The kingdom of Eldoria had always had a hatred for dragons. Ever since Y/N was a child, she had been taught that they were monstrous beasts—killers of men, destroyers of villages. But she had never believed that. Y/N had been raised on stories of fire and blood, yet she saw something else in dragons: power, beauty, and a wild freedom she could never hope to attain as a knight of King Junyoung’s court. Still, she had sworn her loyalty to the human kingdom, sworn to serve, and so when she was given the mission to track and kill an injured dragon in the Shadowpine Woods, she had no choice but to obey.
With her sword strapped to her hip and her armor glinting in the dappled forest light, she moved through the dense trees, the scent of damp earth filling her lungs. The reports had said that the dragon was gravely wounded, that it had crash-landed somewhere deep in the heart of the woods after an encounter with Eldoria’s seaside forces. Killing it should have been easy.
But when Y/N found him, she froze. The dragon lay in a clearing, his massive body curled around himself in pain. His scales were darker than midnight, yet as the sunlight filtered through the trees and struck his body, they shimmered with a breathtaking emerald hue. His chest rose and fell with labored breaths, his left wing tattered and bloodied but healing ever so slightly by the second. And then, his head lifted slowly, and she was met with piercing golden eyes—intelligent, powerful, and searing into her very soul.
Something inside her stirred, something ancient and unexplainable. This wasn’t just a beast. He was ‘Alive’ in a way that humans could never understand.
She tightened her grip on her sword, hesitating. The dragon—Yoongi, as she would later come to know—stared at her, not with fear, but with curiosity. There was no hatred in his gaze, no fury. Only… recognition.
“I won’t kill you,” Y/N whispered, sheathing her sword.
Yoongi let out a deep exhale, his massive body relaxing slightly. And though he could not speak in this form, she swore she saw a glimmer of something knowing in his eyes.
She turned away from him and left.
———————————————————————————
When she returned to the castle that night word had gotten to the king of what she had done, or really what she hadn’t done. King Junyoung sat upon his golden throne, his sharp eyes narrowing as she knelt before him in the grand hall, surrounded by nobles and fellow knights.
“You let it live?” His voice was cold, dangerous.
Y/N lifted her chin. “Yes, Your Majesty.”
Murmurs erupted throughout the court. A knight refusing to slay a dragon? It was treason. Junyoung’s fingers drummed against the armrest of his throne. “You have disobeyed a direct order, Y/N.” His voice was quieter now, but no less lethal. “You have betrayed your kingdom.” Y/N clenched her fists. She had always known this would be the consequence, but she would not regret her choice.
“I cannot, in good conscience, kill a creature that meant no harm, he was merely flying past and our forces attacked.” she said, voice steady. Junyoung’s eyes darkened. “Then you are no knight of mine.” The guards stepped forward, swords at the ready. Y/N closed her eyes, accepting her fate.
But then, the ground trembled.
A powerful gust of wind burst through the throne room doors as they were thrown open with a resounding boom. Gasps filled the air as shadows loomed in the entrance, towering figures stepping inside. Dragons.
Or rather—dragon shifters. And at the center of them all stood him. Yoongi. No longer in his dragon form, he was now a man of striking beauty. His black hair fell in soft waves around his sharp features, his piercing golden eyes unwavering as they locked onto hers. He was dressed in dark, regal attire, his presence exuding an authority that sent shivers down the spines of all who dared to look at him. And behind him stood an army of dragon knights, their expressions cold and unyielding.
The court was silent. Yoongi stepped forward, his voice smooth yet commanding. “She is mine” he stated firmly. Y/N’s breath hitched as Junyoung’s face twisted in fury. “What?” Yoongi’s golden gaze did not waver. “She is my mate,” he declared. “And if you lay a single hand upon her, King of Eldoria, then you will be starting a war you cannot win.” A collective gasp echoed through the hall.
Mate.
Y/N’s heart pounded in her chest. She had heard of such bonds before—rare, powerful connections that transcended mere emotion. It was a claim made only by dragons, an unbreakable bond forged by fate itself. Yoongi had known the moment he saw her in the woods. And now, he had come to claim her.
Junyoung’s jaw clenched, his fury palpable. But he was not a fool. To defy the Dragon King would be to bring ruin upon his kingdom. After a long silence, he spat, “Take her and go.”
Yoongi smirked, satisfied. He turned to Y/N then, stepping closer. His hand reached for her, fingers brushing against her cheek with a gentleness that contrasted the raw power he had just displayed. “You are mine little knight.” He spoke to her softly, staring into her eyes with his piercing golden gaze.
Y/N swallowed hard, her heart hammering as he leaned in. And then he kissed her. It was a kiss that stole the breath from her lungs, that partially sealed the bond between them with a force more powerful than any words. The court watched in stunned silence as the Dragon King claimed his mate before their very eyes.
When he pulled back, he whispered, “Come with me.”
Y/N glanced once at the court she had served, the kingdom that had cast her aside. And then she took Yoongi’s hand. As the dragons left the castle, Y/N at their king’s side, she knew one thing for certain:
❥⋆｡˚ anon said: Seek with dragon au. Welcome back! Also you're gorgeous btw ;)
˚₊· ━━ WORD PROMPT
[ seek ] for a muse to seek another for comfort
genre: dragon!au
pairing: bts x reader
word count: 875
˚₊· ━━ MASTERPOST
“Looks like we’ll be stuck here for the night. It’s too dark and dangerous to continue flying in the storm. When the rain stops falling, we’ll continue on our way again but until then, we’ll rest here.”
“Are you alright, Y/N?” Yoongi turns to you after Namjoon makes the decision to camp in the cave for the night. You visibly shiver in sight, your arms hugging yourself at the way the wind flies in and causes you to sneeze. “Come closer to the fire, you’ll catch a cold.”
You obey his orders and sit yourself near the fire Jungkook had made in order to keep the cold away. “At times like this I wish I was a dragon,” you say, letting out a sigh as you watch the way the fire waves and dances before you. Suddenly you hear the sound of something that seems like a stick being stepped on and jump in your seat. “W-what was that?”
“It’s literally just the sound of the fire crackling, idiot,” Jimin rolls his eyes while Taehyung snickers.
“Don’t tell me you’re afraid of the dark?” Jungkook laughs.
“That’s so cute of you,” Taehyung joins in.
You frown at their words, huffing slightly with a pout as you can feel the heat of your cheeks rising with embarrassment. “What’s wrong with that?”
“Nothing’s wrong with it,” the eldest of the dragons let out an exasperated sigh before giving the three younger ones a pointed look which has them turning their attention away. He turns to you with a kinder gaze. “Don’t bother letting their words get to you. They mean well.”
“Plus there’s nothing to be afraid of when the seven of us are here with you,” Hoseok chimes in just as kind. “You don’t have to worry about anyone or anything harming you. We’re right here to protect you.”
Jungkook grunts at those words. “You’re spoiling the human girl too much.”
“There’s nothing wrong with wanting to spoil our precious Y/N, right?” When Seokjin’s eyes fall to yours with just a soft gaze, you can feel your cheeks rising in color once again and quickly avert your gaze to the ground before you.
How is it that it’s so easy for him to say such sweet things when you know he doesn’t mean much by them? You know it means nothing yet you can’t help but feel your heart accelerating against your chest.
Ah, you hate this.
“You’re still cold,” Yoongi notes with worry. “Is the fire not helping?”
“No, it—” You hear a strange sound coming from the cave and let out a small little squeak as your body jumps and you find yourself right next to Namjoon who was sitting to your right.
“Relax,” the leader tells you in a calm voice. “That was just the wind, nothing is going to hurt you as long as we’re around.”
“Well yeah but,” you look up at him with your brows furrowed and eyes filled with fear and worry. “It’s just so cold and dark and scary, I don’t...I don’t think I can rest that easily tonight. I…” you give him a sheepish gaze as you lightly tug onto the hem of his shirt, hesitant on wanting to ask him something. “Can I…”
Namjoon gives you a sigh but he spreads his arms out for you anyways. “Come here,” the dragon says and although you were the one who was hoping for just that, it surprises you how easily he is willing you give you comfort.
“Wait, uh...r-really?”
His gaze remains cool and calm without falter. “You wanted it, right?”
“But..” you look towards the others who don't really look that bothered, causing you to wonder why when the seven of them are lovers and you’re basically just an outsider to them.
“I’ll just be holding you to keep you warm until you can fall asleep without fear.”
You take a moment to think about it but realize maybe it’s the best thing to do since you know you can’t fall asleep like this and turn back to Namjoon with some resolve.
They watch you as you let yourself crawl up to him and feel his arms wrapping themselves around you in such a gentle manner. It almost feels as if you fit right in there like a puzzle piece and you can’t help but to snuggle yourself right up to him.
You let out a light giggle that makes Namjoon’s heart beat rapidly against his chest while nuzzling your head against his chest.
You’re quite bold for someone who was just blushing at Seokjin’s little flirtatious moment.
“I knew it,” he hears you say, “dragons are so warm. I just want to stay here forever.”
“Go to sleep,” Namjoon sighs and hears your hum of approval soon after.
When he looks up to meet his lovers’ gazes, there is a notice of recognition he sees in their eyes, the feeling of envy, the feeling of that certain desire he knows all too well.
Namjoon holds you closer against him, liking this, wanting more of this. “Goodnight,” he whispers to you and presses a small kiss to your hair as if making a vow that one day soon, they’ll make you theirs.
Pairings: BTS x OC
Genre: Fantasy, Angst, Drama
Warnings: Graphic Violence, Heavy Language, Angst, Smut, lowkey hate it but lowkey proud of it at the same time???
As my eyes slowly peeled open, I began to feel the warmth of the sun's rays falling onto my skin. My sight had quickly adjusted to focus on the brightness of the pastel sunset plastered across the sky, thin clouds trailing along the soft hue above. I groaned and diverted my gaze, moving my head to the side to avoid the sunlight only to feel the blades of grass tickling the skin on my cheeks. My head turned for itself and I saw two people lying just a couple feet away from me. I propped myself up on my elbows only to fall back onto the ground again due to the sharp pain shooting through my shoulder and back.
Standing up slowly, I observed my surroundings to see a total of seven familiar people lying scattered around the area. Seven very familiar people. Ignoring the pain rushing through my body, I cursed under my breath and rushed over to the person closest to me.
“Jin? Jin!” I gasped, dropping down to Seokjin’s limp body, vigorously shaking him. “Come on, come on.” Only a few seconds passed when he suddenly jolted up, his breath heavy and scattered. With a soft sigh I dropped my chin to my chest in relief, thanking the heavens that he was alive.
“Maya? What… what happened?” Seokjin questioned after finally catching his breath.
“I don't kn-” I quickly cut myself off with a soft gasp as I recognized the environment around us, a huge castle standing strongly before us, the aura surrounding me all too familiar. “Oh my gods.”
“What? What's wrong?”
“Nothing.” I looked around to see six of my other friends lying in the grass, limbs sprawled and bodies appearing lifeless. “Help me wake them up.”
Seokjin nodded and stood up, rushing over to Jungkook to tap his cheek a couple of times, causing him to abruptly jerk awake. I moved over to Namjoon who was lying on his side. I checked for his heartbeat, and once I made sure he was actually alive and breathing, I lightly shook him. His eyes shot open and he sat up, moaning as he held his head.
"Maya, what's going on?" Namjoon inquired. "Where are we?"
"Shh, don't stress about that now. Are you okay? Are you hurt?" I asked. He responded with a low grunt as he clutched his side, but he declined my help and gently pushed my hand away when I attempted to look at whatever he was hiding.
"I'm fine," He said as his breathing began to regulate.
"Okay. I need you to wake Hoseok up."
"He's with us too?"
"All eight of us are together. Now, please, go help him. I'll get Yoongi." He nodded and stood up quickly, jogging over to Hoseok, who was already awake, but obviously freaking out. I crawled over to Yoongi and hurriedly shook his body, but he didn't react in the slightest. I tried everything in my power to wake him up, but he laid still and motionless, barely breathing.
“Shit, you're bleeding,” I heard Namjoon curse.
“He's not waking up,” I said, desperation filling my voice. I clutched onto Yoongi’s shirt as tears spilled down my face, landing on the soft skin of his arm. His eyes suddenly shot open and he sat up, his hand reaching up to the back of my neck with his nails creating crescent shaped dents in my skin.
“Maya- agh!” He winced as he grabbed his thigh and pulled it close to his chest, and that's when the rest of us realized he was bleeding heavily. I gasped and pulled his leg out to attempt to stop the bleeding, but he resisted due to the pain.
“Yoongi, stop moving!” I practically yelled, and that's when everything went silent - until a loud roar erupted from the distance, following thumps as whatever was causing the noise neared closer to us. The boys completely froze, but being the only one knowing what to expect, I gently let go of Yoongi and arose to my feet, walking forward to the cluster of trees leading into a forest of which the noise was coming from.
“What are you doing?!” Jimin shouted as he began to run towards me, but he stopped dead in his tracks once the source of the noise emerged from the forest.
A dragon.
Thick, black scales covered its body. Its jade eyes pierced into our souls, as if it were trying to evaluate us one by one. It was quite intimidating to say the least, but as soon as it saw me, it purred and happily ran over to me, nudging its head against my body.
“Hey. It's okay, bud. I'm okay,” I whispered, softly running my fingers across the dragon’s rough, dark scales. Of course, I was extremely happy to see my dragon again, but at this point, I knew there was no hiding from the boys anymore. I turned around to face them, but they were surprisingly calm - even Yoongi, despite his heavily bleeding leg. They were all in too much shock to notice anything else happening around them, including one of my servants running through the gates beside us, gasping at my injury once she was close enough to see the extremity of it.
“Mistress! Come, This One must get you cleaned up,” D’Vorah said, her crystallized eyes scanning over my covered injury as she gently pulled at my opposite arm, her yellow, chitinous hide chafing against my soft skin. When she looked up, she had realized that we were not alone, and I could already predict her course of action. She growled and jutted out her four extensive stingers from her back, proceeding to bury the two bottom ones into the ground and point the two top ones towards the boys. At the same time, her withered and delicate bug-like wings sprouted from her back, supporting her body that was now elevated.
