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[def-initely-soul]

Burn The Witch {5}

pairing:  yoongi x reader (f.)

genre: supernatural; angst; mystery; magical society AU; magicals!AU

rating: PG-15

warnings: violence; emotional abuse; blood; bullying; mentions of murder; mature language; sexual themes

words: 4.2k

summary:

↠ {a boy who keeps running away, a girl who can’t seem to no matter how much she tries and a series of murders caught all in between of the cracks spread through what appears as a quiet little town…} ↞

or alternatively, not everything is always what it seems

previous part: {4}

.

.

It’s another few days before you move on with your plan. 

It’s already weird enough to visit Xefoto’s only club on a Tuesday night, even more so when you and Yoongi aren’t even remotely dressed for the occasion. 

This is the place Dean usually hangs around and strikes his “business deals”, so you’re bound to run into him here tonight. Eventually. 

As to how you know this is Dean’s spot... well, that’s another story. 

“Okay, it’s been more than an hour and a half and still no sign of this... “Dean” guy. Just say you wanted to take me out for a drink and be done with it!” Yoongi’s eyes are full of mirth, as he rests sideways at the bar.  

You turn on your stool to face him. “I told you, he’s really discreet about these things, you can’t just expect him to barge in and start asking around if someone wants to cut a deal with him,” you explain, ignoring his teasing attempt, before your eyes scan the room for the millionth time. “We got to wait, make sure he’s up for a conversation.” 

Yoongi’s chill demeanour dissipates, and he groans, leaning his upper body on the bar. “And how legit is this... werewolf guy?” he utters the word with great difficulty, and you can’t help but look at him disapprovingly. 

“Don’t tell me you’re one of those vampires that still believe in that “mortal enemies” bullshit...”  Yoongi groans at the obvious disdain in your voice. 

“Well, no but still... they’re werewolves,” he continues, though his voice contains significantly less confidence than before. 

“So?” you raise an eyebrow. 

“So, they’re beasts,” he shrugs his shoulders, turning his gaze away in what seems like an avoidance tactic, but you have none of it. 

“Once a month,” you observe, and Yoongi rolls his eyes at your persistence to not drop the subject. 

“Still, they’re dangerous...” 

“To whom? Humans? In that case we’re all dangerous to humans,” you retaliate, taking a sip from your drink, and Yoongi presses his lips in a thin line, clearly not having put that much thought to it before. 

“Yes, but none of us loses control like werewolves do. You must admit, a werewolf out of control isn’t just dangerous to humans but to magicals too...” he casts a glance your way, certain that would be the thing that makes you reconsider but you shake your head. 

“Are you telling me that when a vampire goes into bloodlust he’s not as dangerous and catastrophic to humans and magicals?” you answer back defiantly and Yoongi groans tiredly. 

“Oh, come on that’s different... A vampire going into bloodlust isn’t happening every month...” he explains, rubbing the base of his taut neck and you have to remind yourself to redirect your gaze. 

“No, it may not, but it’s effects are just as severe, or worse, than a werewolf transforming. Plus, werewolves know their transformation is coming so they take the appropriate measures each full moon, to not harm anyone. Can you say the same for vampires going into bloodlust?” you reply calmly and when his eyes widen, you know you have him. 

“I... No, I can’t, but still, it’s not the same...” he struggles to justify his reasoning but even in his ears, his retaliation is weak. 

“Why? Because one doesn’t get a say in their transformation while the other feeds on human blood to survive? That analogy isn’t doing your species any justice now, is it?” this time your words leave him shocked and confused, failing to give you an answer.  

Something finally shifts in his gaze, and you wonder if you managed to at least make him see things from a different point of view. 

Yoongi swallows, still taken aback before he turns to face the bar and takes a sip from his drink. You watch with mild interest as he seems to ponder over your words, eyebrows knitted together, surely struggling to digest something himself mustn’t have thought of before. 

“I...” he begins, his eyes stuck at the bottom of his glass, “I guess I’ve never thought about it like that... Wow, I sound like a douchebag,” he chuckles in disbelief at the end, his voice lowered in contemplation and almost shame. You didn’t expect him to change his mind immediately of course, but the fact that he even accepted your words for what they are, says an awful lot about his character. People tend to deny whatever doesn’t agree with their beliefs. He didn’t. 

Which makes you want to know more about him. As if you didn’t already. 

“You do...” you agree calmly, and he looks at you stunned for a moment. Before he sighs and turns to look at his drink with barely concealed disappointment. 

“But” you startle him once more, and his eyes find you again, black hair falling just above his eyes, framing them in a soft, innocent kind of way, “You’re aware about it. Which is the most I can say about other people, so that’s a start. It’s not even close to doing better but at least now you have a starting point. And you can do something about it.” 

Your words seem to shake something in him, and he hums in understanding. A soft, sheepish smile takes over his lips, showing his gratitude in a simple, discreet way. 

And then his smile turns into a teasing smirk. “You should be a professional life coach, that speech was very Tedtalk of you,” he teases with glinting eyes. You find yourself smiling at him, even though your groan. 

“I’m never saying anything to you, ever again...” you grumble, returning to your drink. 

Yoongi does the same. “Good luck with that...” he winks at you, and a groan breaks free from you throat just as your heart misses a beat. 

“Ugh, as soon as Dean arrives, I’m out of here.” 

“Isn’t he treating you right, doll?” 

The voice sounds right next to your ear, and you jump around. 

Only to see the man you came here looking for, staring at you with interest and a sinful smirk to match. 

Damn, you forgot how hot he was. 

Still, Dean’s arrival doesn’t faze you. Not like it does Yoongi (who almost spits out his drink from the heaviness of the newcomer’s voice). Instead, you look at the werewolf boy who looks like he enjoys what’s in front of him a little too much. 

“I’ll take care of you and maybe I’ll teach handsome here a thing or two if he’d like. I’m feeling naughty tonight...”  Dean’s eyes are soon upon Yoongi, drinking him in with appreciation, as one would look at a painting. Or dessert. 

Then he winks at him with all the confidence in the world and Yoongi sputters something that sound like he’s swearing. 

Although you’re sure his ears are turning red. 

“Actually, we’re here for something else-” you get interrupted by Dean, leaning over you. His face hovers above yours and one strand of hair falls across his forehead. 

“And here I thought you were back for seconds...” he whispers lowly, the timbre of his voice cascading down your spine, reminding you of things which are not appropriate for this particular conversation. 

You catch Yoongi faltering with the corner of your eye. But you don’t have your wits gathered to comment on his behaviour, too preoccupied with the man staring at you like he stared at Yoongi a moment earlier. 

You swallow the lump in your throat, ignoring his flaming eyes, trying to focus on the issue at hand. Yoongi keeps looking at you with caution, true to his promise of letting you do the talking, as his finger taps against his drink. 

“Nope. Not here for that...” you repeat, as if trying to convince yourself as well. You shake your head, trying to escape your sudden stupor and level Dean with a serious gaze. 

The werewolf boy raises an eyebrow. “None of you?” 

Yoongi coughs loudly and you put your question of it aside, to give Dean a negative shake of your head. 

He sighs dramatically as he drops his body against the bar, leisurely staring up at the ceiling. “Fine, I guess I’ll have to entertain myself differently... So, what’s it you’re really here for...?” he comments as he beckons the bartender over. 

Yoongi’s scrutinizing eyes keep following the other man, as he finishes the last of his drink. 

“We’re here because-” you begin to answer, but Dean interrupts you when the bartender arrives. 

“Ah, there you are. I’ll have a White Russian and- what were you drinking pretty boy?”  

It takes you a minute to realise he’s talking at Yoongi. You belatedly turn your attention to the vampire boy on the other side of you and you can’t help but notice the way his eyes remain stuck forward. 

Like if he stays still enough maybe Dean won’t see him. 

“It’s on me...” the werewolf boy says instead, very much seeing Yoongi through half-lidded eyes. Yoongi dares cast him a glance, only to see Dean biting his lip appreciatively. 

Yoongi grows redder than a bloody mary, returning his focus forward and you can’t help but feel curious. 

“No response? Well, then...” Dean shrugs as the bartender walks away with his order. 

You roll your eyes before attempting to, again, pick up his interest. 

“We’re here because we need you to find something for us...” you announce with a steady voice, and Dean looks at you. He looks somewhat bored now that he’s come to term with not having any of the two of you on his bed at the end of the night. 

“Doesn’t anyone, love?” he replies impassively, as his eyes wonder the now almost-full bar. But it seems his nonchalance has struck a chord in Yoongi’s demeanour. With a tired sigh, the vampire boy turns to at last talk to Dean. 

“We’re not talking about your “relaxing substances”. What we’re looking for is something a bit more arcane, and basically “forbidden” in this shitty town,” Yoongi hisses, his irritation palpable in the atmosphere and Dean raises an eyebrow at his sudden outburst. 

“Ah, so he speaks...” he comments dryly just as his drink arrives. Yoongi blinks before shaking his head and resuming his previous position, trying to appear as relaxed and calm as possible. 

Dean stares at him for another moment before, “Okay, I admit, you’ve piqued my interest. So, what is that “forbidden by Xefoto’s standards” thing you’re looking for?”. Then he takes a sip from his drink. 

“A book,” you reply instantly. 

Dean’s gaze meets your own this time. “I’m assuming it cannot be found in the public library...” 

You shake your head, and he sighs. 

“What kind of book are we talking about?” He inquiries. 

“A witch’s book,” you say, and he chuckles almost immediately. 

“Figured that much. What kind of a witch’s book?” 

What kind? There’s a lot?! 

Of course, there’s a lot! You can’t expect a witch to go around her life with only one book! 

“I...” you mumble, clearly unprepared for that type of question. The truth is you don’t know the answer. You never knew there were more than one book, so whatever you say now is bound to be wrong.  

Shame creeps up again, crawling up your spine. What kind of witch are you, not knowing there is more than one book?! 

“The apprentice’s guide.” 

Shock floods you and you turn at Yoongi, who’s just risen from his stool to look at Dean again. Dean honestly looks like his favourite dessert just arrived. 

You release a heavy breath, thankful that at least Yoongi knew what you were looking for. Though now it seems the two boys are locked into a starring match. 

Dean looks at Yoongi as if he’s ready to devour him, all heavy-lidded eyes and promising grins and you have to remind yourself to stay focused. 

Yoongi on the other hand looks at Dean with the air of calm confidence you’ve learned to pick up whenever he means business. His gaze is made of steel, staring at the werewolf boy perfectly still, willing him to challenge him just to see how far he can go. 

“Alright,” Dean replies after a while, setting his drink on the counter. “I’ll see what I can do...” 

Your eyes light up, and you jump out of your stool. “Really?” 

Dean sighs dramatically. “A deal’s a deal. I assume you’re prepared for the financial compensation...” he looks over at you with a raised eyebrow. 

You swallow your nervousness but nod either way. Truth is this will put a dump in your savings but it’s nothing they can’t handle. 

Dean hums, satisfied. “Alright. I’m gonna do my research, but you should expect it somewhere in the next two weeks.” 

“Great, thank you for helping,” Yoongi says, getting out of his stool to stand next to you. He levels his eyes with Dean in what seems to you only as a silent threat. 

Dean regards this only with a knowing smile. “I never back out of an interesting deal. Although...” he pauses to once again check out both of you. “My other offer still stands...” he continues as he leans over you once more. 

“I wouldn’t mind repeating that night sweetheart. Great things shouldn’t be done only once...” his eyes fall to your lips, and you have to remind yourself to breathe. His words wake up memories from this very bar from a year ago with stunning detail. 

Your cheeks redden, your pulse quickens and you’re pretty sure you feel something between your legs. As if merely his voice managed to remind you of the feeling his hands left on your skin. 

A cough brings you back to reality and you look towards the noise. Only to see Yoongi covering his mouth with his fist and looking over the crowd. 

Dean, of course, doesn’t miss the sound, the same lustful intention hiding in his eyes as he regards the vampire boy. “Of course, you’re invited as well pretty boy. We three would paint a stunning picture...” 

You want the ground to swallow you whole, trying to think of anything other than what Dean is insinuating. “We’re good, thank you,” you reply swiftly, trying to push a very stunned Yoongi backwards toward the exit. 

Dean’s smirk only grows at both of your flustered reactions. Then he raises his drink in a departing salute. 

And with that mental image in your head, you leave the bar.  

. 

. 

As you make your way back to “Selkie’s Place” for a rundown of your visit and a much-needed breather, you can’t help but think of how Yoongi reacted to Dean’s shameless behaviour. One might say the vampire boy wasn’t just angry at his advances. 

You can’t help but feel curious. 

You steal a look at his pensive figure, his eyes stuck at the road in front of him, just as the bar comes into view. 

“So...” you begin cautiously, causing Yoongi’s eyes to meet your own. “What do you think?” 

