Army's Heart Bangya Bangya

My social media game is like my soul: DEAD.

[jungblue]

aphrodite in war | 05 (m)

pairing: jeon jungkook x reader

word count: 19,870

genre: angst, smut / greek life, fake dating, roommates, lovers to enemies and back to lovers au

description: Everyone knew about the war that had been brewing on the edge of campus for the past two years. Sorority versus Fraternity; a showdown for the ages. However, when the escalating antics between them yields the consequence of possible suspensions for both chapters, the presidents of each house must come together to try and figure out how to end this battle… Which is kind of hard, considering they were the ones responsible for it in the first place.

note: here is a song that a lovely reader created in inspiration of AiW's story. Hope you guys enjoy it as much as I do!

→ part one / part two / part three / part four

The ultimate beach trip between the Tri Delts and Lambdas started off as well as it could have. Everyone was mingling together as if there hadn’t been a petty war transpiring between these two groups of people up until just a couple of weeks ago. If you saw everyone now, drinking and laughing together, you would never have guessed the history of pranks and antics that had driven your two chapters to the point of near suspension. 

It had been about an hour since you had all arrived. There were already plenty of drinks flowing and games going on. You had lost Sana and Jennie somewhere in the shuffle, and because of that you had managed to be pulled into a game of beer-pong with some of the Lambda boys. 

“Are you serious!?” Baekhyun yelled as you sunk your ping pong ball into the last solo cup across Taehyung’s parent’s very expensive table. 

“Winner!” You yelled, turning to high-five Jimin who had decided to strong arm his way into being your partner. His mouth was slack-jawed at your game sealing shot. 

“I really could’ve used you the last two years, you know.” Jimin leaned down to whisper in your ear. Not that it mattered much with how loud the music was going in the house. “Jungkook fucking sucks at beer pong.”

“Yeah, he’s sucked at it since high school. Always got stuck being on his team since we were dating and everything. Frustrating as hell.” You could have replied with a snarky comment about how it was Jungkook’s fault in the first place that you weren’t around, but the two of you were in a good place at the moment, and you didn’t want to ruin it by being condescending. 

“Well, glad you’re back.” Jimin paused, looking hesitant before continuing. “And he is too.”

“Tch, right.” You rolled your eyes. “I’m sure he can’t wait for this whole charade to be over so he can continue on his quest of having sex with every woman in existence.” 

Fuck. 

Well, so much for not being condescending. 

“I didn’t—I don’t know why—” You bit your lip, shaking your head. “Please, don’t tell him I said that.” 

Jimin smiled, his tongue pressing at the inside of his cheek. He seemed to find your little slip up extremely amusing. You knew it wasn’t really a big deal. After all, you had said things like that (and much worse) to Jungkook’s actual face. Except it was different now. There was as newfound peace between the two of you, and you didn’t want to be the one to trample all over it. 

“I won’t tell him.” Jimin finally answered. You let out a sigh of relief. You were about to thank him when you noticed his eyes seeming to lock onto something across the living room. You were about to turn around to see what he was looking at, when suddenly he was leaning down, his lips pressed against your ear. “If you answer a question for me.” 

The sensation made you freeze up. It was loud in here, but there was certainly no reason for him to be this close to you. You glanced around the room, no one seemed to be paying much attention, most of them already decently drunk after only an hour or so of being here. Still, you felt like a giant, gaping hole was being burned into your back at that very moment. You glanced over your shoulder, in the direction that Jimin had been looking before, and when you did you felt yourself tense up once again. 

Jungkook was staring at the two of you from the second floor. His mouth was set in a firm line, brows furrowed as he continued to sling malicious waves through the air. 

You whipped your head back towards Jimin, whose face was still much too close to yours. You sneered at him. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” 

“Just trying to get my friend to grow some balls.” He shrugged, a smirk playing on his mouth as he refused to acknowledge Jungkook’s searing stare that you could still feel slicing against you. “Now, about that question I get if I don’t tell Jungkook what you said.” 

Your nostrils flared, getting more annoyed by the second at whatever game was going on here. “What’s the question?” You asked through gritted teeth. 

Jimin leaned back and finally you felt like you could breathe again, but your lungs were once again rattling as he grabbed the crook of your elbow, dragging you through the crowd and outside the giant sliding glass doors and down a set of stairs that led towards the beach. 

You ripped your arm from his grip once you got to the bottom of them. “Okay, seriously. What in the actual fuck is going on here!?” 

“Calm down, princess.” Jimin threw his hands in the air. “I’m not trying to seduce you.” 

You scoffed. “So what was practically tongue fucking my ear about then, huh?” 

Jimin laughed, throwing his head back. “I was just trying to get a rise out of Jungkook.”

Your brows furrowed. “Why would you—” Your question was cut off as Jimin’s eyes went wide, staring up at the stairs that the two of you had just come down. 

“Looks like it worked. Hide!” He grabbed your hand, pulling you behind a giant line of bushes before you could object. 

“Ow, goddammit, Jimin!” You punched him in the ribs. There were shallow cuts on your legs from the tiny branches he’d rushed you through. 

“Shut up, he’s coming.” Jimin whispered, pressing his hand over your mouth, and you were just about to fight back when a looming presence was suddenly upon the two of you. 

Both of you were barely breathing as Jungkook stood on the other side of the leafy barrier that separated you. You weren’t sure why you were going along with this. It would be very easy for you to stand up and tell him that Jimin had dragged you down here against your will, but for some reason you stayed crouched down. You watched the way Jungkook’s shirtless chest was rapidly rising and falling. He looked absolutely pissed. You couldn’t lie, it was kind of amusing seeing him this annoyed. You assumed he thought there was something romantic, or at the very least sexual, going on here given Jimin’s little show in front of him earlier. You knew it was messed up to let him believe that, but again something made you stay hidden from him. 

“Jimin, you slimy motherfucker.” Jungkook hissed beneath his breath, fists clenching as he continued down the path towards the beach. Once he was finally out of earshot you both relaxed, collapsing into the sand. 

“He might actually knock you out when he sees you later.” You chuckled, standing up to brush some of the dirt off of your legs. 

Jimin stood up beside you, waving a dismissive hand in the direction Jungkook went. “He’ll thank me later.”

You gave him a baffled expression. “Okay seriously, what the hell is all this about? Because from my point of view, you’re just being a shit friend for no reason. And even though we haven’t been very fond of each other the last two years, that doesn’t seem like something you’d do to him. So tell me, what do you gain from flirting with your best friend’s ex-girlfriend?” 

He took a deep breath, glancing back to make sure Jungkook wasn’t making his way back to the house yet. When he looked at you again, he wasn’t smiling anymore. In fact it was the most serious expression you’d ever seen him have since knowing him. Even more serious than when he woke up last year to one of the Tri Delts having vandalized his vehicle. 

“I’m gaining the satisfaction of helping him,” He finally answered. 

“Uhm…” You trailed off, trying to find some sort of logical thread to follow, but you came up empty. “How is this helping him?” 

He sucked his bottom lip between his teeth. “It’s not my place to say certain things, but I need you to answer something for me.”

You scowled at him, because the fact that he wasn’t even going to tell you the actual reason behind this ordeal was ridiculous. “And you had to flirt with me in front of Jungkook just so you could ask me a question?” 

Jimin shrugged. “That was a last minute decision on my part. And it seemed to work, because he’s absolutely furious, stomping around the beach right now at the idea of someone touching you, even though you’re supposedly fake dating.” 

“Uhm, duh, because it was you touching me, idiot. I’d be pissed too if one of my friends was acting like that with him, even though we’re not actually together. It’s the principle of it.” You didn’t understand how he thought it was anything other than that. “Now, because I’m getting nowhere in this conversation with you, can you just ask the damn question before he comes back here.” 

Jimin’s soft smile returned once more. “Do you have feelings for Jungkook?” 

You felt a shock run up your spine, which had you backing away from him. “What do you mean? What feelings?” 

Jimin rolled his eyes. “Please, we don’t have a lot of time before he comes back up here. So let’s cut the bullshit about you not having feelings for him still.” 

The accusation made you feel weak. That after all of this time, you still were some bumbling idiot that couldn’t get over her first love. “Fuck off, Jimin,” You snapped, turning to try and shimmy your way back through the bushes. 

“I’m not trying to be a dick, Y/N.” He climbed through the branches after you, tugging on the back of your shirt to stop you from stomping away from him. 

Your patience had finally broken. You whirled around, slapping his hand down. “I don’t need to tell you my feelings about Jungkook, because he already knows exactly how I feel about this situation. I told him weeks ago at Yoongi’s party, so I’m not sure why you felt the need to insert yourself.” 

Jimin’s eyes narrowed. “What did you guys talk about at Yoongi’s party?” 

“He didn’t tell you?” You were surprised. You figured Jungkook would’ve definitely told his closest friend about the conversation that had caused tears from the both of you. 

“He told me that you were weirded out by all the kissing and everything in public and that you guys didn’t talk much for a couple of weeks after. He didn’t say you guys talked about anything else.” 

It seemed Jungkook had simply boiled it down to the most basic version of what had happened that night. It was probably best to just keep it at that, since he clearly didn’t want Jimin to know the specifics, but you also didn’t want this weird game of wingman Jimin was clearly trying to play at to continue for the entire weekend here. 

You clamped your eyes shut, taking in a deep breath. “He was starting to get too into it. The whole kissing and touching in public thing. He made it seem like he would be okay with the idea of us sleeping together casually. It hurt my feelings that he was just trying to fuck me like every other girl he’s slept with since we broke up. I told him when he does those things, it means something different to me than it does to him. To him it’s fun, to me it hurts.” You paused, your eyes glossing over slightly, but you forced the tears back. “So yes, he knows my feelings to some extent.” 

Jimin lips dipped into a frown, suddenly seeming guilty for bringing up this entire interaction, but that didn’t stop him from continuing his line of questioning. “Did he say anything back when you told him it was different for you than it is for him?” 

“Not really.” You shrugged. “He just said he was sorry for making me feel that way.” 

Jimin suddenly ran a hand down the front of his face, annoyance riddling his features. “Fucking idiot,” He whispered. 

“Excuse me?” You asked, not understanding his reaction. 

Jimin shook his head, glancing back towards the beach where Jungkook went in search of the two of you. “Nothing. It’s nothing. Uhm, I’m sorry if I killed the mood with this whole thing. I won’t bring it up again, promise.” 

You rubbed your temples in frustration. What was the point of making that scene in front of Jungkook just to ask you about your feelings? It was utterly bizarre. Again, you could only assume Jimin was trying to help Jungkook get laid, but the question he’d asked had been strange. Regardless you weren’t going to let this ruin your weekend. This was supposed to be a fun getaway, not some intervention on your fake relationship. 

“Whatever, I’m going back upstairs.” You started back up to the house, and when you finally made it to the top you glanced down to see that Jimin was making his way down to the beach. You tilted your head in curiosity as you watched him.  

Seriously, what the hell had all of that been about? 

—————

Jungkook 

He had given up on his search pretty quickly. It took him a moment to calm his hammering heart enough to gain the ability to chase after the two of you, and once he was down there you were both nowhere in sight. He was currently sitting on the ground, hands fisting into the sand. The memory of his friend’s lips on the side of your face had him vibrating with fury. He was envisioning all the ways he was going to hurt Jimin when he finally found that sneaky bastard. However, it seemed the devil himself didn’t find it necessary to make him wait. 

Jimin’s voice carried itself through the wind from behind his back. “She’s a fantastic kisser, by the way.” 

Jungkook was already on his feet before he even turned around—and then he was running. He was on Jimin in a second and shoved him to the ground. However, his friend seemed amused by this spectacle of anger for some reason, which only served to infuriate him more.

He reached down, yanking at the front of his shirt. “I swear to god Jimin, if you actually fucking kissed her, I’m gonna knock you the fuck out.” 

“Why?” He snickered beneath Jungkook’s grip. “Jealous?” 

Jungkook was seeing red now. He ripped Jimin back up to his feet, clenching his teeth as he forced his words out. “Did. You. Kiss. Her?”

Jimin’s smile finally began to wane as he realized Jungkook was being serious in his threat. He shoved Jungkook back, but his hand remained fisted around the material of Jimin’s shirt. 

Jimin sighed, finally giving up on this game of taunting him. “No, I didn’t kiss her.” He glanced down at his clothes, Jungkook still not budging from his grip. “Uh, you can let me go now.”

Jungkook laughed, as if letting Jimin go after pulling this little stunt was the most ridiculous thing anyone had ever said to him. He was so goddamn angry, because even if he didn’t kiss you, he still made a show of running off with you. He knew that would get under Jungkook’s skin, so why would he do it? 

“Then tell me what the the fuck all of that was about then.” Jungkook dropped his hand, finally releasing Jimin. He backed away a few steps as soon as he could. “Because I think it’s fucked up after telling you about how this entire situation with Y/N was messing with my head you’d try some shit like that right in front of me.”

Jimin averted his eyes, biting his lip in an attempt to at least look somewhat remorseful. “I’m sorry if I pissed you off, okay?” 

Jungkook threw his hands in the air in frustration. “Why the hell did you do it in the first place? Did you think I’d find it funny or something to see you touching her like that? I know you’re not that goddamn stupid.” Jungkook’s fist clenched at his side, taking a step closer to Jimin. “You’re my friend, and you know how I feel about her. So just why?” 

Jimin rolled his eyes, his apologetic stance from a few moments ago dissipating. “Okay, I’ll tell you why.” He paused, leaning to whisper, “Because you’re being a fucking pussy.” 

Jungkook’s eyes went wide at the insult. “What the fuck is your problem, man?” He seethed, holding himself back from wrestling Jimin into the sand. 

“I don’t have a problem.” He pressed a finger into Jungkook’s chest. “You do. Because you said that I know how you feel about her, but I actually don’t. You just say vague shit about it not mattering whether or not you still love her and moping about it. You’re so in your head about how you messed everything up that you won’t even admit how you actually feel out loud.” 

Jungkook didn’t understand what that had to do with anything they were arguing about. Yes, he had been elusive when discussing matters between you and him to Jimin. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust him, though he was starting to rethink that, he just simply thought about everything going on enough in his head, so why would he want to talk about it? It didn’t change anything about how he was filled with all of this regret. It didn’t change anything about what he had already put you through. 

“Who the hell cares how I feel?” He finally responded. “That has nothing to do with this.” 

“Wow, you’re still doing it.” Jimin grabbed his mouth, chuckling in disbelief. “I wasn’t planning on flirting with her in front of you, you know? I was actually just planning on talking to her about how she felt about you—” 

“—You what!?” Jungkook cut him off, eyes wide with panic at imagining whatever the hell you and Jimin had talked about. At what Jimin could’ve possibly told you. 

“Calm down, Kook. I didn’t tell her that you’re still in love with her—because you clearly fucking are—I just wanted to see if there was a way for you guys to actually get back together. None of this fake dating shit.” He paused, pointing at himself. “Which makes me a great friend actually, so fuck you.” 

Jungkook scoffed. This was unbelievable. “Yeah, a great friend that had his hands all over my girlfriend.” Shit, he didn’t meant to say that. “Not my girlfriend. Just—” He started to try and defend himself but Jimin busted out into laughter at the slip up. 

“You wish she was your actual girlfriend. Maybe then I wouldn’t have caught you lurking in the back of the party earlier, staring at her like a sulky gargoyle.” Jimin shrugged. “I just thought you needed a push is all. Because eventually this thing with the two of you living together and pretending to date is gonna end, and what then? You just never tell her how you actually feel? It’s pathetic. Grow some balls, man.” 

If Jimin’s goal had been to evoke heightened emotions from him in regards to you then he had absolutely succeeded on that front. He was pissed at the way he did it, but Jungkook was starting to put it together. Jimin thought if he could rile Jungkook up enough, it would maybe prompt him to finally unravel this tightly woven mask he kept up for everyone, including you. But he wasn’t so easily broken, after all he’d had years of practice in pretending that you no longer affected him in that way. 

Jungkook sat down on the sand, staring out at the ocean to try and calm his racing heart from this entire ordeal. Jimin sat down next to him, clearly waiting for some sort of reply to his insult from before. But he didn't want to fight anymore. He propped his crossed arms over his knees, continuing to look straight ahead. “Like I told you before, how I feel doesn’t matter.”

Jimin let out an exasperated sigh, pulling at his hair in frustration at Jungkook’s stubbornness. “How the hell can you say it doesn’t matter? Just tell her you’re sorry. Tell her you still love her. I mean, she practically gave you the perfect moment to tell her at Yoongi’s party and you still didn't have the guts to say anything. ‘It means something different for me than it does to him.’ She truly thinks that, because you didn’t tell ber she was wrong. It means the same thing to both of you, and—” 

“No it fucking doesn’t!” Jungkook finally snapped. He was tired of Jimin acting as if he knew the ins and outs of his relationship with you. He hadn’t seen you that night at Yoongi’s. He hadn’t seen you crying as you explained to Jungkook how much he’d hurt you. How much this entire situation was affecting you. He just didn’t get it. He didn’t understand how selfish it would’ve been in that moment to try and defend himself to you, even when he had so desperately wanted to. 

Jimin was silent for a moment after Jungkook’s outburst, giving him a minute to cool off. But Jimin was not one to let things go unsaid, so he eventually asked, “Explain it to me then. Explain it to me and I’ll leave you to be miserable in peace when it comes to the two of you.” 

Jungkook bit at the inside of his cheek, not wanting to explain these inner thoughts that he’d kept to himself. Jimin knew that he was struggling obviously, but he didn’t truly know the extent of it. Jungkook felt it was unfair to unload these problems onto others when he was the cause of it in the first place. But clearly he wasn't doing a great job at hiding his feelings, so what the hell? Might as well get it all out there. 

“When we’re forced to act like we’re together in public—I hate admitting this—but to me… It feels amazing. Like I’m somehow digging my way back into her life.” He licked the edge of his teeth, shaking his head, because just saying these things out loud made him feel like a terrible person. “I’m being fucking selfish, and I’m using this excuse between the houses to try and climb my way back to what we were before. She thinks we’re both just doing it because we have to put up a front for everyone, but she doesn’t know that I want it to be real so badly. For me, I get to pretend for just a second that I never ended things between us, and I love it. But to her… To her, when we have to act like that, she wishes she was anywhere else but with me.” Jungkook released a heavy sigh, his chest hurting. “So yeah, it’s different. When I want it to mean something more, while she feels like she’s being cornered by someone who hurt her. I do that to her. I make her feel that way. And I can’t fucking stand it. So no, I’m not gonna tell her how I feel, because I’ve already done enough to her.” 

For a minute there was just the sound of waves crashing against the shore. Just Jungkook’s honest words echoing in the salty air. He had to admit it felt good to say it to someone and not just let his thoughts gnaw at him ruthlessly. He knew he could’ve told Jimin these things earlier, but he had tried to suppress it, because he felt as though he deserved to suffer in this agony alone. His eyes were burning with the confession, but he wouldn’t let the tears go. He wasn’t going to let even one of his closest friends see this raw version of himself. Jungkook stood up, readying himself to return to the house now that he and Jimin had an understanding, but in typical fashion, Jimin kept him on his toes. 

“So you’re just going to give up that easily, huh?” Jimin stood up beside him, tossing Jungkook a look of pity. “You get to make the decision of what happens between the two of you again.” He stepped closer, grabbing Jungkook’s shoulder. “Now that is selfish.” 

Jungkook smacked his hand away, completely bewildered that Jimin still didn’t seem to get it. “I’m trying to be a good guy to her for once and you’re shitting on me for that, seriously?” 

Jimin rolled his eyes. “You broke up with her. She didn’t get a say. And now you’re still not giving her a say. She might reject you… But at least she’ll get to control something this time around. You keep talking about regrets and fucking everything up, so maybe this is your way of making it up to her. Let her decide this time.” He stepped closer, resting his hand back on Jungkook’s shaking shoulder. “Tell her how you feel, and let her decide this time.”

Jungkook felt angry at first, like Jimin was simply dismissing everything he’d just told him, but there was another part of him that felt like he’d just been called out with complete honesty. Because hearing the words that he was deciding for you had him rattled. That he once again wasn’t letting you have a say in the matter when it came to your relationship. 

“It’s not that simple.” He finally responded. “We live together. I can’t just tell her that I… I can’t just tell her how I feel and expect everything to be okay if it goes wrong.” 

Jimin’s jaw went tight suddenly. “Okay, enough of the word play. Just fucking say it.” 

Jungkook looked around, confused. “Say what?” 

Jimin grabbed at the air, his lips thinning in frustration. “If you can’t even say it to me, you definitely won’t be able to say it to Y/N. None of this ‘how you feel’ shit. Say the goddamn words.” 

Jungkook averted his gaze, because he knew what he was asking him to do. It wasn’t even something he admitted in his own thoughts easily, let alone spoke them. 

“Just drop it. You got what you wanted out of me, didn’t you?” He put his hands in the pockets of his swimming trunks, kicking the sand, but then Jimin was shoving him in the chest and knocking him back. 

“Say it,” He demanded. 

“No,” Jungkook hissed. 

“Say it!” Jimin screamed, pushing him to the ground. 

“No!” Jungkook yelled back. 

Jimin pushed his hand down on Jungkook’s chest, anchoring him to the sand. “Just fucking say it, pussy!” 

Jungkook grabbed Jimin’s arms, sitting up and slamming him into the ground to reverse their positions. He hovered over him for a moment, his breathing heavy as his heart clawed at him, wanting the thoughts to finally be free. They scratched and squeezed and mutilated him until he felt himself bellow in pain. 

“I fucking love her, okay!” He stared down at Jimin, whose smile slowly started to creep in beneath him. 

“Good,” Jimin whispered, patting at Jungkook’s cheek like he’d just performed a trick correctly like a dog. “Finally getting somewhere.” 

Jungkook smacked his lips, pushing off of Jimin to stand back up. “Glad you got what you wanted, dickhead.”

Jimin sat up, brushing the sand off of him. “You’ll thank me one day.” 

“Wouldn’t hold your breath on that.” Jungkook stepped into the waves, kicking at the water. He didn’t want to say those words out loud, but it seemed they didn’t want to be held captive anymore. 

Jimin’s arm was suddenly hooked around Jungkook’s shoulder. He had to force himself not to push him away. “Come on, let's go back to the house.” 

Jungkook couldn’t help but laugh, staring at his friend like he was crazy. “After all that, just a casual ‘let’s go back to the house,’ seriously?” 

Jimin nodded. “Yes, because at least now you’re not in denial anymore. You actually said it. My job is done, the rest is up to you.”

He clenched his jaw, looking in the distance. “And if I still don’t tell her?”

Jimin shrugged. “Then at least I’ll know I did all I could do to help.” 

Jungkook sighed, rubbing at his face. Was Jimin right? Even if he was being selfish by telling you, was it still your right to know? So that you could decide? He was still wary about it, but he couldn’t lie and say that it wasn’t eating at him now. He would have to think on it, so it seemed that Jimin accomplished his goal in the end. 

“Fine, you seedy fucker. Let’s go back.” He slipped beneath his arm, motioning for his friend to follow him. A couple of minutes into the trek back to the house Jungkook glanced over his shoulder, one thing still on his mind. “But just so you know, if you pull something like that with Y/N again, I’m not asking questions next time.” 

Jimin smiled softly. “Noted.” 

—————

You were sitting on the couch with a drink in your hand, a slight buzz running through your head. You’d needed another one immediately after that strange conversation with Jimin. You still weren’t sure what it had all been about. Maybe just genuine curiosity? Or maybe Jungkook had perhaps put him up to it to see if you had changed your mind after Yoongi’s party about the idea of the two of you being physical again. But you really didn’t think Jungkook would try something like that. He apparently hadn’t even told Jimin about that conversation, so it seemed unlikely, but still a possibility. You pondered the different scenarios in your head when Yoongi suddenly sat down next to you. 

“Not having fun with your girls?” He asked, slinging an arm around your shoulders. 

You glanced over at Sana and Jennie. They were mingling with some of the other Tri Delt members. While most of the girls didn’t have much trouble with forgiving the dispute between your houses now that you and Jungkook were ‘back together,’ they knew the truth of the situation and weren’t so easy to forgive the past two years. But at least they weren’t antagonizing, so that was the most you could ask for. 

“Yeah, just… thinking,” You finally answered, taking another sip from your cup. 

“Well, you’ve been sitting here for a while in some freaky daze, so it must be something serious.” 

You groaned at his observation. “You don’t have to constantly be worried about me, you know? I’m fine.” 

“I know, I know, but…” Yoongi’s lips thinned, dipping his head down to whisper. “I just can’t help but check up on you. I’m the reason you’re in this position in the first place. I suggested this whole idea for you and Jungkook. I just wanna make sure you’re good.” 

You hadn’t thought about it that way. That he felt responsible for proposing this lie. You could see that he was genuinely concerned, and while this last month had been confusing and at moments borderline torturous, it wasn’t his fault. 

“You’re not the reason I’m in this position. It’s on me for being a dumbass and not seeing the email about my scholarship.” You patted his chest. “You’re a good friend. I’ll be okay, promise.” 

Yoongi nodded, but he still seemed to carry some level of guilt from the expression on his face. “Well, maybe I can play therapist at least. What were you thinking so hard about before? Something happen between you guys?” 

“Not between me and him…” You scrunched your face, knowing exactly how this was going to sound. “Between me and, uhm, Jimin.” 

“Jimin!?” Yoongi’s eyes went wide, suddenly turning to face you and pulling his legs into a criss-cross position on the couch. “Jungkook’s gonna kill him.” Yoongi chuckled. 

“It wasn't like that.” You lifted your legs onto the couch as well to mimic Yoongi’s position. It was extremely loud with everyone talking and all the music, but it made it easier to make sure no one accidentally overhead anything. “I mean, I guess it was kind of like that. He was flirting with me, but then I realized he knew that Jungkook was watching. It was… weird.” 

Yoongi’s lips twitched upwards slightly, like he was trying to fight the urge to smile. “He knew he was watching, huh?” 

You narrowed your eyes. “Do you know something?” 

He shook his head, but his eyes dropped down and you could tell he wasn’t being entirely honest. “No, Jungkook still doesn’t talk to me about you guys all that much. Remember, I made that rule that the two of you weren’t allowed to bitch about each other to me after you broke up.” 

Of course you remembered that. Yoongi had given you a longer grace period than Jungkook in that regard, considering you had been the one to get your heart broken. But eventually he said enough was enough, and that in order to remain friends with the both of you he couldn’t be a part of the constant nagging about one another. 

“Well, at least we aren’t fighting anymore, so you don’t have to worry about hearing about it.” 

“I’m glad. It sucked not being able to hang out with my best friends together.” He gave you a sad smile, and you returned it. You had also missed that feeling of the three of you hanging out. “So things are actually good with you guys then? It hasn’t been weird?” 

“Well, no. Things have definitely been weird.” You scratched your head awkwardly. Your voice lowered even more than it had been before. “He heard me having sex the other day.” Yoongi half-screamed, falling back into the couch and spilling some of his drink onto the floor. He picked himself back up after a moment of trying to get his laughter under control. “Hey, at least he didn’t have to actually see me fucking someone like I had to when I first moved in.” The image of Jungkook and that girl naked flashed through your mind. You felt your cup bend slightly as your fingers curled around the plastic. 

“Now I did hear about that.” Yoongi rummaged around in his pocket, pulling out a joint and a lighter. “Honestly, I thought after that there was no way this whole thing was gonna work out. Figured you’d tell him to fuck off and find another place to live.” 

“It would’ve been a pain to find another place that quickly, so I at least had to give it a try.” You shrugged. “Plus, it’s been nice not fighting anymore. I think we’re kind of in a good place, and I feel like I’m getting some sort of… I don’t know, closure, I guess, after all these years.” 

“Closure…” He said the word slowly, like he was mulling over what you meant by that. You weren’t sure why. Honestly, you should’ve been past the point of closure, but hey, at least you were getting there. He seemed to push whatever he was thinking about away before lighting his joint and inhaling. He coughed, blowing the smoke away from your face. He motioned to hand it to you. 

You shook your head, pushing it away. “No, I have to share a bed with Jungkook tonight, and well, I mean you know what it does to me.” 

“That it makes you horny as fuck? Yes, I do know that.” Yoongi snickered, clearly remembering some moments over the years when you hadn’t been exactly the most modest after smoking. “But you’re drinking. That makes you get the same way.” 

You shook your cup in your hand. “Yeah, not as bad as with weed though.” Though admittedly, drinking when you were going to be in a close space with Jungkook probably also wasn’t the best idea, but you had some modicum of self control. It would be fine, right? 

“If you say so.” Yoongi smiled, taking another hit. He clearly didn’t believe you. 

“Nothing’s gonna happen between us.” You put your arms into the shape of an ‘X’ to further prove your point. “No sex.” 

“What about sex?” Jimin’s voice chirped from behind you, the intrusion making you jump and spill some of your drink onto the couch. Taehyung’s parents were seriously going to murder him. 

You turned around to see Jimin and Jungkook standing together. You didn’t see any animosity or bloody faces, so they seemed to have worked out whatever the hell that was from earlier. 