“D’Vorah, no. They are with me,” I told her, moving to stand in front of her so that her stingers were just mere inches away from my face. Her expression softened and she pulled her stingers from the ground, retracting both them and her wings into her back.
“You are hurt, Mistress. Come, This One will tend to your injuries,” She insisted, extending her arm out to me.
“No, I'll take care of myself later. Yoongi is my priority.” My eyes wandered over to him, who was still lying in the grass, blood slowly seeping out of his open wound. I quickly walked over to him and dug my arms under his arms while Jungkook took his legs, lifting him up so we could carry him inside. We hurriedly carried him up the stairs, into the castle, and through the long, empty hallways, eventually laying him down on one of the beds in the infirmary as the boys and D’Vorah followed me. “D’Vorah, you may go.”
“Are you certain, Mistress?” She asked, unsure.
“Yes, we’ll be alright.” She bowed and exited the room, leaving just me and the boys. I was scattered. I was disoriented. I was a mess. As I searched for a small glass vial, I continuously knocked over other supplies. However, the boys were kind enough to help me put them back where they belonged. As soon as my eyes landed on the small vial full of a clear, glittering liquid, I snatched it out of the wire stand and opened it up, simultaneously picking up an eyedropper beside me as I made my way back to Yoongi. I was ready for this, but all I needed was a little cooperation from the mint-haired boy.
“Maya-” Namjoon tried to speak, but I had cut him off - unintentionally of course.
“Yoongi, I'm going to need to take off your jeans.”
“Is this your excuse to finally get laid?” He chuckled in a stiff tone.
“How can you even be joking at a time like this?” I huffed and rolled my eyes as I quickly unbuttoned his jeans and tugged them down so his thighs were exposed. I grabbed the vial and dipped the tip of the eyedropper into the liquid, sucking just a few drops in, then taking it out and applying it to Yoongi’s wound. He hissed in pain as the skin began to regenerate rapidly, the liquid spreading to close up the wound in just mere seconds like he had never been injured in the first place.
I had expected questions to start plummeting in, but there was only silence. After dressing Yoongi, I placed the supplies back where they belonged, proceeding to take out a small ceramic cup and a few natural herbs, after putting on a cup of water to heat up in the kettle.
“How… how did you do that?” Yoongi stammered.
“It's complicated.” I mentally slapped myself for answering his question so vaguely, but I wanted to have to slowly break it to them instead of just throwing it right at them.
“Maya, where are we?” Taehyung questioned, looking around the room to inspect every little tool and gadget laying around.
“Tae, this is where I grew up.”
“In… in a castle?” Jimin voiced, trying to make sense out of the whole situation as I crushed a few plump berries with the stone pestle in my grasp. Silence overtook the room for a few moments, but I eventually broke it as I realized I had finished with the medicine. I poured the water and herbal mixture into the cup and stirred it for a few seconds before handing it to Yoongi.
“Here, this will make you feel better.” I could tell his eyes were full of reluctance and fear, but I knew that deep down, he trusted me with his life. He slowly took the cup and took a sip, only for him to immediately spit it out. “I'm sorry, I know it's bitter.” My voice was unexpectedly assuring, and I didn't realize its effect until Yoongi downed the medicine without hesitation. I took the cup and began to clean it out when Yoongi decided to speak up.
“What was that?” He asked, a slight tone of disgust in his tired voice. I simply shook my head and ignored his question. “Maya, what's happening?” His soft voice made my arms weak, urging me to gently set down the cup and turn to face them. This was it. I couldn’t hide the truth any longer.
“I'm not who you think I am.”
“Noona…” Jungkook began, but I interrupted him with urgency.
“No, don't. I need you to listen to me.” I took a deep breath, flashing my eyes up to meet theirs, not even taking a moment to blink, as I wanted this to be as sincere and personal as possible. “Right now, we’re in The Embrace, a series of islands within a different realm, known as The Claim. I'm the ruler of The Embrace, and there are thousands of dragons living here under my name for safety and protection from the other areas in the realm. Only certain people are allowed here, and others aren't allowed to leave once they've come here. It’s for our safety and protection, and since I can't make any exceptions, that means you boys have to stay here too…”
I could feel my eyes welling up with tears, but I continued to speak, even though I knew I was silently crying at this point. I had to get everything out.
“I mean, it isn't too bad here in my opinion. We've got everything you'd have in the normal world. Running water, AC, heating, working pipes, electricity, Wi-Fi, modern food… you get the idea.” My tears were overflowing, and though I couldn't hold them back, I just wiped them on my sleeve and kept talking. “You don't know how sorry I am to have to put you through this. I don't even know why we’re here, but I can't do anything about it. I would take you back home, but I'd have to wipe your memory, and I haven't found a way to do that without getting rid of everything else. I'm so sorry, this is my fault, I-” Before I could finish my sentence, Yoongi had me enveloped in his arms, holding me tightly as I tried to hold back my sobs.
“It's okay,” He whispered, practically making me burst at the seams. I sobbed into his chest as he gently embraced me, and eventually, the others joined in to comfort me. A few minutes passed, and I had finally calmed down. Everyone pulled away from each other, and I apologized under my breath, hoping that no one would hear.
“Don't apologize. You said even you don’t know why we’re here. It's not your fault,” Seokjin consoled with a soft smile. I nodded slowly in agreement and he wiped away the rest of my tears before speaking up. “We’ll stay, right guys?” The others nodded immediately in approval with reassuring smiles.
“I have to admit, it'll be hard to stay away from family and friends…” Taehyung said truthfully.
“I'm sorry,” I apologized, feeling just as bad as I was a minute ago.
“No, no, it's okay. Really.” The room was tense for a moment, so I decided to ease up the tension by speaking up.
“Um, so, I guess if you have any questions you can ask me now,” I mumbled, shyly scratching behind my ear with my fingernails.
“Well, first of all, shouldn't we put some of that glittery stuff on your shoulder? You're still hurt,” Yoongi suggested, going to grab the same vial and eyedropper I had just set down.
“I'm fine, really-”
“Maya, you're hurt. Just let me do this.” I sighed and turned my back to him, pulling my shirt down to provide access to the wound, allowing Yoongi to squeeze out a drop of the liquid onto my wound, eliciting a hiss from me as the skin quickly worked to repair itself. As Yoongi placed the supplies back where they belonged, Jimin took the chance to ask a question.
“What is that stuff anyways?” He asked curiously.
“They're tears of an extremely rare dragon. They can cure anything, from broken bones to certain diseases, but they're hard to obtain,” I explained.
“So what do you use for smaller injuries?” Namjoon asked.
“Like what?”
“Well…” He shyly lifted up the hem of his shirt to reveal a small but still moderately bad cut on his side.
“Joon, why didn't you say something?” I stepped over to him and placed my hand over his wound, focusing my energy until a soft violet light began emitting from my palm, healing his laceration in a quick minute.
“Shit, man,” He laughed in amazement as he looked down, with no wound or scar in sight. “You're amazing.”
“Ah, I'm not that special.”
“Are you royalty?” Jungkook asked me bluntly.
“Jungkook-ah, don't be rude,” Hoseok scolded.
“Oh, sorry, Noona. I got a little excited.” A soft shade of pink spread across his puffy cheeks, and I smiled in response.
“I am,” I verified.
“A princess?” Jimin guessed.
“A queen.”
“Wahhh! Our little cutie is a queen!” Seokjin screamed, picking me up and spinning me around in his arms.
“Jin, stop!” I giggled as he set me down.
“Does anyone else live here?” Yoongi asked.
“Yes. I have four servants: D’Vorah, Mileena, Tashi, and Luthais. My other friends Sam, Hyunae, Minjun, and Fawn are also with me.”
“There's other Korean people?” Namjoon asked, a bit of relief in his deep voice.
“Yes. Everyone on this island speaks Korean, English, and Draconian.”
“Draconian?”
“It's my native tongue, the language of the dragons.”
“Maya, not to be rude, but do you actually have any space for us?” Seokjin questioned politely. I smiled and made my way over to the door, signaling for the boys to follow me as I spoke.
“This castle wasn't built for nothing. Come with me.” I led them upstairs and around the vast, royal halls, pointing out the rooms we were passing by as well, in case they ever wanted to go check them out. I opened the door to a spare bedroom and took Jungkook’s hand, tugging him inside. “This will be your room, Kook.”
“The entire thing?” He gawked, taking in the golden color scheme, every corner and every piece of furniture dazzling with rich embellishments. The chandelier’s diamonds sparkled in the glistening light, giving the maknae his true golden look.
“Yes, it's all-” Jungkook excitedly cut off my sentence with a breath-quenching hug, spinning me around wildly as I begged for him to stop before either of us got too dizzy.
“Thank you, Noona.”
“You're very welcome, sweetheart.” His cheeks quickly turned a bright shade of pink. He jumped on the bed, after hugging me one last time, and curled his body underneath the blankets. I turned off the lights as I gripped the doorknob tightly, pulling the door in slowly. “Rest up, Kook.”
The rest of the boys continued down the hallway to be led to their rooms until only Yoongi and I were left alone, roaming around the halls. An awkward silence took over us. To my surprise, instead of stopping when we came to his room, he kept walking forward.
“Yoongi? Your room is right here.” He turned his head over his shoulder to look at me with a sly smile.
“I know, but I wanted to stay around you for a little more,” He said.
“Am I hearing you correctly? The Min Yoongi doesn't want to sleep? What has the world come to…” I joked, walking towards him, eliciting a fake laugh from him as he sharply flicked my forehead. I winced from the sudden impact and pushed his shoulder with annoyance, a playful smile spreading across both of our faces.
“I'm still a little confused about all of this.”
“Like what?”
“I mean, how were you able to keep this hidden for so long? Didn't it get tiring?”
“Yes, it did, but it was for my own safety - and yours too. I couldn't let you find out about this, but now…” My eyes fell to the ground in guilt.
“It's okay. None of this is your fault, sugar.” I was a bit taken aback by his sudden use of my nickname. My head slowly rose so our eyes met. I smiled but the silence returned and lingered in the air for a few moments when Yoongi decided to speak up again, breaking the awkward tension surrounding us as he began to walk forward, my body automatically trailing beside him.
“So, that black dragon we saw earlier, is that yours?” He asked.
“Mhm. His name is Toothless. Do you want to meet him?” Although he nodded hesitantly, I eagerly grabbed his hand and pulled him to a nearby balcony, where a marble platform connected to the floors beneath our feet, elegant glass double-doors separating the two. I pushed open the doors and led him outside. Understandably, he was terrified, considering that we were thousands of feet in the air, even though there were railings on both our left and right to prevent us from falling off. I pulled out a slim silver whistle and blew it, which echoed throughout the mountains.
“Your dragon seems pretty close to you.” Yoongi spoke, discreetly pulling his hand away.
“I’ve been with him ever since I was a kid. He’s a Night Fury, the fastest species known.”
“Wow. I-” Before he could finish his sentence, Toothless suddenly landed in front of us with a loud thud, causing both me and Yoongi to fall over, our foreheads clashing together. “Damn, sorry.”
“No, it's fine.” A long pause finally pulled us both into the realization that Yoongi was positioned on top of me, his hands either side of my head. He awkwardly cleared his throat and stood up, pulling me up as well. As soon as I got to my feet, Toothless rubbed up against my body and purred loudly, my hands immediately attracting to his black, scaly body. “Hey, bud. I missed you.”
“Hey, what happened to his tail?” Yoongi observed, pointing to his two tail fins, one of which was replaced by a makeshift leather fin.
“Oh, that. I found him when he was wounded from a fight. At first, he couldn't fly without me, but that little contraption lets him fly freely."
“You made this?” He asked as he knelt beside the leather fin, raising it with his palms. I nodded shyly, but my smile returned as Toothless nudged my body with affection. I nearly flinched once I shifted my eyes back to Yoongi due to his intense stare and wide grin.
“What?”
“You're amazing…” After such a confusing and short statement, he stayed silent for a moment, an awkward tension filling the air.
“Yoongi, you're staring.”
“Oh, sorry,” He mumbled, looking away, a shade of red painted on his cheeks.
The dark slender dragon took this empty moment of time as an opportunity to bond with Yoongi. Toothless chittered and dug his way under Yoongi’s arm, earning a small giggle from the mint-haired boy. Whining, he rolled over and smiled, his toothless mouth being displayed to match Yoongi’s signature gummy smile. Yoongi laughed, but was quickly cut off when the dragon playfully pounced on him, his pupils fuller than the moon.
“Aish, he’s a playful one.”
“Come on, bud. Get off him,” I laughed, prying him off of Yoongi. “So, you wanna go for a ride?” I asked rhetorically as I quickly ran inside to grab something, leaving Yoongi behind with Toothless.
“What do you me-” Before he could even finish his sentence, I had returned, a leather saddle in my arms. As I began to latch his saddle on, Yoongi stood off to the side, a glint of curiosity and fear in his milky brown eyes. I adjusted the last strap and stepped back to Yoongi, extending my hand out. Although he was reluctant, he enveloped his hand in mine and allowed me to lead him onto Toothless’ back. I climbed on afterwards and sat in front of him, my back facing his chest. I turned my head over my shoulder to look at Yoongi after he hooked his feet in the stirrups.
“You ready?”
“I guess so.”
“Hold on tight.” I slid my hand down to Toothless’ shoulder and gave him a little pat, prompting him to gently spread out his wings and lift himself into the air. As expected, Yoongi immediately gripped at my waist, snaking his arms further around my body as we flew higher into the air, and came to a steady glide. “Hey, you can look up now.” I teased as he slowly moved his face out of the crook of my neck and opened his eyes to see the beginning sunset, hundreds of miles of land spread underneath us with dragons sprouting from every corner, all jovial and safe. Bundles of trees hid tiny hatchlings playing and running in the forests below, their mother chasing after them with a wide grin and perked spines. The silhouette of a gargantuan beast overlooking the mountains stood out from the soft and serene colors of the sky.
“This is…” Yoongi gawked, unable to gather the rest of his words, and before I could speak, the feeling of his hands roughly gripping my waist messed with my ability to speak as well. I froze in place for a moment, peeking over my shoulder to look at him, and then his hands, hoping he’d get the message.
“Yoongi-ah, your hands-“
“Oh! Sorry.” He mumbled, fumbling to find somewhere else to put his hands.
