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“There are new rumors going around these days about you.” Seokjin took a sip of his tea, “The villagers are quite creative these days.”
“It amazes me that you know these things and are always so adamant to enlighten me on such useless topics.” Yoongi grumbled from his own tea cup, his gaze leaning out towards the window overlooking the kingdom. His kingdom.
“Well, I am an all knowing being. An essence, if you will.” Seokjin shrugged, refilling his tea cup with the wave of his finger, “I must find ways to keep myself busy, especially being tied to your boring ass all day.”
Yoongi rolled his eyes, waving Seokjin off.
Seokjin smirked, excited with the human capacity for storytelling, “The village is speaking rumors of the evil king again, of the evil king's curse . They believe that the curse is that he shall never die, never age, he shall be immortal in his loneliness, in his evil ways and that the only way to break this curse is for the king to fall in love with the fairest peasant of them all.”
Yoongi huffed, swirling the black tea in his cup, “I see, it seems they are getting quite creative.”
“Seems so.” Seokjin hummed, taking another sip of tea, “Repeat the spell, your highness.”
Yoongi narrowed his eyes towards Seokjin from across the table, Seokjin hadn’t asked such a thing in years. There had been no reason too. “Why?”
“Do not question an all knowing being.” Seokjin got up from the table, letting go of his tea cup as it floated readily beside him in the air. Seokjin made his way out of the kitchen, “This time will not be like the rest.”
Yoongi felt his chest seize up, tight, as he followed Seokjin down the hallway and into a dusty, dimly lit room where a large mirror stood. As old as time and filled with cobwebs, it was eerie. Yoongi hated the room, what it meant.
“The spell, your highness.” Seokjin spoke, yet he had disappeared from Yoongi’s side.
Yoongi exhaled.
“Mirror mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all…”
“Once upon a time.”
Hoseok huffed as he flapped the wet blankets out with his arms, “There were three boys—” He moved to clip the blankets onto the line, hanging them to dry as the birds chirped by his feet.
Hoseok giggled towards the birds, “You’re right. There were three little rascals who came home every day more dusty then they left. Leaving their poor hyung to clean everything!” Hoseok complained, hummed, as he finished clipping the laundry onto the drying line.
“They’re lucky they’re cute, huh?” Hoseok sang under his breath to the birds song as he finished, sighing when he noticed the vegetables blooming in the garden and a new wave of excitement rushed over him.
“Hobi hyung!” Jungkook, Jimin and Taehyung came bursting out into the garden, tackling Hoseok and his basket of vegetables in a fit of laughter, Taehyung hugging his back, Jungkook glued to his side and Jimin gaining his attention.
“You boys are all dusty again!” Hoseok teased, dark coal dust painting their cheeks, hair and clothes like black snow. Hoseok pulled them closer in a hug.
“Sorry we’re home kinda late,” Jimin was failing to hide his smile, “I found something in the coal mines that I just could not leave behind!” He spoke, excitedly showing the shining, coal dusted diamond that rested in the palm of his hand.
Hoseok gasped , “Jiminie! You’re not supposed to take the gems home! What if you get in trouble?”
“A price I’m willing to pay~” Jimin sang as he placed the diamond into Hoseok’s palm.
“We wanted to bring it home for you! To buy you something nice Hobi hyung.” Jungkook spoke, nuzzling his nose into Hoseok’s shoulder.
“Me?” Hoseok whispered, looking down towards the diamond, “But...this isn’t fair. You three work so hard every day and...and all I do is housework at home. We should go into the village and buy the three of you something nice with this!”
Taehyung shook his head, shocked, “You do so much more than that Hobi hyung! You take care of us! We would be lost without you.” He spoke sincerely, “You cook us warm meals, clean all the dust away from the house, greet us with warm hugs and tell us funny stories of the village that make us laugh.”
Jungkook nodded in agreement, “You can’t work with us in the mines because of your lungs Hobi hyung. But even if you could we wouldn't want you to.”
