Summary: After one fateful night, you find yourself transmigrated into your favorite novel as the Empress that shares the same name as you. As a bookworm, most would think you’d be ecstatic, but how could you be happy when the Empress you’ve become is expected to be killed in three months by the seven men she trusted most.
The only thing on your mind now is to try and convince everyone that the empress is a changed person, literally, but you'll soon find out that proves to be difficult when seemingly everyone wants you dead.
Series Masterlist
Song Bird | ♡ | | ✩ |
Genre: Siren au, Angst, Romance, Fluff, Slow burn
Summary: Sirens have been hunted for centuries. Imprisoned and killed for experimentation or to be used for their powers. When thinking about sirens, most envision half woman half fish. But what most people don’t know is that the true original sirens were half woman half bird. Beings far more powerful than the water sirens that most people know of. Beings so rare that many people believe they never existed. But they do. So if word got out that one was sighted and found… it’s only a matter of time before their lives no longer belongs to them, but to their captures.
Series Masterlist
Feral Heart | ♡ | | ✩ |
Genre: Hybrid au, Angst, Romance
Summary: Y/n thought her life was ordinary until a wounded panther hybrid appeared in her shed. With six more brothers waiting in the shadows, she’s pulled into a hidden world of creatures, loyalty, and danger she never knew existed. Y/n must navigate a reality where instincts rule, and no one is what they seem.
Chapter 1 Chapter 2
Kim Seokjin
| None yet |
Min Yoongi
| None yet |
Kim Namjoon
| None yet |
Jung Hoseok
| None yet |
Park Jimin
| None yet |
Kim Taehyung
| None yet |
Jeon Jungkook
My Forever | ♥ |
Genre: Angst
“One day, maybe in another life darling, I will grow old with you. But this one just wasn’t meant for us, and that’s ok baby, because we’ll have our happily ever after. I promise.”
Happy Ending | ♡ | | ✩ |
Genre: Smut, Angst, Fluff, Enemies to Lovers
“My life was never meant to have a happy ending anyways, I mean, what kind of villain would I be if I did?”
such a great chapter! i adore your writing so much and can’t even wait to find out what happens next,, while reading i was so anxious and nervous in the best way possible, you just got a way with words 🥹
Summary: Y/n thought her life was ordinary until a wounded panther hybrid appeared in her shed. With six more brothers waiting in the shadows, she’s pulled into a hidden world of creatures, loyalty, and danger she never knew existed. Y/n must navigate a reality where instincts rule, and no one is what they seem.
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You stand by the kitchen counter, coffee already between your hands. You had called out of work today. Using the excuse of not feeling well in order to deal with what you invited into your home.
You hadn’t slept much. Every time you closed your eyes, you saw flashes from yesterday. The blood, the way Yoongi’s eyes would glow, the slow rise and fall of his chest as he fought for breath. You’d bandaged both of them the best you could, then left them to rest in the guest room.
You’d tried to offer food. All kinds of meat, both raw and cooked, fruit, soup. Just about anything to show that you were trying. But every time you’d checked, the tray was still sitting there untouched. Only the cup of water had been touched.
You had just finished cooking breakfast. Eggs, bacon, some blueberries, and some home fries. You also made instant ramen, thinking that maybe Yoongi would want something hot. You prepare the plates for them and slowly make your way to the guest room, hoping they’re still in there and haven't run away in the middle of the night.
Now, sunlight spills faintly through the hallway as you stand outside the guest room door. You tell yourself you’re just checking on them. Just making sure they’re still alive.
Your hand lingers on the doorknob longer than it should.
The air changes the second you open the door. It’s cooler in here, heavy with the faint metallic tang of dried blood. The curtains are still drawn, throwing the room into a dim half-light.
Yoongi’s still in bed, half-sitting against the wall, the faint shadow of exhaustion under his eyes. His fever seemed to have died down, the flush face from yesterday replaced by pallor. He watches you enter, silent, his gaze sharp despite the weariness in it.
Taehyung lays lazily by the foot of the bed. He’s awake too. The bandage around his ribs is clean, though you can tell by the stiffness in his movements that he’s still in pain. Even like this, in his tiger form, you can feel the alertness behind his stillness. Ears twitching at every small noise. Eyes half-lidded but tracking your every move.
You stop just inside the doorway. “Morning,” you say quietly.
Neither of them answers.
You set the tray down on the dresser and glance between them. “You should try eating. It’ll help you heal better.”
Yoongi’s gaze flickers briefly toward the tray, then back to you. “You keep saying that,” he says, his tone low but not unkind, “you think it’ll make us trust you?”
The words catch you off guard. “I just think it’s better than starving.”
He studies you for a long moment, eyes narrowing just a little, as if searching for the catch. “You humans and your kindness,” he mutters. “It always comes with a price.”
You bite the inside of your cheek before answering. “If there’s a price, it’s just making sure no one dies in my house.”
For a moment, neither of you speak.
Finally, Yoongi exhales, shifting slightly in the sheets. “We didn’t ask to be here.”
“I know,” you reply. “But you are. And until you can walk without looking like you’re about to pass out, it kinda looks like you’re staying.”
He studies you for a long moment, eyes narrowing just a little. When he finally looks away, you can’t tell if it’s in acceptance or restraint.
Finally he breaks the silence. “You shouldn’t keep the curtains open,” he says quietly. “Too easy to spot movement from outside.”
You glance toward the thin strip of light spilling through the gap in the fabric. “Are you saying someone’s watching?”
He shrugs, “they could be. You have two hybrids in your house. I’m sure you’re smart enough to tell we were being hunted.”
You swallow hard and force yourself to breathe evenly. The word hunted sits heavy in the air.
“Then I’ll close them,” you say softly, and move to do just that.
Neither stops you. But you can feel their eyes follow you until the very last sliver of daylight disappears behind the fabric.
You gulp before turning back around, “who’s hunting you?”
Yoongi doesn’t answer right away. He looks tired, worn in a way that no amount of sleep could fix. “If you’re lucky,” he says, voice quiet enough to barely carry, “you won’t have to find out.”
The room falls silent again. Only the soft tick of the clock fills the air, slow and steady. You think about the untouched food, the drawn curtains, the way Taehyung hasn’t taken his eyes off the window.
Then, cutting through the heavy quiet, comes a low, unmistakable sound.
Your eyes flick toward Yoongi. His stomach growls softly, breaking the silence like a fragile thread snapping.
He exhales through his nose, almost embarrassed, looking away. “Ignore that,” he mutters.
You blink. “You haven’t eaten since you got here.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not,” you say before you can stop yourself. “I can practically hear your stomach begging you to be reasonable.”
His jaw tightens, but he doesn’t answer.
From the corner, Taehyung lifts his head slightly, golden eyes watching the exchange with quiet awareness. His tail flicks once, slow and deliberate, like he’s judging the situation and finding both of you equally foolish.
You cross your arms. “You don’t have to trust me. But at least trust the fact that you’re still alive because I didn’t let you die in my shed.”
Yoongi’s gaze meets yours again, sharp despite the fatigue in it. “And what do you expect me to do? Sit here and pretend everything’s normal? That you’re helping out of kindness?”
“I expect you to eat,” you say simply. “That’s it.”
For a long moment, neither of you move. The sound of the clock down the hall ticks faintly between your words.
Finally, Yoongi sighs. “You don’t give up easily, do you?”
You send him a smile, “nope. If you’re gonna be here awhile you’re gonna have to get used to it.”
His eyes narrow, but in the next moment he reaches out for the bowl of ramen on the tray. His hand trembles just slightly as he lifts it, and you notice him glance toward Taehyung before taking a small cautious sip.
Taehyung’s ears twitch, but he doesn’t move closer. He just keeps watching, chest rising and falling with slow, steady breaths.
For a while, the only sound in the room is the faint clink of the spoon against the bowl. Yoongi doesn’t eat much, but it’s more than nothing and for now, that’s enough for you. You watch the lines in his face ease slightly as the warmth settles into him.
Then, from beside the bed, there’s a low huff.
You turn, and there’s Taehyung. You hadn’t realized he hopped off the bed until he’s right next to you. His fur brushing lightly against your leg as he nudges you with the side of his head. The movement startles you at first but there’s no aggression in it. Just a slow, deliberate push, like he’s trying to get your attention.
You blink, unsure what to do, “what is it?”
Yoongi makes a low sound that might be a sigh. “He wants you to feed him.”
You glance between them. “You’re serious?”
Yoongi lifts one shoulder lazily, leaning back against the wall.
You look back at Taehyung. His eyes meet yours and then he nudges the tray of food gently with his nose, a soft rumble vibrating in his chest.
You can’t help the small smile that tugs at your lips. “You’re just one giant house cat,” you mutter under your breath, reaching for the plate.
You hold out two strips of bacon, and he moves forward with surprising gentleness for something so large. His nose brushes your fingers before he takes it carefully like he knows he could hurt you if he’s not. His tongue grazes your hand, warm and rough, before he pulls back to chew.
Another quiet rumble rises from his chest, deep and content.
“See?” you murmur, handing him another piece. “Not so scary when you’re fed.”
Yoongi watches from the bed, his expression unreadable. “You shouldn’t get too comfortable with him,” he says after a moment. “He’s still a predator.”
You glance up at him. “So are you.”
For a heartbeat, neither of you look away. Then Yoongi exhales softly, looking toward the window instead.
Taehyung finishes the last piece and nudges your hand once more, a quiet, grateful sound rumbling low in his throat.
You can’t help the faint smile that slips through. “Yeah, yeah. You’re welcome.” You brush your fingers against his fur; “by the way… why is he a tiger?” you finally ask, glancing at Yoongi. “I thought hybrids were… half human, half animal.”
Yoongi leans back against the pillows. “We can shapeshift,” he says simply. “I’m just too weak right now to shift. It takes too much energy.”
You frown, glancing at Taehyung. “So… he’s keeping this form because he doesn't want to change?”
Yoongi nods slowly. “We’re stronger in our animal form. Sometimes we choose to stay in these forms because we’re scared.”
You glance at Yoongi, his golden eyes fixed on you, sharp and probing despite the fatigue and fever that still lingers in his features. Taehyung’s massive head rests lightly against the floor by your feet.
“Why are you helping us?” Yoongi asks, breaking the silence
You blink caught off guard by the question, setting the plate down slowly, careful not to make any sudden movements. “Because… I’m a nurse,” you say, voice tentative but steady. “It’s what I do. I don’t care what species you are. Hurt people need help. That’s it.”
He doesn’t answer immediately. The silence stretches again, heavy and cautious, punctuated only by the soft hiss of the wind outside. You can feel the weight of his scrutiny, but it doesn’t feel hostile. Just… uncertain.
Suddenly a thought crossed your mind.
You push yourself up slowly, stretching your legs. “I’m going outside for a bit,” you say, your voice careful, almost casual.
You glance at him, then at Taehyung who’s still lying low, watching. “I need to clean the blood from the shed. If someone’s been hunting you… having that out there isn’t helping anyone. We’re practically asking for them to come find you.”
His eyes widen in surprise. Taehyung, still in his tiger form, shifts slightly, ears pricked forward. Neither of them expected you to care this much.
You don’t notice their reactions, too focused on creating a mental checklist on what to buy from the store.
Yoongi’s voice, quieter than usual, cuts through the air: “You… really mean that?”
You pause, rags in hand, and glance toward the window. “I mean it,” you reply firmly. “I don’t know who’s out there, but I’m not leaving this for them to find.”
The quiet that follows is telling. Even Taehyung doesn’t move, his massive head tilting slightly as if trying to process that a human—you—would care enough to act, even for hybrids like them.
You step out, shutting the guest room door behind you with care, leaving them watching from the safety of the room. The crisp morning air hits your face, filling your lungs as you move toward the shed. Every footstep feels deliberate, not just because of the blood you’re about to clean, but because you know they’re watching, waiting to see if you’ll actually follow through.
By the time you reach the shed, the full weight of the situation hits. “Okay,” you mutter, mostly to yourself, “let’s get this done.”
You kneel to inspect them, frowning. The wood’s rough texture has already absorbed too much. You realize you don’t have everything you need. All you had was a rag and some dish soap. No hydrogen peroxide, no scrub brush, nothing to really get it deep into the wood grain.
Still, you do your best. Dipping the rag into soapy water, you scrub at the worst spots, rinsing and wringing repeatedly. It doesn’t disappear completely, but at least the surface looks cleaner, and the sharp metallic smell fades slightly. It’s not perfect, but it’s better than leaving it untouched.
A sigh escapes you. Looks like a trip to the store is unavoidable. You glance back toward the window where Yoongi and Taehyung watch silently. “Don’t move. I’ll be back in an hour,” you call, trying to keep your voice calm, though your stomach knots at the thought of leaving them even for a few minutes.
The two of them remain still, their eyes tracking your movements as you head toward the car, determined to come back armed with the right tools to erase every trace.
The drive to the store is quiet. By the time you park, you’ve already made a mental list: bleach, gloves, scrub brush, disinfectant spray. Everything that will let you clean the shed properly without leaving traces behind.
You step through the sliding doors of the store, the fluorescent lights buzzing overhead. A part of you can’t help but glance around nervously. Each aisle feels like it could be a stage, every other shopper a silent observer of your secret.
Grabbing a shopping cart, you start moving down the cleaning aisle. Bleach, disinfectant spray, hydroxide—you check off the items quickly. You mutter under your breath, “god, I hope no one thinks I’m covering up a murder scene…”
Pushing the cart toward the meat section, your mind drifts back to Yoongi and Taehyung. Not that you need to worry about normal grocery decisions for yourself, but… what kind of meat does a panther like Yoongi prefer? Or a tiger like Taehyung? You stare at the rows of beef, chicken, and pork, trying to imagine what would appeal to them in their current state.
Yoongi, still weak, probably won’t have a big appetite but you want something he can actually eat. Something familiar, something that will make him feel a little more like himself.
You pick up a few pounds of steak and some raw chicken. You pause, feeling a sense of surrealism. Shopping for meat for wild creatures in your own house wasn’t something you ever imagined you’d be doing.
Just as you reach for a package of chicken, two men step into your aisle. Their uniforms catch the fluorescent light, and your stomach drops.
One of them steps closer, eyes scanning you carefully. “Evening,” he says, voice clipped. “Do you live around here?”
You nod, keeping your tone calm. “Yeah, just down the street,” you lie.
The other man tilts his head, studying you carefully. “We had reports of large animals. Seen or heard near your property?”
You tilt your head, “large animals? You mean like large wild animals?”
They exchange a quick glance. “Yeah exactly. It’s nothing to worry about but you see we just wanted to ask a few questions.”
Your heart pounds in your chest, but you keep your expression neutral. “I understand,” you say evenly. “Ask away.”
The taller man leans slightly closer, his eyes scanning you with a measured curiosity. “Did you notice anything unusual around here lately? Any signs of large animals that aren’t native in these parts of the world?”
You shrug, keeping your tone calm. “No. I haven’t seen anything like that. Just shopping, that’s all.”
His partner flips open a small notebook, jotting something down. “And you’re certain? No sounds, no tracks, nothing odd?”
“I’m certain,” you reply, keeping your hands visible on the counter. “I didn’t see anything.”
The men exchange a brief look, then nod. “Alright. Thank you Miss.”
You offer a polite nod. “Of course.”
You keep your distance, pretending to browse the meat, but your eyes follow them. The two men approach another shopper, asking similar questions. You notice the person flinch slightly at their presence, but quickly nod and answer.
You let out a quiet breath you hadn’t realized you were holding, your shoulders easing slightly. Glancing back at the meat section, your focus sharpens. The stakes are higher than ever, but for now, the men have moved on, and your priorities are clear: pick the right food and get back to Yoongi and Taehyung.
You shove the last grocery bag into the trunk, the plastic crackling under your hands. You pull out of the parking lot and onto the road leading toward the outskirts of town. The city slowly fades behind you, replaced by fields, then scattered houses, then the familiar thick wall of forest that closes in around the winding road.
You thought the drive home would be uneventful. That was until something massive lunged from the trees.
“Shit—!”
You slam the brakes.
Your car screeches. Your body snaps forward, seatbelt digging into your chest. You can hear what sound like all of your groceries tumbling in the back seat.
But you barely pay any attention to that. Because right in front of your car stands a bear
Your heart stops. Sure you live in the woods but you’ve never come across an actual bear before.
The bear turns his head slowly toward you. And your eyes lock. That’s when it dawns on you.
This isn’t a wild animal staring at your car. This is something intelligent. Something aware. And that’s when you see it—
The unmistakable glint of metal tag, one that looked identical to the one you found in your backyard.
Your breath catches.
Then, without warning, he darts across the rest of the road and disappears into the trees, his massive form swallowed by the underbrush.
You sit there in the middle of the lane, stunned, hands trembling against the steering wheel.
“Am I dreaming?” you breathe, voice barely audible. But the skid marks on the road say otherwise. Before you can piece your thoughts together, branches snap loudly from the same direction the bear came.
You tense, expecting another big animal to make an appearance.
Two men burst out from between the trees, panting hard, their clothes snagged with twigs and leaves. You narrow your eyes, those aren’t officers, or trackers, or anyone official-looking.
Just regular men. Late thirties maybe. Work boots.
One spits into the dirt. “I told you it went this way,” he huffs.
The other mutters, “Damn thing’s faster than it looks…”
As they straighten up, one of them finally notices your car. A clear view of your pale face behind the windshield along with your car angled awkwardly across the road.
He nudges his friend and points toward you. The men exchange a quick look before walking toward your car, not slowly, not cautiously.
Your pulse spikes.
One of them stops by your window, leaning down just enough for you to see the sweat on his forehead. He gently knocks at your window, motioning for you to roll it down. You open your window just a crack, just enough to communicate without your whole face being exposed.
“Evening Miss,” he says, trying to sound casual but failing. “You, uh… you see something run through here just now?”
The other man stays a few steps back, scanning the trees, looking impatient, like they’re terrified of losing the trail.
Your hand tightens on the steering wheel, knuckles pale against the leather. The two men stare at you, waiting for your answer.
You force your voice out, thin but steady enough. “I… yeah. I saw a bear.”
The men exchange a look and something about that expression makes your stomach twist.
But in that split second, an image flashes through your mind:
The silver tag glinting at the bear’s neck.
You glance at the woods, heart hammering. If you tell them the truth, they’ll cut straight into the brush where he vanished. They’ll find him. They’ll corner him. And they won’t treat him like anything but a trophy.
You lift a shaky hand and gesture in the opposite direction of where the bear actually fled.
“I think it ran that way,” you say, pointing down the road, toward a shallow ditch.
The men whip their heads in that direction. “You sure?” the taller one asks.
“Yeah. Positive. He almost hit my car and bolted that way.”
They don’t question it further.
The shorter man exhales hard. “Damn. We must’ve scared him off. Thanks for the heads-up.”
You nod quickly, hoping your face doesn’t betray what a bad liar you are.
“Be careful driving,” the taller one adds. “Don’t wanna hit the thing if it circles back.”
Then they hurry off, not into the woods where you saw the hybrid disappear… But down the road in the direction you pointed.
Their heavy boots thud against the pavement, echoing until they fade into the distance. Only when they’re gone, when the forest is quiet again and the road is empty, do you finally let out the breath you’d been holding.
You tell yourself you need to keep moving and get back home. You reach for the gear shift, ready to pull forward, when something on the pavement ahead of your bumper catches the light.
You lean forward, squinting through the windshield. A small metal item lies on the asphalt, reflecting a thin stripe of sunlight.
It’s the tag.
The same one you saw hanging from the bear’s neck only moments ago, and the same style as the tag you found in your backyard the day Yoongi and Taehyung first appeared. Your heart sinks with the realization that he must have lost it in the scramble across the road.
You put the car in park and step out carefully, the gravel crunching beneath your shoes as you walk toward it. When you crouch down, the metal feels faintly warm from the animal’s body heat. You turn it over in your hand and recognize the faint scratches and worn edges you had seen before. It truly is the same tag.
However, something new catches your attention. When you flip it to the back, an engraving you didn’t notice before stares up at you. A clean, deliberate marking that stands out sharply against the metal surface: 903.
You stare at the number for a long moment, unsure how to process it. The inscription looks official and systematic. Whoever this bear is, someone assigned him a number. Someone gave him this identifier.
