Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

The sound of flipping pages was the only thing disturbing the eerie silence that always filled the oldest part of the Castle’s Library. A silence that was like a presence residing in the high bookshelves where volumes were covered by centuries of dust guarding a knowledge long forgotten and disused now. Jungkook sighed, another book about an ancient dead language that didn’t help him to understand his soulmark, characters in an unknown language that seemed impossible to identify.

Everyone was born with a soulmate, and when someone reached the age of 7, Magic revealed the soulmate mark, which consisted of the name of their soulmate appearing on their chests. Unfortunately for Jungkook, getting to know said name was not as simple as for everyone else.

The young prince of Ilhieden had spent most of his life in a fruitless search of the language that spelled his soulmate’s name right over his heart, he had even travelled to distant kingdoms and consulted every expert on the matter. And yet, the mystery remained.

Although during all these years he hadn’t given up, going through dead languages was the last resort he could hold onto. And now, deep inside … he was starting to lose hope.

“Alright, let’s wrap up for today! Good job everyone; see you all on Monday.” The tennis coach dismissed the team with a clap of his hands, and the tennis players let out sighs of relief, some of them collapsing on the floor while others didn’t waste a minute to gather their things and make their way out of the court.

That was Hoseok’s plan too, if only he hadn’t been intercepted by the coach when he stopped to drink some water.

“Hoseok, we need to talk about your performance. I don’t know where your head is lately, but you need to focus on the game! I know the last tournament is still recent and no one is happy with the results.” Hoseok wanted to scoff at this, but he contained himself out of respect to the man that had trained him for so many years.

“I won second place,” He indicated, trying not to show his discontentment at how his silver medal was being disregarded.

“Yes, but that also means that you LOST the most important game.” The coach sighed and put his hand on Hoseok’s shoulder in a comforting gesture. “Listen son, I don’t want to come out as too pressuring, just please think about where you stand. Take the weekend to relax and come back with a fresh head on Monday, alright?” The man gave him a pat on the shoulder and then let him go. If Hoseok’s mood was bad during practice, it had only gotten worse now.

He needed to take a moment to himself.

Later that evening, Hoseok almost collapsed onto a bench in his favourite part of the park near his flat. He must have been quite the sight with his limbs dispersed in every direction, but he didn’t care how he looked as long as he was comfortable. And comfortable he was. The warmth of the last rays of sun gently caressed his face and he let himself to finally breathe.

Today had not been a good day at tennis practice and the pressure his coach was putting him under didn’t help at all. You see, Hoseok flourished when the staff were motivating and supportive of him, he didn’t need anyone being extra hard on him because he was already the hardest critic on himself. The extra pressure only helped to negatively affect his performance even further. He shook his head in an attempt of getting rid of the stress of the day.

25 years old and the best tennis player the country had seen in years, Hoseok had attracted the interest of the great public and made the sport popular again. Sure, losing the final of the last grand slam tournament had been a huge disappointment, but he was still in the prime of his youth and more opportunities would come. Hell, he was even classified for the Olympics! He WILL do better next time, that was a promise to himself.

Moments later, he opened his eyes and looked around to take in the beautiful scenery, feeling the last remnants of frustration slip away, exhaustion taking its place instead. Having an early night would probably do him good.

If he hadn't decided to make the most of the lovely evening by taking the long route back home through the park, his life would have never changed. But alas, call it Fate or chance, it was the will of the Universe what guided his steps unknowingly towards a secluded part of the park. And that was when he saw it.

He noticed when a mysterious sparkling caught his eyes, that something being the rays of a setting sun upon the waters of a small lake. And what was weird about it, you may ask? Well, the thing was that such lake could be seen through the trunk of a tree situated in the less crowded part of the park, as if the trunk were an arch leading to that lake. So yes, the image didn’t make any sense but it persisted to manifest even after blinking and pinching himself in disbelief.

Now, the logical step might have been to call it a day and blame the vision to exhaustion, but Hoseok was an intuitive person and something inside of him was telling him to inspect the trunk, as if he was being called from the other side. So, without giving it much thought, he crossed the arch and found himself in a clearing surrounded by tall, leafy trees. His feet carried him through overgrown grass and vibrant splotches of colour from wild flowers, the petals bathed under the warm light of the setting sun.

In a daze, Hoseok started to slowly walk towards the lake, taking it all in. It was due to his amazement and the overgrown grass that he didn’t notice the sleeping body on the ground until it was too late, falling over them with a startled gasp.

To be honest, Hoseok couldn’t really recall the next few moments with clarity due to understandable reasons: first, he had been shoved to the side and although the hit hadn’t been too strong, he still felt a bit sore. Second, when he took a look to the other person he was surprised to find a young black haired man whose appearance was so stunning that some part of him wanted to meet God, the Universe or whatever deity was out there to congratulate them for the creation of such an outstanding human being; and third, the shock of being faced with a sword ?

“Oh HOLY SHIT IS THAT... Yes, that is a-a sword, PLEASEDON’TKILLME!” He practically yelled, words running over each other.

So, to put it simple, there was just too much going on. All that he knew was that suddenly there was a hot guy pointing a sword to him and he was so busy panicking that he didn’t even notice that the other man had started to yell in an unknown language the second he tried to reach for his phone with trembling hands. Because no, he wasn’t going to let himself be killed by a crazy guy carrying a sword, no matter how insanely attractive they were, thank you very much. However, he felt himself deflate when a bright “NO RECEPTION” sign lit up on his phone screen. Well, there was his last hope of surviving; it had been a nice 25 years ... Why did he never bother to make his last will? Oh, yes, because he hadn’t expected to be gone so young!

“I SAID DROP THE MAGIC WEAPON! ” Sword Guy shouted before threateningly charging against Hoseok, making him drop the phone and fall again to the ground with a scream. Shortly after, soft but strong fabric was tying up his wrists and he was being led towards the line of trees where a black horse was standing.

“Please don’t kill me, please don’t kill me,” Hoseok kept chanting all the way. “Please don’t kill me,” He said one more time, just in case. There was a moment, once they reached the horse, when they locked eyes and Hoseok was shocked by the beauty of those intense brown eyes, despite the frown and confusion that was clearly framing them.

“I really don’t know what you are saying,” Sword Guy said, tone softer now than when he was yelling earlier. However, the moment was brief and soon Hoseok was put upon the horse by strong arms. While he was distracted contemplating the fact that he had just been carried like a baby, the other man had also ridden on the horse behind him and now they were going through the forest at a quick pace. Wherever he was being taken to, he couldn’t help but wonder what was going to happen to him now.

The Kingdom of Ilhieden was a land of leafy trees near the mountains that painted the area in deep green hues, some of them as ancient as the land itself. Sitting in the fork of a large river, the capital welcomed them with its high towers and streets bustling with activity alongside the riverbank. Despite the vast extension of the city, what truly captivated the eye were the lines of the elegant castle that rose in the centre of everything. It stood proudly, the signs of time on the once pristine stone doing nothing to diminish its beauty, and the same could be said about the oldest buildings in the city.

Still on the horse and clutching the hood of his cloak, Jungkook tried not to attract any attention on his route through the less crowded streets towards the High Council. If someone recognized the young prince carrying a prisoner, the rumours that would follow were something that he definitely didn’t need. He already had enough with being known as the black sheep of the Royal Family, and anything else would just help to feed the crazy stories about him.

He glanced at the other man, sharp side profile and alluring features, who had remained silent since they took off through the forest and thankfully didn’t put up a fight. However, Jungkook was still alert in case that he tried to attack again, not trusting him at all.

His plan was to take him to the High Council of Magic. In Jungkook’s world, Magic was everywhere but only a few people were born with the ability to manipulate it. The High Council was formed by powerful witches with a special sensibility that had learnt to communicate directly with Magic, asking questions and accurately interpreting the message given. If you were to ask them, they would tell you it was like hearing whispers and discerning the hidden message in it.

However, being part of the High Council was reserved to a few; most magical people focused on learning how to manipulate Magic through different techniques such as enchantments, potions or curses, although casting a curse was forbidden.

Eventually, the pair made it to the impressive building where the High Council lived, going through a more secluded entrance few people knew about.  They were greeted by a dimly lit area, blinking furiously to regain a clear view due to the darkness in contrast to the bright outside. Inside, the deafening silence only helped to increase the chilly feeling from the stone walls. 

