Chapter Text
As it turns out, it’s pretty difficult to protect someone who has made it a personal mission to become a walking beacon for danger.
Hoseok found that out within five minutes of seeing Kim Taehyung.
And that was before even meeting the guy.
“What are you doing, dude?”
Hoseok stands pressed up against a brick wall, muttering to himself and cursing under his breath, all while making sure he’s hidden from sight.
He won’t be any good to Taehyung━nor himself━if he blows his cover too soon, and gets them both sliced-and-diced in the middle of this little rescue mission. He’s lucky enough that they haven’t smelled him yet.
The building that Hoseok stands pressed up against is some sort of hole-in-the-wall pizza restaurant, which he can tell because of how freaking good it smells. There hasn’t been time for a lunch break yet in the midst of all of this, and Hoseok’s empty stomach is really feeling it now.
He’ll worry about that later, though. First order of business: Taehyung.
Aside from an overflowing dumpster, the alleyway is completely vacant. There’s moderate traffic clogging the streets, and plenty of fully mortal human beings strolling along the sidewalks, going about their Wednesday afternoon just as they would if it were any other normal day.
On this particular Wednesday, however, there are monsters.
And, those monsters are following Kim Taehyung.
Hoseok is never really sure what mortals see, instead of what’s really there; the Mist has always been fascinating to him in that way.
Where he sees three blood-sucking, winged, weird-legged ladies, a regular person might simply see a group of teenage girls.
At the very least, that would explain the way they walk so close together, heads ducked toward one another as if they’re sharing secrets; but then again, that wouldn’t explain the hair made of fire, nor the talons, and definitely would not explain the fangs.
Hoseok squirms at the sight of the empousai. The gleam in their eyes is hungry, a fact that’s obvious even from all the way across the street.
They walk with similar hobbling gaits; each empousa stands equipped with one leg of solid bronze, which can’t be good for ease of motion. The other leg resembles that of a donkey, which… probably doesn’t help matters, either.
Hoseok doesn’t know how a mortal’s brain could come up with a reasonable explanation for such a sight. He wonders how he himself would see them, if he were mortal.
He wonders how Kim Taehyung sees them.
Correction: he wonders if Taehyung sees them, because right now, it doesn’t appear to Hoseok like he’s aware of the kind of danger he’s in.
Kim Taehyung, as he appears at first glance, is like the human equivalent of a giant orange traffic cone, or a fluorescent yellow wet floor sign, or a neon poster with big bright letters that read DO NOT TOUCH— except, the poster is propped up against a bowl of candy… in a room full of toddlers. At snacktime.
Basically, Taehyung has made himself into a walking target.
Hoseok can’t tell whether it’s on purpose or not, but regardless, it’s working.
His hair is blue.
That’s the first thing that Hoseok had noticed upon seeing him for the first time. Although, in the grand scheme of things, the blue hair probably isn’t even the most shocking part about Taehyung’s ensemble.
Despite the nice sunny weather, Taehyung wears a dark purple turtleneck sweater, tucked into plain white pants. Over the sweater drapes an oversized sleeveless vest, its houndstooth pattern a mixture of beige and celery-green. The trim of the vest is black with gold buttons, to match the black and gold belt he’s wearing.
All in all, it’s a very... overwhelming outfit.
Especially to someone like Hoseok, who is clad simply in some old ripped jeans, ratty sneakers, and his favorite Camp Half-Blood tee shirt. His own outfit is uncomplicated, and doesn’t draw the eye━just the way he likes it.
In any case, Taehyung’s extreme choice of color palette has attracted the attention of the empousai, who now linger just a few feet away from where he stands underneath a vandalized bus stop shelter, essentially cornering himself in.
Not for the first time since they left earlier today, Hoseok wishes that Namjoon and Yoongi were still here with him.
Having any child of Athena on a quest is always a good idea, but having Namjoon in particular was just added luck, because he’s a force to be reckoned with on all accounts. Yoongi, too, is an exemplary child of Hermes━keen, sharp in all the right ways, and far more intelligent than he tends to let anyone in on.
With the two of them spearheading this quest, it had been easy for Hoseok to relegate himself to the sidelines; he provided aid in combat when necessary, of course, and helped with first aid, and kept their spirits light as they trekked across the state. But, with them around, Hoseok didn’t need to be the strongest one, or the smartest one, or the fastest.
With them around, he knew his role.
But, after a particularly nasty run-in with a manticore that had rendered Yoongi unable to continue…
Well, now Hoseok is completing the quest on his own.
Which means that now, Hoseok has to face the pathetic truth of the matter, which is simply:
He’s just not that… great.
He’s not as quick-witted as Yoongi, nor is he anywhere near as skilled as Namjoon when it comes to close-range combat; being a child of Apollo, Hoseok is fairly good with a bow and arrow━but that only goes so far.
The combined skill of his two friends really comes in handy whenever the going gets tough. For instance, like right now. Hoseok could really use their insight now, when has no idea what his next step should be.
He had taken up his bow a while ago, as soon as he’d seen the empousai. The quiver rests easily on his back, full of arrows that are ready to be knocked. There’s a magical dagger strapped to his belt too, but he only ever uses that weapon in dire situations. Hoseok prefers the bow, prefers to keep his enemies at a distance.