Standing in the quiet road with the metal tag clenched in your hand, you feel a shifting awareness settle over you. Whatever is happening with hybrids is far more organized and far more unsettling than you initially understood. The idea that these creatures are being cataloged or controlled in some way makes your skin prickle.
You finally straighten, the forest still pressing in around you. The bear is long gone, lost somewhere among the trees, but the lingering impression in his eyes stays with you in a way you can’t shake. You take a slow, steady breath, glance once more into the woods, and hold the tag tightly before returning to your car.
Once your hands stop trembling enough to hold the wheel, you start the engine again. The tires roll slowly over the asphalt as you ease back onto the road, casting one last glance at the tree line.
As your house finally comes into view through the trees, your chest tightens. You don’t see anything unusual from the outside, but you still feel the lingering tension of earlier events prickling along your skin. You pull into the driveway, kill the engine, and glance again at the silver tag sitting on the passenger seat. The number 903 reflects faintly in the dim light.
You grab the groceries, tuck the tag safely into your pocket, and step out of the car with a single thought running through your mind.
You need to check on Yoongi and Taehyung before anything else happens.
You unlock the door and slip inside, closing it behind you as quietly as possible.
You set the grocery bags down in the kitchen, not bothering to put anything away yet. Your focus is fixed on the hallway leading to the guest room.
Your footsteps soften instinctively as you make your way down the hall. The closer you get, the more aware you become of the tension coiling in your stomach. What if they tried to leave, even in their condition? What if the hunters followed the scent? What if something happened while you were gone?
You reach the guest room door and pause for a moment, your fingers brushing the handle. You push the door open gently.
The room is still cool, shadows stretching across the floor. Yoongi is awake, still propped against the wall. His eyes lift immediately when you enter.
Taehyung is lying near the bed, still in his tiger form. His ears twitch the moment the hinges creak, and his head lifts. Golden eyes fixed on you as if scanning you from head to toe for any sign of injury.
You take one step inside and Yoongi’s gaze sharpens. “You took longer than you said you would,” he grumbles.
You close the door behind you. “I know I’m sorry. Something happened on the way here.”
Yoongi studies your expression, his eyes narrowing slightly at the tension in your shoulders.
Before he can ask anything else, there’s a low, rumbling sound beside the bed.
Taehyung slowly pushes himself up from his resting spot, wincing a little but determined. His tiger form is massive up close, and the sudden movement makes your breath catch for a moment. You still aren’t completely used to having a creature his size so near, especially one capable of flattening you with a single swipe if he ever wanted to.
But instead of acting threatening, he pads toward you with slow, deliberate steps. His head lowers, his whiskers brushing your hip as he starts sniffing around your side.
You stiffen, confused, your hand hovering uncertainly in the air. “What… what are you doing?”
Taehyung doesn’t answer, of course, but he nudges more insistently at your pocket. His ears flick in concentration, nostrils flaring as he inhales again, deeper this time. Yoongi watches the scene from the bed, his brows pulling together.
Taehyung nudges your pocket once more, then lets out a low rumble that sounds almost impatient.
Only then does realization strike you.
You reach inside, fingers closing around the cool piece of metal you almost forgot was there. When you pull the tag out and hold it up, Taehyung’s pupils expand immediately, his tail going still behind him.
Yoongi doesn’t react at first.
But then he sees the tag fully.
His eyes widened.
The change is subtle but unmistakable. “Where,” Yoongi says quietly, “did you get that?”
You glance between him and the tag, suddenly getting nervous at how shaken he suddenly looks. “I… found it on the road. A bear ran in front of my car and dropped it. I think it’s the same one I saw in the yard before.”
Yoongi’s stare doesn’t soften.
If anything, it grows heavier.
Yoongi doesn’t move at first. He simply stares at the tag in your hand as if the sight of it reaches somewhere far deeper than pain or exhaustion.
Taehyung steps closer, lowering his head beside your hand. He sniffs the metal again, and a low, uneasy rumble vibrates through his chest. It isn’t aggressive; it sounds like recognition laced with worry.
Yoongi’s hands tighten in the sheets. His voice, when it finally comes, is quiet in a way that feels almost dangerous. “That tag…” He swallows, his jaw tense. “It belonged to one of my brothers.”
The words settle heavily in the room.
Your breath catches. “Your brother?”
Yoongi nods slowly, eyes locked on the tag. “There were seven of us.” His gaze softens for the briefest moment, though the exhaustion in his face turns that softness into something mournful. “We were always kept together… until the night everything fell apart.”
Taehyung shifts beside you, his large body leaning in slightly, confirming Yoongi’s statement without words. His ears flatten in quiet distress.
You stare down at the tag, suddenly aware of how cold it’s become in your hand. “This number… 903,” you murmur, turning it over gently, “that belonged to your brother?”
Yoongi’s jaw clenches. “Yes. He’s the youngest.” He exhales shakily, and you realize he’s not just tired. He’s rattled in a way he can’t fully hide. “His name is Jungkook.”
Taehyung lets out a soft, low chuff that sounds painfully sad.
A chill spreads down your spine.
Your grip tightens around the small metal disc as the weight of the situation sinks in. The bear you nearly hit wasn’t just a random hybrid. He was their family.
Yoongi looks back at you, the intensity in his gaze returning with startling force. “You need to tell me exactly what happened on that road,” he says quietly. “Every detail.”
You sit down slowly at the edge of the bed, the tag resting in your hand like it weighs far more than a scrap of metal should. Yoongi’s gaze stays fixed on you with a level of focus that cuts straight through the fatigue you’d seen in him moments ago. Taehyung settles beside you, still in his tiger form, his presence warm and tense at your side as if bracing himself for what you’re about to say.
You clear your throat. “I was coming back from the store. I had just gotten past the city and into the tree line when a bear ran out of the forest and almost hit my car.”
You continue, speaking carefully so you don’t miss anything. “I stopped in the middle of the road. He stood right in front of me. And when he turned his head… I saw the tag.”
You swallow, “he got scared and bolted into the woods. And a few seconds later, two men came running out from the same spot. They weren’t in uniforms. They just looked like regular people who’d run themselves ragged chasing something through the forest.”
Yoongi’s eyes sharpen, darkening with something colder than anger. “Hunters.”
“Yeah,” you whisper. “I’m pretty sure they were hunting him.”
You pull in a breath, remembering the way the men stared you down. “They came to my car and asked if I’d seen anything. I panicked and just told them I saw a bear run across the road. But I pointed them in the wrong direction so they wouldn’t follow him.”
Yoongi's eyes widen slightly, and for a moment his face softens, “thank you.”
You continue softly, “He dropped the tag when he ran. That’s how I found it.” You carefully present the tag to him. He hesitates but with trembling hands he reaches out nonetheless and clenches it tightly in the palm of his hand.
Yoongi’s jaw tightens again, but his voice steadies as he asks, “How did he look?”
You hesitate. “He looked exhausted. Scared. Like he’d been running for a long time.”
Taehyung lowers his head, resting his chin lightly on the edge of your knee, a gesture that is both grounding and heartbreaking. His tail curls close to his body.
The moment stretches uncomfortably, and a knot tightens in your stomach. You suddenly feel small standing in the middle of something you barely understand—hybrids, hunters, escaped family members, numbers engraved into cold metal. Everything feels too big, too dangerous.
Your fingers close around the tag again, gripping it until the metal presses into your palm.
“Yoongi…” you say, voice softer now, almost unsure. “I don’t know what to do here.”
Yoongi’s eyes shift to you immediately.
“I mean—” you continue, swallowing hard, “I don’t know how to help you. Or him. Or if I even should. I don’t know the rules, or what’s too risky, or what could get all of us killed. Hell, just a few days ago I didn’t even think your kind actually existed. I thought maybe it could’ve all just been one big conspiracy theory.”
You force yourself to meet his gaze.
“Just tell me… what should I do?”
For the first time since you’ve met him his gaze seemed to have softened. Then, almost painfully slow, he looks away. His shoulders sink just a little. The sadness on his face is quiet, restrained, but unmistakable.
“I don’t think you want to be involved with our kind,” he murmurs.
The words aren’t sharp or defensive. They’re tired, almost defeated, like he’s already bracing himself for disappointment. Taehyung lowers his head beside you again, watching Yoongi with ears slightly back, as if he disagrees but doesn’t know how to argue.
“The humans we have met,” he pauses, choosing his words carefully. “They don’t know the meaning of kindness. They’re powerful and dangerous individuals.”
He still refuses to look at you, his eyes fixed on the floor as though the truth is easier to say when he’s not facing your reaction.
“I don’t want you caught in that,” he finishes quietly. “Not because you’re weak… but because you don’t deserve the consequences that follow hybrids like us.”
His expression stays turned away from you, but the room feels heavier now.
His words hang in the air between you. It’s not meant to push you out, but to protect you from something he’s certain you can’t handle. Taehyung stays close, his presence warm against your side, and you feel the slow, steady rise and fall of his breathing.
You swallow hard.
“I am scared,” you admit, your voice low but honest. “All of this is… a lot. You, Taehyung, your brother, the hunters. This entire world of hybrids that barely anyone even knows exists. It’s terrifying.”
Yoongi’s shoulders tense, and for a brief moment he closes his eyes, as if bracing himself for you to pull away from everything entirely.
“But,” you continue softly, “being scared doesn’t mean I’m just going to walk away.”
His eyes open again at that, lifting slightly in your direction though he still doesn’t fully turn to face you.
“I didn’t ask to find you,” you say, fingers brushing lightly over Taheyung’s fur, “but I did. And you weren’t dangerous. You were hurt. Taehyung was hurt. Whoever your brother is… he looked terrified out there. And I can’t pretend I didn’t see that.”
You draw a slow breath, your heart pounding, but the words come easier now.
“I’m scared because I don’t know what I’m doing. I don’t know how to help you or what the right move is, and I’m worried I’ll make things worse.” You glance between the two hybrids, your expression softening. “But I’m even more scared of what might happen to you if I don’t do anything at all.”
Taehyung’s ears perk at that, a small surprised flick.
Yoongi finally turns his head enough to truly look at you. His expression is still guarded, but something in it eases.
“You shouldn’t be afraid on our behalf,” he says quietly.
You manage a small, shaky exhale. “I think it’s a little late for that.”
The corner of his mouth twitches. It’s not a smile, but something close to one.
You continue before your nerve slips. “So… if I’m already involved, and I’m not walking away… just tell me what I need to do. I don’t want to make decisions blindly.”
Yoongi studies you for a long moment, his golden eyes steady and unreadable. Then, for the first time, he nods.
“Alright,” he murmurs, voice softer than before. “If you truly want to help… then we need to track our brother.”
You freeze for a moment, the weight of Yoongi’s words sinking into your chest. Tracking him down. That isn’t a small task. But the look on Yoongi’s face tells you this isn’t optional for them. This is family.
You take a slow breath. “Okay… but how? I don’t even know where to start.”
Yoongi’s gaze flicks toward Taehyung, who responds before he even speaks. The tiger pushes himself to stand, muscles trembling slightly from the effort. He tilts his head toward the door as if already preparing to leave.
“We follow his scent,” Yoongi says. “Taehyung can track better in his animal form. Even injured, he’ll know where Jungkook went.”
You glance at Taehyung, who is now watching you with expectant golden eyes. Even in his tiger form, there’s a sharp intelligence there, and a quiet plea tucked beneath it.
“But you can barely walk,” you whisper.
Yoongi clenches his jaw. “That doesn’t matter. He’s alone. And if those hunters catch him before we do…” He trails off, but he doesn’t need to finish. The implication burns in the silence.
You shift your weight, thinking fast. “Then I’ll drive. It’ll be faster than walking, and Taehyung can guide us.”
Taehyung’s ears perk up at that, and he gives a firm, approving chuff.
Yoongi hesitates, tension pulling across his shoulders. “…You’re sure?”
“No,” you admit honestly, voice quiet but steady. “I’m terrified. But we can’t leave your brother out there. Not after what I saw.”
Yoongi looks away for a brief moment. But not in rejection this time, but in something fragile, like he’s trying to swallow a sudden surge of emotion he hasn’t let himself feel in a long time.
When he meets your eyes again, he looks more grounded. More certain. “Then we go now,” he says.
Taehyung steps forward, brushing his head lightly against your side as if urging you toward the door.
You nod, your heart pounding, and grab the tag from the bed. “Okay. Let’s go find him.”
The three of you move down the hallway, each step echoing with a mixture of urgency and unease. Yoongi keeps one hand against the wall for balance, refusing to let his exhaustion slow him down. Taehyung stays close at his side, his shoulder brushing Yoongi’s hip every few steps as if silently offering support.
You grab your keys from the counter and push open the front door, the cool air brushing across your skin like a reminder that the outside world is still unpredictable.
Taehyung steps out first. The moment his paws touch the porch, his demeanor changes. His shoulders lift, ears angling forward, nostrils flaring as he draws in a deep breath of the open air. He’s searching already.
Yoongi steadies himself against the doorframe and takes in the scene outside. “He’ll pick up Jungkook’s scent faster out here,” he murmurs.
You glance back at him. “Are you going to be okay walking to the car?”
He lifts his gaze to meet yours, and there’s a faint dryness in his voice when he answers, “I’ve been through worse.” But when he takes a step forward, his legs tremble more than he wants to admit.
You instinctively reach your hand out to hold his waist. His whole body tenses. You half expected for him to growl at you, but instead, his body eases just slightly and with your support he begins to walk towards your car.
You try not to react, but internally you’re freaking out and considering this a win.
Taehyung notices immediately. He lets out a quiet huff.
You walk ahead, unlocking the car and opening the back door. “Yoongi, you should sit in the front. Taehyung can take the space on the floor or the backseat if he fits.”
Taehyung lets out a soft snort, as if offended at the idea of not fitting but he squeezes himself in with surprising grace, lowering his huge body onto the floor behind the front seats, curling his legs beneath him. His tail flicks once, tapping the seat lightly before going still.
Yoongi climbs into the back with effort, gripping the door frame to ease the strain on his injured ribs. Once inside, he presses a hand against his side, breathing slowly until the pain settles.
You slide into the driver’s seat and start the engine. You pull away from the house, the engine humming low beneath you as the tires press into the gravel. The trees are tall enough that they swallow most of the remaining daylight. You keep your eyes on the winding road while the weight of Taehyung’s breathing and Yoongi’s quiet presence fills the car.
Neither of them speaks at first. Taehyung shifts occasionally behind you, his claws gently tapping the floor as he adjusts his position to smell the air more clearly. Yoongi watches the passing trees through the window, his posture tense but focused.
You tighten your grip on the wheel and guide the car toward the stretch of road where you’d nearly collided with the bear earlier. Every bend feels familiar now, every shadow pulling at your memory. The closer you get, the heavier the atmosphere becomes inside the car.
Taehyung stiffens before you even reach the exact spot. His head lifts, ears angling sharply forward. He presses his nose near the cracked window, drawing in long, deliberate breaths. His pupils narrow, body leaning subtly toward the right side of the car.
Yoongi notices immediately. “Slow down,” he murmurs, voice steady despite the tension behind it. “We’re close.”
You ease your foot off the gas and let the vehicle roll gently forward. “There,” you whisper, recognizing the section of pavement instantly.
The skid marks from your sudden stop are still faintly visible, stretched across the asphalt like a reminder of what happened. A few disturbed branches and crushed leaves line the edge of the road where the bear had fled into the forest.
You bring the car to a slow stop right where your tires had screeched before. The forest on either side stands unnervingly still, the night pressing in deeper now that the sun has dropped lower behind the trees.
Taehyung rises partway onto his feet, bracing himself against the seat with surprising grace for his size. He leans closer to the window, nostrils flaring again, more urgently this time.
Yoongi leans forward slightly, eyes fixed where Taehyung is focused. “His scent should still be strongest here.”
You take a slow breath and open your door, the cool air immediately brushing across your skin as you step out onto the road. The forest feels different now that you’re returning to it on purpose.
Taehyung slips out right behind you, landing on the asphalt with a soft thud. His size is impressive out in the open; even crouched low, he looks powerful and alert. He keeps close to your side for a moment, his shoulder brushing your hip, before instinct pulls him forward. His nose goes straight to the ground near the crushed leaves and disturbed brush.
Yoongi climbs out slower, deliberate in each movement as he keeps a hand against the car for balance. He winces when he straightens, but the moment Taehyung lets out a short, sharp huff, Yoongi pushes himself upright despite the pain.
Taehyung sniffs the same patch of ground again, then moves a few feet to the left, following something only he can detect. His ears flick, his tail stiffens, and he makes a soft chuff — a sound you’re beginning to understand as a signal.
“He’s got it,” Yoongi says quietly, moving to stand beside you. “The trail starts here.”
You crouch down near the place where the bear had lingered earlier, noticing details you hadn’t before. The ground is scuffed where something large skidded briefly, leaving long grooves in the dirt. A few strands of dark fur cling to the edge of a low branch, fluttering faintly with the breeze.
“Shedding?” you murmur.
Yoongi shakes his head. “No. Pulled out, probably when he crashed through.” His expression tightens slightly.
That adds a new layer of urgency to the air.
Taehyung moves toward the tree line, and for a moment you think he’ll charge straight in, but he pauses and turns to look back at you with wide golden eyes. They’re expectant, waiting, almost asking permission.
Yoongi notices and lets out a quiet breath. “He wants you close. If anything happens, you need to be near him or me.”
You take a small step forward. “Are you sure it’s safe for me to be in the woods with hunters nearby?”
“No,” Yoongi answers honestly, “but leaving you alone is worse.”
That does nothing to calm your nerves, but the truth in it feels grounding.
Taehyung dips his head once before turning back toward the forest. He pushes through the first line of branches, weaving silently into the underbrush.
You meet Yoongi’s eyes, and without speaking, the two of you follow.
The moment you cross into the trees, the world changes. The forest floor muffles your footsteps, and the canopy above swallows most of the remaining light. Taehyung moves several paces ahead, his tail brushing leaves aside as he follows the trail, but he never goes far enough to lose sight of you.
You duck under a low branch, your shoulder brushing Yoongi’s briefly as he steadies himself on a nearby tree trunk. His breathing is tight, but he keeps moving.
“Just a little farther,” he mutters, more to himself than to you.
Suddenly Taehyung freezes, every muscle in his body coiled tight. Yoongi’s hand shoots out, lightly grabbing your wrist before you can take another step.
Before you could even begin to ask, in the distance, it’s faint but unmistakable, you hear something shift. A soft rustling, like something heavy dragging across leaves.
You listen again.
Another rustle.
But now the sound is clearer. They’re heavy footsteps, uneven, slower than before. Not an animal. Not a hybrid struggling to move.
Voices drift through the trees, low and frustrated.
You tense. “Is that—?”
Yoongi nods once, sharply, “hunters.”
Taehyung immediately drops low to the ground, his body melting into the brush so smoothly you almost lose sight of him. Yoongi pulls you downward beside him, crouching behind a fallen log thick with moss. His breathing quickens, strain tugging at the edges of his voice.
“Stay quiet,” he whispers.
You nod, heart pounding so loudly you’re terrified they’ll hear it.
The footsteps get closer.
Through the dense leaves, you finally see them. It’s the same two men who approached your car earlier. Their shoulders sag now, their clothes dirtier, their faces flushed with irritation and exhaustion. One drags a branch out of his way with unnecessary force, tossing it aside like it personally offended him.
“No tracks. Nothing,” the first mutters, kicking at a pile of leaves. “Damn thing vanished.”
The second wipes sweat from his brow. “That damn bitch must’ve lied to us.”
Your stomach flips.
Yoongi’s grip on your wrist tightens slightly, not painful, but protective.
The second man snorts. “This whole hybrid nonsense is getting out of hand. Dangerous animals, mutations, whatever you wanna call it… Someone’s gotta get ahead of this before they breed or something.”
Taehyung’s ears flatten, a low rumble forming deep in his chest, vibrating through the ground. Yoongi reaches out and touches his fur, the contact grounding him instantly.
The first man shakes his head, “yeah but that bounty money will make all of this worth it.”
The hunters move slower now, dragging their feet through the underbrush, not searching anymore. Just irritated. Just tired. Their failure hangs around them like a thick fog.
They never even look in your direction.
Still, you barely breathe.
When the men finally pass out of sight, their voices fading into the distance, Yoongi doesn’t rise immediately. He waits. Listens. Judges the timing with careful, practiced instinct.