“We like working in the mines, it’s fun for us.” Jimin shrugged, smiling fondly towards Hoseok, “Playing around, getting all dusty in the coal and coming home to you makes us the happiest. But I don’t think you would like working in the mines like we do.”
“It’s very dusty.” Jungkook stated, leaning forward to press a dusty kiss to Hoseok’s cheek, “We like seeing you be happy, that’s what makes us the happiest Hobi hyung.”
Hoseok pouted, pulling the three of them closer into an embrace, “I’m the happiest with the three of you.” He confessed, nuzzling his nose into their dusty heads and giving them an absurd amount of kisses until his three friends were giggling and pressing closer.
Hoseok moved to stand up, bringing the three boys with him as he reached to grab the basket filled with freshly picked vegetables, “Come on, let's get you three cleaned up and start on dinner!”
“So what are you going to do?” Seokjin asked from beside the window, watching Yoongi pace around the room in amusement.
“I’m thinking. Give me a moment.”
“You can’t avoid this forever.”
“This has never happened before.” Yoongi shook his head, “The mirror has never shown anything. Never a name, nor a person, but now…”
“It’s time to break the curse, Yoongi.”
“ No .” Paused to shake his head, his hands flying wildly around him, “If I— If I fall in love with that man...with that Jung Hoseok I will turn back into a human .”
“Is that not what you want?”
“I’ve lived this way for over one hundred years.” Yoongi spoke deadly, “It has worked out just fine.”
The all knowing essense hummed.
Yoongi stood in the middle of the room for a moment longer, in thought before speaking, “You know that lumberjack guy that you’ve been hanging out with lately? What’s his name?”
Sekojin’s interest peaked then, smiling fondly as he spoke the name, “Kim Namjoon.”
“Yes, him. I’ll use him.” Yoongi nodded to himself, “Get Hoseok to fall in love with Namjoon, and there will be no way that he would ever fall in love with another. There will be no chance for him to desire me.”
Seokjin narrowed his gaze, “I believe you’re missing the point of the curse, Min Yoongi.”
“Who cares, this is my only chance. Send Namjoon to the cottage with the coal miners where Hoseok lives.”
“No.”
Yoongi mirrored Seokjin’s narrowed gaze, “You will do as I say you will.”
Seokjin crossed his arms, “What if I have Namjoon kill him instead? There. Problem solved. Hoseok and the cure to this curse are both off of your hands.”
“Fine.” Yoongi waved Seokjin off, “Have Namjoon kill him then. The quicker Hoseok is taken care of the better.” He paused, regarding Seokjin carefully, “You’re smiling.” He commented, “You know how this will all end, don’t you?”
Seokjin hummed, “I am an all knowing essence, Min Yoongi. All knowing.”
Hoseok was working out in the gardens, setting up a little trail of nuts for the chipmunks that he knew lived there when he heard a loud crash and a yell in pain come from the nearby forest.
Hoseok was on his feet and running in seconds , “Hello!? Who’s there?” He yelled, following the shouts of pain until he found a man, a lumberjack with a strong build, deep dimples and kind eyes caught with his foot stuck under a log of wood.
“Hold still!” Hoseok yelled as he rushed in to help push the log off of the man’s foot, his back turned towards him.
The man grunted, “Are you— Jung Hoseok?”
“I am!” Hoseok spoke with a grunt of his own, using all of his strength to roll the log away.
The man lifted his ax then, right above Hoseok’s turned back, ready to allow gravity to take over and finish the job he was tasked with—
“There!” Hoseok exhaled as he successfully pushed the log away, leaning against it and turning around to face the lumberjack. His eyes grew incredibly wide and fearful as he noticed the raised ax above his head, “Have...have you been holding that there the whole time...sir?”
The ax fell down to the man's side then as he sighed in defeat, falling down to the grass, “Yeah, sorry. It’s a...uh...force of habit? When logs fall on me?” He spoke.
His reasoning wasn’t convincing, but Hoseok didn’t have time to dwell on it as he moved to sit in front of the man, “And your name?” He asked as he hurried to help remove the lumberjack's shoe.