Jungkook glanced at you and then at the joint in Yoongi’s hand. You watched his mouth twitch slightly, probably thinking of some variation of Yoongi’s comment about your insatiable libido when smoking. 

Jimin motioned at the couch. “Yoongi and Y/N are talking about sex, Jungkook. You’re gonna threaten to knock him out too, right?” 

You felt yourself stiffen. You knew they obviously were going to have words, but you didn’t want them to get into a physical altercation over what happened. “You guys didn’t get into a fight, did you?” 

“No, just threw him around in the sand a little bit.”  Jungkook walked over to the couch, squatting down in front of it and slipping the joint from Yoongi’s hand before taking a deep inhale. 

“Well, hello to you too,” Yoongi said before taking it back. 

“Hey, I got you on the ground too. Don’t make it seem like I was just getting my ass handed to me.” Jimin pouted. 

You looked at Jungkook, leaning in closer. “You didn’t have to do that, you know?” 

Jungkook dropped his eyes to the floor for a moment before bringing them back to you. “No, I did.” 

“It wasn’t a big deal. Nothing happened.” You assumed Jimin had already told him that considering he was here in one piece, but you wanted to make it clear. 

“I know, but he knows he deserved it.” Jungkook smacked Jimin’s thigh. 

“Ow, bitch!” He rubbed at the spot that just got hit. “But I am sorry, Y/N. Won’t happen again.” 

“You’re fine,” You answered, just glad that everything seemed to have worked out. 

You turned back to Jungkook, and you noticed all the sand stuck in his hair, presumably from the tussle they had on the beach. You reached out without thinking. “You have sand everywhere.” You ruffled at the strands, and his eyes slowly closed as you did it. “There, better.” You rubbed your fingers together, dropping the grains over the floor. 

Jungkook cleared his throat and scratched at his nose before immediately standing. “Thanks.” 

You didn’t know why the action seemed intimate for some reason. You went to take a sip of your drink to push the idea away, but it was empty. 

“Need another?” Jungkook asked, motioning to take the cup from you. 

“Uhm, yes, please.” You handed it to him. 

Jungkook started back towards the kitchen, and you watched as Jimin followed him, throwing an arm around his shoulder and whispering something in his ear. Jungkook pinched his ribs at whatever was said. 

You shook your head, deciding not to think further into it as you turned back to face Yoongi. However, when you did he was looking at you with head tilted in some sense of curiosity. 

“What?” You asked. 

“Nothing.” He shrugged. 

You rubbed your temples in frustration. “God, why is everyone acting so weird today?” 

Yoongi chuckled, inhaling another hit. “Just interesting is all. Watching you guys together.” 

“We’re just being friendly,” You said. Sure, it must be strange to see the two of you acting so cordial after all of this time, but there was nothing else to it. 

“Okay,” Yoongi said simply, clearly not going to elaborate more. 

You huffed in annoyance, turning to glance over your shoulder. You watched Jungkook laughing with a couple of his members as he poured some drinks. You let yourself settle down a bit, just choosing to ignore the odd way everyone was behaving today. Instead you just looked at him for a little longer. It was nice to be able to act like this after so long. To be able to actually stand each other’s presence. But you couldn’t lie, even in these moments of peace your heart tried to fight back against the logic of your mind. It stuttered and violently forced your brain to relive every negative interaction of the last two years. It forced you to remeber it in excruciating detail, as if it was trying to warn you about something. Your body remembered that the last time you and Jungkook had been able to interact like this together, it had ended terribly for you. 

Jungkook looked at you suddenly from across the room, a small smile gracing his lips, and then your pulse was racing. It pumped these thoughts of dread into the corners of your mind. They seemed to say: tread lightly or you might just get bit again. 

—————

The next couple of hours went by in a bit of a blur. Lots of drinking and hanging out on the beach. Which was currently where you were now, laying down on a towel, eyes closed as you soaked up the sun’s rays. 

Your mind had tried to spin you down a path earlier that you wanted no part of. This was supposed to be a relaxing trip, regardless of its inception being under the false pretense that you and Jungkook were truthfully back together. So that was what you were going to treat it as; just a vacation to unwind. The alcohol was definitely helping with that mission. Your thoughts felt fuzzy, your limbs loose, none of that anxiety inducing nonsense from before. You were about to ask Jennie to hand you another drink from the cooler that was near her when pellets of water suddenly started to assault your skin. 

“What the hell!?” You barked, sitting straight up, tearing your sunglasses off to look at the culprit. It was Taehyung, whipping his hair like a dog all over you and Jennie. 

“Sorry, just trying to cool you guys off.” He shrugged. 

“We didn’t ask,” Jennie hissed, making Taehyung blush, but for some reason also… smile? Guess Jungkook wasn’t lying when he said he liked them mean. 

“Whatever, hand me a drink since you’re right there,” You asked, and Taehyung tossed you one out of the cooler. He then decided it would be a good idea to fish a couple of ice cubes out and toss them onto Jennie.

“You’re gonna regret that,” She said, her smile sinister as she jumped from the ground and began to chase Taehyung into the water. 

You chuckled in amusement as you cracked the top of your drink and were about to return to laying back down after the interruption when Jungkook was suddenly sitting down next to you in the sand, Jimin following shortly behind. 

You tried to ignore the way he was dripping wet. His hair pushed under a backwards cap, while his breaths were heavy and forceful from him and the other guys spending the past couple of hours messing around in the ocean. You quickly put your glasses back on before your eyes could betray you. You weren’t exactly the most subtle when you weren’t in a clear state of mind. 

“Told you, he’s gotta crush,” Jungkook said rolling onto his back. 

“Forgive him.” Jimin leaned in closer and lowered his voice as you took a sip of your drink. “He’s terrible at flirting. Only good at fucking.” 

You choked on your drink at that admission. The liquid spilled past your lips as it fought its way out of your lungs. “I don’t even wanna know how you know that.” You finally managed to get out after your coughing fit ended. 

Jimin shrugged. “Thin walls and well… you know.” 

Jungkook smacked Jimin on the back of the head at whatever he was insinuating. “Shut up,” He said sternly. 

You rolled your eyes because you could certainly assume what he was hinting at. “Yes, I don’t need to hear about the disgusting orgies I’m sure you all partake in.” 

“God, fuck no—” Jungkook was suddenly sputtering. “There were no orgies, trust me.” 

You pursed your lips, suddenly finding this conversation to be a bit amusing. “I don’t know, you seem a bit defensive.” You turned to Jimin who looked equally as entertained. “So Jimin, tell me, did you and Jungkook ever have sex with a girl at the same time?” 

Jimin’s eyes widened, his lips cracking into a grin as he turned to look at Jungkook who was currently hiding his face in his hand. 

“I think I’ll stay out of this one,” Jimin answered. 

You chuckled and stood up from your towel, a little confidence running through your veins. “Oh, come on guys. We’re all adults. No need to be shy. We’ve all had threesomes.” Jungkook seemed to choke on air at that, and the reaction only made you want to push it further. You knew this wasn’t a good idea, especially after earlier, but your lack of being sober was influencing you. You leaned down to whisper at the both of them. “If you wanted to see Jimin naked when we were together all you had to do was ask. He’s cute.” You ruffled Jimin’s hair, and noticed the way his cheeks went instantly pink. Then you immediately walked towards the water without looking back. 

“That better be a sunburn, motherfucker,” You heard Jungkook say in the distance, and you couldn’t stop yourself from giggling. 

You knew that it didn’t mean anything. That it was simply the case of not wanting your friend to be involved with your ex just out of principle. But it was still fun to mess with them. After all, you were the one that got left, so you were enjoying the back and forth between them. Maybe that was why you hadn’t revealed yourself to Jungkook earlier when you and Jimin had been hiding behind those bushes. Because even though the two of you were currently in a good place, you couldn’t lie and say some part of you didn’t enjoy seeing him jealous.

You were about knee deep in the water, when you noticed Taehyung and Jennie still chasing each other around. Hm, maybe he wasn’t so bad at flirting after all.

You were sifting your feet around, splashing yourself to try and cool down when Jungkook was suddenly by your side once again. 

“I was joking about that thing with Jimin.” You offered him, not wanting your playful taunt to turn into something serious—as much as you had enjoyed the look on his face. 

“I know, I know,” He said, but didn’t look convincing with his jaw tight while he scratched at his bicep. 

“What happened with you guys earlier anyways?” You asked, genuinely curious. “What was that whole thing even about? Obviously he knows it would’ve pissed you off.” 

Jungkook bit at his bottom lip, seeming to think about his answer. “Nothing, he just thought it’d be funny,” He finally settled on. 

“Hm, doesn’t seem like a very good friend.” You could never imagine Sana or Jennie flirting with Jungkook because they thought it was ‘funny.’

He looked back at the shore where Jimin was still laying on the beach, talking to one of the guys from Lambda that had walked over to him. He stared at him for a second before answering. “No, he’s a really great friend actually.” 

“Whatever you say,” You responded, even if you still couldn’t wrap your head around it. But hey, it was their friendship, even if you obviously weren’t privy to the inside details of it. 

You and Jungkook walked further out into the water, not really saying much to each other. You glanced over at him, and to your surprise, he was already staring at you. 

“Was there something you wanted to talk about?” You asked, looking around to see if any of the members of your houses were watching to warrant him following you out here. 

“No, just wanted to come out here.” He shrugged. “What? We can’t hang out if someone isn’t looking?” 

You were taken aback by that answer. You knew that the two of you had found a happy medium in your relationship but it wasn’t something you thought he had found fully enjoyable. The forced proximity of it all. 

“No, we can,” You said. “It’s just a bit strange, you know? Like I know we’ve been living together, but we still don’t talk that much outside of having to play the part at parties and stuff.” 

“I get that.” He nodded, both of you coasting in the waves as they splashed against you. “But I’d like that to change. I’d like to be able to talk normally again.” 

You raised a brow. “Like friends?”

Jungkook pushed his tongue against his cheek before answering. “Yeah… Like friends.” 

If you had asked yourself over a month ago what the possibility of you and Jungkook being friends was, the answer would have been a firm fuck no. But now everything was different. You had enjoyed the fact that there was no longer this lingering malice at every interaction, but you still couldn’t say that you didn’t hold some amount of anger towards him. You hated admitting that, but even after two years you still couldn’t look at him without those incessant flashbacks from that night forcing their way into your mind at some point. But regardless of that you wanted to at least try, in order to make this entire situation of living together and pretending to date a bit easier. 

“Okay, like friends,” You finally said. 

Jungkook seemed to beam at that response. “Really?”

“Yeah.” You smiled wickedly, your hand swinging from the water to send a gush of saltwater into his face. “Really.” 

Jungkook looked shocked, but he was smiling wildly as he wiped the liquid from his face. You quickly started swimming deeper into the ocean where you couldn’t touch the ground as he began to chase you. 

“What? Water fights are friendly!” You yelled back. 

He was closing in on you, and you tried to swim faster but suddenly a large wave knocked straight into your face. You felt your sunglasses fly off as you were dragged beneath the surface. Almost instantly you felt hands on either side of your ribs, pulling you up. 

You patted at your head after sucking in a breath. “Fuck, my glasses.” 

Jungkook looked around, still holding onto you. “Shit, my bad.” 

You squinted your eyes at the sun that was no longer blocked away, using your arm to guard the rays. But suddenly the bright light was no longer an issue as Jungkook removed his hat and settled it onto your head. He was pulling you to where you could stand, his chest grazing against you as he adjusted the cap to shield your eyes. You felt yourself relax into the touch before you could stop it. You were skin to skin, Jungkook’s face only a couple of inches from yours. You glanced down before you could see his reaction, breaking the contact by stepping a couple of feet away. 

“Thanks,” You said, hiding beneath the hat. “That sucks. Those glasses were expensive.” 

“I’ll buy you another pair,” He said. 

You were instantly shaking your head. “You don’t have to do that.”

He shrugged. “It’s my fault. It’s fine.” 

“It wasn’t your fault. I splashed you first,” You argued.

“I don’t care. I’ll still replace them.” 

“Like I said, they're expensive. It’s fine.”

“And like I said, it’s fine.” He tipped your chin, forcing you to look at him. “I want to.” 

Something inside of you told you to keep fighting, but you felt yourself melt into the gesture. “Fine,” You said simply instead. 

“Good.” He smiled, and then you felt his hand grab one of yours beneath the water. “Wanna go eat something at the house?” 

You hid the way your breath hitched, trying to respond as clinically as you could. “I guess I could use something to eat. I drank a lot already.” 

“Okay, let’s go.” He pulled at your hand, dragging you to shallower waters until you were standing, his fingers still grasping yours as you walked up the beach. 

“Oh, so cute!” You heard someone say, you turned to see Joyce and a couple of other Tri Delt members looking at the two of you as you emerged from the water hand in hand. 

You sent them a forced  smile as you pulled Jungkook’s hat lower on your head. You still hated this part. The faking and pretending. They all thought this was a second chance at rekindled love, when in reality it was you being forced to endure the person that broke you. And even though the relationship between the both of you was getting better, it didn’t change that fact. 

“You okay?” Jungkook asked once you were further away from everyone and closer to the house. 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” You lied, once again forcing a grin as Jungkook walked with you, fingers intertwined with yours. 

—————

The first night of the Tri Delt x Lambda beach trip was upon you before you knew it. Everyone had made their way back to the house, drinking and mingling in a way that was unfamiliar after these last two years of pranks and fighting. You watched in a happy, drunken haze, seeing the girls and guys interact. Some of them seemed to be getting extremely close after their day together. You saw some of them sitting in one another’s laps, some kissing, some dancing. You even noticed Jennie and Taehyung chatting in the corner. It was still crazy to you that your failed relationship was what was holding all of this back. You were still thinking about that when Sana approached you. 

“You good?” She asked. 

“Yeah, fine. Just watching everyone be okay with each other. It’s weird.” 

Sana looked around at your point of view. “Well, your plan worked at least.” 

You nodded, taking a sip from your cup. “Seems it did.”

“But did it work for you?” She asked. 

You stared at your drink, knowing what she meant, but deciding to act stupid. “What do you mean?”

Sana scoffed, batting you in the shoulder. “You know what I mean. Having to act this way with Jungkook. I mean it can’t be easy.”

You felt your chest shutter. Sana was right, but you didn’t want to talk about it. You were dealing with it in the best way you knew how, which was inside of your head. 

“It’s strange, but it’s working out fine I think.” It wasn’t the entire truth, but that was all you could manage at this moment. 

The music stopped suddenly. Everyone looked around in confusion, and then Taehyung who seemed to have pulled himself away from Jennie was standing in the middle of the living room. 

“I just wanna say… This weekend has been a great time already.” He stumbled slightly with a drink in his hand. “And I just wanna say a thank you to Jungkook and Y/N for making it happen!” Suddenly everyone in the room was cheering. 

Oh, no. 

“We’ve fought the past two years, but now that they’re back together everything’s fucking great!” Taehyung turned towards you, raising his drink. “Where’s Jungkook?” He was by your side in a second, one hand resting on your shoulder. You looked up at him, his eyes seeming to say, calm down. “There he is. Cheers to the happy couple!” 

Everyone was crowding you both, cups and bottles raised in your direction. Your heart started pounding with all this attention. When you were at parties or events together there was no spectacle. It was just simple kissing here or there, no spotlight of faces. You felt yourself lock up, but then Jungkook threw an arm around your shoulder and pulled you closer. 

“Just breathe,” He whispered against your ear, and then he kissed you. 

It was nothing crazy, just a couple of seconds, but that was all it took to have your pulse stuttering and your stomach churning with something that you could only assume was some sort of desire. You hated that your body still reacted like this to him. 

You pulled away first, staring at him with an expression that you weren’t even sure how to explain. Frustration, lust, confusion, you weren’t sure. But it seemed no one noticed because the cheers had suddenly become louder at the show of affection. Everyone hugging and clinking drinks, some people kissing alongside you. It was just too much. You wondered what some of these people must think of you. Some pathetic girl that took back her ex after he got to sleep with as many girls as he wanted before you took him back. You knew that wasn’t true, but they didn’t know that

You turned to Sana quickly. “I gotta get out of here.” 

She nodded, seeming to immediately understand. “Come on.” She grabbed your hand, pulling you towards the sliding glass door that led to the back once everyone had their attention turned away from you. 

You were down the steps that went towards the beach before you knew it, and Jennie was suddenly behind you as well. “You’re not leaving me in there, bitches.”

“What don’t wanna keep talking to Taehyung?”

Sana snickered. 

“Oh, shut up.” Jennie waved her hands in the air. “I was just being an appreciative guest.” 

“Sure,” You said slowly, turning to give her a smile.  “Whatever you say.”

You grabbed Sana’s hand tighter, forcing her to run with you the rest of the way down to the beach as Jennie screamed after you.

“Nothing's going on!” She yelled as she finally caught up. 

You chuckled, resting a hand on her arm. “You can go for

it if you want. I won’t be mad. But I would’ve appreciated it if you had managed to occupy his attention a little better so I wouldn’t have had to put on that little show.” 

“I’m sorry about that. He’s an idiot, but….” Jennie started pulling at her hair. “I don’t know, he’s kind of sweet. I’m just curious, I guess.”

You waved her concerns off. “Seriously do what you want.” 

You knew that Jennie probably felt guilty about being interested in a guy from Lambda after everything, but it truly wasn’t something that bothered you. 

“Oh, forget about this. Enough talk of Lambda boys.” Sana was suddenly ripping her shirt off and pulling down her shorts. “Let’s do something fun!” 

“What are you doing?” You gasped, looking to see if anyone was around. 

“Skinny dipping, and you are too!” She giggled, pulling at your shirt. 

You didn’t fight it. You let her pull the clothing off of you until you were left in your bathing suit from earlier. Normally you would’ve objected, but the alcohol was making you a bit braver, and the distraction from the kiss with Jungkook was needed. 

“Fuck it.” You pulled at the strings from your bikini top and let it fall to the ground, leaving your breasts bare. “Let’s go.” Then Jennie was stripping, and after a few moments all three of you were completely naked and marching into the water to cover your bodies. “Pretty sure this was how the movie Jaws opened,” You said as the water hit your shoulders. 

“No, there was a guy that left her out there.” Sana pressed a hand above her eyes, scoping around. “No guys. We’re good.” 

You laughed, the three of you huddling together as the small waves battered against you. It felt strangely freeing in a way. Being out here completely bare with your two best friends. You were already forgetting about the kiss with Jungkook. The way you had folded so easily. You knew it was something that was necessary between the two of you, but that didn’t mean you should enjoy it. Which was the problem. Everytime something happened with him you felt yourself slip, even if just for that moment. It felt normal and right, and then you remembered how deeply he hurt you. But this was helping you forget. Forget this fucked up situation you were in and the nagging feelings that clawed at you. It was just nice to be with people that helped you feel like your life was normal. 

“You better now?” Sana asked as the three of you held hands in a circle as the water bobbed you around. 

“Yes, better.” You nodded, squeezing their hands tighter. “I don’t know what I’m doing, guys.” You finally admitted. 

“What do you mean?” Jennie asked. “What’s going on?” 

You bit your lip and tilted your head down, not wanting to admit these thoughts out loud, but you needed to tell someone. “Being with him lately is strange. It’s just too comfortable. Like nothing ever happened.” You paused, taking in a deep breath. “He fucked me up, and I just have to act like I’m fine, and when he kisses me… It feels like it is—just for a second.” 

Sana patted the side of your hair, her face twisted in a sympathetic expression. “We understand. This is probably harder for you than you could ever explain.” 

“Yeah, we wouldn’t judge you for however you’re feeling.” Jennie hugged you. “It’s an insane situation. There’s no way to prepare for it.” 

You gave them a small smile. You appreciated the words of comfort. You knew it wasn’t something you could help, but it was nice hearing that you weren’t an idiot. That if anyone was in this situation of having to pretend to date their ex that broke their heart, they would also feel confused. It wasn’t that you wanted to get back together with him, there were too many insecurities and trust issues to wade through. Plus, he seemed perfectly happy in his conquest of having sex with as many women as he could, so it wasn’t as if either of you were interested in that. But you still couldn’t shake the emotions that overtook you in those forced moments of intimacy. You weren’t sure what they meant. Was it just longing for what it once was or something else? 

“Thanks, love you guys,” You said, pushing your thoughts away, because it didn’t matter right now. 

“Love you too.” Sana grabbed your hands, pulling you into a waltz position. “Now let’s dance! Music please, Jennie!” Jennie started humming some classical piece that was familiar as Sana tugged you through the water, laughing and twirling you as you both tried to keep your heads above the waves. You guys were out there for a couple of minutes, just messing around and having fun, when of course it had to come to an end. 

You were lost in the moment when a voice shattered your short-lived serenity. “What’s going on here?” 

The three of you turned to glare at the boys on the beach. It was Jungkook, Jimin and Taehyung. Sana pushed you behind her. It was dark and there was no way they could see anything through the water, but it was still a vulnerable position. 

“Seriously you guys had to follow us!” Sana yelled.

“We were just coming down here to drink some more.” Jimin waved a case of beer in the air.” We weren’t following you.” He bent down, picking up her bathing suit bottoms that had been left on shore. “Didn’t know we’d find something like this though.” 

“Drop them, fucker.” Sana snapped her fingers, pointing down, and Jimin let the material slip from his grasp immediately. 

He threw his hand in the air. “Sorry, my bad.” 

“What’s wrong?” Taehyung asked, looking back and forth between your two groups in confusion. He seemed to be staring at Jungkook who was in turn staring at you, and neither of you were saying anything. “Are you guys fighting again already?” 

Fuck, this wasn’t good. A normal couple wouldn’t just be silent with each other like this, especially after sharing a celebratory kiss in front of everyone. You stepped in front of Sana quickly. 

“Nothing’s going on. We just had a spontaneous idea…” You paused, clenching your fists at your side. “Jungkook, come here.” 

The full moon was the only reason you could see the way his eyes widened. You could tell he was hesitant, looking around anywhere that wasn’t at you, but he kept glancing towards Taehyung who didn’t know the truth of what was going on here. It would be odd to deny you, so he didn’t. He pulled his shirt off and slipped his gym shorts down, leaving him in only his boxers. 

“These are staying on. Not letting these fuckers stare at my ass.” Jungkook turned to his friends, flipping them off playfully as he made his way into the water. But you didn’t think that was why he was keeping them on, because the closer he got to you the more hesitance you could see on his face, like he didn’t think he should be this close to you while you were undressed. 

“Is Jungkook the only one invited?” Jimin asked, motioning towards the shore. 

Sana and Jennie both look at you for the answer. You shrugged. “I don’t care. Up to you guys.” 

“Are you sure?” Sana whispered. “I think it’d be funny, but we don’t have to.” 

“I seriously don’t care.” You grabbed her shoulder, leaning down to her ear as Jungkook got closer. “Jimin’s cute. Just do whatever you want. I’m fine.” 

She shot you a face of disgust. “Ew, absolutely not.” However, she glanced at the beachline for a moment. “I mean yes, he’s attractive, but I could never get with a Lambda.” 

You rolled your eyes, shaking her shoulders. “Just do what you want. Have fun. Don’t think about me.” 

She stared at you for a moment, tonguing her cheek. “Fine, but if you wanna leave just say the word and we’re gone.” 

“Okay, got it.” You motioned towards Jimin and Taehyung on the beach, letting your friends take the rest from there. 

She huffed, waving them forward. “You can come in, but you have to be completely naked. Jungkook only gets a pass because of Y/N.”

“Fine with me.” Taehyung shrugged and stripped every piece of his clothing off in seconds before diving into the water. 

Jimin rolled his eyes, but undressed in a similarly rushed manner before running into the water. “You’re making yourself look too easy, Tae.” 

Taehyung scoffed. “Like I give a fuck about looking easy to a girl as hot as Jennie.” 

You couldn’t help but laugh, covering your mouth as he drifted towards her with a wide grin. She stood her ground as he approached, but even in the dark you could see the wobble of a smile trying to form. They started bantering back and forth immediately. 

Jimin was swimming closer to you and Sana now. Sana quirked a brow at him, the two having a staredown for a couple of seconds before she began to paddle further out. She was smirking as she did so, daring him to chase her. Which he of course did without question. 

“Be careful,” You yelled as the two drifted away in their little game of chase. “Idiots,” You whispered, turning away and suddenly finding yourself face to face with Jungkook. He was still keeping his distance. 

“Stop being weird about it,” You finally said, splashing at him. “It’s not like you’ve never seen me naked.” 

Jungkook narrowed his eyes. “You’re really confusing, you know that right?” He said, stopping just a couple of feet away from you. 

“I’m confusing?” You brows furrowed. “How?” 

“Well, you got so upset when we had to kiss earlier that you literally had to run out of the house. So I obviously assumed that me being next to you while you were naked wasn’t exactly something you’d enjoy.” He let out a deep sigh. “I just don’t know what to do to make this not miserable for you. I don’t want you to be miserable with me. I really don’t.” 

You hadn’t really thought about it like that. Those were pretty mixed signals you supposed. But it wasn’t that you were doing it on purpose. Right now, when it was just the two of you, it was different. You were simply a pair of individuals with a shared past trying to navigate the impossible. Whereas earlier had been a public spectacle of humiliation on your part. Everyone, his house and yours, under the impression that you had simply forgiven him for breaking up with you. He was the victor and you were the spineless girl that gave into him. He didn’t understand that. 

“You don’t make me miserable,” You finally answered, deciding that keeping these thoughts to yourself wasn’t going to help anything. Maybe if he could see where you were coming from, it would make things easier. “What we’ve been doing the past month or so, with the kissing here or there, that’s whatever to me. But what happened in there, with everyone staring at me like…” You trailed off, not knowing if this was something you should voice out loud. It could come across as an insult to him, and you didn’t want to fight. 

“Like what?” Jungkook asked, now only a foot or so away from you. 

You bit your tongue and turned away from him, not wanting to see his face when you said this. “Like I’m the loser who took back her ex after he embarrassed her for the past two years.” Your nails bit into your skin beneath the water. “None of my members have said anything to me, but I can’t help but think that if I was one of them I would definitely think I was a total fucking idiot. Taking back a guy who broke up with me and had no shame in hiding what he was doing all that time.” You let your body sink lower, just so your mouth was barely above the water as you stared up at the moon. “I know it shouldn’t matter what anyone thinks because none of this is real always, but it’s just eating at me. People thinking you got to fuck whoever you wanted for two years and then got to come back to me once it was out of your system. God, they probably think I’m so pathetic." You rubbed your palm against your forehead in frustration. You hated that you were bombarded with these constant thoughts. 

There was just silence for a moment. You continued to stare up at the sky. You were still decently buzzed and this entire circumstance of being naked in the ocean with your pretend boyfriend wasn’t exactly normal, so it almost made this whole thing feel like a weird dream. But the dream-like state was broken when Jungkook was grabbing your shoulder and gently turning you to face him again. 

You kept your head dipped down and crossed your arms over your chest. “You don’t have to say anything. I agreed to do this, so it is what it is.” 

“Y/N,” Jungkook’s hand grazed the side of your cheek. The sensation made you stifle a gasp. You glanced up at him, and he was staring at you with an expression that you couldn’t quite place. Guilt? Pity? Either way you hated it. 

You pushed his hand away. “Don’t. I don’t need you to feel bad for me. In fact that pisses me off more, so just forget I said anything.” 

Jungkook huffed, his jaw hardening. “Fine. What do you want me to do then?” 

You gave him a confused look. “What do you mean?” 

“What can I do to make this easier for you?” He asked. “Do you want me to say something in front of everyone? Do you want me to humiliate myself in front of them for you? Whatever you need me to do, I’ll do it. I don’t care.” 

You were shocked by what he was saying. You didn’t think he would offer something like that when it didn’t benefit him in any way. You pondered the idea a bit, asking him to do something that would make him look as dumb as you felt, but in the end, you just couldn’t think of anything you would want from him in that regard. 

“Jungkook, right now all I want from you is for you to go get my one of those beers and talk to me about anything other than this.” You gave him a weak smile. “Please, let’s talk about anything else.” 

He bit his lip, seeming to stop himself from pushing the conversation that he clearly still wanted to have. “Okay, we can do that,” He finally said, turning to wade back to shore where he got you and him a drink before returning back to you. 

“So, what do you wanna talk about?” You asked, popping the tab on your drink and taking a swig. 

He pursed his lips, looking around, his sights seeming to catch on our friends who had drifted quite a bit away. “Well, our friends are definitely having a good time.” 

You could hear their laughter ringing through the air. It seemed Jimin had caught up to Sana and was now dragging her through the water with her hands clasped around his neck. You knew she wouldn’t make it easy for him. She was just messing with him at this point, but who knows what the rest of this weekend held. 

“Jennie hooked up with Jimin freshman year. She always says that it didn’t go too well.” You remembered how Jennie had explained it as a big let down after he came in all of two minutes of her going down on him. “Hopefully Sana will have better luck. If she even gives him the chance.” 

Jungkook chucked, pushing his hair off of face. “Yeah, trust me he was embarrassed as fuck. He says he still has nightmares about the pissed off look on Jennie’s face.” 

