Chapter Text
Jeongguk can feel his heart pounding in his chest harder than he would have liked. The fear of Namjoon standing in front of them leaves his hands shaking as he hides behind Yoongi.
How did he find him? How was he able to find them? Did witches have tracking spells? Or maybe Namjoon put something in the book in the off chance that maybe it did indeed break? But that couldn’t be right, could it?
After all, Yoongi was never supposed to get out to begin with.
“Namjoon,” Yoongi says, staying in front of Jeongguk as if he can cover him. But he’s shorter than Jeongguk so every effort fails. At least Namjoon has to go through him to get to Jeongguk. “Surprised to see you again.”
“That’s my line,” Namjoon replies, shaking his head profusely. He crosses his arms over his chest as his eyes move from Yoongi to Jeongguk then back to Yoongi. “One might ask how you got out of your book, but seeing that man behind you is answer enough. You have another soulmate.”
Yoongi nods his head slowly, reaching back to take Jeongguk’s hand in his own as if he knew his hands were shaking. When he takes Yoongi’s though he realizes it’s the opposite. Yoongi’s hands are shaking, he’s terrified too.
Jeongguk peeks out from behind Yoongi, eyes falling onto the silver haired male clad in back with an unamused look on his face. His lips are pulled into a thin straight line as he stares at the two of them, anger and sadness laced in his eyes.
He totally just pissed off a very powerful witch and he didn’t mean to. He didn’t know any of this was going to happen. How could he? He just wanted his soulmate.
“I did,” Yoongi confirms. Jeongguk is a bit surprised he manages to keep himself together, voice confident. It doesn’t sound like he’s scared, he doesn’t show any type of weakness. Maybe it’s something he learned from last time or maybe it’s because Jeongguk is behind him and he made a promise to keep him safe. “And I’m happy. You punished me long enough, Namjoon. Now leave me and Jeongguk alone.”
“Jeongguk,” the name falls out of Namjoon’s tongue with malice attached. He shivers as he lets his eyes wander over his body. He’s not sure just how powerful Namjoon is. He’s not sure what he can do and that sends shivers through his body. “Are you aware of what your soulmate has done in the past? The life he took with his own hands? Are you aware that he had a soulmate in the past? One he was in love with?”
Jeongguk nods, holding his head up high. He has to keep it cool too. He can’t be afraid right now. “I do.” He answers, “I’m aware of it all. It’s one of the first things I learned about Yoongi when the spell was broken and he appeared from the book.”
Namjoon pouts at learning Jeongguk already knew. He probably wanted to be the one to tell him everything and see where it took them. His attempts were futile though. He looks back towards Yoongi, “How is it that you destroy my life and yet you still get a second chance? You still get a soulmate while I live everyday mourning Hojun!?”
“How am I supposed to know?” Yoongi cries, taking a step forward. The hand that was holding Jeongguk let's go and curled into a fist. “It was an accident, Namjoon. You know that! I never meant to do it on purpose. Why can’t you see that?”
“It shouldn’t have happened to begin with!” Namjoon yells. His magic swarms around him traces of red and orange. It’s hot, Jeongguk wants to jump into the pool they had laid at now. But he doesn’t make a move to run. “You should have been more careful!”
“I told you and Hojun to leave my cottage before it happened. You left, he didn’t! Had he listened he would be alive right now.” Yoongi defends, as Namjoon steps closer. Yoongi doesn’t move, but Jeongguk does. He takes a step back.
He doesn’t know whether he should run away or not. Should he hop the fence and hope they won’t go at each other’s throats? Will Yoongi be okay? Will he be okay? He’s seen witches and wizards fight in movies but never in real life. He doesn’t know how accurate those movies are.
The heat that emits from Namjoon grows hotter and hotter with every step he takes. It’s a moment later that Jeongguk realizes his magic lies with fire. If an attack lands on either him or Yoongi he knows it’s going to hurt. It will burn and Jeongguk doesn’t think they have anything to handle burns.
Maybe Yoongi can heal, but from what he knows of Yoongi’s magic he can’t.
“Should I do what you did to me? Take your own soulmate from you?” Namjoon questions, eyes darting to Jeongguk. He holds his hands up in defense as if saying ‘please don’t hurt me’, and he is. He doesn’t want to be a part of this. Whatever this is it’s from the past. Why does he have to get involved?
