with a mace. Apparently, the other members of the kiela refused to let him fight with sharp weapons because of how clumsy he was. There had been quite a few accidents until they finally got the sense to ban him from anything with a pointy end.

You shot Namjoon a comforting look through your giggles, and the emergence of his dimples showed you that he appreciated the gesture.

Then, looking toward the fire in the middle of the group, you asked, “Jin, are you sure you don’t want any help? I can cook fairly well, you know.”

You had finally met the eldest member of the kiela when you began setting up camp, which consisted of picking a designated sleeping spot and getting a fire rolling. When the Saeni you had yet to meet started chopping up what looked like carrots, celery, and some other familiar ingredients, you had approached to introduce yourself and offer your help. It would be an an understatement to say that your offer had been immediately and forcefully turned down.

Now, the black-haired male shook his head as he tossed another ingredient into the pot over the flames. Once he stirred it into the pot he turned his dark brown eyes to you, his hoop piercings shaking slightly from the sudden movement.

“Ya! I already told you, I’m the caretaker of this kiela, okay?” He shook his spoon at you in what you hoped was fake aggravation. “Just because you’re a female doesn’t mean you can steal my position!”

“I don’t know hyung… Y/N really is a good cook. Maybe you should let her help just a little bit.” Jimin said.

Jin’s jaw dropped. “How dare you Chim!? How dare you betray me like this?” He moved to point the spoon at Jimin’s apricot head and threatened, “Don’t make me smack you!”

“Aish! Calm down. I know you take care of all of us, but...”

“What?” Jin crossed his arms, finger tapping against the wooden spoon.

You quickly muttered, “You’re not my dad…

“Ugly ass fuckin’ noodlehead.” Jimin finished with you, laughing and giving you a high five.

Jin blinked twice before sighing, rolling his eyes, and returning to his steaming pot. The rest of the Saeni gave you both confused looks, obviously not knowing what you referenced.

Poor lads. Living in a world without Vine.

“But seriously Papa Jin, if you ever want or need help, let me know. I would love to give you a hand.”

The male just huffed and continued to stir his food.

“For Exia’s sake, you’re all so loud. Some people are trying to rest,” the lump curled on the ground complained.

“That would only be you, Yoongi.” Tae chuckled.

“Don’t be such a grouchy pants,” added Hoseok, but it lacked any real bite.

You watched as his eyes traveled over Yoongi’s form with an emotion that was quite familiar to you.

Interesting.

“Yeah, well Kookie is over your babbling mouths too.”

You shifted to look at the burgundy-haired male, noting that he was sitting stiffly, eyes on the ground. You realized he hadn’t said a word since Namjoon decided to stop for the day, which had been over an hour ago. His pea green eyes shot up and locked with yours. They narrowed before he stood up and walked into the trees, mumbling about how he wasn’t tired and wanted to go for a walk.

“Kookie’s been acting so weird.” Tae stretched his arms over his grey head and adjusted his headband.

Not necessarily wanting to get into Jungkook and his poopy personality right then, you asked to no Saeni in particular, “Who’s Eshea?”

“Exia.” Namjoon corrected you.

“Exia…?” You slowly said back and grinned when his yellow eyes brightened at your proper pronunciation.

Tae jumped into the conversation. “She’s the goddess of battle and strategy! BTS Saeni tend to pray to her more than the other gods.”

“BTS? Other gods? Jimin told me that Illain is named after Illai, but there are more?”

Hoseok groaned at Tae’s comment. “He has some fixation on calling us BTS Saeni because we’re-”

“Battle-Trained Soldiers!” Tae interrupted proudly, clearly pleased with his made-up acronym.

You glanced at Jimin out of the corner of your eye, who just shrugged as he decided to let his brothers handle the explanations.

“Okay, BTS. I can dig it Tae,” you tell him, and he beamed. “So, there’s Illai and Exia… what other gods are there?”

Namjoon took the reins once more. “There are seven ethereal beings. Illai, the mother and life goddess. Her siblings, Exia and Juufa. The latter is the god of harmony and accord. Then, the mother goddess has four children, each taking claim to a season: Ilto is spring, Vebah is summer, Keoth is autumn, and winter is Opitax.”

“Who fathered her kids? Was it her sibling?” You supposed the idea should’ve made you squirm more than it did, but you’d read enough mythology in your life to know that it wasn’t exactly a rare thing for deities to do.

“I…” Namjoon paused, thinking hard before frowning. “I don’t know.”

Hoseok began praising you for finally finding something that his leader didn’t have the answer to.

“I heard she was pregnant when she came to be.” Jin piped up.

Tae proceeded to voice his own opinion. “Nah hyung, it was definitely a self-impregnation.”

“Oh! I think there’s a species of lizard that does that on Earth!” You excitedly claim, looking to Jimin for confirmation.

“Why do you think I would know?” He said, making your face drop into a pout.

“Well, clearly, none of us know the answer. I’m sorry Y/N,” The kiela’s leader spoke up before the conversation could totally go sideways. “But anyways, many Saeni worship a particular god or goddess based on their birth season as well as occupation like in our case.”

You didn’t really know what else to say besides a simple “wow.” You weren’t the religious type, but you were intrigued by the various beliefs around the world. You enjoyed learning about them, so it was amazing to hear about the Saeni’s. Although, you did find it odd that none of them knew who fathered the four seasonal gods. Maybe somebody could bring Maury Povich over to Illain and have him do his paternity test segment with Juufa. You could just imagine his “You are not the father!” declaration to the god. Or maybe it would be “You are the father!” Who knows…

That’s why they need Maury!