“I-It’s fine. Just try to loosen up a bit.”
Toothless continued to carry us around the island, practically giving Yoongi a grand tour from a different perspective he never could have dreamed of. Eventually, the pale-haired boy spoke up, startling me slightly in the process.
“I have to admit, this is pretty cool. It’s amazing. He’s amazing,” He smiled, gently patting Toothless’ side with praise. As the deafening silence returned, I quickly thought of an idea and tapped Toothless in excitement, whispering for him to fly upwards on my command.
“Yoongi, you may wanna hold on,” I advised. “Let’s go, bud.”
“Wait, wha- Maya!” Yoongi had cut himself off and held onto me for dear life as Toothless began to climb up into the clouds, flapping his large wings in powerful bursts as we rose further up, and eventually above cloud level, where a whole other world was waiting for us. Just as we broke through the thick clouds, Yoongi had dared himself to look up, yet when he did, he didn’t regret his decision. Dozens of silver and white dragons pranced and perched along the clouds, the sunset's rays reflecting off of their scales, producing an odd but gorgeous array of colors into the skies. It was just as incredible as the view on the ground.
As intended, we were nearing closer to the castle, and my focus fixed on a particular silver dragon, isolated away from the others, resting on top of a cloud. Toothless must have known what my intention was as he flew closer to the dragon and called out, only briefly catching the loner’s attention. It turned away, quite obviously shy. I sighed then whistled sharply, which caught and kept the dragon’s attention. Dapples of silver swirled around its ruff as it tilted its snout towards me. I gestured for it to follow Toothless, and it obeyed, diving alongside us until we reached the front gates of the castle.
I slid off of Toothless and helped Yoongi get off after, then guided him over to the shy silver dragon. With our hands still clasped together, I moved behind him and nudged him slightly forward to the creature, and although hesitant, he obliged and walked slowly along with me.
“Hold out your hand,” I said suddenly, causing Yoongi to snap his head back in confusion.
“What?” He questioned, clearly afraid but slightly intrigued.
“Trust me.”
The dragon bowed its head as Yoongi moved forwards, the two nearing closer until his hand was mere inches away from the dragon's snout. Slowly, I guided Yoongi’s hand to its snout and gently pressed his palm against its scales, a warm purr emitting from its throat. I felt the boy’s body relax and removed my hand from his, leaving him with my hand still on the dragon's snout. The ends of his mouth turned upwards almost immediately, and a sense of euphoria took over what seemed to be the entire island. His gummy smile soon made an appearance as the dragon moved closer to sniff his snowy hair.
“He likes you,” I smiled, walking over to the dragon to give him a pat on the shoulder.
“Does he have a name?” Yoongi questioned, still entranced by the dragon’s grace and beauty.
“Aenaes.”
“Strange…”
“He could say the same for you, Yoongs.” The dragon stepped back, allowing for Yoongi to step closer to me, not even attempting to disconnect his eyes with mine until a shrill-like scream rang throughout the air and instantaneously drew us away from each other.
“Unnie! I can’t believe you’re back!” A young girl shrieked as she and another young man flew down on their dragons to land and come running over to us.
“Hyunae!” I laughed in glee, but it was cut short as the girl proceeded to pick me up and squeeze me tightly. She was small, but she could definitely pack a punch. I practically had to beg her to let go before she suffocated me. As she set me down, the other man picked me up again and swayed from side to side roughly, causing me to burst into a fit of giggles, eventually his own joining in. “It is so good to see you, Minjun.”
“I missed you,” Minjun whispered so that only I could hear him, eventually pulling away from me. “What are you doing back so early?”
“Well, it’s kind of hard to explain-“
“Wait, is that Suga? From BTS? Am I dreaming?” Hyunae gasped, pointing her finger to a very stiff and uncomfortable Yoongi.
“Yes, he’s here with all of the other members. They’ll be with us from now on.”
“Waahh, this is the best day ever!” Suddenly she jumped onto him, hugging him tightly, his eyes wandering over to me with a look that was a clear cry for help.
I laughed at Yoongi’s suffering then leaned over to Minjun and whispered in his ear.
“By the way, don’t mention to the boys that they’ll be getting their own dragons just yet. They need time.”
Hyunae squealed again and pulled away, still freaking out over her idol that was standing in front of her, in the flesh.
“Sorry, she’s excited. She’s a big fan of BTS… as you can probably see.” I muttered the last part so nobody could hear what I was saying. “Don’t get off duty though, Hyunae, you still have to finish your surveillance with Minjun!”
“Oh, right! Sorry, unnie. Come on Jun-Jun, I’ll race you!” She quickly mounted her dragon, not even hesitating to take off into the sky, leaving Minjun behind, slightly irritated.
“For god’s sake, Hyunae! Don’t you have any respect?!” Minjun yelled, quickly mounting his dragon to follow after her. It was only until they were out of our view when Yoongi decided to break the silence.
“How old is that girl?” He asked, almost with a tone of disgust.
“She’s only 15, it’s a part of being young,” I sighed.
“She’s 15?”
“Five years ago, I rescued her from a slave trade in the Northern Markets of The Claim.”
“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be, she’s found a new life.” I smiled at him, and he smiled back. “She’s like a daughter to me - ironic, isn’t it?”
“What do you mean?”
“I never told you I can’t have kids?”
“No, I don’t think you’ve ever brought it up.” Defined eyebrows arched imperiously as he put a hand on his hip. He looked stiff and his eyes were blank, as if holding back a certain emotion.
“Well, now you know. Come on, we should go. It’s getting late and tonight’s a full moon.”
“What’s so bad about a full moon?”
“You really don’t wanna know.” I grabbed his hand and led him inside the castle after dismissing Aenaes and Toothless so they could roam freely for the night, giving his saddle to D’Vorah to put back while we roamed the halls. Inside, the rest of the boys were chatting away in the kitchen, all of them working, cutting vegetables and seasoning dishes. As Yoongi and I made our entrance into the room, they all froze in place, and, being the clumsy guy that he is, Namjoon dropped the glass he was holding in his hand, shards flying and scattering all over the tile floor.
“Really, hyung?” Jungkook huffed, crossing his arms like a disappointed mother.
“I didn’t expect them to come in so suddenly!” Namjoon whined, causing all of us to erupt into laughter.
“Don’t worry, the dragons tend to break everything they see too,” I consoled.
“Hyung would blend in perfectly with them,” Taehyung muttered, earning a smack from the eldest boy.
“We were going to cook you a surprise dinner. It’s the least we could do,” Seokjin said as he began to clean up the shattered mess that Namjoon had inevitably created.
“Oh no, I should be the one doing this. After all, you guys have to put up with this,” I said apologetically.
“Well, we’re almost done. Mind helping out?”
I assisted them with the preparation of the rest of the food, and when the meal was finished, all eight of us carried the numerous amount of dishes to the dining room, setting them down on the long, wooden table. As if on cue, Hyunae and Minjun walked into the room, returning from surveillance, stomachs rumbling and mouths drooling.
“Wow! Who made this?” Hyunae exclaimed, and the seven boys proudly raised their hands, at least until Jin quickly swatted Yoongi’s hand down, causing him to hold back a stiffened laugh. “Thank you so much!”
“Yes, thank you,” Minjun added, bowing deeply along with the younger girl.
Everyone took their seats and began to dine into the food, while simultaneously conversing with one another. Eventually, a short girl with platinum blonde hair entered the room, halting everyone’s conversations and averting their attention to her.
“Maya, you’re back,” She smiled, taking the empty seat beside Hyunae.
“Hi, Samantha. I see you’ve gotten taller,” I joked, the dining hall echoing with everyone’s laughter. As I began to take a sip of my water, Minjun spoke to the boys.
“So, I heard Maya is going to give you all dragons,” He said in a quite monotonous tone, causing me to choke on my water and cough it up as Seokjin comfortingly patted my back until my breath steadied again.
“Minjun, I specifically told you not to say anything about-“
“Jungkook, right?” He said innocently, pointing to the youngest boy, who looked utterly confused and lost at the moment. “You look like you could train a Monstrous Nightmare. Maybe even a Red-Eyed Ravager! Those things are absolutely vicious, let me tell you-“
“Minjun!”
“What? You don’t think I should warn them of the dangers they’re exposed to if they’re gonna live here? I think they have the right to know what could happen to them-“
“Em pleni!” I yelled, pushing back my chair as I slammed my palms against the table, a familiar sting returning to my eyes, which was not exactly my main concern at that moment. “Dison laik son swima op ona rein.”
With a defeated huff, Minjun smoothly stood up and left the room without another word, leaving the dining room with complete, utter silence. Before the boys could turn their heads to me, I covered my face with my hand and began to leave the room when I felt someone gently grab my wrist, a soft voice following:
“Why are you hiding your face?”
“Yoongi, don’t,” I pleaded, and he unexpectedly yanked my hands away, but I was quick enough to shut my eyes as tight as I could. As his hands traveled up to cup my cheeks, I pressed my palms against his chest, desperately trying to make him give up.
“What are you hiding?” He asked, his voice gentle yet concerned.
“You guys will get freaked out.”
“Noona, we won’t,” Jungkook spoke in the most reassuring voice he could muster up.
“God, you’re impossible,” I sighed and muttered under my breath as I slowly fluttered my eyelids open, the boys simultaneously exclaiming in admiration and surprise at my glowing white eyes.
“Woah! Are those real?” Taehyung asked excitedly, quickly rising from his seat along with the others to take a closer look - even Hyunae joined in, despite the many times she’s seen my secret, haunting eyes.
“They’re gorgeous,” Yoongi commented, the heat flushing to my cheeks as his gaze intensified.
“I think hyung meant to say ‘you’re gor-‘“ Namjoon teased, but he was quickly shut up by a kick to the shin from a very agitated Yoongi.
“Maya, why do your eyes… you know?” Jimin questioned shyly, purposefully avoiding eye contact with me from the sheer, overwhelming intimidation I was sending off.
“Chim, please don’t be scared. It’s just me. They usually turn white when I get frustrated or scared,” I explained with a soft smile.
“I’d be damn furious just looking at that bratty kid again,” Yoongi commented in a bitter tone.
“Well, Yoongs, that kid is actually 29, so maybe you’ll have to hold back on your personal feelings and be a little bit nicer to him,” I sighed, an obvious disappointment covering Yoongi’s face as he realized he’d have to call Minjun ‘hyung.’ “I gotta say though, he’s acting strange.”
“Is what he said true?” Namjoon asked, taking me aback by his question. “About us getting dragons?”
I opened my mouth to speak, yet no sound escaped, as I wasn’t even sure what the answer was yet. Yes, it was common for newcomers to get their own dragon to tame, but it was different for the boys. Their hearts were forgiving and nurturing, and I honestly didn’t think they had the right heart to handle this kind of stuff. I was practically heartless compared to them.
“I-It’s true - but I wanted you to settle in first. I just thought it’d only be right to let you guys have a dragon of your own. It’s a stupid idea, I’m sorry-“ I began to speak, but Hoseok was quick to cut me off.
“Hey, I think it’s a good idea. Don’t put yourself down so much,” He said with a gentle, reassuring grin that shined brighter than the sun. “But maybe we should start off small so I don’t get a heart attack right away.”
The group laughed at Hobi’s comments, lifting the room’s depressing mood to a more bright, cheerful one. Suddenly, I had an idea that I knew the boys would agree to.
“Hey, how about we go for a swim? I’ve got an indoor pool on the other side of this floor,” I suggested, and as expected, the boys did indeed agree, rushing to eat and clean up the leftovers. While Hyunae decided to go upstairs to her room to study, I led the boys to the pool, which once it came into sight, the younger ones began to strip and jump in without hesitation, the others following quickly, with the exception of Yoongi, who stood beside me unfazed by his members’ actions. “Oh my god, guys! I have swim shorts you could’ve used.” I covered my eyes and jokingly looked away in disgust.
“Come on, where’s the fun in that?” Seokjin laughed as he and Jungkook swam to the deeper end.
“Hyung! Why don’t you come in?” Taehyung said, his boxy grin appearing.
“Too much effort,” Yoongi simply retorted and began to walk towards the sofa sectional in the corner. I took this moment to focus my attention on the pool water, and flipped my hand towards the ceiling, slowly raising it as my fingers curled, the water quickly deforming and splitting into a messy sphere floating in the air. I moved my hand so that the sphere followed my movements and was positioned right above Yoongi. Just prior to reaching the corner, I opened my hand and the sphere of water instantly broke, soaking him completely.
“Holy shit!” Jungkook yelled in excitement, clapping his hands like a little child. As I faced the other boys in the pool to do a couple bows, Namjoon spoke up, pointing to Yoongi, who was frozen still but clearly waiting for the right moment to move.
“Maya, you better run,” He advised, and as soon as I turned my head to look at Yoongi, he was standing right in front of me. He lifted me up bridal style and hovered my body over the water, threatening to throw me in. I screamed and clung onto his wet, white t-shirt, my eyes traveling down to see a faint outline of his abs, heat intensely rushing to my cheeks at the sight.
“Yoongi, please don’t! I’m sorry, I swear! Please-“ I cried out helplessly.
“Cute, she’s begging~” He cooed in an oddly seductive voice. As a simple but clever way to tease me, he pretended to drop me by quickly letting go and catching me before I hit the water, making me scream and hold onto him even tighter.
“Fuck, Yoongi! Please!”
“Hmph, you’re no fun.” He quickly set me down, giving me a sense of safety. Without allowing me to even take a single breath, he grabbed my waist and jumped into the pool, dragging me along with him. I broke away from his grasp and surfaced up above the water, Yoongi following shortly after, not that I even cared as I began to attack him.
“Asshole!”
“Hey, don’t curse!” Seokjin scolded.
“My island, my rules, sweetheart.” I lifted my hand out from the water and flicked my finger upwards, causing a tentacle-like stream of water to spike up and strike Jin’s back, shortly dissolving afterwards. He yelped and rubbed the stricken area to soothe the sudden vicious contact, the rest of us laughing at his reaction.
“How do you even do that?” The elder boy pouted, automatically drawing me closer to him to embrace him and apologize, making sure he was alright.
“It’s something I like to call waterbending.”
“You are incredible,” Yoongi giggled.