“Don’t you lay a finger on Jeongguk,” Yoongi seethes, using his own magic as well. Unlike Namjoon, Yoongi’s magic mainly specialized in nature. Flowers, trees, and animals. He’s never seen it used to defense or fighting. It’s always been for good — like the flowers that he grew. “He has nothing to do with this.”
“No, you see that’s where you’re wrong, Yoongi.” Namjoon says, shaking his head. He points to Jeongguk, “He has everything to do with it. He let you out. He’s your soulmate. Those are two very big problems for me.”
Jeongguk feels like he’s in a movie running at double the speed from how fast Namjoon comes at him. Yoongi uses his magic to grow big thick green vines to cover him, in order to defend him and block Jeongguk from Namjoon’s reach but he’s faster. Quicker than anything Jeongguk has ever seen. Maybe as fast as the Flash.
“Jeongguk move!” Yoongi calls, he makes an attempt to run towards him too. Jeongguk panics, heart leaping in his chest as he tries to do something, anything, but before he even takes a step he feels pain.
Hot, burning, scorching pain that makes Jeongguk cry out. The pain lingers longer than he would like and there’s tears prickling at his eyes but soon enough Namjoon isn’t on him anymore. Instead, he’s right back at his original place with a confused expression on his face and the fire in his hand put out.
“What on earth...?” Namjoon blinks confused, looking from his hand to Jeongguk who’s nurturing his burnt arm. The tears fall from his eyes as he falls to his knees whimpering in pain. Yoongi joins him a second later, cradling the younger in his arms whispering that it’ll be okay. “Who are you?”
“I told you who he is.” Yoongi hisses, looking from the younger towards the witch. “He’s Jeongguk. My soulmate!”
“Explain to me how your soulmate — a mere human — was able to put out my fire? How was a mere human capable of stopping my magic?”
Jeongguk looks up at Yoongi confused, head tilting to the side as more tears fall from his eyes. His arm hurts, but of course it does. He was just burned. And now Namjoon is suddenly saying he stopped his attack? Is he saying this burn was supposed to be worse than it already is?
“He’s the reincarnation of Jongho,” Yoongi answers, “Though Magic isn’t used or practiced in this day and age it still lingers within him. Jongho practiced magic relating to water. It seems Jeongguk here could harness that power to save himself.”
A low groan escapes Namjoon as he rolls his eyes, “Which means my magic won’t do much good to him right now.” He curses, shaking his head. “Consider yourselves lucky then. I’ll leave you two for now, but next we meet I won’t.”
Jeongguk looks at Namjoon confused for a moment, blinks, and then he’s gone.
What the hell is going on?
—
“What the fuck happened?!” Hoseok cries twenty minutes later. He has a first aid kit in his hand, a worried expression on his face towards Jeongguk and an angry one towards Yoongi. “I thought you were supposed to protect him?! You can’t even heal him?”
Yoongi lowers his head in shame, letting out a sad sigh as he shakes it back and forth. “No.” He mumbles, “I never practiced healing magic. I don’t even know a simple spell for it. I’m sorry.”
Hoseok lets out a grumble of multiple curse words as he takes Jeongguk’s burnt arm into his hand gently. “Explain to me what happened while I clean and take care of this. I don’t know what happened but this could have been a lot worse.”
“Namjoon happened.” Jeongguk answers, as Hoseok begins taking care of his wound. He knows Yoongi doesn’t want to talk right now so he doesn’t force him too. He can handle this himself anyways. Besides, for some reason, Hoseok doesn’t seem to like Yoongi that much. But Jeongguk has never asked about it.
“Namjoon?” It takes a moment to dawn on him then it clicks like a lightbulb put into place, “You mean scary witch that cursed Yoongi into the book?” Jeongguk nods his head slowly, “So he came back and attacked you two?”
“He attacked mainly me,” Jeongguk replies, motioning to the burn on his arm. “But I did...something to stop him. I don’t understand it myself, really. I just know he and Yoongi-Hyung had mentioned something about magic and water and about how I’m the reincarnation of Jongho.”
That causes Hoseok to laugh then, “So all these years of you loving magic actually paid off then, didn’t it?” He questions. Jeongguk rolls his eyes then.
“I’m sorry Jeongguk.” Yoongi says pitifully. “I-I thought I could protect you from him. I thought...I didn’t think he would come at you. I’m the one he wants to punish...why would he come for you? A mere human at that.”
Jeongguk sighs, letting out a small hiss of pain as Hoseok bandages his wound up. He looks over at the witch shaking his head and with his free hand he takes Yoongi’s. “We didn’t know what to expect when he came. Yes, he hurt me, but I also somehow magically defended myself. And I’m alive still. I’m okay, Hyung. Don’t beat yourself up.”