You were brought out of your thoughts of bringing the American talk show host on a cross-world adventure when Jin announced that dinner was ready. Excitedly jumping off the ground at the Saeni’s words, you pulled Jimin up by his arm.

Pondering missing information from the Saeni culture would have to wait until food got into your belly.

Laying on the mat rolled out underneath your body, you couldn’t find it in you to close your eyes and drift to sleep. Your mind would not shut off and you kept wiggling around like a worm in the hopes of finding a position that would lull your ass to Snoozeland. It wasn’t working. Flopping to your other side once more, you stared at Jimin sleeping next to you. His plush lips were pursed, and he was expelling soft puffing noises.

You’re not going to get any sleep if you keep staring at his cute face!

You sighed before turning your head away. Cursing yourself for not being able to hit your internal power button, you sat up and ran your hands down your face. You cradled your head in your hands as you listened to the bugs in the dark.

All of the sudden, you perked up when you heard a melodic sound drifting through the forest. It was a beautiful, low-pitched song. Curious as to what animal was making it, you removed the blanket from where it was draped over your legs and rose to go find out. You crept around the Saeni silently, not wanting to wake them, and you paused when you made it to the perimeter of their snoring forms. The next round of pretty sounds came from your left, so you angled your body in that direction and tip-toed away, not noticing the pair of green eyes that followed your movements.

Glancing up at the moonlight filtering through the trees, you smiled to yourself. It was so peaceful here. So quiet yet filled with an orchestra of sounds. It wasn’t the buzzing of electricity, the honking of traffic, or the thumping of music escaping past closed doors. It was only the sounds of nature. Plain and simple and nothing else.

You had been looking for that mystery animal for around seven minutes. You hadn’t heard it in about three, so you halted your feet to listen carefully.

Bugs clicking.

Trees creaking.

Leaves rustling.

And was that it? You heard a faint noise, so you held your breath and leaned your ear forward in hopes of catching the sound again.

“What are you doing?”

You gasped at the unexpected voice behind you. You jerked your head over your shoulder and raised a hand over your heart to steady its rapid pace when you recognized the person who startled you.

“Fucking hell Coco! You scared the shit out of me!”

“What are you doing?” He repeated himself, and you were shocked when you noticed his voice didn’t carry its usually venom.

He almost sounded… nice.

Taken back, it took you a few seconds to respond, “Oh, um. I couldn’t sleep, and I heard this really pretty sound, so I wanted to check out was it was. And now that I say it out loud, I realize that that’s the opening scene from every camping horror movie ever, so that was probably super dumb on my part so-”

“I get it. You can stop rambling now.” The male interrupted you before sighing. “It was the call of a tilqua, they’re nocturnal so you don’t hear them during the day.”

“They’re a type of bird,” he continued after seeing your blank face.

“Oh! Cool! Uh, thanks for telling me.”

It fell to an awkward silence after that. Neither of you saying anything and avoiding looking at each other. You shifted your weight foot to foot as the painful quiet continued for another minute.

Not able to take it any longer, you blurted out, “Why are you being so cordial with me all of the sudden?”

You really should have just kept your damn mouth shut because, almost instantly, his entire demeanor toward you changed. He flinched at your question, as if it awoke him a trance. Then, he narrowed his eyes, any hint of warmth they might’ve had was now gone.

“I’m not being nice to you. I was on watch and saw someone leaving camp. I came to check why.” His voice was void of any emotion.

“I… but you... the sound-”

“It’s your fault,” he talked over you, his tone now carrying anger.

“Wh-what? What’s my fault? I haven’t done anything.”

You saw his hand descend to grip the handle of his dagger. Shit. You’d annoyed him, and you didn’t even know how or why.

“Just go back to camp. Go lay down next to Chim, and go to sleep already,” he said through his teeth, hand squeezing the dagger.

Not wanting to be around such an aggravating person anymore, you found yourself following his demand by promptly marching past him, making sure to bump into him as you did. He growled as your shoulder checked his but didn’t retaliate further.

You couldn’t believe it. The audacity of that male! He was the one who had followed you like some creeper. You let out a quiet scream of frustration as your stomped through the forest back to the camp and did exactly what he told you to do.

You woke up to Jimin gently shaking you and saying that it was time to get your ass up.

You moaned. “Mmmmmm-kay Slim Jim, just give me fi-“

“I swear if you’re about to say five more minutes…”

“-ive more minutes.” You rolled over and tugged the blanket closer to your chin.

You vaguely heard Jimin say something about not being sorry when, out of nowhere, a heavy weight plopped down on top of you, making you grunt from the impact.

“Slim Jim, I will personally shave your head if you don’t get off me!”

“Are you always this grumpy in the morning?” A deep voice that was definitely not Jimin’s murmured in your ear.

Cracking an eye open, you saw that it was Tae who had jumped on you. His handsome face was squished against yours and his long limbs were wrapped around your curled-up body. Seeing your eyes open, he gave you his signature boxy smile, which you returned with no hesitation. You couldn’t bring yourself to be mad at the guy when he looked so damn adorable.

You accepted your defeat. “Alright, alright. I’ll get up, but you gotta get the hell off me first.”

