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jungkook enjoyed it. relished in it really. the physical signs of fear being sewed into someone’s bones as they crumpled before him was his favorite sight.
whether it was the straightening of their spine or uncontrollable sobs, jungkook didn’t care, he just absolutely adored the sight of it. loved to soak in the power he released in waves to fill a room.
jungkook was currently stood in the corner of kim namjoon’s home. his latest victim was an author, rarely received visitors, and seemed to care too much about everything.
said author was currently sprawled across the floor of his sunroom surrounded by more plants than the adraedan could name. they hung from stands, covered the floor, and littered tables, occupying every inch of square space. despite the overbearing foliage, namjoon seemed more than happy with the room as he spent most of his time there whispering secrets to the flora.
after mere days of watching the human, jungkook had quickly became aware of the kind of person namjoon was. despite having no one visit him, the man would get calls from humans by the names of yoongi, hoseok, and jimin. with yoongi he was calm and quiet, speaking to him as he spoke to his plants in the morning while giving them water.
hoseok made namjoon excitable. their conversations were filled with squawks, squeals, and yelling. namjoon’s eyes lit up and his dimples appeared when he spoke to the elder.
jungkook decided he did not like it when his victim spoke to the one known as hoseok hyung. his own skin heated up and his chest squeezed when he would watch namjoon speak and find himself smiling at the author. smiling? since when did he smile? jungkook was an all powerful adraedan. a demon of dread, meant to destroy the happiness of his victims and flood their minds with nothing but overwhelming, inescapable fear. he did not have the capacity to smile at the actions of a weak homosapien.
with that being said, jungkook preferred hoseok’s calls to jimin’s. jimin’s calls left namjoon with a pitiful look on his face and wet eyes. even if he was in his sunroom lightly brushing his fingers down the leaf of his chinese evergreens— named timmy and sandy— he would sound choked up and stumble over his words while squeezing his eyes shut so tightly it looked painful.
jungkook wondered if jimin was a demon of another emotion. the power he held to make namjoon look so dejected just from a phone call was something to marvel at.
…
a lithe man had walked into namjoon’s house with a confident stride as if he owned the place. his small frame seemed to take up much more space in the room than his wingspan could manage and it was something to be impressed by. a mere human so self confident despite holding no power over anyone was something rare as of late.
“hi joon-ah, how are you?” the man said.
“hi, hyung. i’m good, really. how are you?”
“i’m fine as well. anyways forget the formalities, let’s do something. you’ve got to be lonely in this big house all by yourself.”
he’s not alone, jungkook smirked.
“yoongi hyung,” namjoon whined. “the house really isn’t that big and i’ve been spending lots of time with my plants and working on myself. meditating is very beneficial by the way, you should try it some time.”
“well that’s good, but i worry when you’re alone for a long time. no one should have to be isolated like this, make sure you ask when you want company okay?”
“okay,” namjoon agreed.
“thank you, now let’s paint. you go get the canvases and paint, i’ll go get the wine,” yoongi ordered.
despite jungkook’s presence, only yoongi reacted to the dark feeling that hung in the air. he would quickly glance over his shoulder when namjoon wasn’t looking. jungkook furrowed his brow at the lack of reaction from namjoon. the only physical sign of his presence in the room was the goosebumps on the back of his neck, but jungkook was accustomed to weak knees and cries for a savior.
“wine?” namjoon questioned with a raised brow.
“yeah you’re right, not strong enough,” yoongi nodded.
…
another call from jimin and jungkook was fed up. the adraedan’s hands shook with fury as he jabbed his thumbs into his phone screen to message namjoon. he could not just slide from up under his victims bed and expect to have a heart to heart conversation about jimin being an absolute dick, but a direct message seemed plausible. he could not just jump into the jimin talk though, he wasn’t even supposed to know of his existence.
jjungkook: hi! i just wanted to say your plants (and you) are very pretty. the fact that you name all of them is really cute as well, i’ve never seen anything like the yuccas.
the adraedan’s dark demeanor lightened when he smiled down at the notification he got a mere 30 minutes later from the human. he was obviously such a talented adraedan, maybe he would be given a promotion on the demon scale.
kim.namjoon: hi, thank you! the yuccas are named wubbzy and pocoyo. they’re all named after children's shows i watched when i was trying to learn english, though admittedly pocoyo doesn’t have much speaking in it. the shows are good actually, i cant lie. anyways sorry for rambling, you’re pretty too!
despite his now permanently enlarged grin and eyes, as well as his rapidly beating heart, falling into conversation with the author was easy. namjoon had so many thoughts in that pretty head of his that he sometimes struggled to get them all out as articulately as he wanted, but he had so much to say and jungkook wanted to hear it all.