“Namjoon...uh...why—”
“You knew my name, it’s only fair that I know yours.” Hoseok shrugged.
“No I mean, why are you doing that…?” Namjoon asked, brows knitted together.
“What? Helping you?” Hoseok chuckled as if what Namjoon said was actually funny, “A giant log fell on you, of course I’m going to help. Now come on, my cottage isn’t far from here and I have some cream that will help your ankle heal faster.”
“But I’m a stranger.” Namjoon spoke flatly, still unconvinced as he leaned against Hoseok’s smaller frame that helped him walk.
“I know your name.” Hoseok smiled, “Don’t think you’re a stranger any more now?”
Namjoon smiled, deep dimples kissing his cheeks, “Well then, thank you, Hoseok. I really owe you one. And since we’re not strangers, I would like to say that that incident wasn't my fault.”
“Of course it wasn’t.” Hoseok chuckled.
“No, really! It was the tree's fault!” Namjoon defended, “I’m a lumberjack but I don’t cut down live trees, only the dead ones. And there was this huge dead tree, maybe struck by lighting or something? Not sure, anyway, it was leaning up against these two very alive trees so I was cutting it down to help those trees grow stronger and…”
“And the dead tree ended up falling on you .” Hoseok concluded, “Well it’s a good thing you have a friend out here in these woods.” Hoseok smiled, chuckling alongside Namjoon.
Yoongi cursed from where he watched the scene through the mirror in the darkened room.
“It’s not working .” Yoongi hissed, pulling at the ends of his hair, “Namjoon was supposed to kill him not become his friend .”
Seokjin hummed from where he could not be seen, “My Joonie is a kind soul. Fate would not be so cruel to ask such a thing of him.”
“ Your —” Yoongi stopped, paused, “Are you kidding me? You’re an all knowing being, an essence and you have a crush on that lumberjack guy?!”
“Oh do have tact Min Yoongi, I may be an essence but I can appreciate a real man when I see one. Especially one as kind as he.” Seokjin responded, all too fondly.
Yoongi didn’t have time to dwell on such matters as he rushed out of the room, frustrated, angry, “If you want something done right you’ve got to do it yourself .” He grunted, “Seokjin, brew a potion.”
Seokjin regarded Yoongi carefully as he made himself seen again, “What kind of potion, your highness?”
Yoongi looked around the kitchen, he needed this to work, he needed something discrete, he needed—
His eyes landed on the basket of apples.
“Poisonous.”
“Bye Hobi hyung!” The three boys chanted on their way out of the cottage, making sure to give Hoseok three kisses on his cheek each before they left the door's frame.
“Remember what I said about talking to strangers!” Jimin pointed a finger towards Hoseok, “We’re happy you made a friend yesterday but not everyone in the woods is kind!”
“Wait for us if you meet someone, okay? It can be dangerous here alone, we worry.” Taehyung nodded, hugging Hoseok last and for the longest amount of time.
“Okay. But you three worry too much.” Hoseok hugged Taehyung back, smiling when he leaned back.
Jungkook got jealous and went to hug Hoseok one last time for even longer than Taehyung, “It’s because we love you Hobi hyung.”
“And I love the three of you.” Hoseok spoke sweetly, hugging the youngest close before releasing him eventually, watching them walk down the road from their cottage.
Yoongi was in a mood .
It had been years, how many, Yoongi wasn’t interested in counting, since he’d been outside of the castle's walls. So many years that the villages had forgotten what the king had looked like, which was helpful in situations like this.
But even so Yoongi had forgotten how much the forest surrounded his kingdom could be at times. He had managed to reach the cottage that appeared numerous times through the magical mirror with only a scrape to his arm. The basket of apples held securely to his side as he made his way.
Luckly, Hoseok was watering the flowers in the front of the cottage and spotted Yoongi quickly.
Unluckily, Hoseok had started rushing towards him.
“Hello!” Hoseok greeted excitedly, “Are you from around here? I don’t think I’ve seen you before?
Yoongi wasn’t prepared to witness Hoseok up close.