Only when the forest grows quiet again does he release a slow breath and ease his hold on you.
“They didn’t find him,” you whisper, your voice shaking just a little.
“No,” Yoongi replies, his gaze scanning the trees. “But they might come back.”
Taehyung lifts his head slightly, nostrils flaring again, and looks toward the deeper part of the forest that the hunters didn’t check.
It’s an unspoken message.
Yoongi meets your eyes. “If Jungkook’s still out here… he’ll be hiding where they weren’t.”
You nod, the adrenaline still buzzing under your skin.
“Then we need to move before they circle back.”
Yoongi exhales slowly and braces a hand against the moss-covered log before pushing himself upright. You move with him, careful not to snap a twig or rustle a leaf.
Taehyung steps ahead, lowering his head to the forest floor. His nose sweeps through the scattered leaves, tracking invisible lines of scent only he can understand. He moves a few paces in one direction, pauses, pivots, then moves in another, more decisive direction.
Yoongi follows him with a wince as he adjusts his stance, and you stay close, matching his pace.
“He’s picking up the trail again,” Yoongi murmurs. “Jungkook must’ve gone this way after he left the road.”
“How can you tell?” you whisper, stepping carefully around a fallen branch.
Yoongi nods toward Taehyung. “He’s calmer now. Focused. If Jungkook’s trail had gone cold, he’d be restless or frustrated. But he’s tracking with confidence.”
You watch Taehyung move, his movements sharper now, more purposeful. His tail remains still behind him—a clear sign of concentration.
When he stops suddenly, you almost bump into him. He lowers his head toward a cluster of ferns, gently nosing them aside. As he pushes deeper, something catches your eye.
A patch of dark fur tangled in the brush.
You crouch down, brushing the leaves aside with trembling fingers. The fur matches the bear’s coloring exactly—thick, coarse, slightly curled at the tips. But what catches your attention more is the faint smudge of something staining the leaves.
Not fresh.
But unmistakably blood.
Your chest tightens. “He’s hurt…”
Yoongi crouches beside you with visible effort and examines the spot. “It’s not enough to be life-threatening,” he murmurs. “Probably scraped himself trying to get away. But it means we’re close. He didn’t have much energy left when he passed through here.”
Taehyung lifts his head, ears pricked, eyes locked on a narrow break in the trees ahead. He gives a soft, urgent chuff and glances back at the two of you.
Yoongi nods. “He went deeper. Toward the creek.”
You straighten and look between the path ahead that was slowly beginning to darken as the sun was slowly starting to go down. “Will the hunters come this way?”
Yoongi shakes his head. “Not unless they find a reason. They stuck to the easier routes. Jungkook always knew how to avoid human patterns.”
Taehyung flicks his tail, waiting.
You take another breath and step forward.
“Then let’s keep going.”
The three of you slip deeper into the forest, following the narrow trail Jungkook made—broken branches, disturbed ferns, faint prints in the soft earth. As the trees thicken and the sound of distant running water grows louder, the tension shifts.
Something is close.
Taehyung stops again, his entire body going still, head turned sharply toward the right. His ears flatten, not in fear, but recognition.
Yoongi stiffens beside you.
Taehyung stands completely still, every muscle pulled taut as he listens. His ears twitch once, twice—then angle sharply toward the right, deeper into the trees where the canopy thickens.
Yoongi steps closer to him, his posture shifting instinctively into something protective despite the pain etched across his features. His hands curl slightly at his sides, and his breath comes shallow, controlled.
You swallow hard. “Do you see something?”
Yoongi shakes his head. “Not see. Hear.” He nods toward Taehyung. “And he smells it.”
Taehyung takes one slow step forward, then another, drifting toward the sound of running water in the distance. His body moves with a different kind of urgency now, he’s no longer searching, but closing in.
You follow without hesitation, keeping your steps light and careful. Yoongi moves beside you, one hand brushing tree trunks here and there as he steadies himself. The deeper you go, the colder the forest feels, as if the temperature drops with every footstep.
The murmur of water grows louder. The trees thin slightly.
And then—
Taehyung stops again, but this time the motion is abrupt, his claws digging slightly into the earth to anchor himself. His chest expands with a deep inhale, and a quiet, almost pained sound rumbles from him.
Yoongi freezes.
Your heartbeat thunders in your ears.
“What does that mean?” you whisper.
Yoongi’s voice is barely audible. “He found something.”
You exchange a quick glance before the three of you push past a dense cluster of ferns. The forest opens into a small clearing near the edge of a shallow creek.
Your breath catches.
Something is lying near the water’s edge.
A large body, dark fur matted with dirt and leaves, chest rising and falling in slow, uneven pulls. One foreleg is tucked awkwardly beneath the body, the other stretched forward as if it had collapsed mid-step. The water near his paws is disturbed, ripples spreading outward from where he must have stumbled.
It’s the bear.
The same one you saw earlier.
But now that you’re closer, the truth becomes impossible to ignore. The trembling in his flank, the labored breaths, the way his head barely manages to lift when Taehyung steps forward.
He tries to lift his head, but the strength seems to drain out of him halfway through the motion. His eyes land on Taehyung first, dull but aware, filled with exhaustion and relief that flickers weakly beneath the fear. Then his gaze drifts toward Yoongi, widening the slightest bit in recognition.
Taehyung moves first, inching forward with soft, careful steps. He lowers his head until his forehead touches Jungkook’s, a gentle greeting that carries more comfort than words ever could. A faint chuff escapes Jungkook’s throat in return.
Yoongi’s breath shudders as he drops to one knee, ignoring the pain it sends through him. “Jungkook…” he whispers, voice cracking under the weight of it.
Finally Jungkook’s gaze drifts toward you, slow and hazy, his vision struggling to focus. At first, there’s nothing but exhaustion in his expression, but the moment he realizes you’re not a hybrid, not one of his own, everything inside him tenses.
His pupils widen.
His breathing quickens.
A soft, rattled sound escapes his throat.
He tries to pull back even though he barely has the strength to lift his head. His claws dig weakly into the dirt as he attempts to shift away from you, fear overriding his exhaustion.
Yoongi reacts instantly.
“Jungkook—hey. Hey,” he says softly, leaning closer despite the sharp pain it causes him. He places a steadying hand near his shoulder without touching him yet, careful and grounding. “It’s alright. She’s not going to hurt you.”
Taehyung steps in next, lowering his tiger form beside his brother. He presses his forehead gently against Jungkook’s jaw, a reassuring gesture that sends a low, soothing rumble through the ground. Then he turns his head and nudges toward you as if telling Jungkook this human is safe.
But Jungkook’s gaze stays locked on you, his fear flickering beneath the exhaustion. His breaths come quicker, shallow and uneven, the instinct to flee warring with the reality that he can barely move.
You take the smallest step back, hands raised slightly to show you mean no harm. “It’s okay,” you murmur, voice as soft as the forest around you. “I’m not here to hurt you. I just… want to help.”
Yoongi hears the tremor in your voice and turns to Jungkooks again. “She saved us,” he says, his tone thick with an honesty that leaves no room for doubt. “If it wasn’t for her, Taehyung and I wouldn’t be here.”
Jungkook’s trembling slows, if only barely. His gaze flickers to Taehyung, who nudges him again, more insistently this time, before looking at you and letting out a short but reassuring chuff.
Yoongi follows that silently with, “You can trust her. She’s on our side.”
Yoongi’s words settle over the clearing with a kind of quiet weight. She’s on our side.
Hearing him say it out loud makes your chest tighten in a strange, unexpected way.
Jungkook’s frightened gaze keeps flicking back to you, searching for a threat he’s expecting to find. You feel your breath catch as you meet his eyes. The fear there isn’t sharp or aggressive. It’s raw, wounded, the kind you’ve seen on patients who’ve been mistreated and don’t know who to trust.
You swallow and speak softly, keeping your tone warm even though your heart is beating too fast. “I know you don’t know me. I know this is scary. I promise I’m not here to hurt you.”
Your voice wavers a little on the last word, and Yoongi notices, his eyes soften just slightly, though he tries to hide it.
Taehyung nudges Jungkook again, urging him to look at you, to listen, to feel that you’re not a threat. His breathing slows another fraction, but he still looks unsure and you can’t blame him.
You take a slow breath and lower yourself a little more, not close enough to overwhelm him, but not so far that you seem afraid. “You don’t have to trust me yet,” you say gently, “but I’m going to help you anyway. I won’t let them find you.”
Jungkook’s ears twitch at that. His muscles loosen by a degree, and the tension in his shoulders eases when Taehyung presses his forehead to his again.
Yoongi watches you quietly, something flickering across his face, not quite gratitude, not quite relief, but something in-between. Something he isn’t used to showing.
You straighten very carefully, keeping your movements slow. “Just tell me what you need from me. Whatever it is… we’ll figure it out.”
Jungkook watches you again, but this time, his fear doesn’t spike. His eyes soften just a little, the smallest shift, but enough for you to know he’s starting to believe Yoongi and Taehyung.
You wrap your arms around yourself for a moment, more to keep your hands from shaking than for warmth. Jungkook’s fear is no longer pointed directly at you, but it’s still there.
“Alright,” you murmur, mostly to ground yourself, “how are we getting him to my car.”
Yoongi adjusts his position next to Jungkook and winces, one hand pressed lightly to his ribs. His voice is steady, but the strain behind it is unmistakable. “First, we need to see if he can shift back. We can’t move him like this. He’s too heavy, and Taehyung and I aren’t in any condition to carry him far. And you definitely can’t carry him.”
“Ok ouch.”
He rolls his eyes, a tired but unmistakably sarcastic gesture. “Please. Go on and prove me wrong.” He stretches out his hand in a sweeping motion toward the enormous bear lying in the grass. “Pick him up.”
You stare at Yoongi.
Then at Jungkook.
Then back at Yoongi.
“He weighs like—what—six hundred pounds?” you whisper in disbelief.
“Seven-twenty last time he shifted,” Yoongi mutters.
Taehyung huffs in agreement, as if backing the math.
You cross your arms. “Right. So clearly I could lift him, I’m just choosing not to.”
Yoongi lifts a brow. “Of course.”
Jungkook watches the exchange with wide, exhausted eyes, clearly not following every word but definitely aware that he is the subject of discussion.
Taehyung steps closer, brushing his head against Jungkook’s jaw in a slow, comforting gesture. The deep rumble vibrating from him seems to settle his trembling a little, but only just.
Yoongi leans in, bracing himself on one knee. “Jungkook,” he says quietly, voice softer than you’ve ever heard it, “you need to try. Just once. If you can shift it’ll make this easier on all of us.”
Jungkook opens his eyes at that, the emotion in them raw and too heavy for someone his size. He looks at Yoongi first, then Taehyung… and finally at you.
He tries.
You can see it—the tension along his back, the way the fur ripples unevenly, the faint shimmer beneath his skin like something is trying to change shape. But it lasts only a few seconds before his body shudders and the effort collapses. His sides heave with the strain, a weak groan slipping out of him.
Taehyung lowers himself beside his brother again, pressing close in quiet support.
Yoongi looks at Jungkook with pain written clearly in his expression, and when he finally speaks, his voice is tight but controlled. “Alright. That’s enough. Don’t try again.”
He turns his gaze to you.
“Well,” he sighs, rubbing his temples, “we’re going to have to figure out another way to get him back.”
You nod slowly. “Okay. So… what’s Plan B?”
Yoongi opens his mouth to answer—
But then Taehyung’s head snaps up. His body goes rigid.
You freeze, glancing between him and Yoongi.
Yoongi’s face darkens immediately. “That’s not good.”
You swallow. “What is it?”
Taehyung rumbles low in his chest—a warning, not a greeting.
Yoongi meets your eyes. The exhaustion is gone.
“They’re coming back.”
Taehyung’s low warning rumble vibrates through the ground, deeper and sharper now. He rises to his feet despite the stiffness in his ribs, positioning himself between the trees and his nearly unconscious brother. His tail lowers, sweeping behind him in a slow, tense arc.
You whip your head toward the forest line, heart hammering.
You don’t see anyone yet. But you hear it. Branches cracking. Leaves shifting under heavy boots.
Yoongi’s jaw clenches. “They must’ve come back to check. Maybe they picked up on him.” He presses a hand against his ribs and forces himself upright, moving to stand on the opposite side of Jungkook.
You rise too, adrenaline sparking under your skin. “Okay—okay, what do we do? We can’t move him. They’ll see him any second—”
“Stay low,” Yoongi instructs, grabbing your wrist and pulling you down behind the nearest thicket of brush. “If they see you with us—”
He doesn’t finish, but the implication sends a chill down your spine.
Taehyung doesn’t hide. He stays in front of Jungkook, massive body low to the ground, ears pinned back, ready to lunge if he has to. He won’t leave his brother exposed. Not for anything.
The footsteps are getting closer now.
You huddle lower, keeping your breathing as steady as possible. Yoongi crouches beside you, face pale from pain but eyes sharp and focused. His gaze flicks constantly between the approaching direction and Jungkook’s unmoving form.
The voices sharpen.
“…I swear it came through here—”
“We’re not leaving empty-handed—”
“If it came back, it’s hurt. It can’t be far—”
Yoongi tenses. “Damn it, they’re getting close.”
Your pulse spikes in your throat. “We need a distraction.”
“Don’t,” he whispers harshly, his grip on your wrist tightening. “Don’t even think about it.”
You glance at the hunters again. They’re too close. If they take even ten more steps, they’ll see Jungkook lying in the open, unable to move. Taehyung could hide, Yoongi could hide — but Jungkook can’t.
“We don’t have time,” you whisper back. “If we don’t stall them now, they’re going to walk right into the clearing.”
Yoongi pulls you closer, desperation in the shake of his breath. There’s fear in his eyes now.
“Listen, earlier they didn’t suspect anything when I talked to them on the road,” you remind him quietly. “They saw me as just… another person doing errands. Someone normal. Someone harmless.”
“That’s exactly why it’s dangerous,” Yoongi hisses, keeping his voice as low as possible. “Humans like them react unpredictably when they’re desperate. They’re angry, tired, frustrated. They won’t think straight. If they think you saw something, or if they even suspect you’re hiding something—”
He breaks off, his voice tightening like something painful is stuck in his throat.
You inhale slowly. “I won’t let them walk right into this clearing. I can’t.”
Jungkook’s huge form trembles faintly behind you. He’s trying to lift his head again, but it drops back heavily against the dirt. His breaths are too shallow. Too fast. He won’t survive being discovered.
Taehyung shifts closer to him, almost shielding him with his body.
You look back at Yoongi — at the fear in his eyes.
“It’s me or Jungkook,” you whisper. “And I’m the only one who can walk up to them without starting a fight.”
Yoongi shakes his head, jaw clenched. “I can’t let you—”
“You don’t get to ‘let’ me,” you whisper back, not harsh, but steady. “This is the only option we have.”
His grip loosens, but only because his hand is shaking. His eyes burn into yours, the panic there unmistakable.
“You’re human,” he murmurs, voice rough with fear he can’t hide. “I don’t want anything happening to you because of us.”
You reach out, gently placing your hand over his. “And I don’t want anything happening to your brother because we were too scared to do something.”
Yoongi’s breath stutters. He looks at you like he’s caught between a dozen conflicting instincts. But the hunters are almost at the clearing now, and there’s no more time to hesitate.
You squeeze his hand once, softly. “I’ll be fine.”
He swallows hard, visibly fighting himself.
Then, barely audible, he whispers, “Please… be careful.”
You nod, slip free of the brush, and step out into the trees. You walk toward the hunters with your heart pounding so hard it hurts.
Behind you, Yoongi and Taehyung lower themselves deeper into the shadows, watching every move with terror and hope tangled into one. The darkening sky provides some protection.
You step out from the brush, forcing your breathing into some kind of steady rhythm even though your pulse is racing so fast you can feel it in your fingertips. The forest opens slightly ahead, and the hunters’ flashlights swing in sporadic, frustrated arcs across the trees.
They hear your footsteps before they see you.
“What the—?” one of them snaps, jerking his light in your direction.
You lift your hands a little, palms open, trying to look harmless. “Hi—sorry! Didn’t mean to scare you.”
Both men tense immediately. Their shoulders stiffen, their grips tighten, not on weapons yet, but close enough that your stomach drops.
“What are you doing out here?” the taller one demands, stepping forward. “This isn’t a place you should be wandering alone.”
You swallow, keeping your expression confused but not panicked. “I know… I know. I saw flashlights and voices, and I thought maybe someone was lost. I didn’t want to just ignore it.”
The shorter man squints at you. “You again? From the road?”
Your heart lurches, but you force a nervous laugh. “Yeah. I live around these woods. I come across a lot of lost hikers all the time. Wanted to make sure everything’s okay.”
Behind the brush, Yoongi stiffens so sharply the leaves rustle. Taehyung’s low, rumbling growl vibrates faintly through the ground, warning but contained as he stays curled protectively around Jungkook.
The tall hunter narrows his eyes. “You followed us into the woods?”
“No—no, I didn’t follow you,” you say quickly. “I thought I heard something, so I called out. I guess I wandered a little farther in than I meant to.”
They exchange a look. You can’t tell if it’s suspicion or annoyance, but neither reaction is good.
“What’d you hear?” the shorter one asks, stepping closer. His light flicks behind you, toward the clearing you just left. Toward the direction of Jungkook.
Your stomach tightens painfully.
You force yourself to stall. “Honestly? I thought it was a dog at first. Or maybe a big raccoon.” You give an awkward shrug. “I don’t know animals very well.”
The taller hunter doesn’t laugh. His eyes scan the ground around you. “Hear anything heavy? Big branches moving? Something with weight?”
“Uh… no?” you lie smoothly. “I mean, unless you count me tripping over a root.”
The shorter hunter sighs loudly, running a hand through his hair. “Great. Another false lead.”
He looks tired, irritated, and your goal is to keep him in that emotional space. Annoyed and ready to leave.
You push gently. “So… did you guys ever find the bear? Or whatever you were tracking?”
The taller one steps forward, too close, his flashlight hitting your face. “What did you see earlier exactly? Describe it again.”
Your heartbeat spikes.
“A big bear,” you say honestly enough that your voice doesn’t shake. “Brown. Fast. Scared.”
“Brown?” he presses. “Not black? Not mottled? No strange things on him?”
“No,” you say, steadying your breath. “Just… a bear. I think.”
The shorter one groans again. “I told you she probably saw a normal animal. We’re wasting daylight.”
You feel Yoongi watching you from the shadows behind.
“Look,” you say gently, forcing your shoulders to relax, “maybe you should call it for tonight. You both look exhausted.”
The tall hunter eyes you once more, but something in his posture shifts. The exhaustion is winning out. The uncertainty. The doubt.
Finally, he mutters, “We’ll sweep the creek and head out.”
Your stomach drops. The creek is exactly where Jungkook is. You need to redirect them now.
“You mean the creek down that way?” you ask, pointing confidently, but in the completely wrong direction, deeper into the woods and far from Jungkook.
They both turn to look.
“Yeah,” the shorter one says slowly. “Down that ridge.”
You nod. “I thought I heard splashing earlier, but… it was probably nothing.”
He curses under his breath. “Whatever. We’ll check it.”
“Thanks,” you say with a weak smile. “And be careful. It’s getting dark.”
The tall one nods curtly and gestures to his partner. “Come on. Let’s sweep the ridge.”
You watch them go.
Their flashlights fade.
Their voices become distant.
Only when you’re sure they’re far enough does the breath you’ve been holding collapse out of you.
You glance back at the clearing.
Jungkook is still lying in the grass, trembling faintly but no longer panicking. His eyes are half-open, watching you with a dazed mixture of confusion and gratitude he can’t quite express.
Taehyung emerges beside him, still in his tiger form, staying low and protective over him. His ears flick back as he looks at you, as if checking with his own eyes that you’re actually safe.
Yoongi moves first.
He closes the distance in a few quick, pained steps, grabbing your forearm, his hand trembling just enough for you to feel it.
“That was dangerous.” he whispers, anger thinly layered over raw fear. “I can’t believe you walked straight up to armed hunters alone.”
“Yoongi… the alternative was letting them walk right into this clearing.”
He shakes his head sharply. “No. You don’t get it. They’re not just regular humans. They’re hunters. If they found out you were lying—“
“You’re safe,” you say quietly. “All three of you and that’s all that matters.”