…
jungkook was currently laying belly up staring at his ceiling fan as it spun in circles. he was this close to running his own circles around the house as he listened to namjoon’s nervous breathing over the phone. finally the human was scared. the adraedan began to wonder what the victim currently looked like. were his palms sweating? was he covering himself with a blanket to combat the chills jungkook gave him?
“hyung?”
“i’m nervous,” the elder admitted.
so jungkook had not lost his touch.
“you don’t have to be. i love talking to you. hearing the amazing things you think up is always an experience. i've learned a lot of things from you, joon. what’s on your mind?”
“date.”
“huh?” jungkook spluttered. “date? with me? date with me?”
the demon's heart was doing cartwheels as his new found lovesick expression covered his features.
“yes. with you please.”
namjoon’s voice was soft and sweet as he whispered into the phone. if jungkook wasn’t worried about the elder being able to hear his voice he would watch him from the corner of whatever room he occupied and bask in the good that radiated off of him.
“of course, yes, perfect. where should we go, where should we go? a planetarium? i know we talked about your secret affinity for astronomy a few times, so it’d be perfect right? unless you go often, then it wouldn’t feel the same,” the adraedan pouted.
“i would love that, jungkook. can we maybe go tomorrow? i’d love to see you as soon as possible. finally meet,” joon responsed
“yes, i’ll get tickets for tomorrow. would you rather we meet there or do you want me to pick you up? it’s up to you.”
“my home is out of the way, i’ll meet you there okay? i can't wait to see you, jungkook. i’ll pay for dinner after, sounds good?”
“sounds perfect. i’ll be counting down the hours hyung, bye,” jungkook stated.
“bye, koo.”
maybe jungkook, powerful demon of dread who brought people to their knees with a single glance, would have been embarrassed as he flung his limbs in every direction after hanging up his phone. maybe he would have been worried about the victim that he was excited to go on a date with his victim who should have gotten insanely paranoid with how often fear was brought into his home. if his mind wasn’t already occupied with thoughts of kim namjoon, maybe he would be worried. they were just too pretty to ignore.
in some the man was laughing brightly over the phone and on others he was on his knees like he should have been the first time he encountered the demons presence, but he was not on his knees because of fear. that thought was quickly banished from the abyss of jungkook’s mind as he groaned and rolled to push his face into his pillow.
…
jeon jungkook was just a living, walking, citizen of the city he now traveled through with the power of teleportation a short two years ago. two years dead and many more to go, he was currently the youngest of his kind, but everyone assured him he was good at his role.
22 year old living jungkook had exactly one friend and little family who tolerated him. he spent his days working, studying, and spending time with said friend. taehyung seemed to be the only reason the boy lasted that long, he would have probably been on the streets doing who knows what to make enough money to afford a meal. now 24 and on top of the world, jungkook had everything he could want. that included a date with the best human he had ever met.
namjoon stood in front of the planetarium with his hand nervously pulling on his shirt sleeve and the cutest newspaper boy cap jungkook had ever seen placed upon his head. so what if he was biased, namjoon is just so pretty.
the demon walked over to the man with a shy wave and wide smile as he gained a bounce in his step as he approached.
“i knew i was early, but you still beat me here. there’s still 20 minutes until the show starts, how did you beat me? you weren’t waiting long were you?” jungkook worried.
“no, i got here less than five minutes ago. i was nervous and started spiraling. i began to convince myself i would get a flat tire, run out of gas, or just break down for no reason on the way. it was getting so bad i was close to not coming. i really wanted to see you though.”
“oh that’s terrible, hyung. i’m sorry you had to experience that, next time i can pick you up okay? no worrying about what will happen to your car, just mine. hopefully this will make up for all the stress.”
namjoon spluttered as he realized he was staring at the younger. he didn’t get any better when he saw the bouquet of flowers being offered to him by a pretty tattooed hand. the flowers were beautiful, wrapped in twine as they were passed from one hand to another.