As a non magical being, Jungkook had never had to visit the building before, but he didn’t need to wonder which direction to take for an acolyte dressed in green clothes greeted them not long after.

“Lord Jimin will see you now, your Highness,” She said before taking them through galleries and stairs, the light and windows growing in size as they went up, all this time Jungkook keeping his hold on his prisoner and the magic weapon secured inside his leather pouch. How they knew about his presence and identity so soon, he could only wonder.

Once they were led inside some place that resembled a meeting room, Jungkook was surprised to find that Lord Jimin was a soft looking man not much older than himself, which made it even more impressive that he had made it into the High Council at such a young age. The deep green of his robes denoted his position on the council and Jungkook couldn’t help but wonder just how powerful the young witch must be, feeling a huge respect for him, but his thoughts were cut short when the other addressed him.

“Prince Jungkook, it is very unexpected to find you here, but please feel welcomed. What can I do for you and your... companion?” The blonde man inquired, his eyes drifting with curiosity from the Prince to the other man, who was hunched as if trying to make himself small and kept throwing distressed glances to the sword of his captor.

Jungkook finally let loose of the strange man (because he was strange, what were those kind of garments he was wearing?), but still stood close to him, only going as far as to carefully pass the magic weapon to Lord Jimin after retrieving it from his pouch.

“This man tried to attack me when I was in the woods today, somewhere I only know about, so I believe he must have been following me and finally attacked when I let my guard down.” He pointed to the sleek object, his voice getting harder now. “With this magic weapon. Luckily I was able to disarm him in time, but I still do not trust this has been an only attack. I don’t believe in lone wolves, so I request an investigation from the High Council to find his comrades before they strike again. This is clearly a plot against the royal family,” He added with conviction. To be fair, he didn’t know why he, the least important royal, had been the first to suffer an attack, but maybe he had just been the victim of a trial test.

The Jeon family had been ruling the kingdom of Ilhieden since a millennia, being the oldest royal family in that world and thus, one of the most powerful ones. When his father had passed years ago, his mother had taken the throne until his older brother -Seokjin- went through the Blessing Ceremony in which the High Council consulted with Magic if a person were fit to rule.  Jungkook wasn’t even considered an option since it was important that the future king were someone that had Magic in them. Hence his confusion as to why it had been him who had suffered an attack.

Lord Jimin examined the so-called magic weapon, brow furrowing deeper with each passing second.

“Your Highness, this must be some kind of mistake. I don’t know what this is, but I don’t think this is a magical object. I can’t feel any magic coming from it.” He sounded uncertain, still in clear confusion, until he tilted the sleek object in his hands and suddenly there was the image of a dog on its surface, glowing in bright light with unknown characters here and there. The silence that followed would have been comical if not for the gravity of the situation.

Jungkook simply looked back at him pointedly, arching his eyebrows. As a non magical person, he couldn’t tell about the magic around him, but in his opinion that wasn’t clearly an innocent object.

“My apologies, your Highness. I reiterate that this is not a magical weapon, but it could be a weapon of other kind. We will keep the object here and carry on an investigation about it. Has the suspect said anything useful about the object or the attack?” Lord Jimin turned to the other male, who had remained silent this whole time and looked out of place with his unconventional clothes.

“Please I don’t know what is going on but don’t kill me! I am more useful to you alive! You could get a shit ton of money from my agent if you ask for ransom, I’m like super famous,” The man suddenly bursted, his pitch getting higher with every sound. Not that the other two understood a word of that.

“Oh yes, I am afraid he hasn’t spoken a word of Ilhiedeni yet,” Jungkook let him know. He looked at the man with a new kind of curiosity growing in him, wondering which of the hundred of languages he had researched the other man was speaking. Because he only knew what the characters of his soulmark looked like, but he had no idea what they actually sounded like.

“That won’t be a problem for us. We will prepare a translator charm during the night and conduct the interrogation tomorrow morning,” Lord Jimin explained, putting the mysterious object over the table. “Would you like to be present for it, Your Highness?”

“Yes,” He answered immediately, ”I think he should stay under your custody, I don’t want him anywhere near the castle until we are sure he can’t make any kind of magic,” He added, narrowing his eyes towards the harmless-looking man. Appearances could be deceiving. 

“As you wish, your Highness. We will keep him in the magical cells then.”

They agreed to meet first thing in the morning for the interrogation, and Jungkook left not without casting a last quizzical look to the stranger. He would make sure to unravel this mystery.

+

Deep in his thoughts, Hoseok stood in front of the huge window panel that took over almost the entire wall, eyes staring into space without taking in the view outside. After the black haired man left, he had been led to this room and was left in a solitude only briefly disrupted when the female acolyte from before came with a tray of food. He tried to communicate with her, still kind of hoping that someone would come out any minute exclaiming that it had all been a huge secret camera prank. But it was to no avail, for she exited the room as soon as the tray was placed near Hoseok, no acknowledgement or words leaving her lips.

His mind went through the events of the last hours once again, analyzing every detail. Everything, from the buildings to the clothes, looked straight out of a fantasy movie set. A snort escaped his lips in disbelief, a sound that woke him up of his reverie and made him really take in the view from outside. What he saw left him speechless because hanging there in the sky, there were not one but two moons.

As much as he didn’t want to, he had to admit that somehow he was no longer in his world.

The sound of a long exhale filled the silence of the room as he tried to remain calm. If he was in another world, he just had to go back the same way he came in the first place: through the tree. However, he was not going to be able to find the way back to the clearing on his own, he needed someone to take him there. He needed the black haired man.

Now, should he tell the man the truth about being from another world and having to come back or would he take him for a mad man? Yeah, probably the latter... Not that he could communicate with him right now; first he would have to spend months learning their language. But still, if he kept his origin a secret from everyone, how could he explain not knowing anything about life here?

Hoseok started to pick on the food distractedly, thoughts running to find a solution. And that was when it occurred to him, and the more he thought about it, the surer he was it was the better option: to convince everyone to help him he would feign a complete memory loss.

+

[ He was blissfully floating on the lake back in the glade, no worries in the world, only to have his peace disrupted by naughty hands on his body, melodic giggles, the prettiest eyes twinkling with adoration and mischief. He retaliated, his hands tickling the other body and feeling his own laugh rippling through him in a rush of pure happiness. The world stood still, a pair of lips approached his ...]

A loud bang resonated in the room, abruptly waking Hoseok from his sleep with a startled gasp. He immediately felt his mood going down south at the harsh awakening, incapable of remembering the dream but knowing it just had felt SO good. Narrowing his eyes, he finally paid attention to the two figures that had abruptly entered the room.

“... and my mother could barely make it before the guards arrived, ” The raven haired man from yesterday was saying through a clenched jaw. “ And, of course, the idiots killed him before we could interrogate him, so now he is our only hope of getting information. ” He pointed to Hoseok, who stared back at him with raised eyebrows, still having no clue of what was happening. Unfortunately, this only seemed to upset the other man even further. “ This bastard knows something, I’m sure of it! ” He added, jaw clenched and grabbing Hoseok roughly, who put his hands in the air hoping to seem as defenseless as he truly felt. He wondered what he had done to be treated like this since he set foot on this world.

“ The translator is ready, so, if you may, I will start the interrogation now, ” The blond man from yesterday said calmly, gently pulling Hoseok’s hands towards him in a gesture that made Sword Guy release him from the aggressive grasp and revealing a fine looking silver bracelet from inside a wooden box. Hoseok observed in confusion how the jewellery was put around his wrist; first, he was treated so harshly and now they were giving him jewelry? These people really had weird manners. And that bracelet didn’t look cheap at all, it felt quite heavy on his arm and the emerald set in it wasn’t precisely tiny.

 “What’s your name?” The blond man asked first as Sword Guy crossed his arms, ready to follow the conversation.

“Hoseok,” He automatically replied, his eyes comically widening when he realized. “WAIT, YOU KNOW MY LANGUAGE?” He almost shouted in excitement, a beaming heart-shaped smile taking over his face. The other two looked taken aback by his reaction, certainly not expecting this enthusiasm.

The man in the deep green robes cleared his throat, trying to focus again. 

“I don’t know your language, you are speaking ours,” He clarified softly.  “The bracelet is a translator made with Magic; you can now speak and understand what we are saying, although it doesn’t work for written language, you would have to learn that.”