You laughed loudly, covering your mouth. “That sounds about right. You don’t want to be on the other end of her when she’s mad.” 

Jungkook shrugged. “Well, she’s perfect for Taehyung then. He likes that sort of thing for some reason.” 

“Oh, so girls being a little mean to you isn’t a kink you found out you liked after we broke up?” You smirked as he choked on his drink at your question. 

He banged at his chest with his fist to clear the alcohol out of his airway. “Thought you said you didn’t wanna talk about this kind of stuff?” 

“I said I didn’t want to talk about this stupid fake dating situation.” You paused, taking another sip of your drink. “Though, talking about the sex we’ve had with other people probably isn’t a good idea either.” 

“Yeah, you’re probably right about that.” He tongued at the inside of his cheek. “But to answer that one question, no, women being mean to me was not something that was my thing.” 

“Must’ve hated me the past few years then.” You chuckled, remembering all of the insults you had hurled at him. 

Jungkook’s face turned soft suddenly, making you realize that you had both drifted back to each other. You were so close you could feel his legs brushing against yours with each wave that pushed its way to shore. 

“I’ve never hated you,” He said. 

You looked at him skeptically. “Come on, you had to hate me at some points. Even I can admit I was being a giant bitch sometimes.” 

He rubbed the back of his neck, clearly remembering some moments that had gotten under his skin. “No, I really never did. I mean, don’t get me wrong, there were definitely moments that pissed me off. Like you accusing me of cheating on you when we were still together, but I could never hate you.” 

“It definitely was a favorite of mine. It just made you so mad.” You giggled, remembering all the times you used to hurl the allegation at him. Back then you were just so angry that you wanted him to feel the same, and it worked every time. 

His face suddenly turned serious, however. “I know you’re laughing and all… But you know I didn’t, right? Like I never would’ve done that to you.”

You knew that he more than likely hadn’t. It just wasn’t the type of person he was, though you also never thought he would've broken up with you back then, so what did you really know? You never know someone truly, no matter what they show you. 

“I choose to believe you.” You decided to answer honestly. “Of course there’s some part of me that will always wonder, but no I don’t think you did, but who knows? And who cares? It doesn't really matter anymore. We’re getting along fine regardless of what did or didn’t happen back then.”

His brows furrowed, face twisting. “But I care that you think that, even if it’s just a little bit.”

You shrugged, not understanding why this was such a big deal to him. “Why do you care what I think? Like I said, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t change anything.” 

He took his hand that wasn’t holding his drink and rubbed it down his face. “It just does. It just—”

Okay, you were done with this conversation. Nothing between the two of you could ever stay civil it seemed. You slapped your hand over his mouth, his eyes widening as your palm settled over his lips. 

“Stop,” You whispered. “Please, just let it go.”

You felt his face slump beneath your touch, looking at you like he wanted so badly to say more, but in the end he dropped his gaze between the small space that separated you and simply nodded. 

You let your hand linger there a little longer. Touching him like this for no reason other than that you could. It was the first time that the two of you were not under the watchful eye of someone, and for some reason it intrigued you. The way your chest was suddenly beating wildly, your legs feeling weak in the water. 

Jungkook was staring at you now. His gaze seemed to burn you with how intense it was. You felt his lips purse into your fingers, the sensation forcing a shiver up your arm, and yet you still didn’t pull away. He waited a couple of seconds and then he was pushing his head forward until the back of your knuckles were skimming your mouth, leaving just your hand separating the two of you. 

Your breath hitched. “What’re you doing?” 

“What’re you doing?” He said beneath your palm.

“I…” You trailed off, because you didn’t know what you were doing. Why were you still touching him? “I don’t know.” 

You felt your fingers start to separate, almost against your will. You couldn’t see his mouth since your faces were so close together, but you could feel his breath against your lips. You began to shake slightly, your teeth chattering with some type of anticipation. But anticipation for what? The entire reason you were down here, naked in this water, was because of a simple kiss with him earlier that had freaked you out, and now here you were seeming to want to do it willingly. 

You were both at a stalemate it seemed, however. Just staring at each other, both of your chests starting to rise and fall dramatically the longer this went on. His brows were furrowing, eyes full of emotion that seemed to look like genuine pain at the closeness of this. Your mouth parted and your tongue ran along the edge of your lip. Jungkook did the same as if he was trying to invite you to just give in. You felt yourself falling into it, and suddenly your mouths were just barely touching between your fingers. His tongue brushed at your bottom lip, making your stomach clench with a sudden rush of arousal. You shouldn’t be doing this. You absolutely should not be doing this, but this entire situation just felt so… tempting. You felt yourself almost give in, when this odd moment of lust was interupted. 

“What kind of weird foreplay is this?” Taehyung asked, a lot closer than he had been several minutes ago. 

You yanked yourself back instantly, hand flying to your mouth as if you had been burned. Your entire body felt tingly with adrenaline. You glanced at Jungkook who had put himself between you and Taehyung. You couldn’t see his face, so you couldn’t tell how this had affected him either. 

“Jeez, what’s with that face?” Taehyung asked Jungkook. “Looks like you’re gonna drown me.” 

You were curious to know what Jungkook’s expression looked like to warrant that kind of reaction, but before you could swim around to see, Jimin was jumping on Taehyung. 

“Taehyung, you fucking idiot!” He yelled, pretending to strangle him. 

“Dude, I can feel your dick on my back!” Taehyung tried swimming away, a disgusted look on his face as he tried to evade Jimin. “Gross!” 

They continued to play-fight in the water, and you could see Sana and Jennie staring at you. It wasn’t in a judgmental way, but more so that they were very curious as to what had just been going on between you and Jungkook. You grimaced, simply shrugging, because you had no idea what had been going on either. 

Okay, you needed to get out of this water. Before it felt freeing, now you just felt trapped with all of these confusing thoughts. You tapped Jungkook on the shoulder. He hesitated before turning around to look at you. When he did, you were surprised. He seemed almost… scared? Or just worried of what you might say. 

“Can you go get my bathing suit for me?” You asked, and you saw the way he relaxed at the simple request. 

“Yeah, I’ll be right back.” He motioned for you to hand him your drink that was still in your hand. You gave it to him, and then he was swimming towards the shore. He sat the empty cans down on the sand and picked up your swimsuit. He was about to turn around to come back into the water when you saw the way he froze momentarily. He glanced down and adjusted something in the front of his boxers. 

You couldn’t stifle your laugh as he started to make his way back to you with your clothes blocking his crotch. Seems he had certainly been affected as well by that almost kiss. 

“Having a problem there?” You asked as he handed the two-piece to you.

“What? I can’t control it,” He said as you started to pull your bottoms on and tie your top back around your neck. 

“I know, I know.” You bit your lip, guessing that you should address what just happened. “Sorry about that, by the way. I don’t know what I was doing. You know how I am when I drink.” 

He shook his head. “It’s fine. Nothing to be sorry about.” 

You knew that the two of you had both been complicit in whatever that was, but you were the one that had been unable to pull away from him in the first place. Your hand had been stuck to his mouth, not wanting to let go. God, you stupid girl. 

You shook the thoughts of your idiocy away. “Okay, well, I'm still gonna get out of here.” You glanced at Jennie and Sana who were still with the guys. Everyone had drifted back to being much further away now. You figured you’d just sneak off without letting them know. “Let them stay and have their fun.” 

“I’ll come with you,” Jungkook said, following you as you began your trek back to the shore. 

“You don’t have to. You can stay and hang out if you want.” 

Jungkook made a face. “And have to watch whatever’s about to go down between the four of them? I’m good.” 

You laughed as you stepped onto solid land, gathering up your shirt and shorts from earlier. “They’re all very attractive people. It wouldn’t be so bad.” 

Jungkook grabbed his gym shorts from earlier, slipping them on quickly over his soaking wet boxers, and you couldn’t help but notice the thick outline of his cock before he managed to pull them up completely. You clenched your teeth, your brain sending another rush through your body that had your toes curling in the sand. This was getting ridiculous. You were very capable of controlling these passing moments of lust, but all the drinking from today had made your walls falter slightly. It wasn’t that you were belligerent or anything. It was just a slight buzz at this point. But you were always a lot more aroused after a day or night of drinking, and this seemed to be no exception. The problem was you could usually ignore it by going to your own room, now you were stuck in one with Jungkook for the night. 

“Still, I’m gonna pass on that,” Jungkook replied, breaking you from your thoughts. “Come on, let’s go.” 

“Are you trying to go to sleep or stay up with everyone at the house?” You asked as you both began the miserable journey of navigating through the sand. 

“I could do either.” He shrugged. “What do you wanna do?” 

“I don’t know—” You had started to say before your foot hit a particularly deep pit that had you falling flat on your face. “Fuck my life.” You spit a couple of grains out that had managed to make it into your mouth. 

Jungkook knelt down next to you, laughing hysterically as he brushed some of the sand off of your face. “Are you okay?” 

“I’m not drunk, I promise.” You flipped onto your back, the exhaustion from being in the sun and swimming this whole time seeming to finally catch up to you. “I just can’t walk in this shit.” 

“Yeah, reminds me of that time after prom when we snuck out after we got home and drove to the beach. I stole that bottle from my dad’s liquor cabinet. You fell like a million times.” Jungkook smiled as he sat down next to you. “God, my dad was so pissed.” 

You chuckled at the memory. It was your senior year in high school. You and Jungkook had been dating for a while at that point. It was after a fun night of dancing, and you and him had come up with the brilliant idea to go back home like you were supposed to and then sneak out afterwards for an impromptu beach trip in the middle of the night. You guys drank once you got there and then slept in his car. You were both caught by your parents of course the next morning, but yours had been more casual about the incident. 

“Yeah, he wouldn’t let you see me for like a month.” You turned on your side, one hand holding your head up as you looked at Jungkook. “My parents thought it was kind of cute. Young love and all that, but you know they’ve always been less strict.” 

Jungkook nodded, moving a piece of hair off of your face. “My dad is more of a cynic of love than your parents, unfortunately.” 

You grabbed your chin, giving him a studied look. “Hm, should I psychologically diagnose your relationship issues? I think I have all I need.” You laughed.

He gave you a small smile. “Not necessary. I mean, I know we talked about this back in the day, but he’s just always been mad about my mom leaving him. Made him a bit of a prick.” 

“A prick indeed. He wouldn’t even let me come by the house anymore after that. Not even just to sit in the living room.” You huffed, still a bit agitated by that whole ordeal from years ago apparently. 

“Yeah, didn’t stop me from sneaking you into my room afterwards though.” He smirked. “So his cynicism clearly didn’t work too well on me.” 

You decided not to say the quiet part out loud, that maybe some of his cynicism had in fact rubbed off on Jungkook. Maybe that’s why he thought that the first relationship he ever got into wouldn’t work out in the end. You weren’t giving him an excuse, simply just trying to see the reasoning behind it. 

“Yeah, fun times,” You decided to say simply. 

“You ready to head back inside?” He asked. 

“Yeah, kinda wanna take a shower and lay down. It was a long day.” 

“Me too.” He stood up, holding his hand out to help you up. You grabbed it and he pulled you to your feet. “Let’s go.” 

You both made your way to the house, climbing the stairs with some difficulty. “Oh my god, my legs are killing me,” You complained, kneading at your thighs once you made it to the top where the back entrance was. 

“We’ve got one more set to go to get to the room. You gonna make it?” He laughed. 

“Guess we’ll see.” You huffed, both of you making your way through the living room. There were still quite a lot of people up, but most of them were too drunk to notice either of you as you found the staircase that led upstairs. Each step was a pain, but you did manage to make it to the top and find your way down the hall to the bedroom. 

You felt yourself start to tense up as the scenario of you and Jungkook actually having to share a room together tonight actually came to fruition. You grabbed the handle, pushing your way inside and immediately went to your bag that had some sleeping clothes inside. 

“You can take one first.” He motioned towards the bathroom door that was inside of your room. 

“Okay.” You nodded and made a beeline inside and shut yourself away from him. 

Your heart was racing. Why? This was going to be simple. It was just sleeping next to one another. It wasn’t anything more. You kept telling yourself that as you slipped into the shower and began to scrub the sand and saltwater from your skin and hair. And before you knew it the normal amount of time that you should be in here was up, and you were going to have to go back in there with him. You got dressed, taking deep breaths to calm your nerves. 

“You can do this,” You whispered to yourself before opening the door. You saw Jungkook sitting on a towel that was draped over a chair in the corner to not get it completely wet from his clothes. “Your turn.” 

“Thanks.” He gave you a small smile as he passed you. 

Once the door was closed you jumped into the bed and nestled yourself beneath the covers. You tried to relax, but your body just wouldn’t stop squirming. It seemed barely any time had passed before he emerged from the bathroom in a new pair of boxers, still shirtless with steam following him out. 

But at least you weren’t the only one that seemed nervous. He approached the side of the bed cautiously, licking his lips as he looked around the room awkwardly. 

“Uhm, you want me to turn out the light?” He asked, pointing to the fan that sat on the ceiling in the center of the room. 

“I assume we wouldn’t get much sleep with it on, so sure.” You shrugged, trying to seem casual when this felt anything but that.

He reached up, pulling the string that plunged the room into darkness, but not completely. The moon was full and the blinds on the windows in this room allowed a decent amount of light in from behind the bed, creating a sort of spotlight on you. 

Of fucking course it did. 

Jungkook pulled the covers back, sliding in next to you. “Okay, uhm, goodnight.” He gave you a forced smile as he turned to face away from you. 

“Yeah, uhm, goodnight,” You said back. 

You shouldn’t be making this weird. He wasn’t. But even though your bodies weren’t touching, you could just feel him next to you. His presence caused your limbs to fidget and flounder beneath the sheets. You knew that it wasn’t just this insane scenario of being in the same bed with him. It was the fact that you had the terrible inclination of becoming incessantly aroused after drinking. You weren’t drunk, just a little tipsy. You were tired but felt restless at the same time, like you couldn’t relax fully. It was a couple of minutes of you tossing and turning before you knew that this was pointless. You weren’t going to fall asleep like this. 

You sat up in bed. “I’ll be back.” You went to climb off your side of the bed when Jungkook was suddenly catching your arm, keeping you in place. You turned to look at him. He was staring at you with a serious expression. “What’re you doing?” You asked. 

He rubbed at his temple, lips thinning. “Okay, I know this is gonna be awkward, but I’m just gonna say it. We dated for a long time, Y/N. I know how you are after you drink. You’re horny right now, and no way you’re going down there with those drunk motherfuckers.” 

You scoffed, pulling your arm away. “I’m not gonna fuck anyone. Do you think I’m stupid? I was just gonna walk around for a bit.” 

“You just took a shower. Do you really wanna walk around down there? It’s a fucking mess. Tae’s parents are totally gonna kill him.” He paused. “And if you go down there I’ll have to come with you just for… Peace of mind I guess.” 

“Yeah, they’re gonna murder him for sure.” You agreed. “But I also can’t just stay up here. I can’t sleep. It’s… uncomfortable.”

He pursed his lips. “Am I doing something to make you uncomfortable?” 

You shook your head. “No, but your presence is… It’s just distracting, okay?” 

“Distracting?” He repeated the word back to you. 

You rolled your eyes. “You know what I mean by that and I’m not going to elaborate just to boost your ego.” 

“Do you want me to sleep on the floor?” He asked, motioning beside the bed. 

As much as it might help, you weren’t going to make him sleep on a hardwood floor just because you were having an issue. “No, I don’t want that.” 

Jungkook scratched at his chest, jaw hardening as he looked around the room for a minute. He took a deep breath before replying with something that had your skin scorching hot. “Do you… Do you want me to do something for you?” 

Your fists clenched, teeth gnawing at the inside of your cheek with his insinuation. “No, I don’t need you to fuck me.” 

Jungkook sat up. “I didn’t say that we should have sex. I meant… I could just do something else to… help you.” He slid a hand down his face, clearly not good at wording these things in a delicate way. 

You couldn’t help but laugh. “Wow, I wonder what gentlemanly services you could possibly be alluding to?” You said with a bit of venom behind your words. 

Jungkook smacked his lips. “Okay, enough of this. I’m just gonna say it and then it’s up to you. Do you want me to make you come or not?” 

Your pulse exploded as he said the words plainly. You could feel it pounding deep in your core, seeming to say, yes, yes, yes, but you tried to tamper it down as best you could. This wasn’t something simple that you could just agree to. The only thing that was keeping you from denying it outright was the fact that he said that it wasn’t going to be through the two of you actually having sex. At least then he wasn’t getting anything out of it. But even so, you were hesitant. 

“I don’t wanna make it weird.” Jungkook filled the silence. “I was just offering. We don’t have to. I know we had that talk at Yoongi’s party about how these types of things shouldn’t happen, but I figured since I’m just making you come it’d be a little different.” 

You bit at the nail on your thumb as you thought it over. Again, he wasn’t getting anything out of this, so what could really be the harm? You turned to face him completely, hands fidgeting in your lap. 

“What would you be… doing exactly?” You asked, holding your breath as you asked the question. 

You watched Jungkook’s eyes widen slightly in the light, seeming surprised that you were entertaining this. “Whatever you want me to. I’ll do it.” 

You grimaced not liking the way that sounded. “Ugh, you make it seem like I’m forcing you.” 

He started waving his hands in the air immediately. “No, you are not forcing me at all. I want to.” 

You gave him a quizzical look. “Why? You won’t get to come, so what’s the point?” 

“Just want to.” He shrugged. 

You narrowed your eyes. “Because you think I’m weak and will just end up wanting to have sex with you anyways once we start?” 

“Jesus, no.” He sighed, head falling into his hands. “That’s not what this is. I promise I will not try to have sex with you—even if you ask.” 

You scoffed. “Oh, so you’re so amazing that you think I won’t be able to help myself from asking you to fuck me, huh?” 

He closed his eyes slowly, shaking his head. “Nevermind. Forget I asked. I’m sorry.” 

He went to lay back down, but you reached out and grabbed both of his shoulders to keep him up before you knew what you were doing. Your faces were just a couple of inches apart now, both of you frozen momentarily. His eyes were wide as your nails dug into his skin. You paused, giving yourself one last chance to think about this. Again, this wasn’t a good idea. You knew that. But something was just scratching at you wanting you to do it. 

“No sex?” You whispered, biting at your bottom lip. 

He shook his head, eyes never leaving yours. “No sex. Just whatever you want.” 

You nodded. “Okay, you can… you can touch me. Just don’t drag it out. You’ll be quick?” 

He nodded, sucking a deep breath in through his nose. His hand came to rest against your ribs on the outside of your shirt. You tensed beneath his palm and you knew he felt it by the way he pulled it away immediately. 

Jungkook leaned forward, his forehead pressing against yours. “This isn’t me trying to drag it out, I promise, but can I… Kiss you?” He asked. “Might make this a little less weird for you.” 

You agreed that it would make things a lot less strange. This dance of trying to get things going would be a lot faster if your mouths were occupied. “Yeah, you can.” 

He seemed to sigh in relief. His eyes flickered down to your mouth, hand cupping the side of your face before he was slanting his lips against yours. It was slow at first, both of you testing how the other wanted this to go. After all, this was your first real kiss with him in over two years. Not one that was for the benefit of others. Your fingers settled on the sides of his neck as he gently brushed his tongue along yours. You both let out soft moans at the same time, pausing to pull back and look at each other for a moment. You knew the light that was coming in through the window was probably highlighting a wild look in your eyes, but Jungkook’s were the same; erratic as he searched your face. 

Then you were grabbing his hair and he was grabbing your sides, both of you crushing together once more, but this time with a rippling intensity. 

“Fuck,” He whispered against your mouth before his tongue stroked your bottom lip slowly. 

“You said you weren’t gonna drag this out,” You said, but still closed the gap once again with a frenzied kiss. “Touch me or we’re stopping.” 

“Sorry, I just got…” He stared at you, shaking his head like couldn’t believe this was happening, but he quickly dipped his head down to the crook of your neck, sucking at the skin there. “I just got caught up for a second.” 

You felt his fingers gently tugging at the material of your shorts and underwear. You reached down to help him pull them down to your knees before lifting up and discarding them onto the floor, leaving you in a long t-shirt. 

You were straddling him suddenly, his hands immediately squeezing at your inner thighs. He kept his eyes on you as he slowly slid his fingers higher until he just barely brushed at your center. The sensation had you freezing up, nails digging into his shoulders. You didn’t know why you were reacting this way. This was just a simple graze of his hand, but it had you feeling electrified. 

“This is how you want me to make you come?” Jungkook asked, his thumb sliding along the wetness between your legs, the sensation making your hips jump against his hand. 

“Mhm,” You mumbled, screwing your eyes shut and laying your head down on his shoulder. 

He pressed the pad of his finger against your clit, and you felt your face turn into his neck, whimpering as he slowly circled it. He kept repeating the motion as he slid a finger inside of you. He pumped slow and tortuous at first. You really couldn’t believe you were doing this, but it just felt so good. You couldn’t deny that. 

You lifted your head to whisper against his mouth. “More,” You said, kissing him. “Please.” 

Jungkook groaned, biting at his lip as he pushed another finger inside of you, his movements going faster now. “Fuck, you’re so wet.” He used his other hand to grab your jaw, forcing you to look at his again. 

The second your eyes connected with his, the building tension in your stomach started to climb faster. His fingers started to curl inside of you, his thumb still sliding along your clit. You leaned away from him slightly, using one of your hands to cover your eyes as your breathing turned into pants. You just couldn't bring yourself to look at him when this was happening. It was too much. It felt fucking great, but seeing his face had your heartbeat stuttering with some weird mix of emotions. But his movements started to slow, and you felt the guard you’d put up being pulled down as Jungkook grabbed your hand and forced meet his eyes again. 

“Are you okay?” He asked, pushing a piece of hair off of your face. “Do you wanna stop? We can stop if you need to.” 

You were shaking your head immediately. It was just vulnerable letting him see you like this after so long. “No, don’t.” Your hips started to grind against his fingers, a shaky whine falling past your lips. “I-I’m fine. I promise.” 

Jungkook let out a soft sigh as your mind started to slip as the tension in your belly began to tighten. You dropped your forehead against his, mouth hanging open as you felt yourself dancing at the edge. As you got closer all of the conflicting feelings starting to fade away. 

You were basically riding his fingers now, your nails digging into his neck. It had only been a couple of minutes and you were already close. It wasn’t like you were touch-starved, and with anyone else you would never be able to come this quick just by getting fingered. You would have to think about those implications later because—

 “Fuck, fuck—” You were almost there. 

“About to come?” Jungkook asked. There was a tiny smile ghosting along the corners of his mouth. You couldn’t even bring yourself to care if you were mad about him seeming so self-satisfied, because your brain was no longer thinking clearly. 

“Y-yes.” You nodded, grabbing his face and kissing him. “Fuck, I’m gonna come. Don’t stop, baby. I—” 

You gasped, immediately slapping a hand over your mouth. You couldn’t believe you’d just called him that. It was just the normal nickname you’d said to one another while dating, but that was definitely not something that you ever thought you’d say to him again. His eyes mirrored your shock as you tried to climb off of him immediately, completely embarrassed, but he was holding you in place and still working at the wetness that was now dripping down your thighs. 

He cupped the side of your head, his eyes begging you to stay. “No, it’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay,” He repeated again and again. 

You knew you should stop, but you just couldn’t bring yourself to. You nodded, silently telling him you wanted him to finish. His eyes grew sultry as he grabbed the back of your hair, gently tilting your head back. You felt his tongue start at the base of your throat. Your ability to breathe was completely taken away as he slowly licked his way up the center of your neck. 

You snapped in an instant, releasing a strangled cry as his tongue curled beneath your chin. Your head fell against his shoulder as you pulsed around his fingers. You let yourself enjoy these couple of seconds, because you knew in a moment the reality of what you’d just done was going to come rushing in. 

You breathed heavy against his skin, and you could feel his chest rushing and falling fast beneath your own. His hand that’d grabbed your hair before was now gently petting you. It felt nice, you had to admit, but you knew that it couldn’t stay like this. You started to peel yourself away from him. 

“Uhm, I’m sorry. I don’t know why I called you that—” You started to say, avoiding eye contact. You could only chalk it up to your brain being familiar with saying it when you had been with Jungkook like this before, so it had simply slipped out. But you didn’t get to finish your apology as Jungkook grabbed either side of your head, making you look at him. 

His brows were scrunched together, lips parted as his thumb ran along your jaw. “Can I make you come again? Please?” He asked, nearly breathless. 

Your eyes shot open. “What? I told you no sex, asshole.”

He shook his head quickly. “I didn’t mean sex.” He paused, biting at the inside of his lip as he glanced between your bodies. “Wanna eat you out.” 

Even though you had just came, you felt yourself throb at his request. But you couldn’t understand why he would want to do that. Maybe some odd sense of self-satisfaction for him, but Jungkook slept with plenty of girls. There was no reason for him to need your approval specifically. 

“Why?” You asked, glancing down at his cock straining against his boxers. “You’re hard and not getting anything out of it.” 

He tried pushing it to the side, but it really did nothing to hide how much it was fighting against the material. He pressed his finger against your lips, letting it linger there. “I don’t care about that. Just wanna make you come again. Wanna taste you.” 

The slight throb from before was now an intense ache, your body seeming to beg you to say yes to him. You knew you shouldn’t. This had already been something that shouldn’t have happened in the first place, but in the end it had. So what was the harm in just doing it a little longer? You had already fucked up. 

“Okay.” You swallowed, your throat dry as Jungkook’s expression split into absolute relief. 

He slowly lifted himself onto his knees before gently pushing you down to lay against the pillows at the top of the bed. He leaned down tentatively, kissing at the side of your neck, like he felt the need to be careful or you would bolt like some scared animal. That feeling annoyed you slightly, like you were a helpless participant in this scenario. 

You immediately gripped his hair, yanking him back to face you. “I’ve heard from other people that you’re quite good at this now, so why don’t you show me instead of trying to act so sweet, hm?” 

Jungkook’s features seem to stutter momentarily, some sort of strange emotion ebbing across them. “Interesting,” He said simply. 

“What’s interesting?” You asked, confused. 

“Guess I only like it when you’re mean to me.” He smirked. 

You couldn’t even reply to his comment about the joke you’d made earlier that night before his forehead started to drag down the top of your shirt. He lowered himself down the bed before settling between your legs. They felt  wobbly as he lifted them over his shoulders, the aftershocks of your last orgasm still lingering. 

Jungkook gave you one final glance before dipping his head down, your back arching off the bed as he licked along your heat with the lightest graze imaginable. It had you locking one of your hands in his hair in an instant, pressing him closer. You felt a deep groan from the back of his throat vibrate against you. 

“Ah, fuck. Right there,” You whispered, closing your eyes as he sucked your swollen clit between his lips, the tip of his tongue caressing it with just the right amount of pressure. 

It wasn’t that Jungkook had ever been bad at going down on you, but this was definitely different. It seemed he knew everything you needed him to do without having to say it. He knew when not to change up his pace, and knew exactly how you needed him to touch you. And maybe you should be pissed off knowing that the only reason he was so good at this now was because he’d had endless practice, but you decided you couldn’t bring yourself to care until after this was done.  

His fingers dug against your thighs, his teeth lightly nipped around your clit, the sensation had you sitting up slightly, one hand still in his tangled in the dark strands of his hair. Your mouth was hanging open and you finally opened your eyes, and when you did you felt yourself almost come right then. 

Jungkook was grinding his cock against the bed beneath him, thrusting as he ate you out. You should stop him. Tell him that him getting anything out of this wasn’t part of the deal, but you just couldn’t bring yourself to do it. Hiis hips were jerking at the bed so desperately. It was so… hot? Fuck, what was wrong with you? 

You pushed the thought away, just choosing to watch as he fucked himself against the bed while he licked and sucked against you. You heard him groan, his waist starting to jerk as his bare back flexed. You couldn’t hold it any longer. You ground your teeth together to stop the high-pitched scream that wanted to echo as you came hard against his tongue. “F-fuck, fuck, fuck!” You whined as he continued to lap at you. 

Then he was grunting, his nails biting into your skin as his hips suddenly stilled against the bed. He laid there for a couple of seconds before lifting himself up. “Oh my fucking god,” He whispered inbetween heavy breaths as he looked down at his soaked boxers in shock. 

You had to pull your legs up with your hands, they were practically dead weight with how tingly your entire body felt right now. “Well, that’s not fair. You weren’t supposed to get to come too.” 

Jungkook threw his hand out, shaking his head. “That’s never happened to me before. I’m sorry. I… I don’t know what happened.” 

You rolled your eyes, turning over to your side of the bed. “It’s whatever. I guess you deserved it a little bit.” 

Jungkook was grabbing at the back of his neck, clearly shaken up over the fact that he had just came in his pants like some inexperienced teenager. You thought it was kind of funny how humiliated he was acting. He grabbed a towel from the bathroom, wiping himself off before digging through his bag to find another pair of boxers. 