“these are beautiful, jungkook! sorry i didn't get you anything. i cannot believe i showed up early and empty handed. this really is not the first impression i wanted to make,” namjoon mumbles as he toys with the string wrapped around the flowers.
“it’s fine, hyung. you deserve something as pretty as you, and it’s clear that you love plants so how could i miss this opportunity. always wanted to bring the prettiest flowers to the prettiest boy.”
…
jungkook would be lying if he said the craters of the moon that were being shown in front of him were prettier than the two craters in namjoon’s face.
jungkook squirmed in his seat at his own thoughts. okay no. comparing dimples to craters sounds disgusting and does not fully capture the beauty of namjoon’s face and the dimples in his cheeks. maybe it had been too long since jungkook had been on a date, 24 years alone could do that to a person.
it was safe to say jungkook was finding it harder to convince himself this was about becoming close to joon and making him cry in fear. literal stars were in man's eyes. though reflected from the show. he glowed with awe as stars danced across the sky and planets rotate and revolve. the adraedan was handling it fine at first, despite the heart palpitations, but it only got worse when the author looked over at him.
namjoon smiled with a blush across his cheeks at the realization that he was being watched. “hi,” he whispered.
“hi, hyung. you're beautiful.”
namjoon averted his eyes, looking at everything but his date. he resorted to giving a polite nod in response and fiddling with his own fingers before jungkook decided he couldn't have that. the younger took his hand in his own and intertwined their fingers. namjoon was frozen. like literally frozen… is he dead?
“is this too much?” jungkook whispered, concerned.
after a few seconds of just staring down at their hands with comically wide eyes, namjoon replied. “no, not at all. sorry i’m— yeah it’s fine. thank you by the way. you— you’re very pretty as well.”
despite the soothing voice of the narrator and the comforting warmth of namjoon's hand in his, jungkook managed to stay awake and somewhat focus on the show instead of the man beside him.
…
“how did you like it, joon?”
“it was beautiful, kook. i would ask you the same, but i know you weren't paying much attention to the show,” namjoon teased.
jungkook’s cheeks flushed from the statement, knowing he had gotten caught staring more than once.
“i— you—” the adraedan was broken out of his speechless state by a laugh that pulled the sun out from hiding and made the birds sing. this could have been the affect of stepping out of the planetarium, but jungkook was a lovesick fool so it was definitely namjoon’s harmonious laugh.
“i what? totally saw you staring at me almost the entire show in the planetarium?”
“you’re mean,” jungkook pouted. “i should be allowed to admire the sights you know. it just so happened that you were the most gorgeous thing to be seen. the skies have nothing on you.”
“you’re unbelievably sweet, and this is going unbelievably well. now we have to go to dinner and talk to see if we actually hate everything about the other or not. i got us reservations close by, let’s go,” namjoon said as he intertwined his hand with jungkook’s once again.
despite being hand in hand with a being capable of destroying his mental stability and preventing him from stepping foot outside his house from paranoia, namjoon showed no signs of fear with jungkook. his palms did not sweat, his breath did not tremble, and though his heart rate did quicken here and there, the adraedan liked to think that was due to completely different reasons.
“so i know you do photography, which you’re very good at by the way, but other than that what do you like to do? it can just be a hobby or something, anything that makes you happy,” namjoon asked his date.
“lots of things really. i try to pick up as much as i can so i’ve acquired a few skills over the years, but never really delved into a lot of them. i film videos as well, sing a little, dance a little, draw a little. typical hobbies i guess,” jungkook shrugged.
“you make it sound like they’re lame or something. you literally just told me you’re ambitious and multi-talented. that’s amazing, kook! maybe you could sing to my plants. some research has shown that talking to them can actually positively affect the way they grow, i’m sure your singing could do even better than my talking could.”
“now who’s selling themselves short? i love your voice hyung. you could be an audiobook narrator or something. i could listen to you talk all day,” the younger insisted.
“maybe you’ll just have to call more often then, yeah?”
namjoon opened the door for jungkook as they entered the restaurant with intertwined hands and large grins.
“yeah, or we could see each other more often,” jungkook nodded.
“that could be arranged.”