Yoongi takes in your question before, “He seemed legit. Willing to help and pretty cooperative,” he recounts in thought. “But I wouldn’t put it past him to go back on his word. We should tread lightly,” he finishes just as you pass the front gate. 

“Uh huh...” you nod dubiously, “but that’s not really what I’m asking about...” you reply calmly, opening the door to the pub. You try to tread the subject lightly, not really sure if Yoongi is up for that conversation with you. 

Yoongi stills for a second, eyes wide before, “then what are you asking about?”. His words are cautious but that same glint of mischievousness you’re used to, rises up from his voice. 

A wave of relief washes over you quickly, before you roll your eyes playfully. “Come on, you grew redder than a tomato back there...” 

“Was it that noticeable?” he muses as you reach the bar stools. 

“I’d say...” you climb up the seat, while waiting for his reply but it never comes. He has fallen silent, and you dare take a peek at him. 

He’s staring at his joined hands at the top of the counter, dark hair falling at the sides of his face and while he looks like a painting sitting like this, you realize your question must have put him in a tough spot after all. 

“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable...” your voice is soft, remorse evident in it as Yoongi finally turns to look at you, lost in thought. 

But then he shakes his head, smiling earnestly at you. “No, you didn’t, I just...” he stops, as if recollecting whatever he was about to say to mull it over. You patiently wait, letting him say whatever he wants, in his own pace. 

“I’m... bi,” he responds finally, eyes cautiously searching for your reaction.  

Even though you suspected as much, the words still startle you. It’s another thing to believe that something is true and another thing to know it is. 

Yoongi’s eyes still look wary of you, and you realise you must have shown no reaction at all. 

You smile immediately, wanting to put him at ease. Revealing something like that is never easy. You should know. 

“Thank you for telling me,” you say softly, and Yoongi’s shoulders visibly relax. A breathless chuckle escapes him. 

He nods at you with a small smile, but his gaze turns curious, almost... expectant. 

But you say nothing as you turn to wave at Mona, coming from the kitchen. 

A moment passes where Yoongi is silent, and you refuse to look at whatever expression might be on his face. 

Instead, he clears his throat, getting rid of the sudden awkwardness. “So, about that book...” 

You almost sag down in relief. “What about it?” you ask, raising an eyebrow. 

“Have you really never seen one before?” 

You blink, unsure of how to answer. “I...” you begin, taken aback, before you sigh. “No... I mean my mom had one of her own when she was younger, but I’ve never seen it....” 

Yoongi frowns. “Is it not around your home?” 

You shake your head. “She only needed it when she was still learning, at her childhood home. She didn’t have any use for it when she got older. She already knew everything by heart...” 

Like all the times she used to practice spells back at home. Of simple ones and hexes to get through every day's chores, or just cute rhymes to make your toys float, simply because you asked her to. 

A bittersweet smile takes over your lips. Until you remember of the boy sitting next to you and you shake the memories away. 

Yoongi still looks at you intently. His eyes give away nothing of what he’s thinking but for some reason you feel... assured. Understood. Not a peck of judgement or pity resides in his eyes, and you know you can allow yourself to feel safe around him. 

You take a breath, willing yourself to get back on track. “Anyways, since you’ve seen one before, I bet it won’t take us long to find the spell now, will it?” you joke, and Yoongi gives you half a chuckle that instantly chases away your melancholy. 

But as an impromptu smile almost takes over your lips, a tall figure stumbles into the bar and your eyes go wide. You’d know this clumsiness with feet everywhere. 

Namjoon’s wide shoulders bump into someone and as he turns to apologize, you quickly redirect your gaze to Yoongi. 

It takes a second to register he was about to tease you back, but when he meets your gaze, he realizes something is wrong. 

All you can think right now is that you don’t want Namjoon tangled in all this mess. You can’t have your friend dragged into all this, no matter how much he wants to help. 

So, you signal Yoongi to stop talking before Namjoon overhears anything he isn’t supposed to. Cause if he does, there’s no stopping him in helping you. 

Yoongi’s mouth shuts immediately. His eyebrows scrunch in and his gaze turns to whoever your frantic smile is directed at, as said stranger approaches your company. 

“Heyyy, what’s up guys?” Namjoon steps up to the two of you with his signature smile, although it’s not often you see it come out so forced. You haven’t told him anything about Yoongi, so you guess his reaction is kind of warranted. 

“Hi! We were just...” you start though all possible excuses evade you and you’re left staring at your friend like a deer in headlights. 

“We were partnered for a project in the “interspecies rights” lectures,” comes Yoongi answer to once again save you from embarrassment. You are thankful for his lie, but you can’t help but wonder how he knows you’re enrolled in those classes. 

Namjoon turns to you. He doesn’t look convinced. 

He sighs. 

“Ah, I see. Well, good luck, I hear Professor Argenal is tough as nails...” he replies as he takes a seat next to Yoongi, the picture of nonchalance. 

You can tell though he doesn’t believe you, not really. He’s just letting it go for the time being. 

“I’m Namjoon by the way,” he gives out his hand to the vampire boy, who takes it warmly and introduces himself. 

“So, I didn’t know you guys hang out here!” the elf boy tries at a conversation opening and your nerves ease for the second time tonight. 

“Ah yeah, we figured it’d be easier with Y/N working, and it’s a pretty good space for studying it seems,” Yoongi replies calmly and Namjoon nods. 

“What about the campus’s library?” he inquiries. 

Yoongi startles at that, and instinctively his gaze turns to you. “I...” he begins, at loss of words. 

Why haven’t you visited the library? Ah, yeah, cause Yoongi thought it wiser to remain as under the radar as possible. 

You know the sane reaction to this question would be to try and find a reasonable enough excuse of why you can’t go to the library. But truth be told, it seems his attitude towards you two being seen together, bothers you more than you once thought. 

So, you cannot help the heated words escaping your mouth. 

“Too crowded to work,” you reply, when you see Mona beckoning you over and you stand up to go to her. “People might actually see us.” 

You only catch a glimpse of Yoongi’s bewildered gaze, before you leave the two boys alone. 

. 

. 

Yoongi watches you go to Mona with perplexity. He took your words for the jab that they were, but he couldn’t understand what the jab was about. 

“Uh, did you know what that was about?” he turns to Namjoon. 

The blond man looks at him warily before he sighs. “How much do you know about Y/N?” 

“Mostly what everyone does, with the small difference of actually knowing she’s innocent,” Yoongi replies quickly, somehow offended by Namjoon’s inquiry. 

A tired sigh escapes Namjoon. “Look, I didn’t mean to offend you or whatever. All I wanted to know is how comfortable you are with one another.” 

“Oh...” Yoongi deflates. “Sorry...” 

Namjoon shakes his apology off. “It’s alright. So, you already know she grew up mostly alone, with basically no friends, right?” The elf boy questions him kindly and Yoongi nods. 

“So, you should also be aware of the fact she doesn’t trust people easily. Hell, when we first started hanging out, she constantly tried to bail on me. She thought I was pulling a prank on her or something...” 

Yoongi frowns at the thought of a young you, being so hurt you couldn’t believe someone wanted to be friends. “Okay...?” 

“What I’m saying is...” Namjoon stops to rethink his words. He turns his focus completely on Yoongi before he speaks again. “I don’t know what it is you’re really doing, and I won’t ask since it’s clear she doesn’t want me to know. But what I’m getting is you don’t want to be seen on campus together?” 

Yoongi nods. 

“Why is that?” comes Namjoon’s curious question and Yoongi bites his tongue. If he tells him why, then he’ll have to tell him about helping you. And for some strange reason you don’t want that. So, he keeps his mouth shut. 

Namjoon exhales once more. “You can’t talk about that either, huh?”. He stops for a second to recollect his thoughts. Yoongi has an inkling the boy tends to do that a lot whenever its concerning Y/N. 

The elf boy finally takes a deep breath and sits up straight. 

“Your reluctance to be seen together on campus could make her think you’re ashamed to be seen with her at all.” 

Yoongi’s eyes widen and his mouth drops open. “What?! That’s definitely not it and she knows that!” 

Namjoon’s somber eyes meet the vampire boy. “I didn’t say it makes sense. I’m just telling you what might be going on.” 

Yoongi falls silent after that. It never even crossed his mind you’d perceive it as such. He thought it was a pretty smart decision on his part to avoid raising suspicion. But now after everything Namjoon told him, he knows he has to do something about it. 

He doesn’t want you thinking he’s ashamed of you. Something inside irks him at the thought. 

His eyes find you across the room, talking to Mona about something and already he tries to think of ways to make it up to you. 

“Why are you telling me this?” Yoongi asks Namjoon, his eyes still on you. 

“Cause she’s my friend. And I want her to be happy,” Namjoon admits as his gaze follows Yoongi’s. 

And Yoongi can’t help but agree with his words. 

[solastia]

If you’re a current Kpop writer on here, can you reblog this and/or leave a comment? We’re trying to figure out who all is still here!

[def-initely-soul]

Burn The Witch {5}

pairing:  yoongi x reader (f.)

genre: supernatural; angst; mystery; magical society AU; magicals!AU

rating: PG-15

warnings: violence; emotional abuse; blood; bullying; mentions of murder; mature language; sexual themes

words: 4.2k

summary:

↠ {a boy who keeps running away, a girl who can’t seem to no matter how much she tries and a series of murders caught all in between of the cracks spread through what appears as a quiet little town…} ↞

or alternatively, not everything is always what it seems

previous part: {4}

.

.

It’s another few days before you move on with your plan. 

It’s already weird enough to visit Xefoto’s only club on a Tuesday night, even more so when you and Yoongi aren’t even remotely dressed for the occasion. 

This is the place Dean usually hangs around and strikes his “business deals”, so you’re bound to run into him here tonight. Eventually. 

As to how you know this is Dean’s spot... well, that’s another story. 

“Okay, it’s been more than an hour and a half and still no sign of this... “Dean” guy. Just say you wanted to take me out for a drink and be done with it!” Yoongi’s eyes are full of mirth, as he rests sideways at the bar.  

You turn on your stool to face him. “I told you, he’s really discreet about these things, you can’t just expect him to barge in and start asking around if someone wants to cut a deal with him,” you explain, ignoring his teasing attempt, before your eyes scan the room for the millionth time. “We got to wait, make sure he’s up for a conversation.” 

Yoongi’s chill demeanour dissipates, and he groans, leaning his upper body on the bar. “And how legit is this... werewolf guy?” he utters the word with great difficulty, and you can’t help but look at him disapprovingly. 

“Don’t tell me you’re one of those vampires that still believe in that “mortal enemies” bullshit...”  Yoongi groans at the obvious disdain in your voice. 

“Well, no but still... they’re werewolves,” he continues, though his voice contains significantly less confidence than before. 

“So?” you raise an eyebrow. 

“So, they’re beasts,” he shrugs his shoulders, turning his gaze away in what seems like an avoidance tactic, but you have none of it. 

“Once a month,” you observe, and Yoongi rolls his eyes at your persistence to not drop the subject. 

“Still, they’re dangerous...” 

“To whom? Humans? In that case we’re all dangerous to humans,” you retaliate, taking a sip from your drink, and Yoongi presses his lips in a thin line, clearly not having put that much thought to it before. 

“Yes, but none of us loses control like werewolves do. You must admit, a werewolf out of control isn’t just dangerous to humans but to magicals too...” he casts a glance your way, certain that would be the thing that makes you reconsider but you shake your head. 

“Are you telling me that when a vampire goes into bloodlust he’s not as dangerous and catastrophic to humans and magicals?” you answer back defiantly and Yoongi groans tiredly. 

“Oh, come on that’s different... A vampire going into bloodlust isn’t happening every month...” he explains, rubbing the base of his taut neck and you have to remind yourself to redirect your gaze. 

“No, it may not, but it’s effects are just as severe, or worse, than a werewolf transforming. Plus, werewolves know their transformation is coming so they take the appropriate measures each full moon, to not harm anyone. Can you say the same for vampires going into bloodlust?” you reply calmly and when his eyes widen, you know you have him. 

“I... No, I can’t, but still, it’s not the same...” he struggles to justify his reasoning but even in his ears, his retaliation is weak. 

“Why? Because one doesn’t get a say in their transformation while the other feeds on human blood to survive? That analogy isn’t doing your species any justice now, is it?” this time your words leave him shocked and confused, failing to give you an answer.  

Something finally shifts in his gaze, and you wonder if you managed to at least make him see things from a different point of view. 

Yoongi swallows, still taken aback before he turns to face the bar and takes a sip from his drink. You watch with mild interest as he seems to ponder over your words, eyebrows knitted together, surely struggling to digest something himself mustn’t have thought of before. 