“Aren’t you mad at me?” Yoongi questions, meeting Jeongguk’s eyes for the first time. He can see the layers of sadness and hurt swimming in the chocolate brown eyes he bares. He watches as Yoongi’s lips curl into a frown as Jeongguk squeezes his hand. “You got hurt because of me.”
“I got hurt because of a very powerful angry witch.” Jeongguk replies, with a shrug as Hoseok lets go of his arm. He lets it fall onto his lap careful and turns his body towards Yoongi. “Not because of you. Your past is in the past, Yoongi. We are the present and the future. And I will take on this with you.”
Jeongguk doesn’t miss the way Hoseok looks away from them at the mention of their present and future. He wonders if it pains the elder to hear such words in an intimate way since he doesn’t have his own soulmate. He wishes he could apologize for saying such things in front of him, but it’s important that he does.
“I really wish you didn’t say that just now.” Yoongi breathes. That causes Hoseok to look back at them, confusion written on his face.
“Are you trying to break up with Jeongguk because of this? Or, I don’t know, leave? Something that will make me not like you?”
“For the record, I already know you don’t like me.” Yoongi replies as he pulls away from Jeongguk’s hold. He stands up from the bed, inhaling a sharp breath as he shakes his head. “And no, but yes. I need to go after Namjoon and settle this once and for all. And I know where he’s heading. If there’s one thing that should be the same after all these years it’s my village.”
Jeongguk feels like Yoongi just took his heart and threw it against the wall before aggressively stomping on it multiple times to get his point across. He’s leaving. Just when they were supposed to get there happy every after he’s leaving?
Part of Jeongguk wishes he had kissed Yoongi a few minutes earlier before Namjoon had appeared. His luck definitely wasn’t that great.
“You can’t just leave!” Hoseok cries, arms flailing around. A very unhappy look on his face as he glares at Yoongi. “No. It doesn’t work that way. You heard what Jeongguk just said. This is your and his deal. You two are soulmates. His problems are your problems and vice versa.”
Yoongi laughs then, placing a hand on his stomach as he looks between the two of them. “I’m surprised you say that considering you don’t like me. I figured you would enjoy me leaving.”
Hoseok shakes his head, “I know that would hurt Guk. So no, I wouldn’t take enjoyment in you leaving. Yes, it hurts to see you two being all lovey-dovey because it’s a reminder that I don’t have a soulmate myself. But I don’t want anything to come between the two of you.”
“Yeah!” Jeongguk stands up as well. He places his good arm on his hip as he stares at Yoongi trying to decide whether his overpowering emotion is sadness, anger, or determination. “I’m coming with you.”
“Me too.” Hoseok beams, he takes Jeongguk’s injured arm in his hand being careful as he grabs the younger’s hand and squeezes. “Jeongguk is my best friend and you’re his soulmate. I know this should be your thing, but someone has to keep an eye on you two especially seeing as you don’t have healing magic.”
“Something tells me you two won’t let me stop you from coming, will you?” Yoongi questions, a small sigh escaping his lips as the best friends nod. “Gukkie, you’ll have to tell your mom we’ll be at Hoseok’s for a while.”
—
Unfortunately, unlike the studio ghibli movies that Jeongguk has seen and fell in love with, there's no magical broomstick that they can use to travel to Yoongi’s village. Truthfully, Jeongguk had hoped there would be one but when Yoongi sadly said it didn’t work that way all his hopes and dreams died.
At least he knows magic is a real thing at least.
Instead, they drive. Luckily, Yoongi still has a general idea of where they live. He remembers the address of his own place and with the help of his magic it’s easy to guide them in the right direction. It’s a bit awkward for the three of them as Hoseok drives them towards Yoongi’s village. An unsettling silence that divides the three of them.
It worries Jeongguk that Hoseok still isn’t a huge fan of Yoongi, especially after he received his injury. He just hopes the two of them get along eventually, after all, Yoongi will be here for a long time. And Jeongguk hopes Hoseok will be too.
He brings a hand down to his bracelet, the birthday gift he received from Hoseok nearly two months ago and lets out a long drawn out sigh.
It takes them nearly a day to arrive near Yoongi’s village. By the time they get there it’s relatively dark and Jeongguk’s stomach is growling at him to get something to eat. The snacks that they had picked up earlier in the day are nearly empty and he doesn’t want to eat them in case one of the others is hungrier than him.