He started to go to the bathroom to change, but stopped and made his way to stand by the side of the bed instead. “I know you’re gonna fall asleep in like two seconds so I just wanna ask this before I go in there. Uhm, are we okay?” He asked. 

You tongued along the inside of your cheek. What just happened was definitely not something that should’ve transpired. It was dumb and stupid and reckless. But for some reason you also didn’t think that it really changed anything. It wasn’t even sex, and while yes it was just every bit as intimate in some regards, it still didn’t cross the line of no return that you had set for yourself. It was just two… friends? Helping each other out? It was complicated for sure, but it wasn’t something that was going to make you shun him come tomorrow. 

“Yeah, we’re good.” You yawned as sleep started to descend upon you quickly as it always had after an orgasm. You never managed to stay up too long after one, and Jungkook knew that which was his reason for getting this conversation out of the way before going to the bathroom. 

“Good. Good. ” He nodded. “Uhm, I’m gonna take another shower, so goodnight if you’re already asleep when I get back.” 

“Goodnight, Kook,” You mumbled as your eyes started to feel heavy. 

You heard the door to the bathroom close. Your mind began to drift into sleep almost immediately. Flashes of everything that had gone on today tried to replay themselves. They attempted to wiggle their way into your anxious mind, but even though Jungkook was the reason you were having these thoughts in the first place, he was also the reason that you couldn’t stay awake to worry about them. 

Tomorrow though, that was going to be a much different story. 

—————

Jungkook 

Jungkook stepped out of the shower, drying off his body and slipping on some more underwear. He looked at himself in the mirror. His expression looked wild and wrecked. He kept replaying the horror of what happened. It had been going so well. You had been enjoying yourself, but of course he had to ruin it with his stupid fucking dick. He hadn’t even realized what he was doing at first until he was so close to coming that he just couldn’t stop. Now you probably thought of him as some sex fiend who couldn’t even eat a girl out without also somehow managing to get himself off. 

He pinched the bridge of his nose as he opened the bathroom door, anxious that you might have changed your mind about everything being okay. But his worries faded pretty quickly as he saw that you were already asleep. He walked slowly towards the edge of the bed and climbed next to you beneath the covers. You had them pulled up to your chin, breathing softly against your pillow. He smiled as he positioned himself right in front of your face, just an inch or so of space between the two of you. 

He reached out, barely ghosting his fingertips along your cheek. He wanted so desperately to pull you closer, but he knew he couldn’t. Even after the night the two of you’d just had together, he didn't have that right anymore, and it was completely his fault. 

He rolled onto his back and squeezed his eyes shut, flashbacks of the night he broke up with you suddenly playing through his head on repeat. You were crying so much. He remembered trying to keep his tears at bay as that overwhelming look of hurt crossed your face. 

“You wanna see other… p-people?” You had asked that night. Your voice broke in a way that made it feel like someone was stabbing him. 

“I… I think so,” He’d said back then. “I’m sorry. I don’t want to hurt you. I still love you, but I don’t know what to do.” 

It felt like someone was beating him in the chest as those memories flooded their way inside of his head. He bit his lip so hard it almost bled as he remembered how much of a fucking idiot he was back then. He ruined something perfect all because of a possibility. He wished so badly he could go back and strangle himself. Stop him from making a mistake that would drown him for years to come. 

Jungkook never should’ve broken up with you. He thought that maybe his first relationship shouldn’t be the end all be all. He was young, and he didn’t know what he wanted at the time—and look where that had gotten him. He was stuck here in the same bed as the girl that he loved and he wasn’t even allowed to touch her. 

He rolled back onto his side, staring at you as you slept soundly. He felt his face tighten and his eyes start to burn. He bit down on his cheek forcing any semblance of tears back down. He didn’t deserve to cry. He had done this to himself. 

“I’m sorry.” He whispered in the quietest voice he couldn’t possibly muster. “I’m so sorry, baby.” 

When you had called him that tonight, it had left him stunned. He knew you’d said it by accident, but it had torn something open inside of him to hear you call him that after so long. That was why he asked if you would let him keep going. He wanted to hear you say it over and over and over. He would’ve made you come all night long at just the possibility that you might slip up and say it one more time. He wanted it so fucking badly. 

Jungkook’s jaw tightened, because he knew there was something he had to do. Tonight felt amazing, but also painful. He knew he couldn’t continue on with hiding these feelings from you. Even if it was selfish, he had to tell you. But for now he simply stared at you. He basked in what it was like to be this close to you. 

He did that because after tomorrow, with what he was going to tell you, there was a possibility that you would never let him be close to you ever again. 

[bts-trans]

230928 Weverse Translations

RM's Post ❇️

즐거운 추석 되세요 여러분 저도 재밌게 운동하러.. 🌬 https://weverse.io/bts/artist/4-134734937

Have a happy Chuseok* everyone I’m off to have fun exercising too.. 🌬️

(T/N: *Korean harvest festival, one of the biggest holidays in Korea.)

Trans cr; Faith @ bts-trans © TAKE OUT WITH FULL CREDITS

Jimin's Post ❇️

즐가운 한가위 보내세요 ! 맛난거 많이 드시고 살찌세요 😚 💜👉👈 https://weverse.io/bts/artist/4-134752243

Have a fun Hangawi*! Eat lots of delicious food and make sure to put on a bit of weight 😚💜👉👈

(T/N: *Hangawi, which is also known as Chuseok, is a major Korean harvest festival and holiday.)

Trans cr; Eisha & Aditi

J-Hope's Post ❇️

해피 chu 😙 석 💗 아미 즐거운 한가위 되세요 💜🫡💜🫡 https://weverse.io/bts/artist/1-127058191

Happy chu 😙 seok 💗 Have a great Chuseok, ARMY 💜🫡💜🫡

Trans cr; Aditi

[bonny-kookoo]

Jungkook

𝐄𝐯𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: The Hunt 🔞

Every year, he joins the old tradition of traveling, where his ancestors have once ruled the skies. Every year, he meets familiar faces and new ones he's never seen before. Every year, he watches how his brothers find their mates, build their families, and introduce new generations to stories as old as time. But this year, something might be different. This year, there's you - a treasure worth more than he could ever offer.

Main Tags/Warnings: Dragon!Jungkook, strangers to lovers/mates, mentions of folklore and traditions, modern fantasy, romance, Dragon!Reader, it's finally here, Primal Play who would've thought, intense making out, sexual tension, smut, rough but sensual, protected sex you know me by now I always manage to sneak protection into these situations and so should you, biting, strength kink oops, knotting oops², Jungkook steals her underwear wait what-, outdoor sex, FLUFF

Length: 3.2k words

There is no taglist for this fic

Masterlist

A/N: Hi hello please eat well thank you

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The hunt is something you never thought you'd experience for yourself.

You're not really a fan of men constantly barking about how capable and masculine they are- when down the line all it's built on is insecurity and mommy-issues. Dragonkin of your age tend to be like that however. And so for the longest time, you had simply told yourself to leave the community entirely, and just live a normal human life away from your roots, like most female dragonkin do.

And then- well, then came Jungkook.

While at first, you didn't really trust him, you now know that it was mostly because he just felt.. too good to be true. There just had to be something off about him, something bad that he's hiding- and maybe there is, and he's just an extraordinarily skilled manipulator. But even if he is, you don't mind any longer. He can have you.

But not without any fight from your end.

The festival is in full force now, and as you step outside, you're immediately greeted by the sounds of music, people laughing and dancing, and food being cooked and eaten. You keep your eyes open for any sign of Jungkook being present-

after all, the moon is high up, meaning that the hunt, even now as you just finished your own part of the tradition inside the house, is on.

Any second now he could grab you, and you'd be officially his.

You've cleaned your body and made sure to use a scented body oil right after- lavender, to confuse his senses. You're not going to make it easy, not now, and not ever. If he wants to be with you, and more so stay with you, he's going to have to put in work as well- and you want him to know that right from the start. You're a dragonkin, just like him after all. You're not going to stay with someone who thinks he's a treasure, but in reality is just cheap metals acting like it.

But for now, you'll keep an eye out for him as you stand by a grill, getting some food for yourself while he's probably already hunting you in silence, waiting for his chance to strike.

And true to that, unbeknownst to you, he is already stalking his treasure, waiting for the perfect moment.

He's picked up your scent already, heavily masked by the floral body oil and the shampoo you've used for your hair today. The night of the Hunt is always special- both him and you wash off anything of the past still clinging to your bodies, before you dive in and give into your instincts, to lead you where you want to be in the future.

Either together, or apart. If you want the latter, you'll need to escape him until the sun starts to rise. But he feels like that won't happen- because just a moment later, as he walks around a corner, there in the distance, he can see you.

As soon as he spots you, it’s like his instincts take ahold of him. There’s no denial of the power you already hold over him, one glance enough to trap him into abandoning anything he was going to do- instead, his legs already moving, feet on their way to follow where you’re leading him. Through the crowds and past dancing people, the lights and lanterns glow as if to help him in keeping up with you.

The jump in your step makes it the more clear to him that you’re clearly enjoying this, teasing him almost; the bell on your anklet a siren song putting him into a trance, helplessly cursed to follow wherever you go.

And then you turn around, impish smile on your lips as you catch his hand, pulling him closer to you as you jump and dance to the music being played, but only for a moment, before your hands push against his chest, the chase finally starting as you give him the final sign to catch you now.

You’re offering him a chance- and he’d be stupid not to take it.

Your laughter makes it horribly easy to follow you through the woods, stray lanterns here and there helping his human sight to stand a chance during this night. The music has grown faint, drums still heavy and noticeable, just like the other instruments and laughing people back at the main grounds. He can hear your breathing by now, and it fuels his own desire because it’s a sign that he’s almost made it.

He can’t let you get away now.

You can hear him close behind, boots heavy on the forest floor as he never seems to lose sight of you- and you wouldn’t want him to, either. He’s already proven himself as a more than suitable mate, as more than a potential friend or lover. But he’s a bit cocky, a little bit too proud and up in the clouds- a lesson is due it seems for the tall dragon chasing you as if he’s the apex predator.

Sure, the anklet he gave you might be a little bit of a hassle- but nothing you can’t handle. He thinks he’s already got you pinned. He thinks you’ll just make it easy.

It’s time to prove him wrong.

Swiftly you grab the hem of your dress to hold it up, before you change your direction, ducking under heavy trunks of fallen trees before you jump over others too close to the ground, your goal in sight as you can head him almost growl under his breath as he encounters the many hurdles you’ve already gotten over.

With enough time to spare now, you start to climb the tree in front of you-

Only for his wrist to catch your ankle, delicate golden bell almost mocking you as it jingles, both of you panting as he grins up from his spot on the ground. His black hair is wild and curled at the ends, his eyes piercing with excitement as he slowly catches his breath. You still at least move to sit on one of the thick branches able to easily support your weight, his hold on your leg still present, though it relaxes as you look at him. “Caught you.” He says happily, as if he’s just made his greatest achievement to this date and you smile.

He can’t quite grasp that he’s really got you now.

“You did.” You answer back, wind rustling the crowns full of leaves of the trees all around you both, music faint in the background. “What’re you gonna do now?” You ask him, and he chuckles, lip running over his bottom lip before he answers, stepping closer, making you shiver in anticipation.

“First, I’ll get my treasure down from that tree..” he starts, easily pulling you down just like he said- catching you, thankfully, as he holds you by your waist, eyes running over your body, finally able to have you up close like this. “…then, I’ll admire it..” he continues lowly, no need to put much volume into his voice as he does just what he says, one of his hands moving to run through your hair, exposing the side of your neck to him, a place still bare but soon to wear his mark of love.

“ ..and then?” You ask quietly, making his smile grow as he leans down close, breath hot against your skin.

“..and then I’ll claim it.” He says, lips faintly brushing against your ear.

And you smile, grin spreading, before you tilt your head.

"Good luck with that." You hum against his lips which are just a breath away- and his gaze widens just for a split second before you sneakily dash away from him and out of his grasp, running faster than before deeper into the surrounding woods. You're really not making it easy for him at all.

And he loves it, muscles aching to get a final grasp on you now.

You're going to be his.

He can see you in the distance getting closer, no match for his stamina at the end of the day as he slowly catches up with you. He's got to give you that- you're not stupid at all, instincts clearly sharp and working well. Instead of trying to outrun him, you constantly twist and turn, trying to confuse him instead. But it doesn't work this easily on him.

Especially because he knows that you're having just as much.. fun as he does.

He can smell you.

He's already won. You just want to see if he truly wants to earn his spot at your side it seems like. And he does- he wants to prove his worth in more ways than just this. What you don't know, is that he's not just running after you- he's not hunting you anymore, but more so herding you into the direction he so wants you to run towards.

And just like sheep, you run right where he wants you to.

It's a split second where he can see you trip, almost falling, if not for his hand reaching out to grab the back of your white dress to yank you backwards into his chest where he holds you. You're both breathing heavily, chests rising and falling at a rapid pace, before he finally gets out a question.

"You okay?" He asks, and you nod, reassuring him quietly. "Looks like I caught you again." He chuckles, and you laugh too, still out of breath.

"Pure luck." You hum out, before you lean into him-

giving up.

giving yourself to him.

"I can give you a third chance." He offers teasingly almost, though he does mean it. You shake your head however, denying it. You don't actually want to run from him anymore.

You're fine with staying at his side.

"No." You hum, leaning your head back into his body. "You caught me." You admit, breathing finally evening out, and he smiles down at you, before he turns you around, and holds your face in his hands to finally kiss you- hungry and eager, after the chance had been taken away moments prior by you.

He's no longer wasting time.

You're not sure where he's walking you towards, his lips chasing away any coherent thought it feels like, but even if you could form a functioning thought right now, you wouldn't actually fight him at all.

"Jungk-" You gasp when his knee pushes between your legs, your back against a tree behind you while his hands waste no time to touch you. Currently occupied with feeling your chest through your dress, he's almost growling into your mouth as he grabs at your flesh, all while he steals your breath, lips working tirelessly against your own.

There's nothing that's holding him back any longer. He doesn't need to restrain himself.

"I told you how it's gonna go, didn't I?" He says, finally giving you some chance to breath, while he lifts his leg a little, pushing further into you. "I caught you.." He hums against your lips, slipping out of his jacket to move a bit more freely, hands gripping the hem of your dress to push it up so his palms can explore what skin you're hiding beneath. "Now I'm gonna make you mine." He grins down at you.

"Right here?" You ask, but he knows from the sight of your eager hips alone that you're not against the idea at all.

"Right here.." he agrees therefore, leaning down to kiss you feverishly, hands unable to keep still as they explore your body, anklet around your foot jingling every now and then with every movement you make. You could've taken it off at any point-

But you didn't. You accept him. You want him. And it only fuels his need for you.

"Jungkook please-" you beg, raising your hips to try and reach him. He knows what you want, what you crave.

"Hm?" He asks, biting at your neck before he kisses the marks soothingly. "You sound so sweet." He comments with amusement, while you grip his wrists, needing to hold onto something. He's not marked you up yet- and you wonder why not. He's got the chance now. You want him too. You want him to claim you, just like he said.

His hand between your legs is feeling you up, exploring, trying to prepare you for what's possibly to come. Maybe even just checking if you're getting ready yourself.

And what he finds gives him his definite answer.

"You were made for me, weren't you?" He coos at you, a smile on his lips as he watches you squirm, before he moves his hands, gripping the sides of your underwear, the sound of fabric ripping cutting through the silent woods around you. It happens twice- and then the fabric is gone, a cool gust of wind leaving you shivering for a second, wet skin exposed to the elements while he sneaks your ripped underwear into the pocket of his pants. It's an action you don't notice-

and it doesn't matter anyways, as his fingers enter you, exploring what makes you squirm and what makes your breath hitch.

You're clinging onto him, and he loves the feeling of your fingers on his skin, desperation making you uncaring of how you might come off as towards him. He wants you just like this- raw, unfiltered, wild. After all, there's dragonblood running in both of your veins. Flames burn under your skin, never to be tamed, only ever bowing to the one you'll call your mate.

And he knows he'll bow to you if you just say so, no shame in the thought at all.

He's yours.

He honestly had given up on the thought of ever really getting together with another dragonkin, considering his lack of interest, and the small amount of female dragons still participating in festivities like these. He knows that it's a complicated issue where no one's really truly entirely at fault- but having you in his hands like this makes him hopeful that maybe not all is lost yet. There's still chances for dragons to find and love each other-

You're both a prime example.

You're awfully fidgety now, clearly trying to get him to get you off- but he just chuckles. "No." He suddenly says, and you look at him, confused before you can hear his belt buckle, jeans falling down to his knees, his length already way beyond ready. He's impressive, just like any dragonkin- the distinctive shape of his cock reminding you of what will happen if he goes in raw like this.

And apparently, that's exactly what he wants to do, as he adjusts your hands on his shoulders, eyes sharp and filled to the brim with nothing but lust.

"Hold onto me, my love." He growls out to you, before he holds underneath your thighs, resting your back against the bark of the tree behind you, needing some sort of help to guide the tip of his leaking length towards your equally sodden entrance, before he lets your body lean down onto it, filling you up.

You're instantly clenching around him, feeling like you've finally been made whole.

You're clinging onto him, arms around his neck, before he adjusts the placement of his hands, now on your ass as he helps you move, skin slapping against skin while you whimper into his neck, your kisses on the skin shaky, as you try and keep yourself from biting him. Your head is dizzy, barely able to think much more than about him, his scent, his hands on you, his body so close, his mouth even closer as he breathes down your neck, his cock balls deep inside you.

You're sure you've by now stained even his skin in your arousal. You must be- because the smell of sex is all around you both.

He slows down for a moment, before he takes a few steps, leaning down on his knees before your back is placed on something..

soft?

You're a little curious where you are, but he gives you no chance to really take a look around, when he pushes himself back into you, hands pushing your dress out of the way, before he grips at the neckline of it, fabric loudly protesting against the way he pulls on it to expose your naked chest to him. He's ruining your clothes-

and you couldn't care less, as you feel him thrust inside you again, his pace now much more controlled, much more calculated. The grip he has on your wrists will surely leave them red for a while, and you want all of his marks he's willing to give you.

"Jungkook-" you whine, breathing heavily, back arching and hips squirming as you reach your peak. "-please-" You beg, and he knows exactly what you want.

"You want my mark?" He asks, and you nod, wrists wiggling around to instead move, holding his hands, interlocking your fingers. "You want to be mine?" He asks, and you yet again agree, feeling him stutter in his pace as well.

And then he leans down, hands on your back picking you up, position changing yet again as he pulls you close by your ass, helping you in your hips moving, obscene sounds coming from the both of you while he pushes your hair out of the way, kissing up the path to your neck where he decides for the best spot to place his bond.

And as he bites down, he feels something he didn't quite expect-

You doing just the same to him.

It catches him off guard so much, that he instantly reaches his own orgasm, length swelling inside you to keep him locked in place as his cock spurts into you, coating your insides in his clear cum. He doesn't have to worry about accidentally knocking you up- after all, that's another part of his dragonblood, something to differentiate him from regular humans. The first time with his mate, he's only claiming you- mixing up your scents, creating an entirely new one, bonding himself to you for the rest of your lifes.

And he knew you willingly gave yourself to him at the end of this hunt- but to have you claim him too, definitely gives him a boost of confidence in your now shared future together.

You're both breathing heavily, your thighs still shaking from your orgasm that's still drumming through you, as you hold onto him for dear life. Only now do you finally have time to look around a little, noticing the numerous blankets you're both sitting on, and only now do you realize just how much more thought he'd put into all of this than you originally thought he would.

He really isn't at all what you thought he'd be, as a dragonkin.

And it's the last thing, the last proof you need to finally let yourself be held by him, his hands running over your exposed skin as if to make sure you stay warm as the wind rushes softly through the crowns of the trees around you, while he nuzzles the spot of your mark on your neck, occasional kisses placed as if they could help it heal faster. He's probably all foggy inside his head, and you don't mind letting yourself feel the emotions as well-

shutting your brain off, as you lean into his chest, arms around him holding him tightly, while his chest rumbles with the purrs of pleasure and happiness.

You're finally his.

And he'll always be yours.

[xjoonchildx]

he 👏🏽 said 👏🏽 what 👏🏽 he 👏🏽 said 👏🏽

[jung-koook]

230715 - latto on twitter

[jangx2manboongx2]

Laughing at this still shot.

A (relationship) fight? With Jungkook?

As if the world isn’t lined up behind her to take her place. 😂😂😂✌🏼✌🏼✌🏼

[anotherbtswriter]

Best Served Cold | Yoongi | Part III

pairing: Yoongi x afab!reader

au: mafia!au, arranged marriage!au, Yoongi is at the bottom of the organization just trying to stay alive when the story starts.

tags: SLOW BURN, eventual violence, eventual hurt/comfort, eventual smut, reformed bad boy Yoongi, he is lethal in this fic - literally, and he has neck tattoos. Reader is self conscious about her looks, so that gets mentioned occasionally, but is not a focus of the fic. (She works through it by the end.) (Part III has a fight scene with gun, garrote and chopsticks. Mentions of abuse, y/n gets hit, Yoongi gets violent.)

words: 5k

a/n: Many, many thank yous to @matchy6812 and @reliablemitten for your help with Part III. Your level of unhinged is perfect for this fic. THANK YOU

One more part to go after this - smut is had and debts are paid.

Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV

Well, it’s done. 

Yoongi drives to the club at a languid pace, not really paying attention to the route. He’s aimless. He’ll meet you there later, but for now, he wants to drive. The music is low, and the lights of the city stream past him, marking his path and leaving nothing in their wake.

X

X

X

All he can think about is the look on your face when you realized you would be free. You were nervous. He knew that when he handed you the key. You looked like the small box might explode at the table. 

When you realized what was happening, the joy on your face was not feigned. You don’t have a poker face to save your fucking life. You clutched that safe deposit key like it was a lifeline, and he knows it is. Now that he knows what your family has done to you, he wants nothing more than for you to have the life you deserve. Any life you choose.

Your father is an asshole. Yoongi’s seen the way you flinch when anyone raises their voice. He’s still dodging calls from your sister, telling her not to contact him more times than he can count. There’s no reason to mention it. He didn’t want you to know exactly what she offered–asking Yoongi for money, suggesting he could do whatever he likes in exchange. Look, he gets everyone needs to look out for themselves, but she cannot take a goddamn hint, a goddamn blunt rejection even. The only woman he wants is you, and he just handed you the means to leave him forever. 

Is that true? Are you the only woman he wants?

He spent too many nights he sat staring at the small, silver key. He held onto it for weeks before giving it to you. It’s the secret to unlocking a new world. He should’ve wanted to give it to you. Everything was ready—the cash, the accounts, the documents. But he wasn’t. He scrubs a hand down his face, wondering when he became so maudlin. Before you, he didn’t get sad. He wasn’t particularly happy either, but he always knew where he stood. He didn’t feel like quicksand under his feet would cause him to flail at any moment. Now he’s grasping at anything to give him purchase. You’ll be safe this way, he reminds himself. If you’re out, no one can come after you.

You’ve unsettled him and the uneasy balance of his life. The triumphant smile on your face when you explain another complicated scheme to turn his ill-gotten gains into pristine profits. Sometimes your smile is so wide you have trouble forming the necessary words. He smiles wide back. He’s certain it’s that smile his mother loves that he abhorred when he was young, too unserious, too joyful. 

It is the small things he will miss, and the small things that he gathers for when you’re gone. The way you sing in the shower when you think he isn’t home. The way you walk in those new shoes you bought—the ones that are impossibly tall, but you wear as easy as slippers now. The way you look when you come home with a designer shopping bag, like someone is going to take it from you and you’ll fight them for it. The way you laugh at Jungkook’s jokes and Hoseok’s stories. The way you pour over documents and spreadsheets, making sure everything is perfect. The way you smiled at him at dinner tonight. He’s not sure when all these things became a longing so deep that he feels it in his bones, in his skin. He’s been slowly wandering in a maze of your making, and now he can’t get out. He doesn’t want to get out. When it all happened, he doesn’t know, and he doesn’t care. He will set you free because it’s what you deserve. He wonders how soon you’ll leave, and how soon it’ll break him.

A phone call takes him out of his reverie. Only a few people can contact him on this cell. Whoever’s on the end of this call better hope it’s a wrong number. 

“Who is this?”

“Min Yoongi. You’re a hard man to get ahold of.” 

He can’t quite place the voice, but this isn’t a misdial. His grip on the steering wheel tightens. 

“Who the fuck is this?”

“I’m surprised you don’t recognize my voice, given that you can’t help get involved in my business.”

Lee, he thinks. Why is the heir to the Lee family making a personal call? Without thinking, he cuts the next corner, speeding his way to the club. He needs to make sure everyone is safe.

“What do you want? We have nothing to say to each other.”

“Oh, we do now.”

Yoongi runs a red light, ignoring the screech of tires and horns left behind him. What the fuck is going on?

“Just remember, this is a courtesy call. One I didn’t have to make.”

“What do you want? I don’t enjoy repeating myself.”

“I would like to make a deal. It’s time we put an end to this ridiculous war, and I know how to do it quickly.”

“Pay me what I’m owed, and it will be over.”

“Oh, I’ll pay you back.”

Yoongi speeds into the parking lot at the club. He doesn’t bother with finding a spot, just parks in front of the door where Jimin and Taehyung are manning the velvet rope. Phone in hand, he sprints past them, ignoring their questioning looks. At least he knows the two of them are okay. 

“Don’t leave me in suspense,” Yoongi says. “I’m on pins and needles over here.”

He sees Jungkook behind the bar and Hoseok nursing a drink. When he rushes in, both of them look up. Whatever is happening must show on his face. Jungkook drops the towel he’s holding, and Hoseok downs his drink before following Yoongi. Everything will be fine, he thinks. Everyone is here, and you will be where you always are—sitting at his desk, where you belong, glasses perched on your nose, making sure that this entire operation doesn’t fall apart like a house of cards. You have to be there. There is no other option. 

“I’ve got someone for you to talk to.”

Yoongi bursts the office door open. Hoseok and Jungkook are right behind him. The desk is empty. Instead of your comforting presence is the black hole of how he failed you.

“Yoongi,” you say, voice a whisper. 

His heart stops beating, and the breath has been stolen from his lungs. He spins around, ignoring Hoseok and Jungkook’s questioning looks. They know enough not to ask.

“Did they hurt you, baby?”

“I’m so sorry,” you say, haltingly. He hears the sob in your voice.

You shouldn’t be apologizing. He didn’t protect you, and he has seriously underestimated how angry he made Lee. This is his fault.

“She’s a tough little thing. Doesn’t look like much, but she’s given up nothing.”

“And I’m talking to a dead man,” Yoongi says. “You shouldn’t have touched her.”

Hoseok’s eyes go wide. Jungkook clenches his fists. 

“I don’t torture women unless they really get on my nerves,” Lee says. “If you want her back, call off your men, close the clubs and go back to wherever you crawled from. You’ve got three hours before it’s time to drag the river.”

Before Yoongi can respond, the call ends. 

Hoseok and Jungkook don’t ask. 

“He says I have three hours to shut down our operation, and he’ll return her to me.”

“What do you need?” Hoseok asks, and Jungkook nods in agreement.

He wants you safe. He also knows that running with you now just puts a target on your backs for the rest of whatever will be your brief life. Who’s he kidding? He would never back down from a fight and now he’s got a reason to kill Lee. It was going to happen, anyway. Now it’s just going to happen in the next two hours. 

“We’re taking them out now. I’m getting her back.” It is an incredibly reckless plan, and to their credit, Hoseok and Jungkook don’t flinch. “Get Jimin and Taehyung in here. Call the rest of the men.”

He wants to thank them, to say something about what it means that he can rely on them, but he doesn’t know where to begin. Luckily, he doesn’t have to explain. 

“I’ll get everyone out of the club,” Jungkook says. Hoseok is already on the phone. 

Yoongi moves like a ghost to your desk. Wondering just exactly how he’s going to get you back. He sits in your chair, desk covered with your papers, and he puts his head in his hands. He has two hours to take out Lee’s entire operation, find out where he’s keeping you, and make sure Lee can never come after either of you again. There is no time for nerves. By the time Hoseok and Jungkook return, he’s ready.

&&&

When Lee ends the call, you’re still shaking from hearing Yoongi’s voice. You can’t believe you were such an idiot to let yourself get taken. Yoongi told you to be careful, told you to stay close to the club. Instead, you went across town to the bank just to check a safe deposit box. You were selfish, and now you’re going to cause him more trouble. 

“He’s not going to comply,” you say. You’re proud that your voice doesn’t crack. They shoved you into the corner of this warehouse since they pulled you out of the van. The driving was so wild you have no idea where in the city you are. You feel like an idiot. 

“I know,” Lee says, appraising you. “I’m not a fucking moron.”

Yoongi’s going to kill you, you arrogant asshole, you think. It may not happen before you die, but it will happen, nonetheless. 

“I’m not worth it to him.”

“I know,” Lee repeats. “Your father was trying to get rid of you for years.”