“I...” he begins, his eyes stuck at the bottom of his glass, “I guess I’ve never thought about it like that... Wow, I sound like a douchebag,” he chuckles in disbelief at the end, his voice lowered in contemplation and almost shame. You didn’t expect him to change his mind immediately of course, but the fact that he even accepted your words for what they are, says an awful lot about his character. People tend to deny whatever doesn’t agree with their beliefs. He didn’t. 

Which makes you want to know more about him. As if you didn’t already. 

“You do...” you agree calmly, and he looks at you stunned for a moment. Before he sighs and turns to look at his drink with barely concealed disappointment. 

“But” you startle him once more, and his eyes find you again, black hair falling just above his eyes, framing them in a soft, innocent kind of way, “You’re aware about it. Which is the most I can say about other people, so that’s a start. It’s not even close to doing better but at least now you have a starting point. And you can do something about it.” 

Your words seem to shake something in him, and he hums in understanding. A soft, sheepish smile takes over his lips, showing his gratitude in a simple, discreet way. 

And then his smile turns into a teasing smirk. “You should be a professional life coach, that speech was very Tedtalk of you,” he teases with glinting eyes. You find yourself smiling at him, even though your groan. 

“I’m never saying anything to you, ever again...” you grumble, returning to your drink. 

Yoongi does the same. “Good luck with that...” he winks at you, and a groan breaks free from you throat just as your heart misses a beat. 

“Ugh, as soon as Dean arrives, I’m out of here.” 

“Isn’t he treating you right, doll?” 

The voice sounds right next to your ear, and you jump around. 

Only to see the man you came here looking for, staring at you with interest and a sinful smirk to match. 

Damn, you forgot how hot he was. 

Still, Dean’s arrival doesn’t faze you. Not like it does Yoongi (who almost spits out his drink from the heaviness of the newcomer’s voice). Instead, you look at the werewolf boy who looks like he enjoys what’s in front of him a little too much. 

“I’ll take care of you and maybe I’ll teach handsome here a thing or two if he’d like. I’m feeling naughty tonight...”  Dean’s eyes are soon upon Yoongi, drinking him in with appreciation, as one would look at a painting. Or dessert. 

Then he winks at him with all the confidence in the world and Yoongi sputters something that sound like he’s swearing. 

Although you’re sure his ears are turning red. 

“Actually, we’re here for something else-” you get interrupted by Dean, leaning over you. His face hovers above yours and one strand of hair falls across his forehead. 

“And here I thought you were back for seconds...” he whispers lowly, the timbre of his voice cascading down your spine, reminding you of things which are not appropriate for this particular conversation. 

You catch Yoongi faltering with the corner of your eye. But you don’t have your wits gathered to comment on his behaviour, too preoccupied with the man staring at you like he stared at Yoongi a moment earlier. 

You swallow the lump in your throat, ignoring his flaming eyes, trying to focus on the issue at hand. Yoongi keeps looking at you with caution, true to his promise of letting you do the talking, as his finger taps against his drink. 

“Nope. Not here for that...” you repeat, as if trying to convince yourself as well. You shake your head, trying to escape your sudden stupor and level Dean with a serious gaze. 

The werewolf boy raises an eyebrow. “None of you?” 

Yoongi coughs loudly and you put your question of it aside, to give Dean a negative shake of your head. 

He sighs dramatically as he drops his body against the bar, leisurely staring up at the ceiling. “Fine, I guess I’ll have to entertain myself differently... So, what’s it you’re really here for...?” he comments as he beckons the bartender over. 

Yoongi’s scrutinizing eyes keep following the other man, as he finishes the last of his drink. 

“We’re here because-” you begin to answer, but Dean interrupts you when the bartender arrives. 

“Ah, there you are. I’ll have a White Russian and- what were you drinking pretty boy?”  

It takes you a minute to realise he’s talking at Yoongi. You belatedly turn your attention to the vampire boy on the other side of you and you can’t help but notice the way his eyes remain stuck forward. 

Like if he stays still enough maybe Dean won’t see him. 

“It’s on me...” the werewolf boy says instead, very much seeing Yoongi through half-lidded eyes. Yoongi dares cast him a glance, only to see Dean biting his lip appreciatively. 

Yoongi grows redder than a bloody mary, returning his focus forward and you can’t help but feel curious. 

“No response? Well, then...” Dean shrugs as the bartender walks away with his order. 

You roll your eyes before attempting to, again, pick up his interest. 

“We’re here because we need you to find something for us...” you announce with a steady voice, and Dean looks at you. He looks somewhat bored now that he’s come to term with not having any of the two of you on his bed at the end of the night. 

“Doesn’t anyone, love?” he replies impassively, as his eyes wonder the now almost-full bar. But it seems his nonchalance has struck a chord in Yoongi’s demeanour. With a tired sigh, the vampire boy turns to at last talk to Dean. 

“We’re not talking about your “relaxing substances”. What we’re looking for is something a bit more arcane, and basically “forbidden” in this shitty town,” Yoongi hisses, his irritation palpable in the atmosphere and Dean raises an eyebrow at his sudden outburst. 

“Ah, so he speaks...” he comments dryly just as his drink arrives. Yoongi blinks before shaking his head and resuming his previous position, trying to appear as relaxed and calm as possible. 

Dean stares at him for another moment before, “Okay, I admit, you’ve piqued my interest. So, what is that “forbidden by Xefoto’s standards” thing you’re looking for?”. Then he takes a sip from his drink. 

“A book,” you reply instantly. 

Dean’s gaze meets your own this time. “I’m assuming it cannot be found in the public library...” 

You shake your head, and he sighs. 

“What kind of book are we talking about?” He inquiries. 

“A witch’s book,” you say, and he chuckles almost immediately. 

“Figured that much. What kind of a witch’s book?” 

What kind? There’s a lot?! 

Of course, there’s a lot! You can’t expect a witch to go around her life with only one book! 

“I...” you mumble, clearly unprepared for that type of question. The truth is you don’t know the answer. You never knew there were more than one book, so whatever you say now is bound to be wrong.  

Shame creeps up again, crawling up your spine. What kind of witch are you, not knowing there is more than one book?! 

“The apprentice’s guide.” 

Shock floods you and you turn at Yoongi, who’s just risen from his stool to look at Dean again. Dean honestly looks like his favourite dessert just arrived. 

You release a heavy breath, thankful that at least Yoongi knew what you were looking for. Though now it seems the two boys are locked into a starring match. 

Dean looks at Yoongi as if he’s ready to devour him, all heavy-lidded eyes and promising grins and you have to remind yourself to stay focused. 

Yoongi on the other hand looks at Dean with the air of calm confidence you’ve learned to pick up whenever he means business. His gaze is made of steel, staring at the werewolf boy perfectly still, willing him to challenge him just to see how far he can go. 

“Alright,” Dean replies after a while, setting his drink on the counter. “I’ll see what I can do...” 

Your eyes light up, and you jump out of your stool. “Really?” 

Dean sighs dramatically. “A deal’s a deal. I assume you’re prepared for the financial compensation...” he looks over at you with a raised eyebrow. 

You swallow your nervousness but nod either way. Truth is this will put a dump in your savings but it’s nothing they can’t handle. 

Dean hums, satisfied. “Alright. I’m gonna do my research, but you should expect it somewhere in the next two weeks.” 

“Great, thank you for helping,” Yoongi says, getting out of his stool to stand next to you. He levels his eyes with Dean in what seems to you only as a silent threat. 

Dean regards this only with a knowing smile. “I never back out of an interesting deal. Although...” he pauses to once again check out both of you. “My other offer still stands...” he continues as he leans over you once more. 

“I wouldn’t mind repeating that night sweetheart. Great things shouldn’t be done only once...” his eyes fall to your lips, and you have to remind yourself to breathe. His words wake up memories from this very bar from a year ago with stunning detail. 

Your cheeks redden, your pulse quickens and you’re pretty sure you feel something between your legs. As if merely his voice managed to remind you of the feeling his hands left on your skin. 

A cough brings you back to reality and you look towards the noise. Only to see Yoongi covering his mouth with his fist and looking over the crowd. 

Dean, of course, doesn’t miss the sound, the same lustful intention hiding in his eyes as he regards the vampire boy. “Of course, you’re invited as well pretty boy. We three would paint a stunning picture...” 

You want the ground to swallow you whole, trying to think of anything other than what Dean is insinuating. “We’re good, thank you,” you reply swiftly, trying to push a very stunned Yoongi backwards toward the exit. 

Dean’s smirk only grows at both of your flustered reactions. Then he raises his drink in a departing salute. 

And with that mental image in your head, you leave the bar.  

. 

. 

As you make your way back to “Selkie’s Place” for a rundown of your visit and a much-needed breather, you can’t help but think of how Yoongi reacted to Dean’s shameless behaviour. One might say the vampire boy wasn’t just angry at his advances. 

You can’t help but feel curious. 

You steal a look at his pensive figure, his eyes stuck at the road in front of him, just as the bar comes into view. 

“So...” you begin cautiously, causing Yoongi’s eyes to meet your own. “What do you think?” 

Yoongi takes in your question before, “He seemed legit. Willing to help and pretty cooperative,” he recounts in thought. “But I wouldn’t put it past him to go back on his word. We should tread lightly,” he finishes just as you pass the front gate. 

“Uh huh...” you nod dubiously, “but that’s not really what I’m asking about...” you reply calmly, opening the door to the pub. You try to tread the subject lightly, not really sure if Yoongi is up for that conversation with you. 

Yoongi stills for a second, eyes wide before, “then what are you asking about?”. His words are cautious but that same glint of mischievousness you’re used to, rises up from his voice. 

A wave of relief washes over you quickly, before you roll your eyes playfully. “Come on, you grew redder than a tomato back there...” 

“Was it that noticeable?” he muses as you reach the bar stools. 

“I’d say...” you climb up the seat, while waiting for his reply but it never comes. He has fallen silent, and you dare take a peek at him. 

He’s staring at his joined hands at the top of the counter, dark hair falling at the sides of his face and while he looks like a painting sitting like this, you realize your question must have put him in a tough spot after all. 

“I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable...” your voice is soft, remorse evident in it as Yoongi finally turns to look at you, lost in thought. 

But then he shakes his head, smiling earnestly at you. “No, you didn’t, I just...” he stops, as if recollecting whatever he was about to say to mull it over. You patiently wait, letting him say whatever he wants, in his own pace. 

“I’m... bi,” he responds finally, eyes cautiously searching for your reaction.  

Even though you suspected as much, the words still startle you. It’s another thing to believe that something is true and another thing to know it is. 

Yoongi’s eyes still look wary of you, and you realise you must have shown no reaction at all. 

You smile immediately, wanting to put him at ease. Revealing something like that is never easy. You should know. 

“Thank you for telling me,” you say softly, and Yoongi’s shoulders visibly relax. A breathless chuckle escapes him. 

He nods at you with a small smile, but his gaze turns curious, almost... expectant. 

But you say nothing as you turn to wave at Mona, coming from the kitchen. 

A moment passes where Yoongi is silent, and you refuse to look at whatever expression might be on his face. 

Instead, he clears his throat, getting rid of the sudden awkwardness. “So, about that book...” 

You almost sag down in relief. “What about it?” you ask, raising an eyebrow. 

“Have you really never seen one before?” 

You blink, unsure of how to answer. “I...” you begin, taken aback, before you sigh. “No... I mean my mom had one of her own when she was younger, but I’ve never seen it....” 

Yoongi frowns. “Is it not around your home?” 

You shake your head. “She only needed it when she was still learning, at her childhood home. She didn’t have any use for it when she got older. She already knew everything by heart...” 

Like all the times she used to practice spells back at home. Of simple ones and hexes to get through every day's chores, or just cute rhymes to make your toys float, simply because you asked her to. 

A bittersweet smile takes over your lips. Until you remember of the boy sitting next to you and you shake the memories away. 

Yoongi still looks at you intently. His eyes give away nothing of what he’s thinking but for some reason you feel... assured. Understood. Not a peck of judgement or pity resides in his eyes, and you know you can allow yourself to feel safe around him. 

You take a breath, willing yourself to get back on track. “Anyways, since you’ve seen one before, I bet it won’t take us long to find the spell now, will it?” you joke, and Yoongi gives you half a chuckle that instantly chases away your melancholy. 

But as an impromptu smile almost takes over your lips, a tall figure stumbles into the bar and your eyes go wide. You’d know this clumsiness with feet everywhere. 

Namjoon’s wide shoulders bump into someone and as he turns to apologize, you quickly redirect your gaze to Yoongi. 

It takes a second to register he was about to tease you back, but when he meets your gaze, he realizes something is wrong. 

All you can think right now is that you don’t want Namjoon tangled in all this mess. You can’t have your friend dragged into all this, no matter how much he wants to help. 

So, you signal Yoongi to stop talking before Namjoon overhears anything he isn’t supposed to. Cause if he does, there’s no stopping him in helping you. 

Yoongi’s mouth shuts immediately. His eyebrows scrunch in and his gaze turns to whoever your frantic smile is directed at, as said stranger approaches your company. 

