Chapter Text
“You can’t be serious!”
Jimin turns his head to look over towards his best friend Taehyung, who’s sitting on the couch in their shared bedroom. He lowers his hand from his face and furrows his eyes brows confused over his sudden outbreak. He sits up on his bed, adjusting the pillow behind him as he spares another glance towards Seokjin and Hoseok who somehow managed to steal Taehyung’s bed. They’re curled up together, Seokjin’s arm circled tightly around Hoseok’s waist as if they’re ready to sleep together. But in reality they’re just laying that way because it’s most comfortable. Though, Jimin wouldn’t be surprised if the eldest had actually fallen asleep.
“Chim, seriously?” Taehyung says again, catching his attention once more. Jimin only shrugs in response, offering a sincere smile to his best friend.
“I don’t see what’s wrong with the idea,” Jimin argues crossing his arms over his chest. “It’s a great idea. Hoseok and Seokjin-hyung agree with me too, don’t you?”
“It does sound fun,” Hoseok answers for the two of them perking his head up. He smiles brightly at the best friends, turning slightly to look at Seokjin. He only laughs though at that, “Hyung is asleep, but I doubt he’ll care where we go or what we do as long as I’m there.”
“That’s true.” Jimin laughs, shaking his head. “Hyung would follow you to the ends of the earth.”
“That’s called love,” Hoseok chirps, placing his hand over Seokjin’s which is holding his tightly. “And I love my husband more than anything and you both know it.”
“Hello?” Taehyung calls, waving his hands towards the two of them. A frown upon his face and disapproval evident in his voice. “Can we get back to the topic at hand? There’s no way we’re going into that forest.” He says firmly, crossing his arms over his chest like he’s imitating Jimin. His eyes are lingering on Jimin, chest puffed out a bit as if sizing him up.
“But why not?” Jimin asks, a small pout on his face. “I’ve always wanted to explore the forest and I know you do too. So why can’t we?”
“Well, for starters,” Taehyung uncrosses his arms, stands up from the couch and walks over to the window pulling the curtains back, and opening the blinds for them to see outside. “I don’t know how you haven’t noticed yet but it’s raining. We’re not going out in the rain. We’ll come back soaking wet and I really don’t like when my clothes are drenched.”
Jimin follows Taehyung with his eyes and looks out the window once the blinds are open. It definitely is raining like Taehyung said - or rather it’s pouring outside. Even one step outside would leave anyone quite soaked. But honestly, Jimin doesn’t mind. He loves the rain and being in it doesn’t bother him. That’s why there’s a washer and dryer. He can use those afterwards to clean his clothing. And there’s a shower to help him clean and warm up.
“Well you, my lovely best friend, can use an umbrella. You know I don’t care for the rain. It’s not going to stop me.” Jimin replies, standing up from his bed, walking towards his closet to grab a jacket out. He is determined to go out and explore the forest. He’s never done so before and he wants to change that.
Taehyung lets out a loud sigh, sounding almost annoyed at this rate. “Jimin seriously I….” He brings his hand up to his nose, pinching at his bridge. “Need I remind you that Grandma said we can’t go there? Are you forgetting that one major factor? If she finds out we went in there, we’ll be in serious trouble.”
“Relax Tae,” Jimin reassures, grabbing out the first jacket that he can find and slipping it on. It’s not even his, it’s Taehyung’s. But he can’t be bothered to look for another one and change it . “She’ll never find out anyways. She won’t be home for a few hours and even if she does what then? We’re all adults here. We can make our own decisions for a change.”
“But...Jimin.” Taehyung whines walking closer to Jimin. He grabs onto his arm, frown still evident on his face. His eyes look like they’re begging, pleading almost for Jimin not to go. “Please? I really don’t think it's a good idea to go in there. Grandma is smarter than we think, she’ll find out.”
“Then you don’t have to go with us Tae. It can be just me, Hoseok and Seokjin. That way you won’t get in trouble just me,” Jimin replies, shaking his head. He closes the closet door behind him, fixing the jacket until it sits on him properly. He then looks at Taehyung curiously, eyes stitched together in wonder, “Do you know why we aren’t allowed to go in there?”