He immediately scrambled up, pulling you vertical with him. He gave you a big hug that lifted you off your feet before setting you down and skipping away to talk with Jungkook. You averted your eyes, not wanting to see the burgundy head’s glare this early in the morning.

You yawned and stretched your entire body. The sun was just beginning to peak out over the horizon and you were glad that you didn’t have a clock to see how hellaciously early it must’ve been. After gathering your belongings and shoving them into your backpack, you walked over to join the rest of the Saeni. Jin handed you what looked like an apple and tasted just as refreshing and sweet.

“Aren’t you going to apple-aud me for making sure you eat the most important meal of the day?”

You swallowed your bite before replying, “This is an apple?”

“Uh, yeah? What else would it be?”

Sorry for not knowing ya’ll had apples over here, damn.

“And what about my joke!? None of you appreciate peak humor! Ugh, you let me down Y/N.”

Before you could compliment his atrociously great dad joke, the Saeni walked away in exaggerated disappointment. At least you hoped it was exaggerated.

Lifting your shoulders in a shrug, you continued munching on the tasty, green fruit as you watched Jimin join Tae and Jungkook’s conversation. You had to admit that if you weren’t aware of who these people were to Jimin, you would have been feeling just a wee bit neglected. Your best friend had been spending more time speaking with the Saeni than with you. Granted, he always checked in with you to make sure you were doing okay, but he hadn’t really talked to you. But, you couldn’t be upset at him. He was probably just taking the time to catch up with everyone since it had been about nine months since seeing them last. Plus, you did sort of invite yourself onto the trip, so you were just happy to be here. You had also been getting to know Tae and Hoseok more, since the two of them walked beside you most of the time. They were both loud and eccentric, but they had kind souls. You really enjoyed talking with them and they loved hearing your stories about Jimin on Earth.

Just as you took the last bite of apple, Namjoon called you over. Tossing the core behind a tree to give a forest animal its own breakfast, you hurried over to the tall male who handed you your two daily petals. Tossing them into your mouth to dissolve, your body momentarily froze as the experience of consuming them together hit you in full force. It was almost overwhelming, but once it passed and your vision cleared, you gave Namjoon a smile and wave before bounding over to Hoseok who was leaning against a tree. Seconds later, Tae joined the two of you, thankfully without a certain coconut-headed asshat.

You had been walking for around three hours. Three hours of stepping around trees, leaping over logs, and being the only damn person making a sound as you stepped over foliage. Three hours before finally giving in and voicing the question you had been dying to ask.

“Do you guy carry around hair dye or does Yoongi color your hair with magic?”

When the Saeni striding next to you gave a look of confusion you expanded your question. “Well, you both have dyed hair so how do you maintain it in the field? Doesn’t it wash out? Or sweat out?

“Our hair isn’t dyed Y/N.”

“What? But you have grey hair, Tae! And Hoseok, yours is silver white! You’re not old enough to have grey or white hair!” Your eyes widened as a possibility you hadn’t considered came to you. “Oh my gosh. Are you guys old geezers? Do Saeni age differently than humans?”

Tae snickered at your panicked tone and you went to smack his shoulder, but he easily evaded your hand.

“Okay first off, can you please stop calling me Hoseok? It’s so weird to have someone use my real name.” The male himself asked.

“Uh sure, but you told me that’s your name, so I don’t know what else to call you?” You winced as your foot snapped yet another twig on the forest floor.

“Just call me Hobi, little scorja. Secondly, like Tae said, we don’t dye our hair. None of us do. It’s all natural, baby.”

“All natural my ass. Yoongi has mint-blue hair! That shit at natural, honey.”

At the mention of Yoongi’s name, Hobi’s eyes twitched over to the Saeni and faintly smiled.

Tae then filled in for Hobi since he was distracted. “Yeah, and Chim has orange hair and Namjoon’s got yellow eyes. We’re all born with it, little scorja. Our eye and hair color come from our birth season.

“Hobi, Jin, and I were all born when Opitax had control, so we have winter-esque features, hence the grey and white hair.

Chim and Joonie were during Keoth’s months, so they have autumn coloring.

Kookie has Vebah’s summer tones. And Yoongi is-”

“Ilto. Spring.” Hobi returned to the discussion.

“Hold up.” You raised your hand to emphasize your words. “Jimin had black hair when we were kids though.”

“Oh yeah! I remember when he first showed up, we all though he was an Opitax baby.” Tae laughed while giving Hobi a nudge with his elbow.

“He dyed his hair black to blend in with humans. I’m guessing that vibrant orange is not a normal color for your people, especially kids.”

You looked up to where Jimin was walking with Namjoon and Yoongi, his apricot tresses standing out among the greenery of the forest. Those same tresses that had just showed up at the end of summer one year and never went away. You always inquired how he got his dark roots to never pop up and he would give you a sly smile in return every time. You had thought he was just keeping his superb dyeing technique a secret, but apparently, the only secret was that it was his natural hair.

“And to answer that last part,” Hobi continued, “we age the same as humans do.”

“Well… that’s a relief,” you said as you tilted your head up to catch a patch of sunlight filtering through the leaves.