Usually, it works out.
Right now, it won’t.
His arrowheads are made of celestial bronze, so he knows that there’s no chance of harming the mortals nearby━but with the street being as populated as it currently is, killing the empousai is still too big of a risk. On the off-chance that he misses, or that he can’t take all three of them out in one fell swoop…
Hoseok shudders. He’d rather not deal with that kind of chaos right now.
He keeps a close eye on their movement, but the empousai don’t seem like they’re in too much of a rush to devour Taehyung just yet. They linger, still eyeing him hungrily, but otherwise they don’t advance.
It’s confusing.
Actually, the entire situation is confusing, because if there’s anyone that nearby monsters should be focused on hunting down and having for lunch, it’s Hoseok. He’s the one with the delectable demigod “scent” after all.
Why are they after a regular (albeit blue-haired) human?
A sudden crash from behind Hoseok startles a yelp from him, and in the same motion that he whirls around to face the alleyway, he knocks an arrow, ready to let it fly on whichever enemy has snuck up on him.
Thankfully, it’s not a monster.
Instead, a heavyweight older man has shouldered open a back door, and he slings two overflowing black trash bags in the direction of the dumpster situated just across from the door. The bags smack the inside of the metal bin with an unreasonably loud sound, and the man retreats into the restaurant without a second glance.
Hoseok releases a breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, willing his heart to stop racing due to the false alarm.
When he turns back around to face the street again, Taehyung is gone.
“Shit,” he curses.
He panics for a split second when he notices that the empousai aren’t where they were standing before either—but a quick glance around the corner of the alleyway tells Hoseok that they’ve merely crossed the street to his side, their hungry gazes turned angry, no doubt upset that their meal escaped them somehow.
But, how?
Hoseok’s answer comes in the form of his own feet being swept out from underneath him.
His back hits the pavement hard, expelling the air from his lungs with a sharp gasp. As Hoseok wheezes, groaning in pain, his eyes attempt to focus on his attacker, who looms above him.
A blur of blue crowds into his face.
“Who are you, and why are you stalking me?”
There are a lot of things that Hoseok could say about Kim Taehyung now that he’s seeing him up close.
Like, for instance, the way the hard set to his mouth is incredibly intimidating when paired with the furrow of strong, dark eyebrows; or, how he’s not as lanky as Hoseok originally thought, but rather broad and actually pretty muscular, too.
Of course, there’s only one thing that Hoseok thinks once his vision clears.
Up close, Kim Taehyung is very, very pretty.
“You think I haven’t noticed?” Taehyung demands, fists clenched tight in the neckline of Hoseok’s shirt. “Your hair is orange, dude.”
Hoseok makes a very un-manly noise.
“My hair?” he squawks, heart thudding. “Your hair is blue!”
“Why are you following me!”
Hoseok opens his mouth to protest, but before he can explain any further, a shriek erupts from somewhere to Hoseok’s left━Taehyung had laid him out across the width of the alleyway, just beside the opening, successfully shielding them from anything except the immediate gaze of passersby.
Well, that and the heightened senses of three hungry empousai.
“Um,” Hoseok gulps, eyes whipping back to Taehyung in sudden urgency. “Hold that thought. We gotta go.”
“What?” Taehyung scoffs, still holding Hoseok’s collar. “No, tell me now━”
“You don’t understand,” Hoseok pleads. “We have to get out of here before they━”
“I knew I smelled demigod!”
At that moment, the three empousa from before flap into the alleyway. They fly low to the ground, and their legs make awkward clunking-clopping sounds when they land on the pavement just steps away from where Taehyung grips Hoseok by the shirt.
“Last time you ‘smelled demigod’, we ended up at a food truck selling chicken curry empanadas,” hisses one of the empousai.
“Yeah,” echoes the second, equally as bitter.
The third empousa, evidently the one who smelled Hoseok, sneers at her companions and folds her arms across her chest defensively.
All three of them wear identical cheerleading uniforms, the red fabric crisp and pristine. When they turn to look at Taehyung and Hoseok, their eyes glow the same color as their outfits.
Taehyung releases Hoseok’s shirt with a startled yelp and trips backwards, stumbling further into the length of the alleyway.
“What the━”
“Don’t worry,” grins the first empousa , momentarily diverting her attention from Hoseok to Taehyung instead. “We’re not picky. We’ll eat you too. But first…”
Hoseok suddenly remembers that he’s lying prone on the ground when all three of them advance toward him at the same time.
He scrambles to his feet, snatching up his bow with haste. Reaching over his shoulder for an arrow, Hoseok narrowly avoids bumping into Taehyung, who’s standing stock-still behind him with eyes wide in shock.
“Taehyung,” Hoseok sounds a lot more confident than he currently feels. “Back up. Get behind that dumpster━run if you get the chance, I’ll find you again.”
"What do you mean, you'll find me again━"
"Just do it!"
With minor grumbling, Taehyung turns and runs toward the back of the alleyway.