“Heyyy, what’s up guys?” Namjoon steps up to the two of you with his signature smile, although it’s not often you see it come out so forced. You haven’t told him anything about Yoongi, so you guess his reaction is kind of warranted. 

“Hi! We were just...” you start though all possible excuses evade you and you’re left staring at your friend like a deer in headlights. 

“We were partnered for a project in the “interspecies rights” lectures,” comes Yoongi answer to once again save you from embarrassment. You are thankful for his lie, but you can’t help but wonder how he knows you’re enrolled in those classes. 

Namjoon turns to you. He doesn’t look convinced. 

He sighs. 

“Ah, I see. Well, good luck, I hear Professor Argenal is tough as nails...” he replies as he takes a seat next to Yoongi, the picture of nonchalance. 

You can tell though he doesn’t believe you, not really. He’s just letting it go for the time being. 

“I’m Namjoon by the way,” he gives out his hand to the vampire boy, who takes it warmly and introduces himself. 

“So, I didn’t know you guys hang out here!” the elf boy tries at a conversation opening and your nerves ease for the second time tonight. 

“Ah yeah, we figured it’d be easier with Y/N working, and it’s a pretty good space for studying it seems,” Yoongi replies calmly and Namjoon nods. 

“What about the campus’s library?” he inquiries. 

Yoongi startles at that, and instinctively his gaze turns to you. “I...” he begins, at loss of words. 

Why haven’t you visited the library? Ah, yeah, cause Yoongi thought it wiser to remain as under the radar as possible. 

You know the sane reaction to this question would be to try and find a reasonable enough excuse of why you can’t go to the library. But truth be told, it seems his attitude towards you two being seen together, bothers you more than you once thought. 

So, you cannot help the heated words escaping your mouth. 

“Too crowded to work,” you reply, when you see Mona beckoning you over and you stand up to go to her. “People might actually see us.” 

You only catch a glimpse of Yoongi’s bewildered gaze, before you leave the two boys alone. 

. 

. 

Yoongi watches you go to Mona with perplexity. He took your words for the jab that they were, but he couldn’t understand what the jab was about. 

“Uh, did you know what that was about?” he turns to Namjoon. 

The blond man looks at him warily before he sighs. “How much do you know about Y/N?” 

“Mostly what everyone does, with the small difference of actually knowing she’s innocent,” Yoongi replies quickly, somehow offended by Namjoon’s inquiry. 

A tired sigh escapes Namjoon. “Look, I didn’t mean to offend you or whatever. All I wanted to know is how comfortable you are with one another.” 

“Oh...” Yoongi deflates. “Sorry...” 

Namjoon shakes his apology off. “It’s alright. So, you already know she grew up mostly alone, with basically no friends, right?” The elf boy questions him kindly and Yoongi nods. 

“So, you should also be aware of the fact she doesn’t trust people easily. Hell, when we first started hanging out, she constantly tried to bail on me. She thought I was pulling a prank on her or something...” 

Yoongi frowns at the thought of a young you, being so hurt you couldn’t believe someone wanted to be friends. “Okay...?” 

“What I’m saying is...” Namjoon stops to rethink his words. He turns his focus completely on Yoongi before he speaks again. “I don’t know what it is you’re really doing, and I won’t ask since it’s clear she doesn’t want me to know. But what I’m getting is you don’t want to be seen on campus together?” 

Yoongi nods. 

“Why is that?” comes Namjoon’s curious question and Yoongi bites his tongue. If he tells him why, then he’ll have to tell him about helping you. And for some strange reason you don’t want that. So, he keeps his mouth shut. 

Namjoon exhales once more. “You can’t talk about that either, huh?”. He stops for a second to recollect his thoughts. Yoongi has an inkling the boy tends to do that a lot whenever its concerning Y/N. 

The elf boy finally takes a deep breath and sits up straight. 

“Your reluctance to be seen together on campus could make her think you’re ashamed to be seen with her at all.” 

Yoongi’s eyes widen and his mouth drops open. “What?! That’s definitely not it and she knows that!” 

Namjoon’s somber eyes meet the vampire boy. “I didn’t say it makes sense. I’m just telling you what might be going on.” 

Yoongi falls silent after that. It never even crossed his mind you’d perceive it as such. He thought it was a pretty smart decision on his part to avoid raising suspicion. But now after everything Namjoon told him, he knows he has to do something about it. 

He doesn’t want you thinking he’s ashamed of you. Something inside irks him at the thought. 

His eyes find you across the room, talking to Mona about something and already he tries to think of ways to make it up to you. 

“Why are you telling me this?” Yoongi asks Namjoon, his eyes still on you. 

“Cause she’s my friend. And I want her to be happy,” Namjoon admits as his gaze follows Yoongi’s. 

And Yoongi can’t help but agree with his words. 

[def-initely-soul]

Burn The Witch {4}

a/n: hello everyone it's been a while. I have no idea if anyone is still around or still interested in this, but here's the fourth part! don't know when i'll update again, figured i should upload this chapter since its been in my drafts for a while

pairing:  yoongi x reader (f.)

genre: supernatural; angst; mystery; magical society AU; magicals!AU

rating: PG-15

warnings: violence; emotional abuse; blood; bullying; mentions of murder; mature language; panic attack

words: 5.6k

summary:

↠ {a boy who keeps running away, a girl who can’t seem to no matter how much she tries and a series of murders caught all in between of the cracks spread through what appears as a quiet little town…} ↞

or alternatively, not everything is always what it seems

previous part: {3}

.

.

It’s a slow day at “Selkie’s Place” when Yoongi pays you a visit, two days after the second murders. 

Trusting him still feels naïve but you can’t help but do it, and it scares you. You’re putting so much faith in him. Too much faith. Blindly trusting someone like this can only lead to disappointment, you know this well enough. But it’s hard not to trust him. And you’re terrified. 

When he steps into the pub it takes a whole lot of effort to get Mona to stop pestering him and move along to her other duties. Of course, you didn’t tell her the truth about your sudden partnership, instead opting for an inconspicuous story of making a new friend during interspecies studies. But, of course, she had to see for herself. Resulting in an almost interrogation of Yoongi about how the two of you met. 

“She seems nice...” he comments afterwards. He waves at Mona from the couch he’s sitting on, who waves back at him from behind the bar. 

You rest your hand at the back of the couch, watching the whole interaction with a careful smile. “She usually is. Today was a surprise for both of us...” you shrug before turning your attention back at him. Wondering what made him choose “Selkie’s Place” of all places for your conversation. 

“You know this meeting could’ve happened at uni, right? No need for you to come here...” you raise an eyebrow and now it’s his turn to shrug. 

“Better this way. Less eyes watching. After all, the person incriminating you could be someone from campus,” he takes a tentative sip of his beer. Your suspicion grows. 

Maybe he’s not just thinking of being under the radar. Maybe he’s not completely unaffected from everyone else’s opinion and he’s afraid to be seen with you. Could that really be the case? 

No. You wouldn’t peg Yoongi as someone who cares about other people’s opinions. He does what he wants and that’s the end of it. 

But what if this town managed to get him? What if by living in such a remote place, the people’s beliefs became his own? What if he’s rethinking the whole thing? 

You try to shake off the doubts creeping in your mind. They won’t do you any good for now. 

“So, you think someone is incriminating me then,” you ponder instead. 

Yoongi looks at you unimpressed. “Given the circumstances of those murders, I’d say it’d be too much of a coincidence. Someone is definitely trying to put the blame on you,” he replies sternly, confident in his logic. You find it hard to argue. 

At least someone else believes you. 

“So, what do you suggest we do?” you ask while taking a careful look around the pub. Just because you’re meeting here instead of campus, doesn’t mean you’re completely safe. 

“Me?” he raises an eyebrow as he crosses his arms. 

You shrug. “You’re the Sherlock here, Sherlock.” The reply has a smile growing on Yoongi and he leans towards you. 

“And I suppose you’re my Watson then?” 

At that you can’t help but scoff. Nevertheless, a grin is threatening to spill on your lips. “No, that would make me the unwilling victim that paid too much at your agency.” 

Yoongi’s smile doesn’t falter. “You’re not paying me though.” 

“Is store-credit okay?” 

He shakes his head with a chuckle before leaning against his seat. “I was thinking of taking a look,” is his cryptic answer, eyes following the costumers around the pub. 

This doesn’t satisfy your curiosity though. “Taking a look where?” 

Yoongi is still nonchalantly people-watching when he replies. “The Kim’s estate.” 

Your eyes almost pop out of their sockets. 

“Where?! Are you mad?! The place will be flooding with Magaux!” you respond incredulously. You’re not willing to take a step into this place, it will be filled with your worlds equivalent for the police! If someone were to catch you there, no evidence would be needed for your arrest. 

“This might be our only chance...” Yoongi continues calmly, ignoring your sudden outburst. 

“To get arrested?” you level with him but he rolls his eyes, not at all worried about his idea. 

You can’t believe you’re hearing this! He can’t be serious. 

“To find out anything concerning the identity of the perpetrator! Or would you rather just to sit by idly as everyone else pins this too on you?” it’s his turn to look at you with irritation in his eyes. Your mouth runs dry from words to say. You hadn’t thought of it that way. You should have. 

“I...” you mumble taken aback, before you turn your eyes away. “I didn’t mean it like that...” you mutter in response. Yoongi exhales tiredly. 

“Look, I know you don’t feel comfortable with this, but it’s our best shot at finding out anything. As for the magaux they cleared the scene not long before the second murders happened. The Kim estate will be empty by now,” his voice is soft, almost comforting and you turn to face him again. The determination and hope in his eyes strangely calm you down. 

“How are we going to get in?” you make your decision and Yoongi smiles. 

“Can you teleport?” 

You nod. 

“There’s how,” he announces entirely too pleased with himself, and you roll your eyes as you fight the urge to smile. 

“I say we meet and teleport straight into the house, not to raise any alarms, hm?” he takes another sip of his beer, and you nod again. 

That’s when you see it. 

Yoongi goes on about the details of your plan, but your eyes are trained at the glass window behind him. Did you just see something move? 

There’s just darkness outside. Just a heavy, unending black. Your eyes must be playing tricks on you. 

But then you see it again. And this time it’s clearer.  

What you thought was only black, quickly proves to be a shadow. A shapeless figure, much like the one you saw at that empty classroom. Unnerving, ever-present. 

Your breath hitches. Yoongi’s voice becomes a faint buzz as your heartbeat rises when the figure suddenly appears closer to the window. 

But the figure is almost the same colour as the night. You’re not sure what you’re seeing is real.  

It seems as if you’re staring at nothing. 

But “nothing” stares back. 

And blinks. 

“Y/N!” 

You jump in your spot, tension suddenly dissipating. You glance at Yoongi disoriented, who looks at you with a wary expression. Then you take a look at the window again. But there’s nothing there. 

“You okay?” Yoongi’s voice sounds as if you’re underwater. It gradually grows stronger, pulling you back to reality with it. You shake your head. It was nothing, you saw nothing. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine...” you clear your throat, unable to meet his eyes. You’re afraid he’ll see right through you. “I just got distracted, sorry. What were you saying?” 

Yoongi’s gaze is suspicious, but he decides to say nothing. “That we should meet at my house to discuss somethings beforehand. Just to be careful about this. Wouldn't want to get caught now, would we?” he explains with an easy smile. And while you agree with the general idea, you have one small objection. 

“Okay, but it’d be better if it was at my house instead. I still can’t quite get the hang of teleporting from anywhere outside my house,” you reply, and Yoongi looks worried at that. 

“Then will you be able to teleport us to your house afterwards?” he asks with concern, and you nod. 

“It just takes a bit more energy. Figured I’d keep whatever energy I can for leaving,” you shrug. Only now you realise that means Yoongi will have to actually come to your house. 

It’s been so long since anyone stepped foot in your home, besides you and Mona. You’ll need to do some cleaning beforehand, just in case. 

Yoongi nods as he thinks it over, tapping his finger on his chin before he shrugs. “Okay, if you’re sure you can do it...” he comments. Although his tone shifts something in you. As if your pride got wounded.  

Sure, you’re used to that. It seems to be everyone’s personal chore in this hellhole of a town, but coming from Yoongi, makes you want to prove him wrong. To prove you’re not just some helpless victim, to prove you’re someone capable. Someone strong. 

You can do it. You know you can. 

And him doubting you makes you angry. 

“I’m sure,” you say, and your tone raises no questions. No room for doubt fits in your words and your hair curl at the ends with magic as it seeps out of you with every burst of feeling. You’re not weak. That’s the only thing you’ve never been. 

Yoongi’s stare is indecipherable as thunder roars outside. Your chest rises quickly with every worked-up breath. 

But then he smiles. “That’s more like it.” 

. 

. 