When the car comes to a stop in a field, Jeongguk looks out the window confused. Eyes blinking as he stares at the open field in front of them. There’s a fence surrounding it and far away he can see a small sign that probably says private property.
“Hyung,” Jeongguk begins, as Yoongi opens up the back door. The younger quickly gets out of the passenger side looking at the witch confused. “Are you sure this is the right place? There’s nothing here.”
“That’s the spell.” Yoongi answers with a smile, “The barrier hides the witches village from human eyes. We used the fence and sign as a way to keep them away, but we can get through it since I know where the opening is.”
“Before we go anywhere.” Hoseok says, shutting his door as he gets out. The car locks with a click, alarm setting into place. He leans against the hood of the car, eyes focusing on the witch. “I need you to promise me this is safe. That Jeongguk will be safe.”
Yoongi turns around to look at Hoseok. He reaches out and takes Jeongguk’s hand into his own, squeezing it tightly. “The only threat I can think of is Namjoon. The rest of the villagers and I were on good terms before everything went down. I can assure you, both you and Jeongguk will be okay.”
“You promise, right?” Hoseok questions. He walks around the car, placing a hand on his hip as he stares between Jeongguk and Yoongi. “Because if there’s any sign of danger I’m taking Jeongguk and leaving you. He shouldn’t be involved in any of this.”
“I agree.” Yoongi nods his head, “He shouldn’t and neither should you. You two shouldn’t have come, you know. I could handle this myself.”
A slight breeze picks up as the night sky becomes darker. A small amount of stars are beginning to grow visible. Jeongguk squeezes Yoongi’s hand looking between the two of them, “I’ll be fine and you’ll be fine. But we’re wasting time. Can we go now?”
The witch sighs, once again nodding his head. Jeongguk wonders whether he should be afraid or not. He’s heading straight into unknown territory. He’ll be surrounded by witches — probably more powerful than Yoongi ever could be. And sure, he managed to stop Namjoon’s fire magic from hurting him too bad but it doesn’t mean he’ll be able to do it again. He’s not even sure what he did honestly.
They follow Yoongi down the field of grass towards a very small opening in the fence. If one wasn’t looking closely enough they never would have noticed it. He wonders what their village looks like. Was it new and improved to fit this time period? Or was it the same as it might have always been? Did Yoongi have any friends here? Any one who he might miss or might miss him?
“Do you have any friends who live here?” Jeongguk questions as Yoongi steps through the opening in the fence first. He holds onto the witch's hand as he climbs through as well, then he’s helping Hoseok. The opening was narrow, and free parts of the fence were sure to leave a scratch if one wasn’t careful.
Once all three of them are through the clearing, Jeongguk turns away from it and lets out a gasp. The scenery in front him has completely changed. It’s no longer the free clearing of grass and small mountains. Instead, there’s multiple cottages lined up, people walking around, Magic being used and life behind that fence.
There’s trees and flowers everywhere dancing in the wind petals of blue and pink and greens flying around as Jeongguk takes a step further.
Something this beautiful, this magnificent, this magical has been here his entire life and he never knew.
He cannot believe it.
“This is the Magic Forest.” Yoongi explains, watching Jeongguk in awe. “Home to all things magical.”
“I can’t believe this place existed and I never knew about it.” He beams, walking around the small area they entered through. He doesn’t want to do too far away because he knows nothing of this place, but it’s so pretty and magical he can’t help but take steps.
“That is the point, though.” Yoongi laughs coming up to where Jeongguk is. Hoseok follows closely behind him. “Humans aren’t supposed to know this is here.”
“Will you get in trouble for letting us know about it?” Hoseok wonders, standing beside Jeongguk now. He, too, wears an expression of awe and amazement. But then again, who wouldn’t? This place is incredible and they’re just at the entrance.
“I could.” Yoongi shrugs, “I’m not sure I will though. And even if I do it’s not like we’re staying here anyways. We just have to deal with-“
“Min Yoongi!” A charming, angelic voice calls. Jeongguk looks toward Yoongi confused and a moment later there're arms being thrown around the witch. “You’re back! Finally!”
Jeongguk and Hoseok share a confused look with one another as not one, not two, but three people appear from further in the village. The pink haired male looks at the male hugging Yoongi and tilts his head.
Maybe he does have friends.
“Jimin,” Yoongi huffs, stepping away from the stranger. “You have to let me breathe. You hug so tightly I feel like I’ll explode.”