Hoseok doesn't have time to watch and make sure that Taehyung is actually doing what he's told; the empousai continue to press in on him, baring their hideous fangs.
"Nowhere to run now," they taunt him. "Dead end."
They're too close for Hoseok to utilize his bow and arrows, but he hesitates to reach for the dagger at his hip. He could throw it; the dagger is enchanted, so it magically appears back in its sheath no matter where Hoseok leaves it behind. Still, he isn’t sure if he should chance it.
He can almost hear Chiron in the back of his head, lecturing everyone about the dangers of second-guessing.
But, Hoseok doesn't have to second guess.
He knows he's no good with a dagger, or any other sort of close-range combat. Not like Namjoon is, or Yoongi, or any of his friends back at camp.
"What are you doing!" Taehyung shouts from behind him. His voice is close, which either means that Hoseok has inched his way closer to the dumpster, or Taehyung just hadn't gone. "Do something!"
Hoseok growls, jerking backwards as one of the empousa swipes at him with her talons.
"I'm trying," he grits. "It's not exactly easy to━"
Just then, the door across from the dumpster is thrown open again.
The same large man from before leans out of the doorway, intending to toss yet another bulging black trash bag into the dumpster━but, as soon as he sees all of them he stills, frowning deeply.
"Hey, what are you kids doing back here?" he grumbles, his voice like sandpaper. "Go play somewhere else, you can't be hanging around back here━"
"Excuse us!"
In one swift motion, Taehyung dashes out from behind the dumpster, lunges for Hoseok, and drags him past the large man through the open door by the sleeve of his tee shirt, all before anyone else can react.
"Hey!" shriek the empousai.
"What do you think you're doing!" bellows the pizza man.
Taehyung doesn't let go of Hoseok's shirt━a newly frequent habit that Hoseok isn't very fond of━as they sprint through the kitchen of the pizza restaurant, past incredibly confused cooks and other uniformed staff.
Hoseok knows that it's impossible, but he imagines that he can hear the screeching empousai even from inside the building. He pictures them flying from the alleyway to inevitably intercept Taehyung and Hoseok on their way out of the front door.
Hoseok skids to a stop when they reach the front of the small restaurant, which is thankfully free of any customers.
Taehyung whirls around, no doubt to protest, but Hoseok cuts him off before he can.
"We can't go out the front," he insists.
Hoseok glances nervously at the windows that make up the front wall of the restaurant. There's no sign of the empousai yet, but Hoseok knows that they're acting on borrowed minutes. Seconds, even.
Surprisingly, Taehyung doesn't argue with him.
"Give me that," he says instead, pointing at Hoseok's dagger.
Startled, Hoseok doesn't move for several seconds. He's not exactly sure what Taehyung intends to do with the dagger, but the fact that he, a human, asked for it in the first place, surprises Hoseok.
"Hurry up," Taehyung urges, shooting a pointed look toward the front door.
Hoseok unsheathes the dagger and hands it to Taehyung against his better judgement.
"Now, we have to act fast," Taehyung says, further confusing Hoseok.
"What━" he stammers. "Wait a minute. Since when are you the one calling the shots? Do you even know what those things are?"
"No," Taehyung admits, glaring at him. "But I know they're trying to kill us. And I know I'm not going to let them. Now, any more stupid questions, or are you actually going to listen to me so that we can get out of this place alive?"
"Hey, you two!"
The large man from the back of the store catches up with them at the same moment that the three empousai round the corner of the alleyway, flying toward the front door.
"Stay where you are!” roars the large man. “I'm callin' the cops."
Hoseok gulps, and turns back to Taehyung.
"Yeah, okay," he nods. "I'll listen."
Taehyung relays his idea rapid-fire as they make for the front doors, gripping Hoseok's dagger like he's had practice with it. Hoseok doesn't have time to question it. Instead, he grips his own weapon, an arrow already knocked in the bow, as per Taehyung's instruction.
"We have to time it just right," Taehyung insists, without averting his gaze from the empousai. The pizza man is still shouting at them from behind the counter, but Taehyung ignores him as if he’s not even there. "I throw, you shoot. Ready?"
Hoseok takes a deep breath, and then nods.
"Ready."
Admittedly, it's pretty badass:
In one fluid motion, Taehyung wrenches open the door, conveniently marked pull. Using the momentum from the swing, he then flings the dagger with all his might at one of the empousa just as she swoops into the doorframe. She combusts into a cloud of shimmering gold dust with nothing more than a shriek.
But, that's not the end of it.
Holding up his end of the deal, Hoseok immediately lets his arrow fly.
Just as Taehyung predicted, the second empousa rushes forward with a shrill cry, directly into the open doorway. She meets the arrowhead halfway over the threshold, exploding in a similar fashion to the first demonic cheerleader.
Hoseok had notched a second arrow directly after firing the first, in case the third empousa followed the example of her former companions. Taehyung still clings to the door handle, holding it open for Hoseok's shot.
The third empousa reads the room.
She flaps her awful wings, and with a clunk-clunk of her bronze and donkey legs, she takes off.
Hoseok releases a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Taehyung lets go of the door and collapses onto the tiled floor of the pizza restaurant, clutching his chest.