…
namjoon had been on the occasional date here and there when his friends arranged it for him because they thought he was lonely, but none of them had ever went like this. as soon as he and jungkook parted ways the man pumped his fists in the air and twirled around as bliss surrounded him.
jungkook was just perfect. he let namjoon talk as he did on the phone, but offered even more of his own thoughts to the conversation. it was clear he listened and cared about what the elder had to say from the way he maintained serious eye contact, and always had something to say.
the author would be lying if he claimed the eye contact didn’t make his voice shake at times, but jungkook was just intimidating. in a good way. gosh namjoon received flowers. real actual flowers from a man so beautiful, him not modeling had to be a form of treason. jungkook respected him, listened to him, praised him, and paid for dessert even though namjoon insisted.
the day could not have gotten better, yet it did when a text from jungkook appeared on namjoon’s screen.
…
“who are you texting?” jungkook’s annoying roommate and absolute best (and only) friend inquired.
“no one.”
“cmon kook, you haven’t smiled like that for as long as i’ve known you. you look all in love and shit. who is it?”
“you promise you won’t freak out, or snitch on me to seokjin right?” jungkook questioned.
“this is serious huh. i promise, kook. you know i wouldn’t do you like that, dead or alive.”
“even if i said it’s a human?”
jungkook squinted his eyes and scrunched up his shoulders, preparing himself for rapid hits from taehyung. he dared a glance at the other after thirty seconds of not being pummeled by taehyung’s fists.
“tae?” jungkook squeaked. “say something please.”
“it would be hypocritical for me to lecture you when i’ve also been, uh, fraternizing with a human.”
“you’ve what!”
“i’m in this weird limbo between friends with benefits and a monogamous relationship with a human,” taehyung admitted.
“since when! why didn’t you tell me? wait is he your assignment too?”
“what? my assignment? jungkook you’re dating your next victim? that’s ludicrous. you’re crazy. what are you gonna do? how are you going to go through with—“
“i know. tae i know. what am i gonna do? i’m so screwed. seokjin is gonna have my fucking head,” jungkook fretted.
“well you still have time right? did he say this was time sensitive or not?”
“no.”
“okay that’s good, that’s good. maybe after you um break him down you can help build him back up again. that sounds kinda toxic actually, but you don’t have a choice. did the scare have to be like little or does he have to fear for his life?”
“the latter,” jungkook whispered.
“jungkook, what are we gonna do?”
“we?”
“yes we. since when have i ever let you die alone? if jin is gonna kill you, he has to kill me too.” taehyung stated.
“i can just put it off until i’m ready, right. if i’m never ready then you can mercy kill me. seokjin would probably have me tortured for eternity and i’m not built for that,” jungkook pouted.
“okay, kook. i’ll mercy kill you if i have to. now more importantly tell me about this guy.”
“namjoon? oh he’s just perfect.”
“wait namjoon? my human knows a namjoon.”
“what’s your humans name, maybe i know him,” the younger responded.
“jimin. park jimin.”
“you— you’re gonna date jimin? i hate jimin, do not date jimin! he’s off limits. you’re breaking dead bro code, you cannot,” jungkook shook his head so fast his neck began to ache.
“what did jimin ever do to you? he’s the sweetest man alive, you don’t know him. he’s all soft like marshmallows and pillows and clouds. i am not breaking bro code, it might not even be the same jimin. there’s so many park jimin’s in this country, maybe you’re just delusional.”
“next time ask him about his friends. if he brings up a namjoon, yoongi, or hoseok then you’ll know your jimin is trash.”
“why are you so against jimin anyways? have you even met him?” the elder demon wondered.
“no, but i’ve heard him on the phone with namjoon. he makes him so sad, tae. i thought he was a dismal demon at first, but i barely have an affect on joon so how would jimin? through a phone nonetheless,” jungkook explained.
“he’s not a demon, jungkook. he’s a living human. i don’t know what his story is with namjoon if he even knows him, but i’m sure it’s not what you think. they're probably exes or something,” taehyung stated.
“i hope so tae. either jin kills me for not completing an assignment or he kills me for killing someone who was not an assignment.”
“okay that’s fair and i love you, but please don’t kill jimin.”
“i love you more and i won’t kill jimin. only for you though. if he hurts you as well then he’s done for.”
“deal.”