“What do you mean by ‘Magic’?” Hoseok sent them a perplexed stare. He knew that everything had been extremely weird so far, but did he just hear right? Magic? 

The other two men shared a confused stare between them, as if a silent conversation were happening right there and Hoseok had never felt so out of the loop in his life. 

“Lord Jimin,” The raven haired man suddenly interceded with a frown,  “Are you sure he is telling the truth?”

“Hey! Of course I am t-!”

“Magic says he is being sincere,” Lord Jimin interrupted, “I don’t even have to concentrate hard to see that.” He threw a cold glance to the younger man. “I know this is your first time dealing with Magic, your Highness, but you will have to trust me if we are going to keep working together. Otherwise, I will have to take this matter to the Crown Prince instead.”

Sword Guy clenched his jaw, looking as if he was biting his tongue. However, he regained his composure, making a gesture to continue with the interrogation.

“Who are you, Hoseok?” The blond simply asked.

Well, the time to uncover Hoseok’s acting skills had come. 

“I don’t know,” He replied, lips pressing together and eyes looking out of focus for a moment.” I just... I know my name? And that I was suddenly in the clearing. Everything else is blank.”

He internally prayed that his memory loss was coming off as believable, otherwise he didn’t have any idea what he was going to do.  

“But you attacked me!” The royal let out with a huff.

Hoseok flinched slightly. “I didn’t, I swear! I was walking and I tripped over you. I just didn’t see you.” He looked at his captor with his best puppy eyes but Jungkook’s hard stance remained. 

“Prince Jungkook,” Lord Jimin broke the silence that had settled in the room after a while. “He is telling the truth. He is not a conspirator that tried to murder you AND he is in no way involved in the attack on the Queen, Magic says so. However...” He quickly said before the prince interrupted him again. “Magic also claims that he must remain by your side for some important reason.”

Both men were looking at Jimin like he was growing two heads, especially Hoseok; although he still didn’t understand the thing about magic.

“And what would that reason be?” Prince Jungkook inquired, tone flat.

“I cannot say. Magic doesn’t want to reveal more,” Jimin replied, “Sometimes it decides to be picky and gives out the most crucial points but leaves the rest unanswered.”

“But who is this Magic?” Hoseok wanted to know. Magic this, Magic that. Could someone explain, hellooooo?

Jungkook groaned and Lord Jimin let out a sigh. 

This world might be even stranger than he thought at first, Hoseok was starting to realize. 

+

To say that Jungkook was not happy was an understatement. He didn’t understand how it went from the man (Hoseok, his name was Hoseok) being a suspect to him living as a guest in the castle, his mother even going as far as arranging the room next to Jungkook’s for him. Just because Magic said so. Crazy.

Or was it really so? Was he truly the only sane person in the whole Kingdom? How could anyone else not find the situation suspicious? A frustrated groan broke through him. He would have to sleep with an open eye from now on.

His thoughts were interrupted by a firm knock on the door of his room, his brother entering without waiting for a reply. It only took a second for Seokjin to snort at noticing his younger brother’s expression.

“Stop sulking and come have dinner with us.”

“Hyung,” Jungkook whined. He couldn’t help but always behave a bit childish when his older brother was around, all his life used to being taken care of as the youngest. Seokjin had always been very protective of him, especially because of the lack of Magic in Jungkook. It hurted him whenever he overheard the other nobles whispering between them about his little brother, belittling him just because he couldn’t cast spells. Despite his efforts, Jungkook knew what the rest of the nation thought about him, how could he not when despicable looks had been thrown his way since he was just a child.

Thousands of years, generation after generation, and he was the first Jeon to be born without the touch of Magic inside of him. A disappointment of a Prince, many said. Our precious Jungkook, his family insisted. It had been hard, but eventually he developed a thicker skin for other people’s opinions about himself.

“I just...Why does he need to be here too? And sleeping next to me!? Come on!”

“You know Mother, she will take whatever Magic says literally. Plus, I’ve been talking to him and he really doesn’t look dangerous at all,” His brother tried to reason.

“Exactly, that’s what he wants you to think, don’t you see? You will go ‘ Hi Hoseok, how are you today? ’ and when you least expect it, BOOM! You are dead.”

His brother shook with laughter at Jungkook’s stubbornness.

“Come on Jungkookie, you are being ridiculous now.” 

But Jungkook was not so amused. Losing their father had been one of the hardest times of their lives and the youngest simply wanted to watch over the rest of his family.

“I know you don’t really understand Magic because you can’t feel it, but you’ve seen it work before. Why don’t you trust it now?”

“It’s not Magic what I don’t trust, it’s the Council. How can we be sure that what we are being told is the truth? They could have been lying all along, making us do this or that and turning us into their puppets just because Magic is supposedly saying so.”

His brother kept silent for a second, gathering his thoughts. “Yes, we don’t have a way to know; but... think of all these years, think of the prosperous legacy we are receiving, haven’t the Council guided us in the right direction so far? Why would it change now? We trust in them because we have no reason to think otherwise.”

At this Jungkook was placated, incapable of coming back with a retort. He sighed and massaged his temple, eyes closed. Maybe Seokjin was right and he was just thinking too much into it.

“Ok hyung, I’ll try to stop seeing him as a threat. But that doesn’t mean I have to like him!”

“No one is asking you to,” Seokjin argued with a snort. “Just maybe try to keep the scowl out of your face? It can be pretty frightening when someone doesn’t know you, you know? He looked pretty terrified when you brought him this morning.”

Jungkook grinned widely, scrunching his nose. “Well, maybe that wasn’t an accident...” He innocently replied.

His brother just laughed, taking the younger’s wrist and pulling the young man out of the room with him. They had some stomachs to fill.

+

When Hoseok woke up that morning, the last thing he had expected was to be proven that magic was real. And to be invited to live in a castle with some royal family from Fantasyland. But let’s go back to the first point: MAGIC. WAS. REAL. It wasn’t that the presence of magic was a constant display of colourful spells, but he had had his fair share of levitating objects since Jimin explained the basics of that world to him. And let’s not forget about the translator bracelet he was carrying on his wrist, a prime example of magical devices.

And now he was having dinner with the most important people in the land, because apparently Magic was not only the energy of this world but also had some kind of conscience that advised that Hoseok should stay near prince Jungkook for some important reason . What a bunch of cryptic bullshit.  Although it was thanks to that he wouldn’t have to worry about being taken care of while he was in this strange world, so he was thankful to this Magic Entity for lending him a hand. 

However, that didn’t mean that he didn’t feel how he stood out like a sore thumb surrounded by all these people, even though he had been given a new set of proper clothes to change into (his jeans, t-shirt and beloved Balenciagas now safely kept in his room). Still, he kept to himself during dinner, feeling the tense atmosphere due to the absence of the youngest prince and only replying to the few comments that were thrown his way. The Queen and her family had been kind to him, but he couldn’t help the tension building on his shoulders at the feeling that he didn’t belong there. He also knew that everyone was on edge due to the attack the Queen had suffered the previous night. 

She was a beautiful woman, with luscious lips that his oldest son had clearly inherited, and long black hair flowed down her shoulders like liquid ink. An aura of wisdom and power surrounded her, but there was still a kind glint in her eyes.

“Your room has one of the best views of the city, I am sure that you’ll be glad during the summer festival: the witches light up the sky with sparkles of colour that tell stories, it’s so pretty!  And there’s music everywhere,” Taehyung, son of the late King’s brother, was telling enthusiastically. He was just a year younger than Hoseok and blessed with such a handsome face he was kind of unreal, which seemed to be a common thing in the family. So far, he had been the most welcoming person he had encountered.

Hoseok’s reply didn’t get to leave his lips, cut when the doors of the dining hall opened to reveal the two princes.

“Oh, look who has decided to grace us with their presence,” Taehyung joked, not noticing the worried look on Hoseok’s face, thinking that it was dangerous to upset the youngest prince; but he was surprised to find that Jungkook’s response was just a fond snort, not the cold retort he had expected.

Dinner resumed with a lighter feeling, everyone except Hoseok clearly more at ease now. Luckily, no one engaged him in a conversation or, if they did, he could not tell as he wasn’t paying attention to anything but the youngest on the table. His eyes were instinctively drawn to him, absorbing every detail as if he couldn’t look away. And could anyone blame him?