"I don't know what kind of game you delinquents think you're playing, but you are not doin' it in my restaurant!"
The large man from before hasn't stopped ranting and raving since they entered his shop. When Hoseok finally turns to face the counter again, he realizes that they've gathered a small audience: the cooks and waitstaff have crowded the doorway leading to the kitchen, their expressions a varying range of amused, shocked, and annoyed.
The owner, Hoseok assumes, is red in the face. He still clutches an old-fashioned phone in his meaty hand, no doubt still on the line with the police.
"Um," Hoseok shrugs apologetically, already backpedaling. "Sorry?"
Taehyung has the same idea. He scrambles up from the floor and, once Hoseok is close enough, grabs him by the sleeve yet again.
"We'll leave a good review on Yelp!" Taehyung shouts.
Then, they run.
━
They run for a while, unsure if they're even being followed, but adding a few extra blocks between them and the pizza restaurant just for good measure.
Eventually, Hoseok's growling stomach becomes too insistent to ignore, and he convinces Taehyung to take him to a nearby cafe so that they can talk.
"Wait, go back," says Taehyung. "Who saw me in their dream?"
Hoseok scarfs down another bite of his panini, shaking his head.
"Jimin, he’s a son of Hypnos," he answers after swallowing. "But that doesn't matter too much right now. The point is, the gods went out of their way to tell us specifically who the new Oracle is."
Taehyung stares blankly.
"...And, it's you."
Taehyung continues staring.
Hoseok shifts uncomfortably in the booth, picking apart the last bits of his sandwich with fidgeting fingers. Luckily, the small cafe is about as busy as the pizza restaurant had been, which is to say, it's not busy at all; it soothes Hoseok's nerves slightly to not have to remain hyper-aware of their surroundings, but only slightly.
Taehyung takes a long sip of his hot chocolate━which he ordered in lieu of coffee, despite the sunny weather━without looking away.
"No offense, but you know you sound crazy, right?"
Hoseok's shoulders deflate, a sigh racing from his lips.
Realistically, he does know━but he had hoped that Taehyung would at least believe him a little bit, especially after he had just helped Hoseok poof a few monsters back to Tartarus.
"I know," he admits, setting down his sandwich. "But you have to believe me. I wouldn't have risked my life on this quest if it weren't true."
At that, Taehyung's expression finally gives way to something a bit more understanding.
"I mean, okay. Say I believe you." He adopts a reasoning tone, swiping blue fringe from his eyes. He shrugs. "That doesn't mean you can just force me to come to your summer camp━which I'm still not entirely sure is real, mind you━just because you think I've got some kind of… magic or something.”
“Okay, first of all, it's not magic," Hoseok scoffs. He pauses, then amends. "Well… unless you were a child of Hecate, but still."
Taehyung snorts incredulously.
"Secondly," Hoseok continues, ignoring him. "Camp is real, I literally live there. And anyway, no one is forcing you━”
“You’re not forcing me?” Taehyung guffaws. “What do you call this, then?”
Hoseok squints.
“…Sitting in a cafe?” He frowns. “After I just saved your life, thank you very much.”
“Let’s not misremember who just saved who, back there.”
“Whatever!" Hoseok snaps, immediately lowering his voice again when he receives a dirty look from the barista behind the counter. "It doesn’t matter. The point is: we’re not forcing you. We’re asking you to come.”
“Who is ‘we’, even?” Taehyung demands skeptically.
“Me," implores Hoseok. "Everyone back at camp. Chiron, the gods━all of us. I told you, we can’t do quests if we don’t have prophecies, and we can’t get prophecies unless━”
“Unless you have an Oracle," Taehyung finishes for him, waving an impatient hand. "Right, yeah, I got that. I just…”
He pauses, retreating into his thoughts for a lingering minute. Then, he sighs.
"Look," Taehyung says. "What will happen if I don’t come? Dees the world just… stop? Can’t you just find someone else to read prophecies, or whatever?”
"I… I don’t know," Hoseok says honestly. "I don’t really have the answers you’re looking for. I’m just a normal demigod.”
Taehyung snorts.
Hoseok fixes him with a look, but continues nonetheless.
“You could probably ask all of these things to Chiron, but… you’d have to come with me. You have to decide to come with me.”
"Could I leave?”
Hoseok blinks. "What?”
Taehyung fixes him with an unwavering stare, one that causes Hoseok to squirm for some reason.
For a guy with blue hair, Kim Taehyung is pretty intimidating.
“If I come with you…" he wonders. "Can I leave the camp whenever I want to? Or, like, if I decide that I don’t want to do the Oracle thing anymore?”
“I… I guess so?" says Hoseok, somewhat uncertainly. "If you wanted to, I don't see why not. But again, Chiron would probably be able to━”
“Can I say goodbye?”
Hoseok clamps his mouth shut, frowning again in confusion.
“Huh?”
Taehyung’s mouth forms a hard line, his strong eyebrows creasing his forehead. He still hasn’t stopped staring at Hoseok, but his gaze is slightly more unfocused now, as if he were lost in thought.