…
seokjin did not tolerate insubordination in any of his underlings, but he had a soft spot for the young ones. seokjin himself was young when he became the ruler of his realm. his bloodline determined the ruler, but he wished his mother was able to rule for longer than she had.
the uprising of the demons was short lived but impactful. they had become tired of being assigned what they thought to be simple tasks with no reward daily. their rebellion had been quelled swiftly, but his mother lost her life.
this now left the next in line, ruler kim seokjin to sit in his throne above everyone else in the realm. he tolerated no resistance from his inferiors so nothing as horrid as the rebellion could take place again. because of this, it quickly caught his attention when he noticed that jeon jungkook was taking months to complete his assignment.
the adraedan had fallen to his death just two years ago, and he was young when it occurred. he was charismatic, honest, loyal, and fierce. when jin took him in, he treated him like his own. hoping he could one day accept the kim blood and become the next ruler of their realm.
“hyung, let’s go eat. aren’t you hungry?” hoseok questioned the ruler.
“one second, my love. an issue has arose.”
“what’s wrong?”
“it’s been months and jungkook has not returned from his assignment. hasn’t even completed it,” jin sighed.
“but jungkook is so— something must have happened, jungkook would never betray you.”
“i thought the same, but he just hasn’t come back. what should i do, hobi? i can’t let this go without punishment.”
“check on him first. you can go to the human realm and see why he hasn’t completed the mission. i’m sure he has a reason. i’ll take care of things here, i promise,” hoseok assured.
“okay, i’ll go. thank you for this, my love.”
“you’re welcome. i love you,” hobi stated.
“and i love you.”
…
in his two years of being dead, jungkook had never spent this much of that time in the human realm. the six months he has been here alongside taehyung have been indescribable.
despite the lack of words worthy of explaining the pure bliss he’s felt while being the boyfriend— yeah you read that right— of kim namjoon, jungkook is still trying to explain it as he frantically types and deletes phrases in his notes.
“taehyung, would you describe being with jimin as feeling whole for the first time, or feeling undefeatable for the first time?”
“the second one. jimin said he still can’t believe you wanted to kill him, by the way. you’re too soft for murder.”
“tell jimin if he breaks your heart i’ll start sharpening my claws again. i only stopped planning his death because you and namjoon begged me too,” jungkook huffed.
“thanks anyways, kook!” jimin giggled over the phone.
“yeah yeah. now— wait.” jungkook went stiff and his heart beat through his chest. he said nothing as he rushed to slip on shoes and fumbled with his phone and a jacket, before stopping to look at tae with his jaw clenched and eyes glazed over. “tae,” his voice broke.
taehyung rushed over to the younger, slipping on his own shoes and coat to follow jungkook. the last time his voice trembled with fear they were both free falling from the sky. maybe they’re walking to their second death together as well, wouldn’t that be ironic.
“c’mon let’s go. where are we going?” tae questioned.
“namjoon. namjoon. said my friend jin was at his place. he let him in. seokjin is in namjoon’s house. my namjoon. we gotta go, tae. gotta go.”
“breathe for me okay? tell me how to get to namjoon’s. i’ll follow. let’s go, i got you, kookie. let's go.”
…
25 years of life and yet namjoon had never felt so overwhelmed by someone’s presence (though hoseok and jungkook came close). jungkook’s friend, jin was much different though. it was like he had an air of superiority. as if everyone and everything that was not him or did not belong to him simply did not matter.
he was taller than namjoon, broader, and absolutely ethereal. the author was at a loss of words in his presence.
“hello namjoon.”
“hello. sorry for the mess, jungkook didn’t inform me that you were coming over,” namjoon apologized.
“he tends to be forgetful. your home is beautiful by the way, and i would never consider this a mess,” jin glanced around curiously. “is jungkook not here? i came to take him home.”
“take him home? he could just take the train, he doesn’t live far.”
“ah what has our jungkookie told you? relationships are built on trust are they not? jungkook is not from here,” the demon revealed.
“like from seoul?”
“not quite.”
“from korea?” namjoon continued.
“from this realm. the realm of you pests. humans have always been my least favorite creatures.”
“w-what do you mean? i’m gonna call jungkook. he knows you’re here.”
“ah fun! we’ll have a reunion of sorts. i’ve been waiting on him to arrive home for months now, but you just had to get in the way huh. filled my jungkookie’s mind with thoughts of grandeur,” jin rolled his eyes.
“are you seeing him or something? he’s my boyfriend, how do you know him?”