The conversation died, but it was a comfortable silence. Unlike last night with Jungkook. As the three of you hiked on, Tae would occasionally point out a flower or plant he thought you would find pretty and Hobi would advise you to be more careful when you stumbled over some obstacle. Overall, though, you let the forest do most of the talking. You could slightly hear Namjoon, Yoongi, and your Slim Jim making conversation ahead of you as well as Jin complaining to Jungkook behind you. As you grabbed a hold of a tree trunk to swing yourself around it, a strong gust of wind blew past you, causing your hair to go wild. Blowing the pieces out of your face, you glimpsed Tae’s feather earring swaying in the wind.

“Okay another question, please don’t hate me. Why do you all have ear piercings? They look badass, don’t get me wrong, but couldn’t they be a liability in a fight?”

“How could they be a liability?” Hobi answered your question with a question.

You explained that they could get caught on something or their enemy could yank on them or rip them out if they got close enough.

Both Saeni let out a laugh before Hobi said, “That may be true, but I highly doubt it would happen. Especially our enemies yanking on them.”

“We actually wear them to symbolize what kind of fighter we are!” Tae added as hopped over a fallen log.

“Huh?” You opted to go beneath the fallen tree, briefly pausing to curiously look at what seemed like a black hand print on the bark.

“Feather for archers like me. Metal for swords, daggers, and knives like Hobi, Kookie, and Jin. Dark beads for blunt weapons like Namjoon and his mace, and Yoongi has bone for magic users!”

“That’s what they’re for!? I thought they were just some Saeni fashion statement. Don’t they sort of… give you guys away?”

Hobi snorted as he swatted a branch out of his face. “If the weapons literally strapped to our backs don’t give us away I don’t think our ‘fashion statements’ will be the thing to do so.”

His sassy remark caused you to fake pout. They cooed at you, poking at your cheeks and sides until you giggled at their antics. Pleased they had you back to smiling, they dropped their hands and moved back to a respectful distance.

“That reminds me, I need to give Chim his!” Tae suddenly gasped out.

“Give him his what?”

“His earrings! He’s an archer too, but he leaves his earrings with me when…” He was gone before he finished his sentence, running up to where Jimin was.

You blinked at his rapid departure. For a strict, “battle-trained soldier” he sure was in a world of his own sometimes.

Thankfully, the dagger and knife enthusiast next to you finished for him. “Chim gives them to Tae so that he doesn’t lose them on Earth.”

So Jimin was an archer? Damn, you’d love to see him knock an arrow back, you bet he’d look sexy as heck. You turned your head to ask Hobi how good Jimin was, but you saw that his eyes were focused on where Tae had run up to. Focused on one Saeni up there in particular. Not the first time you had caught him staring at the other male. You had noticed that Hobi’s eyes went to find the other Saeni whenever his there was a pause in conversation. Or he would try to fight back his smile when the other’s name was mentioned. He did it so many times during dinner last night that you were about to smash their faces together and say your godly work was done. But for now…

“Does he know?”

“Hmm?” He replied still staring at the other male.

“Yoongi. Does he know?”

“What!?” He squeaked as he whipped his head to you. He coughed to try to return his voice to its normal pitched. “Ah, I mean what are you talking about?”

You smirked to yourself as you saw his face grow warm, but he obviously wasn’t ready to talk about it. “Never mind. It’s nothing.”

He visibly relaxed at your words. You wished you could help him out somehow, but it wasn’t your place to interfere. Especially given your own shitty situation. Unrequited love was quite the bitch, so you truly hoped that that wasn’t the case for Hobi.

You sent him an understanding smile and the two of you walked on.

Namjoon finally called it for the day when the group came across a wide river. The roar of the white rapids was almost deafening as they churned the water and interrupted the otherwise peaceful landscape.

You, Tae, and Hobi stayed at the designated campsite, watching Papa Jin prepare the evening’s meal, while the rest of the boys went to scout a calmer part of the river to wash off in.

Currently, you and Tae were doing your best to annoy the other Saeni as you tossed small nuts at them. You laughed as Jin shook his knife at you in a threat. Calling his bluff, you simply stuck your tongue out in return.

“Exia give me strength,” the eldest Saeni muttered, turning back to his pot.

“You were already a brat, Tae, but with her… aish. You two are the worst.” Hobi tried his best to sound serious, but the smile tugging at the corner of his lips destroyed any hope he had.

You fell into Tae as your giggles consumed your body, his arms wrapping around you and holding you close. As your lungs calmed down, you heard footsteps approaching.

“Thank Illai you guys found someplace to wash off. I need to get away from these two tyrants.” You saw Jin point to you and your partner in crime.

Ignoring his comment, you turned your head to great the returning Saeni, but your hello died in your throat.

Namjoon, Yoongi, and Jimin were in the process of putting their shirts on and you caught sight of their defined muscles. You slowly closed your mouth and gulped. You’d obviously seen Jimin without a shirt on plenty of times before, but it hit on a whole different level to see him semi-shirtless and wet.

Not to mention that both Yoongi and Namjoon clearly worked out too. It was… a lot of take in. You didn’t think you could withstand any more pure, male hotness, but the gods of Illain must have wanted you to suffer because Jungkook decided right then would be a wonderful time to show up. Completely sans shirt.

All you could do was look at him as he whined to his hyungs about something that was absolutely no concern to you at that moment. Your eyes took in his physique that was muscular but still lean. The strength of his biceps was evident as he waved his arms at the others, causing the muscles to flex. You softly gasped when you noticed that his stomach was so cut that he had a freaking eight pack. Eight! Your eyes trailed lower and… oh my…

His. Fucking. Thighs. Due to the dampness of his skin, the fabric of his pants clung to his legs, effortlessly showcasing the prominent muscles. Every step he took had them bulging and you swear you almost fainted from the sight. You couldn’t tear your eyes away as you squeezed your own thighs together.