He wasn’t prepared to be assaulted by the warmest, deepest, kindest brown eyes that he’d ever had the privilege of gazing upon.
And Hoseok’s smile...bright, kind, small dimples in his cheeks, a tiny freckle atop his lip that never came across the mirror's image…
Yoongi felt something stir in his chest. Something like a clock that had been stale for far too long, finally starting to tick to life again.
“Are you lost…?” Hoseok asked, his smile falling a little with Yoongi’s late of response, “Here, come in for some tea. It’s not every day that I meet a friend—oh no!” Hoseok’s gaze darted to Yoongi’s arm then, rushing to inspect it, “What happened? You’re bleeding!”
“Huh? Oh I…” Yoongi looked away, hiding his blush— wait. He was blushing…?
“Here, let’s go inside so I can treat this. It looks like you scraped your arm on a tree or something, we have to take care of this and—” Hoseok paused, his hands circling around Yoongi’s arm, “Oh...oh boy.” He whispered a little under his breath, eyes wide as he gave a testing squeeze to Yoongi’s bicep, “You have...really nice arms, sir…”
Yeah, Yoongi was definitely blushing.
But Yoongi smiled a little, because maybe he wasn’t the only one, “Are you...blushing?” He asked gently, turning to find his suspicions correct by Hoseok’s beet red cheeks.
Cute .
Yoongi cleared his throat, looking away again. Not cute Min Yoongi, not cute .
“Ah— sorry!” Hoseok apologized quickly, leading Yoongi into the cottage, his hands not leaving Yoongi’s arm, “It’s just...I live with three others and they’re strong—like really strong but you’re like— strong strong and—and don’t get me wrong the men that I live with are like my brothers anyway so it’s different but—ah,” Hoseok shook his head as he guided Yoongi to sit down in the living room, “What am I saying. I’m sorry.”
“You’re fine.” Yoongi reassured. It sounded... strange , the gentle tone he was using with Hoseok. But it felt right. His heart was tugging at him, wanting to bring Hoseok into his arms. “You don’t meet many people out here in the woods, do you?”
“Not at all.” Hoseok shook his head, sighing, “But I love the men I live with, I wouldn’t change a thing. Just...gets a bit lonely sometimes. Oh!” Hoseok jumped to his feet, “That’s right! Let me get the supplies for your wound!”
“It’s just a scratch.” Yoongi tried to reason.
“It is a wound !” Hoseok reiterated as he returned with a small basket of supplies. Truely, it was only a cut, a scrape at best. But something in Yoongi didn’t have the heart to argue with the pretty man.
And watching Hoseok look after him, careful hands and a delicate touch cleaning his arm, bandaging him up...
Yoongi was coming to understand how beautiful Hoseok really was, he was coming to understand what being the fairest of them all really meant. And it was a heart shaped smile, dimpled cheeks, a freckled lip and kind, brown eyes.
“Am I allowed to know your name?” Hoseok asked gently as he applied the bandage.
Yoongi knew that he shouldn’t tell Hoseok, knew that it was better for him not to know Yoongi’s true name.
But Hoseok would be dead soon, anyway, Yoongi reasoned.
His heart tugged painfully.
“Min Yoongi.”
Hoseok smiled, “Min Yoongi.” He hummed, “That’s a pretty name.”
“You’re the first to say that.” Yoongi huffed, a little amused. “Usually evil is the adjective tied to a name like mine.”
Hoseok looked up towards Yoongi with confused brows, placing the medical supplies back into his basket, “Evil? I’m sorry Yoongi but I feel that these people have the wrong impression of you, I don’t see any evil here. I just see a really handsome man who's lost in the forest, a little clumsy maybe.” Hoseok teased as he eyed Yoongi's arm.
Yoongi found himself smiling, “Hey, it was the tree's fault, not mine.”
“That’s what they all say.” Hoseok hummed as he moved to stand, “Will you stay for some tea, Yoongi-ssi?”
Yoongi really should say no.