“he’s my heir. he will be the most powerful ruler of our realms history and he cannot do that if he’s distracted by a powerless human with an affinity for plants,” the ruler spit.
“heir? realm? what are you? if you aren’t human what are you?” namjoon questioned with fear in his voice.
jin stepped towards the trembling human with a glint in his eyes as he said “a demon. your worst nightmare.”
…
managing to get jungkook calm enough to be able to properly teleport so taehyung could follow was a feat in itself. trying to calm a petrified namjoon proved to be even harder.
jungkook was scared, scared when he got the message, scared when his phone rang, and petrified when he appeared in namjoon’s living room and looked into his own fear filled eyes.
jungkook’s fear amplified his powers, causing the dread to fill the entire home until it was hard to breathe. you could almost see a dark tint in the air as ripples of fear radiated off the adraedan.
namjoon fell with the force of it. tears fell from his eyes as he gasped for air and looked around at the three men —no, at the demons— that looked down at him.
“joon?” jungkook breathed out as he kneeled in front of the other.
as the youngest reached out to place his hand on his boyfriend's shoulder, the author recoiled in fear. the look on his face was something so familiar to jungkook. the sight of tears spilling from his eyes and his frame shaking with the force of his sobs. it scared jungkook even more.
namjoon was afraid of him.
“what did you tell him? what did you do?” he snarled at jin.
“simply told him you were a demon. i’m sure you appearing out of thin air would have gave it away anyways,” jin shrugged.
“kook i don’t think that’s why he’s scared,” tae began. “you- you’re seeping dread right now. you fucking reek with it, stop.”
jungkook’s eyes widened before tears fell from his own eyes. he was on his knees in front of namjoon who had folded himself into a ball on the ground. so full of fear.
“sorry. i’m sorry. so sorry, joon. i’ll leave, i’m gonna go okay? tae will stay, he’ll help you okay? call jimin, tae get jimin. jin just— just come with me let’s go let’s just go,” jungkook rambled.
tae nodded as he got out his phone. he watched jungkook apparate with jin’s hand upon his shoulder and grief so clear in his eyes, the vex demon wasn’t sure if it was for his own life or the loss of namjoon. he could only hope that this time, they would both make it out alive.
…
“jinnie! you’re back! w-with jungkook?” hoseok uttered.
“our little jungkookie has been meddling in human business,” seokjin grumbled.
“who was the human?” the blithe demon queried.
“a man named kim namjoon.”
“kim namjoon? the author? seokjin what did you do?”
“i just made him aware that we were not human, jungkook did a much better job of that though. soaked the place with dread and wilted all the plants. he’s much more powerful than we thought, hobi. how do you know of the human?”
jungkook stood silent with an absent look on his face. if it was not for his still rapidly beating heart no one would have known he was still alive.
“he’s my friend!” hoseok fumed. “god i love you but you’re so impulsive sometimes! you can’t just go revealing the secrets of our realm to humans because you are afraid of losing your heir! you don’t even know if he wants the title!”
jungkook’s head shot up at the mention. “heir?”
“tell him seokjin. i’m sure he’ll want the throne after you broke his and his human’s heart.”
“i wanted you to claim the throne once i was no longer capable,” jin whispered.
“but i’m not your child.”
“you don’t have to be. there’s a ritual that can give you kim blood.”
“what does namjoon have to do with me claiming the throne?” jungkook questioned.
“that’s not what this is about. you were being disobedient. you know that has to be punished, i cannot allow another rebellion to take place,” the ruler admitted.
“punish me then, but after i must go to namjoon. he cannot think of me as someone to fear. i can’t lose him, and i can’t be your heir.”
“you dare refuse me? you will relinquish the opportunity of being ruler of an entire realm? you’re rejecting kim blood, jungkook. think about the mistake you’re making. we could rule together. you could finally have a family, have a home. people to love and respect you, it would all be yours, kook, please don’t do this. i want what’s best for you, always,” jin pleaded.
“jin, i don’t think this is what’s best for him. i know you love him, but he doesn’t want the throne,” hoseok interjected.
“go with the guards jungkook. you’ll be fine once you're released. i’ll let you go back, you can stay if you want. i’m sorry for everything,” jin apologized with a shake in his voice.
“sorry won’t cut it, hyung. thank you for everything except today.”
…
while jungkook was being ushered to a circle of ruins with markings engraved into the ground with his hands bound, namjoon was surrounded by the warmth of jimin.