Yoongi’s jaw tightens. He finally releases your arm… only to take your hand instead. The gesture is small but intentional, his thumb brushing once across your palm as if he needs the reassurance that you’re real and unhurt.
“Please don't do that again,” he says softly, the anger fading into something rawer.
You swallow, realizing he isn’t scolding you. He’s scared. For you. “I had to,” you whisper. “I’d do it again.”
He closes his eyes briefly like the answer both frustrates him and shatters him a little.
Before he can respond, Taehyung nudges him sharply, then looks down at Jungkook, letting out a low, meaningful rumble.
Yoongi’s eyes snap open. “Right. We need to move him before they circle back.”
You nod, grounding yourself with a deep breath. “I’m ready.”
Yoongi squeezes your hand once before letting go, turning his focus back to Jungkook. “Then we move fast,” he says, voice firm again. “And we do it together.”
Yoongi crouches beside Jungkook again, ignoring the flare of pain in his ribs. You kneel on the other side, close enough for Jungkook to see your face clearly. His eyes flutter open at your movement, still cloudy with exhaustion, still scared… but not as much as before.
You smile at him gently. “We’re gonna get you somewhere safe, okay? But we need your help too.”
Jungkook lets out a faint, trembling huff.
Yoongi nods at him, his expression softening in a way you’ve never seen. “We just need you to stand. No shifting. Just get your feet under you.”
Jungkook closes his eyes for a second, gathering strength from somewhere deep and then he tries. His huge paws press into the dirt, claws digging in, muscles bunching with effort. His legs tremble violently. His shoulder nearly collapses.
Taehyung moves instantly, bracing himself beneath Jungkook’s weight so the bear can lean against him. Yoongi reaches out as well, placing both hands on his fur to steady him, though you can see the strain it costs him.
You rise and place a hand lightly against Jungkook’s stomach, steadying him from the other side. “You’re okay. I’ve got you.”
He lifts his head a few inches. It wobbles, but it stays up.
“That’s it,” Yoongi murmurs.
It takes nearly a full minute, but Jungkook manages to shift himself into a weak, unsteady stand. His breathing is ragged, but his body holds.
Barely.
You look at Yoongi. “Can he walk?”
“Not far,” Yoongi admits. His eyes flick to the darkness behind you where the hunters disappeared. “But he doesn’t have to. We just need to get him close enough to the road. Taehyung and I can lift the rest.”
You nod. “Then let’s move.”
Taehyung positions himself under Jungkook’s injured side, taking most of his brother’s weight with a soft grunt of effort. Jungkook leans heavily into him, almost collapsing twice before Taehyung steadies him with a bump of his shoulder.
Yoongi limps to the other side, jaw clenching each time he braces Jungkook. You can tell he’s in pain, but he refuses to acknowledge it.
You take the spot behind them, keeping your hands near his back and flank, ready to catch or support him if he falters.
“Alright,” Yoongi mutters, voice tight. “Slow and steady. Follow Taehyung.”
Taehyung starts forward, guiding Jungkook with careful, measured steps. The forest path is uneven, and each shift of his weight sends tremors through his legs. You stay close, murmuring quiet reassurances whenever he stumbles.
Jungkook struggles, but he keeps going, driven by the closeness of his brothers, the pressure of Taehyung’s side against his, the soft rhythm of your voice beside him.
Yoongi glances at you once, the faintest expression flickering across his features before he looks away again.
You walk for several painstaking minutes, Jungkook’s steps dragging deeper into the forest floor. Every rustle of leaves feels too loud. Every distant crack of a branch makes all three hybrids stiffen.
Finally, Taehyung stops and flicks his ears toward the right.
Yoongi lets out a shaky breath. “We’re close to the road.”
You step ahead and push through a thin line of brush and there it is. The narrow forest road where you parked earlier. Your car sits only a dozen yards away, half-hidden behind the trees, waiting.
You turn back, relief flooding through you.
“We made it.”
Jungkook sways, nearly collapsing, but Taehyung catches him before he can fall. Yoongi stabilizes him from the other side, though the strain on his face makes it clear he can’t take much more.
You rush forward and open the trunk door of your SUV. “Okay — Taehyung, Yoongi, how do we get him in?”
Yoongi wipes sweat from his brow, breathing hard. “We’ll guide him up. You get in the front and help pull if we need it.”
You hesitate. “Are you sure?”
He gives you a tired but certain nod. “We’ll manage. Just be ready.”
Guiding Jungkook to the car is a slow, excruciating process. Every few steps, his legs wobble, and Taehyung braces under him, taking the strain without hesitation. Yoongi presses a steadying hand to Jungkook’s side, wincing each time the weight shifts toward him.
“Easy…” Yoongi murmurs, voice strained. “Just a little closer.”
You scramble into the front seat and twist around, reaching back to offer your hands as Taehyung and Yoongi maneuver Jungkook toward the back door.
Jungkook hesitates, his huge frame trembling at the unfamiliar shape of the car.
You lean forward, voice steady. “It’s okay. It’s just for a moment. Then we’ll go home. I promise.”
His eyes meet yours, they look tired, scared, but trusting. And slowly, leaning heavily into Taehyung’s strength, Jungkook steps toward the car. His huge form towers at the edge of the car, and for a brief moment it seems impossible. He’s simply too big, too heavy, too exhausted.
You lean over the seat, extending your hand. “Jungkook… we need you to climb in, okay? We’re almost done. Just this last part.”
Jungkook breathes hard, his sides heaving, but his eyes meet yours. He listens. Slowly, he lifts one massive paw and sets it inside the vehicle. The car groans underneath the shift in weight.
Taehyung shifts position and nudges his brother from the side, offering silent encouragement. Jungkook lifts his other front paw in, his body sagging with effort. As his weight shifts into the backseat, the car dips sharply, the suspension dropping several inches with a heavy, low creak.
You wince. “My poor car…”
Taehyung, squeezing in behind Jungkook, adds his weight too. The vehicle dips again. It’s almost comical, a small SUV sagging under the mass of two hybrids in one cramped space, but the worry in the moment overshadows any humor.
Yoongi huffs a weak breath through his nose. “Should’ve bought a truck.”
“Yeah, well, I wasn’t exactly planning for… hybrid transport,” you whisper back.
Taehyung curls around Jungkook protectively, positioning himself so he can lean against him, his large head resting on Taehyung’s shoulder. The tiger adjusts until Jungkook is wedged securely, no risk of him sliding if you brake too suddenly.
Jungkook gives one soft, exhausted huff before his eyes close.
Yoongi limps around to the passenger side. He lowers himself into the seat with a shaky exhale, reclining it halfway until he finds a position that doesn’t make him grimace.
You close all the doors, circle back to the driver’s side, and climb in behind the wheel. The car’s back end still sits noticeably low, the weight of two fully-grown hybrids making your headlights tilt a little higher than usual.
You glance into the rearview mirror.
Jungkook is unmoving, breathing shallow but steady.
Taehyung’s golden eyes stare back at you, protective and alert from behind Jungkook’s massive form.
Yoongi watches the road ahead, jaw clenched, one hand pressed lightly against his ribs.
“Ready?” you ask.
Taehyung gives a slow, firm chuff.
Yoongi nods once.
You grip the wheel, exhale shakily, and put the car in drive.
“Hold on and lay low,” you whisper.
With everyone finally inside the car, you pressed your foot to the gas and left the forest behind, hoping the night wouldn’t catch up to you before you made it home.
A/N: Thanks for reading!! Let me know how you think of the story so far! As always have a wonderful day!
GIRLLLLLL i maybe reread troae at least twice a month (you don’t know what that ff does to me.. i have it saved in my notes app) I APPRECIATE AND LOVE YOUR WRITING SO SO MUCH your work has literally gotten me thru college dude like genuinely love this stuff and i am so excited and happy to see you are doing well and are back to writing!!! i am looking so forward to your new fics (i’m obsessed can’t wait for more, notifs on!) thank you for being the amazing person you are!!!!!
Thank YOU for being the amazing person you are!
it makes me so happy that you love my fics/writing so much 🥰🥰
it’s funny cause I wrote that series while I was still in college haha thank you for reading!!
Request: “Hey Liz! Congrats on 1k! I know how much you love angst, so could I request a fic where jk and reader are enemies, (reader is a witch and jk wanted to kill her) but they fall in love instead. And THEN jk dies in the end hehe you can make up the plot I just want angst lol”
Updated Request: “Seeing how jk already dies in a fic you can switch it to the reader dying instead lol”
<< Part 1
Jungkook hums to himself as he prepares his food in the kitchen of their cabin. He had promised little Jisung that he’d cook him the same lamb skewers that he brought last time. Jungkook won’t lie, his heart soared at the way Jisung’s face lit up when he first tasted the meat. The reason for this was because he was beginning to find the small boy precious to him. Not only does he find Jisung precious but over the months that he’s been seeing you, you’ve snuck your way into his heart and he wasn’t planning to let you go anytime soon.
“Tell me I’m wrong.”
Jungkook freezes at the voice, he lets out a sigh before turning around slowly, “what are you on about now hyung,” he grumbles.
The older man narrows his eyes menacingly, “you’re going to see that witch again,” he accuses, venom laced within his voice.
Jungkook contemplated telling a lie but he knew his friend would immediately see through him. So instead, he crosses his arms with a raised brow, “and if I was? What would you do?”
Jimin almost looked surprised that he responded in such a way. Everytime he brought the topic up, Jungkook would always try to change the subject in any way possible. “I’d take matters into my own hands,” he grits out.
“She’s done nothing wrong,” Jungkook defends.
“She kills people,” Jimin states in an incredulous tone.
“Would you just willingly allow someone to slice a sword through you?” Jungkook growls, his face gets hot as he slowly begins to approach his friend in an intimidating way, “you’d fight back, you’d try to save yourself. And if that means killing the other party then so be it.”
At this point, Jungkook’s tall stature was directly in front of Jimin’s as he almost leaned forward to intimidate him even more. But Jimin wouldn’t be one of the greatest knights in the empire if he was this easily intimidated.
“Don’t act like we haven’t had our fair share of kills hyung. All the people we’ve killed had families and friends too. I’m sure there are people out there who want us dead just like you want her dead.”
Jungkook narrows his eyes, both men’s expressions mirroring the other, “no one here is innocent. So stop acting like you’re some fucking saint.” Jimin’s eyes go wide momentarily before the younger man leans back. He grabs his basket of food and begins making his way out the door.
Jimin scoffs lightly under his breath, “who would’ve thought.”
Jungkook stops, “what?” he snaps.
He watches as a slight smirk begins forming on Jimin’s face, “who would have thought that the bitch herself would bewitch you into being the one person you didn’t want to be.”
Jungkook’s face nearly flushed red with rage at that. His knuckles turned white with how tightly he gripped the handle of the basket because he knew that if he let it go at any moment, there’s no stopping his fists from colliding into the man's face. He refuses to turn around to look at him, refuses to give him the satisfaction of seeing his reaction.
Jimin tilts his head, scoffing at his silence, “fucking fine Jeon Jungkook. Go off and be with her, if that’s the fucking kind of person you want to be.” He watches as Jungkook finally turns his head to look the man in the eyes.
“Well I certainly don’t want to be like you.”
Jungkook leaves, not even bothering to look behind him to see the growing scowl on Jimin’s face.
“What’s gotten you down in the dumps my dear?” You ask, racking your fingers through his hair as he rests on your lap. The cool breeze causes his hair to move on its own. You notice the way his shoulders seem heavier today
Jungkook sighs, leaning against your hand, “it’s nothing.”
You frown, brushing a lock of hair from his forehead, “it doesn’t seem like nothing to me? Is everything alright?”
The corners of his lips lift ever so slightly at the concern within your voice, “it is now that I’m with you.” His smile widens when you give him an unimpressed look, the kind that says you’re not buying it. He chuckles quietly, his hands coming up to cup your cheek with a tenderness that still makes your heart falter, “I’m serious, I’m a lot happier now that we’re together.”
Your frown doesn’t fade completely, but you decide not to press further. Instead, you rest your hand over his, feeling the warmth that contrasts sharply with the chill in the air. Turning your head, you place a gentle kiss against his palm, a small, wordless promise that you won’t push him before he’s ready. Jungkook’s eyes soften at the sweet gesture.
“Since when did you become so cute?”
You tilt your head, breaking the silence with a teasing smile. “What? Can’t fathom the idea of a monster being cute?”
Jungkook furrows his brows at that, sitting up slightly. “I didn’t say that.”
“No, but you thought it,” you counter, your tone light but your gaze searching.
His expression shifts, guilt flickering across his face for just a heartbeat. “Y/n,” he says, his voice steady but thick with sincerity. “You know I don’t view you in that way. Not anymore,” he corrects himself, moving to scoot closer to you.
You arch a brow, turning your face away as if to hide the small, uncertain smile forming there. “I’m a witch, Jungkook. The monster of this village,” you remind him, though the words sound tired, like a story you’ve told too many times.
“I told you,” he insists, inching closer until his knees nearly brush against yours, “I don’t view you that way anymore.”
You study him quietly, the morning light catching the scar on his jaw. A faint reminder of what he used to be, of what he was sent here to do. “What changed?” you ask finally.
His answer comes without hesitation. “You changed me.”
The words hang between you, fragile and impossibly heavy all at once. For a moment, neither of you speaks. The only sound is the rustling of leaves and the rhythmic beat of your hearts.
“Mama!”
Both of you jolt at the sudden voice, heads snapping toward the small figure running toward you through the tall grass. Heat rushes to your cheeks, and you quickly avert your gaze.
Jungkook clears his throat, scratching the back of his neck with a sheepish grin.
Jisung’s curls bounce with each step, his hands clutching a wildflower he must’ve picked along the way. He stops a few feet away, chest heaving from the run, and beams up at you both with the kind of innocence that could melt even the coldest heart.
You smile warmly, brushing the grass from your skirts. “What is it, my dear?”
He blinks up at Jungkook, then back at you, the flower momentarily forgotten in his hand. “Mama,” he says again, his tone thoughtful this time, “I was wondering, is Jungkook gonna be my dad?”
The question lands like a spell neither of you were prepared for.
You freeze mid-breath, eyes wide, while Jungkook’s jaw goes slack. The knight’s usual confidence faltering entirely. The tips of his ears burn red as he glances at you, half expecting you to dissolve into laughter or scold the child for his forwardness. But you’re just staring at Jisung, unsure whether to cry or hide behind your hands.
“Jisung—” you start, but Jungkook’s low chuckle cuts you off.
He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees, “that’s a very big question, little one,” he says gently, his voice softer than you’ve ever heard it. “What makes you ask that?”
Jisung tilts his head, clearly unbothered by Jungkook’s attempt to deflect. “’Cause you make Mama smile,” he says simply, as if it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “And you bring her flowers. And when she’s sad, you make her laugh again.” He pauses, lowering his voice conspiratorially. “That’s what dads do, right?”
Your heart twists, partly at his sweetness, partly at how much truth sits in such innocent words. You open your mouth to respond, but Jungkook beats you to it.
“I think,” he says carefully, reaching out to gently ruffle Jisung’s hair, “that if your mama would let me, I’d be very lucky to try.”
You swallow hard, your breath catching at his words. Jisung’s eyes light up at the answer, completely oblivious to the wave of emotion that crashes between the two adults in front of him.
“Really?” Jisung asks, his voice rising with pure delight.
Jungkook nods, smiling softly. “Really.”
The little boy’s grin could rival the sun as he throws his arms around Jungkook’s neck, hugging him tightly. Jungkook freezes for a split second before his arms instinctively circle Jisung, holding him just as gently as he would hold you. When he looks up at you over Jisung’s shoulder, his gaze is full of warmth.
The boy runs off again, his attention span only lasting for a few minutes as a fairy comes from the trees and plays with him.
You exhale slowly, pressing a hand to your face. “I’m so sorry,” you mumble through your fingers. “He… says things sometimes.”
Jungkook just smiles, the sincere kind of smile that reaches his eyes. “Don’t be,” he says quietly, leaning back on his hands as he watches Jisung dart through the grass. “He’s just honest. Kids usually are.”
You lower your hand, glancing at him, “still, that must’ve been—”
“Nice to hear?” he finishes for you, turning his head toward you. His grin is playful, but there’s a softness beneath it. “Yeah. Maybe a little.”
Your heart stirs at the admission. You try to hide the way your lips twitch upward, but Jungkook notices, he always does. His gaze lingers for a moment longer before he turns back toward the horizon, a faint, content sigh escaping him as he wish he could stay like this forever.
The training grounds were alive with the sharp clang of steel and the bark of commands, but Jungkook’s sword hadn’t met another in weeks.
He stood at the edge of the field, watching as his friends sparred with one another. It used to be his rhythm, his routine. Now it just felt distant.
“Didn’t think I’d see the day you’d rather stand and watch than fight,” Yoongi said, lowering his blade as soon as he caught Jungkook’s gaze. His tone was teasing, but there was something underneath it, something sharper.
Jungkook forced a faint smirk. “I’m still recovering from the last mission,” he replied, setting his gauntlets aside. “Don’t want to overdo it.”
Taehyung wiped sweat from his brow, giving him a sideways glance. “Funny. You’ve been ‘recovering’ for months now.”
The words hit harder than either of them realized. Jungkook’s hand flexed against his side, where an old wound had long since healed. “Maybe I just got tired of killing,” he said flatly.
That earned him silence.
Even Hoseok lowered his sword completely, the training between him and Namjoon coming to a pause. “You’re not yourself lately,” Hoseok said finally, voice quieter now. “You skip training. You disappear into the forest for hours. You don’t answer when the captain calls for you.” He took a step closer, lowering his tone. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re hiding something.”
Jungkook’s jaw tightened. “I’m not hiding anything.”
“Then why are people saying you’ve gone soft?” Taehyung cut in. “Why are they gossiping that you’ve been seen near the witch’s territory?”
The words made Jungkook’s stomach twist. He forced himself to meet Taehyung’s eyes, trying to keep his expression unreadable. “Rumors,” he said. “You know how people talk.”
“Do they?” Jimin pressed, his gaze hardening. “Because lately, I don’t think they’re wrong.” He stares at the younger man with eyes knowing the truth.
Jungkook exhaled slowly, his patience fraying. “You think I’d betray the emperor? That I’d throw away everything I’ve worked for?”
“I think,” Jimin said carefully, “you already have.”
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Jungkook’s hands curled into fists at his sides. He didn’t look at any of them as he spoke, his voice steady, but strained. “You wouldn’t understand.”
Hoseok's tone softened slightly. “Then help us understand, Jungkook. What’s pulling you away from us?”
For a heartbeat, your face flashed in his mind, your dumb laugh, your touch, the way you said his name like it meant something.
He swallowed hard. “It doesn’t matter,” he muttered, turning to leave.
But as he walked away, he could feel their stares burning into his back, not with anger, but with disappointment. He didn’t turn around. If he did, they’d see the truth written all over him.
“Boo.”
You blink, then grin when a warm, familiar voice is heard. Jungkook is leaning in the doorway of your kitchen with that crooked smile that always manages to make the corners of your mouth tug up even when you don’t want them to. His cloak is slung over one shoulder, and he’s carrying a wicker basket that smells faintly of bread, herbs, and Jisungs new favorite, lamb.
“Jeon, you should know better than to sneak up on a witch like that.” You wag your finger, mock stern, but your heart is doing a foolish little flip.
He laughs, the sound easy and bright. “Sorry, I couldn’t help it.” He steps fully into the kitchen, sunlight catching in his hair.
“What brings you here.”
He crosses the room and sets the basket down. “I can’t just come and see my favorite girl?” He says with a soft little emphasis that makes your cheeks heat.
Jungkook lifts the basket and reveals a small loaf of bread, a meat wrapped in cloth, and a sprig of rosemary. “I actually came to see if I could join you and Jisung for dinner,” he says, offering the contents like a peace treaty.
You widen your eyes theatrically. “Of course you can.” You loop your arm around his and pull him closer to leave a sweet little peck to his cheek, one that causes his smile to widen even more. “You always have a seat here.”
You move around the counter, preparing your ingredients and the pot to make lamb stew. He watches you like he’s trying to memorize the ordinary things, the way your hair falls when you lean, the little crease at your brow when you concentrate. “I won’t be able to come visit tomorrow, sweetheart,” he says suddenly, “duty calls.”