“To my family,” he says finally. “Can I say goodbye to them, before I go with you?”
“Wait, so you’re coming?”
Taehyung raises an eyebrow, giving Hoseok a suspicious once-over.
“As long as I can say goodbye to my family and grab some things from home, and as long as you guys won’t trap me there or something…" Taehyung mulls it over. "I don’t see why not?”
Hoseok would beg to differ about that last statement; Taehyung has just spent the last fifteen minutes arguing with him about why not.
But, he decides to keep his mouth shut on that minor detail, lest Taehyung suddenly decide to change his mind again. No use looking a gift horse in the mouth.
“Okay,” nods Hoseok. “Yeah, we can go say goodbye. But we should go now; we can’t stay out in the open like this for too long.”
“Why not?”
Now, it's Hoseok's turn to stare blankly.
“…You just watched 'why not' explode into a cloud of magical dust, why are you asking me that?”
Taehyung makes a face.
“Fine," he says. "Lets go.”
━
According to Taehyung, his family's apartment isn't far from the cafe, so they begin to walk there just as the sun starts to set.
For a while, it's quiet.
Hoseok will admit that he's not exactly well-versed in the art of making friends; the kids back at camp are a unique bunch, and almost all of the demigods he meets anew already come with so much in common━dysfunctional families, dyslexia, an olympian god for a parent━ so, Hoseok has never really had to worry about making friends, there.
Friends just… happen, at Camp Half-Blood.
Friends, as it turns out, do not happen as easily in the mortal world.
He doesn't really know what to say to Taehyung, now that the initial conversation about taking him to camp has already been had. He explained what he needed to, and now...
Well, quite frankly, it's awkward.
Taehyung doesn't appear to be bothered by the silence between them, but it makes Hoseok squirm.
He's so used to Camp Half-Blood's constant hustle and bustle; the endless chatter of hyperactive demigods, the chaos of coordinated camp activities━heck, even their daily cabin inspections come with the undeniable noise of demigod-ness.
City traffic and mortal ambience just doesn't sound the same.
"Turn here," says Taehyung.
They take a left.
Taehyung says nothing else.
Hoseok gnaws at his bottom lip, hands fidgeting with his bow to keep occupied. The awkward silence paired with the ever-present danger of being out in the open, undoubtedly exposed to all sorts of monsters, has made Hoseok feel like he's going to vibrate out of his skin.
He has to say something .
"Where did you learn to fight like that, anyway?"
Taehyung glances sidelong at him, brows drawing together, but otherwise his composure does not change. He lifts a shoulder in a half shrug, pursing his lips.
"My parents," he offers. "They put me in all kinds of classes when I was a kid: martial arts, kickboxing, gymnastics. That sort of thing."
"Oh," Hoseok hums. "Just… for fun?"
Taehyung frowns again.
"Uh, I guess? My dad has always made sure that we're all capable of holding our own, so to speak.” Taehyung explains. “It's not just me, you know? My mom, my brother… we're all trained this way."
"Trained?" Hoseok blinks; he only ever really hears that word from the mouths of demigods. But Taehyung isn't━
"You know what I meant," Taehyung snorts. "We know how to fight. At least, better than our average neighbor. If I’m being honest?"
Hoseok peers at him, and Taehyung meets his eyes with a grin.
"I always thought my parents were, like, spies or something. I never understood why they were so adamant about being able to protect ourselves." He pauses, then amends, "I mean, I guess it's reasonable, but I'm telling you━my dad is serious when it comes to being aware of our surroundings."
Hoseok smiles back, but something about the statement strikes him.
"Has your dad ever…" he trails off, unsure of how to even ask the question. "I mean… has he ever mentioned any of this? Camp, monsters, demigods━any of it?"
Taehyung's grin melts away slowly, until his brows are furrowed once again in Hoseok's direction.
"No," he says. "Never."
"I mean, do you think he━"
"We're here," Taehyung interrupts.
He stops walking so abruptly that Hoseok stumbles into him.
Taehyung sends him an unimpressed look, but decides not to comment. He gestures wordlessly to the building that now stands in front of them.
For the city, it's about as ordinary as they come; the red-brick exterior stretches slenderly up toward the sky, wedged in between many similar realizations of the same building.
Taehyung doesn't give Hoseok much time to admire the architecture. He marches forward, ascending the few steps to the front door of the building, assuming that Hoseok will follow.
He does.
They sink back into silence on the elevator ride up to Taehyung's family apartment, but it's less awkward than before, and more… tense.
Hoseok gets the feeling that Taehyung is suddenly nervous for some reason, although he doesn't know exactly why.
His confusion only deepens once he actually meets Taehyung's family.
"Oh, goodness," gasps an older woman, presumably Taehyung's mother, as soon as she opens the door to reveal them. "Let me get your dad. Oh, gosh."
Taehyung rolls his eyes as he follows her retreating form into the apartment, but he slows when he realizes Hoseok is still standing in the hallway.
"What are you, a vampire?" Taehyung smirks. "Need an invitation?"
Hoseok huffs, and steps inside.
Much like the exterior, the interior of the apartment is fairly normal. This time, Hoseok is surprised, and rightfully so, he thinks.