“tae, i think maybe you should leave. your anger is very um palpable at the moment. it’s probably not the best time to have joon around demons anyways so— i’ll see you soon okay?” jimin lilted.
“okay, i have to find jungkook. i’ll come to your place later, whenever i can,” tae responded before cupping jimin’s face in his hands and kissing him as hard as he could, hoping he could ingrain the way kissing jimin felt into his mind in case he couldn’t come back.
“when you come back please have jungkook with you. he doesn’t want to see him now, but i know he will one day,” jimin whispered.
“promise.”
namjoon sat in his sun room with his wilted plants, crying as they all fell towards the ground lifelessly.
“water, they need water,” he said as he tried to get up to find something to soak them in.
“i’ll take care of them, okay? we have to talk about the demon thing eventually, you know? it’s not as bad as it seems i promised. jungkook is a good guy. taehyung loves him,” jimin stated.
“how long have you been seeing taehyung?” namjoon inquired.
“around four months. we’re really happy, joon. you can be as well.”
“you didn’t see him. you didn’t feel him. look at miss sunny and pablo. he did that jimin.”
jimin rubbed over namjoon’s back, hoping to provide some sort of comfort to the scared man. he cannot imagine being introduced to taehyung’s identity so abruptly, but he cannot imagine he would have taken it any better.
“because he was afraid. he didn’t want to be a demon joon, he didn’t want to die.”
“how long? how long has he been dead? how did he, um, how did he die?” the author stammered.
“you can ask him or tae once they're back. they’ll be able to answer much better than me. you deserve what you two had, joon. you both deserve it.”
…
the moon was a constant blood red in the realm of demons. it painted the realm in an eerie tint as jungkook stared at where it hung high in the black sky. his blood, and the blood of every demon that had been shed during their death had become mixed within the sphere in the sky that illuminated the dark place.
“jeon jungkook,” the guard announced. “you will be drained of your adraedan blood and forced to live as a mortal within the human realm. you are banned from returning to this world no matter the condition. do you vow to relinquish your blood and identity under the moon of your brother's?”
“i vow to relinquish my blood and identity under the moon of my brothers,” jungkook recited.
no sound was heard except the hiss of the demon as a hot blade cut into his skin from his shoulders down to his wrists. the young demon could feel the blood drain from his body in pints as it flowed from the long cuts down his arms towards the blood red moon.
jungkook’s skin burned as if he was being consumed by hellfire. if he could move his hands he would scratch at the skin until it bled and his fingernails were caked with blood and skin. the adraedan pulled on the ties that bound him to the ground as fear overtook him, leaving aching burns around his wrists.
he did not want to die again. jin said he would be okay, hoseok said he could go back to namjoon. taehyung would be alone. joon would be alone.
screams of agony could be heard from the boy as he swayed with the weight of his head and lack of blood in his body. the fear he felt when he looked up at tae as they fell to their death was reflected in his eyes like the stars that would reflect in joon’s.
“jin! jin please. don’t wanna die, don’t wanna. get jin, get tae, want tae. jin please please no. i’m sorry, so sorry. i can't die again, please. i can’t die, i need joon. i love joon. i love him.”
the ground groaned with the force jungkook used to try and break his binds, but it was no use. no one came for him. the demon could no longer keep his eyes open on his own and he say there, his head hanging forward as he drifted away.
…
“jungkook? hi, how are you?” taehyung whispered from where he sat on the edge of his best friend's bed.
jungkook checked his surroundings. he saw taehyung’s desk covered in gauze, cotton balls, and bandages. the only light was that from the bedside lamp he brought taehyung for his first birthday as an immortal.
“tae,” jungkook croaked.
“it’s me, i’m here, you’re here,” taehyung cried.
“i’m alive?”
“yes jungkook-ah. you’re alive.”
“what happened? is joon okay?” the younger questioned.
“the ritual drained you of your demon blood and the moon returned your human blood. you’re human now kook. i know you missed it, i’m happy for you. would you like me to get joon? he’s been wanting to see you.”
jungkook had the biggest puppy eyes as he looked up at his best friend. he began to cry at the idea of being mortal again. “tae what about you? what about you? i can’t leave you. tae please. don’t wanna be without you ever,” jungkook bawled.