Yoongi should really, really say no—
“Of course.” Yoongi nodded, moving to follow Hoseok into the kitchen, the basket of apples hanging still from his arm as he admired the way the summer sun danced in Hoseok’s pretty brown hair.
“You know,” Hoseok started as he gathered the tea supplies, “I have a feeling that you’re my hyung.”
“I am.” Yoongi nodded, leaning against the kitchen counter, watching Hoseok a little too fondly.
Hoseok giggled, “So, I’m not going to question how you know that but rather,” He looked back over his shoulder towards Yoongi, “Can I call you hyung, then?”
He’ll be dead, soon.
Yoongi’s heart broke a little at the thought.
“Sure.” He spoke, a little quiet as Hoseok poured the warm water into two mismatching cups.
“Here you go, hyung .” Hoseok spoke, all too excited as he handed Yoongi his tea cup, it gimmered orange in the light, different from his usual black tea.
It was sweeter, too.
“Thank you.” Was all Yoongi could think to say as he watched Hoseok twirl around the kitchen to pick up his own teacup. Yoongi wanted to dance with him.
“Mm.” Hoseok hummed as he took a sip, reeling back quickly and blowing on his cup “It’s too hot.”
“Sensitive?” Yoongi asked, amused, fond.
“Yeah, I guess.” Hoseok pouted down towards his teacup, “The boys I live with, they all call me princess because of things like this.”
“You are a princess.” Yoongi had said, he didn’t know why, but he didn’t regret saying those words. It felt right.
Especially watching the way Hoseok's cheeks tinted pink in a blush.
“How would you know? We just met, hyung.”
“I can tell a princess when I see one.” Yoongi started, he wanted to see Hoseok blush more, he wanted to see Hoseok’s shy, pretty smile bloom more. “And you are the prettiest princess I have ever seen, Hoseok.”
Hoseok looked up at that, surprised, shy, lovely, “Prettiest…?”
“Prettiest.” Yoongi echoed, agreed, as he moved to step closer to Hoseok. Yoongi watched the way the sun's light would illuminate the golden stars in Hoseok’s dark brown eyes as if in a trance. The clock in his heart that had begun to tick again was now blooming into something fierce, something grand, something...something lovely.
“You think I’m pretty?” Hoseok repeated, in a trance of his own as Yoongi moved forward, an arm leaning against the kitchen counter beside Hoseok and the other coming up to gently, delicately hold Hoseok’s cheek in his palm.
Hoseok’s hands came up to hesitantly lay against Yoongi’s chest, and Yoongi felt a strong current wash over him at the gentle touch. The newly bloomed flowers in his chest gazing lovingly towards their sun as Hoseok leaned into Yoongi’s palm.
“So...so pretty.” Yoongi whispered, “The fairest of them all, princess.”
“I’ve only just met you and yet…” Hoseok whispered, a little emotional, a breath, “And yet I feel like I have known you since the beginning of time. Since beyond even that.”
“Can I kiss you, princess?” Yoongi exhaled, a little forgone and desperate. He knew what this meant, he knew that Hoseok was the answer, the cure, his happily ever after and beyond.
But he wasn’t scared.
Hoseok was Yoongi’s destiny, and all it took as a few short moments for him to realize what he should have known long, long ago.
“Kiss me, Yoongi hyung.” Hoseok’s eyes fluttered close, waiting for Yoongi’s lips.
Yoongi held Hoseok in his heart and he knew that Hoseok held him on his own, there was no uncertainty, there was no debating.
Yoongi leaned forward, Hoseok’s sweet strawberry scent blooming around him as his lips brushed against Hoseok’s own—
The sound of apples dropping to the floor broke them out of their trance.
“Ah—” Hoseok started, looking down towards where Yoongi’s basket had spilled over, “Your apples!” He bent down to help pick them up.
“ No !” Yoongi started, eyes wide as he grabbed Hoseok’s wrists, stopping him from touching any of the poisonous fruit, “No I…” Hoseok was looking towards him confused, “I can do it.” He settled for, “A princess shouldn’t busy himself with tasks such as these.”