“Ah, I wouldn’t go that far.”
“Maya! Catch!” Hoseok shouted from behind me. However, as soon as I turned around, an inflated beach ball hit me in the face, almost as if karma was calling my name.
“Motherfu-“
“Attack!” Taehyung screamed as he dunked me underneath the water, the others quickly joining in to grab at my flailing limbs. Every time I tried to rise up from underwater, one of the boys pushed me back down. After what seemed like hours and hours, they finally stopped and I was able to rise up and breathe properly.
“And that, my friend, is what we call karma,” Seokjin gushed innocently as I eventually regained my breath.
“Maya, I wanted to ask if your parents are here. I’d love to meet them,” Namjoon said, smiling, however his smile dropped as he saw my expression darken at the mention of my parents.
“They… aren’t with me anymore.”
“Shit, I’m sorry, I-“
“No, it’s okay. You should know about them. It’s just been so long since I’ve talked about them.”
“You don’t have to talk about it, Noona,” Jungkook consoled.
“Yeah, we don’t want to pry,” Jimin added.
“It’s alright. My father passed away shortly after I was pronounced as the ruler of The Embrace. He made a deal with my enemy, that if he sacrificed himself to them, they’d leave us alone. He wanted to make me queen as soon as possible. I was only 12 years old,” I said, speaking as clear and slow as I could to prevent myself from tearing up. “He was executed that day, but the enemy kept their promise. It’s been seven years and there hasn’t been any sign of them.”
“I’m so sorry,” Taehyung whispered, placing his hand on my shoulder for comfort. “What about your mother?”
“Oh, I’ve never met my mother. She left the Embrace a few weeks after I was born. I don’t even remember her name…”
“Hey, sugar, you don’t have to say anything else,” Yoongi stated, moving closer to embrace me, to which I happily accepted, wrapping my arms around his figure as his arms snaked around my waist. Eventually, when the depressing mood subsided, we got back to messing around in the water and playing with each other. We were having so much fun, I didn’t even notice how late it had gotten.
We left the pool, wrapped ourselves in warm towels, and I sent each of the boys to their rooms, where a fresh pile of clothes was waiting for them, which was generously chosen by my servants Mileena and D’Vorah. I went to my room to change, and Yoongi waited for me to walk him back. However, Yoongi asked for me to stand by, and quickly went inside his room, stepping back out within a minute wearing a black sweater, sleeves lined with red and black stripes, along with ripped skinny jeans, the same outfit that had been laid out on his bed.
We stood there facing each other, standing awkwardly without saying a word or making eye contact. I opened my mouth to speak, but Yoongi was faster and unintentionally cut me off.
“Hey, can we just stay together for a little longer?” He said suddenly, his words coming out more like a beg rather than a request.
“Yeah, of course. Is everything okay?” I asked, notably concerned as I gently grabbed his arm to get his attention.
“I just…” He sighed and looked away, leaving me with a heavy feeling of guilt. No doubt about it, he was probably broken inside, having to stay away from friends and family to live a whole new life. Without saying anything, I grabbed his hand and pulled him to my room, and to the connecting balcony, where a perfect view of the night sky was awaiting us.
I sat down close to the edge, our hands still clasped together as he slowly sat beside me, inching closer to me as the moon finally began to reach its peak. Although I hesitated, I rested my head on his shoulder, moving up against him so his arm was draped around my shoulder, resting comfortably as he held me close. Minutes passed in silence, the overbearing beauty of the dark shades painting the sky speaking for us.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” I whispered, looking up to admire the sky, outlines of dragons soaring against the twinkling stars. Yoongi simply nodded and hummed in agreement, the deafening silence returning shortly. I glanced at him quickly, his eyes fixed on the distant stars.
“I still can’t believe this all existed, and we never even knew about it,” Yoongi suddenly said with a sigh.
“I’m sorry, but it was for good reason, though. If people in Earthrealm learned that this place exists, we’d all probably be caged in a zoo or taken into a science lab for experiments.”
“That’s why we decided to stay. It was clear that going back would just harm you.”
“Thank you, Yoongi,” I said sincerely, looking up as his obsidian orbs connected with mine.
“No problem, sugar,” He smiled, ruffling my hair lightly, his gummy smile creeping onto his lips.
“When are you going to stop calling me that?” I quietly laughed as flashbacks of our first meeting came to my mind.
I remember how embarrassed he was when he knocked open a sugar container onto me while I was kneeling beside him in the baking aisle, looking for a bag of chocolate chips on the bottom shelves. He was so cute when he was flustered, blushing like crazy and apologizing over and over again. He even tried to brush all the little specks of sugar out of my hair, and even though I told him it was fine, he insisted on paying for my stuff to make up for his clumsy act. After helping me with my bags back to my car, he asked for my phone and quickly typed something in my notes, then handed it back to me as he walked off with a wave. I’ll never forget how wide I had grinned at his few, sweet words.
My name’s Yoongi. Text me sometime, sugar.
I still can’t believe my quirky nickname came from such an embarrassing but memorable moment for the both of us. Now we look back on it and just laugh it off as if it was destined to be.
“Yah! Are you even listening to me?” Yoongi’s voice snapped me back into reality.
“Huh? What, oh sorry,” I sputtered, shaking my head as my mind finally wandered back to me.
“Were you daydreaming about me?” He teased, poking at my shoulder.
“What? No! God, you’re an idiot,” I groaned, swatting his hand away.
“Don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not, dumbass.”
“Hmm, I might just have to tickle the truth out of you.” He suddenly began to ruthlessly attack my sides with his fingers, causing me to squeal and stand up to evade his attacks, yet his hands kept following. I giggled and pushed his hands away, running away from him as he chased after me. With all of this excitement, I didn’t notice that I was nearing towards the edge of the platform, and when I did, I was too late, frantically trying to balance myself. Luckily, Yoongi was quick to catch me by my waist and pull me back away from the edge protectively, one of his hands traveling up to my cheek as worry overtook his dark, loving eyes. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, thank you,” I mumbled as he pulled me closer, pushing my head so I was now burying my face in his chest, his chin resting atop my head.
“God, you scared me. You almost got yourself killed.”
“I would’ve been fine, Yoongi.”
“Come on, let’s go inside.” With that, he gently grabbed my wrist and led me into my bedroom, which connected directly to the platform that was previously underneath our feet not too long ago. He was about to let go of me and exit the room, but I gently pulled him back, looking at him straight in the eyes.
“Is there anything else you wanted to know or ask for?”
“Uh, well… me and some of the others left their phones back in the dorm, and I was wondering if you could possibly get them.”
“Of course. I can send a retriever to collect them and be back by tomorrow morning. I could even tell them to get your laptop so you can still work on your music here.”
“Seriously? Thank you!” The smile on Yoongi’s lips was wider and brighter than any other smile I had ever seen. He suddenly threw his arms around me and lightly pecked my cheek, but quickly pulled away once he realized what he had done. “Ah, I-I’m sorry, I got excited.”
“It’s okay, Yoongs. You should go get some rest.” He nodded and left the room after hugging me one last time, leaving me alone with my overwhelming thoughts.
I sighed and fell onto my bed, not even making an effort to clean myself up. Pulling the vanilla scented blankets over myself, I let my eyes close, but sleep wasn’t able to come to me. My mind was busy running hundreds and hundreds of miles, filled with concerns and questions about the new future I inevitably brought to the boys.
They were innocent and untroubled, despite their heavy schedule and constant pressure from companies and the media. Here, they were free, but the emotional toll could be more grave than it was when they had normal lives.
With them living here, the world just got a whole lot bigger. I recited the skills and protocols they’d have to learn to be able to survive, and that’s when I realized what was in store for me. I’d have to teach them how to fight, how to fly, how to survive - but I didn’t even know myself if they had the heart to follow in my steps. They’d even eventually have to learn how to-
My thoughts were quickly cut off by a soft knock on my door. I propped myself up on my forearms and quickly fixed my hair, calling out to the person standing outside, their shadow seeping through the bottom opening of the closed door.
“Yes?” I yawned, shifting my eyes to the balcony doors when I realized how late it had gotten, the bright stars shimmering against the utter darkness of the sky. The person outside spoke.
“Maya, it’s Yoongi.”
“Oh, come in.”
The door slowly creaked open, and lo and behold, Yoongi stepped into the room, his tousled hair and pouty lips making him look irresistibly adorable, the white sheet wrapped around his body only adding to his softness. He closed the door behind him and adjusted the sheet as I spoke up to ask him what was bothering him.
“I can’t sleep,” He mumbled, rubbing his half-lidded eyes with his sweaty palms.
“Well, what do you want me to do about that?” I teased, but immediately recognized my mistake as I remembered how impossible it was to deal with Yoongi when he was grumpy - which was almost always when he was tired.
“Cute. Now move over.” Before I could say anything to protest, he threw his sheet over me and climbed onto the bed, crawling over me and collapsing beside me, pulling the sheet back over him, along with a good portion of my blanket I was previously covered with. I groaned and tugged it back, leaving him with only the sheet. As I was just beginning to fall asleep, I felt a shift in weight on the bed and realized that Yoongi had moved closer to me, his chest pressing against my back and his breath tickling the skin on my neck. “It’s cold.”
“Take some of my blanket and go to sleep,” I whined, throwing half of my blanket over to his side. Even with the extra warmth, Yoongi moved closer and slid his arms around my waist from behind, pulling me into his curled figure. I could feel the heat rushing to my cheeks, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell him off, and before I knew it, my eyes had closed and I had fallen fast asleep in his arms.
“I’ll spend forever wondering if you knew I was enchanted to meet you.”
summary: The realm under King Min’s rule had been under war for over thirty years, a war within the inhuman species with origins no one knows. Your presence was brought into awareness when found by the king under the rubble of your home. You are plunged into a world you had only ever seen from the outside, and don’t know how long you can last.
genre: soulmate au, fantasy au, dragon au,
pairing: Dragon King Yoongi x Human MC
status: coming soon (random updates)
warnings: starts in the middle of war, violence, angst, death, supernatural creatures, smut, dragon customs, dragon instincts, more to come
masterlist // taglist // playlist
COMING SUNDAY, APRIL 23RD 5PM PST
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Grabbing the supplies you needed and the soiled cloths, you begin to head for the river, since Lady Ahn refused to have you clean the sheets in the sinks. You were lucky not to run into any of the Lord’s family on your way out, your lungs able to breathe easier once you made it outside and away from the prying eyes of the family.
Oddly enough, you loved being outside, where only the trees and the stream could be heard. It helped you be calm, to ease your thoughts and feelings. It was something your mother used to do whenever you got too into your head. She would take you outside, to the lavender patch that resided just outside your small cottage.
“Darling, the earth beneath our feet can do so much more than just grow our food and provide shade from the sun. It can give power to our very souls.” Your mother would tell you as she braided daisies into your hair, something that always managed to calm you down.
“What power, mama?”
“The power to be calm, like the river that runs through the forest. To keep steady even in the face of destruction. But most of all, it gives you the power to live, to face whatever comes your way.” You never understood what she meant, but over time, you realize the peace you felt in the forest was more than enough to understand and take in.
You felt truly at peace when surrounded by the earth and her makings.
And it seemed as though the forest felt the same way, like it listened to your heart beat. You never had trouble walking, unlike your friends who always tripped over roots or broken branches. The flowers you picked always seemed to look the best or give off the strongest scent.
Even now, as you walked down the hill and to the river, the ground seemed to flatten as you advanced. You just figured you and the earth had some kind of understanding with each other.
Summary: It was close to winter, and your medicine was nearly complete for you to use. But when it came to, you helped another whose wounds were life threatening. Now, random items kept showing up on your porch, with each item bringing you closer to the creature you healed. And when he returned, he saved you. Now, with him, you felt like you were home.
You had been raised by your grandmother, the village healer, and had known the signs of sickness well. You helped your grandmother many times, healing various people within the community.
People had even come from lands over for the opportunity to be healed by your grandmother, her talent talked about my numerous travelers over the years. It was amazing, watching her heal the sick and wounded, and your attraction to healing helped you to grow as well. Soon enough, you had become a healer, taking over for the village after your grandmother passed on a couple of winters ago.
But now, it was you that was sick, and you were missing ingredients that you knew would help. Your breathing was beginning to be hoarse, the longer you tried to find the elderberries you grew up picking.
There had been an elderberry tree just a few yards within the woods where your grandmother lived, her reason for building her home here. Elderberries were a sort of, heal all. They were good with healing pretty much any ailment, especially those from sickness. It was nearing winter, and soon enough, the berries would be gone.
You were bundled up in your warmest coat, despite it doing nothing to keep away the chill you felt in your bones. You had to wait until night to search, the townspeople frequenting your home and taking advantage of your kindness. Only this morning you had your arm grabbed, bruises coating the inside of your arm.
You did not have the herb they had needed, and they had become mad. You had grown tired of your village, your home. It hadn’t felt like home in a long time. You had also heard of the things they had been saying. How you practiced magic, just like your grandmother. That you were unwed and un-courted, something odd for your twenty-six years. You helped these people heal, and they treated you without respect.
Rubbing the bruises, you searched for the signs of an elderberry tree, searching for the dark colored barriers you needed. You hoped you could find them soon, or you might not survive to see the spring.
Eventually, and thankfully, you found a small tree, what seemed like a couple handfuls of berries remained on the limbs of the tree. You sighed in relief, before almost running to the tree, your bag in hand as you began to take what you needed. Unfortunately, you cleaned the tree, but left a single berry. You left the berry in the hopes that a new tree would grow eventually.
Trying to remember where the tree was located, you left to return home, where you would be able to make a paste that would help your sickness to heal. Your trip only took thirty minutes, meaning you had plenty of time to make the paste before morning when more villagers would return demanding services without pay.
The paste wasn’t hard to make, it being one of your grandmother’s easier recipes. Crushed elderberries, dried and crushed chamomile, crushed echinacea root, aloe vera, and some other crushed herbs depending on the illness that is added upon use. The paste was thick, but malleable and was one of the less used medicine’s your grandmother created. However, it was something you could tell you needed.
Once morning came, it wasn’t long before you were greeted by the sight of Mr. Lee, one of the more…popular villagers. He ran the town’s market and was one of the main men who complained about your status.