Judging from Taehyung's eccentric sense of style, he had assumed that the home he lives in would match. It doesn't, though; the apartment is certainly lived-in, but the decor remains within the range of humble, if not a bit quirky. Nothing too over-the-top.
It's admittedly a little disappointing, but worse things have happened.
The most interesting feature of the living room turns out not to be any of the decorations; instead, it's a person. More specifically: a boy, lounging on the sofa. He looks suspiciously like Taehyung, except for the fact that his hair is honey-blond instead of blue.
He looks up at them as Taehyung and Hoseok enter the apartment, dragging his gaze away from the screen of his cellphone at a leisurely pace. His expression remains bored for several seconds, but when he catches sight of Hoseok, his eyes light up with subtle mischief.
"Who's that?" he asks Taehyung. "Your boyfriend?"
"Shut up," Taehyung retorts immediately, face deadpan.
The blond boy giggles delightfully, going back to his phone without a word. His fingers fly, and Hoseok has a growing suspicion that he's currently being texted about.
He doesn't have too much time to feel self-conscious about it; shortly afterward, Taehyung's mom hurries back into the room, another man following behind her.
"See?" insists Taehyung's mom, gesturing at Hoseok. "The shirt━"
Suddenly, Hoseok's bright orange Camp Half-Blood tee shirt feels like the loudest thing in the room.
Taehyung's dad slows to a stop when he finally takes in Hoseok's appearance, and if Hoseok's vision isn’t deceiving him, he could swear that the man's eyes grow red and misty.
"I had a feeling," starts Taehyung's dad, voice tight. "I don't know why, but… today just seemed━I just knew it. Guess that sort of intuition never goes away, huh?"
He looks almost… wistful.
Hoseok shifts uncomfortably, unsure how to read the situation. He doesn't seem to be the only one thrown for a loop━both Taehyung and the boy on the couch stare at their dad with varying looks of bewilderment.
"What's going on?" asks the boy on the couch.
As if only just remembering that he's there, Taehyung's mom startles slightly. She extends an arm to him, wiggling her fingers.
"Beomgyu dear, come," she insists softly. "Let's leave them to talk for a while."
The boy, Beomgyu, blinks. He looks between Hoseok, Taehyung, and their dad with a growing look of suspicion, his mouth agape.
He huffs, pushing himself up off the couch and grumbling as he follows his mom out of the living room.
"How come he gets to do all the cool stuff?" Beomgyu mutters, met with the sound of his mother shushing him. "I'm just saying, he…”
Hoseok doesn't catch the tail-end of Beomgyu's complaints. The sound of a door clicking down the hallway lets them know that they've got some privacy.
For what. exactly? Hoseok has no idea.
He'd been expecting to have some sort of big conversation, sure. But… in all honesty, he was totally expecting that he would be the one doing the talking.
Now? He's not so sure.
"Sit, please," Taehyung's dad invites, gesturing to the spot where Beomgyu had just been lying only moments before. He takes his own spot in a chair situated adjacent to the couch, rubbing his palms on the tops of his jeans.
"Dad?" Taehyung starts hesitantly.
His dad takes a deep breath, nodding his head as if he's figuring out where to start.
The room is uncomfortably quiet for several beats. Hoseok squirms, fingertips plucking at his taut bowstring.
Finally, Taehyung's dad breaks the silence.
He laughs.
"I'm sorry," he says, smiling apologetically at both of them. "I don't mean to keep you in suspense, I just… this day has been a long time coming. I should be more prepared, but I…”
He trails off, lips pursing with emotion as he looks at his son. Hoseok almost feels like he should avert his eyes from the unadulterated fondness in the man's expression.
"Nevermind that," says Taehyung's dad with a finality. He sits up straighter, schooling his expression and letting his misty eyes dry. "We should talk, yeah?"
Taehyung huffs.
"Yeah."
Whatever Hoseok had been expecting, it is not what follows.
It is not Taehyung's dad, bashfully telling them that he knows about everything━about Camp Half-Blood, about the gods and goddesses of Olympus, about demigods.
It is not Taehyung's dad telling them that he is a demigod.
"Wait," Hoseok sputters. "You are? How━I mean, you're━how have you━"
"Survived?" Taehyung's dad grins. "I know, it's normally impossible to lead a normal life as a demigod in the real world. Unless you're Roman of course, but clearly I'm not."
Hoseok nods, awestruck.
Taehyung's dad shrugs, looking up at the ceiling in thought.
"It hasn't been easy, I assure you," he says finally. "My lineage certainly helped; I was lucky, as a child of Hecate, to receive her affinity for the Mist. Being able to manipulate it helped me keep my wife and children safe for a long time. At least long enough until they could learn to defend themselves."
"The training," Taehyung realizes. "This is what it’s all been for, isn’t it?"
His dad nods.
"It was mostly for you, Taehyung," he admits. Taehyung's blinking is the only indication that he's surprised by the revelation. "As our first-born… well, there were precautions we had to take. More than just the training."
"What do you mean?"