“Can you blame me?” The witch — Jimin, as Yoongi called him — says happily. “It’s been over a hundred years since you got trapped in the book! We never thought we’d see you again.”
“Yes, well that was Namjoon’s intention.” Yoongi declares rolling his eyes. He motions towards Jeongguk, “Luckily for me, Jeongguk broke the spell.”
The witch looks over at Jeongguk studying him for a moment. Jeongguk steps away and hides behind Hoseok as if that will cover him from prying eyes. It doesn’t.
“There’s no way he could have…” The realization is clear on Jimin’s face, “Unless he’s your soulmate? Are you serious Hyung?” He turns towards the two other witches that are getting closer, “Hyung! Tae Tae! Yoongi-Hyung has another soulmate!”
That exclamation alone sends the two other witches rushing their way over curious and excited at the words. Jeongguk continues to hide behind Hoseok, one hand holding onto his shirt and the other holding onto his hand as if it will calm him down. He’s never been good with meeting new people, that was Hoseok’s specialty. And now that there’s three new people here he’s a bit on edge.
“I suppose we should introduce ourselves,” one of the witches with purple hair says. He’s quite tall, with shoulders broader than Jeongguk has seen before and dark brown eyes. “I’m Seokjin. This is Taehyung,” he motions towards the slightly shorter male with curly blue hair and a boxy smile on his face who waves towards the both of them. “And this is Jimin.” He points towards the pink-haired witch that had been hugging Yoongi a few minutes prior.
“We’re Yoongi’s...I suppose you can call us best friends.” Taehyung continues, a deep voice that Jeongguk had not been expecting. It suits him though. It’s soothing like honey.
Jeongguk inhales a breath realizing that they aren’t people to be too weary of and steps out from behind Hoseok. But the elder doesn’t let go of his hand. Truthfully, Jeongguk is thankful for that.
“You’re injured.” Jimin says, taking a step closer to Jeongguk. They both look down at his bandaged hand and he laughs awkwardly.
“The run in with Namjoon ended with me getting burnt by him.” Jeongguk explains as Jimin reaches out and takes his arm in his hand. “W-what are you doing?”
“I’m one of the doctors here in Magic Forest. I can heal it for you. If that’s okay,” Jimin offers, a small fond smile on his face. His hand hovers above the bandage already ready to take it off. Slowly, Jeongguk nods his head. He really would prefer it to be taken care of right now, he doesn’t know how else he would explain it to his parents.
Unraveling the bandage, Jeongguk takes it with his now free hand since Hoseok lets it go and holds it. Under his breath, Jimin closes his eyes and holds his hand over the burn. Within seconds. There’s a faint greenish yellow glow and Jeongguk can feel the way he’s healing his skin. It feels so weird, so ticklish. Like there’s a feather that someone is playing with on his arm, and yet it feels good. The pain eases quickly.
“Wow.” Jeongguk beams, as Jimin steps away letting his hand fall to his side once again. He looks down at his arm realizing that it didn’t even leave a mark. It looks like he never got injured to begin with. “That was amazing! Thank you.”
Jimin smiles, nodding his head as he turns back to Yoongi. “So why are you here, Hyung? We’re happy and all but surprised. And you brought those two.”
“I’m looking for Namjoon, and from the way I can feel his presence I know he’s here. There’s still some things he and I need to deal with from our past.” Yoongi explains crossing his arms over his chest.
“Can it wait until morning?” Seokjin questions. He motions towards the sky. The dark night shadows down on them and it’s then that Jeongguk remembers he’s hungry and sleep does sound good. But he doesn’t know if Yoongi can afford to do that now and if he can’t then Jeongguk can’t either.
Surprisingly, or maybe not, Yoongi nods his head. “Namjoon is most likely aware that we’re here anyways, but he won’t make a move since we’re in the village.” He looks towards Jeongguk and Hoseok, “I’m sure you two are tired so we’ll rest first and go out tomorrow, okay?”
Jeongguk and Hoseok nod their heads as Taehyung cheerfully decides he’ll lead them to the house.
Tomorrow.
—
They wake up early the next morning, and though Jeongguk isn’t a huge fan of not showering before he goes out anywhere or the fact that it's only six o’clock he doesn’t make it a big deal. He knows what today holds. He knows what they’re doing and why they’re there. Or does he?
He knows why they’re there, but truthfully he’s not sure what they are going to do. What does Yoongi have planned? He’s been quiet about that. Though he keeps saying it’s something he has to deal with from the past, but he doesn’t know what that means and it’s driving him crazy.
