Chapter Text
Chapter 3
Joon, Joon-ah, Joonie.
Jungkook couldn’t help but feel elated whenever he thought about his human’s name. He had to keep himself from hopping all around the bed (his leg wasn’t fully healed after all), but he was just so so happy. He didn’t have to keep calling him “human” or “person” anymore.
Joon, Joon-ah, Joonie.
Just imagine saying out loud was enough to make him giddy again. He couldn’t wait when he becomes human again and just let his name roll on his tongue. He couldn’t wait until he could come back to the market and call out his name while he tries to hide from his guards. He couldn’t wait until they hide away in the forest, Joonie reads to him under a tree while he lays his head on his shoulder, just taking in Joon’s voice.
He couldn’t wait to be human again.
Granted he still didn’t know how to break this curse, but he’ll find a way somehow. If only he could get to one of the Royal Mages in the Palace, he believed that they’ll know how to get him out of this predicament.
It’s been a few days since he learned Joon’s name. His leg too has been healing quite nicely during those past days, and he was sure that it was already fully healed at this moment. Joon has been checking him and whenever he raised his leg, Jungkook found that it didn’t really hurt anymore. Joon let him hop around his room now, which was great but Jungkook preferred staying on his bed. But at least, with his leg healed, he could jump from the bed to the floor so he could get some physical activity for his leg.
One thing that worried Jungkook though, was how frequent the presence of Hoseok and Yoongi were getting. Don’t get him wrong, it was nice to see Joon hanging out with his friends, and he could see how tight the bond of the three of them had (which made him kind of wish he had a friendship as tight as they did, but Jungkook barely had any friends. The only person he could consider as a friend was Jimin-hyung from the neighboring country, but ever since his official lessons to take over the throne as King of his kingdom started, he barely saw him anymore).
It’s just a little bit of inconvenient trying to hide himself whenever they come over to hang out. And he could see that Joon didn’t feel as uncomfortable he wanted to be with them. He knew Joon wanted to spend time with them, but he also didn’t want to constantly hide Jungkook, especially in places that could potentially hurt him again. Joon, instead of just talking and enjoying his time with his closest friends, was worrying about his little furry butt.
He wasn’t going to lie, Jungkook felt bad for putting him in this situation. If he wasn’t there, Joon could still enjoy his time with his friends without any worries. He could clearly see how much he loved just talking with them, and Jungkook also loved hearing them tell stories of their childhood the adventures they all had, felt his heart break hearing stories of their lost loved ones, or how they were left alone by their own parents. Jungkook was horrified when he heard how they all came to Mr. Choi’s chimney sweeping business and his treatment of them, of how the old man still takes advantage of orphaned children out in the streets and takes them in as chimney sweepers and the children couldn’t exactly say no because it was the only way they could have food in their stomachs.
Jungkook was horrified to hear these kinds of things, and wondered how come he hadn’t heard of this problem being brought up in the palace at all. He vowed that once everything’s back to normal, he was personally going to talk to his father about this.
“Cooky?”
Jungkook jerked his head up, his ears pointed as he heard Joon’s voice call out to him, and interrupting his thoughts. Oh, were they done talking? Already?
“You can come out now, Hoseokie and Yoongi-hyung finally left already,” Joon said as he looked under his bed, smiling as he saw Jungkook.
He hopped out from where he was hiding under the bed, ruffling as he stepped into a brighter place in the bedroom. Joon picked him up with his hands and sat on the bed, giving him a small pat on the head before laying him on his lap.
“You know, I was kind of surprised that they left early tonight,” Joon said as he leaned back, petting Jungkook. “But I guess Yoongi-hyung felt more tired than usual so he said that he’ll turn in early tonight. Hoseok said the same thing so, both of them left a little early.” Joon offered his hand to him, to witch Jungkook began to nip at, his ears twitching. “Don’t get me wrong, I love hanging out with them, but it nice to spend more time with you.” He looked down towards Jungkook with that dimpled smile, and Jungkook could feel himself be thrilled.
He would really give anything just to see that dimpled smile over and over again.
“It’s been awhile since it’s just the two of us. Usually, they leave so late in the night that I don’t get to play with you anymore,” Jungkook only rubbed his chin on Joon’s hand, blinking as he chuckled and tickled the rabbit’s chin.
“So how about it? Would you like to listen to me reading “Another Day in August” again?” Joon asked as he rubbed Jungkook’s cheeks with both of his thumbs, a small giggle escaping from his lips.
Before Jungkook could start to playfully bite his fingers, Joon’s door suddenly opened.
“Hey, Joon, did you see where-”
Joon looked up towards the door with his mouth open, his movements frozen. Even Jungkook felt himself freeze as soon as he heard the door creak.
“Hoseok-ah,” Joon mumbled to himself.
“Joon?” Hoseok said in confusion, taking a step inside the room. “Why do you have a rabbit in your lap?”