“Good morning Mr. Lee. What can I help you with today?” You spoke, tired from your long night but aware you couldn’t make him any more upset than you already have.
“Well, you could tell me where you were last night.” His words were short but held charisma that he hoped you would fall for.
“Excuse me?” Soft spoken, you took a step back, turning towards your kitchen where you held most of your herbs and spices. You were still facing him, however, not wanting to turn your back to the man.
“I had come by last night to see how you were faring, wanted to check in on you, out her all alone. But you were not home. I waited for a little while.” He came closer with each word, not realizing at all that you did not feel comfortable near the much larger man.
“I’m sorry Mr. Lee, but I don’t think that’s any of your business. If you do not need anything, I have a tea that I need to make for Mrs. Min.” Grabbing your mortar and pestle, you began to crush the chamomile plants into a fine powder.
However, he didn’t take the hint, instead choosing to lean on your wall and watch you work. It made you uncomfortable with the way he looked at you, his eyes on your body. But you didn’t stop. You continued your work, trying to show him that he didn’t bother you. And it worked; you finished the tea bags just as someone knocked on the door.
Mrs. Min was a sweet older woman who had been friends with your grandmother. She lived with her ailing husband and two grandchildren, their parents passing from a sickness two winter’s back. The tea was supposed to be for her husband, but you knew she would drink it as well, making her extra bags.
“Hello darling. I didn’t know what time to come over, but I brought you some breakfast.” Mrs. Min spoke as soon as you opened the door, a basket of fresh baked bread loaves and a jar of strawberry jam, your favorite.
“Thank you so much, Mrs. Min. Please come in! I just finished your tea bags.” You welcomed her in with a hug, helping her to your couch so she could sit. You ignored the looks from Mr. Lee, choosing instead to place your attention in bagging up the tea bags for Mrs. Min in her basket after placing the bread and jam on your counter.
“I am so sorry if I am interrupting something, dear! I didn’t know you would have company this early.” Mrs. Min states, sounding sorry as she begins to try and stand from her seat.
“Oh please, don’t worry about it, Mrs. Min. Mr. Lee was just leaving.” You say nonchalantly, giving Mr. Lee a look as you gesture to the door with your eyes. You didn’t want him here any longer than necessary.
“Yes, Mrs. Min, I was just leaving.” He doesn’t even say goodbye as he makes his way to the door, slamming it behind him.
You both cringe at the loud sound, watching as your door shakes in his wake. You roll your eyes before giving Mrs. Min her basket, to which she places on the floor by her feet. You sit next to her, knowing by the look in her eyes that she has more to say.
“Y/n, dear, you know you are worth so much more than this little town.” She reaches forward, grasping your hands in her own. You just smile, remembering every single time she has told you this over the years.
“Those damned men don’t realize that you are way better than them. You’ll find someone someday who will treat you like the goddess you are.” She says with anger and pride, a grit to her words.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if some dragon picks you up and brings you to their hoard. The most amazing human I know.” The pride is radiating from her frail body, shaking your hands as she speaks for emphasis. You just laugh, thinking the idea ridiculous.
“Okay Mrs. Min. Why don’t we get you home so that Mr. Min can have some of the tea. I’ve also snuck in some berries I found for the kids. Tell them I say hi.”
-*-*-
You had just finished chilling the paste, waiting all day for it to harden in the glass jar you placed it in. Taking it out of the ice bath, you bring it to your counter, opening it up and moving to grab a cloth so you could spread it on your chest when you heard a cry sound from outside.
At that sound, you rushed outside, listening for the cry again.
“Hello! Is anyone there?” You yell out, only to hear a crash from beyond the tree line. Running forward, you come face to face with a large creature, wings covering its body as it curls up, a growl beginning to form from its lip.
You raise your arms up, showing you mean no harm, and start moving forward slowly. It growls again, but you keep moving forward once you see the large cut on the side near its wings. The skin torn open and bleeding badly.
“Please. I just want to help. I am a healer and you are injured. I don’t want it to get infected.” You whisper, not wanting to scare the dragon. After a couple of seconds of watching you, the dragon turns its head, seemingly giving you the okay to come forward.
You do so, getting close enough to see the wound. There was some debris in the wound, meaning it would need to be cleaned. Other than that, you could see it wasn’t that deep, not needing stitches of any sort, but it would take a couple of days to heal. You weren’t familiar with dragons healing nor if they had any supernatural healing, so that was your best guess at the moment.
“I need to go back home and grab some clothes and some water to clean your wound.” You begin, soon realizing he would need some healing paste if the debris coming from the wound meant anything. The specific plant is known to stop healing, and you needed to counteract that. The only thing you had that would do that, is the elderberry paste you just made.
“And I have a paste I can use to make sure your wound heals. Please, don’t go anywhere.” You get up to leave when the dragon behind you makes a snort, as if telling you I won’t be going anywhere tiny human.
It takes you less than five minutes to gather your materials, a couple extra clothes just in case. You didn’t have a lantern or extra candle you could take, so you just hoped there was enough sunlight left for you to work properly.
The dragon was still there, surprisingly listening to you. You had only encountered a creature once before, a half human fairy who had stumbled across your home after escaping a hunter a couple springs back. You had helped heal them, and every spring since, they had come to visit, helping you to plant new herbs and plants in your garden, making sure it grew nicely.
Setting your things down, you slowly began to clean out the dragon’s wound, making sure not to touch him more than needed as you knew dragons could be weary of humans. He only flinched a couple of times, in the beginning, but it seemed he got used to your touch.
Yoongi had been looking for new places to plunder when he encountered a couple of hunters, their arrows doing their best to pierce his scales, only one taking to him. The arrow pierced right under his wing, not going too deep but causing his wing to tighten, making him fall through the treetops. His tried to quiet his pained cries, but the silly human girl heard him. He had thought he was still a mile out from where the nearest human village was, but he was wrong.
He watched you, even when you thought he wasn’t. He wasn’t stupid enough to leave himself unguarded near the human. But he could sense no ulterior motives, not deceit in your scent. He could only scent the worry dripping from your pores, as if you actually cared if he lived or died. It shocked him, seeing this human use her own things to heal him, a beast.
After a while, as you began to apply the dark paste to his wound, he began to truly watch you. He noticed the freckles that seemed to lie across the bridge of your nose, how your tongue seemed to stick out from behind your lips when you were concentrating. It was cute, he thought. You also seemed to know what you were doing, the paste already accelerating his healing as you rubbed it into his wound.
The only thing that had him changing his mind on you, was the scent coming from within. It was cold and reminded him of the thorn bush that resided outside of his cave, scratchy and irritating. He didn’t know what it meant, but he could only guess by the way you seemed to wheeze every time you took a breath in.
He wondered if you knew you were sick, if you knew you were becoming weak with every passing day. For some reason, the dragon felt himself wanting to help you. The tiniest part becoming protective of the human who helped him. It was because he didn’t like owing anyone, he thought. He only wanted to help because he didn’t want to have to owe you anything.
And as you bid him goodnight, after trying to get him to stay, he left to his home, already thinking through the different medicinal jars he had in his hoard that could help.
The following morning, you had woken up early, hoping to look through what plants you had left in the garden to harvest when you almost tripped on something in front of your door. It was a small jar, the cream-colored paste something you haven’t seen before. A small note was underneath, telling you to apply it two times a day to your chest, letting it soak before wiping it off your skin.
You were confused, but the dragon you saved last night came to mind, wondering if he was the one who brought this as there was no name on the note. You smiled a little, not aware of the same dragon, now in human form, watching you from beyond the tree line. He had wanted to make sure you got the healing paste and was proud to see the smile form on your lips.
He couldn’t help but to feel proud that he brought the smile to your lips, that he was able to help. It was a weird feeling for him, to want to help you when he remained solitary for many centuries. It was like he was drawn to you, the need to be near you and protect you coming from deep within.
-*-*-
Over the next couple months, deep into winter, Yoongi continued to bring you different things from his hoard. Jewels, different herbs that you couldn’t find, meat and bread he had taken from a couple villages over. You, of course, had known who was bringing you the items, seeing him as your guardian dragon. Even the thought of the dragon made you smile.
After the fifth time he had brought you something, you had caught a glimpse of him, his dark hair that almost covered his eyes which were even more mesmerizing. You were completely drawn in, whether you liked it or not. You felt warm when he was near, felt safe knowing he was watching.
And watching he did. He made sure you had extra wood on your porch when he noticed you running low. He made sure you always had bread and medicine and even catered to your sweet tooth, bringing you some chocolates from the neighboring village.
He also watched, one morning, when Mr. Lee showed back up.
“Mr. Lee, what are you doing here?” You had opened your door one evening to find Mr. Lee, drunk, on your front porch. He was leaning on the door frame, watching you cover yourself in your robe, not having expected anyone to show up after dark.
“I just thought you might like some company, maybe I can help keep you warm?” His smirk made you shiver, the need to curl up growing as you tried to close the door. His hand stopped you, the force of his push sending you back a little.
“Now, darling. Why are you playing so hard to get. I thought you liked the company?” He closed the front door behind him, the look in his eye scaring you. You moved behind your couch, trying to put some distance between you two.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Mr. Lee. I think you need to leave.” Your voice wavers as you speak, and the scent of your fear catches Yoongi, who was on his way to check up on you again, making him fly faster.
“Don’t play stupid. I’ve been trying to have you for years, and Old Man Kim tells me he has seen some man come here, again and again, always leaving with a smile.” Mr. Lee moves closer, almost lunging for you but you manage to move away before he can get his hand on you.
You try to move away from the couch, and into the kitchen, but Mr. Lee catches you as you slip on the rug under your table. His arms wrap around your middle, his lips near your neck as he continues.
“You don’t have to go to some man for attention. I am right here. You could have it all, the best man in the village, but no. You let some random man take up space in your bed. Well, if I can’t have you, then I don’t think anyone can.” His grip begins to tighten around you, but before he could do anything, your backdoor swings open, a loud growl taking up the silence of your small home.
“Ohhh, you’ve been sleeping with a beast?” Mr. Lee had immediately noticed the horns coming out from the top of the man’s skull, his teeth elongating at the sight of him holding onto you. He couldn’t help but laugh, now seeing what kind of person you were entangled with.
“Let go of her.” Yoongi’s voice was deep, an underlining growl to his words. You could even see a bit of steam leave his lips, letting you know just how angry he really was. The biggest indicator though, was his golden eyes, as if there was fire hidden beneath his pupils. Yoongi was ready to tear into the man holding you. Only he should be able to touch you. You were his. And he didn’t like to share.
“Beast! You dare try and keep my woman from me.” Another growl tore through Yoongi’s lips, this time, you could see a little bit of fire in the pit of his throat. Before Mr. Lee could say anything else against him, Yoongi had already lunged, ripping you from the man’s arms and moving so he stood protectively in front of you.
Mr. Lee was terrified, but drunk, and his confidence and stupidity won over his brain as he tried to move forward, a punch aimed for Yoongi that never connected. He cried out as Yoongi crushed his fist in his hand, turning his wrist until the pain shot up his arm. With a shove, Mr. Lee was on the floor, being dragged by Yoongi until he was outside, laying face first in the snow.
After he slammed the door shut and bolted your locks, Yoongi was holding you to him, looking you over for any sign of injury. He was enraged that someone had the nerve to think you were theirs. He hasn’t seen anyone come near your house in months. He was the one taking care of you, making sure you had food and heat. How dare they assume you were anything but his?
“Hello my dragon.” Your voice is soft, and it feels soothing to finally hear it up close. Its then that he realizes you don’t know his name, despite knowing yours.
“Yoongi.” He tells you, listening to you repeat it back to him, shivers growing up his spine at the way his name sounds leaving your lips. He moves his hand up, cupping your cheek. His touch was soft, despite the fire still moving behind his eyes. You leaned into his palm, letting his hand hold your head up. You couldn’t help but to want to move closer to him, instead of the probable foot distance between you.
“He is going to come back.” You warned him, knowing he might not be here next time to protect you. And if you knew Mr. Lee as well as you thought you did, he would come back with a vengeance.
“And you won’t be here when he does.” My god, he loved the way your eyes furrowed in confusion, how you tilted your head as you looked up at him. Before you could even ask, he began to explain himself.
“I’m bringing you home with me. I can’t protect you here.” You already knew what you would do, what stuff you might need to bring with you. You would never say no to him, not when you feel the connection between you two so deeply.
You were quick to agree, moving to grab what you knew you needed and couldn’t go without. Yoongi helped you carry your bags, moving you fast through the forest as he began to hear villagers get closer to your home. He knew they would come for him and have no qualms about hurting you in the process.
Once you made it far enough away, he was quick to shift, his snout nudging you onto his back as he picked your bags up in his teeth. You held tightly onto his spiked spine, assuring him you wouldn’t fall as he rose through the top of the trees, souring over the land.
He loved the laughter that erupted from you as you flew over the sea. His cave was a good half-day journey from where you resided and hidden from the world. It was his sanctuary and was now it was yours as well.
However, that didn’t seem correct. His cave wasn’t so much his home anymore, hadn’t felt that way in a while.
The smile on your lips as you walked into his cave, the look of pure wonder in your eyes, that is what brought him warmth. He tried not to think that way, be he hadn’t stopped in a while. He knew what you were to him, and what he hoped he was for you.
You were his home.
You were where he drew comfort from. The warmth your smile brought him gave him more to live off of than his hoard. You held his entire heart in your eyes, and you didn’t even realize it. He would do anything to just catch even a tiny glimpse of the dimples he knew resided in your cheeks.
Just as long as you looked at him with the same look of love in your eyes, he knew he would always be home.
Summary: After leaving your home in need of a fresh start, you open a bookstore with the hopes that the words you read could bring you solace. You never realized that the books you loved would bring you home instead.
Pairing: BTS x Reader
Genre: Mafia/Dragon AU
Status: Ongoing
Word Count: 7.7k
Warnings: depictions of violence, smut, death, sexual assault, insecurities, anxiety, polyamory, trauma, mentions of blood
*Please remember that this is a mafia fan fiction. There will be violence, blood, and other dark themes. If you cannot handle the dark themes, please do not read*
this chapter is sort of a filler. I am using this to give you insight into the relationship and courtship between the mc and the boys. honestly filled with a bunch of fluff.