H-holy fuck. Coco was freaking ripped.

“Why is she staring at Kookie?” You heard Tae whisper to someone.

Your eyes widened and before you could look away, Jungkook’s head swiveled to you and saw that your eyes were locked on him.

Fucking hell. Why Tae!?

To your utter shock though, was that instead of bitching at you, he blushed and ran to hide behind a tree. As he yeeted himself out of there, you caught sight of a tattoo on his upper, middle back.

“Why’d you say that out loud? You know he gets shy!” Jin lightly smacked the offending Saeni on his arm.

“Hey, the little scorja was practically drooling! We were all thinking it, I just happened to be the one t- Ow!”

You gave him a smack of your own on his leg while your cheeks heated up in embarrassment.

“That’s not nice!” He complained.

“Neither is voicing when someone is checking someone else out, Tae.” Namjoon pointed out as he sat down next to the fire.

Completely humiliated, you hid your face in your hands. Although, you did peek through your fingers to gauge Jimin’s reaction. The boy was folded in half, cracking up as his eyes squished closed.

Stupid cute squishy eyes.

You knew it was hopeless, but a small part of you had wished he’d be just a tiny bit jealous. Clearly, that was not the case.

Attempting to change the mortifying subject, you coughed before saying, “Uh, I didn’t know Coco had a tattoo.”

“What!? That kid has a tattoo!?” Jin shrieked in alarm before catching Yoongi’s “are you serious?” expression. “Oh, you must mean our draeva marks.”

“Drai-Draiva marks?”

“Drae-va.” Jin pronounced slowly for you. “Saeni are all connected to Illain. This connection can sometimes be accessed and converted to magic by certain individuals like Yoongi. Majority, however, only have the standard draeva marks.”

You didn’t notice the smiles from both Jimin’s and Tae’s faces dropping since you were transfixed on Jin’s words. “Each Saeni is born at the same time a tree begins to take root. These trees are called draeva, though they can be any species. At seven years old, we feel the connection emerge in our souls and we feel a pull to that tree.”

As he talked, you noticed Jungkook come out of hiding, thankfully fully clothed this time. He went to sit next to Tae and put his arm around the Saeni’s shoulders as Namjoon started to elaborate on the subject. He said that every Saeni goes on a journey to find their draeva when the connection is established. Once the tree is found, the connection permanently takes root in the Saeni’s soul when they rest their hand on the trunk. The Saeni’s hand print is forever embellished on the bark, and in return, the Saeni gets a mark that replicates the tree’s inner rings. Every seven years, another ring appears, and the mark provides them with heightened senses and reflexes as well as the ability to feel the state of the draeva and surrounding area.

As you absorbed the information, you realized that the mark you saw earlier on the fallen tree must’ve been a Saeni’s hand print. You wondered what happens to the Saeni when their tree collapses like that. And although you were delighted to have learned more about Saeni culture, something jumped to the forefront of your thoughts.

“Slim Jim, you don’t have one.”

He looked down at your comment. “I don’t, um, I haven’t found my draeva.” His eyebrows pulled together, and his voice was shaking slightly. “I probably don’t even have one since I’m not fully Saeni.”

“Shit. Jimin, I’m sorry I didn-”

“You didn’t know, it’s okay.” He sent you a small smile that didn’t reach his eyes as Jin reached over to give his shoulder a squeeze.

Fuck, I lied. Your squishy eyes aren’t stupid. Bring them back.

“For the second night in a row, people are trying to sleep and you’re keeping them awake with all your emotions.” Yoongi grumbled.

The magic user had been quiet throughout the entire ordeal. Until now. You hadn’t even noticed that he’d gone straight to the fire to lay down on the ground. Though you were beginning to recognize that was standard behavior for the mint-haired Saeni. When he did finally speak up, he kept his usual, annoyed tone, but you could tell he was trying to lighten the atmosphere in his own, slightly questionable way. Trying to distract Jimin from his sadness.

Tae shot to his feet, preaching to Yoongi something along the lines of how emotions are what connect people together and yadda yadda yadda. 

You watched as Jimin’s face lifted in amusement and you silently thanked Mr. Sparkle Hands.

Once again, you were having a difficult time finding sleep. Or rather, sleep refused to find you because you’d tried every position and trick you could think of. Expelling the air in your lungs in a fast manner, you rose to your legs and shuffled over to where Tae was on watch.

He gave you a big smile as your approached, but it morphed into a frown. “You know I love talking to you, Y/N, but you should really get some sleep.”

“Trust me, I wish I could, but ya girl’s got insomnia.”

He hummed to express his empathy before grabbing your hand. “Well, if we’re going to talk, let’s walk the perimeter so we don’t wake the others.”

Waffling your fingers with his, the two of you started walking the circumference of the camp, far enough that nobody would hear you, but close enough to keep an eye on the area.

The two of you had been circling the camp for a decent amount of time, discussing absolute nonsense such as why you considered Steak and Shake fries to be on the bottom of the french fry totem pole.

“They’re skinny little shoestring fries! I like my fried potatoes to be girthy, you know. Give me some thick, crinkle cuts instead.”