You watch anxiously as Yoongi steps inside your home, two days later. It’s the only day you’re free from work, so the only day you’d be able to do this. You wanted the whole day off to prepare for what you’re about to do. 

You mainly slept and ate, to replenish your energy and be ready for later. And also downed more than three cups of coffee. Although that could maybe turn out to be a bad idea. You’re not sure yet. 

You're curious to see how Yoongi will take in your home but nothing really reveals much about his thoughts. Not when he stares up at the massive wooden staircase with Alistair curled around the banister, or when his eyes meet the stone walls covered with paintings of your relatives. 

Your familiar stares at the man in the middle of your lobby, thoughtfully take in your home and strangely he has nothing to say. The fox only stares at the vampire man with a mild curiosity and a slight apathy. Yoongi, to his credit, acknowledges the fox with a small tip of his head forward but then he keeps on looking around. 

Alistair’s familiar voice appears in your head.  

Do we trust him? 

You give him what you hope is a warning glare. 

Be nice Ali. 

You swear you see him almost roll his eyes. 

I’m always nice. 

A snort breaks free from your lips that has Yoongi look at you with a questioning gaze. 

You wave him off with your hand. “It’s nothing...” you reply when you decide to tease your familiar. “Ali seems to like you.” 

The question doesn’t leave Yoongi’s eyes. “Ali?” 

“My familiar...” you move closer to point at Alistair at the top of the stairs who stares at you with a nearly murderous gaze. “His real name is Alistair, but he doesn’t like being called Ali in front of strangers...” you chuckle with Yoongi’s eyes on you. Alistair gets up from his position and stretches before sitting on his back legs on a graceful but indignant pose. 

Your smile grows. 

Yoongi turns to your familiar and nods his head again. “I’m Yoongi. Nice to meet you Alistair.” 

Ali looks at him carefully before his voice reappears. 

He’s okay... for now. 

Then he tips his head towards Yoongi and turns around to hide in your room. 

You chuckle once more at the quizzical look on Yoongi’s face. “Okay, now he really seems to like you.” 

Yoongi sighs in relief. “I’m glad. Wouldn’t want to get on your familiar’s bad side...” he replies while turning his eyes upwards to your high ceiling. His gaze turns awed when he sees the ancient magic decorating the glass ceiling and how the endless night outside meets the floating lights underneath your roof. 

“What is this...?” he asks in wonder, mouth falling open at the sight above him. 

Another smile takes over your lips. “My father did it. When I was young, I used to say how much I loved the floating lights in the sky. I would sit awake for hours trying to come up with spells to bring them closer to me. I thought if I tried hard enough, I could bring them in my room and have them on my ceiling and then I could say “I have the floating lights in my room!”. So, one day my dad brought home some small crystal balls, filled them with starlight and enchanted them to float forever beneath our glass ceiling. To accompany the real floating lights in the night sky,” you reminisce as one of the floating lights slowly descends to meet your open hand.  

It’s warmth travels through your skin, reminding you of that time you tried to catch them with a floating spell of your own. Back then, you didn’t know you weren’t supposed to chase them. The starlight would come to you instead. 

“And to make sure I didn’t accidently cause earth’s collision with a star,” you add on with a chuckle. 

“Your dad could catch starlight?” Yoongi asks still in awe, but his eyes are on you now. 

“It was his individual power.” 

“And what is yours?” he asks curiously. 

At that your smile drops. 

You shrug. “I don’t know.” 

Both of you remain silent. Yoongi’s gaze doesn’t leave you but where you thought you’d see pity you see nothing but understanding. He doesn’t say anything along the lines of “I’m sorry,” or “That must be hard,”. He just lets you be. 

You don’t know what else to say so you focus on the issue at hand. “Okay, so are we ready for this?” is your impatient question as you let the small ball float back into place. 

Yoongi stares for another moment before he clears his throat. “Yeah, just a few things first. We need to be really discreet. There might not be any Magaux there but there should be some monitor spells lying around. So, we have to be careful. And we shouldn't split up. I know it’ll take more time but it’s safer this way,” Yoongi explains, all seriousness and even though you agree, you can’t resist the urge to tease him. 

“Is someone afraid?” you can’t hide your teasing smile and Yoongi scoffs as he tries to hide his own. 

“Me? Please. I’m just saying this for you...” he smirks, and you roll your eyes. 

“Alright, let’s do this,” you take his hand in yours as you close your eyes and recount the spell in your mind. 

You feel the familiar rush of magic travelling through your body, the magic of your home helping you in the process and then you open your eyes. 

But it didn’t work. 

You stare confused at your joined hands. This is weird. 

Yoongi looks concerned. “Is something the matter?” 

“That hasn’t happened before...” you mumble in disbelief, worry filling your mind. 

“Maybe it’s because we’re two people. Have you tried teleporting with another person before?” Yoongi casually drags his hands away from yours. You’re too worried about your powers to notice the crimson hue spreading over his cheeks. 

“I-… No, I haven’t but I don’t think that’s it...” your confusion is palpable as you close your eyes to try again. 

Once more you feel the familiar pull on your gut as your magic concentrates. This time you feel a bit more of it, now that it’s just you, but when you’re about to cross over you feel the difference. There’s something blocking you. Your powers work just fine, moving you along the spell just as they’re supposed to but when it’s time to land, you feel a wall blocking your path. 

“There must be a blocking spell on the estate...” you realise out loud and Yoongi curses softly. 

“Now what? Should we walk all the way there? Someone might see us,” he says in thought, thinking of possible solutions to your problem but you raise an eyebrow. It's simpler than that. 

“...Or we could just teleport outside the estate and walk to the front door?” 

. 

. 

“Okay, now that we’re here how do we get in?” 

This time, you’re successfully teleported outside of the estate, so you resulted in walking the rest of the way. The blocking spell shimmers as soon as you pass the front gate. You fight a shiver at the peculiar sensation.  

True to Yoongi’s words the scene seems cleared, no Magaux anywhere in sight. The Kim’s estate appears larger up close. The building is still standing, yet black spots of fire and ruin grace its appearance and a cold chill runs down your bones.  

The lights are out, the house an imposing structure despite its condition, the smell of ashes wafting through the air. You can’t believe this place was full of life just two weeks ago. 

That it wasn’t just a ruin. 

“The normal way,” Yoongi responds as he climbs the stairs to the front door. You follow close behind. 

“Through the front door? How do you know it doesn’t have any monitoring spells?” you inquire with careful step, wary of making too much noise. 

Yoongi smirks at you but instead of going through the front door, he nears a broken window to the side. The floor creaks with his steps, a contrast to the silence of the night. You resist the urge to shiver. 

He leans in, just barely through the window. He looks around the windowsill, as if looking for something. Once he’s satisfied, he leans back outside with a winning smile. “No monitoring spells here.” 

Your gaze is suspicious. “How can you tell?” 

He waves you over and you both lean inside to take a peek in what seems to be the living room. “Usually monitoring spells have a tell; they must have a beeper nearby to help them keep running for the desired time. The latest versions don’t need it, hence the increase in their price. I doubt Xefoto’s Magaux can afford them...” he comments. You lean more inside, and he points over your shoulder towards a small rectangle metallic box just above the door. 

“Now that’s a beeper. Which means this door is monitored,” he explains as he steps inside the window. Once he’s safely inside he stretches his hand towards you.  

You take it with a careful yet amazed gaze. “How do you know all that?” you move inside, wary of dragging anything with you. You finally place both legs inside before dragging your hand away. 

Yoongi simply shrugs as his eyes move to the interior. “I’m studying to become a Magau. It’s stuff I should know,” he chuckles as he takes a step inside. 

You hum in understanding and your eyes finally take in the living room. Or what used to be the living room. 

The wallpaper is burned to a crips as most spots, heavy black marks covering the walls in a pattern; as if the fire spread out in five, even streams of flame and burned everything in their path. The floor beneath the marks is black in streams too, all pointing towards the centre of the room, as if someone lighted a fire and spread it in five, even directions. Like a ritual would have it. 

“I guess this is where we should look...” Yoongi comments in a grave voice. His fingers skip the black mark on the walls. 

“What happened here...?” you mumble in terror, mostly to yourself. It’s pretty obvious what happened here, but why would someone kill an entire family just for a ritual? 

“Whoever did this, did not mess around...” Yoongi whispers, while you near the fireplace. On top of it rest some burning sage along with some geraniums and a few buds of alyssum; all burned to almost a crisp, outside of the five even streams. The flower petals are black, almost destroyed by the fire. Burning sage is used for protection from enchantment, geranium as an alert for approaching guests and alyssum is used to deflect spells and judging by their condition, you’d say the person behind this knew much about the Kim’s. 

Your eyes then travel to the wall above; decorated with numerous runes and what must be protection spells. But truth is you never paid attention on rune’s class, so you have no idea how to read them. 

“So, we look for anything that might be suspicious?” Yoongi makes an affirmative sound, and you begin looking. Hoping you will at least find something that can help you. 

. 

. 

It’s been two hours or so since you started searching but you have nothing so far. You looked into every corner, under all furniture, looking for cracks in the floor, opening every cabinet and little trinket but you’ve come up empty handed. 

You’re starting to lose hope. You can’t believe you did all this just to come up with nothing. You refused to be pessimistic all day, to avoid jinxing it but now it seems your doubts became a reality. 

You have nothing to move forward from. You only know a witch is somehow involved, someone who knew what they were doing which means it wasn’t anyone from this town. 

Which means you’re screwed. 

With a huff, you stand up. “Come on Yoongi, I don’t think we’ll find anything here...” you admit, shoulders hunched but Yoongi doesn’t budge. 

“I’m not done yet. Plus, we haven’t looked into any of the other rooms yet...” he replies, not really paying attention to you. You tiredly watch as his hands dive in what seems like the hundredth box here. 

You groan, your sore muscles complaining along, and you rub your straining neck. “I doubt we’ll find anything in the other rooms either. Let’s just admit this was hopeless and return to-”  

Your words get cut short when you hear a sound coming from outside. 

Yoongi doesn’t seem to notice it, too immersed in his search, but you’re certain you heard something. Is someone else here? 

“Yoongi...” you whisper lowly, taking a step towards him, your eyes glued to the front door. 

“Wait, I think I found something...!” he mumbles with barely contained excitement, his hand searching through the outer cracks of the box. 

But then you hear it again. 

The unmistakeable creak of the wooden floor on the front porch. Meaning someone is coming up the stairs. 

“Yoongi, someone is here...” you shake his shoulder to gain his attention, to guide his focus at the impending risk of being found out. 

“I can’t get it, just use an invisibility spell or something...” he argues, finger grabbing that... something and yanking it as hard as he can. 

Panic and shame are an awful mix, flooding you at the same time as the creaks sound closer. 

“Yoongi, please, we have to get out now...” your rushed voice reflects the rhythm of your pulse, and your breaths quicken in fear. Your eyes widen and you stare at the door as whoever seems to be outside takes their sweet time to turn down the doorknob. 

A huff comes from your partner. “This is a clue; we have to get it! Why can’t you just cast a disguise or invisibility spell?”  

He obviously doesn’t understand why you’d choose to simply run but once you hear the steps sounding just outside the door you snap. 

“Because I literally can’t!” 

Thankfully your voice was barely a hiss, but it’s enough for Yoongi to hear it and look at you with a surprised gaze. 

Great, is that shame creeping back in? 

“I- I never learned how...” you admit, your voice barely a whisper this time. You avoid Yoongi’s eyes; they are sure to be filled with pity and you can’t take that just yet. You can take a lot of things admittedly, but surprisingly not this. 

The sound of steps travels through the wood again and you remember you’re about to be discovered. “Now can we please get out so I can at least teleport us somewhere safe?!” you hiss, pointing with one hand towards the door. 

Yoongi stares at you for a second too long without replying. Instead, he grabs what seems to be a small stick, stuck into the cracks of the box and with one determined move, he finally gets it out. 

“Got it! Let’s go,” he exclaims triumphant before you drag him towards the back of the house with a tired groan. 

“I used to come here as a kid, there’s a back door at the kitchen and windows we can go out of. If there are monitoring spells in all of them, we can hide until the living room is clear...” you whisper quickly, remembering all the times you came here with your parents for social visits.  

You open the door, push Yoongi quickly inside and lock it behind you. 

“Check for beepers...” you put a chair against the locked door, just to be safe as Yoongi checks the back door first. 

“Clear,” he replies “Although it seems weird the door isn’t monitored, even if it’s just a back door...” he thinks out loud. 

“Well, if it was, we’d be stuck here so forgive me for not looking a gift horse in the mouth...” you roll your eyes at him as you drag him towards the door. “Now let’s get out of here...” you open the back door and motion for him to follow you when you both hear the unmistakeable sound of the front door opening. 

Both your gazes land at the kitchen door, then at each other. 

“Run?” you whisper. 