“Where are we going?” Jeongguk questions as he, Hoseok and the other three follow Yoongi. He learned quickly last night that the three of them were a couple. He learned that it’s very rare for someone to have more than one soulmate at a time, but when he thinks about Yoongi’s case it’s understandable. He’s glad the three of them are happy together. “Hyung, where are we going?”
“Namjoon’s house is up here.” Yoongi explains, leading them up a trail. It’s definitely not easy to climb, but Jeongguk has a feeling the trail is purposely like that so Namjoon doesn’t get any visitors. He lets out a small huff. “When we get there I need you all to stay outside, okay?”
Behind Jeongguk, he can hear the other four of them chanting out ‘no’ and he faintly smiles. At least they all agree that Yoongi shouldn’t be alone in this.
“Why won’t you let me handle this myself?” Yoongi questions when they finally reach the top of the trail. There’s only one building on this path. Namjoon’s.
They’re close.
Everything might be almost over finally.
“What happens if Namjoon does something to you again?” Taehyung questions, crossing his arms over his chest. “We can tell Jeongguk isn’t exactly magical like we are. There’s a small amount of magic in him but he can’t do anything to save you.”
“You were alone last time,” Seokjin continues, “You dealt with him alone and faced the consequences. We want to be here this time. We want you to actually have a future with Jeongguk.”
“Yeah.” Jimin places a hand on Jeongguk’s shoulder offering him a smile. “And what happens if you get hurt? You’ll need someone to patch you up. So we’re coming too.”
Yoongi rolls his eyes, letting out a scoff as he looks towards the house. It’s gloomy and dark. Nothing beautiful about it like the rest of the village. Jeongguk exhales a shaky breath.
“You told me that you would love me until your last breath. You told me that I’m your present and your future. If you go in there yourself we might not have one.” Jeongguk explains. He walks up to Yoongi and takes his hands, holding them to his chest. “We do this together. Your problems are my problems and vice versa. We’re a team.”
The witch leans forward and presses a kiss to Jeongguk’s forehead, nodding slowly. “You’re right. You’re right. We do this together, but if there’s any danger you have to leave, okay?”
Jeongguk hates that he should agree. But he also knows that if he doesn’t Yoongi will do everything in his power to prevent him from going in to begin with. “Alright. I promise if things get bad I’ll leave.”
“Good.” Yoongi doesn’t let go of his hand as he looks towards the others and nods encouraging them to come in with him.
They walk towards the building slowly, and as they approach it the front door opens and someone walks out.
Namjoon.
“I’ve been expecting you, Yoongi.” He says, a sly smile on his face.
This is the end.
Jeongguk shivers as he stops right behind Yoongi. He stops Hoseok behind him as well. If anything happens to Hoseok he’ll never forgive himself because this absolutely has nothing to do with him. He shouldn’t be here and Jeongguk knows that, and yet he insisted on coming. But if he gets hurt he doesn’t think he’ll ever overcome that.
The breeze picks up then brushing against their cheeks, through their hair, over their clothing and through the flowers. It’s a relaxing feeling and yet it does nothing to help the nerves that are inside of Jeongguk. If things go bad would Taehyung and Seokjin help? He doesn’t know what they specialize in but if it’s something useful, would they help too?
“I see you’ve brought quite a big number of people with you,” Namjoon mentions looking around at everyone behind Yoongi. He doesn’t say anything towards Seokjin, Taehyung or Jimin. But as soon as his eyes land on Hoseok, he takes a step forward. “Hojun?”
Behind Jeongguk, Hoseok lets out a long sigh stepping into view. “Why must every witch I meet call me that? My name is Hoseok. Ho. Seok. I don’t even know a Hojun.”
Namjoon gapes at that, mouth opening and closing as he takes another step forward. “But that’s...you look just like him. How could you…”
That’s when it hits Jeongguk. “Oh my god,” he lets out a small gasp as he, too, moves out from behind Yoongi. “Namjoon, show us your soulmate mark.”
“What?!” He hears the three behind them call.
Beside him, Yoongi grabs onto his shirt, “What are you doing Jeongguk?” He hisses, trying to tug him back behind him. But Jeongguk stands his ground, shakes his head and keeps his eyes focused on the witch in front of him.
“My soulmate mark? Why?” Namjoon questions. He looks down at his right wrist, it’s covered with a cloth so even if Jeongguk could see from where he stands he can’t see what’s on it. “I put a spell on it a long time ago. There’s nothing on my wrist anymore and yet it’s still a reminder of who I lost.”