Now that he could really look at the Prince without feeling like an impending death was falling upon him at any minute, he could notice more things than upon the first sight. A pair of round sparkling eyes was his most distinctive feature, alongside a really cute round nose and small but full lips that often talked in pout, accentuated by the defined cupid bow of the thinner upper lip. Jungkook was a handsome enigma. And apparently, Hoseok now thought that noses could be cute, which was… totally normal.

When he escaped the trance and finally looked around, he found that Taehyung was sending an amused smile his way. Oh damn it . He fixed his eyes on his plate as if it were the most interesting thing in the world, feeling his ears burn read in embarrassment at being caught.

“Will you guide Hoseok to his room, cousin? Since it’s so close to yours,” Taehyung casually enquired, a smile not leaving his face. Wide eyes looked back at him in alarm; Hoseok was still too intimidated by the prince to be left alone with him. His mouth opened to find some kind of excuse, but Jungkook beat him to it.

“If he needs assistance he can just ask the enchanted portraits for directions, I don’t think he needs me. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” And with that, Jungkook bowed his head to his mother and left the room in a rush. Both the Queen and Prince Seokjin apologized on his behalf, leaving the hall not long after. Taehyung smiled sheepishly, feeling a bit guilty.

“He will warm up to you eventually, don’t worry.”

In the end it was the silver haired man who showed him to his room, recounting little anecdotes from his childhood on their way there (like ‘ Jungkookie broke his ankle after trying to jump from the top of the stairs to the gallery; don’t ask me what he was trying to accomplish ’ or ‘ I once turned that statue purple before I learnt to control my magic. Uncle said it actually looked better that way, but Auntie didn’t find it that funny and turned it back’ ).

Hoseok couldn’t help the warm feelings caused by the little pieces of their lives that were being shared with him; they seemed to be good people and he knew it wouldn’t be difficult to end up growing attached to them. But he couldn’t let himself grow too fond when he knew that his presence in this world would have to be fleeting. He had to go back home. And Jungkook was his only chance.

+

During the next few days, Hoseok spent most of his time studying Jungkook, trying to come up with a plan that would make Jungkook take him back to the clearing. This was the mental report of his observation:

1. The most outstanding feature at first sight was Jungkook’s preference for black clothes, fabric clearly expensive and perfectly fitted, but a sharp contrast to the colourful silks the rest of the court favoured. 
2. He seemed to treasure his family; his mother, brother and cousin being the only people that could make him smile. And man, what a beautiful smile that was with lips stretching to reveal a cute set of bunny teeth, fine wrinkles framing his eyes and a devastating nose scrunch. The intimidating Jungkook would step aside for this younger-looking-self version to appear. The first time Hoseok witnessed that smile, he had been stunned. And some part of him wished to be on the receiving part of it someday. But he didn’t dwell on that fleeting thought too much; he had more important matters at hand.
3. Despite his distant disposition towards everyone, the Prince was always very polite and treated the maids and staff of the castle with respect. So, kudos to him. Fuck entitled rich brats, like some of the noblemen he had seen at court.
4. He didn’t seem interested in the politics of the realm.
5. According to what Lord Jimin had told him, Jungkook didn’t have Magic in him; so it wasn’t a surprise to find him in the training fields, extenuating himself with a sword and arrow. In Hoseok’s opinion, he was very good at it. Not that he had the proper knowledge to judge, though.
6. He always disappeared at night when the rest of the castle was sleeping.

Hoseok had found out about this when he was woken up by the creaking of the door next to his, an occurrence that happened the following nights as well. Where the secretive prince could be going so late at night, he didn’t know. But he was dying to find out.

Despite the new data filling his imaginary Jungkook manual, he still didn’t know the best way to approach the prince. And he wasn’t keen on asking Taehyung for help, who would surely accept but didn’t trust not to embarrass him on the way. Although he shouldn’t really care about making a fool of himself in front of the youngest, it wasn’t like he would be there for long anyway.

He shook his head, trying to concentrate on the present from his hiding spot in the corner of the main gallery, behind the statue that Taehyung had supposedly turned purple in his childhood. That spot allowed him to have a clear view of the resident’s comings and goings, with the advantage of not being noticed unless someone knew exactly where to look. If someone found odd his disappearances during most part of the day, no one made a comment to him.

Oh, there he went. Jungkook. Unlike the past days, he didn’t cross the patio towards the training field but took an unexpected route, Hoseok discretely following him.  If he was not mistaken, his steps were taking him to the library of the castle.

It was a place he initially hadn’t planned on investigating, considering that it was filled with books he could not read. And although diving into the history and mythology of this world was appealing, he didn’t want to invest his time in learning to read a language that would be useful to him just for a set time. What he should be doing, apart from studying Jungkook, was practicing tennis.

 What would everyone think of him when he finally got to return to his world and he were so out of shape? He would turn into a national disappointment. And yes, lately he had been feeling too much the pressure, a big part of him no longer playing for the fun of it but simply to win; but he still didn’t want to throw all of his hard work down the drain. Perhaps he could talk to Taehyung and persuade him to play with him, pretending it was a game that he had just come up with. ( Note to self: try later )

But back to the present. He was amazed when he made it into the library, rows and rows of bookshelves in a space so vast he didn’t even see Jungkook at first glance. The place seemed to be deserted, so he roamed through the aisles with ease at knowing that no one would question him. It wasn’t until he reached the furthest part of the library that he found the raven haired man, surrounded by what looked like decrepit books. Whatever he was looking at, he seemed too absorbed, brow slightly furrowed in concentration and lip being bitten.

In case you haven’t noticed yet, Hoseok was a curious person by nature (remember when he went through a tree that took him to a different universe instead of just walking home?) so, instead of observing Jungkook from the shadows, his body dropped onto a chair on the other side of the table, eager to find out what was making the other so interested.

“Watcha doing?” He friendly ask, body leaning towards the younger in interest.

Jungkook sighed, gaze still fixed on the book. It appeared like he was just going to completely ignore the other, but eventually his eyes lifted up only to send a deadpan expression. “None of your business,” Were his only words before turning back to the book.

“Mmm, but maybe it is my business. Remember what Magic said? Maybe I am supposed to help you with whatever you are doing,” Hoseok said, his fingers roaming through the cover of one of the books, leaving an imprint on the dust over the material.

At this, Jungkook seemed to consider his words for a moment, only to dismiss Hoseok with a shake of his head. “I appreciate it, but I’m fine by myself.”

“Well, let me know if you change your mind. It’s not that I have anything else better to do anyway,” Hoseok insisted with a gentle smile.

Jungkook watched him leave, a pensive look on his eyes, but he simply bowed his head. Hoseok smiled at the good-bye gesture, a warm feeling spreading inside of him at finally being acknowledged by the younger. It was just a small victory, but also a sign that Jungkook wasn’t as out of reach as he seemed.

Operation Back to the Clearing was on.

+

It wasn’t that Jungkook was still adamant about Hoseok being behind the murder attempts –OK, maybe he was– but when he heard that someone had tried to hurt his mother again, he couldn’t help but instantly associate the incident with their newest guest on the castle.

Luckily, the Queen was able to protect herself with her Magic, but the perpetrator had escaped and was impossible to be found; which suggested that they knew their way around the castle. An unsettling thought, he didn’t like to think they had a traitor inside. Maybe that was why it was easier for him to blame Hoseok.

Jungkook broke into Hoseok’s room, ready to confront him, but he stood on his heels at seeing the empty room in front of him. He scoffed; of course, he must have been unable to make it back to his room without looking suspicious yet and surely was still wandering around the castle.

With this thought in mind, Jungkook wandered the halls in hopes of caughting the other red-handed. And he did find Hoseok, eventually, but to his surprise he was accompanied by his brother and cousin. The three of them were softly laughing, as if they were trying not to wake up the sleeping residents.

“Where the hell were you!?” Jungkook grabbed Hoseok and pushed him against the wall.

“Hey, Jungkook, what is wrong with you!?” The other two protested and pulled the younger away from Hoseok, who stood against the wall with a hunched posture.

Seokjin firmly put his hand on the back of Jungkook’s neck but the gesture did little to calm the younger. “Why the sudden hostility? Hoseok was with us.”

“The whole night?”

“Yes, the whole night. We took him to see the town at night; we even invited you to come along, don’t you remember?”

Jungkook frowned in confusion and looked absentminded as he went through all the events of his day. He vaguely remembered being invited to something and politely declining to whatever it was as he was distracted by his language research. Ashamed, he cleared his throat and locked his gaze to his feet.