"Your mother is mortal," his dad explains. "But with my blood, we were afraid you might… we were afraid of the trickle-down. Children of demigods are a tricky bunch; it's never easy to tell if they’ll be born with certain abilities, or if they'll attract monsters the same way that we do.
"We wanted to make sure that you'd be safe, so your mom and I… we prayed. While she was pregnant, we prayed to any god that would listen, for your protection. And when you were born, our prayers were answered.
"The goddess Soteria came to us on the night of your birth. In all honesty, I didn't know her back then. I'd never heard of her. But I am so glad she heard us."
"I don't know her," interjects Hoseok quietly. "What is she goddess of?"
Taehyung's dad smiles.
"Soteria: the goddess of safety and salvation, deliverance, and preservation from harm," he recites proudly, as if reading from a book. "Some might know her as Persephone, but she appeared to us solely as Soteria. She struck a deal with your mother and me. She promised us that she would give you, our firstborn son, her blessing. That it would shield you from monsters, should you be born with traces of godly blood."
Taehyung is silent. He takes a deep breath.
"If," says Taehyung.
Hoseok glances at him. "If?"
Taehyung nods.
"There's an ‘if’ coming," he assures, nodding without taking his eyes away from his dad.
His dad smiles that wistful smile again, and mirrors the nod.
"If," he admits. "If you would become a vessel for Fate."
The realization crashes over Hoseok before Taehyung can even make sense of the words.
"An oracle," he gasps. "That's why it's him."
Taehyung's dad nods again.
"She warned us that you'd have to leave us, someday, to fulfill your duties as Oracle," he says softly. "Soteria never told us where you would be fulfilling those duties, but we━I had hoped…”
He trails off, glancing back to Hoseok. He gazes at the orange Camp Half-Blood tee shirt with such nostalgia that Hoseok almost tears up.
He can definitely relate; he's felt homesick ever since he, Namjoon, and Yoongi stepped foot outside of the camp's magical borders.
Taehyung hasn't spoken since the revelation, and Hoseok chances a look in his direction.
His eyes are pensive, but not angry. He doesn't seem upset, but he doesn't look confused, either. Rather, there's just a sort of solemn acceptance there━similar to how he had swiftly conceded with Hoseok at the end of their conversation in the cafe, he seems now to be doing the same thing: gathering all of the missing pieces, making sense of them, and just… accepting it.
It's impressive, to Hoseok. Kind of scary, but impressive.
"Okay," Taehyung says slowly. "Honestly, this clears up a lot of things."
His dad laughs. Hoseok wonders if he imagines the relief hidden there.
"You're not angry?" he wonders.
Taehyung shakes his head.
"I get it. After today," he pauses to glance at Hoseok, no doubt recalling their little excursion through the pizza restaurant earlier. "I can understand why you guys did it."
The misty eyes make a return. Taehyung's dad gets up from the chair with a cheek-bursting smile.
"Come here, kid."
They hug in the middle of the living room, and Hoseok watches on somewhat awkwardly, but pleasantly surprised all the same. He'd really thought he would have to do a lot more explaining, but this is a turn of events he won't complain about.
Eventually, Taehyung's mom wanders back into the living room, and she offers to help Taehyung pack a bag for him to take to camp. After he checks to make sure that Hoseok will be alright on his own, he disappears with her down the hallway, leaving Hoseok alone with his dad.
Luckily, it's less weird than Hoseok anticipates it being.
Taehyung's dad jumps into easy conversation straight away, chatting about anything as it comes to mind━the things around their home, the city, his wife and two sons. He tells Hoseok funny stories about how Taehyung and Beomgyu are always competing with each other in their shared kickboxing classes.
"Did you strike up a similar deal for Beomgyu?" Hoseok wonders out of curiosity after they've finished laughing. "With Soteria, I mean."
Taehyung's dad nods in understanding, but his answer is contradictory.
"Not in any explicit terms, no," he says. "Beomgyu was born several years after we had Taehyung, and by then it was clear that Soteria's protection applied to all of us, so long as our promise was kept."
Hoseok nods. After a quiet moment, Taehyung's dad continues.
"I wouldn't say that we… regret our decision, to accept the blessing for Taehyung," he says gently. "It has helped us all tremendously, don't get me wrong. But… by the time our Beomgyu was born, we realized that we were capable enough of keeping him safe without signing his life away to something uncertain, so. We took our chances, I suppose."
He meets eyes with Hoseok again, sending him a wink.
"I'm sure you understand, demigod-to-demigod?" he smiles. "We already come pre-programmed with so many risks. No use in adding any more to the mix, yeah?"
Hoseok doesn't have to think about it at all. He nearly lives by it.
He's a year-rounder at camp, and has been ever since he was fourteen years old. It's just easier that way; less possibility of putting the mortal side of his family in danger. Less chance of living in constant fear for himself.
Less risk.
Some might call it hiding, what he does; safe behind the camp's magical borders, Hoseok can pretend like the world full of monsters is far, far away, instead of only a few short miles from the place he calls home.