Jungkook turned towards Hoseok then back to Joon. Jungkook knew his human was panicking, and he tried to move closer to him, putting his front paws on his torso to see if it would help calm him down.
“I-I can explain-” Joon tried to say, his arms immediately circling Jungkook. but he was interrupted by another voice.
“Hoseak-ah? Did you find what you were looking for? Mr. Choi wants me, you and Joon-ah to go to-” Yoongi came inside the room too, and when he saw Jungkook, the only thing he could do was take a deep breath.
Jungkook felt his ears go down as he curled closer to Joon.
“Joon-ah,” Yoongi began. “Why do you have a rabbit on your lap?”
“I-” Joon said, his hands shaking and Jungkook can only butt his head on Joon’s palms, wishing he could do more to help calm him down. “I can explain-”
“You know that we can’t have any animals here in the Sweeper’s House right?” Yoongi asked as he moved closer to them.
“Is this why you haven’t been eating that much recently? To feed this little guy?” Hoseok said as he neared him as well. “I didn’t think much about it, but I did notice you losing some weight.”
Losing weight? Jungkook turned to Joon, his ears up in confusion. What did that mean? Was Joon starving himself to feed him?
“You could be in so much trouble if Mr. Choi finds out you have a rabbit with you,” Yoongi informed him as he crossed his arms. “You know how the old prune is when someone breaks his rules.”
“I know!” Joon exclaimed. “I know hyung. But he- Cooky-”
“You gave it a name?” Yoongi asked in disbelief. “You’re already that attached to it? Joon-ah, that’s-”
“Ei, what’s all this yapping at this hour?” Another voice joined them, this one a rougher and older voice Jungkook has never heard before, and he cowered closer to Joon again, his hears down to his sides.
“What got you pieces of garbage in here? It’s late and you fuckers still up? You got a client early in the morning tomorrow, and I don’t want any of you late. I don’t even know why that hag Min Hari wants you useless shits anyway. Go to sleep and if any of you are even a minute late…”
Jungkook felt Joon tensed up, and looking in front he could also see that both Hoseok and Yoongi were as tensed as Joon was.
“Yes, Mr. Choi,” all three of them answered with bowed heads, Hoseok rubbing a part of his wrist while Yoongi clenched the cloth of his right pant with his hand.
Joon was still shaking.
Once he seemed to have left. Yoongi turned back to face Joon and Jungkook, and took a deep breath.
“The rabbit needs to go,” he said. “It needs to go before Mr. Choi finds out you have it.”
“But hyung-” Joon started to speak. “I can’t just-”
“Where did you find it? And why do you have it in the first place Joon-ah?” Hoseok interrupted. “I know you know Mr. Choi’s rules, and having a pet is one of the rules he emphasized the most.”
“He-I found Cooky in the forest behind the house. I was- I was just walking around when I think I heard wolves around the area-”
“You heard wolves?” Hoseok exclaimed in disbelief. “And you thought walking deeper in the forest was a better choice?”
“They could have been looking for that rabbit Joon,” Yoongi said. “What if they found you instead?”
“His name is Cooky, hyung,” Joon replied in the same hard tone as Yoongi. “And they were already far when I came across him anyway.”
“Still Joonie,” Hoseok said, looking at Jungkook warily. “Was it necessary to bring him back with you here? What if Mr. Choi found you with him the first time you brought him here? Or worse, the wolves followed his scent and followed you here. You could have seriously been in trouble, Joon-ah.”
“He was injured!” Joon said defensively, his hands moved to hug Jungkook closer to him. “I can’t just leave him like that. I just… I didn’t plan to keep him long… Just until he got better.”
Somewhere deep inside him, Jungkook knew that Joon was only really keeping him until he was healed, but hearing him actually say it out loud… it hurt. He knew he shouldn’t feel that way since he already did plan of things to do when he was finally human again. He just didn’t think that he was going to be separated with his human.
“Well, is it then?” Yoongi asked.
“I-I think so-” Joon started to answer.
“Then, let him go,” Yoongi said. Then he gave a sigh before softly adding, “I know you’re attached to him Joon-ah, and I know how much you adore animals, but it’s just not worth it.”
Joon looked down towards Jungkook, who looked up to him his ears still down as he bumped his head to his chest.
“Mr. Choi could have easily barged in to your room and find out about him just like a couple minutes ago. And you know how he likes doing ‘random’ room checks to see if we’re hiding things from him whenever we’re not back here. If he sees him just hopping freely around your room, it could seriously put yourself in deep trouble. You don’t want him to use that thing again on you, do you?”
Joon tightened his scarf around his neck, tightening his hold onto it as a pained look crossed his eyes. Jungkook wanted nothing more than comfort him and hold him close to him.
“No I don’t…” Joon replied with his head down. There was a few moments of silence between all of them, and Jungkook could see that Joon was thinking deeply, that he was conflicted on two things he wanted the most, but could only choose one. He knew that Joon couldn’t -didn’t- want to decide.
So Jungkook made the decision for him.