It stings. The old hurt you thought had gone away stings like a motherfucker. Before you can stop them, tears fall down your cheeks. Your hands are still tied behind you. The rope chafes, and you’re going to have a scar. I’m not going to survive, you think. The scars, the old hurts, they don’t matter. You wish you told Yoongi how you feel about him. He might’ve laughed at you. No, he would’ve politely changed the conversation, but at least you wouldn’t have been a coward. 

“He’s going to kill you.”

Lee laughs. He sounds like a fucking cartoon villain, and you want to wipe the smile from his face, but you can’t do anything. 

“He’ll be dead before he gets the chance.”

You shake your head. There is one thing you know, and it’s that this preening fool won’t beat your husband. You’re confident he’ll win. It’s just a question of when. 

You’re forgotten for a bit, shivering as you sit on the cold cement floor where they’ve left you. With your hands still tied behind you, you pull up your legs to your chest and rest your head on your knees. You can think of nothing but your own foolishness at being taken. You shiver. The thought of not seeing Yoongi again—it feels like your heart is being torn out of your chest. You sob, alone with your tears where you sit among the forgotten boxes of whatever is stored in this place. The only saving grace you have is knowing that Yoongi will win, eventually. If nothing else, your ghost will protect him.

&&&

The man standing in front of Yoongi is nervous. He’s looking over his shoulder, hunched as if he might need to duck at any moment. Yoongi doesn’t relent in his questioning. This man has been paid the last year to be Yoongi’s informant in the Lee operation. It is time for him to prove his worth. 

“Look, he didn’t tell any of us what he had planned.”

“I didn’t expect him to send a fucking memo,” Yoongi says. “Where is he keeping the weapons, where is his cash, and—” He wills his voice not to crack with emotion. He can’t get you back if he thinks too hard about what you might be going through. “Where would he keep any hostages?”

The man runs through his excuses again. 

“I don’t have time for this,” Yoongi says. “Hoseok, I’m going to walk to the corner, call Jungkook and when I get back, he should be talking.”

“He will be.”

At this, the man pales. He puts up his hands. “It isn’t like that,” he says. “I really don’t—”

“Go make your call,” Hoseok says. “We’ll have a chat.”

Yoongi walks to the corner of the deserted alley, ignoring the sound of the man’s protestations. Hoseok will get the information that he needs. His reputation will cause anyone to cave before long.

“Do Jimin and Taehyung have the intel on the weapons?” he asks when Jungkook answers. The man currently pouring his heart out to Hoseok is not Yoongi’s only source of information. He’s been planning this for far too long not to cover every angle. 

“They’re headed there now with the rest of their men. They’ll wait for the signal. What do you want me to do?”

The problem is, he doesn’t have enough men. Any of their raids on Lee’s positions are going to be brutal, and they are likely to lose.

“Hoseok is about to get the information on the cash. Meet us here, and you can go with him.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’ve got an appointment to keep. Don’t make a move until you get the signal from me.”

“Hyung, this is a fucking terrible idea.”

“Don’t swear, Jungkook.”

“There has to be another way.”

“You know there isn’t,” Yoongi insisted. “He’s taken her, and I’m not stopping until I find her.”

“Wait for us at least,” Jungkook said. 

“There isn’t enough time, and there aren’t enough men.” 

“Yoongi—”

“Text me when the raids are finished. I will let you know where he’s keeping her.”

“What if he doesn’t tell you?”

Yoongi ends the call. It’s a stupid question, and he will not answer it. He will do whatever it takes to get Lee to talk. 

An hour later, Yoongi walks into Lee’s club. It’s in the old neighborhood. He hasn’t been back here since his father lost everything. The streets he knows well, though. He thought he was invincible when he was young, but when his father was left with nothing, he knew that wasn’t true. He learned you can continue to lose even after you think everything is taken from you. The pain on his mother’s face. The way his father can no longer recognize him. When he does, he doesn’t like what he sees. It is like his father is frozen in the most unhappy moments of his past. Yoongi wonders if that will be his fate. Will he spend the rest of his life here, trying but unable to save you? If he can find you—if he can save you—he thinks he can survive anything. The tether holding him to sanity is weak, and it is only as strong as your heartbeat. He doesn’t know exactly when he fell in love. He thought it would be a lightning bolt, the sudden recognition of a changed world, like the first time he shot a gun, the first time he drove too fast down these streets that he thought he owned. When he thought of love—which, let’s face it, was not often—he thought it would fill him with power, but there is just terror. Knowing that he couldn’t protect you, knowing that he will lose his will to live if you die. He feels more vulnerable than he ever has, but he will not give up until you’re safe or he’s dead. If nothing else, his choices are easier now. 

Yoongi ignores the men with the poorly concealed handguns. He’s walking in the club like he belongs here, a trick he learned at a young age. They don’t figure it out until it’s too late, and he’s walked past the metal detector, siren blaring like a lone lighthouse on a fog covered coast. No one stops him. Mostly, the men and women in this club stare at him. Only when he approaches Lee’s table does Lee’s men stand as if to stop him. 

Lee sits at the head of the table. He licks sauce from his fingers and Yoongi has never wanted to kill a man more. 

“A personal visit?” Lee says, barely looking up from his plate, spilling with food. “If I had known, I would’ve talked to your girl earlier.”

Yoongi reminds himself that he can’t kill the other man until he finds out where he’s keeping you. 

“She’s my wife.”

“This is why I’ve never gotten married,” Lee scoffs. “Women are too much trouble.”

“We need to talk,” Yoongi says. He pulls his handgun from the shoulder holster and places it on the table. 

Lee pushes the plate in front of him away. He stands with a lurch. “Then let’s get this over with.”

Lee’s family has always been overconfident, Yoongi knows. It will be their downfall. He can’t believe this man thinks he’s invincible. Perhaps that’s the lesson his father taught him, everyone can be taken down. No one will touch him after he kills Lee. He knows this. This is how the game is played. 

Without a word, Lee gestures for Yoongi to follow him. He will play his part until the time comes. He follows Lee through the warren of corridors.

“You’re really giving yourself up for a woman?”

Yoongi doesn’t acknowledge this question with an answer. 

Lee leads him to one of the back rooms where the girls are getting ready before going out to the floor.  Surrounded by mirrors and young women putting on makeup, finishing their hair, and making sure that every detail is perfect, he feels out of a place.  Of course, this idiot is making Yoongi wait while his wife is being held captive.

Lee walks up to one of the young women. “You, you’re done.”

Startled, she glances up. “I’ve done everything you asked.”

“Doesn’t matter, one of the men complained.”

“That man was an ass.”

Lee forces the woman up by her hair and she cries out in surprise and pain.  He shoves her to the ground. “Get out.”

The other women pause in their ministrations, but don’t say a word. He supposes they’ve seen it before.  Lee treats everyone like they’re beneath him. As a result, he has no one to help him when he’s at the bottom. Yoongi is tired of this charade, and he doesn’t have any more time to waste. 

Lee even makes the mistake of turning around to berate the woman further, he considers Yoongi so little of a threat. Yoongi’s smirk is satisfying as he pulls on his gloves and removes the garrote from his pocket.  Fishing line is useful for a lot of things, but he supposes the best thing is that it doesn’t trip metal detectors, and it’s usually missed in a pat down.  

“What the—” Lee says, but that’s all he can get out before Yoongi is choking him.  Lee sputters, trying to grab at Yoongi but with enough time and enough leverage, Yoongi can bring any man down. No matter the size. After a glance between each other, some decision made, none of the women move to help Lee. He gestures to them futilely but each returns to look in the mirror, finishing her makeup with care and precision. Yoongi can feel the larger man going limp beneath him.  He won’t last long.

“You don’t have much time.” One of the women stands.  “They’ll come looking for him.”

“You’ll stall his men?” Yoongi grits out, all of his strength focused on the man on the ground beneath him. 

“As long as we can,” she replies. 

“Thank you,” Yoongi says simply. She nods to Yoongi before leaving. The rest follow her, shutting the door quietly behind them.

Yoongi loosens the garrote but barely lets Lee catch his breath. He pounds the man’s head against the floor. 

“Where is she?”

“All of this over a woman?” Lee held up his hands as if it would protect him. “She’s at the port.”

Yoongi bangs the man’s head on the floor again. “The port is a big place. Where. Is. She?”

“Just leave my family alone, and I’ll make sure she isn’t hurt.”

“Where the fuck is she?”

Lee rattles off some numbers. “It’s over now. Get me off the fucking floor.”

“You think I would allow anyone in your family to live after what they’ve done to my father? My wife? Who the fuck do you think I am?”

“It’s just business.”

“It was fucking personal when your father betrayed mine.”

“That was a long time ago. My father’s an old man, you wouldn’t—”

“Your father is already dead, and I have things to do.”

Pulling the chopsticks he pilfered from the floor from his coat pocket, he enjoys the look of fear on Lee’s face.  “If you hadn’t touched her, I might have let you live.”

Yoongi wipes the blood from his face with his sleeve. He needs to find you before Lee’s men get scared and do something stupid.

He leaves the club through the back entrance. No one comes looking for Lee. 

“It’s done,” Hoseok says when Yoongi calls. Yoongi takes the roads in this neighborhood like they belong to him again, and he supposes they will soon. Without Lee, he can claim this territory again. 

“Meet me at the port,” Yoongi commands.

“Lee?”

“Don’t ask dumb questions.”

&&&

The blindfold is ripped from your eyes. The two men that brought you here have been bickering since they loaded you into the back of the van. If you’ve been put under the charge of these two idiots, you don’t have long. Your eyes squint even against the meager light of the enclosed space where they’ve put you. Where the fuck are you? The location comes to you with dawning horror. They’ve shoved you in the corner of what has to be a shipping container. 

“Alright,” one of them says. “We’ll call back in an hour.”

The call ends. 

The other man holds a gun on you like you’re about to shift into some kind of superhero mode. If only. Your ribs still hurt from where one of these idiots kicked you. Every breath is painful. They retied your wrists and ankles when they put you on the ground. With a struggle, you raise yourself to a sitting position. You rest your head on your knees. Dinner with Yoongi feels like a lifetime ago. The dress you chose with such care is dirty and torn. You long ago lost your shoes. Why the fuck did they take your shoes? You can feel the blood on your temple where Lee hit you. Your face must be a mess. 

“He’ll kill you for taking me.” You know it’s true.

“He has to find you first.”

“He will,” you say. He may not find you until it’s too late, but he’ll avenge you. You’ve never been more sure of anything in your life. 

One of the men pulls you up by the hair. You cry out from the pain. 

“You sound confident for a woman tied up.”

You spit in his face. 

With a cry, he slaps you and drops you to the ground as suddenly as he picked you up. You can taste the blood on your lip. It doesn’t matter now. I know he’ll come for me, you remind yourself. 

The mantra gets you through the next hour. Even through the pain and the haze of the experience, you’ve realized that if someone doesn’t pick up on the other end, they’ll kill you. The man with the phone calls repeatedly but no one picks up.

“What the fuck are we supposed to do?”

“I don’t know,” says the one who hit you. 

“Why isn’t he picking up?”

“I don’t fucking know, but we know what we need to do.”

“We’re just supposed to shoot her?”

“I’m pretty sure that’s the fucking idea.”

“What if we left her here?”

No, the thought of dying here alone in the dark is too horrific to contemplate. They can’t do that to you. 

The other man shrugs. “Fine, by me. We need to worry about ourselves if everything’s gone to shit.”

You sob at at the thought of dying here alone in agony. Yoongi’s looking for you, but what if doesn’t find you in time? What if this is how it ends? You smile even as the thought is enough to stop your breath. He will make sure they suffer.

A loud clang sounds out, like someone pounding on the door of the container. What the fuck do you have to deal with now?

Someone calls through the door. Someone you don’t recognize, but the two men with you do. 

“Thank fuck,” one of them says. He walks to the door. 

You close your eyes like a child trying to disappear. Before you can try to remember your prayers from your childhood, you hear a shot. One of Lee’s men goes down, and you wish to believe that this means you’re saved, but life doesn’t work that way. Does it? Do you get rescued in this story or do you die alone in the dark?

Yoongi crosses the space to you. But it must be a hallucination, a figment that you’ve conjured so that you don’t have to die here alone in this small room. 

“It’s me, you’re safe.”

At the sound of his voice, something breaks. All the tension, all the fear you’ve been trying to keep at bay, comes to the forefront. Sobs wrack your body, and you can’t think, can’t speak, can’t do anything but let the tears run down your face.

With slow moments, he lowers himself to your level. With a small blade, he removes the zip ties binding your ankles and wrists. You want to speak, say something, anything, but it’s impossible. He wipes the tears from your cheeks with a gentle hand. When he sees the cut on your lip, the blood at your temple, he winces. 

“Did one of them hurt you?”

Somehow you nod yes. He shouts a command to Hoseok, and without seeing, you know that the man is going to die in agony. There must be something broken within you, because you’re glad. Hoseok putting a bullet in the man’s knee, barely touches your consciousness. 

The trembling won’t stop. Yoongi brings you to your feet, but you’re worried that you’ll stumble and fall, that you’ll be stuck here. You know Yoongi would never leave you, but you’re just so frightened. It is like the last ten hours all happened in the last ten seconds. He puts an arm around you and helps you to walk. You step out the door. Yoongi’s car is waiting for you both with Jungkook at the wheel. He opens the door, and Yoongi sits in the back with you. Huddled in his arms, you don’t remember the ride home. 

&&&

a/n THANK YOU FOR READING! Without you I'm a lonely tree falling in a forest.

[writemywaytoyourheart]

Bedeviled | Chapter 11: Hiraeth

Pairing: demon!jungkook x female reader

Genre: E2L, romance, drama, angst, horror

WC: 7.7k

Warnings for this chapter: strong language, name-calling, blood, gore, anxiety, frightening depictions of Hell and those in it, constipated feelings, *suggestive content* waahhhh!!!

Previous ML

The screams echoing in your brain start to become clearer, until they're so loud that you're physically cringing at the volume. 

No, no, no. 

Please, please don't bring me back. 

The children running around in the forest start to shimmer as if about to disappear. 

"No, wait!" You cry, reaching a hand out towards them. 

They don't hear your panicked call as they continue to laugh and hide behind trees. 

"Please don't leave!" A sob rips out of your throat. 

As the green leaves and thick branches start to glimmer and disappear, the little boy stops and turns around. 

His dark hair falls a little past his chin. 

Those deep brown eyes look into yours, taking in your state; lying on the ground and crying desperately for him not to leave you. The dirt and blood covering your body and face don't seem to startle him, the tear streaks running down your messy cheeks give him pause though. He simply looks at you, a sadness in his eyes that breaks your heart.

"Apple?"

The whisper of his voice sends a sudden pain into your heart that makes you cry harder. 

"I'm sorry," You say tearfully.

"Apple!"

Your face falls when you realize the boy isn't the one speaking anymore, his lips not moving, only turned down into a pout. 

"I-"

"Please don't-"

The deeper voice is shaky and panicked. 

"Don't leave me. I'm sorry, I'm sorry-"

You look around, but you can't see him anywhere. 

When you look back at the boy, he's turning away from you. 

"Wait!"

The rest of the forest shines painfully bright before sucking inwards as if being dragged into a whirlpool, taking the boy with it as you scream for him to please please not leave. 

"Hey, hey, you're fine."

"No, no, no, no..."

You're crying hysterically as the tortured screams become all too real and the arms holding you finally register in your brain. 

The demon only tightens his hold a bit as you shake with sobs, body too weak to hold itself up as you mumble nonsense. 

The forest devoid of any color comes back into your vision, then it warps and spins until you can see red. 

Nothing but boiling blood and screams. 

Somehow, the river has suddenly appeared in front of you again. 

You'll never escape it. 

"Please make it stop!" 

Your broken scream reaches his ears and he curses under his breath as he stands, pulling you with him. 

You can't close your eyes, it's physically impossible. 

Bent over even as his arms are wrapped under your chest and holding you up, you start to violently dry heave while sobbing. 

"JK, JK please!!"

He closes his eyes, all the voices in his head fighting each other desperately for the attention. 

"Help me." 

The whispered words leaving your mouth are more broken than he's ever heard come from a mortal. Never, in all his time, has he felt more desperation, heartache, and terror in the request of a human. 

A cold hand presses over your eyes. 

The instant relief that washes over you is enough to break you down in more sobs. The screeches of pained souls gets louder, almost as if to make up for the fact that you can no longer see them. 

The demon keeps an arm wrapped around your waist, his other raised to keep your eyes covered as he starts to pull you away from the horrific scene, still shaking and crying in his hold. 

Unable to walk on your own, you let him drag you away. 

You're not sure how long it took to get far from the river, only a minute into the departure, you lost consciousness. 

This dream though, is not one you want to come back to. 

It is not full of sunshine and laughter. 

It is not full of honey rice cakes and hide n' seek. 

Not rain and sweet crisp apples.

But full of pain and fear. 

Of heartbreak and regret. 

You never ever want to go back. 

-

JK lays you down on the ground slowly in the small clearing, supporting your head. Slipping his hand out from behind your neck, he steps back. 

A deep sigh passes his lips as he looks around. 

You sleep for a long while…

"No fire?"

The demon startles at the sudden sound of your cracked voice, turning from where he's been sitting on a stump and seeing you watch him with tired eyes. 

"What are you talking about?" He asks quietly. 

"You didn't make a fire," You whisper, eyes still watery but no longer spilling.

He looks back at his hands, "So?"

Blinking a few times, you swallow, cringing internally at the dryness in your throat. 

After a minute, you look around and notice that the screaming sinners and bloody river are gone.

It finally clicks that he dragged you through the first ring of the seventh circle. 

You're not sure how long each ring is, but it can't be a short distance; there is no sign of where you just were. 

The trees are even closer together and more gnarled than before, their bark a darker gray. The two of you are in a very small circular clearing, only around twenty feet in diameter, the trees crowding in along the edges.

You sit up slowly and look over at him. His back is towards you, but you can tell he's messing with something in his hands. 

"What is that?"

He doesn't answer you, just tucks whatever it is into his pocket. 

You get to your feet shakily and look around again. 

The air is heavy with anguish. 

A deep ache settles in your heart as your eyes land on a certain tree. 

There doesn't appear to be a reason why this tree has caught your eye. 

He turns at the sound of footsteps and watches in confusion as you walk over to a small mutilated tree and reach a hand out. 

The moment your broken and bleeding yet gentle hand rests on the trunk, a deep moan and shudder rustles through the forest. 

JK stands but doesn't move closer. He just stares in disbelief at the dirtied girl that steps closer to the tree and hugs it. The trunk is much thinner than the others here, so she's able to wrap her arms almost all the way around. 

A choked breath escapes the demon as the girl in front of him rests her cheek against the tree, her eyes closed but a single tear falling. The moment the tear drips from her chin and hits the roots of the tree, the sound of weeping surrounds them. 

The being behind the wretched tears is full of anger and grief. 

It's as if the whole forest has suddenly become aware of their presence, grief becoming so tangible that the demon finds his hands have begun to quiver. 

No one has ever laid hands on the trees here. 

No soul has ever wept with them as the girl does. 

You tighten your hold on the trunk, a very real agony seeping from the tree into you. You can hear them. You can see them. 

No one has ever seen them. 

No one ever cared. 

They were surrounded by people but never more alone. 

They hated the people in their life. They hated that they wished to be loved by them. 

Mother loved them. 

Mother loved them. 

The weeping escalates. 

Sister loved them too. 

But they didn't care. 

They didn't care. 

They wanted to hurt Mother. They wanted to hurt sister too.

The tree shivers in your arms. 

They did it because they wanted to hurt Mother. She was always so easy to hurt. 

It was the control. 

They could control her if they hurt her. 

Nothing would hurt her more than losing her child to death and never understanding why. 

They did it to hurt Mother. 

They did it to have control. 

Mother loved them.

Mother was weak.

Anger surges through the tree, a sudden burning sensation running along your arms before you stumble back and fall onto the ground.

Tears pour down your cheeks as you look at the tree, thinking for a moment that you can see a face there; blending into the bark. The face is twisted in anger and resentment, a stubborn bitterness that refuses to be sorry. 

They will never be sorry for hurting Mother. 

JK watches you silently, his eyes finally leaving your grief-stricken face and running down to your arms. The heat singed through your cardigan in strips; burn lines streaking along them, from the wrists up to your shoulders. The marks are a bit welted and painfully red. 

Yet you do not react to them. 

Your eyes are locked on the tree as silent tears continue to fall. 

You only look away when he kneels in front of you. 

When he sees your gaze shift to his face, there's a look in your eyes that he does not understand. 

He does not understand you. 

"What are you doing?" He asks quietly. 

His voice is not stern, it is not angry. 

It has no cutting edge to it, nor are the words followed by a stinging insult. 

Your bottom lip wobbles a little, but you say nothing. 

You say nothing when his icy fingers wrap around your wrists. 

You say nothing when he brings your arms toward him, or when he pulls the tattered sleeves of your cardigan up to inspect the burns there. 

When his dark eyes leave the wounds and meet yours again, you can feel your heart lodge itself into your throat. 

"It's almost like you want to hurt."

You close your eyes at his words. 

"They ch-"

"Chose to be here," You interrupt him softly, "I know."

He says nothing after that.

Your wrists still rest in his cold hands, neither of you speaking. 

Then you feel him shift and open your eyes. 

He has put his hand on your left elbow so that your arm is resting along the length of his own. Then you see him bring his other hand to hover over your left arm, above the welts. 

You know what he's going to do. 

"Wait."

JK halts his movements and looks up at you again. 

"Don't," You whisper. 

The demon's brows furrow, then after a moment his face softens in realization. 

"I'm not asking you for payment in return."

You close your eyes and take in a shuddering breath. 

"Still, please don't."

"Why not?" 

When you open your eyes again, you see the confusion on his unnaturally pretty face. 

"Why not let me heal at least this?"

A shaky sigh leaves your mouth, "Please, just trust me."

His eyes squint and he inspects your face carefully. 

If he keeps looking at you like that, you'll break. 

"Who are you?" He finally whispers slowly. 

This time, when he sees your eyes flutter closed, a small tear falls, leaving a little trail down your dirty cheek. 

"Nobody."

He shakes his head at your poor answer, but you don't see it. 

Then he moves closer. 

"Look at me."

"No."

You flinch at the cold touch on your cheek. 

"Please…look at me."

The surprise at his soft request is what makes your eyes open, but you instantly regret it when you see how he's come closer, still taking in your messy face with a look far from judgment. 

"JK-"

"Shh," He hushes you and places a hand at the nape of your neck to pull you a little closer, "Every time you speak it just confuses me more."

You gulp when his nose bumps yours as he leans closer, his wintery cold breath running over your lips and cheeks. 

You can feel him shaking as he tries to decide whether to give into the temptation or not. 

Then a shiver runs down your spine when he lowers his head and places his lips against the side of your throat instead. 

He can feel you. 

So warm and soft against his lips. 

A heavy sigh leaves him.

Choking out a gasp, you don't fight it as he pulls away before leaning in again and kissing another spot just below your jaw. 

It's a blur before you realize you're lying on the ground as he leans over you and continues to suck and kiss at the soft skin of your neck. 

A low groan leaves his throat when he pulls back and sees the bruises he's created along your pretty neck and collarbone. 

"JK..." You breathe shakily, hand coming up to tangle in his hair as he dives in for more. 

"Mm?" He mumbles as he works tirelessly on marking you as his own. 

Fuck the best friend. 

"What're you-" A moan slips from you at the feeling of his wet lips against your burning skin and he smirks, hand reaching down to run along the length of your leg, all the way up under your dress and over your hips. 

When you feel him harshly grip the squishy skin of your thigh, his shaky breath in your ear; you gasp and sit up, pushing him away. 

What has gotten into you, letting him do such a thing?

Wanting such a thing...

The demon moves back and rests against his heels, his chest rising and falling with heavy breaths. 

He's not sure what happened to him and why he suddenly lost all control. 

He doesn't understand why he could feel-

Gulping, he looks back at you to see your hands over your mouth as you stare at nothing in particular with wide teary eyes. 

He can't hear the horrified thoughts in your head.

One of your hands moves to your heart as the other stays clamped over your lips.

Lord, forgive me. I don't know what came over me.

The demon just watches wordlessly as you clasp both hands in front of you and pinch your eyes shut, resting your forehead on your hands as you mumble to yourself. 

After taking a few more deep breaths, he stands up. 

"We-..." He clears his throat, "We need to keep go-"

The sound of soft footsteps reaches your ears and you scramble to your feet at the same time that JK rushes forward and grabs you, proceeding to shove you harshly out of the little clearing and into a prickly bush.

Even though the scratchy thorns stab your burns viciously, you force yourself not to cry out as you lower as much as you can to be concealed by the dead leaves. 

Only moments after he pushed you into the brush, you see a pair of black knee-high boots step into the clearing and walk towards your guide. You can't see above either of their thighs at this angle.

"JK, long time no see."

"What? Did you miss me?" You hear him say back snarkily. 

The newcomer barks out a nasty laugh, "What've you been up to besides missing out on your count?"

Count? What count?

You swallow carefully, afraid to make any sound. 

"You sound a little nervous, Sav. Worried if I pick it up again I'll pass you?"

Watching breathlessly, you see the knee-high boots walk closer to JK. He doesn't move though, not even a twitch. 

Who is this? 

"I don't need to do anything but watch," The stranger called Sav whispers harshly, "You've already fucked up. I, for one, can't wait to see you writhe."

Gulping, you move your head down a little to look through the skinny branches, finally seeing more of this demon. 

It's definitely a demon, although you can't see his undoubtedly handsome face.

He's dressed in all black clothes just like JK, and there are black and gray tattoos covering every inch of his visible chest and arms. 

You squint and try to look closer when you notice that he's got a tattoo with color. It's on his outer right bicep, just like JK's rose. But it's not a rose. 

It's a torn and withered butterfly. 

A monarch; its beautiful orange faded into a nasty burnt color. 

What really catches your eye though, is that the dead butterfly is being strangled by a serpent, poison dripping from its sharp fangs. 

The breath gets caught in your throat. 

JK crosses his arms, the muscles in his upper arms stretching the silk fabric covering them as he does. 

"Well, well, well. Someone's finally gained confidence, haven't they?"

Sav remains silent. 

JK leans in, making the other lean back a little. 

"I'd worry about your own skin before worrying about mine. You seem to have forgotten who is on top of who down here."

The other demon grits his teeth, trying to conjure something clever to say but coming up with nothing. As per usual. 

His eyes are full of pure hatred as he looks at JK; the one he can never be better than, no matter what he does. The one that none of them can ever get under the skin of. Nothing rattles him.

JK raises a hand and shoos his fingers at the lesser demon in a demeaning way, as if telling him to run along home. 

Sav glares at him poisonously before turning on his heel and walking off, disappearing into a cloud of thick black smoke. 

You slowly let out the breath you had been holding.

"You can come out now."

Very carefully, you clamber out of the bush. Then you stand there awkwardly as he continues to face away from you. 

The tension is still palpable from what happened not long before Sav showed up.

Neither of you says a word about it though. 

Finally, JK turns around and looks at you, his eyes immediately going to the small marks littered along your throat. 

Fuck. 

Fucking shit. 

He can't let that happen again. 

He can't be weak. 

"The third ring is longer than the second but shorter than the first," He starts rattling off. You're listening but not really hearing him after that first sentence. All you can think about is the fact that he did, in fact, drag you across the longest ring in the seventh circle. 

...why?

"Are you even listening to me?" He snaps, making you glance at him and blink owlishly. 

"Uh...yeah."

"What did I say?"

"The third ring is longer than this one but shorter than the first one."

When he just stares at you, unimpressed, you know he said more than you ended up catching. 

He doesn't bother to scold you though, just snaps at you not to lag and starts walking. 

You stumble after him, tripping over rocks and twigs when you leave the clearing, but keeping up with him nonetheless. 

"Why a rose?"

JK doesn't stop walking when you gasp out the question as you hurry along, he just glances at you over his shoulder, brows furrowed. 

"What are you on about now?"

Making a few quick strides to get closer before falling into step beside him, you casually smack his bicep, startling him. 

"The tattoo. Why a rose? Why did Sav have a bu-"

You gasp when he suddenly stops and presses his hand over your mouth, looking around for a moment before glaring at you. 

"Are you fucking stupid?" 

You give him an indignant look, his hand still against your lips. 

He leans closer.

"You shouldn't go screaming other demons' names down here, sweetheart. It's gonna piss me off." 

You gulp, not missing the vulgar joke he slipped in there. 

He raises a brow at you and you nod, then he slowly pulls his hand away. 

He's about to walk off but you call out, "Well?"

When he stops, you force yourself not to look at his broad back, the silky black shirt stretching slightly with each breath in. 

"Why do you have a tattoo of a dead rose?" You keep your voice strong, "Why did he have one of a butterfly? You both have plenty of tattoos, but they aren't in color. Why are those colored? Why a serpent choking them? And what was he talking about with some kind of count and watching when you-"

JK turns around and looks at you, making you shut your mouth. 

"I'll make you a deal, little human."

You stay silent and he continues, "If you want answers to your stupid little questions, you need to give me something in return. I don't give for free."