“Can you undo the spell?” Jeongguk questions. The others all share confused looks.
Even Jeongguk doesn’t know if what he’s thinking is right. He doesn’t know whether this will get them anywhere and if it’s not what he’s thinking it might anger Namjoon more. But they keep calling Hoseok by Hojun. Just like Yoongi called him Jongho.
What if Hoseok was the reincarnation of Hojun? What if he and Namjoon were soulmates?
He knows it’s a crazy risk. And he doesn’t want to say it out loud yet because he doesn’t want to get either of their hopes up. After all, Hoseok’s wrist has been bare since he turned eighteen. He can’t say what he’s thinking out loud and give the elder hope only for him to be wrong. He won’t do that.
“I…could, but why?” Namjoon crosses his arms over his chest. Eyes flickering from his wrist to Jeongguk. He shies away from his stare, clearing his throat.
“J-just undo the spell. Tell me if your wrist says anything. Tell me what it says.” Jeongguk hurries.
“Why am I listening to you?” Namjoon questions, “What could you possibly gain from this?”
“It’s not what I’ll gain, it’s what you’ll gain if you do as I say.” Jeongguk huffs impatiently.
What would happen if they were soulmates? Would Hoseok be okay with that? Would Namjoon be a good person? Would he leave them alone? Was this even a good idea right now?
Namjoon lets out a huff, rolling the sleeve on his arm up revealing his bare wrist. He closes his eyes and chants something underneath his breath. Above his wrist glows red and orange until the magic ceases.
When Namjoon opens his eyes, they go wide. “It’s...changed.” He whispers, looking from his wrist to Jeongguk. Maybe he was right. “J. H. February eighteen, nineteen ninety-four.”
Jeongguk and Hoseok both gasp.
Holy shit.
The pink haired male looks over at Hoseok, eyes blown wide. Hoseok is staring down at his wrist then, at the words that have magically appeared on it. He holds it up to show Jeongguk, tears forming in his eyes. “G-Guk...I-I have a soulmate. I...oh my god. I have a soulmate!” He looks towards Namjoon, “You asshole! Your magic spell, whatever it was, kept me from knowing about you!”
Namjoon gapes at him, holding his hands up in defense, “H-how was I supposed to know reincarnations were a thing! Jeongguk is the one who figured it out!”
“How did you figure it out?” Yoongi questions, turning towards Jeongguk. “How did you know that would work?”
Jeongguk shakes his head, “Honestly I didn’t know. I just hoped it would.” He inhales a breath, “It just clicked in my head when Namjoon called him Hojun. Why else would Hoseok look exactly like him if they weren’t reincarnations? And considering I’m the reincarnation of Jongho and your soulmate...I had hope it would for them too.”
“I’m glad we got this figured out though I’m still completely surprised by it,” Seokjin intervenes. “But what are we doing now? Are we gonna let Nam-“ He cuts himself off as he looks in the direction of the witch.
Jeongguk and Yoongi turn to see what he’s looking at and both cover their mouths before laughing.
“-hurt my best friend!” Hoseok yells, hitting Namjoon in the arm. The witch cowers away from Hoseok, taking a step back but there’s a small smile on his face. “You better go apologize to him! Understand?” Namjoon is quick to nod his head as Hoseok places a hand on his hip.
“I guess even a witch can get put into place but a human.” Taehyung laughs, as Namjoon and Hoseok make their way over to them.
The witch wears a small sheepish smile on his lips as he looks down at the ground. He inhales a deep breath looking up between Yoongi and Jeongguk. “I’m sorry.” He says quietly, “It won’t fix anything to apologize, but I am sorry.” He looks towards Jeongguk, “I’m sorry for burning you. I’m glad Jimin managed to heal you at least.” Then he turns to Yoongi, “And you...Hyung...I’m sorry for locking you in a book for over a hundred years.”
“And I’m sorry about Hojun.” Yoongi says sadly. “I know he meant the world to you.”
Namjoon nods his head, looking down at his wrist. “He did, but...it’s time for me to move on. Or else I’ll miss what’s happening right now.” He looks over at Hoseok. “I can’t believe I have another soulmate.”
Yoongi laughs at that, “Yeah, it’s a bit of a surprise for a while. But you’ll realize how lucky you are after a while and you’ll never want anything to come between you two.”
“Sounds like you love Jeongguk.”
“I do.” Yoongi smiles.