 “Mother was attacked again tonight. She is fine though,” He rushed to say at the sudden gasp of surprise from the others. “However, the attacker escaped.”

“Jungkook,” Seokjin sighed, his voice letting out that he understood now his brother’s behaviour. “How many times is he going to have to prove his innocence? We already had this conversation before.”

Jungkook felt even more ashamed now because his brother was right, they had already gone through this and he even had accepted the not-so-stranger-anymore presence in the castle. He had let rage blind him and misjudge the event. As someone who was so often misjudged by others, he should have been kinder towards Hoseok.

“May I speak?” Hoseok intervened before he could reply. “Jungkook-ssi, I understand that I look suspicious to you and I don’t blame you for it, in fact, I would do the same in your place. I honestly don’t know what to do to make you see me differently, so I am not going to ask you to believe in what I say, but please believe when Magic says that I am not behind some plot to murder you and your family.”

The brunet considered his words. He appreciated the way Hoseok was asking not to trust in him just because, but to do it because of Magic; which, consequently, was also Seokjin’s point of view. Jungkook nodded and sent an apologetic look towards Hoseok.

“I am sorry, Hoseok-ssi. Please forgive my rude behaviour.”

“You are forgiven. Jungkook-ssi, I promise to help you find the culprit in any way I can. If I could be useful, all you’d have to do is ask,” Hoseok proposed, smiling kindly to the three royals.

“You shouldn’t have to, but we appreciate it, Hoseok-ssi!” Taehyung accepted, his words erasing the tense mood. Jungkook simply nodded and watched as the others walked off after saying their goodbyes.

It was really late at night by then, the castle back to silence after the incident. Just as the others, he could have gone back to his room, but it didn’t feel right for him to do so while their enemy could still be roaming the halls. Instead, Jungkook decided to patrol the walls for his own peace of mind. It would be a long night.

+

Things seemed to calm down in the castle a few days after the incident, normal activity resuming as if nothing had happened. Jungkook, on the other hand, felt more on edge than ever. Was it just paranoia at this point or were there really a pair of eyes following him all the time? He couldn’t tell anymore; but his senses remained in high alarm, waiting for an impending attack.

And it was due to his unsettling that, when the time came, he got to save Hoseok’s life.

The day had not been much different to any other. Both of them were again in the deepest part of the library, as the cheerful man had taken a liking to accompanying him while he investigated. 

At first, Jungkook kept scowling at him whenever Hoseok came to the library and tried to make useless conversation with him or dived into the illustrated books of his world that he had discovered; but with time he had grown used to the company, even finding it somewhat pleasant. Hell, Jungkook even realised he was smiling to himself whenever Hoseok let out little ‘Ohs’ and ‘Ahs’ of admiration at whatever captivating illustration had caught his attention, making excited noises as he roamed through the pages. And he should have found that annoying, but couldn’t bring himself to.

So, he was helping Hoseok to carry a new stack of books that had interested him to the table they usually shared, when he felt some movement behind them. His body moved on its own, hand reaching for Hoseok and pulling him as one of the bookshelves collapsed to the ground right where the other man had been standing just an instant before. More bookshelves followed in a domino effect, a cacophonic racket around them until it finally stopped. And then, silence.

Except for the blood pounding in his ears and accelerated breaths. When he came back to his senses, he noticed that Hoseok’s trembling body was holding onto him for dear life and that he, Jungkook, was embracing him as if trying to keep him away from any harm were his first reflex. Something he would only had expected to do for his loved ones. He wondered when he had started to consider Hoseok as an essential part of his life.

Or better, let’s just blame this reaction on instincts. Yes, that would make much more sense.

People started to arrive just as Jungkook and Hoseok disentangled themselves from each other, loudly asking what had happened and exclaiming at the state of the library. Seokjin was the first one to approach them, grabbing onto their arms as his eyes looked for any injuries.

“Jungkookie, Hoseok, thank Magic you are ok! It sounded like the whole castle was going to collapse.” He took a look around, assessing the disaster with a deep frown. “How did this even happen?”

Hoseok let out a little sound between a shriek and a whimper, still visibly shaken and hand refusing to let go of Jungkook’s shirt as if needing some kind of grounding contact. Jungkook just let him, feeling also shaken up but recovering faster.

“Someone was there, hyung, it wasn’t an accident.” His eyes inspected the heavy elements lying on the ground and they widened up in realization. “This was magic. There’s no way that someone could have just pushed a shelf, it would have been like trying to take down a wall.”

Seokjin hummed in agreement. “That reduces the list of suspects considerably.”

Hoseok silently followed the exchange, but he was starting to look more like himself now, releasing his hold on Jungkook and stepping back to chat with the people that had started to work on the reconstruction. Jungkook followed him with his eyes for a moment, somewhat missing the warm presence by his side. He would have slapped himself at the thought if it wasn’t for the presence of dozens of eyes.

 “Yes, but it also makes them harder to find.”

+

Later that night, Hoseok was lying in bed contemplating the fact that he could have died earlier that day. Die in a world where no one would have mourn because of him, his family in Seoul left to wonder what happened to him. Who would make sure that Yoongi – his best friend – didn’t collapse out of exhaustion? Who would feed his dog? Oh, he missed Mickey SO much.

A soft knock interrupted his pity party, door revealing a fidgety Jungkook once he opened it. He tilted his head in confusion, not expecting this visitor.

“Um, may I come in?” Jungkook sounded unsure, as if he were expecting the other to shut the door on his face. This behaviour came as a surprise to Hoseok, who always had seen the younger so sure of himself. However, Hoseok couldn’t help but find him endearing, a dazzling heart-shaped smile blooming on his face in response.

“What are you still doing outside? Come on in!”

Anyone else would have grabbed the other’s wrist, but Hoseok had always been kind of shameless, so instead he reached for his hand and pulled a startled Jungkook inside the room.

“So, what do I owe this pleasure?” He asked, taking a seat on the lounge, Jungkook awkwardly standing before him. Part of him was enjoying seeing Jungkook losing his cold  demeanour towards him little by little. 

“I’ve been thinking-”

“Oh, really? Sorry, sorry, please continue,” Hoseok smiled sheepishly at Jungook’s glare.

“I’ve been thinking”, the younger repeated, “And I am sure that the target today was you, not me. Listen, if they wanted to hurt me they would have pushed the shelves that were actually next to me, not you.”

“But maybe it was a mistake? They could have miscalculated or-” Hoseok disagreed, not wanting to believe that he was in actual danger.

“I am not taking any chances.” Jungkook looked serious, as if the prospect of Hoseok suffering any harm were something that truly mattered to him. “I know it doesn’t make sense, but you’ve also been targeted now. And you are walking around completely defenceless. So, we are going to change that.”

“What do you mean?” Hoseok blinked in confusion.

“You are going to learn how to fight with a sword,” Jungkook announced, chest out as if he were proud of himself for coming up with the idea. “And I am going to teach you.”

Hoseok broke into an incredulous laugh until he realized the other was being totally serious. He awkwardly cleared his throat to cover it up and recomposed himself under Jungkook’s unamused stare.

“Wait, for real? You want me to use a sword?” His voice reached new highs.

Jungkook nodded and walked back to the door, only turning to add, “Meet me tomorrow on the training field after breakfast. And trust me, you don’t want to leave me waiting,” and he had the audacity to smirk before leaving. Confident Jungkook seemed to be back.

+

If only Jungkook hadn’t woken him up at the crack of dawn for the fighting lesson, Hoseok would have been in a much more receptive mood. Instead, Jungkook was having the not-so-much pleasure of dealing with a whiny Hoseok, who had been mostly complaining for the past hour about the real necessity of having to learn to protect himself.

Indeed, at any other moment Hoseok would have been reasonable and surely he would have appreciated the effort that Jungkook was ready to put into his well being, but right now the warmth of his bed was way more attractive than the idea of surviving an unlikely attack. Plus, he clearly remembered the younger saying to meet after breakfast, so forgive him for being annoyed at the change of plans. Because everyone loves to cut short their sleep, said no one, ever.

Jungkook was suddenly behind him, out of nowhere, his breath caressing the back of his neck and the flat leaf of a dagger pressing against Hoseok’s throat. Any remnant of sleep evaporated with the cold touch at his vital point. Yeah, he was definitely awake now.