“I…” Taehyung bites his lower lip, inhaling a breath through his nose before exhaling through his mouth and shaking his head. “I’m not allowed to say anything.” He mumbles, turning away from Jimin and walking back over to the couch. He plops down with a huff, shaking his head over and over again.
Jimin briefly wonders if he should just listen to Taehyung. If maybe he shouldn’t go into the forest even though his curiosity already has the best of him. But he’s always wondered what lies further into the forest and why their grandma always said to not go there. Why was there a fence dividing their yard and the forest, and why was their house the only one in the area?
Those questions alone are what convinces Jimin to motion for Hoseok to get up so they can go out. He watches as Hoseok carefully wakes Seokjin up, prying himself out of the elders arms before leaning down and giving him a kiss to his head, then his cheek before finally landing on his lips. Jimin has to look away during the process, a small sigh escaping him too as he looks towards Taehyung.
“We’ll be back before you know it.” He reassures, offering a small smile to Taehyung even though he knows the younger isn’t paying him any attention. His focus is still on the ground almost like he’s mourning the fact that Jimin wouldn’t listen to him.
Jimin turns away then, walking towards his bedroom door to head towards the front door to grab his shoes and an umbrella in case Hoseok or Seokjin might want it, before heading towards the back door they’re leaving through. He slips them on as Hoseok and Seokjin come bounding after him. Seokjin still looks a bit tired, but there’s still a smile on his face after Hoseok explains what they’re going to do.
He opens the back door up once his shoes are tied up and throws the sweater hoodie over his head. He holds the umbrella out for the couple, giving them a smile as Hoseok takes it and opens it up as soon as he steps outside.
There’s no breeze outside right now, making it feel a bit better. Though Jimin loves the rain, loves being in it and playing in it, he doesn’t like when it’s windy at the same time, because then it gets too cold for him to bear. But right now it’s perfect and he has no complaints.
He closes the back door behind the three of them, looking up towards where his and Taehyung’s bedroom window is as if he'd be able to see Taehyung and ask him once again if he’s sure he doesn’t want to go. But Taehyung isn’t standing there looking at them and he doesn't expect him to be.
“Hopefully you two can hop a fence,” Jimin chirps walking through the rain towards the fence they have to climb over in order to get to the forest. There’s no gate that lets them get through, so climbing is their only option.
Jimin isn’t sure how big the forest is. Isn’t sure, if there’s something inside the forest or on the other side of it. He wonders how far it goes, but he doesn’t plan to find out today. He doesn’t want to get lost and not be able to find their way back. The service at their house is spotty to begin with. He’s almost positive the forest will make it even worse, so there’s no way he could use it for a map.
He climbs over the fence first then grabs the umbrella from Hoseok to shield both him and Seokjin as they climb over as well to keep them as dry as they’ll be able to maintain.
“Alright, we’ll basically head straight ahead and we won’t go too far or else we’d probably get lost and I don’t think any of us-“ he begins to explain, before being cut off.
“Wait!” Taehyung calls from the back door. Jimin, Hoseok and Seokjin all turn to look at him. Jimin tilts his head to the side, passing Hoseok the umbrella once again leaving him to get soaked in the rain. “I’m coming with you.”
He moves away from the fence as Taehyung gets closer and climbs over it. He’s covered himself up in a thick jacket with the hood pulled over his hair and sweatpants.
“What made you change your mind?” Jimin asks, looking down at the grass on the ground and kicking it with his feet as if he could pull it up. He can’t though and water flies off it. “I didn’t think you’d end up coming with us.”
“I wasn’t going to,” Taehyung admits shaking his head as he gets over the fence and stands in front of them. His eyes aren’t focused on any of them, instead they’re focused on the forest in front of him. On the place they’re about to go into even though their Grandma has said multiple times not to do so. He lets out a small sigh sticking his hands into his jacket pockets to keep them warm, “But who knows what’s in there and you might need me. After all, I am the strongest out of the four of us.”
“Just because you’re a vampire doesn’t mean you’re the strongest,” Seokjin jokes shaking his head, “I’m sure I could beat you in an arm-wrestling match.”