Masterlist // Chapter 2 // Chapter 4
—————————————————
It was that night when you got the first real look of the boys and what they do for their business.
You were relaxing on the couch, almost completely beneath Jungkook who decided your chest was a “comfy pillow”, his weight mimicking the feeling of a weighted blanket, and close to falling asleep listening to Jin cook in the kitchen when the front doors opened. Mr. Choi led the people in, well, he followed behind the people who couldn’t wait for him to open the doors fully.
You jolted from your position at the sound of the footsteps making their way to where you were, causing Jungkook to hide your body with his own, his head turning to look at the intruders, eyes narrowed and showing his dragon is in control. The others quickly follow suit, moving to stand in front of the couch, blocking your view of the men, and their view of you.
“Jung, Kim. What have I said about barging into my home? You are supposed to call before even stepping foot onto my property.” Namjoon’s voice was rigid and void of emotion as he spoke, you could see his jaw locking as he stared at the men. You try to move a little bit so you could peek around Yoongi’s body but a little growl from Jungkook keeps you still.
“We are sorry Sirs. But we have a problem.” A small voice speaks back quickly.
“I’ll determine if it is a problem or not.” Namjoon is quick to reply, motioning for the men to speak.
“Our gun deal was a trap. We were ambushed. Seo was in the middle of making sure the man had our money when shots started raining in from the top of the storage units. The guy ran off with half the guns, and about twenty of our men didn’t make it. Seo being one of them.” You stifled a gasp at the man’s words, making Jungkook turn his attention to you.
He was trying to keep your attention off the interaction, caressing your face with his fingers as he moved to place soft kisses on your jaw. But that just made you gasp again, his mouth meeting a spot just below your jaw. You felt him smirk into your skin, now placing open mouthed kisses as he continued to explore your neck, looking for the perfect spot to place his mark.
You could vaguely hear the conversation taking place, your focus on your surroundings weaning as your body warms, aroused by the sensation of Jungkook sucking marks onto your skin.
You had not forgotten about yesterday’s events and neither had Jungkook, who was determined to cover the bruises on your neck with one’s of his own making. He almost wished that man was still alive, just so he could play around with him before his demise. Instead, he would settle with knowing his ministrations would bring you pleasure and prove to the world you were theirs.
He growls into your neck at his thoughts. You were theirs just as much as they were yours. That thought alone made him hard, his tip already leaking in anticipation.
You gasp as you feel him bite on the skin of your shoulder, his tongue working to soothe the red skin. You don’t understand your feelings, goosebumps making themselves known all over your skin as you bare your neck even more for him. You don’t know why you are moving so fast with them, when you just found out about their bond with you. You feel like you should be moving slow, getting to know them before letting them mark and suck at your skin. But you can’t help it.
“Is that a woman gasping?” One of the men ask, moving to the side to see behind his bosses as he hears your reactions to Jungkook. He stops when a gun is pointed at him by Taehyung, the man not in the mood for the lackey’s games and certainly not wanting the man to lay eyes on his mates in such a vulnerable position.
Soon enough the men leave and the boys turn around to find you and Jungkook on the couch, a grin on his face as you try to catch your breath, a large mark on your neck from Jungkook’s actions while your face is flushed.
“Jungkook, next time, wait until they are gone.” Jin states, hand on his hip as he watches his mate try to fake an innocent expression. Jungkook slowly moves off of you, bringing you up into a sitting position.
“But hyung! I was trying to keep her attention on me so she didn’t hear the details.” Jungkook says, a little whine coming on at the end.
“You took her attention all right.” Jimin mutters under his breath, still upset that he didn’t get the chance to kiss you when you guys were alone this morning.
Jimin knew that you would begin to feel the bond more now that you had accepted them and were near them. He was just waiting for your soul to push you to complete the bond. While he wanted you to make the conscious choice to mate with them, he also didn’t want to see you go through the pain of the pull.
Your constant need to be near one of them was already a little concerning, given your previous slight aversion to physical touch. Not that any of them were complaining given their dragon’s need to be near you, but this meant that the bond was pushing you quicker than they thought.
“Jin’s right. Next time just take her out of the room. Only we should be able to hear the noises she makes.” Namjoon looks at Jungkook, his words making you blush. You don’t understand how they can just be so blunt about things like that.
You can feel your face becoming red, the heat from earlier turning into embarrassment know that you are realizing that those men heard your gasps. You groan, bringing your hands to cover your face, resting your elbows on your knees. You don’t think you can look anyone in the eye ever again.
“Aww, look. Our baby mate is embarrassed.” Hobi coos, leaning on Yoongi as they see the blush making its way down your neck. Yoongi can’t help but to think about how flustered you were getting after learning you weren’t as quiet as you wished. He couldn’t wait to see how flustered you got after mating with you; would you still be embarrassed after that?
“Okay guys let’s leave her alone. We all know this is new for her. Plus, she will get used to everything soon.” Jin spoke, making his way to you and helping you off the couch.
“Let’s get you to bed. You have work tomorrow morning.” He maneuvers you to the staircase, before turning around to look at Jungkook, his earlier actions evident as his cock is now leaving a small wet patch on his sweats.
“While I’m gone, someone help Jungkook with his mess.”
-*-*-
Despite being the first one at the shop, you were still late by your own standards. You had woken up on time that morning, but Jimin had insisted on you staying in the bed he snuck into the night before, claiming his “need to cuddle” was a health risk and he could die if he didn’t get my cuddles.
You needed Jin and Namjoon’s help just to get his arms off of you, his strength clearly overpowering your own and making it difficult to fight against his grip. Then, when you tried using the make-up one of their maids as brought you, Jungkook found out and proceeded to wipe off the make-up you spent a half hour covering.
“How are people supposed to know you are ours if you are covering up our marks?” He spoke softly to you, almost scolding you as he used his spit to rub at your neck.
You didn’t know that it was also his own way to make sure his scent remained on you even with your perfume. You had to hold in your gag at the thought of his saliva all over your neck, but them remembered that his saliva was also on your skin last night when he made the marks on your neck.
Jungkook elected to ignore the blush creeping up your cheeks, instead promised to make new marks if you covered the ones already there with make-up.
So now you were walking into the café with a large scarf covering your neck to make your usual tea. It had been two days since you had been here, and you can already tell that Jiah and Seojoon had tried to make a large dent in the shipment you had received yesterday morning. You had tried to come in yesterday, but none of the boys or Chaeyeon would let you, Yoongi effectively “losing your store keys”.
A sigh escapes your lips as you place the mug of tea onto the counter, looking at the three large boxes of books and magazines that still needed to be unpacked and put away. You know it is going to take you several hours, if not the whole day, to effectively put the books away.
A loud ding makes its way to your ears, the front door opening and Chaeyeon walking through, her phone in hand as she talks. She pauses as she sees you, a slight raise to her eyebrow as she moves to place her things in the back.
When she moves back to the front, you are already entangled in opening the boxes and cataloging the new inventory. Your system consisted of a single notebook that belonged to your grandmother, one of the only things to survive the fire. Some of the pages were scorched and charred while most of the pages remained the same, your grandmother and grandfather’s handwriting still eligible in their perfected script.
The notebook was the most efficient way, for you, to catalog everything. It is also one of the reasons Seojoon calls you an old woman, complaining about your lack of technology in the shop and how useful websites were when keeping inventory. You didn’t care. He could pry your notebook from you dead hands if he so badly wanted to bring computers into your shop.
A couple hours pass by as you and Jiah continue to work on the inventory, not even making a dent in the first box. Chaeyeon helped when she could, but more and more customers were coming in for coffee and you still had a shop to run. Today seemed to become a busy day as you were constantly helping customers find books and giving other’s recommendations for books.
You were slowly starting to become overwhelmed, everything beginning to bother you. Stripping yourself of your sweater, you slowly pat your arm hoping to stop the itching without damaging the slowly healing skin. Moving back to your stack of books, you pick up a couple of Harper Lee books and maneuver your way through a couple aisles to put them away.
Once done, you turn to make you way back to Jiah when you walk into a solid wall… or chest. You clutch at your chest, willing your heart to slow down.
“Oops. Pardon me. I didn’t mean to scare you.” The man moves closer to you, reaching around you to grab one of the books behind you on the shelf. Your breath hitches at his proximity, his nose almost touching your own, making you turn your head to the side to avoid him. When he pulls back, you are quick to move to the side, creating distance between you and the man.
You watch him as he turns to you, his smile turning into a smirk. The vibes you were getting from this man were making the hair on your arms stand straight, a cold chill going down your back. The man, book still in hand, takes a step towards you, and continues to move forward until your back is against another shelf.
“Why are you nervous? I was just trying to get a book.” He asks, voice low and raspy as he speaks. He grabs your wrist and brings it up to your chest, using the leverage to keep you in place.
“Please let go of me.” You demand, trying to pull your arm from his grasp. His grip only tightens at your movements. Flashbacks to the alley cover your vision, the feeling of hands gripping your neck and moving down your torso has you tensing your back. You try to move your head away from the man holding your wrist, his eyes watching your every move and the look on his face making you nauseas.
“Now why should I do that? You seem to like it when those other men touch you.” His words make you freeze for a second. Is he talking about Bangtan?
“Let me go.” You respond, choosing to ignore his words.
“I don’t think I will.”
“I think you will let go of her.”
Your head turns to the side to see Jimin and Hobi at the entrance to the aisle you were in, flowers and a bag of food in hand. You swear for a second you see their eyes flash red before they start walking to you. The man in front of you still hasn’t let go of your arm, instead, he moves so that he is facing the two men.
Seeing the man’s hand still holding your wrist, Hobi moves forward and pulls the man off of you, yanking you behind him and putting himself in between you and the man, Jimin quickly coming to your side.
“Now here is how it is going to go. You are going to walk away, and out of the store. You are not going to come within 50 feet of the building and are not going to come near our girl again.” Jimin speaks, his tone low and deep. You can’t deny the possessive nature of the boys isn’t attractive as hell, especially when they call you ‘their girl’.
You watch the man’s face become red, his hands clenching into fists. Your own grip tightens as you hold onto the back of Hobi’s shirt.
“Your girl? How good is she if you all pass her around like a toy?” At his words, you can feel Hobi’s chest vibrate, what you can imagine as the beginning of a growl moves through is chest. Slowly, the man’s face becomes blank, his skin becoming pale as he takes a step back. You scrunch your nose in confusion, wondering what happened to make the man become so pale.
“You have ten seconds to leave.” Hobi states before moving his hand up and counting down with his fingers. The man quickly moves, almost tripping over his own feet as he disappears behind the end of the shelves. Once out of sight, Jimin and Hobi turn around, smiles on their face as they wrap their arms around you.
“Hey baby girl. We brought you some lunch. Chaeyeon told us how busy you were and so we figured you hadn’t eaten anything yet.” Jimin said, holding up the bag of food Jin so clearly made. You were stunned by their quick change in emotions, curious to how someone’s emotions can change so quickly and so drastically.
“I..uh..what? How did you get him to leave so quickly?” You look up at Hobi as he takes your hand and walks with you to the front.
“It was nothing, baby.” He states, waving his other hand in indifference.
-*-*-
You push open the door to your apartment after leaving the shop for the night only to come face to face with your living room and kitchen being filled with bouquets of roses, sunflowers, and daisies. You pause in the doorway, Chaeyeon stumbling into your back as your mouth hangs open in shock.
“Hey why did you just—” The words get caught in Chaeyeon’s throat upon seeing the expanse if the room covered floor to ceiling in vases of flowers. You hear the jingling of your keys as they fall out of your hand, the impact of them hitting your foot breaking you out of your stupor.
“Oh my…” You whisper, slowly making your way to the nearest bouquet resting on the small table in your entryway. You see a small card resting in between a couple of the roses within the vase, picking it up to see a small note written in beautiful calligraphy.
Little One,
We hope you find the flowers as beautiful and ethereal as we find you.
Please remember to eat dinner and get lots of rest.
Love,
Your Mates
You couldn’t help but blush, feeling the warmth climb up your cheeks as you reread the note again and again. You couldn’t believe that they were going out of their way to do something like this. Reading the note for the last time, you figure out that either Jin or Yoongi were the ones who wrote it, given the wording of the last sentence. Those two are always making sure you are taking care of yourself.
“So, I’m guessing by the blush taking over your face and neck that your boyfriends decided to take a page out of one of the romance novels my mom likes to read and send you enough roses to last a couple of years that will go bad within a couple of days because neither of us have a green thumb and can barely keep ourselves alive?” You choke on your saliva at your best friend’s words, the blunt words making you almost short circuit.
“I’ll take that as a yes.” She says before walking away to the kitchen, maneuvering through all the vases. You look around at all the flowers, trying to figure out what you are going to do with them; they can’t all stay here when you can barely walk through your apartment.
The doorbell ringing brings you out of your planning. You make your way to open the door, seeing a gentleman in a nice suit holding a tray in front of you, a box resting on the top.
“Miss Kim?” The man asks, not once looking you in the eye, his head bowed.
“Um, yes?” You say, your tone rising slightly at the end, questioning his existence, and wondering what this man is doing in front of your door.
The suited man doesn’t respond, he just holds the tray in front of him, both hands underneath the tray, moving forward indication you to take the box from the tray. You wait a couple seconds before reaching for the box. The box is slightly heavy in your hands, the bottom emitting heat making your hands warm.
The man doesn’t say anything else, just bows deep before making his way back towards the staircase.
“What the heck is going on?” You ask yourself, turning back around and making your way to Chaeyeon after closing and locking your front door again. You sit at the counter, placing the box on top and trying to open it.
“What is that?” You hear Chaeyeon ask from your right side, watching you open the box.
Upon practically ripping open the lid of the box, you and Chaeyeon are shocked by the amount of food resting inside the container. Bowls of noodles and rice covered the bottom while small containers of sauces and meat laid on top. There was more food in the box, than you and Chaeyeon could eat in a week! Chaeyeon reaches forward, snatching up a note that you missed, reading it out loud.
Baby Girl,
I know you would forget to eat if we didn’t send food for you.
Please eat lots and don’t forget to tell me how good the food is!
Your Jin.
p.s. Chaeyeon can eat the food too.