As you argued in favor of girthy fries to someone who had never had one, Yoongi appeared out of the shadows. His face was not very happy, and you wondered what was wrong.

“Uhhh, hey Yoongi! Do you have insomnia too?”

He stopped and took you in with a judgmental face. “No. Only the small-minded get insomnia.”

“Oh, piss off.”

Disregarding your request, he turned to address Tae next to you.

“Hey! What are you doing? I wake up to take over watch and I don’t even find you at your post!”

Tae rolled his eyes. “Hyung, you know I can still see everything just fine from here, there’s no need t- Shit!”

Yoongi must have seen it a split-second before Tae had because he was the one that knocked you out of the way when the giant, black shadow of a thing came charging out of the dark.

You hit the ground hard with a grunt, scraping your forearm against a rock. Rolling over, you screamed Yoongi’s name as you saw him get tackled by the creature, the blue glow of an almost-finished spell fading as he went down. All you could do was watch in horror as wild jaws snapped at his head and claws raked down his body. Suddenly, an arrow thumped into the thing’s neck, but it only growled and continued ravaging the mint-haired Saeni who struggled, and failed, to push it off.

Hearing Tae curse, you looked in his direction and saw him running at the beast. He held his bow in both hands and defiantly yelled as he swung down. You gaped at you watched the sharp edge of his bow cut straight through the creature’s neck, causing the head to decapitate and the body to sag. The head hit the ground and rolled away from its previous owner until it came to a halt beside you.

You stared at it, blood still pumping out of the severed end in thick spurts. Midnight-colored skin that seemed rough and leather-like stretched across its skull. A thin, purple tongue hung limply out of its mouth, which was filled with rows and rows of teeth that looked like needles. You just stared at the gruesome head until you heard Tae calling Yoongi’s name.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

You wobbled to your feet and stumbled as fast as you could over to the Saeni, doing your best to ignore the headless body as Tae heaved it off Yoongi. You exhaled in relief when you heard Yoongi’s low voice responding to Tae and saw his pink eyes open and alive. Your reprieve was short-lived, however, as you lowered your eyes to Yoongi’s arms and torso.

They were… not in good shape. Deep gashes were twisted all around his arms, pouring out tiny rivers of blood that soaked the ground beneath him. Luckily, he had his main armor on, protecting his vital organs, but the creature had still found an open chink with its claws. You felt a tear run down your cheek as you saw where it had dug into the flesh on his left side. He was breathing weakly and his chest was spasming as Tae moved his hands to press against the wound.

You dropped to your knees and whispered Yoongi’s name, your voice and hands trembling as you took in his damaged body.

There was just so much blood. It was everywhere. Your vision was only red, red, red.

What do I do? What do I do!? Oh god…

“Y/N. Y/N! Y/N!”

You broke out of your crimson-filled trance.

“Y-yes?” Your chin quivered.

“I need you to go back to camp and wake up the others, alright?” You could tell he was trying to speak as calmly as possible to not panic you further. “I need you to bring Hobi back, so he can help me move him. Can you do that for me, little scorja?”

You nodded as confidently as you could before shooting to your feet and sprinting back to camp, the image of Yoongi being mauled and his wrecked body burned into your brain.

Somewhere else, hundreds of miles away from a frantic you, an injured Yoongi, and a shocked kiela, was a male sitting inside of a large tent, which was erected within his own encampment. Most of his face was shrouded in darkness, only the bridge of his nose and peak of his cheekbones were visible in the light of a few burning candles. He looked up from the map spread out before him when someone entered his tent. The wolves beside the male lifted their heads in attention at the intrusion.

“Sir? We’ve gotten word that he is back in Illain.”

The three wolves regarded the subjugate with aggressive eyes, causing him to gulp in fear.

“Anything else?” The shadowed male inquired.

“Their magic user was attacked by a lupinx.” He replied without looking away from the massive canines.

The male leaned back in his chair, a sinister smile creeping onto his face while his eyes twinkled in satisfaction.

“Perfect. Tell them to proceed with the plan.”

You felt horrible as you watched five of the Saeni train the next morning. You hadn’t been able to defend yourself last night, and Yoongi had paid for your weakness. You fisted your hands and dug your nails into your palm.

You couldn’t forget how pale he had been. How odd it was to see such a complexion smeared with bright crimson.

You couldn’t forget the Saeni’s faces, who were already on their feet by the time you’d arrived, when you stammered out what had happened in choppy, broken sentences.

You couldn’t forget the way Hobi’s expression had gone from concerned to utterly terrified in an instant.

Nor the way he’d rushed over to you, eyes unnerved as he grabbed your arm. You had wanted to whimper when he clawed into the sensitive skin around your scraped forearm. He begged you to tell him where Yoongi was, and without even telling him to follow, you had turned and run back to the bloody scene.

You loosened the pressure on your hands, but a throbbing remained where your nails had almost punctured small crescents into the soft skin. You sniffled as you observed Jimin practicing with Tae’s bow while the grey-haired owner critiqued his technique. Following the sounds of ringing metal, you shifted and saw Jungkook and Jin sparing with their swords. And behind them was Hobi, who was throwing his blades at a tree with much more force than was likely necessary. Your eyes burned as you watched them.

Expelling all the air in your lungs, you hung your head. You were so thankful that Yoongi would be okay. He as currently resting back at the camp with Namjoon looking after him.