“You know they say vampires have the strength that’s way bigger than humans,” Taehyung replies shaking his head, “And I'd rather not leave you with a broken hand again. Hobi-hyung might try and beat me up. We’ve already had something like that happen once, remember?”
The four of them laugh at that. At the memories of when they were younger and Taehyung was still learning how to maintain his strength as humanly as possible. Though for the longest time it didn’t work and one time he ended up breaking Seokjin’s hand when they were pretending to fight each other. Jimin can still remember how Taehyung hid himself in their bedroom for a few days because he was ashamed of himself for that.
Though now, Taehyung’s learned to contain himself when needed . But Jimin also knows that if something were to try and attack them in the forest Taehyung would be able to take it down with no problem. It feels like a weight was lifted off his chest knowing they’ll have Taehyung to back them up the entire time.
“Well,” Jimin says, turning away from the fence to look down into the forest. It’s not the brightest, but Jimin didn’t expect it to be seeing as it’s covered in trees, but he has his phone and he can use that as a source of light. “Shall we go in? Grandma should be out for a while but we can never be too careful and we gotta be back before she is.”
He hears the others hum in agreement and he takes a step forward. As he does he grabs his phone out his pocket and turns the flashlight on. Then he slips the phone into his sleeve, leaving only the top part out to use the light and prevent his phone from getting wet and ruined.
Then he walks into the forest with the others behind him.
—
Jimin isn’t really sure what he expected when he heard the word woods. Maybe he expected some unknown territory to be lingering inside, with tiny dwarfs or creatures he had never seen before. After all, vampires exist why couldn’t they? But there’s nothing like that - or rather - Jimin doesn’t see any. But he doesn’t think he’s in far enough to determine that anyways.
There’s trees and bushes as far as Jimin can see and that’s not far considering the sun is hidden by the rain clouds and the clouds are hidden by the abundance of trees. It’s dark inside the forest, but he’s lucky to have his phone.
Though, just because Jimin can’t see much of the forest doesn’t mean he can’t see anything. And what he can see is breathtaking. It may just be the trees and the grass but in its own way it’s still beautiful and Jimin wonders why they were never allowed to come in here. There doesn’t seem to be any threats, anything that could harm or injure them. And there’s no one else here except for them.
So why weren’t they allowed to come in here?
If anything, this would be the perfect place to take some photos when the sun was finally out. To have pictures surrounded by the high trees and if there’s any animals maybe having them in the background. They could make for beautiful ones and yet since they’re not supposed to be here they can’t take them.
“We really weren't allowed to come out here?” Jimin questions turning around to face Taehyung. He places a hand on his hip, shifting his weight to one leg while the other is outstretched in front of him. The trees are doing pretty well with covering the rain so both Taehyung and Jimin have taken off their hoods while Hoseok and Seokjin still keep the umbrella up not taking any chances. “I don’t see anything out of the ordinary.”
“Yes, well...it might not appear that way, but it is, so can we please return back home, now?” He asks, clasping his hands in front of himself, biting on his lower lip as if he’s eager to hurry up already. But seeing as he was originally reluctant to come at all, Jimin isn’t necessarily surprised by his current attitude. “The longer we stay here the worse it could get.”
That catches Jimin’s attention and he walks closer to Taehyung, “So you do know something that you’re not telling me.” He says, stopping just in front of Taehyung. There’s a small frown on his face as his eyes overlook every feature on Taehyung’s. “Why won’t you tell me what it is?”
“Because I’m not allowed to.” Taehyung answers shaking his head, “Everyone has their secrets Chim. You know that. Let me keep this one.”
Jimin nods his head stepping away from Taehyung, “You’re right. I’m sorry.” He says stuffing his hands in his pockets. “Have you ever been here before? Without me knowing?”
“No.” Taehyung answers. “This is my first time. Same as you.”
“It’s nice in here,” Jimin comments looking around at all the trees, “Quiet. Peaceful. I’d suggest we come here more often but I doubt you’d let me without telling Grandma.”