Hoseok smiled at that, “Well aren’t you the gentleman.” He commented as Yoongi quickly stuffed the fallen apples back into his basket. “By the way, why are you carrying a basket of apples around?”
“Was…” Yoongi searched his mind for an excuse, “Was apple picking.” he settled on as he straightened to stand up again, securing the basket on his arm once more.
“Apple picking?” Hoseok echoed, amused, “The apple orchard is on the other side of the forest, you really were lost, weren’t you?”
“Mm.” Yoongi hummed, leaning back into Hoseok’s space, a hand finding Hoseok’s slim waist, “Lost until I found the prettiest princess.”
“And now you know exactly where you’re going?” Hoseok smiled, fond. “I would hope that it’s in my direction, Yoongi hyung.”
Yoongi leaned his forehead against Hoseok’s own, “Princess, even if my will was strong enough to swim against the current of my heart, the universe has destined us, I was meant to meet you.” He repeated softly, “I was always meant to meet you, to be with you.”
“And I think I was always destined to be your princess, Yoongi hyung.” Hoseok smiled shyly, lovingly.
“Hobi hyung! We’re home!” Jimin’s voice sang suddenly along with the opening of the front door to the cottage.
Hoseok inhaled sharply, eyes growing wide as he pushed and shoved Yoongi out of the kitchen and towards the back of the cottage, “Yoongi hyung! You have to go!”
“What? Why?” He asked, a little amused, a larger part of him wishing not to leave Hoseok’s side again, ever.
“My friends, the coal miners, the ones that I live with! They’re home! I told them I wouldn’t talk to any strangers let alone invite any inside !” Hoseok rambled as he opened the back door quickly leading Yoongi out and stopping to cup the man's cheeks, “But you are not a stranger. I know that in my heart.”
“And you are not a stranger to my heart either, princess.” Yoongi kissed Hoseok’s forehead, “I have known you like I know my own soul, as if you are part of my soul.”
Hoseok smiled gently, hopefully, “Will you come back tomorrow? Please? Or even tonight? I would not be able to bear staying away from you for so long, not after the universe has finally brought us together.”
“I will come by again tonight.” Yoongi promised, “I will properly greet the three coal miners that you adore and take you into my arms once more, I will ask to court you, properly . Wait for me, princess.”
“ Hobi hyung? ” Taehyung's voice came from inside the cottage.
“I have to go.” Hoseok spoke in a hushed whisper, “Promise me, Min Yoongi?”
“I promise.” Yoongi exhaled, his heart speaking truthfully through his gaze as he watched Hoseok disappear back into the cottage. Smiling as he heard the coal miners excited greetings towards Hoseok.
Yoongi’s heart fluttered at the thought of Hoseok.
A princess he had called him, and he had meant it with every fiber of his being.
Hoseok was a princess, and Yoongi had every intent set on adoring his princess fully, he had every intent set on cherishing and properly spoiling the beautiful boy whom his heart tugged for so dearingly.
“Well someone is happy.” Seokjin commented when Yoongi stepped back into the castle's dark walls.
“Shut up.” Yoongi mumbled, but his voice held no bite, the warmth from Hoseok's touch lingering on his skin, in his voice.
Seokjin mentioned something from where he sat, drinking his tea, but Yoongi paid no mind. His thoughts back in the cottage still, back with a princess in his arms and the sweetest brown eyes on him alone.
Yoongi placed the basket of apples onto the kitchen counter, wanting to freshen up before he ventured back to the cottage later that evening—
“Are you listening to me?” Seokjin reiterated, knowing, albeit a little irritated.
“What?”
“I said,” Seokjin’s gaze darted to the basket in front of Yoongi, “Count your apples, your highness.”
Yoongi’s heart dropped through the floors of his highly built castle.
No .
Yoongi spilled the apples out onto the counter, frantically counting each one.
No.
He counted them again.
No.
And again.
No.
And again—
“ The mirror. ” Yoongi’s heart was beating in his throat as he rushed to the darkened, eerie room where the dusty mirror stood.