Yoongi swallows the lump in his throat, and he nods. “Run.” 

Then you’re both out in the backyard, running through the bushes and flowers as quietly as you can. Actually, the garden is really pretty and normally you’d stick around to gaze through the flora, but this is as far from a normal situation as it could be.  

You can’t afford to stop. If you stop now and someone sees you, it’s all over. Noone would care that you had an alibi for that night; they’ll send you straight to prison. 

You reach the fence between the Kim’s estate and the forest, and both of you use the momentum to quickly jump over it, only to land ungracefully at the forest floor. 

Yoongi lays there for a second to catch his breath, but there’s no time to lose. You grab his arm, closing your eyes and recounting the spell as fast as you can, when the telltale sign of power draining takes over you and you suddenly find yourselves back into the floor of your living room. 

“Fuck...” you curse breathlessly, your body slumping down against the floor. Your muscles scream in protest, your legs turned to jelly as your lung struggle to fill up. 

Your eyes find the floating lights at your ceiling, dancing around peacefully; such an obvious contrast to what you just did, and you can’t help but wonder what your father would think of this. 

You think he’d have a heart attack to be honest.  

But your mother? She’d probably be with you all along. 

Yoongi chuckles, out of breath. “Yeah... fuck...” he agrees before groaning and rubbing his eyes. “I haven’t had that much exercise in years...”  he mumbles and you can’t help the laughter that bubbles from your lips. 

You both lay there too tired to move, your eyes naturally following the spells carved on your celling. 

And that’s when you remember. 

“So, what did we find?” you ask curiously and Yoongi scoffs. 

“We? Oh no, you wanted to leave, you get no credit for this...” he teases, still trying to catch his breath and another laugh escapes you. 

“Fair enough. So, what did you find, oh great detective Min?” you tease back, and he chuckles (an impossibly clear sound you’re sure you won’t be able to get out of your head). 

His hand dives into the pocket of his jeans. Then it emerges, carrying that slim stick you saw him dig out and he passes it to you. You take it cautiously, observing it meticulously. It’s bent at the end in an obtuse angle, frayed at the middle with scratches on its middle part and strings of something soft sticking out of it. Oh wait, it’s not a stick. 

“It’s a feather...” you observe and Yoongi hums in agreement. 

“Yeah, a black one as you can see and those scratches in the middle part?” he points to them right where you saw them before, “At first look they seem inconspicuous, but I think it’s a rune...”. The more you look at it, the more sense Yoongi’s observation makes. Yes, it is a rune, the one resembling the letter “c”, but you have no idea what it means. 

Again, not good with runes. 

“And it seems even more plausible since the feather remained intact through all the debacle,” Yoongi mumbles in thought and you turn to him. 

“You think it was enchanted to withstand the fire?” 

“Maybe. Or maybe it was used to keep the fire from going out, or for something else altogether. I can’t really tell; we’ll have to find out what that rune means...” 

His statement has you looking at the feather again, deep in thought. Someone wanted the Kims gone so bad, they not only lighted their house on fire but did everything necessary so that the fire wouldn’t go out. 

You weren’t aware the Kims had such enemies. In truth, they were one of the most respected families in Xefoto. 

So, who did this, and why? 

“Okay, so where do we go from here?” you pass Yoongi back the feather. 

He takes it back with nimble fingers, softly grazing your own. “I remember seeing a spell recipe that used a black, bent feather with a rune scratched on the middle part in another witch’s book of spells. I don’t remember what the spell was for though, so we need the book to know the details. Do you have yours somewhere around?” he asks curiously, but you shake your head. 

“No. Us witches are supposed to get our books at the age of twelve, along with our mentor. But ever since the accident, the council put a ban in everything regarding casting magic. No mentors, no books, no anything. And you won’t be able to find anything at the local library either, believe me, I’ve tried...” you admit with a sad chuckle. 

Yoongi sits up and stares at you in shock. “Is this why you didn’t know how to cast an invisibility spell?” he asks in bewilderment, voice filled to the brim with disbelief. 

You simply nod. 

His eyes widen, a glim of irritation flashing through them and he drops back to the floor with an angry huff. “I can’t believe this fucking town...” he grits through his teeth, making you shift uncomfortably next to him. 

“It’s fine really. After I’m done with college, I’m gonna search for a mentor elsewhere, so no harm done!” you rush to say, words more bubbly and cheerful than you ever felt about your situation, but it feels vulnerable to let him in, in all those aspects of your life that you hate.  

And you don’t like feeling vulnerable. Even though, with him, it’s the only thing you seem to be doing. 

“No harm done my ass...” he argues with a clipped voice, ready to say some more, when he casts a glance at your side. He sees something that makes him stop though. Instead, he looks at you for a moment longer before he turns his focus forward and clears his throat. 

You two remain silent for a few seconds, neither of you knowing what to say. Although it doesn’t feel as strange as it felt a moment ago. Somehow it feels peaceful and quiet and everything you wanted since that fateful day your parents died, and your skin crawls with the whisper of all the things you lost, as if they say you don’t deserve this tranquillity. That this too will be taken away from you because you’ve done nothing in your life to deserve this. Even though life has put you through enough things to owe you this. 

But life doesn’t care about balance or justice. It only takes, unyielding and cruel and indifferent to your sorrows until you have nothing left or you give up. 

You don’t know at what stage you are yet. 

Yoongi somehow senses the dark path your mind has taken you. He knows that for some reason, whatever you’re thinking about now isn’t good for you. The urgency to bring your thoughts back to the present tugs at him so persistently that at first, he sits there in panic, not knowing what to do. 

But the longer he sees that distant, almost resigned look in your eyes, the more words keep trying to escape his throat, until he’s sure that if he tries to voice them, no one would be able to make any sense out of them. 

So instead, he clears his throat again. 

The sound startles you, like waking you up from a nightmare and only realising you’re in the comfort of your bed, and you have to remind yourself you’re safe. 

But as your eyes fall on Yoongi again, that small seed of warmth that appeared when Yoongi first found you in that classroom, spreads the tiniest amount. 

“So how do we find that book?” he asks. 

The question has you smiling. That you know how to get. 

“There’s this guy at school, he’s mostly everyone’s weed dealer, but I've heard that for the right price, he can get you anything; besides other drugs that is,” you explain, and Yoongi sits up once again, resting his weight on his hands. This time though, it’s not rage swimming in his eyes, but excitement. 

“Okay, so let’s talk to him!” comes his enthusiastic response but you wave him off. 

“It’s best if you let me do the talking...” you warn him, knowing if he was to talk to the guy, it wouldn’t end well for any of you. 

He regards you with suspicion. “Why? Who is this guy?” 

You roll your eyes at him with a smile. 

“His name is Dean,” and Yoongi looks even more confused. 

“And he’s a werewolf.” 

[def-initely-soul]

*tackle hug* I missed you!!!

DIA MY LOOOOVE!! 💗💗

i missed you toooo, how have u been? 😍😍😍

[def-initely-soul]

Glad to see you back queen🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳

omg. thank u, im glad to be back too!! 😊😊😊

[def-initely-soul]

Maria!!! You're back🥹🥹🥹 how are you? Where have you been😭😭. Are you doing okay ?? I've miss u bbg🥰🥰🥰💕

heeeeey baby!!! im kindaaa back?

im doing fine ig, im trying to survive lol, ive been going through jobs and trying to find some stability while still trying to do theatre, which i love!

its been hectic and ive been in survival mode so long, im still trying to figure out how to get out. the good thing is my burnout is slowly going away so im trying to write again

awww, thank you so much! ive missed you guys too!!💕💕💕

[def-initely-soul]

OMFG HI BABY HOW ARE YOU

omg hiiiii im okaaay, lifes kind of a mess but im okayyy!

im just trying to get out of my burnout (which has being going on for over four years, jeez), and i figured what better way to do that, than just posting what i already have finished?

i dont know how its gonna go yet but im trying :)

thank u so much for taking the time to send this, i wasnt even sure anyone would care for any update, but youre precious, i really appreciate it :')

[def-initely-soul]

Burn The Witch {4}

a/n: hello everyone it's been a while. I have no idea if anyone is still around or still interested in this, but here's the fourth part! don't know when i'll update again, figured i should upload this chapter since its been in my drafts for a while

pairing:  yoongi x reader (f.)

genre: supernatural; angst; mystery; magical society AU; magicals!AU

rating: PG-15

warnings: violence; emotional abuse; blood; bullying; mentions of murder; mature language; panic attack

words: 5.6k

summary:

↠ {a boy who keeps running away, a girl who can’t seem to no matter how much she tries and a series of murders caught all in between of the cracks spread through what appears as a quiet little town…} ↞

or alternatively, not everything is always what it seems

previous part: {3}

.

.

It’s a slow day at “Selkie’s Place” when Yoongi pays you a visit, two days after the second murders. 

Trusting him still feels naïve but you can’t help but do it, and it scares you. You’re putting so much faith in him. Too much faith. Blindly trusting someone like this can only lead to disappointment, you know this well enough. But it’s hard not to trust him. And you’re terrified. 

When he steps into the pub it takes a whole lot of effort to get Mona to stop pestering him and move along to her other duties. Of course, you didn’t tell her the truth about your sudden partnership, instead opting for an inconspicuous story of making a new friend during interspecies studies. But, of course, she had to see for herself. Resulting in an almost interrogation of Yoongi about how the two of you met. 

“She seems nice...” he comments afterwards. He waves at Mona from the couch he’s sitting on, who waves back at him from behind the bar. 

You rest your hand at the back of the couch, watching the whole interaction with a careful smile. “She usually is. Today was a surprise for both of us...” you shrug before turning your attention back at him. Wondering what made him choose “Selkie’s Place” of all places for your conversation. 

“You know this meeting could’ve happened at uni, right? No need for you to come here...” you raise an eyebrow and now it’s his turn to shrug. 

“Better this way. Less eyes watching. After all, the person incriminating you could be someone from campus,” he takes a tentative sip of his beer. Your suspicion grows. 

Maybe he’s not just thinking of being under the radar. Maybe he’s not completely unaffected from everyone else’s opinion and he’s afraid to be seen with you. Could that really be the case? 

No. You wouldn’t peg Yoongi as someone who cares about other people’s opinions. He does what he wants and that’s the end of it. 

But what if this town managed to get him? What if by living in such a remote place, the people’s beliefs became his own? What if he’s rethinking the whole thing? 

You try to shake off the doubts creeping in your mind. They won’t do you any good for now. 

“So, you think someone is incriminating me then,” you ponder instead. 

Yoongi looks at you unimpressed. “Given the circumstances of those murders, I’d say it’d be too much of a coincidence. Someone is definitely trying to put the blame on you,” he replies sternly, confident in his logic. You find it hard to argue. 

At least someone else believes you. 

“So, what do you suggest we do?” you ask while taking a careful look around the pub. Just because you’re meeting here instead of campus, doesn’t mean you’re completely safe. 

“Me?” he raises an eyebrow as he crosses his arms. 

You shrug. “You’re the Sherlock here, Sherlock.” The reply has a smile growing on Yoongi and he leans towards you. 

“And I suppose you’re my Watson then?” 

At that you can’t help but scoff. Nevertheless, a grin is threatening to spill on your lips. “No, that would make me the unwilling victim that paid too much at your agency.” 

Yoongi’s smile doesn’t falter. “You’re not paying me though.” 

“Is store-credit okay?” 

He shakes his head with a chuckle before leaning against his seat. “I was thinking of taking a look,” is his cryptic answer, eyes following the costumers around the pub. 

This doesn’t satisfy your curiosity though. “Taking a look where?” 

Yoongi is still nonchalantly people-watching when he replies. “The Kim’s estate.” 

Your eyes almost pop out of their sockets. 

“Where?! Are you mad?! The place will be flooding with Magaux!” you respond incredulously. You’re not willing to take a step into this place, it will be filled with your worlds equivalent for the police! If someone were to catch you there, no evidence would be needed for your arrest. 

“This might be our only chance...” Yoongi continues calmly, ignoring your sudden outburst. 

“To get arrested?” you level with him but he rolls his eyes, not at all worried about his idea. 

You can’t believe you’re hearing this! He can’t be serious. 

“To find out anything concerning the identity of the perpetrator! Or would you rather just to sit by idly as everyone else pins this too on you?” it’s his turn to look at you with irritation in his eyes. Your mouth runs dry from words to say. You hadn’t thought of it that way. You should have. 

“I...” you mumble taken aback, before you turn your eyes away. “I didn’t mean it like that...” you mutter in response. Yoongi exhales tiredly. 

“Look, I know you don’t feel comfortable with this, but it’s our best shot at finding out anything. As for the magaux they cleared the scene not long before the second murders happened. The Kim estate will be empty by now,” his voice is soft, almost comforting and you turn to face him again. The determination and hope in his eyes strangely calm you down. 