You glance up, mock offended. “Your duty doesn’t consist of you fighting off witches, does it?” you tease.
He chuckles. “Nah,” he says, eyes sliding back to you. “There’s only one witch I want to deal with for the rest of my life.”
You let out a high, teasing scoff and roll your eyes, but there’s a ridiculous, warm buzz in your chest. “The rest of your life, huh?”
He shrugs, perfectly earnest. “Hey, Jisung said I was the dad, not me.”
At that, the child shoots up from where he’s been peeking into the basket, “I don’t remember saying that today?” he pipes, scrunching his nose.
“Ahh, Jisung, play along and I’ll buy you more toys.” Jungkook bends down and ruffles the boy’s hair, and the bribe is effective. Jisung squeals and throws his arms around Jungkook’s neck. “Whatever you say Jung-,” he pauses, “I mean dad!” he squeals, playing along without missing a beat.
You laugh as you watch Jungkook hold the boy. “how many times do I have to explain to you two. Jungkook is not your father,” you remind, though your voice is soft.
Jungkook leans his forehead to Jisung’s and murmurs, so only the two of them can hear, “I’m working on it.” His voice is a whisper full of promise. He winks at the young boy as he giggles and runs off to play with the many gifts Jungkook brought him these past months.
You’re standing at the stove, stirring the stew, the gentle simmer filling the cottage with warmth and the scent of herbs. The world feels calm for once. The soft crackle of the fire, Jisung’s quiet humming from the corner, the low whistle of wind through the trees outside.
Then, without warning, a pair of strong arms slip around your waist.
You let out a startled gasp, nearly dropping the spoon. “Jungkook—!”
He laughs softly against your ear, his chest pressing to your back. “Sorry,” he murmurs, voice low and warm, “I just wanted to hold you.”
You shake your head, pretending to scold him, but you can feel the smile tugging at your lips. “You just enjoy sneaking up on me huh. What if I actually hurt you one day,” you mutter, trying to sound stern.
“I’ll risk the curse,” he teases, resting his chin on your shoulder. His breath brushes against your skin, and you can feel the smile in his voice.
“Mm, you say that now,” you hum, stirring the pot again, though your hands feel a little less steady with him so close.
He only holds you tighter, his thumbs tracing slow, idle circles against your waist. “I could get used to this,” he says quietly. “Just being here with you. With him.”
You pause, your breath catching for a moment. His voice carries that softness you’ve come to recognize, the one that sneaks past every wall you’ve built.
“Dinner’s not ready yet,” you whisper, trying to change the subject quickly.
“I can wait,” he murmurs, pressing a kiss to your temple. “I could wait and stay like this forever.”
Your shoulders relax against him, and you let yourself lean back into his warmth. For a little while, the only sounds are the quiet bubbling of the stew and the steady rhythm of his heartbeat against your spine.
You breathe in slowly, letting the moment sink into your bones. Taking in the scent of rosemary and smoke, the weight of his arms, the safety that feels almost too good to be real.
“You’re distracting me,” you murmur.
Jungkook chuckles quietly against your shoulder. “Good,” he says simply, his breath warm against your neck. “You think too much anyway.”
You glance back at him from the corner of your eye, fighting the smile threatening to appear. “And what’s that supposed to mean, hm?”
He hums softly, brushing his nose along your jaw in a teasing nuzzle. “Just that you deserve to rest.”
You finally set the spoon down, unable to hide the smile tugging at your lips. Turning slightly in his arms, you tilt your head up to meet his gaze. His expression softens instantly the moment they land on yours, eyes full of something so genuine, so heartbreakingly warm, that you forget how to breathe for a moment.
“Jungkook…” you whisper, but the rest of your words fade as he leans in.
He kisses you sweetly, tenderly, the kind of kiss that speaks more than confessions ever could. His hand comes up to cradle your cheek, thumb brushing your skin.
Jisung stood in the doorway, hair sticking up in every direction, clutching his worn little stuffed fox. He’s squinting at the two of you, his head tilted in innocent curiosity. “It kinda looks like Jungkook’s my dad,” he says, his tone so casual it nearly makes you choke on your breath.
You gasp as you pull away, cheeks turning red.
Jungkook blinks, caught completely off guard, before a laugh erupts out of him. “Oh? It does, does it?” he says, scratching the back of his neck as his lips curve into a grin.
You press your fingers to your temples, “Jisung,” you sigh, “we’ve talked about this.”
Jisung frowns thoughtfully, looking between the two of you. “But he hugs you like the Dads in the stories do,” he insists. “And he brings food. And he helps tuck me in. That’s what dads do.”
A fond smile spreads across Jungkook’s face. “Well,” he says softly, “I guess I just like taking care of you both.”
Jisung grins, eyes bright. “Soooo… can I call you Dad then?”
You groan quietly. “Jisung—”
But Jungkook just laughs, reaching out to ruffle the boy’s hair. “Tell you what,” he says, voice gentle but playful. “If your mama doesn’t hex me for it, you can call me whatever you want.”
Jisung lights up instantly. “Okay, Dad!” he chirps, darting off before you can protest.
You stare after him, wide-eyed, then turn to Jungkook, who’s now grinning like a fool. “You’re encouraging him,” you mutter, trying and failing to sound stern.
“I’m not encouraging, I’m emotionally supporting,” he says, doing a terrible job hiding his amusement.
You narrow your eyes, but he only chuckles and steps closer again, brushing a stray lock of hair from your cheek. “He’s not wrong though,” he murmurs, voice softer now. “It does look like it, doesn’t it?”
And before you can say a word, he presses another soft kiss to your forehead
Your breath catches as his lips linger on your forehead, far too tender for the kind of life you lead. You close your eyes for just a moment, letting yourself sink into it.
But then a giggle breaks the moment again.
You look up to see Jisung peeking around the corner, his little grin mischievous and smug. “See?” he says proudly, pointing a small finger at you both. “You do look like Mama and Dad!”
Jungkook snorts, half embarrassed, half amused, and steps back. “You really don’t miss anything, do you?” he teases.
Jisung beams, rocking on his heels. “Nope! Mama says witches always notice everything, so I do too.” Even though you’ve said time and time again that he’s not a witch, he refuses to acknowledge it.
You cross your arms, trying to look stern, but the corner of your mouth betrays you with a small smile. “And what Mama also says,” you remind him, “is that little witches need to mind their own business.”
“But—”
“No ‘buts,” you shot back, “now go prepare the table, dinners almost ready.”
Jisung pouts but nonetheless follows your orders, “yes mama…”
Over dinner, Jisung talks a mile a minute about his adventures today. About a fox who stole his hat and the way one of the fairies taught him a new rhyme. Jungkook listens with extravagant patience, laughing at the right places, asking questions, making the boy light up. He reaches across the table and steals a piece of bread when you’re not looking, grinning like a child, and you can’t help but nudge him with the back of your hand.
“Jisung it’s time for bed,” you call out as you grab the empty dishes from the table ready to wash them.
“I’ll tuck him in,” Jungkook offers, and your heart squeezes at how natural it sounds.
You watch as Jisung takes his hand without hesitation, his tiny fingers curling around Jungkook’s. They walk down the small hallway, their shadows stretching across the flickering floorboards.
You can hear their voices. Their soft laughter, the creak of the old bed, Jisung’s sleepy murmurs as Jungkook helps him settle beneath the blanket.
Jungkook comes around the counter again, the firelight painting his face gold. “He’s out,” he whispers, smiling faintly.
You nod, voice barely above a whisper. “Thank you.”
He studies you for a moment, and before you can say another word, he slips his arms around you from behind again and pulls you close until your back meets his chest, until you can feel his heartbeat steady against your spine.
Neither of you speaks. The only sound is the quiet crackle of the fire, the soft whistle of the wind outside. His chin rests on your shoulder, his breath brushing your skin.
In that fragile stillness, you close your eyes and whisper, “you make it too easy to forget that the world’s cruel.”
Jungkook’s lips curve against your cheek in a faint, bittersweet smile. “Then let me keep doing that a little longer,” he murmurs as he leaves small little kisses all around your neck.
His hand reaches underneath your shirt, wordlessly reaching up until his rough hands reaches his desired destination. Your breasts. “No bra? Not that I’m complaining.”
You roll your eyes, “I never wear a bra inside my own house.”
He licks his lips, “noted.”
You scuff as you attempt to push him away to no avail.
“Let me take care of you tonight baby,” he whispers seductively in your ear. Your eyes shut as he massages your breasts tenderly. “Would you let me?”
You don’t have it in you to muster a response at the moment. All that you can do is just nod your head. Giving him the consent he needed.
He grins before removing his hands from underneath your shirt and in one swift motion picks you up as if you weighed like a feather.
“Jungkook!” You instinctively wrap your arms around his neck.
He hushes you as he carries you to your room, “you’re gonna wake Jisung up.”
You narrow your eyes, though the laughter bubbling in your chest betrays you. “And what exactly do you think you’re doing?”
He only winks and you knew he was going to say something ridiculous, “you ever considered giving Jisung a sibling.”
And you were right.
You smack him as your face turns beet red. He only laughs at this, taking pleasure in making the big scary witch all shy and flustered.
Reaching your room he carefully sets you down on your bed. And in the next second he was shirtless hovering on top of you. His erection showed through his pants as he couldn’t wait to get a taste of you.
His gaze was almost predatory as he leans in to give you a passionate kiss like never before.
You two spent the rest of the night proving your love for one another. Even if you haven’t said it out loud just yet.
The forest was unnaturally still the next day. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath between the trees. The knights had been sent to drive a herd of centaurs away from an abandoned gold mine at the northern edge of the woods, a mine the emperor planned to reopen before winter.
Jungkook adjusted the strap on his armor, jaw tight as he followed his friends through the narrow path. Their boots sank into the damp earth, the faint glint of sunlight breaking through the canopy above.
“Stay sharp,” Namjoon said at the front of the line, his voice calm but firm. “Centaurs don’t attack unprovoked, but they’ll defend their ground if we step too close.”
Behind him, Yoongi grumbled, scanning the trees. “Then maybe we shouldn’t be here at all.”
“Tell that to the emperor,” Hoseok muttered under his breath, earning a faint scoff from Yoongi and a small smirk from Jin.
Namjoon muttered, hand on the hilt of his sword, “we’re not here to kill. Just to push them out.”
Jungkook grunted in acknowledgment, though his mind felt a thousand miles away. Every rustle in the undergrowth made his pulse spike, not out of fear of the centaurs, but of who else might be watching from deeper in these woods. He knew these trees better than anyone now. He knew who lived beyond them.
Jin fell into step beside him. “You’ve been quiet,” he said.
“I’m fine,” Jungkook replied automatically.
“That’s what you said last time,” Jin said, giving him a look. “And last time, you almost got yourself killed.”
Before Jungkook could answer, Taehyung, who was walking ahead of them, raised a fist. “Movement up ahead.”
The group froze, hands instinctively going to their weapons. It was silent, and then the sound of a bowstring pulling taut cut through the air.
“Down!” Namjoon shouted.
An arrow sliced through the air, grazing Jungkook’s arm before embedding itself into a tree trunk with a dull thud. He hissed under his breath, drawing his blade. Centaurs burst from the shadows, their hooves pounding the ground like thunder.
There were at least a dozen, standing tall, proud, and clearly armed. Their leader stepped forward, eyes narrowing at the sight of human steel. “This land is not yours,” he rumbled, voice deep enough to make the ground tremble. “Leave.”
Namjoon stepped forward, trying diplomacy first. “We don’t seek bloodshed. The mine must be cleared by order of the emperor.”
“Your emperor does not rule these woods,” the centaur spat. “Leave, or bleed.”
A tense silence hung between both sides. Then, a single arrow flew. No one knew who released it.
But it was enough.
The forest erupted into chaos.
“Form up!” Namjoon shouted, drawing his blade. The others fell into formation. Jimin and Taehyung on the flanks, Hoseok and Yoongi covering from the rear, Jin close to Namjoon.
The knights moved as one, years of training kicking in. Steel clashed against spear and bow, the sharp cries of battle echoing through the trees. Jungkook ducked low, driving his sword upward in one clean arc that disarmed a centaur charging him head-on. He ducked low, slicing across the creature’s foreleg before pivoting to block another strike. Every movement was muscle memory, every swing precise, but his focus faltered for just a heartbeat.
And that heartbeat cost him.
“Jungkook!” Jimin’s warning came too late.
Something slammed into him from the side. A centaur’s kick. Pain exploded through his ribs as he hit the ground, his sword skittering out of reach. The world spun, breath knocked from his lungs. He could taste blood in his mouth.
Through the ringing in his ears, he heard Jimin shout his name again, somewhere distant, somewhere fading. He tried to push himself up, but his arm wouldn’t obey. Warmth spread under his armor, too much warmth.
He looked down. Blood.
The spearhead that had caught him in the side earlier was seeping through the plates of his armor.
“Damn it…” he gasped, clutching at the wound. His vision blurred as the fight raged on around him, metal, shouting and hooves pounding the ground.
He forced himself to crawl toward his fallen sword, every movement a searing agony. He needed to stay conscious. He needed to survive. He couldn’t die here, not in your forest.
“Fall back!” Namjoon ordered, “there’s too many!”
“I’ll cover the left!” Hoseok called, parrying an incoming attack.
Yoongi grabbed Jimin by the arm, dragging him behind a tree as another volley of arrows rained down. “We need to regroup—”
“We need to get Jungkook!” Jimin shouted, scanning the area.
He sprinted forward, skidding to Jungkook’s side. “Hey—hey, stay with me.” He pressed a hand over the wound, but blood kept seeping through his fingers. Jungkook’s face had gone pale, his breathing ragged.
“Go,” Jungkook rasped. “Get them out.”
“We’re not leaving you!” Jimin shouted over the noise.
A shadow passed overhead, another centaur charging toward them. Before it could reach them, Namjoon and Taehyung lunged forward together, striking in sync to drive it back.
“Retreat!” Namjoon barked again. “Now!”
Yoongi and Hoseok moved in to help Jimin lift Jungkook, but he pushed them off weakly, eyes unfocused. His vision blurred at the edges, the l.
Jungkook gasps, “… Y/n…”
Then the world went black.
It had been two weeks since you last saw Jungkook.
At first, you told yourself he was just busy, that the emperor was calling him back to his duties, that he’d show up at your door like always with that boyish smile and a handful of wildflowers he pretended not to have picked for you. But the days stretched on, and the silence of the forest began to feel heavier.
So you walked.
You were taking a stroll along the moss-lined path that curved through your part of the forest, trailing your fingertips along the bark of ancient trees. The sun slipped through the canopy in warm, golden beams, and here and there, familiar faces appeared. A curious fairy peeking from a hollow, a silver fox weaving between ferns. You smiled softly, greeting them each in turn.
But as you went deeper, the air shifted.
There was a presence following you. Subtle at first, but a presence that you were all too familiar with. You stopped, turning slowly.
“Who’s there?”
Silence.
Your eyes narrow and in an instant you raise your hand in the direction you heard the rustling in. A bright orb forming between your palm.
Sensing the danger, Jimin rushes forward away from the bushes. “Wait! Relax, I’m not here to fight you!”
Your eyes narrowed. “Like I’d believe that.”
He sighed heavily, straightening but keeping his distance. His armor was scuffed, his expression drawn, more exhaustion than malice. “I’m serious,” he said, hands still raised. “I know it would be a lost cause anyway.”
Your fingers twitched, a faint hum of magic pulsing at your fingertips. You slowly lower your hand, “what business do you have with me.” What was more of a command rather than a question.
Jimin hesitated, glancing away for the briefest moment before meeting your gaze again. “Stay away from Jungkook.”
You blinked, the words not quite registering. “Excuse me?”
“Don’t act oblivious, witch,” he snapped, the sharpness in his voice betraying frustration more than hatred. “It’s no secret Jungkook’s fallen for you. I have no idea how, but I need you to stay the hell away from him.”
Your heart clenched, but your expression stayed cold. “You don’t get to decide who he sees.”
“I’m not deciding anything!” Jimin shot back. “I’m trying to keep him alive!”
That made you pause. Something icy crept down your spine. “What do you mean?”
Jimin exhaled, shoulders sagging. “He got hurt. Two weeks ago, during a mission with the Centaurs. Said he was distracted. When he was losing consciousness…” His eyes flickered toward you, softer now. “Your name slipped out of his mouth.”
You felt the words like a blow to the chest.
Your lips parted, but no sound came out. For a moment, the world around you stilled.
Jimin’s tone was gentle, but his words only twisted the knife deeper. “He’s supposed to be the kingdom’s hero. People are starting to question his loyalty, his purpose. He refuses to fight, refuses to lead. All because of you.”
“That’s not fair,” you whispered, voice trembling. “He made his own choices.”
“Maybe,” Jimin said quietly, “but if you truly loved him…” His gaze met yours, filled with something between pity and warning. “You’d stay away.”
The silence that followed was thick, unbearable.
You stood there, fingers trembling at your sides, the weight of his words pressing hard against your chest. Jimin lingered only a moment longer before turning to leave, his footsteps fading into the woods.
And when he was gone, you finally let yourself sink to your knees, the forest spinning around you.
He got hurt.
Because of you.
Your magic flickered faintly in your hands, wild and unstable, before dimming out completely.
Five days had passed since Jimin’s visit, and the forest felt quieter than usual. You wandered along the moss-lined path, brushing your fingers over the bark of the old trees and greeting the creatures that peeked from the shadows, but your thoughts kept drifting to Jungkook.
Then, the familiar sound of boots crunching against the earth made your heart skip a beat.
“Y/n!” Jungkook called, stepping into the clearing with his usual bright grin.
You froze for a moment, unsure how to respond. “Jungkook…”
He tilted his head, noticing the faint tension in your posture. “I’m sorry I’ve been… away for a while,” he said, running a hand through his hair. His voice was casual, but there was a softness underneath it. “There’s been… a lot to deal with at the outpost. Training drills, reports, patrols. You know how it gets.”
You blinked, trying to hide the small pang in your chest. “I see…”
“I should’ve come to find you sooner,” he admitted, taking a step closer. “I didn’t mean to worry you.”
Your lips twitched into a small, reluctant smile. “It’s alright. I just… I missed you.”
Jungkook’s eyes softened at that. “I missed you too. More than I realized.” He brushes a strand of hair from your face. “But I promise, I’m here now. No more disappearing for days.”
You nodded, giving him a small smile that barely reached your eyes.
He stayed by your side, quiet for a moment, watching the way your fingers traced the patterns in the moss, the slight furrow of your brow that you hadn’t meant to show. His hand came up to cup your cheek, thumb brushing gently over your skin. The world seemed to shrink to just the two of you, the rustling leaves and distant calls of the forest fading into nothing.
“May I?” he whispered, searching your eyes for permission.
You barely had time to nod before he closed the distance, lips pressing softly against yours. It wasn’t rushed or desperate, just warm, steady, and filled with the kind of longing that had built up over the past weeks.
You rested your hand over his, feeling the heat of his palm against yours, and let yourself melt into the kiss.
He pulls away, his nose still brushing against yours, “I’ve missed you so much,” he said again, quieter this time, almost as if he were reminding himself as much as you. “Every day I wasn’t here, I kept thinking about you.”
Your chest tightened, and for a heartbeat, you considered letting yourself fall into him, into the warmth and comfort of his presence. He leaned in again, lips brushing lightly against yours into a gentle kiss.
But as the seconds stretched, a knot formed in your chest. Your thoughts collided with the memory of Jimin’s warning, of the fear and guilt you’d carried these past five days.
With effort, you pushed back, breaking the kiss. “Jungkook…” you whispered, voice trembling.
He froze, confusion flickering across his features. “Y/n? What—what’s wrong?”
Your hands trembled, trying to put space between you. “We can’t.”
He stands there stunned, “what?”
You look up at him, “why are you lying to me.”
“Lying?” His brows knit together. “What do you mean? I’m not—”
“You got hurt,” you interrupted, voice catching. “In… in a battle with the centaurs.”
His eyes widened, and for a moment, the playful warmth was gone, replaced by guilt and shock. “I… I didn’t want to worry you,” he said softly. “It wasn’t that bad—”
“It wasn’t that bad?” you echoed, your voice rising slightly despite yourself. Tears pricked the corners of your eyes. “I’ve been here, waiting, wondering why you didn’t come to me… and you’re saying it wasn’t that bad?!”