“Mirror Mirror on the wall.” Yoongi tried to catch his breath, “Show me the fairest of them all.”
The mirrors image transformed to show the cottage, the once warm and inviting home now tense with a scene as Yoongi watched the three coal miners rush towards the kitchen where—
“No…” Yoongi felt the flowers from earlier withering away at the sight of Hoseok collapsing to the ground, one of Yoongi’s forgotten apples tumbling from his delicate hand, a small bite taken from the red, poisoned skin.
“No...No Hoseok— Hoseok —” Yoongi was grasping onto the mirror as if he could reach through it’s glass and reach for Hoseok, as if he could save him.
“ Seokjin !” Yoongi yelled, demanding, “Seokjin tell me— please ...tell me there is a way…” Yoongi was yelling towards the darkness of the room, towards the essence.
“You must break the curse.” Seokjin spoke within the depths.
“I don’t care about my curse !” Yoongi snapped, “ Him ! Seokjin, Him !” Yoongi cried, “Save him...save him you’re an all knowing being, so do something dammit. Save him !”
“You must break the curse, Min Yoongi.” Seokjin repeated, gentler, “Go to him.”
Finding Seokjin incredibly unhelpful Yoongi decided to do just that, this time mounting the fastest horse the castle had to offer and racing out into the night, into the village, into the woods.
Yoongi felt tears prickle the insides of his eyes.
It was not even the morning that he had wished for Hoseok’s demise, that he had yearned for the curse to extend beyond eternity.
And yet all it took was Hoseok’s simple gaze, his smile, his voice, to bring Yoongi crashing back down to earth. Back down to what mattered.
Back to Hoseok.
The cure.
Yoongi brought the horse to a halt in front of the cottage, the black stallion neighing and rearing in surprise as Yoongi jumped down, hurrying to the front door where one of the coal mine workers opened it with a start.
Yoongi recognized him as Jimin.
“Who are you?!” Jimin questioned, he was flustered, scared, his eyes red with more tears threatening to fall and he wasn’t taking kindly to Yoongi’s presence on top of it all.
“Please.” Yoongi begged, “I’m his friend, Hoseok’s friend please let me see him...I need to see him, please Jimin—”
“How do you know my Hobi hyung?!” Jimin's eyes narrowed towards Yoongi accusingly.
“I swear. I promise. I…” Yoongi felt the tears weight heavy in his gaze again, felt the lump growing in his throat as big as the garden Hoseok had planted earlier in his heart, “I just need to see that he’s okay. That he will be okay... please …”
Jimin looked at him for a moment longer before his resolve broke and a sob escaped past his own lips, moving to allow Yoongi room to enter, “Taetae doesn't think he’ll make it to morning…”
Yoongi rushed in quickly, following the candlelights in the cottage to the room where Hoseok laid in a small white bed, Jungkook crying by the foot of the bed and Taehyung beside Hoseok’s head, fretting with the blankets.
“Hoseok…” Yoongi exhaled.
Both Jungkook and Taehyung turned towards the new voice sharply, concern drowning their faces, “Are you the doctor?” Taehyung asked in a rush, moving to step away from Hoseok and allow Yoongi room to see him.
“He’s Hobi hyungs friend...I guess.” Jimin spoke the moment he entered the room.
“How is he?” Yoongi asked, dropping to his knees beside Hoseok’s bed, gasping the hand laying limply atop the covers.
Cold .
“He keeps drifting in and out of consciousness.” Taehyung spoke, his own voice trembling and heavy, “I don’t know what to do...there are no doctors out here in the woods I—” Taehyung’s own failing voice cut him off.
Jungkook continued to cry quietly by the foot of Hoseok’s bed, Jimin moving to hold Jungkook close.
“Hoseok, princess.” Yoongi spoke gently, so gently that the tears fell down his cheeks like snow on a winter's day. “I kept my promise, see? I came back, princess. I came back, please wake up, please don’t fall asleep.”