After a moment, you clear your throat, "What do you want then?"

His eyes never leave yours. 

"I'll think about it."

Then he turns and keeps walking. 

You sigh, then hurry after him. 

-

“Oh, hey! Where are you off to so quickly?”

You smiled at the pretty angel that was seated in his usual spot, tucked in between two of the larger bookcases, reading up on a few things like he did sometimes. 

“I’m meeting with someone.”

He nodded, then sat up and caught your attention once more before you could hurry off, “Wait. You come to the Archive a lot and always seem to be looking for something, but never leave with anything. I can help if you’d like, I know almost as much as the book keeper.”

You chuckled and shook your head, “Thanks, Leon, but he actually helped me find it today!”

“Ah!” The angel clapped, long slender fingers tapping gently before he picked up his book again, “Good luck then!”

“Thank you,” You smiled brightly at him before turning and hurrying off. 

After a little walking and a bit of flying, you were just about to the meeting spot when you ran into something hard and fell, landing on the marble pavilion, the tip of your wings stuck right under your bottom. 

Soft warm hands immediately took your arms and lifted you to your feet. 

“I’m sorry!” You blurted, embarrassed about how clumsy you’ve always been, “I didn’t-”

Then you saw who was smiling down at you fondly. 

“Oh my gosh, I- I’m so sorry, I-”

The Archangel shook his head gently, his golden locks falling to his shoulders as the most stunning smile graced his features. 

“____, you have no reason to apologize. It was an accident. As usual,” He added with a lilt of amusement in his tone.

You nodded, breath stuck in your throat at his otherworldly beauty. 

You could never get used to it. 

“What has you in such a rush?”

“Oh, I was meeting up with-...” You gestured nervously, losing your voice.

He smiled knowingly, “Your cousin. Is this about your mission?”

You nodded, cheeks pink. 

The Archangel placed a reassuring hand on your shoulder, “I hope you know that we are all rooting for you. You’re braver than you give yourself credit for.”

“Thank you, Michael.”

He leaned down and placed a hand on your other shoulder too, making you look at him. 

You felt the tears get lodged in your throat as he looked at you with such love and compassion, as all the angels did. You’d felt the closest to him though, all this time.

“If ever you need me, little one, just say my name and I will come.”

“I will,” You choked out. 

-

Quite abruptly, you step out of the forest and onto burning hot sand. 

You hadn't even seen it coming any closer, almost as if you stepped through a portal. 

"Ach!" You shift on your feet, the sand unforgiving on the cracked and bleeding appendages. 

JK glances at you as you hop around a little where you stand, "Regretting giving up your shoes now, doll?"

"Nope," You grit out, breathing carefully through your nose. 

You look around, noticing with a pit of horror in your gut that you can see the sinners already. They are not close to you, but in the distance. Flames fall from the sky like a poisonous rain while some of the damned are lying upon the burning sand, others running in circles. The remaining sinners are crouched and appear to be weeping. 

You gulp and clench your fists. 

You can do this, ____. 

You can do this. 

I can. 

I can do this. 

I ca-

"It's a long walk. Let's go."

The demon walks without a care across the blazing hot sand, not waiting for you. 

The faster you go the less it should hurt. 

You breathe in the hot air and blow it out, shaking your hands around for a second to gather yourself. 

Then you start hurrying after him, limping as quickly as you can manage. 

It's only a few minutes later that you realize you're about to freak out. 

The flames falling from the sky do not touch you, but the heat coming up from the sand seems to make the burns on your arms inflamed. They've become even more swollen and discolored than before as you limp helplessly, biting your lip hard enough to draw blood. 

Just before you call out to him, he turns and sees you. 

The burn lines on your arms are grotesque; the skin around them mottled and bruised. You're shaking more than you probably realize as you stumble along. He stops when he sees the blood dripping down your chin from where you've bitten your lip so hard it broke the skin. 

"Stop."

You trip on your own feet, falling to the sand that scorches your knees and hands. 

"Ah," You groan quietly, unable to lift yourself. 

You don't have the strength. 

He crouches to get level with you, about to say something when he stops. 

You don't even have the strength to look at him and wonder why he froze. 

JK closes his eyes when he hears the words being whispered in his mind. Over and over and over again.

All over your skin is so painful that you can't speak. You can't move. All you can do is shake and stare at the droplets of blood from your lip that hit the sand and sizzle.

The hands holding you up on the sand do not look like your own. 

They look discolored and swollen. 

You blink, but the hands do not change. 

Are they really yours?

You're not sure.

“If ever you need me, little one, just say my name and I will come.”

I can do this.

You flinch and cry out when freezing cold hands touch your scalding hot skin. 

"Ah, stop!"

JK ignores your cries as he holds under your arms and lifts you up from the sand to stand. 

"It hurts, it's hurting, please stop," You whimper, trying to get away from him. 

He says nothing as he bends down and puts an arm under your legs, proceeding to lift you up in his arms and hold you like an infant. 

The relief is instant. 

But now that your body is not overcome with pain and unable to do anything, your stomach turns and you feel like you're about to be sick. 

He starts to walk, the gentle rocking soon lulling you into a calm state. 

When you lay your head on his shoulder, he stops. 

After a moment, he swallows the lump in his throat and keeps walking.

It's almost too quiet. 

He's become used to your incessant talking. You always seem to have something to say, even if you don't actually speak. He could always feel your thoughts radiating from within despite not being able to read your mind. 

Now there's only a tiny trickle as you stay on the brink of numb consciousness. 

He can't feel you dreaming or thinking. 

It’s far too quiet.

Is this how humans feel when they're lonely?

The demon scoffs and shakes his head at the ridiculous thought. The action makes you stir and he holds his breath as he risks a glance. 

Your face is covered in a light sheen of sweat, baby hairs sticking to your damp cheeks and forehead. Your lips are cracked and bloody, glossy eyes barely open as you stare at nothing. 

He gulps and looks away. 

Don't be weak, you idiot. 

-

Hours later, he's still carrying you across the blazing hot desert.

You've not spoken a single word, the sweat on your arms and face never drying and your head still resting against him. 

"JK."

He looks down at you, surprised after not hearing you for a good long while. 

"Hm?" He doesn't trust his voice not to crack. 

"I'm-..." You swallow, wincing at the pain in your throat even as you speak below a whisper, "I'm gonna be sick."

"Like, actually?"

You nod weakly. 

He stops walking, glancing around as he thinks. 

That's when a thought occurs to him. 

"Do you think you can hold on a little longer?"

When you don't respond, he looks at you again. 

"Hey," He shakes you a little, "Do you think you can make it a little further?"

He only gets a small nod in response, but that's good enough. 

He shifts you a little to make it a bit more comfortable, then he picks up his pace. 

-

All you can see are swirls of red and orange. Yellow too. 

They're morphing in front of you, twirling around in long strokes, like a paintbrush full of color moving against a blank canvas. 

They drag across your vision, painting a picture of something you can see but don't understand. It makes no sense. 

Nothing makes sense. 

You're hot. 

Your body is hot. 

But you don't feel connected to your body. 

Why are you hot then?

Why are those colors so pretty?

Every breath in is full of steamy air that makes your lungs scream in pain. 

You can't feel your hands or feet. 

Why are those colors so terrifying?

It hurts. 

You can't cry. 

The tears are too hot against your skin, you fear they will start to melt your cheeks. 

Aren't you melting already though?

Why are those colors so pretty?

Puddles. 

Puddles of red and orange and yellow. 

Splatters of fiery paint cover your view of the world. 

World?

Are you in the world?

Are you on Earth?

Earth is blue and green and brown and white and-

"-ke up-...here-..."

Earth is warm and cold and beautiful-

"Hey."

Earth is so much more than this place.

"-ortal, can you e-"

But Heaven is so so much more than Earth-

Why does your cheek hurt?

"Come to your senses, come on."

You blink your eyes open to see a blurry JK in front of you. 

He heaves a sigh when he sees the familiar color of your irises looking back at him, your sweaty face twisted in confusion. 

"I was almost convinced you'd given up."

Your frown deepens. 

What is he talking about?

Give up?

You can't give up. 

You promised. 

The demon flinches back when you sit up and lean over, immediately retching only a few inches from his shoes. 

He makes a sound of disgust as he gets up and walks to the side to avoid the result of your exhausted body overheating more than a human body can physically handle.

You're not sure what you've thrown up seeing as you've not eaten in who knows how long. But it comes up regardless, making it hard to breathe until you're finished. 

You slump to the side, breathing heavily as you keep your eyes closed. It's too nauseating to open them. 

"You look like shit."

He sees the tiniest smile on your face at his words, amusement clear on your face even as you keep your eyes shut. 

"Thanks," You whisper back, reaching up a hand to wipe at your mouth.

You passed out again moments later. 

The swirling colors come in and out of your feverish nightmares. 

There's never any one object for more than a few minutes, always switching from one strange thing to another. 

You think you wake up a few times, and maybe you do. 

But it never makes sense and you're soon out again before you can comprehend anything. 

He's there at first, a black smudge of ink against the dark brown canvas. 

Then he's gone. 

-

JK sits in the corner on the torn black leather chair, his elbows resting on his knees as he watches you go in and out of consciousness, mumbling strange things before passing out again and again. 

When the voices start to whisper louder once more, he closes his eyes. 

"I'm sorry."

He opens his eyes and sees you frowning, head moving side to side as you talk to yourself, or whoever might be in your dreams. 

"Please," You whisper tearfully, a look of grief painted on your sleeping face. 

He sighs and looks down at the cracked floor, biting his lip. 

You mumble a few more nonsensical things before he hears you clearly once again. 

"-please don't leave me."

The demon stands up and walks over to where you lay; fidgeting restlessly as your eyelids flutter and twitch uncontrollably, sweat pouring down your temples. 

His eyes rake over you slowly, taking in every bloody and bruised inch. 

He can't be weak. 

Eyes landing on your neck where the purple marks still sit, he gulps. 

It can't happen again. 

Even as you cry quietly at whatever is haunting you, he walks away.

He leaves you.

-

The young lady gasps when she sees the figure of a man behind her in the reflection of her vanity mirror. 

She whips her head around to watch the most gorgeous man she's ever seen step out from the shadows. 

"W-..." She gulps, "Who are you?"

He walks closer and sits on her bed, only a few feet from her now. 

She can smell the sweet essence surrounding him. 

"Did you not call me?"

She stares at him for a minute, mind blank. 

Then she remembers what she'd done the other night with her friends. 

When they'd been messing around with a ouija board, goofing around about how hot it would be to fuck a demon. After months of not getting any, she admitted she was desperate enough to try it. 

But that was all fake. They were jokes.

A slender eyebrow raises as a laugh slips from her mouth. 

"You can't be serious."

"Deadly."

"What?" She laughs again, "You're just some sex demon that comes to any girl that calls you?"

He leans forward, "Not just any girls. Only the prettiest ones."

Butter her up nicely. 

She flushes at his words. 

"What's your name, doll?"

Turning in her chair to fully face him, she leans forward too, chest more exposed through her tank top as she does so. 

She’s never been one to doubt the existence of such creatures. 

"Amanda."

So easy.

"Pleasure to meet you, Amanda."

She's not sure who started it or how they got here, but they end up on her bed, the demon leaning over her as he kisses up her jaw, then down to her chest. 

She pushes him away and onto his back before climbing on top, leaning down and mouthing at his chest. 

JK lets her do as she wishes. 

It doesn't really matter to him. 

He's bored of it already. 

The girl keeps making sounds of pleasure as she touches him, but he doesn't really pay attention. 

He can't feel it anyway. 

He can't feel her touches against his cold skin. 

Not her lips against his chest. 

It feels numb. Dead. 

Nothing more. 

He's never been able to feel the touch of humans. 

So, why could he feel yours?

JK's mind flits back to you lying unconscious, plagued by nightmares. 

No. 

He came here to forget about you. 

He can’t keep risking it.

His mind inevitably slips back to the clearing in the second ring. 

He could feel the heat of your skin against his, warming him from deep within. 

You were so soft and squishy, so fucking warm. 

His lips could feel the life running through your veins as he kissed your neck. It made his head spin. If only he'd let himself actually kiss you, he's sure he'd feel it. He’d probably never feel anything like it again. 

Why are you different?

Amanda whines in annoyance when he suddenly pushes her off of him. 

They'd only just gotten started. 

"What're you doing? I thought you were supposed to pleasure me. Isn't that what you're made for?" She spits.

The demon stands up, buttoning his shirt back up, but not before she gets a glimpse of a tattoo on his chest, "You're boring me to death. That’s got to be some kind of record."

She scoffs, "No fucking way. You're such a dick, I knew it."

He doesn't bother answering her as he pulls his boots back on. 

Amanda leans over and grabs his wrist, trying to pull him back down on the bed. 

When he harshly rips his arm away, she glares at him. 

"How useless are you? An incubus that's in love? Ridiculous." She chuckles bitterly, shaking her head. 

JK narrows his eyes at her. 

"What the fuck are you talking about?"

She rolls her eyes, "Do you think I'm blind? You're so pathetic. Imagine being so fucking desperate you'd carve the reminder of someone on your skin." She continues to laugh obnoxiously loud to herself. 

The laughter cuts short when he leans into her space and snarls, "Seems like you're not only boring, you're also a fucking dipshit. If you're desperate enough to call another demon to pleasure you because no one else will, you better hope you don't end up calling me."

She doesn't say another word as he turns and walks back into the shadows of her bedroom, gone faster than she can process it. 

-

Your eyes open slowly. 

The world is not full of spinning colors and strange sounds. 

Slowly, you shift your gaze around without moving your head. 

Vision becoming more and more clear, you realize that you are not out in the light anymore. 

There are wooden walls around you, falling apart but still keeping the heat out.

There's a worn leather arm chair in the corner of the room. 

Finally moving your head, you see a small table by a door that's nearly off its hinges. 

The breath gets caught in your throat when you tilt your head up and see a window with tattered curtains hanging from it. 

How did you get here?

A horrible dread settles in your gut as you sit up and look around again. 

There's a large chest sitting on the other side of the one room shack. 

You close your eyes, hand moving to your heart as you feel yourself start to hyperventilate. 

Where is he?

Where did he go?

Why did he bring you here and then leave you?

You fumble off the bed, falling to the floor when your legs are too weak to hold the weight.

Get me out of here. 

You start to crawl across the floor that's covered in sawdust and spiderwebs, heading for the flimsy door. 

You have to get out.

It's impossible to breathe in here.

Just as you're reaching for the handle, the door flies open harshly, luckily swinging outwards instead of in. 

You flinch back, curling in on yourself as someone steps inside. 

"Yo-...You're awake."

You open your eyes when you hear his voice. 

"Please get me out of here."

JK frowns and crouches to get closer, "What did you say?"

"Out," You speak more clearly, "I want to get out of here."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"I-" You cover your face with your hands, "I don't know, I just-...It's creeping me out."

When he doesn't answer, you take your hands away and see him smirking at you. 

"You've been through seven circles of Hell, and you're scared of a little haunted shack?" You look away from him but he continues, "I'm the one that haunts places, doll."

"What is this place?" You grit out, "How is it here?"

He chuckles, "It's not really here."

You look at him, confused. 

"Okay, well it is. But it's not. It's abandoned, no one usually comes here. I thought it'd be good for you to rest-"

"Are we not in Hell anymore?"

"Oh, we're still in Hell."

"I don't get it," You whisper, not meeting his eyes. 

The demon sighs and sits on the floor in front of you, tired of crouching. 

"I guess the best way to explain it would be that it's kind of in both. It's still in the forest where it's always been. Teenagers go there to do things they don't want to be caught doing. They bring things, take things," He gestures at the leather chair and bottles of alcohol littered on the floor. 

"Some places, for one reason or another, are stuck between dimensions in a way. There's not really a straight answer as to why they're between Earth and Hell."

"And Heaven?" You ask quietly. 

He scoffs, "Nah. They're too busy living the good life up there, too fucking high and mighty to be bothered with the physical world." 

"So," You clear your throat, "We're here. And other people might be here too. But we can't see each other?"

He nods, "Pretty much. They might hear a thing or two if I decide to fuck with them. You don't need to worry. To the real world, we're the only ghosts here."

Your heart clenches at that. 

Looking away from him again, your eyes land on the chest.

You slowly stand up. 

Walking carefully over to it, you approach as if it's a snake ready to bite. 

He just watches you curiously. 

Your bare feet make no sound on the floorboards as you stop right above the antique piece of furniture. Reaching a trembling hand down, you grab the rusty handle and pull it up. 

Dust and cobwebs fly off the lid as it's opened, settling to the splintery floorboards as you stare down at the contents. 

JK stands up and walks over next to you, glancing down into the chest he never bothered to open. 

"Huh. I thought it'd be more thrilling because of the look on your face."

You say nothing, just continue to stare numbly at the soft fabric that's riddled with mold and old age. The vase sitting next to it is clearly just as old, cracked and unusable now. 

After a moment of dead silence, you turn and look at him. 

"Pick it up."

He looks at you like you're crazy. 

"Pick what up?"

"The dress. The vase,” Your hands begin to shake, “The plates, books, feathers! Maybe the child's shoes! I don't care! Just pick it up!!"

"Are you mad?"

He watches in mounting confusion as hot tears stream down your cheeks. 

"Maybe I am!! Maybe I've completely lost my mind!" You scream, slamming the lid shut and walking over to the rickety cot you were sleeping on. 

The demon does nothing but stare as you climb on the bed and grab the ratty curtains, proceeding to rip them from the window and tear them up before flinging them to the ground. 

"This!! Is all your fault!!" You scream at the top of your lungs, grabbing at your hair and tugging on it as you shriek. 

Ghostly screams echo from somewhere in time as a result of your fit, but you don’t care. 

Frantic footsteps run to the door and fling it open, the terrified wails becoming more distant.

The sight of a particular drawing on the wall behind the bed that you accidentally moved, makes you break down into gut wrenching sobs.

Then you get off the bed and run to the chest again, flinging open the lid and digging inside. 

"What are you doing?!" 

You ignore him and grab the vase, then stand up and throw it at the wall, watching as it shatters into hundreds of pieces, right along with your heart. 

"Why did you bring me here?! Why here?? Why?!" You pick up the withered clothes and easily tear them to shreds, the ancient fabric practically dissolving in your hands. 

When he reaches to stop you from going for more, you fight him off, fisting his shirt in your hands and yanking and ripping at it before pushing him away. 

Your hands move to your head, squeezing your ears shut as you scream and scream. 

You've lost all control. Every last little ounce that you've had since coming to this wretched wretched place. Since finding him near the entrance to Hell. 

This place was the last straw.

When your voice cracks from the volume you reach, you cough and choke. Then you turn and dig into the chest again, smashing plates against the ground and going back for more. You freeze though, when you pull out the small handmade boots. 

Your whole body starts to shake as you stare at them sitting in your hands, cupping the teeny tiny things as tears fall onto them, washing off the dirt and grime that has accumulated through all these long long years. 

Then you fall to your knees, a loud crack sounding as you hit the hard floor. You don't say anything though, you just stare at the sweet little shoes that fit in the palm of your hand. Silently, with tears still falling, you bring them close to your heart. 

To the real world, we're the only ghosts here. 

Even now. 

Lifting your head slowly, you look around the room that you’ve brought to shambles. 

The sun filters through the window, falling across the floor. It sweeps the cobwebs and shards of glass away until there is nothing left but wood and light. 

The cot has soft pillows and blankets on it. 

The curtains are not torn. 

The vase sits pretty on the little table by the door, full of your favorite flower. 

Beautiful red roses. 

The chest is open, full of fresh linen, new plates that Yoongi gifted you, and maybe a fruit or two. 

When your eyes land on him, he is no different. 

He stands there, handsome face looking as confused as ever, tattoos littered across his perfect skin. His deep brown eyes are full of so many questions, his shirt that you tore at is slightly opened. And you see it. 

A splash of color. 

A splash of red.

Just above his heart, one more tattoo that is all by itself, usually hidden from view. 

Even as his dark eyes look at you with no recognition, you say nothing as your heart begins to bleed out onto the floor. 

Your eyes flit back to where his own heart lies dormant.

The rest of the shack fades away as you stare at the small image scratched into his skin, imprinted on him to make sure he will never escape it even as he forgets. A reminder. A mockery of what once brought so much more than this. 

A torture he will always feel but never know why.

Nothing but a small apple. 

_________________

a/n: 🍎✌🏻💕

taglist: @butterymin @kookxin @telepathytae @kooliv @highoffbaddecisions @meanum @smitssharon02 @kmpac @ggukkieland @jjanjankook @sugaslittlekookies @hobispriteu1306 @kimchibrat @slowlydeliciousjiminie @screamertannie @i-dont-give-a-fok @hopefulrascalstatesmantoad @ohyeahjk @babycandy111 @era-genius @xmochiloverx @sopikooo @jamlessstars @bangtannie7 @nuttykittypainter @geniejunn @ane102 @charlesswife @ashbxnny @veronawrites @jjkw-7 @jinsundor @h-g-bts @justvibingsblog @hyuneyeon @hellbornsworld @hiii-priestess @nuttypizzacat @vidaficrecs @royallyjjk @thvslvt @hoseoksluv89 @moonchilddna @idkjustlovingbts @taiwan0613 @aurorathi

[jangx2manboongx2]

Happy Anniversary BTS and Army! Let’s keep running.

[anotherbtswriter]

Best Served Cold | Yoongi | Part III

pairing: Yoongi x afab!reader

au: mafia!au, arranged marriage!au, Yoongi is at the bottom of the organization just trying to stay alive when the story starts.

tags: SLOW BURN, eventual violence, eventual hurt/comfort, eventual smut, reformed bad boy Yoongi, he is lethal in this fic - literally, and he has neck tattoos. Reader is self conscious about her looks, so that gets mentioned occasionally, but is not a focus of the fic. (She works through it by the end.) (Part III has a fight scene with gun, garrote and chopsticks. Mentions of abuse, y/n gets hit, Yoongi gets violent.)

words: 5k

a/n: Many, many thank yous to @matchy6812 and @reliablemitten for your help with Part III. Your level of unhinged is perfect for this fic. THANK YOU

One more part to go after this - smut is had and debts are paid.

Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV

Well, it’s done. 

Yoongi drives to the club at a languid pace, not really paying attention to the route. He’s aimless. He’ll meet you there later, but for now, he wants to drive. The music is low, and the lights of the city stream past him, marking his path and leaving nothing in their wake.

X

X

X

All he can think about is the look on your face when you realized you would be free. You were nervous. He knew that when he handed you the key. You looked like the small box might explode at the table. 

When you realized what was happening, the joy on your face was not feigned. You don’t have a poker face to save your fucking life. You clutched that safe deposit key like it was a lifeline, and he knows it is. Now that he knows what your family has done to you, he wants nothing more than for you to have the life you deserve. Any life you choose.

Your father is an asshole. Yoongi’s seen the way you flinch when anyone raises their voice. He’s still dodging calls from your sister, telling her not to contact him more times than he can count. There’s no reason to mention it. He didn’t want you to know exactly what she offered–asking Yoongi for money, suggesting he could do whatever he likes in exchange. Look, he gets everyone needs to look out for themselves, but she cannot take a goddamn hint, a goddamn blunt rejection even. The only woman he wants is you, and he just handed you the means to leave him forever. 

Is that true? Are you the only woman he wants?

He spent too many nights he sat staring at the small, silver key. He held onto it for weeks before giving it to you. It’s the secret to unlocking a new world. He should’ve wanted to give it to you. Everything was ready—the cash, the accounts, the documents. But he wasn’t. He scrubs a hand down his face, wondering when he became so maudlin. Before you, he didn’t get sad. He wasn’t particularly happy either, but he always knew where he stood. He didn’t feel like quicksand under his feet would cause him to flail at any moment. Now he’s grasping at anything to give him purchase. You’ll be safe this way, he reminds himself. If you’re out, no one can come after you.

You’ve unsettled him and the uneasy balance of his life. The triumphant smile on your face when you explain another complicated scheme to turn his ill-gotten gains into pristine profits. Sometimes your smile is so wide you have trouble forming the necessary words. He smiles wide back. He’s certain it’s that smile his mother loves that he abhorred when he was young, too unserious, too joyful. 

It is the small things he will miss, and the small things that he gathers for when you’re gone. The way you sing in the shower when you think he isn’t home. The way you walk in those new shoes you bought—the ones that are impossibly tall, but you wear as easy as slippers now. The way you look when you come home with a designer shopping bag, like someone is going to take it from you and you’ll fight them for it. The way you laugh at Jungkook’s jokes and Hoseok’s stories. The way you pour over documents and spreadsheets, making sure everything is perfect. The way you smiled at him at dinner tonight. He’s not sure when all these things became a longing so deep that he feels it in his bones, in his skin. He’s been slowly wandering in a maze of your making, and now he can’t get out. He doesn’t want to get out. When it all happened, he doesn’t know, and he doesn’t care. He will set you free because it’s what you deserve. He wonders how soon you’ll leave, and how soon it’ll break him.

A phone call takes him out of his reverie. Only a few people can contact him on this cell. Whoever’s on the end of this call better hope it’s a wrong number. 

“Who is this?”

“Min Yoongi. You’re a hard man to get ahold of.” 

He can’t quite place the voice, but this isn’t a misdial. His grip on the steering wheel tightens. 

“Who the fuck is this?”

“I’m surprised you don’t recognize my voice, given that you can’t help get involved in my business.”

Lee, he thinks. Why is the heir to the Lee family making a personal call? Without thinking, he cuts the next corner, speeding his way to the club. He needs to make sure everyone is safe.

“What do you want? We have nothing to say to each other.”

“Oh, we do now.”

Yoongi runs a red light, ignoring the screech of tires and horns left behind him. What the fuck is going on?

“Just remember, this is a courtesy call. One I didn’t have to make.”

“What do you want? I don’t enjoy repeating myself.”

“I would like to make a deal. It’s time we put an end to this ridiculous war, and I know how to do it quickly.”

“Pay me what I’m owed, and it will be over.”

“Oh, I’ll pay you back.”

Yoongi speeds into the parking lot at the club. He doesn’t bother with finding a spot, just parks in front of the door where Jimin and Taehyung are manning the velvet rope. Phone in hand, he sprints past them, ignoring their questioning looks. At least he knows the two of them are okay. 

“Don’t leave me in suspense,” Yoongi says. “I’m on pins and needles over here.”

He sees Jungkook behind the bar and Hoseok nursing a drink. When he rushes in, both of them look up. Whatever is happening must show on his face. Jungkook drops the towel he’s holding, and Hoseok downs his drink before following Yoongi. Everything will be fine, he thinks. Everyone is here, and you will be where you always are—sitting at his desk, where you belong, glasses perched on your nose, making sure that this entire operation doesn’t fall apart like a house of cards. You have to be there. There is no other option. 

“I’ve got someone for you to talk to.”

Yoongi bursts the office door open. Hoseok and Jungkook are right behind him. The desk is empty. Instead of your comforting presence is the black hole of how he failed you.

“Yoongi,” you say, voice a whisper. 

His heart stops beating, and the breath has been stolen from his lungs. He spins around, ignoring Hoseok and Jungkook’s questioning looks. They know enough not to ask.

“Did they hurt you, baby?”

“I’m so sorry,” you say, haltingly. He hears the sob in your voice.

You shouldn’t be apologizing. He didn’t protect you, and he has seriously underestimated how angry he made Lee. This is his fault.

“She’s a tough little thing. Doesn’t look like much, but she’s given up nothing.”

“And I’m talking to a dead man,” Yoongi says. “You shouldn’t have touched her.”

Hoseok’s eyes go wide. Jungkook clenches his fists. 

“I don’t torture women unless they really get on my nerves,” Lee says. “If you want her back, call off your men, close the clubs and go back to wherever you crawled from. You’ve got three hours before it’s time to drag the river.”

Before Yoongi can respond, the call ends. 

Hoseok and Jungkook don’t ask. 

“He says I have three hours to shut down our operation, and he’ll return her to me.”

“What do you need?” Hoseok asks, and Jungkook nods in agreement.

He wants you safe. He also knows that running with you now just puts a target on your backs for the rest of whatever will be your brief life. Who’s he kidding? He would never back down from a fight and now he’s got a reason to kill Lee. It was going to happen, anyway. Now it’s just going to happen in the next two hours. 

“We’re taking them out now. I’m getting her back.” It is an incredibly reckless plan, and to their credit, Hoseok and Jungkook don’t flinch. “Get Jimin and Taehyung in here. Call the rest of the men.”

He wants to thank them, to say something about what it means that he can rely on them, but he doesn’t know where to begin. Luckily, he doesn’t have to explain. 

“I’ll get everyone out of the club,” Jungkook says. Hoseok is already on the phone. 

Yoongi moves like a ghost to your desk. Wondering just exactly how he’s going to get you back. He sits in your chair, desk covered with your papers, and he puts his head in his hands. He has two hours to take out Lee’s entire operation, find out where he’s keeping you, and make sure Lee can never come after either of you again. There is no time for nerves. By the time Hoseok and Jungkook return, he’s ready.