“See how vulnerable you are? I could do whatever I wanted to you right now, Hoseok-ssi, and you wouldn’t be able to stop me,” The brunet whispered, the warm lips grazing his ear in a deep contrast to the chilly touch of the dagger. “And yet, you refuse to accept my help.”

Adrenaline was running through his veins and yet Hoseok didn’t move an inch, heart pounding in his ears. He didn’t condone violence, but he was starting to see that Jungkook was right. In his world, you could go through a lifetime without needing to get into fights; but things were different in Ilhieden. And he absolutely didn’t want to get killed before getting back to Seoul.

Jungkook released his grasp and took a step back, scratching the back of his neck with his free hand. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. I was just stating facts.”

Hoseok sighed and brushed a hand through his hair, turning to face the younger. 

“It’s alright Jungkook-ssi. I didn’t want you to be right, but you are.” He threw an apologetic smile towards the other and finally picked up one of the wooden swords from the ground. “Teach me, Master ,” Hoseok chuckled.

The joke was rewarded with an unexpected laugh, Hoseok having to check that yes, the noise was coming from Jungkook. The boy that usually looked so serious, now had his head thrown back, the moon of his eyes sparkling in amusement and his cute nose scrunching. And what an endearing sight he was in that moment.

Hoseok smiled widely, a feeling of accomplishment spreading through him at getting Jungkook to laugh. Hopefully, it would be the first of many times.

+

Befriending Taehyung was without a doubt one of the best decisions that Hoseok had made during his days at Ilhieden. Not only was the royal cousin a kind-hearted person and an excellent conversationalist, but also his enthusiastic nature made possible for Hoseok to dream of playing tennis at this particular place.

All that he needed was a single comment about how much he wished he could play this game he had envisioned in his head and Taehyung had taken him to speak with a witch. With just Hoseok’s descriptions and some poorly drawn sketches, the skillful woman brought the objects to life and soon enough he was in possession of a pair of tennis racquets, a ball and a net. Of course, they weren’t as good as the equipment he could find at Earth, but they would do the job. Magic didn’t stop to amaze him.

Not much later in the afternoon, both of them had set the tennis court at a courtyard towards the back of the castle, their laughs resonating through the area. Taehyung turned out to be a fast player, but he needed to work on his aim. Despite the proper lack of competition from the other player, Hoseok was enjoying the match; or maybe it was the fact that he could play without any pressure hanging over him what caused this new found enjoyment for the game.

“Tae-hyung, you are no good!” Jungkook’s voice suddenly teased from somewhere.

Surely, it must have been their loud laughs and the bang of the ball against the racquets what must have caught the attention of the youngest, who was observing them from an upper balcony with an amused little smile on his lips.

“As if you could do it any better!” Taehyung yelled in reply.

“Yeah, and if I can? I bet you I can win against Hoseok-ssi!”

“You are on!”

Hoseok observed the exchange terribly amused at the antics of the cousins. He wasn’t worried at all about losing, the poor little lambs had no idea that he had spent years perfecting his technique; but he felt the flame of competitiveness flare up inside of him at the prospects of the bet. The idea of winning against Jungkook was somewhat very attractive, especially after their exhausting lessons at the training field.

After a short explanation of the rules when Jungkook arrived at the court and a little of practice that Hoseok had the courtesy of allowing, the match began.

Jungkook picked it up quickly, never repeating the same mistakes in the game and showing an outstanding improvement. Sure, he wasn’t as good as Hoseok but, unlike Taehyung, he was making him work for it. 

“Why are you so good at this!?” Hoseok exclaimed at some point, unsure if it was out of irritation or admiration. Probably both.

“I don’t know, Hoseok-ssi. But if you wanted to make me lose you should have invented a more complicated game.”

“GO JUNGKOOKIE, YOU CAN DO THIS!” Taehyung cheered from the back, which caused a flock of birds to fly from a nearby tree. It was as if he just wanted to see Hoseok lose, the bet already forgotten and now he was invested in seeing his cousin being victorious. Ah, the ties of family.  

Eventually, Jungkook did lose. He was undoubtedly skilled, but in the end there was nothing he could have done against an Olympic player. However, it had been the most fun that Hoseok had had at playing tennis in a long time. So long, that he didn’t even remember.

+

Nights of full moon had always affected Hoseok in a particular way. It wasn’t that Hoseok was a reckless person, quite the contrary, but under the influence of the moon he turned more daring than usual. As if the silver light bathing the world around him would turn his skin into armour, leaving him under the impression that he was invincible and ready to eat the world.

Hoseok was unaware of this detail, but it was in nights of full moon when his worst ideas usually came to life.

There was that time when Hoseok had the genius drunk idea of serenading the moon from the rooftop and Yoongi had to save his ass when he discovered that the closed door could only be unlocked from the inside; or that night he hooked up with a handsome stranger that later would break his heart.

And if one moon had that strong effect on Hoseok, imagine two of them combined. The two satellites shining a powerful light and leaving Hoseok restless in his bed. Of course, he could have tried to fall asleep harder, but instead he decided to venture outside the safety of his room and explore the castle at night, something he wouldn’t have dared before considering he was in a still unfamiliar environment and now there was even someone targeting his back. So going out wasn’t the smartest idea, but there was a full moon and Hoseok couldn’t help it.

The castle looked particularly eerie under the moonlight and under normal circumstances he wouldn’t have felt anything but crept out, but instead he felt fascinated by how the light turned the ancient stone into walls of silver. His wandering feet led him to the gardens and he took a moment to appreciate the stillness of the night. It was particularly warm, no breeze shifting through the arms of the decorative trees; just the world covered in a veil of calmness.

And it was then proven that bad ideas did not always mean bad results.

Suddenly, the soft rumour of music broke the silence of the night. If he were a deer, his ears would have instantly turned towards the sound, trying to find the source. He tried to pick it up, the rhythm sounded with a compelling cadence to it, even though it was muffled by the distance.

Walking through the maze that extended through that part of the gardens, he was insistent in finding the source, aware that his curiosity would keep him from sleeping otherwise. As he advanced, he started to discern the most beautiful voice accompanying the music. He closed his eyes to immerse in the sound; it was airy, sweet as honey and full of emotion. Goosebumps erupted through his skin as the voice caressed him, still too far away to make out the words from the melody. What he could tell just from the emotion pouring from it, however, was that it had to be a sad song.

His heart picked up in speed as he got really close to the source, knowing that he would find out the identity of the singer after the next turn of the bushes. Interrupting would have been very rude and awkward, especially when it was clear that this person wanted to be alone, so he decided to just take a peek through the bush, luckily finding a small area where the foliage was thinner.

What he saw took his breath away.

The bushes opened to reveal a small pond surrounded by delicate flowers. It was one of the prettiest parts of the royal gardens, a secluded corned which looked even more beautiful under the silver moonlight. Honestly, it was like being inside a dream. And sitting next to the pond, eyes closed and lute gently held in his arms was prince Jungkook.

And Hoseok could not look away. How could he, when he was caressing the strings with such softness Hoseok felt his breath escaping in a long exhale, a song about a love that was promised but couldn’t seem to find leaving the Prince’s lips. For the first time since he met him, the Prince seemed to have his guard down. So, no one could blame Hoseok for drinking in the sight of him.

Jungkook opened his eyes as he sang the last devastating note, a single tear rolling down his cheek and glistening in the night. And in that moment, Hoseok couldn’t help to feel the hurt in him. It was true that at the beginning he thought that Jungkook was intimidating and overall not a person he would like to be around, but lately he had started to grow fond of the younger and it didn’t sit well with him to see him hurt. Hoseok thought about the song and wondered what had happened to that lover Jungkook was singing about.

 Jungkook’s teary eyes were now fixed up on the moons as if he was having a silent conversation with them. At the sound of a sniff, it was hard for Hoseok not to throw himself upon the younger and wrap him in his arms, which not only would have been extremely embarrassing for the younger but also unnecessary, since he gathered himself up again and another song soon filled the air.

Not wanting to disturb the prince, but also incapable of leaving yet, Hoseok sat with his back leaning on the bush and closed his eyes. His heart swayed with the emotional touch of Jungkook’s heartful voice throughout the night.

The big mystery behind Jungkook’s night escapades was now solved.