“How are we going to get in?” you make your decision and Yoongi smiles. 

“Can you teleport?” 

You nod. 

“There’s how,” he announces entirely too pleased with himself, and you roll your eyes as you fight the urge to smile. 

“I say we meet and teleport straight into the house, not to raise any alarms, hm?” he takes another sip of his beer, and you nod again. 

That’s when you see it. 

Yoongi goes on about the details of your plan, but your eyes are trained at the glass window behind him. Did you just see something move? 

There’s just darkness outside. Just a heavy, unending black. Your eyes must be playing tricks on you. 

But then you see it again. And this time it’s clearer.  

What you thought was only black, quickly proves to be a shadow. A shapeless figure, much like the one you saw at that empty classroom. Unnerving, ever-present. 

Your breath hitches. Yoongi’s voice becomes a faint buzz as your heartbeat rises when the figure suddenly appears closer to the window. 

But the figure is almost the same colour as the night. You’re not sure what you’re seeing is real.  

It seems as if you’re staring at nothing. 

But “nothing” stares back. 

And blinks. 

“Y/N!” 

You jump in your spot, tension suddenly dissipating. You glance at Yoongi disoriented, who looks at you with a wary expression. Then you take a look at the window again. But there’s nothing there. 

“You okay?” Yoongi’s voice sounds as if you’re underwater. It gradually grows stronger, pulling you back to reality with it. You shake your head. It was nothing, you saw nothing. 

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine...” you clear your throat, unable to meet his eyes. You’re afraid he’ll see right through you. “I just got distracted, sorry. What were you saying?” 

Yoongi’s gaze is suspicious, but he decides to say nothing. “That we should meet at my house to discuss somethings beforehand. Just to be careful about this. Wouldn't want to get caught now, would we?” he explains with an easy smile. And while you agree with the general idea, you have one small objection. 

“Okay, but it’d be better if it was at my house instead. I still can’t quite get the hang of teleporting from anywhere outside my house,” you reply, and Yoongi looks worried at that. 

“Then will you be able to teleport us to your house afterwards?” he asks with concern, and you nod. 

“It just takes a bit more energy. Figured I’d keep whatever energy I can for leaving,” you shrug. Only now you realise that means Yoongi will have to actually come to your house. 

It’s been so long since anyone stepped foot in your home, besides you and Mona. You’ll need to do some cleaning beforehand, just in case. 

Yoongi nods as he thinks it over, tapping his finger on his chin before he shrugs. “Okay, if you’re sure you can do it...” he comments. Although his tone shifts something in you. As if your pride got wounded.  

Sure, you’re used to that. It seems to be everyone’s personal chore in this hellhole of a town, but coming from Yoongi, makes you want to prove him wrong. To prove you’re not just some helpless victim, to prove you’re someone capable. Someone strong. 

You can do it. You know you can. 

And him doubting you makes you angry. 

“I’m sure,” you say, and your tone raises no questions. No room for doubt fits in your words and your hair curl at the ends with magic as it seeps out of you with every burst of feeling. You’re not weak. That’s the only thing you’ve never been. 

Yoongi’s stare is indecipherable as thunder roars outside. Your chest rises quickly with every worked-up breath. 

But then he smiles. “That’s more like it.” 

. 

. 

You watch anxiously as Yoongi steps inside your home, two days later. It’s the only day you’re free from work, so the only day you’d be able to do this. You wanted the whole day off to prepare for what you’re about to do. 

You mainly slept and ate, to replenish your energy and be ready for later. And also downed more than three cups of coffee. Although that could maybe turn out to be a bad idea. You’re not sure yet. 

You're curious to see how Yoongi will take in your home but nothing really reveals much about his thoughts. Not when he stares up at the massive wooden staircase with Alistair curled around the banister, or when his eyes meet the stone walls covered with paintings of your relatives. 

Your familiar stares at the man in the middle of your lobby, thoughtfully take in your home and strangely he has nothing to say. The fox only stares at the vampire man with a mild curiosity and a slight apathy. Yoongi, to his credit, acknowledges the fox with a small tip of his head forward but then he keeps on looking around. 

Alistair’s familiar voice appears in your head.  

Do we trust him? 

You give him what you hope is a warning glare. 

Be nice Ali. 

You swear you see him almost roll his eyes. 

I’m always nice. 

A snort breaks free from your lips that has Yoongi look at you with a questioning gaze. 

You wave him off with your hand. “It’s nothing...” you reply when you decide to tease your familiar. “Ali seems to like you.” 

The question doesn’t leave Yoongi’s eyes. “Ali?” 

“My familiar...” you move closer to point at Alistair at the top of the stairs who stares at you with a nearly murderous gaze. “His real name is Alistair, but he doesn’t like being called Ali in front of strangers...” you chuckle with Yoongi’s eyes on you. Alistair gets up from his position and stretches before sitting on his back legs on a graceful but indignant pose. 

Your smile grows. 

Yoongi turns to your familiar and nods his head again. “I’m Yoongi. Nice to meet you Alistair.” 

Ali looks at him carefully before his voice reappears. 

He’s okay... for now. 

Then he tips his head towards Yoongi and turns around to hide in your room. 

You chuckle once more at the quizzical look on Yoongi’s face. “Okay, now he really seems to like you.” 

Yoongi sighs in relief. “I’m glad. Wouldn’t want to get on your familiar’s bad side...” he replies while turning his eyes upwards to your high ceiling. His gaze turns awed when he sees the ancient magic decorating the glass ceiling and how the endless night outside meets the floating lights underneath your roof. 

“What is this...?” he asks in wonder, mouth falling open at the sight above him. 

Another smile takes over your lips. “My father did it. When I was young, I used to say how much I loved the floating lights in the sky. I would sit awake for hours trying to come up with spells to bring them closer to me. I thought if I tried hard enough, I could bring them in my room and have them on my ceiling and then I could say “I have the floating lights in my room!”. So, one day my dad brought home some small crystal balls, filled them with starlight and enchanted them to float forever beneath our glass ceiling. To accompany the real floating lights in the night sky,” you reminisce as one of the floating lights slowly descends to meet your open hand.  

It’s warmth travels through your skin, reminding you of that time you tried to catch them with a floating spell of your own. Back then, you didn’t know you weren’t supposed to chase them. The starlight would come to you instead. 

“And to make sure I didn’t accidently cause earth’s collision with a star,” you add on with a chuckle. 

“Your dad could catch starlight?” Yoongi asks still in awe, but his eyes are on you now. 

“It was his individual power.” 

“And what is yours?” he asks curiously. 

At that your smile drops. 

You shrug. “I don’t know.” 

Both of you remain silent. Yoongi’s gaze doesn’t leave you but where you thought you’d see pity you see nothing but understanding. He doesn’t say anything along the lines of “I’m sorry,” or “That must be hard,”. He just lets you be. 

You don’t know what else to say so you focus on the issue at hand. “Okay, so are we ready for this?” is your impatient question as you let the small ball float back into place. 

Yoongi stares for another moment before he clears his throat. “Yeah, just a few things first. We need to be really discreet. There might not be any Magaux there but there should be some monitor spells lying around. So, we have to be careful. And we shouldn't split up. I know it’ll take more time but it’s safer this way,” Yoongi explains, all seriousness and even though you agree, you can’t resist the urge to tease him. 

“Is someone afraid?” you can’t hide your teasing smile and Yoongi scoffs as he tries to hide his own. 

“Me? Please. I’m just saying this for you...” he smirks, and you roll your eyes. 

“Alright, let’s do this,” you take his hand in yours as you close your eyes and recount the spell in your mind. 

You feel the familiar rush of magic travelling through your body, the magic of your home helping you in the process and then you open your eyes. 

But it didn’t work. 

You stare confused at your joined hands. This is weird. 

Yoongi looks concerned. “Is something the matter?” 

“That hasn’t happened before...” you mumble in disbelief, worry filling your mind. 

“Maybe it’s because we’re two people. Have you tried teleporting with another person before?” Yoongi casually drags his hands away from yours. You’re too worried about your powers to notice the crimson hue spreading over his cheeks. 

“I-… No, I haven’t but I don’t think that’s it...” your confusion is palpable as you close your eyes to try again. 

Once more you feel the familiar pull on your gut as your magic concentrates. This time you feel a bit more of it, now that it’s just you, but when you’re about to cross over you feel the difference. There’s something blocking you. Your powers work just fine, moving you along the spell just as they’re supposed to but when it’s time to land, you feel a wall blocking your path. 

“There must be a blocking spell on the estate...” you realise out loud and Yoongi curses softly. 

“Now what? Should we walk all the way there? Someone might see us,” he says in thought, thinking of possible solutions to your problem but you raise an eyebrow. It's simpler than that. 

“...Or we could just teleport outside the estate and walk to the front door?” 

. 

. 

“Okay, now that we’re here how do we get in?” 

This time, you’re successfully teleported outside of the estate, so you resulted in walking the rest of the way. The blocking spell shimmers as soon as you pass the front gate. You fight a shiver at the peculiar sensation.  

True to Yoongi’s words the scene seems cleared, no Magaux anywhere in sight. The Kim’s estate appears larger up close. The building is still standing, yet black spots of fire and ruin grace its appearance and a cold chill runs down your bones.  

The lights are out, the house an imposing structure despite its condition, the smell of ashes wafting through the air. You can’t believe this place was full of life just two weeks ago. 

That it wasn’t just a ruin. 

“The normal way,” Yoongi responds as he climbs the stairs to the front door. You follow close behind. 

“Through the front door? How do you know it doesn’t have any monitoring spells?” you inquire with careful step, wary of making too much noise. 

Yoongi smirks at you but instead of going through the front door, he nears a broken window to the side. The floor creaks with his steps, a contrast to the silence of the night. You resist the urge to shiver. 

He leans in, just barely through the window. He looks around the windowsill, as if looking for something. Once he’s satisfied, he leans back outside with a winning smile. “No monitoring spells here.” 

Your gaze is suspicious. “How can you tell?” 

He waves you over and you both lean inside to take a peek in what seems to be the living room. “Usually monitoring spells have a tell; they must have a beeper nearby to help them keep running for the desired time. The latest versions don’t need it, hence the increase in their price. I doubt Xefoto’s Magaux can afford them...” he comments. You lean more inside, and he points over your shoulder towards a small rectangle metallic box just above the door. 

“Now that’s a beeper. Which means this door is monitored,” he explains as he steps inside the window. Once he’s safely inside he stretches his hand towards you.  

You take it with a careful yet amazed gaze. “How do you know all that?” you move inside, wary of dragging anything with you. You finally place both legs inside before dragging your hand away. 

Yoongi simply shrugs as his eyes move to the interior. “I’m studying to become a Magau. It’s stuff I should know,” he chuckles as he takes a step inside. 

You hum in understanding and your eyes finally take in the living room. Or what used to be the living room. 

The wallpaper is burned to a crips as most spots, heavy black marks covering the walls in a pattern; as if the fire spread out in five, even streams of flame and burned everything in their path. The floor beneath the marks is black in streams too, all pointing towards the centre of the room, as if someone lighted a fire and spread it in five, even directions. Like a ritual would have it. 

“I guess this is where we should look...” Yoongi comments in a grave voice. His fingers skip the black mark on the walls. 

“What happened here...?” you mumble in terror, mostly to yourself. It’s pretty obvious what happened here, but why would someone kill an entire family just for a ritual? 

“Whoever did this, did not mess around...” Yoongi whispers, while you near the fireplace. On top of it rest some burning sage along with some geraniums and a few buds of alyssum; all burned to almost a crisp, outside of the five even streams. The flower petals are black, almost destroyed by the fire. Burning sage is used for protection from enchantment, geranium as an alert for approaching guests and alyssum is used to deflect spells and judging by their condition, you’d say the person behind this knew much about the Kim’s. 

Your eyes then travel to the wall above; decorated with numerous runes and what must be protection spells. But truth is you never paid attention on rune’s class, so you have no idea how to read them. 

“So, we look for anything that might be suspicious?” Yoongi makes an affirmative sound, and you begin looking. Hoping you will at least find something that can help you. 

. 

. 

It’s been two hours or so since you started searching but you have nothing so far. You looked into every corner, under all furniture, looking for cracks in the floor, opening every cabinet and little trinket but you’ve come up empty handed. 

You’re starting to lose hope. You can’t believe you did all this just to come up with nothing. You refused to be pessimistic all day, to avoid jinxing it but now it seems your doubts became a reality. 

You have nothing to move forward from. You only know a witch is somehow involved, someone who knew what they were doing which means it wasn’t anyone from this town. 

Which means you’re screwed. 

With a huff, you stand up. “Come on Yoongi, I don’t think we’ll find anything here...” you admit, shoulders hunched but Yoongi doesn’t budge. 

“I’m not done yet. Plus, we haven’t looked into any of the other rooms yet...” he replies, not really paying attention to you. You tiredly watch as his hands dive in what seems like the hundredth box here. 