-- Yoongi
How on earth did they think you would be able to finish this for a single meal?
“Did they really think I wouldn’t eat the food just because they told me not too? How dumb can they be? I don’t need their permission to eat the food they send you, especially when they send you enough rations to last you three weeks!” She rants, opening the containers and bringing a piece of meat to her mouth.
You can’t help but laugh at her, trying to cover it up with a cough as you grab some of the noodles out of the container.
“Why do you think they are doing all this?” Chaeyeon questions, gesturing to the room full of flowers and the food on the counter.
“I honestly have no clue.” You reply softly, resting your head on your palm as you continue to eat your noodles.
-*-*-
“Jin, you sent dinner for her, correct?” Namjoon looks towards his oldest mate, trying to make sure they were following the courting procedures properly.
“Yes. Unfortunately, Yoongi wrote a note on the bottom saying that Chaeyeon could eat the food as well.” Jin grumbles towards the end, his arms crossed and brows furrowed in disappointment.
He wasn’t happy that the food he made for you was being eaten by someone else. He needed to make sure you were eating properly and couldn’t stand that Yoongi did what he did.
“Jin, I already told you, Y/N would have found it weird and would have been upset if we sent food only for her and not Chaeyeon as well. Chaeyeon is basically her sister and Y/N would do anything for her. If we don’t respect their relationship, neither of them will ever agree to our relationship with Y/N.” Yoongi had already had this discussion with them multiple times, but his mates were getting carried away with trying to woo you and prove that they could be good mates and take care of you.
They had been planning for over a week now how they wanted to court you, eventually deciding on the traditional dragon route; proving to the prospected mate that the courting dragons can provide anything they need or desire. This is usually done with gifts, food, and making sure that everyone else knows that you are being courted. Sometimes done in the form of jewelry or marks on the open skin, the ‘possession’ is to prove that you are taken.
While dragons are naturally possessive over their belongings, a mated or courting dragon can become borderline obsessive, doing everything in their power to make you theirs. And after the incident with Jimin and Hoseok at your bookstore, the boys had become enraged.
It didn’t take long for Jungkook to find the man who dared to touch you. When Jimin and Hoseok returned home, the seven of them made their way to the man’s home, making sure that he wouldn’t be going near you in the future. Unfortunately, or fortunately in Yoongi’s opinion, Jungkook and Taehyung went a little overboard in their ministrations.
“Yoongi is right. We can’t possibly hope to complete the bond with Y/N if we don’t act accordingly with Chaeyeon. I know our main priority is our mate, but her friend means everything to Y/N, and we need to respect that.” Namjoon pauses before looking towards Jin, who is still pouting in his reclining chair.
“Jin, next time, don’t go overboard with making food for Y/N.” Jin tries to object but Namjoon holds his hand up, stopping Jin in his seat.
They all agreed to have Jin make meals to send to you, not trusting anyone else to make food for their baby mate. However, they also didn’t realize how seriously Jin would take this, making over two pounds worth of noodles and almost eight pounds worth of rice, not to mention the amount of meat he grilled. You could never possibly eat all of that food in a single setting, the exact reason Yoongi tried to make it better and write on the note that the food is also for Chaeyeon.
Namjoon turns to ask Yoongi a question but stops when he sees Jungkook raising his hand.
“Yes, Jungkook?” He asks, eyebrow raised in amusement.
“Do you think she would like diamonds or pearls?” He holds up his tablet, showing a couple of different images of necklaces, trying to decide which one you would like more.
“Jungkookie, Y/N seems to favor simpler fashion pieces. She doesn’t wear jewelry and often chooses comfort over fashion. I would go with a simple diamond necklace.” Taehyung answers, grabbing the tablet from Jungkook’s hands, swiping through the different options on the website Jungkook had up.
“Will the necklace have our names on it? We need everyone to know to not touch what is ours. Especially after the incident today. Maybe have the necklace engraved with Bangtan. That way everyone will know that she is ours.” Jimin spoke up, moving to stand behind Taehyung and Jungkook to look at the array of necklaces.
Despite wanting you to have independence and the option to make your own choices, Yoongi was quickly overruled by the side of himself that wants you to be completely dependent on them and proudly show the world you were their mate.
-*-*-
Over the next week, you had woken up to multiple packages on your doorstep. Most of the time it was breakfast for you and Chaeyeon, but other times it was jewels and clothing from stores you would have never even walked in front of let alone stepped foot inside. They would also send you boxes of self-care items, medicines, and creams for your burn. You had told them off-handedly that you thought you were becoming sick with how much your body was aching.
You were quickly becoming uncomfortable with the amount of money you knew they were spending on you and made sure to explain to them that you wouldn’t accept any more gifts from them.
You had shown up to their ‘house’ one morning before they could leave another package on your doorstep holding the same package from yesterday morning, the label Gucci making you almost carry the box with gloves so you don’t get germs on the expensive packaging.
Before you could even open the door, Mr. Choi was there, a sweet smile on his face upon seeing you about to knock on the door. After awkwardly moving your hand back down to your side, he moves to gesture you inside.
“The Sir’s have been expecting you miss.” You quirk your eyebrow up, questioning how they knew you would show up to their house at 5 in the morning. You nod, entering after thanking the man.
“The Sir’s are up in the library, Madam.”
“Thank you, Mr. Choi.” You smile warmly at him before making your way up the stairs. The box unmoving in your hands as you knock on the door to the library, trying not o jostle whatever expansive item was resting inside. The door opened only seconds after you knocked, as if the person inside was waiting right next to the door.
“Y/N-ie!! You’re here! I missed you!” You were quickly tackled by Taehyung, his arms wrapped tight around your waist, the box in your arm becoming squished as he moves his face into your neck, placing small kisses on the expanse of your skin.
“Okay Taehyung. Quit hogging our sweet mate. She doesn’t want your grimy hands all over her!” You hear Jimin yell, pulling Taehyung off of you and quickly replacing him.
“Hi baby. We missed you.” He whispers from his place in your neck, his head rubbing against your shoulder and neck where Taehyung was kissing.
You had long understood their need to scent you, as explained by Namjoon when Jungkook had decided to cover your neck with his, uh, kisses, that one morning. You were a little disgusted at first, but after learning it was their natural instinct to scent you, even with some questionable methods, you were slowly learning to accept it.
However, you had told Jungkook that if he ever decided to do that again, he wouldn’t be allowed to scent you for a week, to which he pleaded and apologized.
Namjoon also explained to me that Jungkook is more connected to his dragon counterpart and thus is instincts and actions can be more that of his dragon. He will be more possessive than the rest of them, and he is more intense with his need to scent and protect his mates.
“It may be worse with you, given that you are younger than him, and the first mate he will be able to court.” Namjoon had said that morning, watching you try to cover your neck with the top of your hoodie.
Now, you were becoming used to their scenting, almost liking the way they needed to “have you smell like them.” You would be lying if you said you didn’t like how possessive they were of you. You hadn’t ever had anyone love you like this, let alone want everyone to know you were theirs.
Of course, it wasn’t a normal relationship, and if they were humans, you probably would have already been running. However, this wasn’t a normal relationship, this was destined by fate, your soul reaching for them as they were reaching for yours.
“Okay, let’s let our baby mate breath. Jimin, let go of her and let her sit down.” Jin, the mediator, said as he moved forward to pull Jimin off of you and back down to his previous spot next to Hobi. You walk into the room, not sitting down in the empty spot next to Yoongi, moving to stand in front of the couches instead.
“Before you guys say anything, I need to tell you something. Or rather ask you guys something.” You begin, making sure they were looking at you and were listening to your words.
“I umm. I would really appreciate it if you could stop sending me all of the jewelry and clothes.” You hold up the unopened box of Gucci, making Taehyung cringe. “I appreciate the gifts, even though I don’t know why you are giving them, but I am uncomfortable knowing you guys have been spending so much money on me.” You take a breath in, waiting to see their reactions.
“Baby, do you not like our gifts. We picked them out just for you?” Jimin’s eyes begin to water as he questions you, his soul feeling rejected. Do you not think that they can provide for you?
“Petal, if you don’t like the clothes, I can take you out shopping later? Maybe we can go to Louis Vuitton if you don’t like Gucci?” Taehyung stands up, worried that you didn’t like the gifts he sent you. He and Jungkook picked them out themselves, even buying matching outfits for you all.
“No Tae, it’s not the brand of clothes. I just, I’m not used to gifts and don’t think you should be spending so much money on me.” You try to reason with the dragons, hoping they would understand where you were coming from. However, all you receive in return is a loud yell of protests from the men.
“Baby girl, do you not think we should spoil the person we have been waiting years for? This is the least we can do for making you wait so long.” Namjoon says, quieting the rest of the boys.
“If you truly don’t want the gifts, we will stop, but it is how our people show that we are able to provide for our prospective mates.” Jin follows, ignoring the small protests from the younger men. Jin knew that telling you about their people’s traditions would get you to accept their courting gifts. It might be manipulative, but he knew how big of a heart you had.
You physically deflate at their words, now understanding what the meaning of your words might have done to them. You didn’t know the gifts held meaning for them, and here you were telling them to stop giving you gifts.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know…” You pause, trying to find the words to say but Hobi stops you, moving to embrace you from your place still in front of them.
“No princess, it is our fault. We should have told you about the courting process, even if you have already accepted to being our mate. We just wanted to show everyone that we can take care of you and that you are ours.” You blush at his words, your body reacting to the possessive undertone of Hoseok’s words.
Hoseok moves back, Namjoon now moving to take his place in front of you, a small smile on his face and something in his hands.
“We were going to wait until after we completed the bond, but we,” He gestures to the men now gathered around you, “feel that this is the right time for you to have your own.” He opens the small box in his hand to reveal a diamond necklace with a small pendent. You don’t even know how to react. The necklace seemed so simple at first, but upon Namjoon placing the necklace on your neck, you realized just how important it was.
The small pendent held the symbol for their mafia, Bangtan, with their initials surrounding the small symbol. Only the inner circle has the symbol on their person, showing how important they are to the group. However, no one has the initials of the boys, which must mean that this is special only to you.
You look up at the boys, small tears pooling in your eyes as you hold onto the pendent. Having something like this, is surreal. You know you aren’t a part of their business, given the boys want you nowhere near it, but they still want you to be a part of them, of their inner circle.
“We know that you feel uncomfortable with gifts, but this is more than a gift.” Namjoon starts to speak. “This is a sign of our love, to let everyone know that you are protected and loved by us. You are now a part of us. Someone that we would do anything and everything for. We know that this relationship, this bond, isn’t considered normal by any means, but we wouldn’t change the outcome for anything.” Namjoon moves closer, one hand now cupping your cheek while the other intertwines your fingers together, holding your hand close to his heart.
“Just in the time we have known you, we already know that you are a gift given by the gods. You are more than we could have ever wished or dreamed for in a mate. We will do everything in our power to protect you, protect our love.” You have tears streaming down your face at this point. Never did you expect for the men you have fallen for to just pronounce their love for you in this way.
You rush forward to wrap your arms around Namjoon, not knowing how to react to their proclamation but also so you could hide your now red face in his chest. You feel him chuckle at your movement, bringing his arms to wrap around your back and bring your almost impossibly closer. After a couple of seconds, he moves his hands to your thighs, picking you up and making you wrap your legs around his waist as he brings you both to sit on the closest couch.
You let him manhandle you into a comfortable position, keeping your face snuggled into his chest, not trusting the others to not tease you about your blushing face. You relax into his hold, loving the feeling of being held, not that you would ever admit it. The feeling of someone petting your hair almost makes you sigh.
“Baby, don’t you have to get to your shop soon?” You hear Yoongi ask, his voice soft as if trying to persuade you to stay there, in their arms. To be honest, you had completely forgotten that you were supposed to open the store this morning. You groan in response to his question, causing laugher to fill the room. You just want to stay in this position forever.
“You don’t have to go in baby. You can stay here with us and just keep the store closed for today.” Jimin suggests, persuasion filling his tone as he lowers his voice. None of them want you to leave.
“Yeah! We can all stay here and cuddle and watch movies.” Taehyung adds on, catching onto what Jimin is trying to do. You move away from Namjoon’s chest a little, so that your voice isn’t muffled by his shirt.
“That does sound nice but I can’t close the shop just because I want to stay and cuddle with your guys.” You pout slightly, moving to get off Namjoon’s lap, only to be pulled back in by his arms.
“Yes, you can! Everyone needs a break every now and then.” Jungkook speaks this time, now the youngest men all on the same page and trying to convince you to stay with them, knowing that you secretly love to be held.
“Have you guys no sense of responsibility? Have we spoiled you too much?” Jin shouts, aiming his words to the youngest bunch sitting across from you on the reclining sofa.
“Baby don’t listen to them. We understand that you have work. I will take you today. We can stop on the way and get you some breakfast!” Jin helps you out of Namjoon’s grip, his arms trying to keep you in his embrace without verbally asking you to stay.
-*-*-
As much as you wanted to give the continuous stream of gifts back to them, you kept each and every one, choosing to wear the least flashy and expensive clothing to work, and then wearing the rest whenever you go to see the boys at their home. You didn’t want to make them upset that you weren’t wearing their gifts, especially Taehyung who you knew spent hours picking out the ‘perfect outfits’ for you.
Jin had also managed to size down the meals he sent for you, grumbling and whining about the fact that you weren’t eating enough even though he fed you more than anyone would be able to eat.
What made you feel soft and small was the fact that the boys would take turns to rub the burn cream that Yoongi had bought on your arm. The boys were very careful and gentle with you, not applying to much pressure and taking the time to massage the cream into your marred skin.
You were still extremely insecure about your burn, not wanting anyone to see it. Other then Chaeyeon and her family, no one else had seen it, besides the small marks on your wrist and neck that can’t be hidden by the clothes that you have. And whenever anyone had seen them, they would always look at you weird, give you dirty looks, and overall make you uncomfortable. The boys, however, never made you feel that way.
You felt loved for and taken care of whenever they put the cream on you, not making a big deal of it. They would talk to you about your day, ask you how you are, and then proceed to tell you about all the kisses and cuddles that you owe them as payment for working and leaving them at the house by themselves.