Taehyung nods his head, “We’ll be lucky if she doesn’t find out about this time. But we really should do back Chim. Besides we’re both soaking wet and I rather not get sick, Grandma should be home soon and Seokjin and Hoseok need to head back to their place at some point.”
Jimin doesn’t want to go back. Not yet. He wants to keep looking around. Wants to keep exploring to see, if maybe he’ll find something. Anything really. But he knows that Taehyung is right. They’ve gone out and seen the forest like they wanted to. It’s time to go home even if it’s reluctantly.
He nods his head slowly, looking towards Hoseok and Seokjin who actually are taking photos of one another using the flash mode on their camera. Jimin laughs at the two of them and walks over to them. “Let me see your phone Hobi-hyung,” he says with a smile, “I’ll take photos of you two together.”
Hoseok smiles and nods his head passing the now closed umbrella and his phone over to Jimin. He takes ahold of Seokjin’s hand intertwining their fingers together as they pose in front of a set of trees. Jimin takes as many photos as he can in one go before looking towards Taehyung, “Wanna join them?” He questions, tilting his head to the side.
“Yeah! Come on Tae,” Hoseok says, holding his arm out for Taehyung to join them. “We hardly ever take photos anymore. Let’s take some here to remember today.”
“The day we went against your Grandma and ventured into a forbidden forest.” Seokjin laughs, shaking his head back and forth. “I can’t believe we actually went through with this. I really hope she’s not home when we get back.”
“Well, if she is I’ll take the blame. After all, I am the one who invited you three.” Jimin says as Taehyung walks closer to the group and stands next to Hoseok for the photos. “Alright. On three say ‘cheese’, okay? One, two, three-“
“Cheese!” The three of them say in unison and then proceed to laugh afterwards.
“Who’s the one who came up with that. It’s such a random word to say for a photo.” Hoseok wonders taking the phone back from Jimin.
“I’m not sure.” Seokjin replies shaking his head, “Definitely wasn’t me.”
“Jimin do you want to get a photo, too?” Hoseok asks, dropping the topic of who invented the word cheese for photos. Jimin only shakes his head no turning on his heel towards where they originally came from.
“Taehyung’s right. We should start heading back.” He says instead, passing the umbrella to Seokjin, who in turn opens it up once again. They all know, as soon as they’re out of the forest, the rain will come pouring on them once again. They won’t have the trees to cover them anymore.
Taehyung walks beside Jimin, keeping close at all times, as they go back the way they came to find the exit of the forest. Jimin is still using the light of his flashlight from his phone to lead them down the path when something twinkles in the light.
Jimin stops in his tracks and flashes the light more towards the object. “What is it?” Taehyung asks, almost running into Jimin since he was walking behind him.
“There’s something on the ground,” Jimin says walking closer to said object. He passes his phone to Taehyung to hold and flash in the direction he’s walking then he crouches down when he spots it. “It’s a necklace. Someone must have lost it.” Jimin comments reaching his hand out to pick it up.
“Don’t touch it,” Taehyung exclaims quickly, hurriedly walking closer to Jimin. “Whatever you do, don’t touch that necklace.”
Jimin looks up at him confused letting his hand fall onto his knees, “Why not?” He asks, eyebrows furrowing in wonder.
“Someone might have lost it. They could be searching for it. I don’t know. It’s not yours, so don’t touch it.” Taehyung says, shaking his head. “Let’s just go home, okay?”
“You’re acting weird,” Jimin says. He looks back towards Hoseok and Seokjin who are also waiting for them to continue back home. “Isn’t he? Or is it just me?”
“I really don’t want to get into this conversation,” Hoseok says waving his hands up in surrender. “It’ll make me feel like I’m picking sides so I’ll just stay over here with my loving husband and wait for you two.”
“It’s just a necklace,” Jimin says looking back at Taehyung once again, “No one is supposed to be in these parts anyways so I doubt anyone is looking for it.”
Jimin reaches his hand out again, as Taehyung opens his mouth to speak once more. But before any words come out of the vampires mouth, Jimin already has the chain in his hands.
In another part of the city, Yoongi feels the burning sensation of someone becoming his. Someone, who shouldn’t be.