But what if it had been more serious? What if he had died because you had needed to be protected?

What did you expect when you came to a new world with a bunch of warriors? To just skip by joyously and never be in danger?

You felt pathetic. You were a liability to the entire group. All you did was get in the way. Feeling a lump grow in your throat, you swiveled and walked away from the clashing of swords and thumping of arrows. When you could no longer hear them, you let out a frustrated roar and punched the rough trunk of the nearest tree. Your knuckles scraped against the bark, opening bleeding wounds. You brought your right hand close to your face to inspect the torn skin before shaking it out and punching the tree again and again and again, each hit eliciting an increasingly louder yell from deep inside you. Finally, your legs gave out and you slumped down while cradling your bleeding and splinter-filled hand. You felt exhausted.

“Your form is terrible.”

Raising your gaze from your damaged hand, you saw the last person you wanted to see.

“Excuse me?”

“I’m just saying that your form is completely fucked.”

Why the hell did he have to come berate you on your shitty punching technique. Was there anything you could do around this guy that wouldn’t have him talking down to you? And why was he even here? Shouldn’t he be back with the others?

On a normal day, you would’ve given him a smartass’ response. But this was not a normal day. You felt like crap and this was the cherry on top of your self-depreciation milkshake. Your breathing went from strained to erratic and you felt the wall barely holding yourself together start to crumble. Taking a deep breath and closing your eyes, you tried to shut Jungkook out in a last-ditch effort to keep yourself together.

“Your hand is thrashed because you can’t even throw a punch properly.”

Welp.

“Why!?” You screamed at him. “Why do you hate me!? What did I do to you!?”

You started to cry. You were so overwhelmed. “You said it was my fault, but what was my fault? I’ve never done shit to you!”

Truly crying at this point, your breathing was now stuttered and gasping. You lowered your head to try to hide your vulnerable state. As sobs wracked your body, you wrapped your arms around your torso in a desperate attempt to find comfort.

Not taking pity on you, Jungkook responded in a vicious tone, “You want to know what you did? You’re the reason my kiela is broken.”

“W-what?” You lifted your head to look at him through your tears.

His right hand grasped on to his ruby-hilted dagger and his other was clenched tightly.

“We’re supposed to stay together. We’re not supposed to leave each other, but Jimin does. He always leaves! And why? Because. Of. You. He doesn’t stay because you’re on Earth and he doesn’t want to leave his precious best friend, so he leaves us, his brothers, his family, instead.”

“What-I-Jungkook, I never asked him to do that. I didn’t even know you guys existed.” You defended yourself, but it came out weak.

“My family is never whole because of you. I almost lost my hyung last night because of you. It’s all because of you. Because of a stupid little human.” He spat the words out.

He was breathing heavily as he towered over you. “It’s. All. Your. Fault.”

Your heart ached in pain as what he said fully resonated with you. He was hurting because of you. Because Jimin would rather live on Earth, would rather abandon his kiela for most of the year, partly so that he could keep you in his life. You felt your stomach drop at the thought and you gripped your arms hard, curling into yourself again. You felt so frustrated, so lost, and so… human.

You’ve been hurting his family and you hadn’t even known. The others might not have been so up front about it, but they must have been hurting too. They had to be. A new wave of tears erupted over your cheeks as you considered how much the Saeni must despise you. How much they must be pretending to be fine with you for Jimin’s sake. You continued to sob as your mind shifted to think of how you’d been keeping Jimin away from them. You’d been keeping your best friend and the person you loved away from the most important people in his life.

And Yoongi…

“Kook! Y/N!”

You hastily rose to your feet and stepped back from Jungkook while you wiped your tears away, hissing as you moved your injured hand. It was a futile effort, though, since you knew there was still evidence in your meek disposition and red, puffy eyes.

“Hey hyung,” Jungkook said without looking away from you, but he stiffened and turned to his brother when he noticed that Tae was panicking. “What’s wrong?”

Gasping for air, he looked at you and Jungkook, obviously taking note of his heaving chest and your red eyes, but he didn’t comment on them.

Instead he said in a stressed, frantic tone, “They got him, Kook! They got Chim!”

You were pacing back and forth in front of Yoongi, who was laying down on his mat. You ran your hands through your hair, the crappy self-wrap job you did on your knuckles catching on the strands. You gripped fistfuls of your hair and yanked at the roots in frustration.

“Y/N. I swear to Exia if you pace in front of one more ti-“

“Yoongi! They’ve been gone for so long! What if something happened? What if they’re hurt?

“Okay, firstly, it’s only been like twenty minutes, so you can calm the fuck down.” He rolled his eyes. “Secondly, as Tae would put it, we’re BTS Saeni. This is literally what we do for a living… so yet again, you can calm the fuck down.”

You stopped in the middle of taking your next step as you considered his statements. Deciding to agree with him, you placed your foot down, but stopped moving around.

“Fine! Fine. But I want it to be known that I hate having to just sit here and wait.”

“You’re not sitting, and you didn’t have to say that. It was already obvious.”

You glared at the Saeni but your eyes softened after taking in his wrapped arms and torso. The bandages didn’t seem to have any blood staining them, so either they were freshly changed or Saeni’s bodies healed extremely fast. You still dropped your head in sorrow at his injured body.

“I-I’m sorry Yoongi. For what happened. It was my fault.”

He scoffed at your words. “It wasn’t your fault, idiot. Stop blaming yourself.”