Today, it was Yoongi’s turn to help you with the cream. He had everything laid out on the side table as you sat on the couch next to him, a pillow on your lap. You had already removed your sweatshirt, well, Jungkook’s sweatshirt, your tank top moved a little so he could have access to the entire burn.
“Okay baby. It’s a little cold this time. Mini accidently put it into his skin care fridge.” Yoongi puts some of the cream on his hand and rubs it, trying to warm it up in his hands before putting it onto your skin. He starts at your hand, massaging the slightly cold cream on your skin. He takes his time, making sure not to aggravate the peeling and healing skin.
Due to the intensity of the fire, and where you tried to knock the door down you have minimal feeling in your bicep, the nerve endings almost completely gone. You have normal feeling in your hand and shoulder, though sometimes it feels like you don’t.
The feeling of his hands, the close proximity you hold, is driving you crazy. You have been feeling under the weather lately and being with the boys almost makes you forget you were even sick. Being around them, and being in their hold, helps you to feel at peace.
The closer he gets to your shoulder, the closer he moves, his warm breath now reaching your cheek as he talks. You can’t even focus on his words, trying to steady your own breathing and slow down your fast beating heart. He seems to notice this, a small smirk forming on his face as he sees your cheeks becoming red.
“Wow, love, if I would have known you would feel this way about me massaging your arm, I would have done this earlier.” He moves in front of you, now done with your arm. His voice drops as he moves the hair out of your face.
“Stop,” you whine, pushing him away as a laughs, “it’s not funny. I can’t help it when I am surrounded by attractive men all the time.”
“Attractive men, you say? Well, how can I not do this when I am in front of the most attractive women I’ve ever seen?” He moves closer, cupping your cheek as he leans in. The tension thick as his lips move against yours, first his touch soft but quickly becoming fueled by passion.
You have kissed them plenty of times before, but they were small kisses, done in passing or whenever Jin or Jimin become clingy. This kiss is a long time in the making. You had always been told about the fireworks you would feel when being kissed like this, but you didn’t realize they had been lying. These weren’t fireworks; there were bombs going off in your abdomen, the rabid butterflies creating carnage on your insides as Yoongi moves you to lie down on the couch.
You are unsure of where to put your hands this time, this kiss quickly becoming something entirely out of your desires.
As if he had been reading your mind, Yoongi grabs your hands, bringing them to rest around his neck as he moves down to your jaw, making his was to the sensitive skin on your neck. Despite the passion and instinct placed into the kiss, Yoongi was still careful about your arm, making sure to keep it from rubbing against the material of the couch.
“You. Are. So. Beautiful. My love.” Yoongi whispers in between placing kisses on your neck. You can’t help but sigh into the room, his touch doing all the right things to you, your arousal quickly making itself known, your underwear becoming wet as he moans out praises against your skin.
“Now what do we have here? Yoongi, you better be making our princess feel good.” Your open your eyes to see the rest of the boys standing against the entrance to the living room, their stares doing nothing to combat the arousal at your fingertips. Nerves non-existent as the boys watch you both.
“I can smell her arousal from here.” Jimin whines, his nostrils flaring at the scent of you, his own nerves burning to aid his mate in making you feel good underneath them. He can’t wait to feel your body under his, to see your face change as he explores your body, marking you like a work of art, on display for him and his hyungs to worship.
You kept your eyes on the men at the door, unwavering even as Yoongi helped you out of your shirt, your sports bra on full display as he continues his ministrations.
“You like it when they watch you be devoured huh? Do you want them to help? Want your mates to make you feel so good, baby?” Yoongi mutters, his mouth dangerously close to the top of your breasts, your nipples hardening as you moan.
“I need your words, baby. Do you want your mates to make you feel good?” He bites into your chest, his tongue soothing the skin as you whimper.
“Yes. Want you to mate me.” The room quickly becomes cold, everyone freezing at your words. Yoongi pulls himself away a little bit, hovering over you now as he moves so he could look you in the eye.
“Baby. Are you sure? We don’t want to pressure you into mating with us. We are perfectly okay to wait. You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to.” His words reassure you even more that you are doing the right thing. No one else would have made sure you were doing what you wanted. The seven men, your mates, would still put you first.
You nod your head, a smile forming as you pull at the hair on his neck.
“Yes. I’m sure. I want you. All of you.” You turn to look at the other six, still frozen, listening to your words, smiles forming as they see the reassurance and trust on your face.
At your words, Yoongi moves off of you, helping you off the couch. Once on your feet, Jungkook is sweeping you off your feet, moving to carry you up to their shared bedroom.
“No princess should ever have to walk when her prince is around.” He whispers, placing soft kisses to your skin as he moves. You return the favor, your lips moving to his jaw as he moves, your touch now doing things to him, his feet moving faster to reach the room, throwing the door open and placing you gently in the middle of the bed before climbing on top.
“You should probably expect not to go into work tomorrow. Or the next day.”
Summary: After leaving your home in need of a fresh start, you open a bookstore with the hopes that the words you read could bring you solace. You never realized that the books you loved would bring you home instead.
Pairing: BTS x Reader
Genre: Mafia/Dragon AU
Status: Completed
Word Count: 2.2k
Warnings: depictions of violence, smut, death, sexual assault, insecurities, anxiety, polyamory, trauma, mentions of blood
Chapter Warnings: mentions of depression, some feelings of anger and loneliness,
Masterlist // Chapter 9
—————————————————
The moon was high as you reclined into the large bean bag you were resting in, your feet curled up under you as you read. The radio was playing softly, the background music helping you to focus on what you were reading. Bringing your hand from under your arm, you turn the page with a flick of your fingers, eyes working quick to pick up where you left off.
It had been a little while since you had been by yourself, the peace and quiet acting like a wall against everything else in your mind; your thoughts had become increasingly deep and plentiful. There was a lot of change in your life, ever since you opened the very store where you currently resided.
You were kind of hiding, a shelf of poetry stood tall, hiding your resting body in the corner of the store, your tea on the floor, resting on a small coaster as you pushed yourself even farther into the bean bag.
You weren’t hiding from anyone in particular really, just your thoughts.
You knew the boys needed an answer, needed the confirmation from you to continue with their plans, but you needed time. You didn’t know what to think when you had seven wonderfully and loving men looking at you like you held the stars in the sky. You didn’t know what to think when you moved, raw with love towards the only men you could ever see yourself with, arms wrapping around them as they held you close.
It had taken you months to heal, the bruises on your neck taking the longest to heal, the blue and yellow a harrowing reminder of the consequences of your love. Consequences you would happily trudge through if it meant remaining in their world.
You had been afraid when you woke up in their nest, wondering when they would let you go with the idea that you would be safer without them. You had tears on your cheeks as you waited for them to wake, arms leaving your body as they would move away from you.
You were terrified they would leave you.
But they didn’t. They held you in the nest for days, your body always resting underneath the soft weight of their bodies, shielding you from the world as they held you close. They only left the nest to grab food or let you use the bathroom, but one of them had to be in there with you. You didn’t even care, either, needing their presence with you.
Soft whispers of promise were constantly spoken against your skin, their love a gentle touch as they roused you out of your thoughts that morning. It was as if they could tell what you were thinking, their lips immediately pressing against your skin, words of forever leaving their lips as they wiped your tears away.
You remember the way they held you in those coming weeks, like you would disappear if they weren’t touching you; fingers skimming across your thighs as you walk past, hands grabbing out to hold your waist as you sit at the table. Their touch left a burning in your soul, warmth spreading through your body and mind as you were comforted by the bond you shared.
You remember the words Chaeyeon had with the boys, could hear it from the hospital room you sat in with Hyunwoo, apologizing to him for your involvement in his attack. Could feel the anger and sadness trickling down through the strands of the bond.
While your best friend was protective over you, her words held more to them, scaring the boys and creating somewhat of a weird understanding between the group of dragons and small human.
While your body healed in the few months, your mind did not. You were back to completely covering your burn scar, the physical representation of all of your inner struggles and turmoil. You barely left the house unless one of the boys was with you, your hand gripping their own as if every step could mean your death.
A small breath of air was heard from your left, the glow of someone walking towards you only able to be made out from all of the candles you had lit. You could just make out Namjoon, a book in his hands as he brings himself closer, moving your tea out of the way and picking you up out of the bean bag before bringing you back down on his lap.
Charles Bukowski once said, “What matters most is how well you walk through the fire.” At first, you didn’t understand what he meant. Fire was, in your eyes, something unforgiving. It was not something that you could just walk through; could come out of unscathed. You were living proof of that. Living proof of just how much fire could destroy.
But now, you understand just how right he was.
Fire was warmth. It was the soft glow of charcoal embers that tried to light as you laid against Yoongi on the couch. Glasses of wine on the small table as you spoke of your childhoods, a gummy smile on display as he brushed your hair away from your face, listening to you talk about the time you rode your bike for the first time, only to crash into the side of your grandfather’s bookstore.
Fire was the passion you held for them, the touch you gave each other in the large nest after a long day. Open mouth kisses placed down your neck and collar bone as you tried to grasp at Jimin’s shoulders, struggling to remain grounded as Taehyung dragged his lips down your spine.
Fire was the eternity promised to you by the seven men you had dreamed and wished about for so long. It was the promise of endless kisses and warm embraces that could erase months of tension from your body. An eternity of love that you so desired.
Walking through fire was now a comfort, something you knew would protect you as you lived. Walking through the fire of your past was nothing compared to the fire in your future, your body and soul accompanied by the very rulers of the fire you used to fear as you walked together into another chapter of your lives.
You knew that no matter what came your way, fire or water, that you would have the loves of your life by your side.
“I knew I would find you here.” Namjoon whispered, placing a soft kiss on the skin below your ear.
He had known that their question to you earlier would have your mind turning in circle. He knew they needed to let you work through your thoughts on your own, but he also knew that you were afraid their love for you had a limit. That their love for you could expire. He didn’t want a single chance for those thoughts to enter your mind, to plant doubts in your head.
“Hmm.” You hummed, not sure if he is looking for a response. Instead, you look at the book in his hands.
There was a soft, pressed flower in between the pages, is if replacing a bookmark. You ran your fingers over the edge of the pages, turning the book over so you could see the cover. You were almost shocked to see the book you had sold him all those months ago, the new book now looking worn, cover edges rounded from touch.
Opening the book to the page he obviously indicated, you are confused for a couple seconds at the poem that rested in front of you. A couple seconds later and you could feel the beginnings of tears, pooling at the corner of your eyes as you held on tighter to the page in between your fingers.
little dark girl with
kind eyes
when it comes to
use the knife
I won’t flinch and
I won’t blame
you,
as I drive along the shore alone
as the palms wave,
the ugly heavy palms,
as the living does not arrive
as the dead do not leave,
I won’t blame you,
Instead
I will remember the kisses
our lips raw with love
and how you gave me
everything you had
and how I
offered you what was left of me,
and I will remember your small room
the feel of you
the light of the window
your records
your books
your coffee
our morning coffee
our noons and nights
our bodies spilled together
sleeping
the tiny flowing currents
immediate and forever
your leg my leg
your arm my arm
your smile and the warmth
of you
who made me laugh
again.
Little dark girl with kind eyes
you have no
knife. The knife is
mine and I won’t use it
yet.
The words of your favorite poet held a small ring, trapped between the pages of the book that brought you together. Of the twentieth century writer who seemed to bring your souls on the same path.
You looked back up at the man holding you close, his hands now holding you around your middle, his hands clasped together as he rested his chin on your shoulder.You could almost feel his heart beating against your back, his own worry bleeding into his fingers as his grip tightened for a second.
“I found this poem the night I returned home from your store the first day. I was drawn to it, for unknown reasons at the time. I couldn’t explain it.” He began, voice soft as he brought one hand to the ring he placed between the pages, nervously twirling and fiddling with it.
“But the longer I read those words, the more I thought of them in your presence. When I first saw you, it was as if you had a cloud hanging over you, your eyes dark and almost blank as you look up at me the. I wanted to do anything and everything I could to be your light, to be there for you in the darkness that seemed to engulf you.” You couldn’t help the tears that now flowed from your cheeks, his words meaning so much to you as you remembered wishing, hoping someone could see the struggle you were going through.
“The vulnerability in your eyes was something I hadn’t seen before the night we first brought you home. Over time, I grew to see that vulnerability as hope. Hope that you didn’t have to be alone again. That we would be the spark that set you alight.” His arms gripped your waist tighter, struggling to bring you as close as he possibly could.
“You bring us so much love, so much normalcy that I think all of us were missing in our lives. You have us so much in such a small time, I remember thinking, “how had we survived without you.” I couldn’t imagine a single second without you.”
“This poem is my promise to you. In the darkest night, I will be the light that shines over you, forever protecting you from the darkness within. You are 1/7th of my everything. You are the soft lavender that can be smelt throughout the house. The laughter heard from the kitchen as you throw flour at Yoongi’s head. The trace of love felt through the bond as Jungkook looks down at you, your eyes closed with sleep as you rest on his chest.”
Holding the ring up one more time, he holds it out.
“This is a symbol of the raw love we all feel for you. This is a symbol of the promises we speak to you every day; of the life we wish to spend with you.” Namjoon pauses, placing a soft kiss on your temple before speaking his last words into existence, holding up the special made ring that holds a diamond from their personal hoard.
“I know we were merely mentioning the human ceremony earlier, but none of us were speaking lightly. We wish to spend the rest of our lives with you and hope to make it official within your own culture and custom.”
“I know I am speaking for the rest of our mates right now, but would you do the absolute honor of becoming our wife in love and soul?”
His words break the dam of your hold, tears now flowing freely as you sobbed into his chest. You were crying your answer into his chest, the vibrations from your words a reassurance to him as he held you close, a couple tears falling from his own cheeks.
Pulling back, he held your hand tight, your body shaking from your cries.
“Baby, please. I need your words, my love.” His pleads had you almost shouting, placing kisses all over his face as he broke out in laughter at your actions.
“Yes. Yes. A million times yes Namjoon.” Bringing your hand up, he slowly placed the ring on your left hand, the sparkle from the small diamond catching your eye as you looked down.
Placing another kiss on your temple, he brought his hand to cradle your head to his chest, intertwining your hands together as he placed them on his chest. He brought his thumb to rub circles on the top of your hand.
“Thank you for loving us, for showing us what love truly means.”