You groan, your sore muscles complaining along, and you rub your straining neck. “I doubt we’ll find anything in the other rooms either. Let’s just admit this was hopeless and return to-”  

Your words get cut short when you hear a sound coming from outside. 

Yoongi doesn’t seem to notice it, too immersed in his search, but you’re certain you heard something. Is someone else here? 

“Yoongi...” you whisper lowly, taking a step towards him, your eyes glued to the front door. 

“Wait, I think I found something...!” he mumbles with barely contained excitement, his hand searching through the outer cracks of the box. 

But then you hear it again. 

The unmistakeable creak of the wooden floor on the front porch. Meaning someone is coming up the stairs. 

“Yoongi, someone is here...” you shake his shoulder to gain his attention, to guide his focus at the impending risk of being found out. 

“I can’t get it, just use an invisibility spell or something...” he argues, finger grabbing that... something and yanking it as hard as he can. 

Panic and shame are an awful mix, flooding you at the same time as the creaks sound closer. 

“Yoongi, please, we have to get out now...” your rushed voice reflects the rhythm of your pulse, and your breaths quicken in fear. Your eyes widen and you stare at the door as whoever seems to be outside takes their sweet time to turn down the doorknob. 

A huff comes from your partner. “This is a clue; we have to get it! Why can’t you just cast a disguise or invisibility spell?”  

He obviously doesn’t understand why you’d choose to simply run but once you hear the steps sounding just outside the door you snap. 

“Because I literally can’t!” 

Thankfully your voice was barely a hiss, but it’s enough for Yoongi to hear it and look at you with a surprised gaze. 

Great, is that shame creeping back in? 

“I- I never learned how...” you admit, your voice barely a whisper this time. You avoid Yoongi’s eyes; they are sure to be filled with pity and you can’t take that just yet. You can take a lot of things admittedly, but surprisingly not this. 

The sound of steps travels through the wood again and you remember you’re about to be discovered. “Now can we please get out so I can at least teleport us somewhere safe?!” you hiss, pointing with one hand towards the door. 

Yoongi stares at you for a second too long without replying. Instead, he grabs what seems to be a small stick, stuck into the cracks of the box and with one determined move, he finally gets it out. 

“Got it! Let’s go,” he exclaims triumphant before you drag him towards the back of the house with a tired groan. 

“I used to come here as a kid, there’s a back door at the kitchen and windows we can go out of. If there are monitoring spells in all of them, we can hide until the living room is clear...” you whisper quickly, remembering all the times you came here with your parents for social visits.  

You open the door, push Yoongi quickly inside and lock it behind you. 

“Check for beepers...” you put a chair against the locked door, just to be safe as Yoongi checks the back door first. 

“Clear,” he replies “Although it seems weird the door isn’t monitored, even if it’s just a back door...” he thinks out loud. 

“Well, if it was, we’d be stuck here so forgive me for not looking a gift horse in the mouth...” you roll your eyes at him as you drag him towards the door. “Now let’s get out of here...” you open the back door and motion for him to follow you when you both hear the unmistakeable sound of the front door opening. 

Both your gazes land at the kitchen door, then at each other. 

“Run?” you whisper. 

Yoongi swallows the lump in his throat, and he nods. “Run.” 

Then you’re both out in the backyard, running through the bushes and flowers as quietly as you can. Actually, the garden is really pretty and normally you’d stick around to gaze through the flora, but this is as far from a normal situation as it could be.  

You can’t afford to stop. If you stop now and someone sees you, it’s all over. Noone would care that you had an alibi for that night; they’ll send you straight to prison. 

You reach the fence between the Kim’s estate and the forest, and both of you use the momentum to quickly jump over it, only to land ungracefully at the forest floor. 

Yoongi lays there for a second to catch his breath, but there’s no time to lose. You grab his arm, closing your eyes and recounting the spell as fast as you can, when the telltale sign of power draining takes over you and you suddenly find yourselves back into the floor of your living room. 

“Fuck...” you curse breathlessly, your body slumping down against the floor. Your muscles scream in protest, your legs turned to jelly as your lung struggle to fill up. 

Your eyes find the floating lights at your ceiling, dancing around peacefully; such an obvious contrast to what you just did, and you can’t help but wonder what your father would think of this. 

You think he’d have a heart attack to be honest.  

But your mother? She’d probably be with you all along. 

Yoongi chuckles, out of breath. “Yeah... fuck...” he agrees before groaning and rubbing his eyes. “I haven’t had that much exercise in years...”  he mumbles and you can’t help the laughter that bubbles from your lips. 

You both lay there too tired to move, your eyes naturally following the spells carved on your celling. 

And that’s when you remember. 

“So, what did we find?” you ask curiously and Yoongi scoffs. 

“We? Oh no, you wanted to leave, you get no credit for this...” he teases, still trying to catch his breath and another laugh escapes you. 

“Fair enough. So, what did you find, oh great detective Min?” you tease back, and he chuckles (an impossibly clear sound you’re sure you won’t be able to get out of your head). 

His hand dives into the pocket of his jeans. Then it emerges, carrying that slim stick you saw him dig out and he passes it to you. You take it cautiously, observing it meticulously. It’s bent at the end in an obtuse angle, frayed at the middle with scratches on its middle part and strings of something soft sticking out of it. Oh wait, it’s not a stick. 

“It’s a feather...” you observe and Yoongi hums in agreement. 

“Yeah, a black one as you can see and those scratches in the middle part?” he points to them right where you saw them before, “At first look they seem inconspicuous, but I think it’s a rune...”. The more you look at it, the more sense Yoongi’s observation makes. Yes, it is a rune, the one resembling the letter “c”, but you have no idea what it means. 

Again, not good with runes. 

“And it seems even more plausible since the feather remained intact through all the debacle,” Yoongi mumbles in thought and you turn to him. 

“You think it was enchanted to withstand the fire?” 

“Maybe. Or maybe it was used to keep the fire from going out, or for something else altogether. I can’t really tell; we’ll have to find out what that rune means...” 

His statement has you looking at the feather again, deep in thought. Someone wanted the Kims gone so bad, they not only lighted their house on fire but did everything necessary so that the fire wouldn’t go out. 

You weren’t aware the Kims had such enemies. In truth, they were one of the most respected families in Xefoto. 

So, who did this, and why? 

“Okay, so where do we go from here?” you pass Yoongi back the feather. 

He takes it back with nimble fingers, softly grazing your own. “I remember seeing a spell recipe that used a black, bent feather with a rune scratched on the middle part in another witch’s book of spells. I don’t remember what the spell was for though, so we need the book to know the details. Do you have yours somewhere around?” he asks curiously, but you shake your head. 

“No. Us witches are supposed to get our books at the age of twelve, along with our mentor. But ever since the accident, the council put a ban in everything regarding casting magic. No mentors, no books, no anything. And you won’t be able to find anything at the local library either, believe me, I’ve tried...” you admit with a sad chuckle. 

Yoongi sits up and stares at you in shock. “Is this why you didn’t know how to cast an invisibility spell?” he asks in bewilderment, voice filled to the brim with disbelief. 

You simply nod. 

His eyes widen, a glim of irritation flashing through them and he drops back to the floor with an angry huff. “I can’t believe this fucking town...” he grits through his teeth, making you shift uncomfortably next to him. 

“It’s fine really. After I’m done with college, I’m gonna search for a mentor elsewhere, so no harm done!” you rush to say, words more bubbly and cheerful than you ever felt about your situation, but it feels vulnerable to let him in, in all those aspects of your life that you hate.  

And you don’t like feeling vulnerable. Even though, with him, it’s the only thing you seem to be doing. 

“No harm done my ass...” he argues with a clipped voice, ready to say some more, when he casts a glance at your side. He sees something that makes him stop though. Instead, he looks at you for a moment longer before he turns his focus forward and clears his throat. 

You two remain silent for a few seconds, neither of you knowing what to say. Although it doesn’t feel as strange as it felt a moment ago. Somehow it feels peaceful and quiet and everything you wanted since that fateful day your parents died, and your skin crawls with the whisper of all the things you lost, as if they say you don’t deserve this tranquillity. That this too will be taken away from you because you’ve done nothing in your life to deserve this. Even though life has put you through enough things to owe you this. 

But life doesn’t care about balance or justice. It only takes, unyielding and cruel and indifferent to your sorrows until you have nothing left or you give up. 

You don’t know at what stage you are yet. 

Yoongi somehow senses the dark path your mind has taken you. He knows that for some reason, whatever you’re thinking about now isn’t good for you. The urgency to bring your thoughts back to the present tugs at him so persistently that at first, he sits there in panic, not knowing what to do. 

But the longer he sees that distant, almost resigned look in your eyes, the more words keep trying to escape his throat, until he’s sure that if he tries to voice them, no one would be able to make any sense out of them. 

So instead, he clears his throat again. 

The sound startles you, like waking you up from a nightmare and only realising you’re in the comfort of your bed, and you have to remind yourself you’re safe. 

But as your eyes fall on Yoongi again, that small seed of warmth that appeared when Yoongi first found you in that classroom, spreads the tiniest amount. 

“So how do we find that book?” he asks. 

The question has you smiling. That you know how to get. 

“There’s this guy at school, he’s mostly everyone’s weed dealer, but I've heard that for the right price, he can get you anything; besides other drugs that is,” you explain, and Yoongi sits up once again, resting his weight on his hands. This time though, it’s not rage swimming in his eyes, but excitement. 

“Okay, so let’s talk to him!” comes his enthusiastic response but you wave him off. 

“It’s best if you let me do the talking...” you warn him, knowing if he was to talk to the guy, it wouldn’t end well for any of you. 

He regards you with suspicion. “Why? Who is this guy?” 

You roll your eyes at him with a smile. 

“His name is Dean,” and Yoongi looks even more confused. 

“And he’s a werewolf.” 

next part: {5}

[luna-azzurra]

Here are Some things that people love reading in books

People have a wide range of preferences when it comes to reading, but there are several elements that tend to be universally loved in books. These elements often make a book more engaging and enjoyable for readers.

1. Compelling Characters: Readers enjoy well-developed, relatable, and complex characters with distinct personalities and growth throughout the story.

2. Engaging Dialogue: Well-crafted and realistic dialogue that brings characters to life and advances the plot is appreciated.

3. Emotional Connection: Books that evoke strong emotions such as joy, sadness, or empathy can be deeply satisfying for readers.

4. Imaginative Worlds: Readers often love books that transport them to imaginative, immersive settings, whether it's a fantasy realm, historical period, or a vivid contemporary world.

5. Page-Turning Plot: A well-structured, suspenseful, and fast-paced plot that keeps readers eagerly turning pages is a big draw.

6. Mystery and Intrigue: Elements of mystery, suspense, or a cleverly constructed puzzle can be very appealing to readers.

7. Character Development: Watching characters evolve, learn, and overcome challenges is a satisfying and relatable experience.

8. Universal Themes: Books that explore universal themes like love, friendship, identity, and the human condition resonate with a wide audience.

9. Beautiful Prose: Readers appreciate well-crafted, evocative prose and the use of vivid, descriptive language.

10. Unique Concepts: Original and unique concepts, ideas, or themes that challenge the norm or offer fresh perspectives can be captivating.

11. Humor: Well-placed humor and wit add charm and entertainment value to books.

12. Diversity and Inclusivity: Inclusion of diverse characters and perspectives that reflect the real world can be heartening for readers.

13. Twists and Surprises: Unexpected plot twists and surprises that challenge expectations and keep readers guessing are often welcome.

14. Moral and Ethical Dilemmas: Thought-provoking moral and ethical dilemmas that encourage introspection and discussion are appreciated.

15. Relatable Relationships: Well-developed relationships, whether they're romantic, familial, or friendships, can be deeply relatable and endearing.

16. Strong Beginnings and Endings: Memorable and powerful beginnings and endings that leave a lasting impact are highly valued.

17. Resonant Themes: Books that explore relevant and timely themes or social issues can resonate deeply with readers.

18. Empowering Narratives: Narratives that empower readers, offer hope, or inspire positive change can be incredibly uplifting.

Ultimately, what readers love in books can vary widely depending on personal preferences and tastes. A well-rounded book often incorporates several of these elements to create a rich and satisfying reading experience.

[disgustinggf]

men who give head for their own pleasure pspspsps

[iitsnotme-123]

Tumblr should make different colors of verified checkmark

[iitsnotme-123]

maybe even… give them as achievements…

[heybaetae]

BTS REACTION MEMES IN MOTION: PART TWO cr. 0613data, jung-koook

[dateaforestgod]

date a forest god who will light hundreds of candles to keep away the darkness

[fanghusband]

october is pride month for the goths and the vampires

[dateaforestgod]

date a forest god who loves having meals and sharing food with you

[deboracabral]

come get ya juice