Confusion and hurt crossed his face. “Y/n, I’m sorry.. I just didn’t want you to worry. I didn’t think—”
“It’s cause of me wasn’t it.”
Jungkook furrowed his brows, confusion plain on his face. “What are you talking about?”
You looked down, twisting your fingers together as your chest tightened. “The battle… the fight in the forest. You got hurt, didn’t you? And… and it’s because you were thinking about me. You weren’t focused. You could’ve been killed. These centaurs hate humans more than anything.”
Jungkook blinked, then stepped closer, voice low and urgent. “Y/n… no. That’s not true. I got hurt, yes, but not because of you.”
“You’re lying,” you whispered, the tears threatening to fall again. “You’re lying to protect me, just like before.”
He reached out, cupping your cheek gently, but you flinched pulling away from his grasp. His breath hitches, the action hurting him more that he thought it would, “I didn’t lie to protect myself, Y/n. I lied because I didn’t want you to worry. You have no idea how much I thought about you, but it didn’t make me careless. I swear.”
You shook your head, voice breaking. “It’s still… it still feels like it’s my fault. You’re hurt… because of me.”
Jungkook’s expression softened, but his eyes were firm, unwavering. “No,” he said, voice low and steady. “It’s never your fault. I’m here. I’m alive. I’m here with you.”
But despite his words, the knot in your chest didn’t fully loosen. The fear, the guilt, and the worry had been building up, and it wasn’t something a single explanation could fix.
You turned away, letting a few tears fall freely. Jungkook stayed close, silent, unsure whether to push or give you space, just waiting, holding on to the hope that you’d let him back in.
The silence hung heavy between you, the kind that seemed to press on your chest until it was hard to breathe. Jungkook’s eyes searched yours, full of concern and confusion, but it only made the ache inside you worse.
You swallowed hard, blinking through the blur of tears. “You need to leave,” you whispered.
He froze. “What?”
“Leave,” you said again, this time louder, though your voice still trembled. “Leave and never come back.”
Jungkook stared at you, disbelief flickering across his face. “Y/n… you don’t mean that.”
“I do,” you lied, your throat tightening around every word. “You don’t belong here. You’re a knight, a protector, and I’m the witch they told you to destroy.”
His jaw clenched, taking a step toward you, but you moved back, shaking your head. “Please,” you said, voice cracking. “Just go.”
“Y/n—”
“Don’t make this harder than it already is,” you cut in, your tears finally spilling freely. “If you stay, you’ll just keep getting hurt. Because of me. Because of us.”
Jungkook’s breath hitched. “You think walking away will make me stop caring? You think I can just forget about you?”
You swallowed hard, voice breaking. “You have to Jungkook. I’m the villain! I always have been!”
“You don’t have to be!” he said fiercely, stepping closer, reaching out, but still hesitant.
“Then what do I become if not the villain?!” you shouted, despair twisting in your chest.
“My wife!” The words exploded from him, sharp and tender all at once.
And just like that, the world around you seemed to pause. Leaves hung frozen in the wind, the creatures of the forest silenced, and even the light filtering through the trees seemed to hold its breath. For a long moment, the two of you simply stared at each other, words failing, hearts laid bare and trembling.
“You’d be my wife,” he repeats in a much softer tone, his eyes holding so much meaning as he stares directly into yours. He stepped forward slowly, giving you every chance to retreat. When you remained still, he took another step, voice trembling with urgency and sincerity. “Please, Y/n. Marry me. Stay with me. I promise to protect both you and Jisung. I promise to love you for as long as I live.”
Your heart leapt at the words. The very idea of being with him, fully and without pretense, made your chest ache with longing. But a shadow of doubt clawed at you from deep inside. A cold whisper that this love could never last, that it would lead to pain for both of you.
“I’m sorry,” you whispered, voice heavy with guilt.
The expression on his face crumbled instantly, his entire being folding under the weight of your apology. Your heart twisted painfully, knowing you were the cause of his despair.
“Don’t do this to us baby,” he pleads desperately.
“I have to,” you cried, though your voice shook with indecision.
“Please Y/n. Don’t leave me,” he croaks, his glassy eyes begging you to listen to his pleas. “I can’t do this without you,” he whimpers. He sucks in a breath when you turn your body away from him, it was like you had shot him in the heart just then.
Your voice cracks. “Jungkook stop. We can’t be together. The world needs a hero.”
“And I need you!” he screamed, voice breaking across the clearing.
“You don’t!” you shot back, though your voice falters halfway through.
“I do!” he yelled even louder, fists clenching at his sides as if holding himself together by sheer will. “You think I can just walk away after everything? After you?”
“Jungkook, you’ve lived most of your life just fine without me in it!” you cried, shaking your head. “You’ll forget—”
“I won’t,” he cut in sharply, his eyes narrowed for the first time since 5 months ago. “You think I can forget the way you look at me? The way I feel when I’m with you?” His voice cracked then, raw and trembling. “Y/n, I’ve fallen too hard. I can’t imagine a world where I can’t be with you.”
“Stop!” you cried, your tears spilling over as your breath hitched. The sound of your voice cracked like thunder, full of grief and fear.
“No!” His roar cracked like thunder, reverberating through the trees. “I won’t ever stop thinking about you, Y/n! No matter what you say, no matter what you do, I’ll never stop!” He takes a big gulp, “I love you.”
You suck in a breath. There it was. The three words that have never been spoken up until now.
“Don’t.”
He ignored you, taking a shaky step closer until he was finally right beside you. Gently he forces you to look at him as he twists your body with his hands. “I love you Y/n.”
“I said don’t!” you screamed, slamming your palms against his chest preventing him from coming closer. He barely flinched, only looked down at you with eyes full of ache and longing. His grip on your waist tightened as if caging you in his embrace forever.
“Why?” he whispered hoarsely. “Why are you pushing me away when all I’ve ever wanted was you?”
“Because loving me will destroy you,” you choked out. “You’ll lose everything—your reputation, your light, yourself!”
He shook his head, desperate. “Then let it! None of it means anything without you!”
“Don’t say that,” you pleaded, voice barely above a whisper. “Please, Jungkook… just don’t.”
But before you could take another breath, he closed the distance between you. His hands came up to cradle your face, rough palms trembling against your skin. And then he kissed you. The type of kiss that was so fierce, desperate, like he was trying to pour every unspoken word, every ache and longing, into that single moment.
It wasn’t gentle, it was raw, full of heartbreak and need. You tried to push him away, but your hands only fisted into his shirt, clinging to him as though letting go would shatter what was left of you both.
When he finally broke the kiss, his forehead rested against yours, both of you gasping for air. “See?” he whispered, voice unsteady. “You feel it too. I know you do.”
Your eyes fluttered shut, tears slipping down your cheeks. “That’s exactly why it has to end,” you breathed, “this is a mistake.”
He let out a shaky breath, eyes searching yours as if begging you to take it back, to say anything other than what you just did. But all you gave him was silence and the soft sound of your sobs breaking the air between you.
Jungkook’s hands slowly dropped from your face, his fingers brushing your arms like he was afraid you’d disappear the moment he let go. “So that’s it then?” he whispered hoarsely. “After everything, you’re just… walking away?”
You bit your trembling lip, your voice barely holding. “You think this is easy for me? You think I want to lose you?”
“Then don’t,” he said, his voice cracking. “Don’t walk away, Y/n. We can make this work—”
“No,” you interrupted, shaking your head violently. “We can’t. You’ll die if you stay by me. They’ll kill you, Jungkook!”
“I don’t care!” he roared, his voice echoing through the forest. “If dying means I got to love you, then so be it!”
You flinched at the sheer pain in his tone. His words carved into you like knives. “Don’t say that,” you whimpered. “Please don’t say that.”
“Then tell me what I’m supposed to do!” he demanded, his chest heaving. “Tell me how I’m supposed to breathe knowing I can’t see you again or hold you!”
You shook your head, your tears falling faster now. “You live,” you whispered brokenly. “You live and you forget me.”
He stared at you like you had just asked him to rip out his own heart. “I can’t,” he whispered. “I can’t forget about you.”
You turned away, because if you looked at him one second longer, you’d break completely. “You have to,” you whispered. “Because I already have.”
The lie burned your tongue the moment it left your mouth. Jungkook’s face crumpled, disbelief flashing across his eyes before it was replaced with something worse. Heartbreak.
His voice came out barely above a whisper. “No, you haven’t.”
You hesitated and that hesitation was all the truth he needed.
His hand reaches out and cups your cheeks as if gently forcing you to look at is eyes. His voice trembled. “Tell me you don’t love me, Y/n. Say it, and I’ll walk away.”
You swallowed hard, the words caught in your throat. You wanted to say it — needed to say it — but when you opened your mouth, nothing came out.
So you stayed silent.
Jungkook let his hand fall, his shoulders trembling as he exhaled shakily. “I’ll still come back,” he murmured, voice breaking. “Even if you hate me for it.”
You shook your head, your tears falling freely now. “You can’t,” you whispered. “Because if you do… neither of us will survive this.”
For a moment, the two of you just stood there, two souls on opposite sides of an impossible war, bound by love and doomed by it all at the same time.
Then, finally, you turned away.
You paused at the edge of the forest clearing, near the path that led away, shoulders trembling. “I’m sorry Jungkook. But it’s over,” you finally answer before solemnly walking away from the broken man, not even sparing him one last glance as he wails out to the sky.
His broken cries tore through the forest, attracting the attention of mystical beings lurking in the shadows. Their eyes glimmered with sorrow and pity, for they understood that the love between a human and a witch was doomed, it was only a matter of time before the world caught up to them.
Jungkook sank to the ground, hands covering his face, chest heaving. Deep down, he had known it would end like this. Yet, part of him had dared to hope that he could rewrite the rules of the world, that love could bend the fate that had been set against them from the start.
He had fallen for someone who was off-limits the moment they met.
The campfire crackled weakly, its light flickering across Jungkook’s distant face. He sat on a rough log, his sword laid beside him in the dirt as his colleagues drink and prance around like the drunkards they were. His eyes were hollow, like they were fixed on something far away that no one else could see.
Yoongi watched him from across the fire, chewing slowly on a strip of dried meat. He sighed when he noticed Jungkook hadn’t touched the food in front of him.
“Jungkook,” he said quietly, breaking the silence. “You haven’t eaten anything.”
“I’m not hungry,” Jungkook muttered, not even looking up.
Yoongi frowned. “Seriously, what’s gotten into you lately? You’ve been walking around like a ghost for days.”
Jungkook’s jaw tightened. “Nothing,” he said flatly.
“Bullshit,” Yoongi said, tossing a twig into the fire. “You think I don’t notice when someone’s falling apart? You barely sleep, you don’t talk to anyone, you barely train. I’ve known you too long for you to pull the ‘nothing’s wrong’ act.”
For a moment, neither of them spoke. The only sound was the soft hiss of the fire.
Then Yoongi spoke again, his tone shifting. “Is it true?”
Jungkook’s head lifted slightly, brows knitting. “…What is?”
Yoongi held his gaze. “The rumors going around about you and the witch. Are they true?”
Silence fell again, heavier this time. Jungkook’s throat worked as he swallowed hard, eyes darting to the flames. He didn’t answer right away. Instead, he rubbed a hand over his face, dragging it down slowly.
Finally, he said quietly, “if it was?”
Yoongi didn’t flinch. “Then I’d say you’ve got a death wish.”
Jungkook gave a hollow laugh, shaking his head. “Would you still be my friend?”
Yoongi’s expression softened, his usual dry tone giving way to something gentler. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “You know I’ll always be your friend, kid,” he said in a quiet voice. “But I can’t protect you from what’s coming if the others find out. Not this time.”
Jungkook finally met his gaze, eyes glassy but firm. “I don’t need protecting, hyung. I just… I just need her.”
Yoongi sighed, running a hand through his hair. “You really are in deep, huh?”
Jungkook’s hands tightened around the edges of his armor. “I can’t stop thinking about her,” he admitted quietly. “I can’t… not go back. Even if she pushes me away, even if it hurts… I have to see her. I have to make sure she’s safe.”
Yoongi’s eyes softened, but his voice was firm. “Kookie… you can’t just throw yourself into danger for her. You’ve been hurt already. You’re exhausted, and you’re not thinking clearly. She’s strong, she can handle herself.”
“I don’t care,” Jungkook said, his jaw tightening. “I can’t just stay here and do nothing while she’s out there so close to me. I can’t…” His voice broke, barely above a whisper.
Yoongi rubbed his face, exhaling slowly. “I get it. I do. But rushing in without a plan… it’s going to get you killed, or worse, it’s going to put her in danger too.”
“I don’t care,” Jungkook repeated, louder this time. “If she’s in danger, I’ll face it. If I have to fight the entire empire to protect her, I will. I don’t care about my life. I care about hers.”
Yoongi’s gaze softened, and for a moment, he just watched his friend. The stubbornness, the recklessness, the love burning so fiercely inside him, it was impossible to stop.
“You’re insane,” Yoongi said quietly, shaking his head, but there was a faint smile on his lips.
Its silent for a while.
Jungkook hesitated, lowering his hands from his armor. “Hyung…” he began, his voice softer now, uncertain. “Can I ask you something?”
Yoongi raised an eyebrow. “Depends. Is it something smart, or something that’ll get me pulling my hair out?”
Jungkook let out a bitter laugh. “I don’t know if it’s smart… but I need to ask. Out of everyone why do you always… defend her? And the creatures? More than anyone else?”
Yoongi blinked, taken slightly aback by the suddenness of the question. He looked away for a moment, the firelight reflecting off his eyes.
“I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I don’t know her like you do. I’ve never even met her properly. But I do know one thing — she only fights to defend herself. She hasn’t hurt anyone without reason. That’s why I’ve always said we should leave her be.”
“…The forest is their home, Jungkook,” he continues, voice low, almost a murmur. “And we’re trespassing into it. It’s never felt right with me, not from the start. But what can I do? I have orders, just like you do.”
Jungkook stayed silent for a long moment, staring at the fire, absorbing Yoongi’s words. His fists clenched at his sides. “…So you see it too,” he said finally, voice low. “You see that maybe we’re not the good guys here, no matter what anyone says.”
Yoongi’s eyes met his, serious and unwavering. “Exactly. I don’t know what’s going to happen out there, and I can’t change it. But I can recognize when something isn’t right. Sometimes noticing is all you can do, and even that… it matters.”
Jungkook let out a slow breath, his mind racing. “…That’s why I can’t walk away. Not from her. Not now. Not ever. If I leave her… if I stop fighting for her… I’ll regret it forever.”
Yoongi gave a faint, almost bitter smile. “Then don’t. Just be smart about it. You’re stubborn as hell, but if anyone can make it through this without destroying themselves, it’s you. Just try not to get yourself killed before you figure out how to fix it.”
Jungkook’s jaw tightened, eyes hardening with determination. “I won’t. I’ll find her. I’ll see her. And I’ll make sure she knows I’m not leaving, no matter what anyone says. No matter the orders.”
Jungkook didn’t answer immediately. He stared into the dark forest beyond the fire, the wind rustling the leaves like a whisper of what awaited him.
Yoongi shook his head, but there was a quiet respect in his eyes. “You’re reckless,” he muttered.
Jungkook only gave a grim smile, knowing that some risks were worth taking no matter the cost.
He wouldn’t let the world dictate their fate. Whatever it took he would fight for you.
Little did he know, the world he was fighting for was about to demand the highest price.
Jisung pranced through the trees, humming to himself, when the sound of boots snapped the tune off his lips. A cluster of men and women stepped out from the shadows, faces set and hard. They carried torches and crude blades.
One spat on the ground.
“He was bewitched by the witch,” a man announced, voice bright with certainty.
“We have to punish her,” another said, as if settling on a chore.
One of the men straightens and points when they finally spot Jisung. “That’s the boy.”
“There were talks of her having a son,” another replies, eyes narrowing, zeroing in on the small boy “That must be him.”
Jisung froze. For a second he only blinked, then panic broke across his face. “M-Mama?!” he yelled, backing away. He tried running but every turn he made was another human with a sneering smile.
The men closed in, circling like predators. One of them crouched until he was level with Jisung, smiling with practiced cruelty. “How should we end his life?” he asked, as if soliciting opinions. “The son of a witch shouldn’t live.”
“Burn him,” someone answered without hesitation.
“Mama, I’m scared,” Jisung whimpered, voice small and thin.
A rough, maniacal laugh broke out among the men, loud and satisfied. They moved deliberately, hands on torches, faces hardening. Jisung shrank back against a tree, eyes wide, while the men’s laughter filled the glade and the forest around them grew suddenly, unbearably quiet.
“Burn the witch.”
“Jisung? Baby?” You peeked your head into his room, brows furrowed, only to be met with an empty space.
You let out a frustrated sigh. “Of course”, you muttered under your breath. He was always sneaking off, and now of all times… you couldn’t find him anywhere.
Just as you stepped back and opened the door to head outside, a blur of wings nearly collided with your face. You yelped, stumbling back a step, hand instinctively flying up to protect your eyes.
“Oh! Y/n!” the tiny voice cried out. You squinted through the chaos of glittering light and realized who it was. Seulgi, the fairy who often flitted around the edges of the manor, hovered before you, wings trembling and eyes wide.
“Seulgi? What’s wrong?” you asked, reaching out, but she darted back, spinning in frantic circles.
“It’s… Jisung!” she squeaked, her voice breaking. “He… he’s-! You have to—”
Her wings flickered so rapidly that she nearly lost control, wobbling in the air before regaining her balance. You felt your heart clench. Something was terribly wrong, and whatever it was, Seulgi’s panic was impossible to ignore.
“Seulgi, slow down! Tell me what’s happening,” you urged, voice sharp with worry.
“He’s… they—humans, dangerous ones—” Seulgi’s words tumbled out in a rush, the fairy almost vibrating with urgency. She looks at you with tears in her eyes, “it’s not good.” Her voice cracks.
Your chest tightened. Jisung… your son… in danger. You didn’t need to hear more. Without another word, you stepped forward, determination flaring, and readied yourself to find him.
You run.
Seulgi darts ahead in a frantic blur of light, wings slicing the air like frantic little bells. Your feet hardly feel the ground, the forest whips past you, trunks and ferns a roiling smear of green and brown. Every step is a prayer and a curse.
Your heart drops before you see anything.
All because there’s a smell you know too well, one that has haunted you in nightmares and deadened your stomach since the first time you smelled it: burning flesh, charred and coppered beneath it. The world narrows to that single horrible, impossible fact.
“J—Jisung?” you call, voice already fraying.
Ahead, a small shape lies half-hidden beneath a scrap of cloak and leaves. His name dies in your throat. You stumble forward, the forest tilting, and the rest of the world peels away. The birdcalls have gone silent, the breeze muted, every small thing holding its breath.
There he lays, motionless with burns all over his body.
“Baby.” Your whisper is all ragged.
“My baby! My baby!” you howl. The world answers with a terrible silence. Your knees buckle. You heave, bile and the bitter remnants of your lunch spill out onto the moss.
You felt as thought your heart had just shattered into millions of pieces never to be fixed again.
The next sound that rips out of you is not a wail but a raw, animal noise that seems to tear through the trees and set birds screaming. You press your forehead to Jisung’s small chest because the act of touch is the only proof you can cling to that this is real. You whisper his name over and over, “Jisung… Jisung… Jisung…”
You curl around him as if your body can become a shelter from what has been done. The fairies hover too close and too far all at once, frantic and useless. Small voices try to sing an old lullaby, its notes trembling like a leaf in a storm. You can’t hear the lullaby. You can only hear the sound of your heart cracking.
Images come in a flood that makes your chest ache worse than the wound. You see his scraped knees, the crooked tooth he’d shown off with pride, the way he’d called you “Mama” with absolute certainty. You recall the mornings when he’d run into the kitchen with wildflower bouquets as a gift to you, memories of his sticky fingers grabbing at your sleeve, the small laugh he made when you hid your face in his hair. Each memory is a small dagger to your heart.
A reminder that you failed your promise to his late mother.
You scream again. This time higher, longer, a sound that does not belong to any human language but somehow says everything. The forest answers with a low, keening echo. Somewhere in the distance a wolf howls.