Jeongguk blushes at that, looking down at the grass instead. He’s glad that he was able to figure out another way to solve this problem. He’s glad to know that Namjoon and Hoseok may one day get their happy ending. He’s glad no one got hurt, and no one died. Glad that they can all be together if they so desire.
“I hope it’s not late to ask this but...if you have any room to forgive me for what I’ve done then I’d like to be friends again.” Namjoon says, holding his hand out.
“Only if you can forgive me for the things that I have done as well.” Yoongi replies. The silver haired witch nods his head and Yoongi slides his hand in. “Then friends we’ll be once again. It might take awhile for our relationship to reach what it once was though.”
“Maybe, but it will be worth it.”
“That it will.”
—
They decide not to go home for a while. Jeongguk calls his parents and tells them he’ll be with Hoseok for a few more days which lead to his parents telling him to have a good time. But in reality, they’re still in the Magic Forest constantly switching from being at Seokjin’s house and Namjoon’s house.
Namjoon and Hoseok spend the majority of their time together getting to know each other better. Sometimes when Jeongguk is in the living room or kitchen he can hear them off in the distance talking about the most randomest things. For example: the time Hoseok climbed up a tree, slipped and fell. He could hear Namjoon hiss in pain for him.
It’s a bit weird and surprising to see Namjoon on the nicer side. To know that he won’t be coming after him for being with Yoongi, but he supposes that’s because he’s getting his happy ending too. Because he has another soulmate in the world and he won’t be alone anymore.
He’s happy for Namjoon. For Hoseok. For them in general.
“I was thinking,” Yoongi says as he enters their bedroom for the time being. A spare room that Jimin had let them use since the three of them use the master room anyways. “And I wanted to discuss it with you before I planned anything.”
Jeongguk blinks, getting comfortable in the bed. Yoongi lays down beside him, rolling over until he’s on his side facing the younger. “What is it?”
“Well, you’re old enough to move out on your own now. And I was thinking of getting a house here again. If you want...we could live here together. The others and I can teach you some simple magic too if you’d like.” Yoongi explains slowly. “We can wait until you finish school first if that’s better. I can wait forever, but it’s an idea I’ve been thinking of since I see how much you love it here and the others love you.”
Jeongguk looks at Yoongi surprised. He hadn’t thought about that honestly. Moving out in general. When he was younger he imagined he would live with Hoseok and their soulmates all in one place, but now that he’s older — an adult —he wants his own space.
Over the few days that he’s been here he’s definitely gotten closer to Seokjin and the other two and he can call them friends. And he would love to be near his friends. That would be amazing, and to learn some magic too? Even better.
“Like I said,” Yoongi continues, “I haven’t started anything. I wanted to see what you thought first. I don’t want to force you into anything.”
Jeongguk hums, nodding his head as he shifts closer to Yoongi. “Once I finish school we can, okay? It took nearly a day to get here to begin with and I don’t want to transfer schools near the end. So just...wait for a few more months.” He answers quietly. He hopes that Yoongi won’t be mad at that answer. He hopes he understands why he said it.
Yoongi wraps his arms around him and smiles, “That's fine by me. I can wait as long as you need,” he says, pressing a kiss to Jeongguk’s temple. Then he lets out a small laugh and says, “I think our first kiss is overdue. Last time we tried someone interrupted us.” He says just as Namjoon passes the doorway.
Jeongguk can hear the elder vampire laugh, “Sorry!” He calls, as he walks further away. Jeongguk can only assume he’s going to the living room or kitchen. Or maybe he and Hoseok were heading back to his cottage.
“I think we were.” Jeongguk agrees as he lifts his head up to look into Yoongi’s eyes. The sun from the window partially blinds him so he brings a hand up to shield his eyes, “I love you, soulmate.” He whispers leaning closer to Yoongi’s lips.
“And I love you, soulmate.”
The distance between the two of them disappears as Jeongguk’s lips lock with Yoongi's.
All of his life he waited to share his first kiss with his soulmate. He’s seen multiple romance movies and wondered what it would be like. They never explained them accurately, Jeongguk realizes. This could definitely become addicting to have the witch’s lips on his own.
He smiles faintly when they pull away, burying his head in Yoongi’s chest and closing his eyes. He feels safe here, safe and secure from everything.
One day, he and Yoongi will live in this village. One day he’ll be able to learn magic of his own even if it isn’t the strongest. One day, he’ll be able to be with Yoongi like he wishes.
For now though, he’ll enjoy sleeping in his boyfriend’s arms.