“I really don’t know whether to take that as an insult or not, and I’m not sure I believe you, but… okay.”

Sitting down on the ground next to him, you thought back to the events that occurred after Tae had shown up.

---

“They got Chim!”

While you asked Tae what he meant, Jungkook had immediately reached out to grab ahold of the other Saeni’s shoulders.

“Where?” His demand was filled with anger, but it was controlled.

Contrary to how he’d been a minute ago.

“Chim saw you leave to follow, uh, Y/N.” He glanced at you. “So, he followed you¸ Kook. That’s the last I saw him.”

He stepped away from Jungkook, causing the latter’s hands to fall off his shoulders. You had never seen the usually aloof Saeni so serious before. It worried you.

“Namjoon came running over a few minutes later saying he saw them dragging Chim away unconscious.”

“You’re telling me that Namjoon saw them… AND DIDN’T DO ANYTHING!?”

You were so goddamn confused at what was going on. All you knew was that someone apparently hurt and kidnapped your Slim Jim.

“Can someone please tell me what in the fuck is going on!?”

Ignoring you, Tae said, “Jungkook, come on, use your coconut head for a minute.”

You would have snickered at his use of your term, but it definitely was not the time or the place to do so.

“He was by himself and he didn’t know how many there were. You know he did the right thing to get us all together to get him back,” Tae continued.

Without another word, the Saeni turned and started running in the direction of camp, Jungkook following without missing a beat. You stared, dumbfounded, for a second before sprinting after them.

Your lungs were burning by the time you caught up with everyone at the camp. Your burst through the trees and abruptly stopped due to the five standing Saeni having their weapons drawn and pointed at you. You blanched and stammered out that it was just you, raising your hands to show you were unarmed for good measure. When they recognized your face, they collectively sighed and lowered their weapons.

“Sorry Y/N. We’re just a little on edge right now,” Namjoon apologized as he returned his mace over his shoulder.

Giving him a timid, but understanding nod, you replied, “Noted. Um, so can someone finally explain to me what happened?”

It was Yoongi, still laying down to recover, who spoke up. “Some very bad people took Chim.”

“Yeah, I got that much, but… but why?”

Hobi filled in. “We have an idea as to why, but we aren’t completely sure.”

So that was absolutely not informative. Thanks.

“Okay? Well, what do we do now? We gotta get him back!”

“You will do nothing, except stay here and look after Yoongi. The rest of us will get him back.” Jin firmly said.

You tried to protest, but one look at Yoongi and your breakdown from earlier came rushing back to you. Taking a deep breath, you slowly nodded your consent as you exhaled. Then, you asked how they were going to get Jimin back.

Surprisingly, it was Jungkook who answered, “Just leave it to us. You do your job by looking after Yoongi and we’ll do ours.”

Again, that wasn’t very informative.

Namjoon backed up his words. “Honestly, it would just waste time explaining it all, so like Kook said, leave it to us. Trust us.”

“Alright,” you hesitantly agreed, “I trust you guys, so just… just please bring him back.”

“We aren’t sure where they took him yet, so we don’t know how long we’ll be gone,” Namjoon informed you as he glanced to Hobi. “Since Yoongi shouldn’t access magic right now, Hobi will cast a glamour over you two in case anyone is still lingering around.”

Hobi can do magic too!?

Seeing your bewildered expression as he came up to you, Hobi sent you a small smile. He raised his hands and they began to glow a blinding white while he muttered under his breath. As the light faded, he stepped back.

“Yoongi and I grew up together,” he explained softly. “I can tell you more about it later, but for now the short version is that he’s taught me a few things about harnessing Illain’s energy. I can’t manipulate it to his extent, but I can do some basic things like this.”

“Well, you better come back to tell me the long version.” You demanded through your shock before turning to the others. “You all better. With Jimin.”

They each gave you some sort of acknowledgement before running off into the trees. You watched their backs disappear one by one behind the foliage, except for one. Instead of leaving with the rest, Tae jogged up to you, gave you a hug, and whispered into your ear, “We’ll be okay, little scorja. And we’ll bring Chim back safe and sound, I promise.”

With that, he turned and sprinted away to catch up to the others.

---

You sighed, praying that Tae would be able to keep that promise. Looking at Yoongi resting underneath the blanket covering him, you had to let out a dry chuckle.

“Well, since you’re hurt, at least you have an actual excuse to lay around now.”

You were lucky he couldn’t use a lot of magic right then, because his face told you that comment might’ve pushed him to use it on you in a not so pleasant way.

“And why do you think I’m tired all the damn time?”

“I thought you were just a natural slug.”

“Partly true, but I’m exhausted from making those petals for you. They’re not big, but they require a lot of fucking energy to make.”

“…Oh.”

“Yeah. ‘Oh.’ So, don’t call me out for wanting to res-”

He didn’t finish his sentence as his entire body perked to attention.

“What?”

He quickly and sternly hushed you, bringing a finger first to his lips, then to his ear. Telling you to listen.

And then you heard it. Or, you should say them. Voices. Ones you didn’t recognize and neither did Yoongi, it seemed.

Briefly, you panicked before remembering that Hobi had put a glamour over the two of you, so you were essentially invisible to the outside eye.

You sent Yoongi a questioning look and he gave you a serious one in return. He opened his mouth to say something, but snapped it closed when the voices grew loud and three armed strangers appeared around a tree.

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