&&&

When Lee ends the call, you’re still shaking from hearing Yoongi’s voice. You can’t believe you were such an idiot to let yourself get taken. Yoongi told you to be careful, told you to stay close to the club. Instead, you went across town to the bank just to check a safe deposit box. You were selfish, and now you’re going to cause him more trouble. 

“He’s not going to comply,” you say. You’re proud that your voice doesn’t crack. They shoved you into the corner of this warehouse since they pulled you out of the van. The driving was so wild you have no idea where in the city you are. You feel like an idiot. 

“I know,” Lee says, appraising you. “I’m not a fucking moron.”

Yoongi’s going to kill you, you arrogant asshole, you think. It may not happen before you die, but it will happen, nonetheless. 

“I’m not worth it to him.”

“I know,” Lee repeats. “Your father was trying to get rid of you for years.”

It stings. The old hurt you thought had gone away stings like a motherfucker. Before you can stop them, tears fall down your cheeks. Your hands are still tied behind you. The rope chafes, and you’re going to have a scar. I’m not going to survive, you think. The scars, the old hurts, they don’t matter. You wish you told Yoongi how you feel about him. He might’ve laughed at you. No, he would’ve politely changed the conversation, but at least you wouldn’t have been a coward. 

“He’s going to kill you.”

Lee laughs. He sounds like a fucking cartoon villain, and you want to wipe the smile from his face, but you can’t do anything. 

“He’ll be dead before he gets the chance.”

You shake your head. There is one thing you know, and it’s that this preening fool won’t beat your husband. You’re confident he’ll win. It’s just a question of when. 

You’re forgotten for a bit, shivering as you sit on the cold cement floor where they’ve left you. With your hands still tied behind you, you pull up your legs to your chest and rest your head on your knees. You can think of nothing but your own foolishness at being taken. You shiver. The thought of not seeing Yoongi again—it feels like your heart is being torn out of your chest. You sob, alone with your tears where you sit among the forgotten boxes of whatever is stored in this place. The only saving grace you have is knowing that Yoongi will win, eventually. If nothing else, your ghost will protect him.

&&&

The man standing in front of Yoongi is nervous. He’s looking over his shoulder, hunched as if he might need to duck at any moment. Yoongi doesn’t relent in his questioning. This man has been paid the last year to be Yoongi’s informant in the Lee operation. It is time for him to prove his worth. 

“Look, he didn’t tell any of us what he had planned.”

“I didn’t expect him to send a fucking memo,” Yoongi says. “Where is he keeping the weapons, where is his cash, and—” He wills his voice not to crack with emotion. He can’t get you back if he thinks too hard about what you might be going through. “Where would he keep any hostages?”

The man runs through his excuses again. 

“I don’t have time for this,” Yoongi says. “Hoseok, I’m going to walk to the corner, call Jungkook and when I get back, he should be talking.”

“He will be.”

At this, the man pales. He puts up his hands. “It isn’t like that,” he says. “I really don’t—”

“Go make your call,” Hoseok says. “We’ll have a chat.”

Yoongi walks to the corner of the deserted alley, ignoring the sound of the man’s protestations. Hoseok will get the information that he needs. His reputation will cause anyone to cave before long.

“Do Jimin and Taehyung have the intel on the weapons?” he asks when Jungkook answers. The man currently pouring his heart out to Hoseok is not Yoongi’s only source of information. He’s been planning this for far too long not to cover every angle. 

“They’re headed there now with the rest of their men. They’ll wait for the signal. What do you want me to do?”

The problem is, he doesn’t have enough men. Any of their raids on Lee’s positions are going to be brutal, and they are likely to lose.

“Hoseok is about to get the information on the cash. Meet us here, and you can go with him.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I’ve got an appointment to keep. Don’t make a move until you get the signal from me.”

“Hyung, this is a fucking terrible idea.”

“Don’t swear, Jungkook.”

“There has to be another way.”

“You know there isn’t,” Yoongi insisted. “He’s taken her, and I’m not stopping until I find her.”

“Wait for us at least,” Jungkook said. 

“There isn’t enough time, and there aren’t enough men.” 

“Yoongi—”

“Text me when the raids are finished. I will let you know where he’s keeping her.”

“What if he doesn’t tell you?”

Yoongi ends the call. It’s a stupid question, and he will not answer it. He will do whatever it takes to get Lee to talk. 

An hour later, Yoongi walks into Lee’s club. It’s in the old neighborhood. He hasn’t been back here since his father lost everything. The streets he knows well, though. He thought he was invincible when he was young, but when his father was left with nothing, he knew that wasn’t true. He learned you can continue to lose even after you think everything is taken from you. The pain on his mother’s face. The way his father can no longer recognize him. When he does, he doesn’t like what he sees. It is like his father is frozen in the most unhappy moments of his past. Yoongi wonders if that will be his fate. Will he spend the rest of his life here, trying but unable to save you? If he can find you—if he can save you—he thinks he can survive anything. The tether holding him to sanity is weak, and it is only as strong as your heartbeat. He doesn’t know exactly when he fell in love. He thought it would be a lightning bolt, the sudden recognition of a changed world, like the first time he shot a gun, the first time he drove too fast down these streets that he thought he owned. When he thought of love—which, let’s face it, was not often—he thought it would fill him with power, but there is just terror. Knowing that he couldn’t protect you, knowing that he will lose his will to live if you die. He feels more vulnerable than he ever has, but he will not give up until you’re safe or he’s dead. If nothing else, his choices are easier now. 

Yoongi ignores the men with the poorly concealed handguns. He’s walking in the club like he belongs here, a trick he learned at a young age. They don’t figure it out until it’s too late, and he’s walked past the metal detector, siren blaring like a lone lighthouse on a fog covered coast. No one stops him. Mostly, the men and women in this club stare at him. Only when he approaches Lee’s table does Lee’s men stand as if to stop him. 

Lee sits at the head of the table. He licks sauce from his fingers and Yoongi has never wanted to kill a man more. 

“A personal visit?” Lee says, barely looking up from his plate, spilling with food. “If I had known, I would’ve talked to your girl earlier.”

Yoongi reminds himself that he can’t kill the other man until he finds out where he’s keeping you. 

“She’s my wife.”

“This is why I’ve never gotten married,” Lee scoffs. “Women are too much trouble.”

“We need to talk,” Yoongi says. He pulls his handgun from the shoulder holster and places it on the table. 

Lee pushes the plate in front of him away. He stands with a lurch. “Then let’s get this over with.”

Lee’s family has always been overconfident, Yoongi knows. It will be their downfall. He can’t believe this man thinks he’s invincible. Perhaps that’s the lesson his father taught him, everyone can be taken down. No one will touch him after he kills Lee. He knows this. This is how the game is played. 

Without a word, Lee gestures for Yoongi to follow him. He will play his part until the time comes. He follows Lee through the warren of corridors.

“You’re really giving yourself up for a woman?”

Yoongi doesn’t acknowledge this question with an answer. 

Lee leads him to one of the back rooms where the girls are getting ready before going out to the floor.  Surrounded by mirrors and young women putting on makeup, finishing their hair, and making sure that every detail is perfect, he feels out of a place.  Of course, this idiot is making Yoongi wait while his wife is being held captive.

Lee walks up to one of the young women. “You, you’re done.”

Startled, she glances up. “I’ve done everything you asked.”

“Doesn’t matter, one of the men complained.”

“That man was an ass.”

Lee forces the woman up by her hair and she cries out in surprise and pain.  He shoves her to the ground. “Get out.”

The other women pause in their ministrations, but don’t say a word. He supposes they’ve seen it before.  Lee treats everyone like they’re beneath him. As a result, he has no one to help him when he’s at the bottom. Yoongi is tired of this charade, and he doesn’t have any more time to waste. 

Lee even makes the mistake of turning around to berate the woman further, he considers Yoongi so little of a threat. Yoongi’s smirk is satisfying as he pulls on his gloves and removes the garrote from his pocket.  Fishing line is useful for a lot of things, but he supposes the best thing is that it doesn’t trip metal detectors, and it’s usually missed in a pat down.  

“What the—” Lee says, but that’s all he can get out before Yoongi is choking him.  Lee sputters, trying to grab at Yoongi but with enough time and enough leverage, Yoongi can bring any man down. No matter the size. After a glance between each other, some decision made, none of the women move to help Lee. He gestures to them futilely but each returns to look in the mirror, finishing her makeup with care and precision. Yoongi can feel the larger man going limp beneath him.  He won’t last long.

“You don’t have much time.” One of the women stands.  “They’ll come looking for him.”

“You’ll stall his men?” Yoongi grits out, all of his strength focused on the man on the ground beneath him. 

“As long as we can,” she replies. 

“Thank you,” Yoongi says simply. She nods to Yoongi before leaving. The rest follow her, shutting the door quietly behind them.

Yoongi loosens the garrote but barely lets Lee catch his breath. He pounds the man’s head against the floor. 

“Where is she?”

“All of this over a woman?” Lee held up his hands as if it would protect him. “She’s at the port.”

Yoongi bangs the man’s head on the floor again. “The port is a big place. Where. Is. She?”

“Just leave my family alone, and I’ll make sure she isn’t hurt.”

“Where the fuck is she?”

Lee rattles off some numbers. “It’s over now. Get me off the fucking floor.”

“You think I would allow anyone in your family to live after what they’ve done to my father? My wife? Who the fuck do you think I am?”

“It’s just business.”

“It was fucking personal when your father betrayed mine.”

“That was a long time ago. My father’s an old man, you wouldn’t—”

“Your father is already dead, and I have things to do.”

Pulling the chopsticks he pilfered from the floor from his coat pocket, he enjoys the look of fear on Lee’s face.  “If you hadn’t touched her, I might have let you live.”

Yoongi wipes the blood from his face with his sleeve. He needs to find you before Lee’s men get scared and do something stupid.

He leaves the club through the back entrance. No one comes looking for Lee. 

“It’s done,” Hoseok says when Yoongi calls. Yoongi takes the roads in this neighborhood like they belong to him again, and he supposes they will soon. Without Lee, he can claim this territory again. 

“Meet me at the port,” Yoongi commands.

“Lee?”

“Don’t ask dumb questions.”

&&&

The blindfold is ripped from your eyes. The two men that brought you here have been bickering since they loaded you into the back of the van. If you’ve been put under the charge of these two idiots, you don’t have long. Your eyes squint even against the meager light of the enclosed space where they’ve put you. Where the fuck are you? The location comes to you with dawning horror. They’ve shoved you in the corner of what has to be a shipping container. 

“Alright,” one of them says. “We’ll call back in an hour.”

The call ends. 

The other man holds a gun on you like you’re about to shift into some kind of superhero mode. If only. Your ribs still hurt from where one of these idiots kicked you. Every breath is painful. They retied your wrists and ankles when they put you on the ground. With a struggle, you raise yourself to a sitting position. You rest your head on your knees. Dinner with Yoongi feels like a lifetime ago. The dress you chose with such care is dirty and torn. You long ago lost your shoes. Why the fuck did they take your shoes? You can feel the blood on your temple where Lee hit you. Your face must be a mess. 

“He’ll kill you for taking me.” You know it’s true.

“He has to find you first.”

“He will,” you say. He may not find you until it’s too late, but he’ll avenge you. You’ve never been more sure of anything in your life. 

One of the men pulls you up by the hair. You cry out from the pain. 

“You sound confident for a woman tied up.”

You spit in his face. 

With a cry, he slaps you and drops you to the ground as suddenly as he picked you up. You can taste the blood on your lip. It doesn’t matter now. I know he’ll come for me, you remind yourself. 

The mantra gets you through the next hour. Even through the pain and the haze of the experience, you’ve realized that if someone doesn’t pick up on the other end, they’ll kill you. The man with the phone calls repeatedly but no one picks up.

“What the fuck are we supposed to do?”

“I don’t know,” says the one who hit you. 

“Why isn’t he picking up?”

“I don’t fucking know, but we know what we need to do.”

“We’re just supposed to shoot her?”

“I’m pretty sure that’s the fucking idea.”

“What if we left her here?”

No, the thought of dying here alone in the dark is too horrific to contemplate. They can’t do that to you. 

The other man shrugs. “Fine, by me. We need to worry about ourselves if everything’s gone to shit.”

You sob at at the thought of dying here alone in agony. Yoongi’s looking for you, but what if doesn’t find you in time? What if this is how it ends? You smile even as the thought is enough to stop your breath. He will make sure they suffer.

A loud clang sounds out, like someone pounding on the door of the container. What the fuck do you have to deal with now?

Someone calls through the door. Someone you don’t recognize, but the two men with you do. 

“Thank fuck,” one of them says. He walks to the door. 

You close your eyes like a child trying to disappear. Before you can try to remember your prayers from your childhood, you hear a shot. One of Lee’s men goes down, and you wish to believe that this means you’re saved, but life doesn’t work that way. Does it? Do you get rescued in this story or do you die alone in the dark?

Yoongi crosses the space to you. But it must be a hallucination, a figment that you’ve conjured so that you don’t have to die here alone in this small room. 

“It’s me, you’re safe.”

At the sound of his voice, something breaks. All the tension, all the fear you’ve been trying to keep at bay, comes to the forefront. Sobs wrack your body, and you can’t think, can’t speak, can’t do anything but let the tears run down your face.

With slow moments, he lowers himself to your level. With a small blade, he removes the zip ties binding your ankles and wrists. You want to speak, say something, anything, but it’s impossible. He wipes the tears from your cheeks with a gentle hand. When he sees the cut on your lip, the blood at your temple, he winces. 

“Did one of them hurt you?”

Somehow you nod yes. He shouts a command to Hoseok, and without seeing, you know that the man is going to die in agony. There must be something broken within you, because you’re glad. Hoseok putting a bullet in the man’s knee, barely touches your consciousness. 

The trembling won’t stop. Yoongi brings you to your feet, but you’re worried that you’ll stumble and fall, that you’ll be stuck here. You know Yoongi would never leave you, but you’re just so frightened. It is like the last ten hours all happened in the last ten seconds. He puts an arm around you and helps you to walk. You step out the door. Yoongi’s car is waiting for you both with Jungkook at the wheel. He opens the door, and Yoongi sits in the back with you. Huddled in his arms, you don’t remember the ride home. 

&&&

a/n THANK YOU FOR READING! Without you I'm a lonely tree falling in a forest.

[writemywaytoyourheart]

pls help.

hey guys,

sorry I haven't been updating, there's been a lot going on. I've honestly never ever ever wanted to do this but I seriously need help rn.

I literally do not care about food or gas or literally anything but my dog right now. She's got some problems with her teeth and I can't afford to get them fixed. It could be causing breathing issues and it is definitely just hurting her rn. I've been declined for financial help for who knows what reason and idk what to do. I have nothing.

I've decided to start a gofundme and see if I can get even a little bit of help from that. I've been hesitating putting it here but again I'm desperate. If you guys know of any other way I can also get help pls pls pls let me know.

I hate asking anything of you guys I feel sick about it and I'm trying so hard not to cry rn. Literally anything helps. I'm so so so sorry I'm even having to post this. I know everyone is struggling rn which makes me feel a million times worse even thinking about asking.

Maybe I can do some personalized drabbles or something for you guys, anything you want. I'll write whatever idc, whatever you want. I just cannot watch my best friend be in silent pain anymore.

If you can help at all by donating or sharing or anything I will literally be in your debt for like ever.

Daisy's gofundme

ILY <3

-chip

idk what to tag to get this seen im sorry

[jung-koook]

230418 - bts on twitter: jhope I love you 💜

[jung-koook]

jungkook saying that his love for armys comes from his abs 😂

[jung-koook]

[jung-koook]

I miss him so much 🥺😭

[writemywaytoyourheart]

Bedeviled | Chapter 8: Summoning

Pairing: demon!jungkook x female reader

Genre: E2L, romance, drama, angst, horror

WC: 9.5k ohhhh

Warnings for this chapter: strong language, anxiety, cruelty, frightening depictions of Hell and things in it, terror, blood, fear, name-calling, more tension muahahahaha, i think that's all if there's anything i missed pls kindly let me know

This chapter could be frightening/disturbing to some readers, pls read at your own discretion

Previous

A few hours later, JK walks over to the small fire that's still burning brightly. 

His eyes fall to the sleeping figure curled up on the ground by it.

Your cardigan is wrapped tightly around you; your hands clutching it closed in the front even as you sleep. 

The demon's gaze drifts over you; your bare feet are covered in ash and mud, blood still staining the cloth that doesn't have a single speck of white left on it. If they weren't so dirty, he's willing to bet bruises would be visible. 

Your legs are tucked up into your skirt and out of his view, so his eyes drag along your torn dress all the way up to your bloody and ripped cardigan. The sleeves are practically in shreds, but the rest of it seems fine. Blood can be seen on the skin of your arms through the tears in the sleeves. 

Your hair looks like it hasn't been brushed in weeks, falling over a part of your cheek as you breathe steadily; some of the strands blow gently from your breath. 

His gaze stops moving when he notices the streaks on your cheeks. There's grime all over your skin, but it looks like you cleaned little random lines of it off. 

That's when he realizes you must have been crying.

Eyes lingering a little longer on your face, he sees your eyelids twitch and a small frown appear. 

Your breath starts to quicken and your face scrunches a little as it becomes apparent that you're having a nightmare. 

"-'m sorry," he hears you mumble as a single tear slips over the bridge of your nose and drops to the ground. 

He can't tear his eyes away from the fascinating image of you without your walls up. 

You’re completely vulnerable.

It occurs to him in that second that he's been so incredibly foolish. Everyone has a weakness, he's just been looking for yours in the wrong place. You won't be swayed by riches, by anger, by lust. Nothing that benefits you.

No, your weakness is love. 

This boy you're in love with, this bestfriend. 

He's your weakness. 

A few ideas flit through his mind, but none of them stay very long. 

He doesn't have to think of anything anymore. 

You're here for this boy, not for you. You'll get to the Flame and the only choice you'll have is to trade it for your soul. 

All he has to worry about now is getting you there. 

He was so worried before that you would try and pull a fast one on him, but there was no need to worry so much. You'll do anything for this boy, there's no way you'll go back on your deal. 

He thought this revelation would bring relief, but instead, a strange, uncomfortable, and unfamiliar feeling settles in his chest as he watches you shift in your sleep. 

The demon shakes his head to clear it and turns to walk away. 

He's been around a mortal for longer than usual and it's making him lose his nerve. 

-

You jerk awake suddenly, the nightmare finally bringing you out of your deep slumber.

Almost immediately, you see him sitting on the log you had previously been sitting on; his eyes locked on his hands as he fiddles with something small that you can't see. 

"How long has it been?" You croak, seeing him jump and look at you. 

"A few hours," he mumbles as he tucks whatever he was looking at into his back pocket. 

"Are you all done?" You ask. 

"Am I done with what?" 

"Making deals," You say quietly. 

He just looks at you for a minute before saying, "For now."

You nod, then rub the sleep from your eyes. 

JK stands up suddenly, startling you, "Come on, we don't have time to sit around."

You stand up reluctantly, "Ok."

He starts walking and you follow behind, only turning back when the sound of the crackling fire ceases. 

It's gone, just like every time before. 

You turn back and keep your eyes on him as you walk around the rocks until you can see the Devil's Backbone again. 

Just looking at it gives you a creeping feeling that crawls up your spine. 

"Through it?" You ask uncertainly.

He nods, "Through it."

It only takes about fifteen minutes to get right up on the creepy stones. 

You look around, noticing it looks almost like a maze of rocks in front of you. There doesn't appear to be any way through them though. 

"How do we get through?" You ask, turning to look at him. 

Except he's not there. 

"J-"

"Are you coming or not?" He snaps from over to your left. 

You stumble over the rock-covered ground to him. When you reach him, you still see no way through. 

Casting a doubtful glance over to him, he smirks, "What?"

When you say nothing, he points and you look, just barely seeing a small opening. You would never have seen it if you didn't know where to look. It's camouflaged, only visible with a trained eye and the right position. 

"You should trust me more, little human. Have I let you down yet?"

You make eye contact with him, keeping it a little longer than normal. 

His eyes fall to your wrist, then go back to looking into yours. 

A nasty smile twitches at his mouth, "You asked for that."

You look back over to the opening, deciding not to waste your breath; you'll need all you can get.

Wordlessly, he walks over and slips in, sliding between the two rocks seemingly without effort. You follow him, slipping in as you gather your courage.

The fit is a bit tight, which makes you wince when your wings get pinched uncomfortably while they're still folded in your cardigan. 

The second you're all the way in, a chilling breeze sweeps into the small crevice, sending goosebumps down your arms and legs as the sound of a ghostly sigh reaches your ears. 

You flinch and look around, seeing nothing but red tinted rocks that reach high into the sky. The space is small and you can see little paths leading in different directions from where you are. 

The jagged stones are thick at the bottom, probably five times the width of the largest tree trunks you've ever seen. As they go higher, they also begin to thin out. You can barely see the tip of the rock you're standing next to as you crane your neck to look up at it. 

You're willing to bet the top of the stones are still thicker than you could reach around. 

"Stop gawking and walk."

His voice echoes in here even though he's not even ten feet in front of you. 

You hold the ends of your sweater in your hands as you walk to him and join him in the middle of a small open area that sits in front of the paths, "How do we know which way to go?"

He groans loudly, "Are you seriously back to asking those idiotic questions? I thought you were done with that."

"I'm not asking idiotic questions," You say defensively, "I just want to be prepared in case you ditch me again and I have to find my way. What if I get lost?"

The demon leans close to you as if to tell a secret, which is useless since his words still bounce around the room. Anyone within a mile radius could hear him. 

"Then you're not worthy enough to take the Flame. Did I not tell you that you need to earn your way there, mortal?"

You pull your bottom lip into your mouth and chew on it anxiously. 

"I most certainly did," He says with a little more force, "Didn't I?"

When you don't answer right away, he snatches the collar of your white dress and pulls you closer, making you flinch. 

"Use your damn words and answer me."

"Yes," you choke out, refusing to look at him. 

"Yes, what?"

"Yes, you told me that," you close your eyes when he pulls you closer still.

"If you get lost here, if you lose all hope here, there is no one to blame but yourself. Do you understand that?"

You nod. 

He lets go of your collar and you stumble back a little, still not looking at him. 

"Just for that, I don't think I ought to join you after all."

You're about to protest, to beg him not to leave you again, but then you see the look on his face as he waits for your reaction and you snap your mouth shut. 

That's exactly what he wants you to do. 

He wants you to beg. 

You finally meet his eyes, "I guess I'll see you on the other side then."

That was clearly the last thing he was expecting you to say, you can tell by the way his face falls. 

His eyes narrow and jaw tightens, then he steps closer to you just to hiss, "Good luck, little girl,” Before he's turning and walking away, going into one of the paths. 

Then he's gone. 

Your lip trembles slightly as you stare at the path he went through. 

As much as you hate to be alone and wish he was still here, you know that you made the right decision not to fall into his little game. The fact that he was angry about your words means you didn't make the wrong choice. 

Glancing at the other paths, you debate on whether you ought to follow the one he went through. He might have been trying to throw you off. You're sure that no matter which one he chose, he'd end up wherever he wants anyway. 

All you can see in each direction is a dark crevice leading deeper into the Devil's Backbone. There are four different choices in front of you. He went through the second to last one. 

You step closer to get a better look. 

The first crevice doesn't shed any light, but a foul smell wafts from it. You step back and gag, then gather yourself before walking over to the second. 

Again, there is no light. There isn't a foul smell either. 

There is however, a strange sound, like that of random tapping echoing. 

You nibble on your bottom lip, extremely unsure. 

Moving to the next, the one he went into, you see the smallest amount of blood-red light showing the way when you get close enough. 

Nothing else, no smell, no sounds. 

The last crevice has nothing. No light, no sounds, no smells, nothing but pitch blackness. 

For some reason, that one gives you the most anxiety, so you step away quickly. 

What do these things mean? 

What would smells, sounds, lights, or lack of all of them, indicate?

There is one thing you are absolutely sure of: none of them will be easy. Perhaps some are more difficult than others, but you must not underestimate any of them. 

As you stand there and stare at each of them, the sound of a tiny giggle echoes from the second crevice. 

You jump and back away, staring at it as if you'll see something or someone crawl out of the shadows. 

The creepiest images begin to plague your mind as you stare into the blackness. The giggle doesn’t happen again, but then you realize the tapping has also stopped. 

Whatever you do, you will not be going into that one, that's for sure. 

You can probably handle the smell, you did it in the third circle. How much worse could this one be?

You walk back over to the first path and peer inside. 

The stench is awful, but it really doesn't seem impossible. 

The one he went into seems too easy, so does the last one. Those appear to be a trick at the entrance, there's probably something much worse waiting inside. 

You are not going into that second one. You get goosebumps just looking at it. 

Ten grueling minutes pass as you mull over the paths. 

You can't stay here, you need to make a choice. 

Walking over to the first crevice, you hold your breath and start walking in. 

____!

You jump back, not having gone in yet. 

Whipping your head around, you don't see anything or anyone. 

Not that way. 

A chill runs down your spine as you realize that you nearly made a mistake. The chill only increases as you begin to understand that you need to go into the one you're most scared of. 

You close your eyes, breathing deeply. 

The sound of a tiny giggle reaches you and you jump back again, eyes flying open as you stare at the dark crack it's coming from. 

No more of this, ____, you chide yourself, you are an angel, this does not frighten you. 

You clench your fist, staring into the pitch black as you gather your head.

"Ok," you say out loud, "I'm coming in and don't you dare think you can scare me."

Before you have the chance of changing your mind, you march into the second crevice, the opening large enough to where you don't need to crouch or squeeze, you can just walk normally. 

JK sits crouched on a ledge about fifteen feet up, his eyes narrowing in confusion when you walk into the giant crack, soon disappearing from his view. 

What made you change your mind so suddenly? 

And why the hell would you turn around and pick the worst one?

-

The darkness is so deep, so thick that it feels almost tangible. 

You keep your arms out to the side, the tips of your fingers brushing against the cool stone walls. 

Looking up doesn't change anything, not here. Before, you could see the red sky above the Backbone, now it seems like light has just ceased to exist altogether. 

It's almost worse that there's no sound right now. You feel on edge, as if there's about to be a sound when you're least expecting it.

But still, there's nothing. 

Ever since you stepped foot into this pathway, it's felt like there's been someone walking behind you. You try not to think about it as you keep moving forward. It helps a little to think of perfectly natural causes if there comes a small sound.

You can't help but flinch a little though, when you hear a distinct footstep behind you. 

You definitely didn't mistake that.

Freezing right where you are, you hold your breath, as if the sound of it will cause all hell to break loose. 

When there isn't another sound for at least two minutes, you gulp and start moving again. 

But the sound of hurrying feet behind you makes you stop once more. 

"JK?" You call out, the sound of your own voice startling you a bit after silence for so long. You cringe, feeling like you physically broke the delicate quiet and something bad will happen now. 

The dead silence that stretches on for a good while seems even more terrifying than it's been. 

For some reason, you can tell it isn't him behind you, as much as you wanted to make yourself believe it was. You've come to know the feeling of his silence. 

And this isn't it. 

You clear your throat and blink a few times, even though it doesn't really matter when you can't see anything anyway. 

Do not act afraid. 

You nod a little. 

These things prey on fear, it gives them energy. Demons have always sought to wreak havoc and terror. 

You can't let it show. 

I am an angel. 

I am an angel. 

You do not scare me. 

I am an angel. 

I do not fear you.

You repeat these things in your head as you start to walk again, trying to hold yourself in a way that looks like you have more confidence than you do. 

The footsteps eventually start up again, but you do not stop. 

You will not stop, not until you need to. 

This continues for a few minutes, the presence not far behind as it makes no effort not to be heard. But you don't react. You keep your head up and arms stretched out to touch the walls. 

You're starting to gain the confidence you feared you lacked, keeping your mind on the goal. 

Just get out. 

That's when another giggle reaches your ears. 

It sounds like the voice of a little girl that's just played a prank and finds nothing more amusing. 

You flinch violently, using everything in you not to start running like your life depends on it. 

Closing your eyes, you decide you'd rather not see whatever might decide to show itself. 

You start walking a little quicker, but keep in mind not to run. 

The prayers repeating in your head are like a loud mantra that you're screaming internally, trying to block out the sound of the pitter patter of little feet running behind you. 

You have a horrid urge to turn and look to see how far behind it is, but you dare not. You probably wouldn't be able to see anything anyway. You're more scared though, that you will see something. You keep hurrying, fingers beginning to get sore from dragging along the rocks.

"Wanna play a game?"

A scream bursts from your lips and you flinch back at the little girl's voice suddenly appearing right in front of you. 

Slapping your hands over your face, you push yourself up against the wall. The feeling of the hard rock pressed against you brings the tiniest bit of comfort that at least something isn't behind you.

You don't want to see it. 

You don't ever ever ever want to see whatever it is. 

Or whatever it is pretending to be. 

Silence. 

Painful silence. 

A whimper gets caught in your throat. 

It feels like there's something standing right beside you, even though you can hear nothing. 