“you won’t be, you're like a brother to me. no need to worry, we’ll always be together okay. we can talk about this later, but joon wanted me to call him as soon as i woke up so i’ll go do that if you want. is that what you want?”
“yes please.”
taehyung called namjoon so he could come over. the author yelled over the phone as he scrambled to get his stuff together so he could leave. he spent more time at jimin’s place than his own since inklings of fear were still present in the walls, and that seemed to be a good thing as jimin’s place was closer to jungkook and taehyung’s.
“jimin’s bringing me, tell him i’m coming and i’m so happy he’s okay,” namjoon crooned.
“okay bye.”
…
the door flew open and the demon and new mortal jumped at the sound.
“ow,” jungkook grimaced.
“jungkook?” namjoon called.
“yeah i’m here, i’m here joonie.”
namjoon followed his voice into taehyung’s room where the boy who had been missing for weeks laid quietly.
“hi— mmph,” jungkook began before being gently embraced by the author.
“everyone get out,” joon ordered.
“well damn, i’m the one who drove you here, i wanted to see the reunion,” jimin whined.
“too bad, get out.”
“glad you’re better kook. taehyung and i will go back to my place.”
“bye jimin, bye tae,” jungkook yelled with his scratchy voice.
“bye,” they said in unison.
jungkook had only been kissed by kim namjoon. every kiss he had given and gotten were because of namjoon, and if he had to rank them he’s sure this one would be the best.
it was as if namjoon was trying to reassure himself that the other was real and present. he gripped his hair and pressed against his lips so hard he was sure they would be left red and swollen.
namjoon licked over the new mortals' lips before prying them open so he could lick into his mouth. he glided his tongue over the others as he felt his sides being weakly gripped by big hands and soft palms.
“my jungkookie,” namjoon whispered.
“how did i get here, joon?”
“tae went to your realm to get you. you couldn't stay for long. apparently mortality and the demon realm don't mix very well,” namjoon explained as he ran his eyes over the slits down jungkook’s arms. “i’m so sorry i was afraid of you. i couldn't help it, the feeling was paralyzing.”
“it's fine, it's okay. the fact that you could handle it even in small quantities was amazing, hyung. when we were together you never flinched or trembled. you're an enigma, joon. oh and i have something to tell you, something i should have already told you.”
jungkook stared into namjoon's eyes as he was offered a small comforting smile and a hand to hold his now warm ones.
“when i was first assigned to you, i would watch you sometimes.”
namjoon's cheeks flushed as he choked on nothing and squeezed jungkook’s hands a little too tight.
“hyung i just got bled dry, that kinda hurts,” the younger croaked.
“it was weeks ago, shut up. um did you see anything maybe not pg-13. i would ask if it was in a creepy way or not but you cannot spin this in a non creepy way. you are so creepy, oh god i'm dating a pervy ex adraedan,” joon teased.
“dating? we're still dating?” jungkook questioned with a small voice.
“i was too scared to break up with you and you were too almost dead to break up with me, so yeah i would think so.”
“that's so nice of you hyung. i love you. i don't deserve you. i kept secrets for so long, i’m so sorry.”
“it’s okay, i forgive you. it's kinda cool that you were all badass and scary. bet you made people run up the stairs faster after turning off all the lights,” namjoon smirked.
“oh yeah totally. i even had yoongi’s guard up. especially when he first came over. remember how i wanted to kill jimin?” the younger inquired.
“yeah of course, you thought he was an adraedan too. they told me everything, it really helped me calm down and understand what was going on. it was a lot to take in though. i’m sorry you, uh, died. i’m really sorry about that, i can't imagine.”
“i’m alive now. i just can't imagine what i'm gonna do when i have to die again. i can't leave tae, but i can’t be an adraedan again. i can't even go back. how do i leave him when he followed me to the ends of the world, hell he followed me fifty stores down a building onto the concrete, joon,” jungkook mumbled.
“shhh. we’ll figure it out another day okay. for now you don't have to worry about that at all. you're young, healthy, and so loved by so many people. seokjin and hoseok really want to see you, by the way. i’d like to have you to myself for a few days first though,” namjoon smiled.
“i’d like that as well,” jungkook whispered before sleep overcame him as namjoon wrapped him in the comfort of his embrace.
“goodnight jungkookie, we'll all be here when you wake up.”
“mhm goodnight, hyung.”