Your hands fumble through his hair and his shirt, searching for warmth. You press your face to the side of his head and feel moss and ash and the sting of smoke on your cheeks. Tears mix with the grime, leaving clean tracks down your face.
The fairy Seulgi hovers nearby, wings trembling like torn paper.
Another fairy approaches, voice small and brittle. “I’m sorry,” she says. “We tried. We flew and we attacked, but… we were too late.”
Seulgi’s small face crumpled. “We thought we could save him. We thought we could scare them off, and then you’d come—” She swallowed. “We didn’t think they’d be willing to burn a child.”
“You did everything you could,” you said, without meaning to, because the fairies needed something firmer to hold on to than their guilt. Their chests heaved, tiny bodies trembling with effort and grief. They were not built for this scale of cruelty. Even their rage had the fragile edge of shock.
You don’t move. Your eyes lock on the mark carved into his forearm: a rough, hateful carving scorched into skin and dirt, proof they’d meant to make an example out of him.
Witch’s son
Your vision blurs, hot and white at the edges. The sound of your own breathing feels obscene in your ears.
A bloom of heat coalesces around you, at first a tight pressure in your chest, then a halo of light that roars into life, an angry, living flame that lashes at the leaves and paints the shadows gold. It only surrounds you. The air trembles. The fairies wheel back, stunned as they felt the power you’ve held in for so long.
The thing the village calls “witch”, has finally been unleashed.
“Miss Y/n?” Seulgi whispers, voice tiny as if afraid to break you further.
“Send a message,” you said, each word deliberate. “Every creature in this forest. Tell them what they did. Tell them his name.” You looked at Seulgi and the other tiny faces turned to you.
“Tell them to prepare themselves,” you say. “We’re going to war.”
Another fairy hesitates, “a-are you sure? Didn’t you want peace?”
“They killed the one chance at peace,” you say. The sentence is simple, terrible in its finality.
One little fairy’s face twists, fury eclipsing fear. “I’ll kill all of them,” she spits, breathless with wrath.
One of the fairies dared to meet your eyes. “We will not let them get away with this,” she promised, voice low and fierce. “We will send runners. The river-keepers. The stone-wardens. We will wake the old roots and call the owls. Everyone who lives in these trees will know what was done.” Her tiny fists clenched.
The fairies give each other a determined look before exploding into motion, streaks of furious light vanishing into the trees like thrown stars. You listened to them go, a thousand tiny drumming heartbeats threading outward through the forest. Meanwhile the air around you shimmered as if holding its breath.
This was not vengeance for your own sake alone; it was an answer to a world that raised torches against what it didn’t understand.
You close your eyes for a breath, imagining Jisung’s small heartbeat beneath your hands.
“If they want war,” you whisper to the trees, to the ghosts of the forest, “then let it be war.”
You stand, cradling him like he could still breathe, as if you were merely putting him to bed. You step forward making your way back to your home. The first sparks of a reckoning igniting at your heels.
Boots slapped the dirt hard enough to make the maps on the table jump. Jimin barreled into the cabin, wide-eyed and wild, cloak half-untucked, breath coming in ragged bursts.
“Jungkook!” he yelled, voice raw.
Jungkook looked up so fast his chair scraped. “What?!” he snapped, already reaching for his sword at the tone in Jimin’s voice.
“Your fucking girl has gone crazy!!” Jimin practically screamed, hands clawing at Jungkook’s sleeves as if to stop him from moving away. “She’s slaughtering them—men, women—anyone she could see!”
For a second the words barely registered. Then Jungkook’s face went white. “What?!” he repeated, voice small and hollow.
Jimin’s eyes burned. “What do you mean ‘what’? She went through the north village—” He swallowed, like the sentence itself hurt.
A scream cuts the still air one that was full of terror. It rips through the camp like a blade. Jimin freezes, face draining of color, and then he’s on his feet before Jungkook can move.
“Do you hear that?” Jimin spits, shoving past a stack of crates.
They spill out of the quarters and the world has already changed: smoke curls up on the horizon, black and angry against the pale sky. People are pouring from homes, shouting, stumbling, the clatter of panicked feet and dropped tools filling the air.
Namjoon yells, “To the north village!”
Jungkook moves like he’s been struck. He snatches his sword from the rack, metal singing as it leaves the sheath. Jimin is already there beside him, blade in hand, eyes hard as flint. Neither needs to be told twice. They run.
The path is chaotic, a tangle of shouting men and women, wagons overturned, horses rearing as handlers struggle to calm them. The smell of burning stabs straight through Jungkook’s chest. He pushes past people, breath short, every muscle coiled.
The screams only grew louder the closer they ran. Smoke painted the horizon black, a thick, choking haze that made the air taste of ash and blood. Jungkook’s heart slammed in his chest as he and Jimin burst through the treeline, swords drawn.
And then, they froze.
The world before them had become a nightmare.
The forest, once a sanctuary, was alive with vengeance. Vines as thick as ropes writhed through the dirt, wrapping around soldiers’ legs and dragging them screaming into the undergrowth. The trees themselves groaned and shifted, roots ripping free from the ground.
A centaur charged from the flames, spear glowing with ancient runes. Wolves with ember eyes snarled from the underbrush. Fairies streaked across the sky like shooting stars, leaving trails of fire in their wake. Birds, hogs, all different creatures residing in the forest burst through.
Jimin swore under his breath, pulling his sword close. “This isn’t a battle,” he muttered, eyes wide. “It’s a massacre.”
A shriek ripped through the smoke. From above, a giant bird swooped, picking up soldiers one by one before dropping them in the air.
Then tiny, glowing bodies darting through the chaos, their light once warm now sharp and weaponized. They sliced at exposed skin, leaving burning welts. A knight cried out, swatting at one, but his armor only grew hotter, glowing red before he tore it off in agony.
“Positions!” Namjoon barked. “We hold the line here!”
“Dammit!” Jin cursed, slicing through a thick vine with his sword. “They’re everywhere!”
Jungkook’s heart pounded as he looked toward the center of the chaos and then he saw you.
At the heart of the destruction, surrounded by flames and falling ash, there you stood, hair wild, eyes glowing unnaturally. The magic around you pulsed like a heartbeat, each thrum sending waves of power through the air. Creatures moved with your command, the fairies, the wolves with smoke in their fur, the vines that bent to your grief.
“Y/n!” Jungkook shouted, his voice cracking over the roar of flames. “Stop!”
You didn’t even flinch. With a flick of your wrist, a wave of fire erupted, swallowing an entire squadron of soldiers.
Jin’s voice was hoarse. “She’s not stopping, Jungkook! She’s killing everyone!”
Yoongi slashed through a charging faun, barely dodging its horn. “She’s gone too far,” he hissed. “She’s lost control.”
“Fall back!” Namjoon shouted, voice commanding. “We regroup at the river—”
“No!” Jungkook roared, shaking his head violently. “I’m not leaving her!”
“Are you insane?!” Jin yelled, grabbing his arm, but Jungkook tore free, running straight into the fire.
Hoseok cursed, blocking an incoming strike from a nymph whose body shimmered like molten glass. “We’re losing control of the field!”
“Then we fight!” Taehyung snarled, his sword glowing faintly blue as he slashed through another wave of dark creatures.
Jungkook barely heard them. His focus was on you. Every step forward burned, all of it pressing down until he could barely breathe.
“Y/n!” he shouted again, voice raw. “Please—look at me!”
You finally turned.
And for a single heartbeat, everything stopped.
Your gaze met his and it wasn’t the gentle warmth he remembered. It was grief. Fury. Madness.
“Y/n…” he whispered. “Please. You don’t have to do this.”
Your eyes met his, full of tears and fury. “Don’t you dare tell me to stop,” you hissed, voice trembling but sharp as a blade.
“Y/n—”
“They killed him.”
Jungkook froze. “…What?”
Your lip quivered, but the fire behind you only roared louder. “They killed Jisung, Jungkook.” Your voice broke, and tears streamed down your soot-streaked face. “They burned him. They even had the audacity to carve ‘witch’s son’ into his arm. Can you imagine that?”
He swears he could hear his own heart breaking. “No,” he whispered, shaking his head, the smiling face of the little boy appearing in his mind, now just a memory. “No, that— that can’t be—”
“It’s true,” you said, your tone cracking under the weight of your grief. “They took everything from me. And now, I’m taking everything from them.”
“Y/n, listen to me—”
“No!” you screamed, the sound echoing through the burning forest. “You don’t get to tell me what to do! Not after they killed my child!”
Orbs erupted from your palms again, the blast sending a group of soldiers flying in the air.
You tilted your head slightly, your lips trembling into something that wasn’t quite a smile. “Tell me… what reason do I have left to stop?”
Before he could speak, a fiery pulse burst from your palms, throwing him backward into the dirt.
“Jungkook!” Jimin’s shout was distant, swallowed by the flames.
Jungkook gasped, struggling to stand, blood dripping from his temple. He looked up through the firelight, you were still there, surrounded by creatures loyal only to you, your silhouette burning brighter than the inferno itself.
Namjoon and Yoongi fought their way toward him, but it was clear this wasn’t a battle they could win.
Jungkook’s eyes blurred, the heat burning his lungs. He could barely speak, voice breaking as he whispered, “Please, Y/n… come back to me.”
But you were already gone, consumed by grief, by rage, by magic too powerful to control.
The screams don’t stop.
Bodies, both human and not, littered the ground, and the forest was unrecognizable. Fire spread up the trees, painting the sky in streaks of orange and red. Jungkook stumbled forward through the smoke, the metallic tang of blood thick in the air.
And then came the rumble, the sound of hundreds of feet pounding the earth.
Namjoon turned toward the horizon, his face hardening. “Reinforcements. The neighboring villages… they’ve joined in.”
Lines of soldiers appeared through the haze, carrying banners of cities and towns beyond. Their torches flickered in unison, a wall of fire and steel advancing on the clearing.
You lifted your gaze toward the approaching army. “Good,” you said, voice hollow. “Let them all come.”
Jungkook pushed through the chaos, desperate to reach you. “Y/n!” he shouted, coughing through the smoke. “You have to stop this! You’ll burn everything!”
You turned toward him slowly, your expression breaking for the briefest moment, grief flickering behind the madness. “Then maybe they’ll finally understand what it means to lose everything.”
“Y/n, please!” Jungkook’s voice cracked, “there’s too many they’ll kill you!”
“What more do I have to lose?”
A line of soldiers surged forward, torches blazing like a brandished challenge. Namjoon barked orders, forming a ragged shield of steel between the advancing men and the heart of the inferno. Yoongi’s blade flashed as he drove off a snarling shapeshifted wolf, his jaw set in a white line. Jimin and Hoseok dragged a couple of civilians back out of the fray, while Taehyung hacked at a root that lashed like a living whip.
You step forward then, not to strike but to finish what you have begun. The fairies roar like a sudden storm. Men who raised fists for righteous blood go down in a silence. The forest taking back what man took for granted.
There is no grand speech, no triumphant cry. There is only the slow, terrible unmaking of those who believed violence could be delivered without consequence.
Jungkook pushed through them all, coughing, tears streaking soot across his cheeks.
Jungkook falls to his knees in the middle of it all, chest shaking. “Y/n,” he pleads, voice raw and small, “please. Don’t… don’t make this the thing that defines you. This isn’t who you are.”
You look at him then, and the look he receives is not the same as the one that knelt before him the first time they met. It is a face sharpened by ruin, eyes rimmed with fire and grief and a certainty that has no room for second chances. “It is who I am now,” you say quietly.
An arrow snicked through the smoke before anyone saw it, pierced through your shoulder as you turned, distracted by Jungkook’s plea. Heat and pain flared up your arm in a hot, bright shock. For a second the world narrowed to the sting and the metallic tang filling your mouth.
You cry out.
From where Jungkook stood, sword limp at his side, he could tell.
Even through the smoke and chaos, even from across the burning clearing, he could feel it.
Your magic pulsed wildly, untamed, bending the air with heat and fury, but underneath all that strength… you were faltering.
Your breathing had become ragged, shoulders heaving with every spell that left your fingertips. The earth itself trembled beneath your command, but each tremor cost you more. Your movements were a fraction slower now, your hand trembling when you raised it.
He’d seen you use your power before, it used to be gentle, deliberate, controlled. But this… this was something else. This was desperation. Every flame, every gust of wind, every curse you cast burned through you just as much as it burned your enemies.
“Y/n…” he whispered, watching the faint stagger in your stance. The realization hit him like a knife: this was the most power you’d unleashed in a long time, maybe ever. And it was killing you.
Unfortunately he wasn’t the only one who noticed.
Taehyung yelled over the roar of the flames, “She’s burning herself out! She won’t last like this! Let’s go!” Angry screams from men erupt as they charge forward.
Still, you didn’t stop. The ground split open before the charging soldiers, vines surging from the cracks like serpents. Screams echoed through the smoke, the sound of human fear clashing with supernatural wrath.
That’s when you make eye contact once more with Jungkook.
You smile — a small, sad twist of your mouth that makes the smoke and fire seem colder somehow. “Shall we continue our fight like before?” you ask, voice soft as if offering a cruel courtesy.
For a heartbeat Jungkook stands frozen, all the air knocked out of him. Around him the men shout, anger and fear braided into the same raw sound. “Kook—” Jimin starts, lunging forward, sword raised, but Jungkook grips his arm and shakes his head hard.
“Don’t,” Jungkook gasps, lips white. “I won’t— I won’t strike her.” His voice breaks on the last word. “Not her.”
“Then what are you doing?” Taehyung snarls, eyes flashing with disbelief. “You can’t just—”
“We have to stop her!” Namjoon snaps, stepping up beside them, trying to force order into the chaos. “Form a line! Push her back—anything—”
But Jungkook only watches you. He’s nailed in place by something more terrible than fear. The knowledge that the woman he loves, even now, is the same person who once tucked Jisung into blankets, who smiled when he tripped, who hummed to the seedlings in her garden. He cannot bring himself to lift his sword against that memory.
You watch him for a long second, an almost pitying softness passing over your features. Then you turn, and your focus slides off him like a blade shifting its aim.
“Very well,” you murmur. The fairies above you gather like white-hot threats. The trees lean in, listening.
Soldiers tense. Namjoon calls a command. Jungkook takes one shaky step forward, as if to put himself between you and the others, but you’re already moving.
Your first target is Jimin.
He stumbles, sword half-raised, eyes narrowing as he meets your gaze. “Y/n—” he spits.
For a moment he braces — a soldier through and through — then the ground beneath him shudders. Roots as thick as arms lash up from the earth and wrap around his legs. He swings, hacks at the wood where nothing gives, then looks up to find you watching, sorrow and resolve carved across your face.
“Jimin!” Jungkook screams, lunging forward, but before he reaches him a spear of blackened root snaps from the ground and pins Jimin through the side, knocking the wind from him. He gags, eyes wide, surprise flickering into pain.
Jimin flails, tries to free himself, but the roots tighten like a fist. The fairies buzz at his face in a frantic, blinding halo. He looks at you with a single, furious question in his eyes and then his breath comes shallow.
“Jungkook!” he manages, voice ragged. “Why—” The question dies in a cough, a dark stain spreading across his armor.
Yoongi moves before anyone can think better of it, blade flashing as he slices at the roots, smoke and sap hissing where steel meets magic. Jin and Namjoon tear at him with their own knives, but the wood resists, as if the forest itself is intent on holding its prey.
Jungkook reaches Jimin in two long, terrible strides, hands fumbling at the root that pins his friend. Jimin’s face is ashen; he clamps a hand to his side, eyes frantic. “Kook— get away from her,” he gasps. “You— god, you have to—”
“I won’t leave you,” Jungkook snarls, digging his fingers where roots bite into leather. He pulls, muscles screaming, and for a second the root gives. But then you step forward and lay a palm on the ground.
The roots wrap tighter, the fairies’ song turns harsher, and Jimin arches backward with a cry that shreds the air. Blood pours from the wound now, slowly he goes limp against Jungkook’s arms, the fight draining out of him in a hollow surrender. Jungkook cradles him as if disbelief could mend what has been done.
Around them, the other knights circle, blades raised, faces torn. Namjoon spits curses, trying to force some tactical sense out of the chaos. Yoongi glares at Jungkook, hands trembling with the effort to remain reasoned. “Kook, she won’t stop,” he hisses. “If you don’t pull yourself together—”
Jungkook only holds Jimin tighter, voice breaking into nothing. “No,” he whispers. “No—I won’t. I can’t.” His fingers are white-knuckled on the blood-soaked cloth. He stares at you, at the wound you have so clearly caused.
You stand a few paces away, the flames painting the hollows of your cheeks. Your eyes never leave Jungkook’s face as Jimin goes still in his arms.
The battle has shifted. What began as retaliation has become an execution, and the people who once called themselves knights find themselves rearranged into something the world will never recognize again.
Jimin’s breath slows. He squeezes Jungkook’s hand once, heavy and wet, and the wordless look he gives the man who cradles him is full of everything they never said aloud. As if saying he was sorry. Then his eyes close for the very last time.
The clearing holds its breath.
Jungkook’s hands tremble on Jimin’s shoulders. He looks at you and in those depths is no accusation, only a devastation that will not be soothed by any word. Around him, the other men glance at one another, at their fallen comrade, and at the witch who has just turned a friend into a casualty.
Jungkook’s grief and heartbreak reach a tipping point. He’s holding Jimin’s lifeless body, seeing the consequence of your wrath, and the world seems to collapse around him. In that instant, the protective instinct and love he still feels for you clash violently with the devastation your actions have caused.
Jungkook, despite loving you, can no longer stand by after the loss of Jimin.
So, when Jungkook draws his sword, it’s not simply an act of aggression. It’s the manifestation of grief, moral conflict, and the impossibility of standing between his love for you and the need to stop further bloodshed.
A sad smile forms on your lips, faint but chilling against the smoke and ash swirling around you. “I warned you,” you whisper, almost softly, “that this is who I am now.”
In an instant, the forest seemed to bend to your will. Roots and vines shot up from the ground with terrifying speed, snaking around you and Jungkook like living chains. Within seconds, they had grown into a dense, twisting dome, thick and impenetrable, enclosing the two of you completely.
Taehyung widens his eyes, “Jungkook!”
Blades clanged against the walls of twisted wood as Jungkook’s friends attacked, slashing and hacking at the vines. Sparks flew where steel met bark, but it was futile. The dome held fast, the roots tightening at your silent command.
“You and I… we fight alone. No one else can interfere. Not now. Not ever,” you said softly, voice eerily calm, your gaze never leaving his.
The air inside the dome crackled with tension. The heat from your magic mixes with the adrenaline of grief and rage. Every breath you took seemed to thrum with power, and Jungkook could feel it pressing against his chest like the weight of the world.
Outside, the others continued to assault the dome, desperate, shouting, hacking, their frustration mounting with every failed attempt.
But you paid them no mind. Your focus was only on him, on the man who had loved you, who now stood in front of you with his sword ready, jaw tight, eyes burning.
“This ends here,” you murmured, the vines tightening slightly, shifting with your will. “Only one of us will walk away.”
“Why,” he breathes out exhausted, “why does it have to be this way.”
“Because you and I both know you’re the only one who can stop me.”
The dome around them pulsed, roots writhing like serpents, and the air inside was thick with heat, ash, and magic. Jungkook’s grip on his sword tightened until his knuckles turned white, his every breath ragged, eyes fixed on yours.
You didn’t move at first, just stood there, letting the light of the fire flicker across your face, the faint, sad smile still lingering. Then, with a sudden motion, you raised a hand, and the roots around the floor twisted into whiplike tendrils, snapping forward like the strike of a predator.
Jungkook barely dodged, rolling to the side as the first tendril whipped past, slashing the earth where he had been standing moments before. Sparks of magic and splinters of wood flew from the roots with every move. He scrambled to his feet, sword in hand, eyes blazing with fury and desperation.
“You don’t have to do this, Y/n!” he yelled, lunging forward. “It’s not too late to stop!”
“It is too late,” you hissed, voice trembling with grief and rage. “You know it is!”
With a flick of your wrist, a vine lashed toward him again, faster this time, twisting and coiling like a living whip. Jungkook blocked it with his sword, sparks flying, the force rattling his arms. He swung back, slashing at the roots, but they shifted, dodging his blows as if alive, responding to your every thought.
“Baby, stop! I don’t want to fight you!” Jungkook shouted, voice cracking through the smoke-filled clearing, sword trembling in his hands.