A moment passed of Yoongi’s gentle, sweet nothings before he felt Hoseok’s hand stir in his own, something light, hardly there, gentle enough that Yoongi was convinced he was imagining it but then Hoseok was squeezing his hand lightly, then his eyes fluttered open slowly, delicately, like the spring rain.
“Hyung…?” Hoseok croaked through a hoarse voice, “Hyung you’re here…?”
Yoongi leaned closer, his free hand coming to cup Hoseok’s cheek gently, “I’m here princess. I’m here. I’m here .”
He could see Jimin, Taehyung and Jungkook all leaning closer out of the corner of his gaze. Hoseok’s eyes were on Yoongi, “Hyung…” He started again, Yoongi’s heart hurt with how weak he sounded, “Hyung don’t eat the apples…”
“I won’t.” Yoongi could hardly make out the words through the sob etching away at his throat, “I won’t. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry princess, stay with me, please stay with me. Promise me you will stay .”
“Yoongi…” Hoseok’s eyes were fluttering closed again, heavier with every flutter, the light in his eyes dimming and Yoongi wished there was a way to rip his heart out and give it to Hoseok. To switch places with him.
“This is cruel.” Yoongi cried, “This is too cruel. No, no Hoseok do not leave, I beg of you do not go so quickly...it should be me...it should be me instead of you princess…” Yoongi whispered, tears falling heavier, a storm on his cheeks as he felt a hand rest on his shoulder, an attempt to comfort him but Yoongi didn’t need comforting, he didn’t want comforting he needed—
“Hoseok.” Yoongi cried, his thumb rubbing gently under Hoseok’s eye, “Do not go...I beg. Oh, I beg please do not leave me princess.”
“Earlier,” Hoseok exhaled, “I told you to kiss me, hyung.” A voice hidden under the cries that filled the room.
But Yoongi heard.
“I’m still waiting...Yoongi.” Hoseok’s eyes finally closed, the weight holding a finality that Yoongi refused to acknowledge.
“He wants you to kiss him!” Jungkook shouted then, drowning in his own tears that he rushed to wipe away.
Yoongi felt unworthy.
He had brought this unfair, unjust, cruel fate onto Hoseok. Onto his princess.
But if this is what Hoseok wanted, then Yoongi would do anything to make it happen.
Yoongi leaned forward, connecting their foreheads like they had earlier that day, his tears creating a stream onto Hoseok’s perfect cheeks, the same ones that had blushed shyly earlier when the sun had been watching over them.
Yoongi begged the stars in the sky, the flowers wilting in his heart, the fading warmth on Hoseok’s skin that he could turn back time, that he could break the curse keeping their hearts apart, as he met Hoseok’s lips in a kiss.
Yoongi kissed Hoseok with his heart, with his soul.
It was a kiss that held the mornings of an after, a kiss that promised a love like no other, a kiss that warmed the winters ice into the blooms of spring it was—
It was a kiss strong enough to break an evil king's curse.
A kiss...Yoongi realized as he leaned back, opening his eyes and meeting Hoseok’s own dark brown orbs fluttering open, warm, safe, alive —
That bloomed, in true love.
“So that’s how it all ends then, huh?” Namjoon smiled towards the mirror from where he stood with an arm wrapped around Seokjin’s shoulders.
“Depends on your definition of ending, I see it more as a beginning.” Seokjin spoke gently.
Namjoon hummed, “I suppose you’ve known all of this since the start of it all. You were the one to curse the evil king after all.”
“I am an all knowing essence for a reason, baby.” Seokjin smiled, leaning into the lumberjack's side. He sighed fondly as they watched the scene in the mirror unfold before them, as they watched Yoongi and Hoseok embrace, the three coal miners tackling Hoseok thereafter. The way Hoseok drifted back into Yoongi’s open arms easily, the way Yoongi held him readily, lovingly.
“There will be a new rumor in the village soon.” Seokjin hummed.
“And what will this rumor be of, my love?” Namjoon asked, kissing Seokjin's forehead, touched by the warming scene through the mirror.
Seokjin smiled.
“The villagers will tell the tale of how the cure to the evil king’s curse,
became his happily ever after.”