Don't bother thinking anything, just keep going. 

You have to force your legs to move. 

A million thanks pour from your heart when you feel nothing blocking your path as you continue forward, hands trembling as they leave your face and return to the wall on either side. 

-

JK walks back and forth in the small dimly lit area on the other side of the Backbone. 

Every once in a while, he glances up at the crevice that reeks of terror even as it just sits there. 

He's so confused. 

How could you even physically make yourself walk into that pathway?

No living soul has ever walked into that crevice and come out sane enough to tell the tale. 

The fear itself consumes them until they go mad and try to off themselves. 

He's a demon. 

He's the one that strikes fear in the hearts of humans, of all living things. 

And he will never step foot into that pathway. 

How could a small human girl call out to the darkness not to scare her and walk in without fear?

It's not possible. 

Nothing could make him face the entity that lurks there. 

He glances at the opening again. 

He might as well call it a bust and leave. 

She is not coming out of there. 

-

As you walk, you start to think of any memory you can to distract you. 

The tiny running feet picked up again, but you act like you can't hear it. 

Remember when we played hide and seek for the first time? You ask yourself. 

Yes. You do. 

You close your eyes, and the scene comes to your mind in crystal clear recollection. 

Yoongi was the first one to seek, telling you and your best friend to run and hide quickly, before he counted down from twenty. He said you weren't allowed to go anywhere outside of the gate. 

Taking off right away, you followed him to the old barn. 

"Come on Apple, let's hide here."

He held your hand as you climbed into the big barrel with him. Pulling your legs up to your chests, you tried not to giggle. 

Yoongi found both of you within a few minutes, laughing at you and telling you that you weren't supposed to hide together, you were supposed to separate so at least one of you could be the winner. 

Neither of you would hear of it, though. 

You would just need to find a better hiding spot. 

As the years came and went and more kids joined in, your hiding spots got better and better. 

Eventually, no one wanted to play with the two of you anymore because you were always the winning pair. 

They said it was stupid that you hid together and got caught together, stupid that the two of you insisted on seeking together. That it was cheating. 

You told them they were just too bad at the game to win with two seekers. Your best friend always nodded along, teasingly sticking his tongue out at them when they talked back to you, even when the two of you were young teens. 

A smile spreads on your face, your sore fingers starting to become numb as they keep rubbing and rubbing along the rough wall. 

You can see him waggling his fingers at them and mocking their taunts right back. 

A laugh bubbles up and bursts from your lips. 

Then a creepy giggle follows right after, close to your ear, which turns your stomach to rot. 

Ok. 

How about when you had the eating contest?

You gulp and conjure up the memory, refusing to open your eyes. 

It was his idea. 

The stupid ones always were. 

Well...most of them. 

"I bet I could eat more rice cakes than you." He had said one day.

You opened one eye to peek at him doubtfully. 

"Which ones? Honey?"

He nodded, "Yeah, I could eat a lot more than you."

That got your full attention and you sat up on the rickety cot he had placed in the corner of the abandoned shed a few months prior. 

Both of you had been putting whatever you could find that no one wanted anymore in there, slowly but surely making it your own special place. 

He smirked at you from his place on the ground. 

"You could not."

"Mother said I could," he sneered, "I'm a growing boy after all. She said because I'm eleven now I'll be more hungry than usual. And girls don't eat as much at this age, cause they don't need to."

He laughed at the red tinge that came into your cheeks and the tips of your ears. 

That always meant you were annoyed. 

"We'll see about that," You clambered off the cot, flinging straw everywhere as he jumped up too. 

With the help of some friends, you gathered as many honey rice cakes as you could manage without the grownups finding out. It was more than you thought you could get. 

Then the two of you sat in front of the plates piled high, your friends cheering you on as you ate and ate and ate those stupid sweets. 

You won, but at the cost of swearing that never again would you eat another honey rice cake as long as you lived. 

He made the same vow. 

He also apologized for his taunts and said he already knew you'd win. He just wanted to see you get competitive. 

Your mothers never could figure out why the two of you were sick for the rest of the day and you swore you'd never tell. 

You never did. 

The grownups never solved the mystery of where all the rice cakes went that day either. 

A shaky smile spreads on your face again, the memory warming your heart even as it clenches with fear. 

One step after another, you do not stop or slow down. 

It helps a lot to think about the past, so you wrack your brain trying to find something more to hold onto. 

The sound of footsteps running over to you from ahead this time, startles you enough to make you stumble and stop for a moment. 

Even though there is no audible or visual proof that there is something standing in front of you; you know there is. 

You swallow the lump in your throat but keep your eyes closed. 

"Open your eyes," Something hisses in the dark. 

You flinch when it outright speaks but make no move to listen to its order. 

Just act like you can't hear it. 

Don't engage. 

Gulping, you take an unsure step forward. 

Please, don't let me run into some little demon girl. 

Another step and there's still nothing in your path. 

I am an angel, I do not fear you. 

You take another step, then another, and another. 

It seems like whatever it was, has left. 

Picking up the pace, you start to wonder when you're gonna reach the end. It feels like you've been walking for a lot longer than it ought to take. 

Just as you're starting to think you might be reaching the end, you run right into a protruding rock. 

The feeling of a sudden object makes you shout as you stumble back. Then you put a hand to your chin and gasp a little.

You can't see, but the wet feeling on your fingers and the radiating pain are telling enough, you definitely hurt yourself.

What the heck?

You reach a trembling hand out until you feel what you ran into. Upon further inspection, running your hands up and down and to the sides, you realize with mounting horror that you've reached a fork in the road.

The rock you slammed your chin into is a long divider, the separator of the two paths. 

See, this. 

This is exactly what you were dreading. 

That thought brings a new wave of fear when you think of something else. 

This tunnel...is it always the same?

Your eyes widen and you reach out helplessly to feel your way down the left path. You don't have the time or the sanity to sit here and debate. 

You just realized something that you really wish you hadn't thought of. 

You were under the impression that this path was the scariest, but that it was always the same. Now you've figured it out. 

It brings your worst nightmares to life. If you imagine something you fear, it will happen.

Do not think. 

Do not think of anything but good. 

Tears build in your wide eyes as you feel the wall and hurry as fast as you dare in the dark. You don't want to be around when your nightmare inevitably takes form.

-

JK sits on a rock in the corner of the small room, staring at the opening. 

He's not sure why he hasn't left yet. 

You're not going to walk out of that path, he already knows that. You'll go insane and-

He picks up a small stone and tosses it against the wall, not even flinching when it echoes loudly. 

Of course you had to go and ruin his plan. You're so stupid. 

Of fucking course you chose the worst path. Now he gets nothing. He knew you'd fuck him over; he did all of this for absolutely nothing. 

Grinding his teeth, he picks up another little rock and chucks it at the wall angrily. 

-

I need to think of more memories. 

You keep walking quickly, trying desperately to grasp any memory you can, but they flit through your frazzled mind quicker than you can snatch them. 

Honestly, it's so much worse now that you figured it out. 

Now your mind is betraying you and shuffling through everything that's always scared you even as you scream at it not to. 

It's like that time when Yoongi told you not to think of a bowl, and that's immediately what you pictured in your head. He would always laugh at that and he would get you every single time. It always annoyed you, you tried so hard to think of anything else but always pictured what he said not to.

The mind is a tricky thing to control at times. 

Especially when clouded with fear. 

Your stomach plummets to your feet when you hear maniacal laughter coming from somewhere far behind you. 

Nope. 

Nope, you gotta think of something good. 

You smack your head, trying to pound a memory into it. 

Oh!

Yes! That’s it!

You keep walking as you try to picture when you and your best friend had finally been allowed to sleep in the shed overnight. 

Your mothers never wanted you to sleep anywhere away from home the whole night, always insisting you two get back before everyone went to sleep. 

It was incredibly annoying, especially when you became teenagers just wanting some independence. 

But finally, it happened. 

It was on his seventeenth birthday. You had turned sixteen shortly before and both of you had begged your mothers, insisting you were more than old enough to spend the night away. 

It was honestly ridiculous, your mother had been scolding you for not getting married yet, and here she was not even letting you spend a single night away. 

"You act like you're so mature, that you can handle being in the woods at night, and yet you're not mature enough to be married? All of your friends are married. Aren't you embarrassed??"

"Why should I be?" You stomped your foot, "I don't want to get married yet!"

"Why not?" Your mother had gasped, "You want the whole village to see you as the old maid that couldn't get a man? Or perhaps the village whore that runs off into the woods with her boy best friend?"

Your mouth twisted in anger, and you said some things that made your mother pause. You felt bad for hitting where it hurt, but it was true after all. 

Then her face hardened. 

"All the more reason to get married and have children quickly. Maybe spending the night away from home will knock that into your stubborn head."

You had stormed out after that.  

A frown graces your features as you hurry through the path. 

Maybe this wasn't the happiest memory to choose from. But it's a good distraction so you stick with it. 

You met him by the old swing where he told you he was allowed to go. Honestly it was silly of him to ask at that point, he wasn't considered a failure and could do whatever he wanted. 

He was a boy after all. 

You had a feeling he only asked because he cared a lot about what his mother thought of him and always wanted to do what she wished.  

It wasn't the same for you. You always tried so hard to do your mother’s will. 

But no matter what, you never felt good enough. 

She was never going to be proud of you.

So, you stopped trying. 

You shake your head and make yourself jump to the part that will bring you comfort. 

He ran on ahead, encouraging you to go faster until he had you laughing. 

The shed was looking the best it ever had, with a small table by the bigger cot you shoved in, and the torn curtains hanging from the little window above the cot. 

There was also a chest where you kept extra clothes. 

"Finally! This is going to be great," he jumped up and down and clasped his hands, "Are you not excited, Apple?"

You nodded enthusiastically, your sour mood completely gone, “I am!” 

He walked over to the chest and opened it, pulling out two pears he had hidden there previously and presented them to you with a fancy flourish. 

You laughed and took one, bowing in a silly manner to match his. 

He grinned at you, "No one can reach us here, Apple. We've got all day and all night to talk about whatever we want, to do whatever we want."

It was such a relief. 

To be away from prying eyes, to not be the center of gossip for once in your life. 

The two of you munched on the sweet fruit and gossiped about everyone else in the village. You talked about how you suspected your friend Jisoo was with child and he shared how he had caught Minho with one of the Kim sisters in the barn. 

That was the thing. 

Everyone else in the village was actually doing questionable things, yet the two of you were always the ones being accused of it. Simply because you were a girl and best friends with a boy and how you were still unmarried at the crippling old age of sixteen. 

They didn't care to know the truth, they liked to come up with their own stories of how the two of you snuck away to do sinful things in the woods. 

You both tried not to let it bother you, but when it came from your parents and friends, it was more painful. 

The only two people in the whole village that cared to see things how they really were, were Tae and Yoongi. 

That night was wonderful though. 

He even taught you a lullaby when you began to get spooked as the sun went down. 

You had always convinced yourself there was the ghost of a teenage girl in the woods like everyone said there was, the most horrific images coming to mind whenever it was dark. He never failed to fight those fears off. 

Your eyes fly open suddenly when you hear the sound of weeping. 

Oh no. 

No, no you did not just think of her. 

A chill shoots down your spine as the weeping grows louder. 

How foolish could you be??

"It doesn't exist," You whisper to yourself, "It was a silly rumor that someone made up and spread around for fun."

She was never there and isn't here now. 

It's all in your head. 

You start walking faster when the weeping gets closer.

That's when you remember the lullaby. 

Ok. 

You start whispering it to yourself, mumbling the sweet tone as you keep going forward. 

Forward, don't stop, keep going forward. 

Please don't stop. 

It's not real, silly. 

But you cannot stop.  

-

JK is about to walk out, then he hears the softest sound. 

A sound that has never breached the walls of Hell. 

Is someone singing?

He stops in his tracks, listening carefully. 

It is someone singing. 

What the fuck?

He looks over at the opening. 

It's barely audible, the person must be whispering, the sound traveling through the slender path as it bounces off the walls. 

It's not the creature in there, this voice is something that thing could never imitate. 

Just as he takes a step closer, a loud wail sounds, the color draining from his face as he freezes and stares into the empty blackness.

-

When a sudden wail bounces off the rocks, you collapse on the ground and cover your ears with your hands, shaking like a leaf.

It's not here. 

It's all in your head. 

Singing the lullaby was actually helping. 

That must be why it changed tactics, to get your attention. 

You sit there curled up for a minute, the weeping calming to a soft cry once again.

You need to move. 

Now!

The sound of bare feet suddenly sprinting down the tunnel towards you makes your heart fly to your throat as you jump up and take off running like your life depends on it. 

An anguished cry echoes down the path behind you, making the hair on the back of your neck stand up. 

You don't even care about being careful anymore, you're running with arms pumping at your sides as you pray that you don't run into anything. 

And that nothing catches up to you. 

"Wait!" The voice sounds guttural and insane.

You trip and fall, arms and legs sprawled out against the ground for a second before you try and pick yourself back up. 

"Don't, please-"

The sound of a crying girl begging for you to stay sends a chill into your bones that you've never felt before. 

She's right behind you. 

"Help me-" she croaks out. 

Still shaking, you turn and look behind you.

A foolish idea. 

It's still incredibly dark, but now you can see the silhouette of a girl that doesn't look much younger than you. 

A raggedy dress hangs from her skeletal limbs and knotted hair falls past her shoulders. 

You can't see her face; just the contorted position she's standing in. 

You want to close your eyes. 

But you can't. 

It's like they're being physically held open so that you can watch yourself be tormented by whatever this is. 

"Won't you help me?" Her voice is low and scratchy, it sounds like she needs a drink. 

"You're not real," you whisper weakly, more to yourself than the figure in front of you, "You're not real..." 

"Help me." Her voice is stronger this time, as if you're starting to anger her. But still she only stands there, legs bent at an odd angle and stick thin arms hanging limp at her side. 

Her head cocks, and you notice that her hair is covering her face. 

For some reason, it's getting light enough for you to see more of her, but no more of your surroundings. 

Your heart is pounding out of your chest, body frozen in complete and utter terror as you stare at her. 

You've never been more terrified in your entire existence. 

It isn't real. 

A skinny hand reaches out and towards your figure still cowering on the floor. 

"H-h-h-help me," A choking sound bubbles out of her throat and she starts to twitch, a strange convulsion that looks like she can't control. 

Moving as slowly as you can, you start to stand. 

The figure just seems to watch you through her curtain of matted black hair, hand still outstretched. 

"Why do you need help?" You ask quietly. 

Another foolish idea.

Her head cocks to the other side so suddenly it startles you, but you keep your eyes locked on her. Through the strands of hair, you see an unnaturally large smile spread, full of teeth that look too big for her mouth. She stands half a head shorter than you. 

"I want you to be my friend, forever," She whispers in a horrifyingly teasing voice, “You always ignored me, even when you were a little girl. Both of you played without me,” Her voice breaks tearfully but the smile grows.

You need to get out of there. 

Now. 

You're too scared. 

You cannot move. Especially knowing what will be behind your back and will be watching as you go. 

She knows about you and your best friend. 

What else does she know? Was she always there, watching us in those woods?

It doesn’t matter.

There's nothing more you want to do than turn and run, but you're frozen. 

Give me strength, please. 

You are an angel of God, do not fear her. 

Suddenly you feel your limbs unfreeze and you turn to walk away slowly. 

You can feel her staring as you walk off. 

The end has to be close; you can make it. 

It seems like you might actually get away, but then a loud screech sounds and you're tackled to the ground. 

You flip on your back and start trying to fight her off, then you freeze in horror when you see her hair has moved and she's staring at you with huge eyes that bulge out of her head as she screams wordlessly in your face. 

Out of your control, your body seizes up and starts shaking so hard you can't even move as terrified screams rip from you. Her hands wrap around your throat and start to squeeze. 

The scene in front of you continues to send you into a state of pure panic over and over again. Her insane eyes as she screams and screams until blood dribbles from her mouth. She's straddling your chest, bony limbs pressing into you. 

I can't breathe. 

I can't breathe. 

It feels like you’re about to lose consciousness, no matter how hard you fight it.

Then you suddenly feel a small flame of anger light in your chest, and you grab her wrists, squeezing them as hard as you can even as she continues to choke you. 

You are not about to let this hag ruin everything. Not after all you've come through already. You are so close.

A pained gasp leaves you as you pull with all your strength and separate her hands from your neck long enough to scream as loud as you can, "In the name of Christ, get away from me!!"

It's like some invisible force rips her from you as the ground starts to tremble. She flies back and onto the floor, the most horrendous shrieks coming out of her as she covers her ears and flails like she's being tortured. 

You watch as her back arches from the ground and she convulses. Her lips are tearing from the enraged wails she's letting out. 

Then you're up and running. The ground quakes and you stumble. Stones begin to fall as if the giant rocks are splitting, but you don't stop. There are inhuman shrieks echoing all around you as you run full speed ahead. 

Finally, there's a sliver of red light. 

You charge for it and hurl yourself out right before a big rock falls on top of you. 

Curled up and shivering, you let out a horrified sob as you lay on the ground. 

You did it. 

You made it out. 

Eventually, it feels like the earthquake stops. You open your eyes and look around. 

Then you see him.

Sitting up in surprise, you stare at the figure to your left that's on his hands and knees, shaking uncontrollably. 

"JK?"

You stand up, wobbling a bit before you walk over to him. 

He looks up at you and you see sweat dripping down his face as it scrunches in pain. His eyes look dazed, then they focus on you and anger flashes in them. 

JK stumbles to his feet, towering over you as he grabs your shoulders and drags you closer to him and shakes you, "What the hell is wrong with you?!" He screams, "Why did you-"

He cuts himself off, then shoves you away, his hands quivering as he grabs at his head and stumbles back into the wall. 

"Fuck!" 

You step back, hands coming up in small fists as you tuck them under your chin and watch him anxiously. 

"W-what did I do-"

The demon's glare fixes on you again, seeing you looking quite small standing there in confusion as you look at him with huge innocent eyes. 

Innocence. 

That's what causes him so much rage. 

Your stupid innocence. 

He walks over to you until you need to crane your neck to look at him. 

"What did you do?" He pants, "Do you think there's anyone else as stupid as you that would utter that name here?"

Oh. 

That makes sense, you were just so distracted you didn't think about how it would affect more than that demon in the tunnel. 

Oh, well. 

Not like they don’t deserve it.

"Oh, is that all?" You shrug and walk around him, "Where's the exit?"

His jaw clenches as he stands there for a moment before turning to look at you. Long dark locks fall over his eyes as he stares at you in enraged disbelief. 

"Are you serious?"

"Am I serious about what?" You ask, this time he notices how scratchy your voice sounds. 

You stumble when his hand grips your arm tightly and he yanks you over to a different pathway, pulling you through it without a word until you two come out.

The red sky greets you, the smokey air even thicker than it was on the other side of the Devil’s Backbone. 

He shoves you, letting go of your arm as he does. You fumble for a second on the loose rocks but keep your footing. Then you turn and look at him, noticing how heavy he's breathing. 

"You are the most despicable creature I've ever come across," He seethes, chest rising and falling in angry breaths, "You're lucky that you have some use, or you'd be so fucked you wouldn't even believe it."

Straightening your back, you look at him steadily, "Oh yeah? You keep making threats like that," You walk over to him, "And yet I can bring you to your knees with a name."

You see him gulp as he stares daggers at you.

"You can hurt me, demon. But I can break you," You whisper. 

The demon's jaw clenches so hard it nearly shatters his teeth. 

The stare down lasts for a full minute.

"Who are you?" He finally says through grit teeth, voice quivering with rage. 

"I'm the one you promised to bring to the center of Hell," You still don't break eye contact, "And you will get nothing from me until I say so."

The fact that a mere human has the audacity to speak to him like this puts him in a state beyond anger, beyond hatred. 

He despises you with every ounce of his being. 

You don't flinch when he grabs your injured wrist and squeezes it harshly. 

"Hurt me all you want," You snap, "I'll take you down with me. If I'm in pain I might as well give you a hard time too, don't you think?"

He pulls you closer, his lips hovering above your own, so close you can feel his breath against your mouth. 

"Wanna call a truce?" You ask with a smug smile.

"Fuck you," He seethes, then lets go of your wrist and steps away. 

A truce then. 

You finally let out the breath you were holding, noticing that your hands are shaking slightly. 

Glad that worked. 

For a minute there, you were worried it might not. 

Lifting your head, you look over to the long stretch of mountains, burnt and smoking. Not far off, you can see flames rising and hear the sound of screams echoing. 

You close your eyes. 

Just hold on, ____. 

You can do this.

Opening them again, you look over to see him glaring at a rock on the ground. 

A scratchy laugh leaves your throat, and he looks up to see you holding a hand to your neck and wincing. 

Seemingly recovering quickly, you bring your hair around to the front and give him an amused look. 

"Don't be too mad at me," You call over, voice breaking, "It only means you can't hurt me anymore."

He scoffs, "I can do whatever the hell I want."

"Ok."

You start walking down the slippery slope, ignoring his glare following you. 

"I'm choosing not to hurt you right now," He calls after you, "It has nothing to do with-" 

You nod and give him a thumbs up, trying to focus on your footing and not fall on your bottom and go sliding down to wherever this leads. 

JK breathes out slowly and stalks after you. 

________________

A few hours go by of just slipping and sliding and trying not to tumble down the mountain and end up in a heap at the bottom. 

You're tired but feel a spark of hope inside that keeps your energy up. 

"Where is the bottom??" You eventually gasp out, grabbing onto a rather large rock and holding a hand to your chest. 

You hear him scoff somewhere to your right. 

"What? Now you're complaining about walking down a mountain? Can't even do that, little mor- ah, fuck!"

Your head whips to the side when you hear rocks falling and a surprised shout. 

A laugh bursts from you when you see him on his butt, a look of bewilderment on his face as he sits on the side of the mountain. 

When it hits him that he just slipped and fell, his face turns red and he looks over at you. Anger is quick to take over as you see him clench his hands. 

You're laughing so hard you can't even really hold yourself up. Your grip on the rock slips and you scream as you fall to your hands and knees, grabbing the rocks so that you don't slide. 

"Ha!" He shouts from where he's slowly getting to his feet. 

A smile tugs at your lips at the way he very gingerly walks over to you. 

"Look who's falling on their ass now," He huffs when he reaches you. 

"I'm not though, am I?" You laugh as you look up at him from your position on your hands and knees, "That was all you, buddy."

His face falls, then his mouth twists in irritation. 

"Call me that again and I'll throw your ass down this mountain."

"Gonna help me up?" You ask, reaching a hand out. 

"No," he snaps, then starts making his way down the slope again. 

You can't help but laugh some more even though it hurts your throat; he's acting like a spoiled toddler that didn't get the cookie he wanted. 

Fumbling, you finally get to your feet and follow him carefully. 

Ten minutes go by and neither of you have said a word, just quietly looking for your next steps. The end of the mountain isn't far now. 

You swallow, your sore throat making you wince.

A few times, you make a wrong step and start to slip, but you're able to keep your balance. 

Thank goodness the bottom is close; your legs feel like jelly and your whole body is aching all over.

He doesn't look back once, just keeps trudging forward, face set in a scowl. 

As you wave the smoke from your face, you're not looking where you're going for only a moment, but that's all it takes for you to step on a loose rock and stumble forward. 

The steep mountainside makes it impossible to stop with your momentum. Your arms flail in the air and then you're falling. 

"Ach!" 

He turns at the sound of you shouting and rocks falling. It's a split second before you fall past him when he reaches out and grabs you. He's not sure why he did it, but there's no time to dwell on that. 

It all happened too fast, he didn't even think before acting, didn't brace himself before catching you. 

You collide into him and knock him over, sending both of you tumbling down the rest of the way, feet flying over your heads. 

You only stop when you reach the bottom. 

The sound of both of you panting is all you hear for a few moments. 

"Fucking hell," he eventually groans. 

Opening your eyes, you're met with his dark ones staring right back. 

A few seconds go by but neither of you move. Then you realize you're on top of him. 

JK doesn't tear his eyes away from your face as he watches the realization of the position you're in dawn on you.

"Oh," You say slowly, "Oh! Sorry."

You scramble off of him and onto the ground, small stones digging into your knees. 

He doesn't move for a second, just stares at the sky, then you see him gulp and sit up. 

"Remind me to actually break your wrist when this is over," He snaps, "Idiot."

"Don't count on it," you say quietly, then give him a small smile when he looks at you. 

He just stares at you blankly, then turns away. 

"Come on," He grunts as he stands up, not offering you a helping hand. 

Not that you expected it. 

"Are we in the sixth circle?" You ask, looking around. There's nothing but mountains, the flames you saw are on the other side of the mountain you're standing at the foot of now, "Don't tell me we have to climb up and then down this one too." 

He looks over to see you looking up at it and shaking your head. 

"I should make you climb it, but no." He sighs and rubs his temples as if he’s got a massive headache, "Yes this is the sixth circle, no I won't tell you anything more, please just shut up for a minute."

You say nothing, but only because you're confused about his simple answers and the fact that he even said 'please'. 

"Just-" He rubs his hands down his face and sits there for a minute. Then he snaps his fingers, and the small fire appears right in front of you, making you jump, "Just-...let's just stop for a minute."

"Ok," you say with a small voice. 

He walks over to a rock and plops down onto it, his hands going into his hair and gently yanking on it. 

You hear him muttering to himself. You think you catch him cursing you out, but that doesn't surprise you. 

Deciding to just sit on the ground, you pull your legs to your chest and wrap your arms around them, resting your chin between your knees. 

"How did you get out of there?" 

You look at him when he speaks, then you put your chin back where it was. 

"I thought you knew. That's why you're so mad at me right now, isn't it?"

He scoffs, "Right now? When the fuck did you ever think I was anything other than pissed at you?"

You shrug, still staring at the fire. 

Silence goes on after that for a few minutes, then he clears his throat. After a moment passes and he doesn't say anything, you lay your head on your knees and close your eyes. 

A broken cough rips from your chest and you wince, hand going to your throat as a reflex. 

Without any warning, he gets up and comes closer until he's standing over you. 

"Get up."

"Why?" You whisper tiredly, voice cracking, "I thought you wanted to rest-"

Your sentence gets cut off when he takes your arm and pulls you to your feet. 

"Why can't you just listen to me?" He snaps. 

You don't fight him when he takes your shoulders and faces you towards him. 

As much as you hate it, your heart starts hammering in your chest when he leans closer. 

"How old are you?" He asks quietly, his eyes going back and forth between your own. 

You gulp and avert your gaze, refusing to look at him. 

"Nineteen," You choke out. 

"Nineteen?" He says in what seems to be disbelief, "How can a nineteen-year-old girl take on the entity you faced?"

"I don't know," you say, trying to pull away. But he keeps a hold on your arms.

You start coughing again, a sharp pain slicing down your throat as you try to get a deep enough breath. 

"What happened in that passage?"

"What do you mean?" You look at him, then you immediately look away again. You’re not sure why you can’t face him right now. 

Before you can move from his grasp, you feel a hand on your jaw. He gently turns your face, then moves your knotted hair until he can see the bruises along your throat. 

"She did this?" He asks softly, a tinge of something more in his voice that you can’t decipher.

Your eyes fly to his, your heart thundering so hard you feel like you might pass out. 

"Yes."

The sound of your voice seems far more broken than you meant it to. You're just so tired, you don't know how much longer you can keep up this strong act. Your body aches so deeply, your bones feeling infected with exhaustion.

Without your consent, tears start to brim in your eyes. You haven't even gotten the chance to process the past few hours yet. It was so terrifying, and you had to just go from one thing to another without a moment to think. 

You close your eyes. 

Give me strength. 

The feeling of a gentle thumb running along your cheek makes your eyes fly open and meet his. 

His other hand falls to your throat. 

A shiver runs through you when the feeling of soft fingers brushes against the marks on your neck. 

"Why won't you give up?" The demon whispers so quietly you barely hear him, his eyes drifting over your face. 

You swallow the lump in your throat and lock eyes with him, not letting yourself look away this time. 

"Because if our places were reversed, he would never give up on me."

He stares at you for a moment longer, then he takes a step back. 

You pull yourself from his grip and walk over to the other side of the fire.

Dropping yourself to the ground, you curl your legs up and hug them again, stuffing your face into your knees before a sob can escape. 

He watches wordlessly as your shoulders shake with silent grief and you hold yourself tighter. 

The demon eventually sits down on the rock again, thumb moving to his mouth as he bites at the nail absentmindedly, his eyes glued to your figure on the other side of the fire. 

If this is what love does to humans, why do they dream of it and never want to let go?

JK tears his eyes from you and focuses on the fire. 

If this is what it breaks you down to, he’s glad that he will have no part of it. 

Imagine being so pathetic you’d lower yourself to that.

Love is weakness and misery. 

Then your words pop into his mind, and he swallows thickly. 

“You’re already in Hell, how much lower can you get?”

____________________

a/n: tysm for reading, hope you liked this long chapter!!

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230118 - seokjin on weverse: I'm doing well and having fun here. I'm posting after getting permission from the military. ARMY, be happy and take care.