You paused mid-strike for the briefest moment, eyes flashing with fire and grief. “That’s not how our story works, Jungkook,” you said, voice low and sharp, “we’ve always been destined to fight, whether we like it or not.”
He dropped into a defensive stance, breath ragged. “We can change that destiny! We don’t have to—”
“You can never change what’s already planned out for you,” you snapped, letting the words sting as much as the flames around you.
“You don’t have to be the villain,” he pleads desperately.
“I have no choice!” Your voice rose, echoing against the dome, resonating with the raw power thrumming in your veins.
“You do,” he shot back, stepping closer despite the roots and fire that twisted between you.
“I don’t!” you yelled, fury breaking through your grief. “My choice was taken away from me the moment I was born!”
The words hung heavy in the smoky air. Jungkook faltered for just a fraction of a second, pain and heartbreak flickering across his face. He wanted to reach for you, to pull you close, to tell you it didn’t have to be this way, but the truth of your life pressed down like a stone between you.
The clearing seemed to grow quieter in that moment, the roars of flames and the cries of soldiers fading into a tense hush, as if the forest itself were listening. And for just a heartbeat, both of you were no longer fighting, you were speaking the truth of your souls, bound by love, loss, and the inescapable chains of fate.
Jungkook’s eyes glistened with unshed tears, the pain in his chest raw and impossible. He tightened his grip on his sword, the metal biting into his palm, grounding him against the surge of emotions threatening to overwhelm him. “ I’ll carry it with you,” he said, voice breaking, almost a whisper. “Even if it kills me… I’ll face this with you.”
Your gaze softened for the briefest moment, a flash of the woman he had fallen in love with before the fire in your eyes returned, sharper than ever. “This isn’t about you, Jungkook,” you said, voice trembling with rage and sorrow. “This is about what I am. And what I’ve lost. I can’t… I won’t pretend otherwise.”
The roots beneath your feet coiled tighter as if sensing your will, the vines lashing outward with lethal precision. Jungkook stepped forward, dodging a strike that could have torn him apart.
“Y/n…” he whispered, each syllable a prayer and a plea. “I don’t care what you are. I don’t care about destiny. I only care about you.”
You faltered slightly, the words cutting through the anger and despair. But the pause was fleeting. Pain and loss were etched too deeply into you now. The woman he loved had been replaced by the storm she had become.
“I’m sorry about Jisung. I’m sorry about all the pain we humans bestowed on you.”
You can’t help yourself as you let out a scream. You swung your arm and roots sprang up in a flurry toward him.
Jungkook dodged, rolling through the narrow gaps the roots left behind. His heart ached with every movement, every dodge, every swing of his sword that failed to even scratch the twisted wood around you. And yet, he couldn’t stop moving. Couldn’t stop trying.
“You don’t have to do this alone,” he shouted, desperation threading through his voice. “I’ll be with you, whatever it is that you’re going through. But please don’t let this destroy you completely.”
A tear slipped down your cheek, “you don’t understand,” you whispered, almost to yourself. “This is all I have left… this power, this fury… it’s all I have.”
The ground trembled beneath your combined energies, the dome of vines tightening like a vice around you both. Jungkook’s breaths came fast, uneven, but he planted his feet firmly, sword raised, determined to meet whatever came next.
“You have me,” he screams out, hoping you could feel the sincerity in his voice.
Your eyes flickered, subtle at first, then noticeably. Sweat streaked across your forehead, hair plastered to your skin, and each breath came in shallow, ragged pulls. The power you had unleashed was consuming you from the inside out.
Yet still, you moved. Every strike, every lash of roots and fire, every crack of the earth beneath your feet carried the same precision, the same deadly intent. Even weakened with exhaustion, you were unstoppable in your determination.
Jungkook could see it in your eyes, the grief, the rage, the sorrow. He knew that if he didn’t act, you would continue until there was nothing left of either of you.
He gritted his teeth, sword clanging against roots that lashed at him with uncanny speed. “Y/n stop!” he yelled, his voice raw. “I don’t want to fight you!”
You faltered for just a fraction of a second, just enough for him to notice your weakened stance. But your answer was not surrender. Instead, you whispered, almost a hiss, “I can’t… not after everything.”
Jungkook’s stomach churned with guilt and heartbreak. He could feel the toll your power was taking, every fiber of your being screaming for rest that you refused to take.
He lunged, blocking a sweeping strike of roots with his sword, his movements fueled by desperation and grief. He parried, ducked, rolled. His every movement was calculated and defensive.
“I won’t let you destroy yourself, Y/n!” he shouted, muscles straining as he deflected another attack.
Your lips twitched into a sad, bitter smile. “Jungkook,” you whispered, voice hoarse. “Please just kill me.”
Jungkook’s breath hitched at your words. Please just kill me.
The world seemed to fall silent. Even the roar of fire and clash of blades beyond the dome faded into a hollow, ringing echo. His fingers tightened around the hilt of his sword until his knuckles turned white, but when he looked into your tear-streaked face, the strength drained out of him almost completely.
He stumbled back a step, violently shaking his head. “Never,” he rasped, voice breaking. “Don’t you ever say that again.”
Your lips trembled, your chest rising and falling with shallow breaths. “Then we’ll never stop fighting,” you whispered, a trace of despair curling your words.
Jungkook’s throat constricted, his sword trembling at his side. “Then we’ll fight for all eternity, baby,” he choked out, tears spilling freely down his face. “ I’m not killing you. I can’t,” he shakes his head, “I won’t.”
That’s not what you wanted to hear. You frown, your arms raising up, “then you leave me no choice.”
“Y/n, stop it!” he pleaded as you tried to summon more magic, your weakened body shaking violently from the effort. The ground cracked beneath your feet, roots twitching in response to your unstable power. He caught your wrist mid-motion, holding you still, but your gaze burned right through him, broken, longing, utterly defeated.
“Kill me,” you plead again, voice quiet but resolute, your lips trembling in despair.
Jungkook’s voice cracked. “Why? Why would you want that?”
“I want to be with Jisung,” you whispered. Your tone was fragile, like the slightest breath could shatter it. “I want to see my baby again.” You forcefully pull away from him.
He staggered backward as if struck, shaking his head in disbelief. “If you die like this, you’ll let them win,” he said, his voice thick with anguish. “Everything you fought for — all the pain, all the loss — it’ll mean nothing!”
You gave a small, broken laugh, one that carried no warmth. “You don’t get it, Jungkook,” you said softly, smiling in that same way that made his heart ache. “They’ve already won.”
The dome trembled violently as your last surge of power erupted. With trembling limbs and bloodied hands, you lunged forward, eyes blazing with sorrow and determination, intent on one final blow. Every ounce of magic you could muster screamed from you, roots twisting, fire snapping, and the ground cracking beneath the force of your attack.
Jungkook staggered back, narrowly dodging the strike, his chest heaving. If he doesn't stop you now…
He raised his sword, hands shaking, tears blinding his eyes. The moment stretched, suspended in a heart-wrenching pause where time seemed to hold its breath. You were coming at him with all that remained of your strength and he had no choice. If he didn’t kill you now, you’d be captured and who knows the kind of torture the King would enforce on you.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, almost inaudible over the roar of your fury.
With a final, sorrowful resolve, he thrust his sword forward. It met you squarely in the stomach. Pure and unimaginable pain crossed your face, but there was no anger, no hate. Only a fleeting flash of recognition, a sad smile curling on your lips as your knees buckled to the ground.
He caught you as you fell, arms trembling, sword long forgotten as it clanged to the ground. “No… no, no, no!” His voice cracked, raw and desperate, echoing through the smoke-filled forest. “This isn’t how it was supposed to be!”
You sagged into him, weak, trembling, the last of your magic flickering like dying embers around your form. Your smile lingered, “thank you,” you managed to breathe out.
Jungkook’s hands shook violently as he held you, tears streaming freely, the weight of what he had done crushing him.
Then, with a faint, quivering breath, you lifted your gaze to his, eyes shimmering with tears yet still full of warmth. Your lips parted, voice soft, fragile, but unmistakably clear. “I love you,” you whispered, the words trembling but carrying every ounce of your heart.
Jungkook froze, his own tears spilling freely, and the world seemed to stop. Every thought, every scream, every clash of magic and steel fell away, leaving only the weight of those words piercing him deeper than any blade ever could.
“I love you too,” he choked out, voice breaking. The confession was too late, too small a thing to undo the tragedy that had already unfolded.
Your lips curved into the faintest, bittersweet smile, one that could have once warmed his soul.
Jungkook pressed his face to yours, sobbing uncontrollably, the weight of your words and your life slowly slipping away. His grip tightens around you, his tears falling freely onto your blood-stained skin, “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” you manage to say through the pain. “I forgive you.”
A faint smile ghosts across your lips. “My life was never meant to have a happy ending anyway,” you breathe out softly, coughing as a few drops of blood trail from the corner of your mouth. “I mean… what kind of villain would I be if I did?”
“Don’t say that,” Jungkook pleads, his voice breaking, his thumb trembling as he wipes the blood away.
You tilt your head weakly toward him, your eyes searching his face as if memorizing every detail for the last time. “Tell me… am I still the villain of your story?”
He swallows hard, shaking his head, his vision blurry from tears. “You were never the villain in my story,” he whispers hoarsely. “Never.”
You smile then, a single tear slipping down your cheek. “You finally won,” you murmur, your voice a fading melody in the chaos around you. “In our next life, let’s meet again and be on the same team, okay?” You cough up even more blood at that moment, too weak to wipe it off. Too weak to care.
Jungkook chokes on a sob, nodding as his forehead presses against yours. “In our next life,” he repeats, his voice trembling, “I promise to love you with all my heart.”
Your eyes glimmer faintly, full of warmth even as they begin to lose their light. “Will we have our happy ending?”
He nods frantically, tears falling faster. “I’ll make sure it’s the best ending we’ll ever have.”
You exhale shakily, your strength fading with each word. “I’ll look forward to that,” you whisper, eyes fluttering shut. “But until then, goodbye my love.”
Jungkook’s breath hitches, his heart aching as he clutches you closer. “Goodbye my love,” he sobs, his voice breaking entirely.
And then, silence.
The air stills, the magic fades, and your heart finally stops beating, ironically, by the hands of the man who made it beat in the first place.
The last shudder of magic rippled through the forest, and the massive dome of roots and vines that had encased the clearing suddenly slackened, collapsing with a deafening crack. They fell away, twisted and shattered, revealing the devastation inside, the two of you at the center.
Jungkook cradles your lifeless body against his chest. The air was thick with smoke and the scent of burned wood.
Outside the fallen dome, the soldiers and knights froze mid-step. Those who had been attacking you and your forces were paralyzed by the sight.
Even the mystical creatures that had fought alongside you paused, their eyes flicking from the defeated foes to the man holding the witch’s body. Whispers and murmurs spread across the forest. The sheer force, the magnitude of what had transpired, left no one willing to continue the fight. Your death sends a shock wave through the magical realm.
The protector of the forest had fallen.
Jungkook’s friends lowered their weapons slowly, eyes wide with shock and horror. They could hardly believe what had just happened. The war, which had raged so fiercely until now, stilled almost instantly, the clash of swords and screams of battle replaced by a suffocating silence.
The forest itself seemed to mourn. Flames flickered and died, the roots that had once lashed out in fury now sagging in submission, as if acknowledging the victor.
And as Jungkook cradled your lifeless body, his tears staining your hair, he knew that no victory, no peace, no redemption could ever fill the void you left behind.
Days have passed and Jungkook’s popularity has never been higher. Now crowned the hero of the Empire, his face was on banners, his name sung in taverns and praised in royal halls. Wherever he went, people bowed, cheered, and called him savior.
He was praised so much that the Emperor prepared a parade just for him and his friends.
Yet amid the cheers and endless praise, Jungkook felt nothing. The laughter of the people sounded distant, hollow, like echoes in a room long abandoned.
He could still see your face in his mind, the last time he held you, the way you smiled that soft, sad smile, the warmth of your tiny hand in his, the echo of your voice whispering promises for another life. And now, every cheer, every triumphant shout from the villagers, every banner waving in celebration only reminded him of what he could never get back.
So many lives were lost that day. The screams still echoed in his head along with the clash of steel, the cries of those dying, the smell of smoke and blood that clung to his skin no matter how many times he washed.
The image of you came first, your trembling smile, the tear that slid down your cheek just before your body went limp in his arms. Then Jisung, his small hand slipping from yours, the innocence that should’ve never been caught in their war. And Jimin… the brother who had fought beside him, only to fall to the same chaos they all helped create.
Yoongi watched him quietly for a moment, sensing the depth of the grief buried beneath his stoic expression as he too was grieving the loss of his friend. “Hey, I know it’s hard,” he finally said, voice softer, almost a whisper. “But she… she wouldn’t want you to drown in this sorrow forever. You need to keep living too.”
Jungkook’s eyes fell to the ground, tracing the paths of confetti drifting in the wind. “I can’t…” he murmured, voice breaking. “She didn’t deserve this. None of them did.”
He swallowed hard, fighting to keep the sobs at bay, though they clawed at his throat relentlessly. His hands tightened around the railing, knuckles white. The parade, the cheers, the celebration, a cruel echo of the happiness you had been denied.
Yoongi sighs and looks away. He knows nothing he says will cheer the boy up. So instead, he opts to step aside and give him space.
As the last of the cheering subsided and the parade slowly dispersed, Jungkook remained atop the carriage, hands loosely gripping the railing, staring blankly at the cobblestone streets below. The confetti had settled into a colorful carpet across the roads, but the vibrancy meant nothing to him.
Jungkook didn’t smile. He didn’t feel victorious.
The parade had ended, and soon night fell with the village celebrating with beers and feasts, but for Jungkook, the war had only just begun. A quiet, endless battle in his own heart, mourning the one person he had loved more than life itself.
He needed to leave. He couldn’t stand the cheerful laughter any longer. He couldn’t stand the idea of them celebrating your death. He didn’t know where he was going, just letting his feet take him as he escaped into the night.
Or maybe he did know exactly where he was going. Because before he knew it, he was standing right before the forest. The very place that used to welcome him, now sits in eerie silence as if daring him to step inside after what he’s done.
Taking a deep breath, Jungkook approached the edge of the forest, boots crunching softly on the layer of leaves. The air was unnervingly still. Every instinct screamed at him that he was being watched. Eyes that were unseen and ones that were unforgiving. He stopped, taking a deep breath, and bowed his head in remorse.
“I… I know I have no right to be here,” he said quietly, voice trembling but firm. “I’ve caused too much pain. I was the one who took her from you, from this forest,” he pauses, trying to find the right words, “but I swear I will make things right. I will protect this forest. I will protect all of you.”
For a long moment, it was silent. The wind was still. The leaves hung motionless. Not a single creature dared move. His heart hammered, and his voice cracked with the weight of his own guilt.
Then, movement flickered at the edge of his vision. A shadow darted between the trees. A low growl, hesitant and wary, rolled across the forest floor. A fox with silver-tipped tails appeared first, crouched low, eyes glowing with distrust. Behind it, centaurs stepped from the shadows, hooves clicking softly against the earth, muscles taut as if ready to strike.
Fairies flitted nervously overhead, their wings scattering sparks of faint light, while the whispering of the trees swayed like cautious sentinels, peering at him from every branch.
Jungkook sank to one knee, bowing lower now that he knows he’s gained their attention, “I understand if you can’t forgive me. I know what I did. And I can’t undo it no matter how much it kills me inside,” he said, voice raw. “But I swear, I will honor her. I’ll fight for all of you. I’ll be your shield, your voice, your protector. Please, just give me a chance to prove it.”
The creatures circled him warily, their eyes sharp and unforgiving. One centaur’s bow was raised while the fairies hovered in jittery clusters. They had seen the destruction, felt the magic twisted by grief and rage, and they didn’t trust him.
“Why should we,” the gruff voice of a wounded centaur calls out from the darkness, “you’re the one who killed her.”
“I know,” Jungkook admitted softly, lifting his gaze to meet the wary stares around him. “I’m the human who failed her. And if you turn your backs on me, I won’t blame you,” tears start welling up in his eyes but he refuses to let them fall. With his sleeve he wipes them away, “but I swear, from this day forward, I will fight for your freedom.”
Silence stretched, tense and suffocating. The centaur’s bow eased but remained poised, observing every subtle twitch. The fairies hovered closer, their lights pulsing in hesitant acknowledgment. The creatures still hidden behind trees and bushes brush against one another, murmuring softly in some language that seemed older than time.
Slowly, one by one, the creatures edged closer, their mistrust still evident but softened by curiosity and the strength of his conviction. Jungkook looks at each one of them with determination. “I won’t ask for your trust,” he said softly, “not yet. But I’ll do my very best to earn it.”
The tension remained, thick as the forest shadows, but the creatures didn't retreat. They watched him, testing him silently, acknowledging his vow without fully lowering their guard.
Finally, the fox stepped forward fully, ears perked. The centaur lowered its head slightly, a gesture that Jungkook took as permission. The fairies landed delicately on branches and stones, wings quivering, casting faint lights across the clearing.
Jungkook rose slowly to his feet, sword at his side, heart pounding. Though grief still weighed heavily in his chest, there was a spark of hope igniting within. The forest had not fully trusted him yet, and perhaps it never would entirely. But they were willing to listen, willing to observe, willing to see that his intentions were true.
He took a slow, steady breath, glancing skyward as the moon shined brightly down on him. “I won’t fail her again,” he whispered to the forest.
Seulgi hovered a few feet from him, her delicate wings catching the last light of dusk. She smiled softly, a quiet warmth in her gaze. “You know,” she said, her voice gentle yet firm, “she truly did love you. Even if she didn’t say it… even if she could never speak it out loud, it was always there. Jisung too. Every once of their being loved you.”
Jungkook’s shoulders sagged, and for a moment he let himself close his eyes, feeling the weight of her words settle over him. The ache in his chest, the rawness of grief, mingled with a fragile sense of peace.
“I love them,” he finally speaks up, trying not to cry, “and I always will.”
He looked up at the trees, the forest around him alive and breathing, mystical creatures peeking from shadows and branches, watching him silently. He clenched his fists, "I'll carry on for them,” he whispered, voice low but firm. “Every fight I take from now on, every battle, I’ll do it for them. For Jisung. For Y/n. And I’ll make sure no one else suffers as they did.”
And as Jungkook stepped forward into the trees, the creatures of the forest gaze upon him. He knew one thing with absolute certainty. He would not rest until the world remembered the witch who had changed everything.
The war had ended. But in its place, something greater had begun.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think <3
I just reread My Forever and I still cry so I'm definitely still interested. Not much angst stories either unless you want to count the lovers-to-exes as angst. I crave the deep angst like sad ending involving the death of the reader.
ok well you’re gonna love part 2 of Happy Ending cause I found my draft for it from 3 years ago that I lowkey started working on again and the word count reached 18k….
hello liz! i just found your account when i stumbled upon 'feral heart' and i'd like to say that i really liked ur writing and look forward to reading more!! thanks for sharing your lovely work, i hope inspiration finds your way and you always have a good time writing.
i'd like to know, how does one get added to your taglist?
best wishes!! (i apologize for any mistakes, english isn't my first language)
you can just comment under the story you want me to tag you in! Or you can send me a private dm or even just what you’re doing here! Whatever works!
I’ll make sure to add you to the next chapter of Feral heart!
Anyone can let me know what story they want to be tagged in!
Hiii do you have an update schedule for this new masterpiece?😁
I dont unfortunately. I have my moments where I get inspired to write and then moments where I struggle to find the words. I don’t want to post a story that’s a half assed just for the sake of meeting a deadline
When I am close to finishing a chapter I do usually write a post on when I’m releasing the chapter so be on the lookout for that!
I know you're working on your new fic, but... wil you ever finish Happy Ending? I miss that fic. I wanted the angst that is the opposite of My Forever
yes!!! I’m 100% going to finish that request as well. It’s been three years and I’ve lost the notes I made for it a while ago unfortunately so I kind of have to try and remember how I wanted part 2 to end but I will definitely be working on that as well!
I haven’t had to write anything angst in a hot minute so apologies if it takes me awhile to get into the groove of things haha I do miss it tho lmao
I am happy to hear someone looking forward to reading that story. I didn’t think anyone was interested after all this time!