+

The annual Soulmate Ball was the most anticipated event of the year for everyone that was yet to meet their destined ones. It was created with the purpose of gathering all people coming of age 18 and onwards in the same place so the chances of meeting their soulmate would be maxed.

The mechanism was easy: upon arrival at the castle, everyone signed their name into an attendance list that would be available for everyone to consult during the night. If the name of your soulmate was there, congratulations! Now you had the chance of finding each other between the assistants to the event. If that wasn’t the case, Magic might give you better luck in the following year.

But Hoseok wasn’t aware of this. At least not yet.

He had been dragged to the ballroom by an overly excited Taehyung after procuring him a set of formalwear clothes and the promise of an evening full of fun. And how could Hoseok refuse? Especially when he felt curious to be part of something so out of a story. He wanted to see and experience what it felt to be a young man on a ball in Ilhieden.

“Hoseok-hyung, he is here!!!!” Taehyung’s grip on his arm got uncomfortably tight after checking the list of names. Hoseok wondered what all that was about, this world really did have weird customs.

“Who is here?” He asked distractedly, for his eyes were taking in the sight of the huge ballroom. The place had been decorated in such a way that showed the splendour of the Kingdom to its people, and what looked like hundreds of people were wandering around dressed in their best garments.

“My soulmate!!!” Taehyung voiced as if it were obvious, his brows shooting up when Hoseok suddenly choked up at the word.

“Your what!?” Now his attention was definitely set on the younger.

It was difficult to say who looked more shocked: Hoseok because of the word used or Taehyung due to Hoseok’s ignorance.

“Hyung, do you really don’t know about soulmates!?”

Hoseok just shook his head and shrugged. He was starting to get used to this kind of stuff that looked like taken out from a fantasy novel. Nonetheless, he had been so sure that after learning about Magic nothing else could shock him anymore. Well, surprise!

“Wow, your memory loss must be more severe than we thought.” The royal gave him a reassuring pat on his shoulder.

“To put it simple: everyone has their soulmate’s name on their body, that’s how we know who they are,” He said and pointed to the people around them. “In events like this one tonight, people write their names on the attendance list so you could check if your soulmate is attending too! Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to find some Park Jimin,” he chirpily announced and went to mingle with the crowd before Hoseok could even reply.

Hoseok was left behind dumbfounded at the new information. Soulmates. Yeah, it sounded like something typical from this world. Stupidly, he didn’t even consider the strange mark that had been on his body from the great part of his life.

The night unfolded in an aura of joy and celebration, soulmates finding each other constantly with cheerful laughs and, sometimes, tears in their eyes. Hoseok let the atmosphere wrap him, enjoying his evening as he chatted with these people he knew nothing about but still falling under their contagious joy. He even got the courage to speak with some of the young nobles that resided in the castle but who he had always found too intimidating to approach. However, they turned out to be nice of character and he was even encouraged to dance with the sweet Lady Larmaril. Her soulmate, Lord Alin Jenless, was a descendant of a Jeon prince from centuries ago which made his family one of the most powerful of the kingdom. How convenient for them that they were both of noble blood, Hoseok thought.

At some point during the evening, the elegant figure of Jungkook entering the hall caught his eye. Contrary to the formal gowns everyone that filled the ballroom wore, the prince had chosen to remain in his usual black daily clothes, which made him stand out even more.

Hoseok followed him with his gaze from afar, intrigued at what the prince was up to. Still, he was disappointed when Jungkook left the ball after briefly consulting the attendance list. What a shame, a part of Hoseok was looking forward to sharing a dance with the prince, maybe even exchange friendly bickering remarks with him too since annoying the brunet was becoming one of his favourite pastimes. 

Jungkook’s presence at the ball had been brief but the image of his sad eyes after consulting the list remained engraved into Hoseok’s mind during the rest of the night.

+

Under the pretext of teaching him how to ride a horse, Hoseok had been pestering Jungkook for days until he finally gave up and agreed to take him to the clearing. At first, he felt very reticent because he wasn’t happy about sharing his secret place with someone else; but it had been a while since he got to escape there and perhaps it would even be fun to spend the day at the lake with Hoseok.

It took longer than usual to arrive, as Jungkook had to make sure that the older didn’t fall off his horse, maintaining a slow but steady pace all the way. It hadn’t taken long for Hoseok to get the basics of horse riding, but he still had to grow comfortable with it to actually enjoy the ride, as his stiff posture could tell.

The clearing welcomed them with the same stunning scenery as usual. The scorching sun shined with no mercy as if summer didn’t want to leave, but the cooler nights were good for the wild roses that grew near the shadows of the trees. Jungkook smiled at noticing this; it was definitely one of his favourite times of the year to visit this place.

“Jungkook-ssi, let’s race!” Hoseok proposed with an excited grin, still perched on his horse.

“I’m not going to race you, Hoseok-ssi, you can barely stand on your horse yet.”

“Mmph, you really are no fun,” The older mumbled through a pout, although still loud enough to reach Jungkook’s ears, who couldn’t help but laugh in response.

“I’m not gonna race you, but what do you think about sparring? At least I’d make sure that you won’t get yourself killed with that,” He teased with a smirk, eyes twinkling in amusement and getting off of his horse. The other man dismounted too, complaining about not being taken seriously, which made Jungkook smile while he took care of the horses.

Suddenly, there was the press of a wooden sword against the small of his back, which made him drop the reign of the horse he was holding, taken by surprise.

“Well, well, well; look who had his guard down...”

“May I remind you that you are just holding a wooden sword AND we hadn’t even started yet, this isn’t fair,” Jungkook complained.

“Life isn’t fair; you have to be prepared, Jungkookie.”

“What makes you think you have the right to call me ‘ Jungkookie ’?” He asked with a frown. 

“I don’t know, you are younger than me and cute. But you can try to make me stop, if you don’t like it?”

Cute, he had called him cute. And why did Jungkook feel giddy about it?

“Oh, I’ll make you stop,” Jungkook promised, launching himself after Hoseok, who had run off with a laugh. 

The sparring contest continued for hours, although both of them stopped taking it seriously after a certain point, daring each other to provide the most ridiculous sparring movements they could come up with. The sound of their laughs resonated through the clearing, a liberating feeling spreading inside Jungkook. He didn’t even remember the last time he had so much carefree fun.

“Do you admit your defeat?” Jungkook jokingly asked after having pinned Hoseok to the ground, who was squirming under him.

“Yes, yes, ok! I surrender! I won’t call you again ‘ Jungkookie ’, oh Great Jungkook-ssi ”, he teased once again, his eyes locking with Junkook’s. “I wouldn’t mind if you called me ‘ hyung ’ though,” Hoseok added with a warm smile.

This seemed to disarm the younger, looking wide eyed. Jungkook had never been so close to anyone outside of his family to call them by that name, and it would have been a lie to say he wasn’t feeling happy about it. A beaming smile bloomed on his face as he flicked the other’s forehead because the fight or flight instinct was still his most innate response. 

“Good.”

Under the late afternoon sun, Jungkook started to remove his clothes, only to be stopped by a surprised Hoseok, who was staring at him first open mouthed, then covering his eyes.

“Wow, wow, wow, what are you doing?! Stop getting naked!”

“It’s hot as hell, I’m sweaty and there’s a beautiful lake right there, so...” He shrugged at pointing out the obvious, although Hoseok couldn’t see him through his covered eyes. Nudity between males wasn’t a big deal for Jungkook, having grown up doing this with Seokjin and Taehyung, but perhaps it was different for Hoseok. “I can let you know when you can look again, if you want?” He suggested in consideration.

Hoseok simply made an affirmative noise, which Jungkook took as his signal for removing the rest of his clothes and dipping completely into the cool waters. “You can look now!”

“Turn around, I want to swim too.”

Cute , Jungkook thought. 

“Alright, alright.” He easily complied, turning around and humming to himself as he waited for Hoseok to move freely. It didn’t take long to hear the sound of rippling water, the other one letting out a string of curses at the coldness of the waters, which made Jungkook laugh. “I am afraid there are no hot springs in this kingdom.”

Hoseok let out a dramatic sigh. “Guess this place can’t be perfect.”

A comfortable silence settled while they relaxed in the cool waters, a respectful distance between them due to their nakedness. After a while, Jungkook opted for getting out of the water and lay down on the grass now that the sun was gentler, only caring to put his pants on. It was so peaceful and quiet, the calming sound of Hoseok in the water lulled him to sleep.