When Namjoon was propositioned with this quest, Hoseok had assumed he'd see his friend and whomever he chose as his companions off at the borders. He hadn't predicted that Namjoon, with Yoongi's help, would corner him and try for days to convince him to come along. They'd even gone as far as getting Jeongguk and Jimin in on the pestering, the two of them relentless when teamed up for mischief's sake.
But, out of all of them, it had been Hoseok’s half-brother Seokjin who was finally able to convince him to go in the end.
"Say," Taehyung's dad interrupts Hoseok's wandering thoughts. That wistful glimmer is back in his eyes, shining fondly. "How is camp, anyway?"
Hoseok blinks, startled for a moment. It was as if Taehyung's dad had been reading his mind, although he knows that's probably not likely. His powers lie in the Mist, not in mind-reading.
"Gods, I miss that place almost every day," admits the man. "The smell of the strawberry fields, the cabins. Heck, I even miss Capture the Flag, even though I was about as good as a satyr on skates. Oh! How is Chiron?"
Hoseok's throat feels weirdly tight.
"He's doing great," he responds softly. "He definitely keeps everyone afloat, there."
"He always has, that sappy old centaur," grins Taehyung's dad. "Ah! And, I don't think I ever asked you, did I? You're a child of…?”
"Apollo."
Hoseok's answer is somewhat sheepish, considering he doesn't have much to show for it aside from the bright orange hair and the "sunny smile", so he's told.
"Right, I should have known," chuckles Taehyung's dad, gesturing toward Hoseok's bow. "And… you came alone?"
Hoseok knows why it strikes the older demigod as strange; as a rule, demigods are always supposed to quest in groups━usually of three, sometimes more, rarely less, and almost never alone.
Almost.
Hoseok is positive that he'll be punished for continuing on his own once he gets back to camp, but… the situation had required a bit of rule-breaking, he thinks.
They need an Oracle at camp. At the very least, Chiron and the others will be able to agree with him on that.
(And, if being punished means that he won't be allowed to leave camp again, then… maybe Hoseok isn't entirely complaining.)
"My friend was injured," he explains. "We got attacked by a manticore this morning, and… long story short, he needed to get back to camp. He couldn't go alone in the state he was in, but I could. So, here I am, I guess."
"I'm very sorry to hear that," says Taehyung's dad. He sounds sincere. "I hope your friend makes a speedy recovery.”
"I'm sure he will," Hoseok smiles weakly. "Yoongi is a fighter, for sure. I'm just…”
He pauses, wondering if he should admit to this next part. With Taehyung being their son, Hoseok isn't sure how his dad will react. Still, sharing his anxieties with someone who understands might help ease his fears a bit.
"I'm a little worried about getting Taehyung to camp safely," Hoseok confesses, chewing his lip. "It's just me, and… I'm not all that great at combat, if I'm being honest━"
“That’s a lie.”
Taehyung interrupts their conversation without fanfare, entering the living room from the same hallway he'd left earlier. He has a duffle bag slung over his shoulder, which he tosses down by the front door, and a large blanket balled up in his arms.
Taehyung pointedly doesn't look at Hoseok as he addresses his dad.
"You should have seen him earlier today Dad, at Marcello's?" Taehyung's dad nods in recognition. "We poofed some vampire ladies like it was nothing. It was like a scene from a movie, super awesome."
Taehyung's dad chuckles, standing on cracking knees to go and ruffle his son's hair. Taehyung scrunches up his nose and turns away, and his dad bids them a goodnight in so many words.
Taehyung steps over to where Hoseok is still sitting on the couch. He drops the balled-up blanket into his lap without preamble.
"Mom says we should stay here for the night," he explains. "Said it’s too dangerous to try going to camp in the dark, or whatever."
Taehyung shrugs so nonchalantly while he says it that Hoseok almost feels stupid for being so relieved.
A brief silence lapses between them, Taehyung still lingering nearby him. He peers at Hoseok with muted curiosity, but doesn’t ask any of the questions that Hoseok is certain are flooding his mind.
Instead, Taehyung gestures toward him vaguely.
"You gonna be okay on the couch?" he asks, one dark brow raised beneath his blue fringe. "You don't need, like, special demigod pillows or anything, right?"
Hoseok snorts, and Taehyung smiles along with him.
Before too long, the apartment settles into a comfortable quiet again; Taehyung’s family must have turned in for the night, no sounds stirring from down the hall.
Almost at once, Hoseok feels the action-packed events of the day catch up with him; his body is sore, and now that he can actually relax, he realizes just how exhausted he is.
He nods up at Taehyung, fingers twisting in the soft blanket.
"I'm good here," Hoseok says. "Thanks."
Taehyung nods, still peering down at him with a trace of… something. Hoseok can't place it; it's like suspicion, almost, but then again not.
He decides not to dwell on it.
"Well," Taehyung mumbles, already retreating to the hallway one last time. "Goodnight?"
Amidst the comfort of his own home, Taehyung looks so much less intimidating than Hoseok initially found him to be. The blue of his hair is much less harsh, and even the contrasting colors of his outfit don't seem to clash as badly when surrounded by photos of their family together.
Taehyung is just… a normal guy, really.
A normal guy who also happens to be an Oracle.
What a strange world they live in.
"Goodnight," says Hoseok.