He put one of his paws on Joon’s hand, making his human look at him. His ears twitched and bunched his nose, before bumping his head again on his chest and hopped out of his lap towards the floor. When he landed on the floor, he turned back to him and twitched his ears again.
Joon stared at him for a few moments, before releasing a resigned sigh.
Hoseok and Yoongi shared a look between them as Joon rose up from where he sat on the bed and picked Jungkook up and held him to close.
“Okay,” he said softly. “Okay.”
Joon held him as they walked through the dark forest. He was holding a lamp with one hand while Jungkook was perched on his other arm. They really shouldn’t be walking at this time of the night, but all three of them agreed that it was better for Joon to release him back to the forest tonight instead of tomorrow. Joon might convince himself that Jungkook needed to stay longer, but with the threat of Mr. Choi looming over them, they decided that it had to be tonight.
Jungkook, as much as it pained him, also believed it had to be tonight. It would be much more difficult to separate himself from Joon if he stayed even for another day. It was better to get it over as soon as possible. At least this way, both of them didn’t have to get hurt as much.
“I think this is as far as I can go Cooky,” Joon told him softly as they stood in the middle of a clearing. Autumn was nearing its end, and it was noticeable from the way the trees were bare of their leaves as well as the dry cold breeze past them. Jungkook snuggled closer to Joon, taking advantage of his warmth before he was completely separated from him.
He was going to miss him.
“Ah,” Joon began, his voice shaking. “Why is this harder than I thought it would be.” He gave a small chuckle as he lowered the lamp to the ground. He held Jungkook with both of his hands and Jungkook turned to face him.
“You know,” Joon said, “I didn’t think I’d get this attached to you.” Jungkook didn’t mean to either, but he guessed the world worked in mysterious ways.
“These past few days have been some of my happiest, little one, and it’s all thanks you.” Joon gave him a soft smile, his dimples showing and Jungkook felt like he was going to cry. “You were one of the things I look forward to whenever the day ends. Even if Yoongi-hyung and Hoseokie were with me, it’s just different when you have someone to spend time with. Sometimes, I feel like the odd one out between them you know. There’s something going on between them, I just know it.” He gave another chuckle, and Jungkook couldn’t help his nose to twitch.
“You made me feel less alone, I guess,” he said, a far-away look in his eyes. Jungkook blinked and listened. “That I finally have some companionship that I crave, even if its from a rabbit.”
Then he brought his attention back to Jungkook. “But hey, I think rabbits are better anyway. People are complicated, Cooky.”
Jungkook shook his body and twitched his nose. Then, Joon gave him another soft gaze.
“Thank you, Cooky,” he said. “For making me the happiest I’ve ever been in my whole life.”
Jungkook wanted to speak, wanted to say that he should be the one thanking him. For not ignoring him and leaving to die in this very same forest, for healing and taking care of him, for feeding him his favorite cookies, for letting him in when he barely let anyone know him too well.
For making him feel what it felt to be loved again.
“I’m going to miss you,” Joon said as he brought him closer to his face.
“You became such a big part of my life in such a short time, little one,” he said, his voice cracking for a tiny bit. “I’m really going to miss you.”
Jungkook was going to miss him too.
“You be careful out there okay?” he continued, his voice becoming shakier every word. “It’s almost winter, and the wolves might not come out of their dens as often as they used to, it’s still dangerous out there.”
Joon took a deep breath, and Jungkook didn’t think he was going to be able to leave at all.
“I don’t know if you’ll remember me, but you’ve always been a smart one,” he smiled tearfully. “Just know that someone like me will never forget you.”
Jungkook bowed his head. He couldn’t take it anymore.
Suddenly, Jungkook felt something press softly on his head.
“I love you, little one,” he felt Joon mumble against his head.
Before he could even process what happened, Jungkook was quickly being lowered to the ground. He could only watch in confused silence as Joon picked up the lamp from beside him as he looked up to his human. Joon gave him one last tearful smile before walking backwards. Once he was quite a distance away from him, he turned away from Jungkook and walked on.
He never looked back.
Jungkook never left his sight on Joon, not until he couldn’t see him anymore. Once he was gone, he looked around the area in fright. He was… he was afraid. He didn’t think the darkness could be such a scary thing when you were this small.
But he didn’t have the time to be afraid. Joon wasn’t there to protect him anymore, and from here on out he was going to be alone with no one to trust but himself. He needed to find a way to turn himself human again. He needed to find a way to the palace and talk to the mages. He needed to go home.
But not tonight.
He hopped to inside a large pile of leaves, hoping that it would be enough protection for him in his sleep.
Jungkook closed his eyes and hoped he didn’t dream of dimpled smiles and warm scarves.
The Grand Clock rang to signal the end of the day and the start of another. The moon was high up in the sky, and lit up the night with its light. As the clock rang six times, a large pile of leave was suddenly engulfed in a silver light, before it disappeared just as quickly.
The very next morning, a Royal Guard called for his mates to follow him.
The Crown Prince had been found.