He was startled by the sound of a gasp, eyes fluttering open to reveal the shocked face of Hoseok, who was looking at him as if he had grown a second head. Before he could even ask, Hoseok beat him to it, a finger pointing to Jungkook’s chest.

“Why-why do you have my name on your chest?,” He asked through a strangled voice.

Jungkook looked down to the soulmark on his chest, then back up to Hoseok with a blank expression, his brain still processing the question.

“What?”

“My name! Right there!” Hoseok fussed with impatience. “That’s my name, in my native language!” He extended a hand to trace the name with his fingers, but Jungkook stepped back before he got to touch the skin.

The Prince’s mind was running a hundred miles per second, finally catching up with the implications of what Hoseok was saying. Without a word, he grabbed Hoseok’s unfasten shirt and pulled it aside despite the other’s protests, revealing the words ‘ Jeon Jungkook ’ neatly graved onto Hoseok’s chest. He froze right there and stared at the mark with wide eyes, hand still clasping the shirt. 

“Oh for the name of Magic, you are my soulmate.” His voice barely whispered.

A thick silence followed, both men staring at each other with twin gaping expressions. Jungkook couldn’t believe his eyes. Here he was, the person he had been looking for his whole life. And now that he was right in front of him, he didn’t know how to react.

Was it disappointment what he felt or just shock? All his life he had been fed the idea that the moment you met your soulmate the world seems to stay still for a second and an instant connection between the two souls is created. However, their meeting had been far from romantic, he even thought that Hoseok was an assassin! And he didn’t feel a special connection with Hoseok; sure, they had just started to get along, but there was nothing beyond that between them.

Instead of being overwhelmed with happiness, knowing that he could have a normal relationship with his soulmate as the rest of the population and finally feel that he was somewhat normal; he felt as if Magic was laughing at him once again, his life had always been their biggest joke.

“I guess now we know why Magic insisted that you should stay by my side,” Jungkook said, portraying a weak smile that looked more like a grimace. He finally released his grasp from Hoseok’s shirt, both of them taking a step back.

“Hmm, I... Taehyung told me a bit about the soulmate thing . But I don’t understand what it really implies...” Hoseok sounded insecure, his trembling hands making the simple task of fastening his shirt look like a titanic endeavour. His gaze was fixed on this task, which made him miss the way Jungkook blushed at his question. He mentally groaned, unbelieving his luck at having to explain this.

“Well, soulmates are supposed to be life companions in a romantic way. The moment we met, a soulbond was supposed to be created between us that-”

“Why do you keep saying ‘ supposed ’?” Hoseok interrupted with a frown.

“Because...” Jungkook inhaled loudly. “I don’t think we are connected in any way. When I look at you I don’t feel any different to how I did before I met you...Hyung,” He added softly.

Hoseok stared back with an indecipherable expression. Oh, how he would want to know what the older was really thinking about the whole situation. 

“So what you are saying is that... we are broken?”

Jungkook couldn’t contain a self pity snort at the expression used by the other. Broken . Maybe he was the broken one and he had just dragged Hoseok into his mess. He shook his head, trying to stir away those ugly thoughts.

“Not exactly,” Jungkook replied. “Maybe we just need to consult the High Council for advice. There’s also the possibility that we are just platonic soulmates, although those are extremely rare.”

“Leave it to me to be part of something that only happens once in hundreds of years,” Hoseok joked, trying to lift up the mood. Jungkook laughed along, feeling instantly better in spite of the pinch in his heart at the thought of not having that romantic connection with another person. Because in this world, romance outside soulmates didn’t exit, why would people bother when their other halves were out there? 

Still, them being platonic soulmates was just a possibility until it was confirmed. That was the hope Jungkook was going to hold onto. 

Later, they were sitting under the shade of the trees sharing a light meal, their bodies spent after all the sword fighting and horse riding.

“Didn’t you wonder what that was?” Jungkook asked all of a sudden, his brows furrowed when he pointed to the place where his name was placed on Hoseok’s skin.

Hoseok looked down to the mark and then back up to Jungkook and let out a laugh. 

“Actually I did, but since it didn’t hurt or anything I wasn’t worried. I thought it must have been from something that happened before I lost my memory,” He added with a shrug.

“About that, you still don’t remember anything?” Jungkook suddenly felt guilty, aware of how difficult must have been for Hoseok to wake up with no recall of who he was. And he hadn’t made it any easier for him.

“I...” Hoseok looked conflicted for a second, but he simply shook his head in the end.

“I’m sorry that I was so difficult, Hyung. I should have been more considerate.” Jungkook didn’t know where this rush of sincerity was coming from, but he guessed that they should clear the air between them now that they knew they were soulmates.

Hoseok lit up at his words, heart shaped smile in full display. “It’s alright, Jungkookie. I understand.”

Instead of chastising him for the nickname, Jungkook let it pass with a clear of his throat. 

“Anyway, we should head back before it gets too dark,” he said with an air of nonchalance, standing up to tend to the horses.

“Nooooooooo! Can’t we stay the night here? It’s not very chilly at night yet and I want to see the stars. Can we, please please please?” Hoseok was truly pouting to Jungkook’s disbelief, dimples making an appearance.

The puppy face had the impact of a hammer over Jungkook’s weak heart. He was not used to being in the receiving end of this kind of behaviour.

“We could stay, I guess...” He conceded, a little smile appearing on his face at Hoseok’s sounds of enthusiasm.

He watched as Hoseok prepared an improvised resting area to spend the night with the few things they had at hand, a fond feeling starting to grow in him. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad to have Hoseok as his life companion.

+

The song of crickets travelled through the clearing. In other circumstances, that sound mixed with the vastness of the clear night sky above him would have easily put Hoseok to sleep, but his mind was stuck on the big revelation from today.

Soulmates . It was funny when Jungkook asked if he had ever wondered what the mark on his chest was, because he still remembered clearly all the medical appointments he attended when it suddenly appeared at the age of seven. His parents, worried sick and dozens of doctors, perplexed at the strange symbols that simply seemed to be tattooed into the skin. They just concluded that the mark didn’t seem to be dangerous for his health, and so Hoseok learnt to pay no mind to the abnormality.

And all this time, he just happened to be carrying the name of his soulmate. Hoseok turned on his side, his eyes looking for the younger who was in a deep sleep; his mouth was slightly open, but he looked handsome nonetheless under the gleam of the stars. For the briefest of moments, Hoseok considered staying in this world with Jungkook, feeling like the younger had so much to give and Hoseok was only scraping the surface. But, as Jungkook had pointed out, there was no established soulbond between them and therefore he didn’t feel like he owed him to stay by his side.

No, they might be soulmates but this wasn’t Hoseok’s world. He couldn’t stay here while his whole life was somewhere else.

With that decision in mind, he stood up and quietly fetched his own clothes from the hidden bag in the saddlebags of his horse. Before walking towards the trees, he couldn’t resist crutching next to the sleeping prince, cradling his fingers through the soft raven locks in a barely-there caress.

“Be happy, Jungkookie,” He wished with the stars as the only witnesses. One, two, three heartbeats, no reaction. A small part of him was wishing for Jungkook to wake up and stop him from leaving; however, the prince was too deep into his sleep to notice. And so, Hoseok let go.

Finding the portal tree was more difficult than expected without his phone to light up the way, which he guessed was still in the hands of the High Council. He wondered what they thought of the object, shaking his head with a laugh when he remembered that Jungkook had called the phone ‘ a magic weapon’ .

The portal hadn’t changed one bit, the image of the park waiting for him on the other side was as clear as before. He took a last moment to contemplate the beautiful scenery of the lake, the foreigner constellations blinking goodbye at him. He smiled to himself at the thought that, despite everything, he didn’t regret the chance of experiencing Ilhieden with all its magic, its dangers and, most importantly, its people. 

And then, he crossed.

+

Jungkook blinked his eyes open at the luminance of the morning sun, a greeting that was well received. His eyes fell closed again to enjoy the pleasant warmth on his skin, a peaceful feeling of contentment settling inside of him and, for an instant, he was happy.    

He lazily rolled onto his side, opening one eye to jokingly throw a teasing comment to Hoseok; but then he stilled, the warm feeling inside of him instantly evaporating and the words never getting to leave his lips. He was alone.

“Hoseok-hyung?”

END OF PART 1